Activists at a vigil held in support of Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam. © Amnesty International
By Tim Molyneux, a volunteer working in Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka team.
On Wednesday 1 September, the Sri Lanka Team at Amnesty International’s International Secretariat organised a vigil outside Parliament Square in London. We gathered to protest against the sentencing of Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam, known as Tissa to his friends and family, to 20 years ‘vigorous imprisonment’ by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Tissa has been named a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International. We believe that he has been imprisoned simply for publishing articles critical of the Government of Sri Lanka.
Continue reading ‘Standing in Support of ‘Tissa’’
Official entrance of the UN in Geneva
On 12 June, Amnesty International launched a report called ‘Twenty years of make-believe: Sri Lanka’s Commissions of Inquiry.’ The report highlights decades of the Sri Lankan governments failure to pursue accountability and justice in the face of widespread human rights abuses.
In conjunction with the launch of the report, Amnesty travelled to the UN Human Rights Council and hosted a panel discussion on impunity and rule of law in Sri Lanka.
Continue reading ‘Seeking Justice at the UN Human Rights Council’
Vigil for Tissa in London ©Amnesty International
On Friday 6 March, the Sri Lankan Team at the International Secretariat organised a vigil outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London to mark one year in detention for Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam, known as Tissa to his friends and family.
Tissa has been named a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International who believes that he has been imprisoned for simply carrying out his journalist activities. Tissa has become an emblematic case for what has become the fate of many journalists and media workers in Sri Lanka held under sweeping terrorist legislation.
Continue reading ‘Vigil for imprisoned journalist in Sri Lanka’
