Gehan Gunatilleke is a human rights lawyer based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the Research Director of Verité Research. He is the author of The Chronic and the Acute: Post-War Religious Violence in Sri Lanka. He is also a Commonwealth scholar at New College, University of Oxford. Follow him on twitter @GehanDG
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Covid-19 in Sri Lanka: Is Free Speech the next Victim?
On 1 April 2020, Sri Lanka’s police announced that it would arrest those who disseminate false or disparaging statements about government officials combating the spread of the Covid-19 virus. In the days that followed, the government ...
Speech and Spies: Why Sri Lanka’s New Counterterrorism Law is a Terrible Idea
A year ago, Sri Lanka promised the world that it would repeal its current Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). In a historic co-sponsored resolution, it assured the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that it would replace the PTA with ...
The Struggle for Right to Information in Sri Lanka: Is it Leaving Victims Behind?
Sri Lanka is on the brink of a historic moment. Following a long struggle spanning over a decade, a Bill on the Right to Information (RTI) was tabled in the Sri Lankan parliament on 24 March 2016. The current version of the Bill has ...
Hate Speech in Sri Lanka: How a New Ban Could Perpetuate Impunity
In June 2014, an altercation between a Buddhist monk and two Muslims resulted in a public rally in Aluthgama—a small town on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka known for its ethnic and religious diversity. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara ...