Interviews

Interview

Latest news from and about the homeland

Professor S. Raveendranath In December 2006, Professor S. Raveendranath, the Vice-Chancellor of Eastern University in Sri Lanka, disappeared after attending an official meeting in a high-security zone in Colombo. Despite repeated requests for state protection and the deepening threats he faced, no meaningful investigation has brought answers. Nearly two decades on, his family continues to…

It never goes away' says Tamil torture survivor suing Gotabaya

Roy Samathanam, a Tamil torture survivor, who filed a civil lawsuit against Sri Lanka's former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, described how his experience of torture at the hands of Sri Lankan security forces "never goes away" speaking in London today.

Interview with TNA MP M A Sumanthiran: the Constitution, Transitional Justice and the Budget

 

Tamil Guardian sat down with Spokesperson for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and MP, M. A. Sumanthiran at his home in Colombo last week to discuss matters of the constitution, transitional justice and the budget.

The full transcript of the hour-long interview (with minor edits) is available here.

On the Constitution

New roads but tough obstacles remain – Interview with C V Wigneswaran

Tamil Guardian interviewed the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council C V Wigneswaran in London last week.

We must be ‘tough and supportive’ on justice in Sri Lanka – Interview with Stephen Rapp

Calculating the number of missing Tamils would be a lengthier and more arduous, but nevertheless important task acknowledged the former Ambassador.


Former US Ambassador Michele Sison and Stephen Rapp meet with the Bishop of Mannar to discuss accountability in 2014. Photograph: TamilNet

We must be ‘tough and supportive’ on justice in Sri Lanka – Interview with Stephen Rapp

The former US Ambassador-at-large for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp speaks to the Tamil Guardian about the road to justice in Sri Lanka.

Though changes may be slow, no need to compromise demands - MA Sumanthiran

 

Tamil Guardian caught up with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian after his parliamentary speech on Sri Lanka’s constitutional assembly speech last week.

 

"As an artist I’m still dealing with being a refugee" - Interview with M.I.A.

“I’ve always been vocal from day one about the fact that I was a refugee and not a migrant. There was no secret. I actually left Sri Lanka because we were bombed and shot at.” The global icon talks politics and life with Tamil Guardian.

Colombo has a stronghold on North-East of Sri Lanka: Interview with APPG-T Chair James Berry

 

 


As discussions on how to deal with the findings of the UN investigation into Sri Lanka’s mass atrocities (OISL) reach fever pitch, the newly elected chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, James Berry, spoke to the Tamil Guardian last week.

Speaking ahead of the release of the UN report into mass atrocities and after meeting the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, the APPG-T chair reiterated calls for normalcy in the North-East and stressed the need for any process to deal with the findings of the OISL to have the full confidence of the victims.