Parents of disappeared Tamil youth staged a protest before the Fort Railway station last evening urging the authorities to release details of the political prisoners while urging their release. Seen in the pictures are the tearful parents holding photographs of their missing children and placards depicting details of them.for more photos: DM

Too often, the argument is made that one should not speak out for fear of consequences. But this is a weak defence. Instead, the truth is rather that one does not speak out because it is inconvenient to do so, either professionally or personally. (Keynote address delivered at the annual general meeting (agm) of the […]

“But the Tamil problem does not disappear, with the defeat of the LTTE. The Tamil population has legitimate grievances. They feel they are reduced to second-class citizens. the Sinhala chauvinism is a reality. But we have to find a difficult balance because what happens in Sri Lanka has a domestic dimension also.” Q 1: Sir, […]

After two and a half years, no suspects yet The investigation into the murder of the founding editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper, Lasantha Wickrematunge, has been unable to find a murder suspect even two and a half years after investigations into the incident since the main aim of the investigation is to blame former […]

The Rajapakse regime’s tested strategy of responding to all criticism through the propagation of and identification of conspiracies, scapegoats and ‘traitors’ might now be reaching its limits – dissent is seeping into the body politic. Himal, July 2011 The last two months in Sri Lanka have seen increasing international pressure coupled with domestic struggles against […]

June 30, 2011 / By KRISHAN FRANCIS, Associated PressHundreds of people protested Thursday demanding to know the whereabouts of their family members abducted by “white van squads” allegedly operated by the Sri Lankan government during the height of the country’s civil war.The protesters said they have not heard from their sons or husbands since they […]

by Ranga JayasuriyaOn Thursday (23) in Kilinochchi, the military dispersed a group of frail men and women who had gathered to get information on the whereabouts of their missing relatives. The protestors, many of who were ageing Tamil mothers and fathers who were clutching pictures of their missing children, had assembled at Depot junction, Kilinochchi, […]

“The comments of soldiers as they piled bodies of naked LTTE cadres onto trucks is yet another indication of disregard for the laws of war which clearly stipulates the treatment of both civilians and combatants. Speaking in Sinhala, the language of the Sinhalese, soldiers make lurid comments about the shape of the female bodies and […]

By Swaminathan Natarajan /BBC Tamil Mosques in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Kattankudi have made public announcements exonerating two teenage girls accused of watching pornography. The loudspeaker announcements were made following a court order.A group of men allegedly beat up the 17-year-olds last week after they came out of an internet cafe in Kattankudi, […]

Thursday, 30 June 2011/ By Olindhi Jayasundere The Defence Ministry has asked flower and plant exhibitors and sellers at the Vihara Maha Devi Park to vacate the area by tomorrow because of plans to beautify the City of Colombo. The Vihara Maha Devi Floral Exhibition Organisers Consortium which has a membership of 400 flower and plant […]

President should not be making comments without being properly informed about the current situation. 30 June 2011/ By Lakna ParanamannaThe Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) yesterday charged that it was unfortunate for the President to be unaware of the academics’ real demands.While responding to a statement, allegedly made by President Rajapaksa claiming that he […]

By S.S.SelvanayagamTen workers of the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) filed a fundamental rights violation petition yesterday before the Supreme Court against the impugned police assault on the peaceful demonstrators within the FTZ on May 30.In their petition filed through their instructing Attorney-at-Law Gowry Shangary Thavarasha, they cited the Police OICs of Katunayake and Seeduwa […]

MP Anura kumara “The so called All Party Committee headed by Prof. Tissa Vitarana had, after 127 sittings, produced a 11,000-odd page report, but there without a solution, he said. This time, too, the government was not concerned about the real issues of Tamil people living in the North and East, “June 29, 2011/ By […]

By Ranga JayasuriyaThe government on Tuesday (23td June) turned down an opposition request to table the report of the presidential commission, which probed allegations of corruption and irregularities in the procurement of high value military supplies for the security forces.Chief Government Whip and Minister Dinesh Gunawardene told the House that the report of the presidential […]

“Honest friends” : by Mr Alistair Burt, Foreign Office Minister for South Asia28 June 2011The events of the past weeks have brought uncomfortable focus onto the last days of the conflict in Sri Lanka. Allegations made in the media have recalled memories of a distressing time in Sri Lanka’s history. – Foreign Office Minister Alistair […]

by Namini Wijedasa WITH all the negative publicity Sri Lanka is generating internationally, even a few tentative steps towards enhancing democracy could go a long way. And yet the government seems hell-bent on taking the opposite direction. On June 21, the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) used its parliamentary majority to defeat a draft […]

It was not possible for the government to grant the salary increases demanded by university teachers, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday. There was a salary structure and the government had to stick to it and paying a salary of Rs. 200,000 to a university professor was impossible, he said.When several editors pointed out that university […]

The United States on Tuesday hardened its stand against Sri Lanka government cautioning it to take necessary steps to book the perpetrators of alleged war-crimes in the country and to bring together the war-torn north and east with the rest of the country after 26 years of war.The United States on Tuesday hardened its stand […]

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute says it is disappointed by the recent resolution of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka condemning both the appointment of the UN expert panel and its subsequent report. IBA-HRI says in a statement the panel was appointed to advise the UN secretary-general on issues of accountability with regard […]

28 June 2011/by Preeta SamarasanAmong some of my oldest relatives, there’s a custom of recording weddings gifts given and received in order to ensure that no family is left feeling cheated.So, for example, if Jupiter Uncle gave Volkswagen Uncle’s daughter one thousand and one ringgit* on the occasion of her marriage, then when Jupiter Uncle’s […]

A center-right bloc of Conservative parliamentarians in the European Parliament Tuesday expressed support for “a just and peaceful solution for the Tamil community of Sri Lanka” and for “a negotiated political solution which can achieve maximum autonomy and regional devolution to Tamil majority areas within a single Sri Lankan state”, as well as “justice for […]

WASHINGTON – THE United States on Tuesday urged Sri Lanka to move quickly to address allegations of war crimes, warning of rising pressure for international action if it does not. The State Department stopped short of endorsing calls for an international investigation into the bloody finale of the island’s civil war in 2009, saying that […]

Sutirtho Patranobis, June 28, 2011 A two-thirds majority in a 225-member Parliament usually means that in the last election the people overwhelmingly voted for the current government. But does that mean that citizens have abdicated the right to ask questions? Or, even better, have handed over the right to control their thoughts to thegovernment?Last week, […]

The case has fuelled concern about a rise in radical Islam in that area.By Swaminathan Natarajan BBC TamilSri Lankan police are investigating an assault on two girls apparently accused of watching pornography in the east of the country last week.A group of men allegedly beat up the 17-year-olds after they came out of an internet […]

Of 310 families which fled from their homes only 70 have returned to the village Poochchikoodu located in Raanamadu GS division in Batticaloa district, according to Batticaloa TNA parliamentarian P. Selvarasa. Authorities in Colombo are ignoring resettlement of Tamil families with a sinister motive to “Sinhalacise” border Tamil villages, Selvarasa alleged.Officials in Colombo have failed […]

Sri Lanka says Parliament Committee on political solution will strengthen Parliament-28 June 2011Sri Lankan President said that the appointing of a Parliamentary Select Committee to find a permanent political solution to the ethnic problem was by no means a delaying tactic, but one that sought to obtain the concurrence of Parliament for any decision made, […]

“There was no pressure from India on the thirteenth amendment of thirteen plus,” Rajapaksa told reporters.Responding to a query on the visit by Indian National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, he said the Indians had only discussed with him routine bilateral issues.The Indian officials visited Colombo […]

 What if the question indicated that the initial cost estimate of the 2018 CWG in Hambantota is some Rs 440 billion?  Will there be “overwhelming support” or will Sri Lankans think that the cost is way more than we could afford at the moment June 27, 2011, As reported in the media on Monday, the […]

Statement by Sri Lankan Civil Society Activists 27th June 2011 On 25th June 2011 we marked 500 days since the disappearance of Mr. Pattani Razeek, a Sri Lankan Human Rights Defender, Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund (CTF) in Puttalam and Executive Committee Member of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUMASIA). […]

witness our suffering 27 Jun, 2011 by Anamika Channel 4’s Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields is anything but understated. It is designed to shock, even if you are the most hardened of viewers. Images of blood-soaked bodies assail you from every angle. As a cellphone camera jerks around, you see the bulging eyes of a man-turned-killing […]