Eurasia ReviewSri Lanka is not credibly investigating torture, Amnesty International said on the eve of a review by the UN Committee Against Torture into the country.  In its briefing to the UN committee, Amnesty International, working closely with Sri Lankan human rights defenders, documented a persistent pattern of torture of detainees and a culture of […]

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the new registration rules introduced by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) for websites hosting any manner of content on the country, which has led to the blocking of several websites for internet users in Sri Lanka. These include Lanka News Web, Sri Lanka Mirror, Sri Lanka Guardian […]

PRESS RELEASE/STATEMENT BY EU HEADS OF MISSION IN COLOMBOEU Heads of Mission in Colombo view with concern the recent blocking of various news websites in Sri Lanka. The EU considers that freedom of press forms an integral part of any democratic system. The EU therefore believes that the media should be allowed to operate independently. […]

BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI(AP)Sri Lanka has blocked five news websites because they committed character assassination and insulted people including key political leaders, officials said Monday. Media groups criticized the moves as undemocratic, and the U.S. Embassy recently raised concerns about press freedom in Sri Lanka.Sri Lankan laws do not restrict the press from criticizing leaders, but media […]

UNP Kurunegala District parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara speaking to the Daily Mirror online today said that the stock market is run by a mafia with black money. “The stock exchange is completely dominated by a few people who are investing their illegal money into the system and at the end of it all they make their […]

Andrew Buncombe His name was Abi, he was six, and the last his family glimpsed of him was in the frenzied moments after deadly shells struck close to the bunker where they had been sheltering. His sisters were gravely injured, his mother too, and the young boy put his arm around her. “Mother,” he sobbed […]

President holds out veiled threat to late Bharatha’s daughter –flees country in fear Lanka-e-News  The Regime chief Mahinda Rajapakse has held out illicit veiled threats to the grieving widow and daughter of late Bharatha Lakshman who was murdered allegedly by kudu (drugs) Duminda recently.When the post mortem was being held some days ago , the […]

 Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne This government is going along the path of destruction; that is looking from the side of the poor and the proletariat. Prices are rising, while incomes of workers are not rising to compensate for inflation. In reality, people have become poorer, as their buying power is becoming less and less.Art, music, drama and […]

Tisaranee Gunasekara“The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it”. John Hay (Castilian Days II) ‘Either you are with us or against us’: that was the Rajapaksa leitmotiv during the Fourth Eelam War. According to this credo, only those who supported and obeyed the Rajapaksas, uncritically and unquestioningly, were considered ‘friends’ by […]

Refugee agencies have blasted a ruling by a Swiss federal court backing the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers to post-civil-war Sri Lanka. The Federal Administrative Court said despite existing human rights concerns it was still safe to send asylum seekers back to all but one area of Sri Lanka – thereby upholding a decision made […]

Amal Jayasinghe Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s president has vowed to turn his war-battered nation into the “miracle of Asia,” but a controversial new nationalization law is seen as a major blow to hopes of wooing foreign capital. The government says the move will boost investor confidence in the south Asian country, hungry for foreign […]

A survey revealed that certain websites violate the country’s laws, says media ministry Media watchdogs in Sri Lanka have raised serious concerns over the latest move by the government to block certain websites seem to be critical of the government.The Free Media Movement (FMM) said the government is now targeting the new media despite facing […]

 Leon Berenger More news websites were blocked yesterday as the Government said those carrying news relating to Sri Lanka should register with it – prompting strong protests by the main opposition United National Party. Following the ban on lankaenews website, the government yesterday blocked SriLankaguardian.com, paparaci.com, gossip9.com, srilankamirror.com and lankawaynews.com., which is the official website […]

Gibson Bateman, New YorkFor the Tamil people of Sri Lanka’s north and east, the end to conflict has not engendered the positive changes one might have hoped for. When President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government achieved victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009, most of the LTTE leadership was killed. It is […]

REUTERSSri Lanka ordered news websites on Saturday to register with the Media Ministry, in what critics called a further step toward restricting media after the banning of an anti-government site last month.“It’s a request from the Media Ministry to register (news) websites with the ministry,” said Director General of the government’s Information Department Ariyarathna Athugala.He […]

(Srilankamirror)  The Army is to establish a development and construction company that will come under defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, says Army chief Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya.  This company will undertake and assist development work of the state in an efficient and cost effective manner, he says. Roads, bridges, houses, stadiums and parks will be built and […]

Shamindra Ferdinando Those countries wanting to haul Sri Lanka before an international war crimes tribunal, over accountability issues, are preparing to attack the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report, which is now expected to be handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Nov. 19 – four days after the lapse of a deadline to finish […]

(AFP)  Sri Lanka on Saturday warned websites to register with the authorities after the United States expressed deep concern over Colombo’s blocking of a popular Internet-based dissident publication.  The Ministry of Mass Media and Information said many reports posted on dissident websites amounted to character assassination of President Mahinda Rajapakse, his ministers and top officials. […]

Industrialist turned Ampara district UNP organizer Daya Gamage who owns the Sevanagala Sugar Industries Ltd. yesterday said direct and indirect livelihoods of around 50,000 people would be at stake due to the government’s plan to acquire properties of his factory through the proposed ‘Revival of Underperforming and Underutilized Assets Bill’. Addressing a hurriedly summoned media […]

(Srilankamirror) The government is considering halting the payment of pensions of retired pro-LTTE public servants who act against Sri Lanka from overseas, ‘Divaina’ reports. It quotes Pensions Department sources as saying that five million dollars are spent annually to pay the pensions of these retirees in the US, Australia, India, Canada and Britain.  In certain instances, […]

Srilankamirror- www.srilankamirror.com website has been blocked by the internet service provider Sri Lanka Telecom. As a result, updating the website has become difficult.  Our attempts to contact Telecommunications Regulatory Commission director general Anusha Pelpita for a comment were unsuccessful.  We apologize to our readers over this unfortunate situation which has come at a time when we […]

Darini Rajasingham-SenanayakeFacades of Development: Of Commonwealth Games and Drag Racing @ Green PathWe woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of screeching tires, booming exhausts and the smell of burning rubber recently. My cousin’s children had nightmares and could not get back to sleep when the test runs were done. Calls […]

Shibly Aziz PCA draft (Bill) of a law proposed to be passed by Parliament titled The Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Assets Act was recently referred to the Supreme Court for its consideration as a Bill that is ‘urgent in the national interest’ in the opinion of the Cabinet of Ministers, acting under Article […]

The Federal Administrative Court has ruled that rejected asylum seekers from Sri Lanka can be sent back to their country.  The Swiss Federal Office for Migration had ruled Tamil refugees could return to Sri Lanka, and a previous Senate vote confirmed that view.Opponents appealed to the court, saying Tamils face arrest, intimidation or in some […]

 (Srilankamirror) – The Sevanagala Sugar factory, owned by Daya Group of Companies, has been illegally taken over and occupied by thugs employed by Coconut Development Minister Jagath Pushpakumara, said the Group’s media unit in a statement. The Group said in the statement, this illegal and forced takeover has taken place amidst a government move to table […]

”For a population of a little over 20 million in Sri Lanka, we have a total military strength of approximately 200,000 and a police force (including STF) of around 75,000. That means the law enforcement/military density (or ratio to population) is about 8 to 1. To understand this in proper context, the total population has […]

ESPNcricinfo staffThree of Sri Lanka’s international venues, including the newly built stadiums in Pallekele and Hambantota, have been handed over to the military indefinitely because Sri Lanka Cricket is unable to afford the maintenance costs.The R Premadasa stadium in Colombo – redeveloped for the World Cup earlier this year – is being taken by the […]

(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state entities have been badly hit by the appointment of unqualified persons to top positions and while annual accounts were not available for some, a media report said.   “The appointment of unqualified people to top management posts on political grounds and the lack of financial and administrative disciplines had ruined many […]

Charles Haviland The armed forces in Sri Lanka are to take over maintenance of the country’s most prestigious cricket stadiums.The country’s heavily indebted cricket board says it can no longer afford to carry out the task.The sports ministry has announced that the army, navy and air force will each look after one stadium. However, some Sri […]

As part of the Rajapakse regime’s plan to give over the administration to army control, with sudden and immediate effect from today, all the International playgrounds in the Island which were under the Sri Lanka Cricket Association had been brought under the purview of the defense Ministry. Accordingly, the Premadasa cricket playground , the Dambulla […]