Reporting that adds something new.
These are Lanka Witness articles — not copied feeds. Each piece is written around primary documents, attributed reporting, public records or a clearly stated analytical framework.
Rs. 162,500, Not Rs. 200,000: The 2027 Budget Offers Modest Relief, Record Promises and Questions the Government Must Now Answer
A higher tax-free threshold and VAT-free books, but less relief than ministers signalled, a weak capital spending record and no single set of figures.
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Cleared for a Simple Majority, Not Cleared of Doubt: What the Supreme Court Said About the Terrorism Bill
Four required amendments, including one restoring court challenges to executive orders. A legal green light is not a verdict that the Bill is fair.
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Rs. 2,500, From July: Why Recent Pensioners Are Being Asked to Wait Again
Those who retired between 2020 and 2024 wait until July 2027 for an interim allowance and until 2028 for a full revision.
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Broken Ribs, an Open Verdict and a Circular Nobody Followed: Custody Deaths Are the Police Reform Test This Government Keeps Failing
Homagama and Kobeigane, 79 custody and encounter deaths counted by the HRCSL, and a camera promise with no progress report.
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Old Files, New Arrests: The Bribery Commission Is Busy. Is It Also Fair, and Is It Winning in Court?
A week of arrests over old cases. Convictions, speed and even-handedness are the real test.
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Rs. 271 Million Lost in Six Months: The State Broadcasters the Government Has Not Fixed
Rupavahini, ITN and SLBC lose money as state enterprises profit. The Budget owes the public a plan.
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A Month Without a Debate: The No-Confidence Motion Against the Speaker Has Become a Test of Parliament Itself
Forty-four MPs signed it on 9 October. It still has not been debated, and the Speaker chairs the committee deciding its fate.
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Thursday’s Budget: The Tests the Government Has Set for Itself
Tax relief, a public pay rise, a trillion-rupee welfare bill and fuel subsidies — what was promised, and how to check it.
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A Magistrate Asked for Contempt Action Against the Police Chief. Days Later, He Was Moved
The Judicial Service Commission transferred the Gampaha Magistrate after the IGP complained. No reason has been given.
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A Climbdown, Not a Cure: What the Government Has Conceded on Its Security Bills — and What It Has Not
Amendments and a consultation promise after 26 petitions, a UN letter and street protests. The one-year detention power is still in the text.
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Nearly a Year After Cyclone Ditwah, Tens of Thousands of Families Are Still Waiting to Be Paid
The President set a May deadline. In October, Parliament heard that more than 53,000 households were still waiting for a second instalment.
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Development Officers Call in Sick, Doctors Take to the Street: The Public Service Tests the Government Before the Budget
Two days before the Budget, unions that helped elect the NPP say they are still waiting for answers.
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The Promise That Keeps Moving: Two Years On, Sri Lanka Still Has No Provincial Council Elections
The NPP promised provincial polls within a year. Nine provinces are still run by appointed Governors and the date has slipped to 2027 at the earliest.
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Before the Budget: Gas Queues, Power Bills and a Tax-Cut Promise
The President promises tax cuts on 12 November. Households arrive queuing for gas, facing another tariff rise and still paying 18% VAT.
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Two Years On: What the NPP Promised, and What the Record Shows
A smaller Cabinet, an end to the executive presidency, provincial elections, lower bills — the pledges that need only political will have stalled.
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The Songs We Remember — and the History We Should Not Forget
Vijaya Kumaratunga and Premakeerthi de Alwis deserve more than nostalgia. Their killings remain part of Sri Lanka’s unfinished history.
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Sri Lanka’s Organised Crime Bill: A Fresh Rights Warning Now Reaches GSP+
Human Rights Watch joins HRCSL and Amnesty in challenging exceptional powers. Parliament now owes the public a clause-by-clause answer.
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KDU Hospital’s Rs. 8.4 Million Copper Theft: COPE Has Exposed a Control Failure
Parliament says 2,199 metres of copper strips were stolen. The next test is whether security, asset-control and financial weaknesses are actually fixed.
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Sri Lanka’s Security Bills Are Now a Diplomatic Issue — Scrutiny Should Stay Evidence-Based
Foreign missions are being briefed as rights groups raise overlapping concerns. External scrutiny should focus on the bill text, safeguards and measurable commitments.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Homagama Custodial Death: One Investigation Must Confront a Much Larger Pattern
HRCSL has summoned officers and is seeking the post-mortem report. Its own custodial-death statistics make this a national accountability test.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Organised Crime Bill: The Media Blackout and Surveillance Questions Parliament Cannot Ignore
Amnesty’s fresh assessment puts court reporting, communications metadata and professional confidentiality at the centre of scrutiny.
READ LANKA WITNESS →23,352 Missing-Person Complaints, 31 Located: Sri Lanka Needs an Outcomes Dashboard Families Can Trust
Administrative activity is not the same as truth. Families need transparent case outcomes, definitions, timelines and review rights.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sathurukondan 1990: Sri Lanka Says the CID Is Investigating — Families Need Measurable Progress
A 36-year-old Batticaloa case is back on the parliamentary record. An open investigation now needs witnesses, records, forensic work and a prosecutorial decision.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Chemmani’s Interim Report Raises Competing Explanations. Evidence — Not Narrative — Must Decide
Competing interpretations of the burial evidence make transparent multidisciplinary forensics, identification and peer review more important than ever.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Missing-Persons List Still Has a Batticaloa Gap
The OMP says every district except Batticaloa is represented in its public list. The district with the largest complaint load needs a dated publication plan.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s North and East: A New Rights Record Demands Answers on Surveillance
Fresh rights reporting says families, journalists and activists still face surveillance and intimidation. The state should publish the rules, oversight and remedies.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Rohingya in Mullaitivu: Sri Lanka’s Detention Policy Faces a Fresh Human-Rights Test
A new Human Rights Commission inspection renews questions about children, UNHCR access, individual assessment and non-refoulement.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Coal Inquiry Gets More Time. The Public Now Needs the Evidence
The commission has until 16 December. Its final report should distinguish procurement failure from corruption and show the evidence behind every adverse finding.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Organised Crime Bill: Why Police Confessions and Bail Powers Need Scrutiny
The Human Rights Commission wants the bill withdrawn and revised. Its concerns go to confessions, group membership and judicial control of detention.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Bill Could Mean Two Years Before Trial — That Demands a Hard Constitutional Look
Amnesty’s latest legal assessment focuses attention on the cumulative detention period and whether review mechanisms are genuinely independent.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Chemmani and Sri Lanka’s Foreign Partners: What Responsible International Support Should Look Like
Foreign missions can support forensics, DNA, evidence integrity and families without prejudging criminal responsibility.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Chemmani: 583 Sets of Remains, and the Harder Work of Identification Begins
Excavation established the scale. Identification, forensic integrity, family participation and credible investigation are the harder accountability test.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Bill and the Confidential-Source Test for Journalism
The Supreme Court challenge raises a fundamental question: can information duties coexist with meaningful protection for journalists and whistleblowers?
READ LANKA WITNESS →After Geneva, Sri Lanka Faces a Two-Year Accountability Test
The Council session has ended, but international accountability work continues. The next two years should produce measurable domestic justice outcomes.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Bill Challenges Keep Growing — Parliament Should Not Treat Scrutiny as a Formality
A further Supreme Court petition was recorded on 23 October. Repealing the PTA matters, but the replacement must be judged by its safeguards.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka, Brussels and GSP+: Human Rights Are Still Part of the Trade Relationship
After October talks in Brussels, the record is clear: Europe treats rule of law, civic space and rights commitments as part of its relationship with Colombo.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Prageeth Eknaligoda: Sixteen Years On, Sri Lanka Still Owes His Family an Answer
An updated 2026 timeline of the renewed Trial-at-Bar, institutional controversy and the continuing search for truth.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Bill: Amnesty’s New Warning Raises the Stakes for Media Freedom
A fresh Amnesty assessment raises the stakes for journalists, confidential sources, dissent and the credibility of Sri Lanka’s promised PTA reform.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Sri Lanka’s Anti-Corruption Amendment Is Now Law. The Transparency Test Starts Here
Act No. 25 is in force. The real test is auditable asset declarations, independent enforcement and measurable public outcomes.
READ LANKA WITNESS →Iranian Tankers Off Sri Lanka: Sanctions, Humanitarian Need and a Small State’s Diplomatic Test
Reported shortages aboard Iranian vessels put Colombo between sanctions exposure and humanitarian need. Transparency can protect both principle and diplomacy.
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