Centre for Policy Alternatives on 24 September, 2014

Liking violence: A study of hate speech on Facebook in Sri Lanka

24 September 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is pleased to launch ‘Liking violence: A study of hate speech on Facebook in Sri Lanka’, authored by Shilpa Samaratunge and Sanjana Hattotuwa.

  • Download the full report here. Download it as a PDF in Sinhala here.
  • Download just the Introduction and Executive Summary here.
  • Translations of the Executive Summary of this report are available in Sinhala and Tamil.

Hate Speech - Cover

The report is the first in Sri Lanka to focus on hate and dangerous speech in online fora, contextualising the growth of this disturbing digital content with increasing violence against Muslims and other groups in Sri Lanka. As the blurb on the front cover of the report avers,

The growth of online hate speech in Sri Lanka does not guarantee another pogrom. It does however pose a range of other challenges to government and governance around social, ethnic, cultural and religious co-existence, diversity and, ultimately, to the very core of debates around how we see and organise ourselves post-war.

The report looks at 20 Facebook groups in Sri Lanka over a couple of months, focussing on content generated just before, during and immediately after violence against the Muslim community. Detailed translations into English of the original material posted to these groups (including photographic and visual content) and the responses they generated are provided. It is the first time a study has translated into English the qualitative nature of commentary and content published on these Facebook groups, indicative of a larger and growing malaise in post-war Sri Lanka.

More generally, the study looks at the phenomenon of hate speech online – how it occurs and spreads online, what kind of content is produced, by whom and for which audiences. In addition to Sri Lanka, policy frameworks and legislation around online hate speech in Kenya, Rwanda, India, Pakistan, Canada and Australia are also flagged in the report.

Centre for Policy Alternatives on 19 September, 2014

INFOGRAPHIC: Views From Uva

With the Uva Provincial Council elections taking place tomorrow, Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives has analysed data from field work conducted in May and June 2014 to get a sense of the issues and priorities of the people of Uva as they go to vote.

The current state of the economy has had an impact on the lives of the people in the Uva Province, especially at the household level. 43.4% of people say that the financial situation in their household is a little worse when compared to 2 years ago, while 31.9% say that it is a lot worse. This situation has led to certain compromises in terms of food intake and even medical treatment – with 43% stating that they have cut back on the quality of food they purchase and 28.6% of the households stating that they have gone without medicine or medical treatment in the last year. Almost 90% of those from the Uva Province say that they would like to see a reduction in the cost of living as a result of the current development drive. The cost of living is also the second most important area they believe the Government should pay attention to, with Agriculture taking the first priority and infrastructure coming in third. When asked what they think of the current economic situation of the country, 44.6% believe that it is somewhat bad while 12.5% say it is very bad.

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 18 September, 2014

INFOGRAPHIC: Military Presence in the North of Sri Lanka

Five years since the end of the war, a significant military presence still remains in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. This despite repeated assurances by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) that the military presence is, and will be phased out in order to pave way for post-war reconciliation efforts. In a context of increased militarization, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) highlights the numerous statements made by Government officials regarding the varying numbers pertaining to the apparent reduction of forces. The contradictions in the actual situation are highlighted by the statements made by President Rajapaksa, who in January 2014 claimed that there was a presence of 12,000 military personnel in the North with Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President claiming only two days later, the presence of 80,000 military personnel in the North.

Additionally, the GoSL is in the practice of acquiring swathes of private land in both the Northern and Eastern Provinces, claiming it is for military use. In November 2013, CPA published a policy brief flagging these disturbing trends in land acquisition which amount to land grabs. CPA has also highlighted the disturbing trend of acquiring private land under the guise of a “public purpose”. Increasing evidence suggests that private land acquired for military use, is in fact given out for commercial ventures.

For more information on CPA’s research on land in the Northern province see here.

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 18 September, 2014

A brief guide on land rights in Sri Lanka

Brief Guide - PDF

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has compiled a brief guide on land rights in Sri Lanka which is aimed at creating awareness among the public on the legal status regarding land ownership and control and remedies available. CPA produced a similar guide in 2011 addressing land issues in the North and East of Sri Lanka in the immediate post war context. The present guide addresses land issues across Sri Lanka including continuing trends of problems caused by a lack of documentation and illegal and arbitrary land acquisitions and evictions. The guide will be available in Sinhala, Tamil and English. 

Download the guide in English as a PDF here or read it online here.

Centre for Policy Alternatives on 16 September, 2014

INFOGRAPHIC: Religious Violence in Post-War Sri Lanka

Religious tensions have been exacerbated in post-war Sri Lanka, contrary to claims by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) that attacks against places of religious worship are isolated incidents. In Mach 2013, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) published a report highlighting concerns about violence and intolerance against all religious communities in the country. The trends highlighted by CPA have continued unabated, most recently evident in the June 2014 violence in Aluthgama and surrounding areas. Other incidents of violence have not received the same attention as Authgama, thereby skewing the understanding of the scale and level of violence targeting minority religions in particular, in Sri Lanka.

In June 2014, CPA highlighted the impact of these attacks on post-war reconciliation efforts and condemned the attacks in Aluthgama and surrounding areas. CPA urged the GoSL to take immediate and all necessary steps to provide protection to the affected communities, investigate the heinous acts and hold to account all perpetrators and those complicit in such acts. In July 2014 CPA compiled a short brief on the constitutional and legal framework governing religious freedom in Sri Lanka.

Three months since the Aluthgama attack, there is limited information in the public domain on action taken to bring perpetrators to account. That there is still is no justice for the victims of religious violence in Aluthgama and elsewhere in Sri Lanka, illustrates the sheer impunity with which perpertrators of such violence operate and the GoSL’s unwillingness and/or inability to end to widespread religious violence in post-war Sri Lanka.

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 11 September, 2014

INFOGRAPHIC: Presidential Commission on Missing Persons

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (the Commission), was established over a year ago on 15th August 2013 by Gazette 1823/42. The sole purpose of the Commission was to investigate and inquire into cases of disappearances in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka.

In March 2014, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) published a critique of the Commission proceedings and raised concerns about the existing legal and policy framework in terms of investigations and inquiries in Sri Lanka. In July 2014, CPA raised further concerns regarding the newly expanded mandate of the Commission, which extended inquiry into a wide range of issues including violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law. We fear that its primary focus of inquiring into the large number of unresolved cases of disappearances, which is essential for truth and justice in Sri Lanka, will be diluted. These concerns and fears stem from CPA’s observations and engagement at public sittings in the North and East.

More than a year into the Commission’s mandate, CPA highlights both the limited progress made by the Commission to date and the damaging effect of the expanded mandate. There is a huge difference between the rhetoric of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and ground realities. This continues to constitute a damning indictment of the lack of political will on the part of GoSL to genuinely and effectively address post war grievances of affected communities.

DisCom JPG

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