Colombo, January 3, 2025
Right to Life Human Rights Center, in partnership with the National Peace Council and other collaborators, has officially launched a groundbreaking platform to advocate for transitional justice under the People Unite for Justice and Accountability (PUJA) project. The launch ceremony took place at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) and was attended by a distinguished audience of human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society activists.
The newly introduced website, www.puja.lk, serves as a central hub for promoting victim-centered transitional justice (TJ) initiatives. It provides a repository of victim stories and facilitates efforts towards memorialization, fostering a collective understanding of Sri Lanka’s history to prevent the recurrence of past atrocities.
Opening the event, Venuri de Silva, Project Manager of the PUJA project, highlighted the platform’s objective to mobilize support for TJ mechanisms and advocate for sustainable solutions. She emphasized that the project serves as a bridge between victims, survivors, and TJ mechanisms, enabling communities to address unresolved issues and build a path toward reconciliation.
Keynote Address: Transitional Justice in a Paradigm Shift
Dr. Jehanne Perera, Executive Director, National Peace Council (NPC)
Dr. Jehanne Perera provided a comprehensive overview of Sri Lanka’s journey toward addressing transitional justice amidst evolving political dynamics. He underscored the significance of truth-seeking, accountability, reparation, and structural reform as the four pillars of TJ, essential for addressing the root causes of past conflicts and ensuring sustainable peace.
Dr. Perera reflected on the nation’s history of human rights violations, including instances of torture, summary killings, and ethnic violence spanning decades. Highlighting the government’s recent decision to permit memorialization in the North and East, he pointed out that initiatives like PUJA website are pivotal for truth-seeking and for restoring trust in TJ processes.
He also traced Sri Lanka’s engagement with the UNHRC’s transitional justice demands since 2011 and detailed the progression of TJ mechanisms, from the 2015 commitments to the Truth Commission and reparation initiatives, to the 2019 Nawaz Commission’s recommendations. Dr. Perera called for renewed efforts to unify Sri Lanka’s diverse communities, emphasizing that recognizing and representing this diversity is integral to reconciliation.
Keynote Address: Transitional Justice for Sustainable Peace
Philip Dissanayake, Executive Director, Right to Life Human Rights Center
Philip Dissanayake focused on the economic and societal imperatives of transitional justice in Sri Lanka’s post-bankruptcy recovery. He attributed the financial crisis of 2022 to corruption and the erosion of the rule of law, exacerbated by decades of conflict, including the 1971 insurrection, the 30-year ethnic war, and the southern rebellion of the late 1980s.
Dissanayake highlighted the economic toll of these conflicts, estimating losses of over USD 200 billion—far exceeding the USD 56 billion debt that led to bankruptcy. He stressed that addressing historical injustices through TJ is not just a moral necessity but also an economic imperative for sustainable national progress.
While acknowledging the slow progress of TJ efforts, he urged the current government to leverage its broad-based support across communities to drive meaningful reforms. Dissanayake emphasized that political will is critical to advancing TJ mechanisms and fostering national unity, ultimately laying the foundation for a peaceful and prosperous society.
The PUJA platform’s launch marks a significant milestone in Sri Lanka’s journey toward transitional justice, offering a vital space for truth-telling, memorialization, and advocacy. Stakeholders are encouraged to actively participate in these initiatives to ensure a unified and reconciled future for the nation.
