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The United States called on Sri Lanka Wednesday to bring to justice anyone responsible for war crimes committed as the island crushed a decades-long insurgency. US diplomat Robert Blake said Colombo should carry out its own investigation into allegations contained in a United Nations report of atrocities during the 2009 offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels. […]

May 3 2011 22:23 | Last year, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, commissioned a report into human rights violations in the closing months of the decades-long Sri Lankan civil war that ended in 2009. The report points to credible evidence of mass shelling of civilians and summary executions. It also concludes that Sri Lanka’s […]

07 May 2011,Former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian MK Sivajilingam was summoned on Thursday by the occupying Sri Lanka military in Valvettithu’rai and was interrogated for about half an hour. The reason for the interrogation was his manifesto for the forthcoming local body elections in which he has called for the shifting of the SL […]

07 May 2011Colombo, May 6, (AFP) – Former Sri Lanka cricket captain Hashan Tillakaratne on Friday demanded police protection before he shares information on alleged match-fixing with authorities. “As an eyewitness to match-fixing, I will reveal the names of those involved if my security is guaranteed,” Tillakaratne told reporters after the Criminal Investigations Department grilled […]

07 May 2011 00:00By Susitha R. Fernando Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva yesterday warned that the proposed 19th Amendment to the Constitution was a serious interference by the President in the independence of the judiciary. He said if the proposed Amendment was introduced it would allow the President to limit the term of office […]

06 May 2011Foreign passport holders must continue to register with the Ministry of Defence in order to enter Jaffna despite the war against the LTTE ending three years ago. A group of Foreign passport holders who were born in Sri Lanka told News Now.lk that they were turned back at the Omantai check point while […]

The ANC supports the recommendations of the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Panel of Experts that called for the establishment of an independent body to investigate all violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws committed in the conflict.  6 May 2011 The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, had appointed a Panel of Experts to […]

5, 2011, 9:51 pmBy Shamindra Ferdinando Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said, in an exclusive interview with The Island on Thursday (5), that Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake hadn’t come across any Tamil speaking civilians wanting to have Sri Lanka investigated for war crimes during his visit to former LTTE strongholds at Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi […]

by Easwaran Rutnam   Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya has rejected the ‘Darusman report’ compiled by the panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon. He also said that a committee appointed by the Army is now working on a response to the report which was made public recently by the UN Chief. […]

International pressure should be brought on the Government of Sri Lanka to withdraw the entire Army from the North and the East. The people are so scared of the guns that women hysterically run away merely sighting a gun. There is absolutely no threat of the LTTE reviving. by V. Anandasangaree (May 06, Colombo, Sri […]

06 May 2011A bungalow type mansion to accommodate the President and other V.I.Ps has come up in Jaffna at the cost of 100 million rupees. A bungalow type mansion to accommodate the President and other V.I.Ps has come up in Jaffna at the cost of 100 million rupees. This mansion is to be opened by […]

The commander of the field forces in Jaffna Major general Mahinda Hathurusinghe has recently said that Suresh Premachchandran and Mavai Senathirajah were behaving in such a manner as to start a war once again 06 May 2011 TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachchandran yesterday requested the speaker to take action against the Jaffna commander, Major General Hathurusinghe […]

May 5, 2011, 10:11 pmBy Saman Indrajith The special computer crime unit, housed at the BMICH, is engaged in hacking electronic mail including the email accounts of some ministers, UNP Kurunegala district MP Dayasiri Jayasekera charged in Parliament yesterday. He levelled the charges while speaking during the debate on the extension of emergency. He said […]

5 May 2011, 6:04 am An Interview with Nimalka Fernando published in the Sunday RAVAYA dated 24/4/2011 Q1:What are the issues contained in the report prepared by the expert panel appointed by the Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki- Moon? The main challenge before this committee was to arrive at an understanding regarding the […]

“Those who supported the war efforts unconditionally do have the moral responsibility towards the Tamil community. US and UN failed to act decisively to prevent civilian causalities.” 05 May 2011,Mano Ganesan, the leader of the Democratic Peoples Front (DPF), who was once named by then US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, in a statement issued on […]

05 May 2011 01:42By Shakuntala Perera Robert O. Blake, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, said yesterday that the UN report on Sri Lanka ‘underscored the importance of a durable political solution’ and the necessity for a dialogue between the UN and the government of Sri Lanka. Addressing the media during his […]

Staff Reporter Communist Party of India leader R. Nallakannu here on Wednesday inaugurated a signature campaign demanding the prosecution of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the international court, “for his role in the genocide in the island nation during its war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.” The campaign, an initiative of the […]

UNP Provincial Council member, Shrilal Lakthilaka said the UN does not have legal right to interfere in the matters of a sovereign nation.   05 May 2011 By Olindhi Jayasundere The Government and Opposition of the Western Provincial Council yesterday unanimously resolved that the External Affairs Ministry should get the support of other countries to oppose […]

APBy KRISHAN FRANCIS,  A U.S. diplomat Wednesday asked Sri Lanka to address allegations of possible war crimes toward the end of the country’s civil war and to share political power with an estranged Tamil minority for a lasting peace. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake told reporters that Sri Lanka has promised to […]

By Our Political Editor The Government will respond to the United Nations Panel report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka next week. A note to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon signed by External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris will be sent through Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission at the United Nations in New York. It will […]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has extended the mandate of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) by a period of six months in view of the large number of persons from Sri Lanka and abroad still to give evidence before it. In May 2010, President Rajapaksa appointed the eight-member Commission to report on the lessons to […]

May 3, 2011,By Ajith Alahakoon The President’s Fund has spent a sum of Rs. 1,520 million, during the years 2008 and 2009, without obtaining the consent of its controlling board, the Auditor General says. The AG’s report on the President’s Fund for 2009 points out that a sum of Rs 843,846,792 was spent in 2008. […]

04 May 2011 Q: Will the Government respond to the UN Panel report? If so, what will be contained in this response? No, the government has no intention of responding to the report. Because the report has been prepared and submitted to the Secretary General by three persons he has nominated on his own personal […]

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, May 3 — After the UN belated published its Panel of Experts’ report on war crimes in Sri Lanka, Inner City Press asked the French Mission to the UN in writing for a comment on the report and what should happen next. While the French mission never answered in […]

 04 May 2011By Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera The government has decided to write to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon notifying him of the accomplishments made locally and internationally up to date in the post war period, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told Parliament yesterday. Making his remarks in the House for the first time […]

2011-05-03Mr Speaker, The UNP wishes to place its views on the Advisory Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka, before the House at this preliminary stage, when some critical decisions have to be made by the Government. Let me briefly recap the background to the current problem. During the last […]

On 17th January 2011, at around 2 pm, two students of St. Xavier’s College, Mannar were abducted by a group of unidentified persons in a white van as they were returning from school.  (AJR aged 19 and AR aged 18) Both boys were in school uniform when they were abducted. There were no witnesses to […]

The UN report has returned us to that moment, and if intelligently and constructively used may help us explore roads not taken, toward a better, brighter and kinder future for all its citizens.  by Darini Rajasingham Senanayake It was my sense after May 18, 2009 when the LTTE was defeated that Sri Lanka was missing […]

A Citizens’ initiative based on consultations in the various regions of the country by Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, Dr. Fara Haniffa, Dr. Devenesan Nesiah Preamble Publish Post Sri Lanka was long famous for its rich social diversity and the harmonious co-existence of various communities. Since independence, however, there has been a failure to define and realize […]

 By Olindhi Jayasundere The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) hotline 1929 for public complaints on child abuse has received 21,507 complaints up until April 30 this year, the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment said.. The hotline which was introduced in June 2010 was set up for the public to report incidents of any […]