by B.Raman The unhappiness in Sri Lanka over the Indian vote in favour of the resolution in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the question of the human rights of the Sri Lankan Tamils —action in respect of past violations during the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations against the LTTE and to safeguard their human […]

For the video in Sinhala http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMzX6Td5zwA  Minister Mervyn threatens to break limbs of journos– treacherous Journalists. Minister Mervyn Silva said 0:00 ” Yesterday there was a vote, I am thankful for all media those journalists who showed live coverage for hours the picture of sour faces of white men when they were criticized by UNHRC […]

Sri Lanka has, in a note prepared by Ambassador Tamara Kunanayakam for the African group, as requested by External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris, warned the UNHRC members of the dangers of the US resolution on Sri Lanka. Working with an initial draft provided by the Advisor to Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, she was able to […]

Health Minister and SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena yesterday exposed a major conspiracy involving Non Governmental Organisations to create anarchy in the country by launching a spate of strikes in the public sector during the 19th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Minister Sirisena said that the government has received reliable information that […]

Rajapaksa balances rhetoric with realitiesIn his first comments after a resolution against Sri Lanka was adopted at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, President Mahinda Rajapaksa balanced the need to play to the gallery with the compulsions of on-the-ground realities. While asserting that Sri Lanka would not tolerate any arbitrary interference, he refrained […]

The land belonging to Sri Lanka Postal Department where Mahiyangana Post Office is situated was seized on the 22nd by the Minister of Agriculture of Uva Provincial Council and leveled using bako machines states Lanka Postal Services Union.The Post Master of Mahiyangana Post Office Senadheera has made a complaint (No. CIB/22/282) to Mahiyangana Police. Despite […]

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday offered Sri Lanka an olive branch explaining India’s vote against it at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The PM in his letter said that Delhi made every effort to ensure the resolution was balanced. The PM said that it is India’s conviction that a meaningful devolution package […]

For the past couple of weeks, offices of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka have been communicating intensely with each other. Rajapaksa sent his close aide Bandula Jayasekara to New Delhi, where he held discussions with National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon. Sources say that the Sri Lankan president was informed […]

The Brussels-based think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG), released two reports on March 16—Sri Lanka’s North 1: The Denial Of Minority Rights, and Sri Lanka’s North II Rebuilding Under The Military—that expose the extent of the permanent military occupation of the country’s Northern Province after the defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil […]

A coalition partner in the Sri Lankan government said that Colombo should stop according any preferential trade treatment to New Delhi, two days after India voted in favour of a UNHRC resolution against it.“We should not grant favours to countries merely because they are our neighbours. India was the only Asian country that sided with […]

A group of military officers threatened the wife of missing Jaffna political activist Kugan Murugananthan yesterday (Mar. 23), alleges ‘We Are Sri Lankans.’  In a statement, the group says threats of this nature are very serious at a time when the military has been implicated in abductions in the North.Murugananthan, together with colleague Lalith Kumar […]

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka Friday rejected a UN resolution urging it to seek external help in probing alleged war crimes committed during an onslaught against the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels nearly three years ago.Acting Foreign Minister Dew Gunasekera told parliament that Sri Lanka will resist outside help to investigate violations of humanitarian law, a key […]

‘India is a loser’, the Sri Lankan media proclaimed in comments on Friday – a day after Colombo faced censure at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva – saying New Delhi had failed to carry other South Asian nations with it on the issue.‘India has failed to carry Asia, or at least South Asia […]

Ambassador Donahoe: My deepest wish is that this resolution and the result we just observed is an important step in a process of helping the Sri Lankan people move toward a lasting peace.The basic idea behind this resolution was to work with the Sri Lankan government in their efforts to reconcile all the people in […]

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says he is not bound to implement the resolution adopted at the UNHRC in Geneva.Expressing his opposition to the resolution, he said that he would neither care about it, lankacnews.com reports. According to him, the African, Middle Eastern and other Asian countries who had abstained at the vote, are opposing the […]

The CID is holding a Belgian filmmaker and his French girlfriend under house-arrest at a Negombo Hotel, Ravaya reports.The police are tightly guarding the premises and are questioning the couple without allowing them to venture out of their room, the newspaper says. The CID has seized a collection of DVDs from them, and is also […]

LLRC is a home grown solution and was not imported – Tissa Attanayake Sri Lankan opposition parties have expressed mixed views on the resolution passed against Sri Lanka in Geneva Human Rights Council on Thursday. The main opposition, United National Party said that the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was appointed by the president […]

President Rajapksa has vowed not to allow outside interference in Sri Lanka’s affairs. As the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted in, Thursday, a resolution asking Colombo to act on recommendations made by its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Buddhist prayers reverberated through the Sri Lankan capital. “It is a resolution that encourages […]

The passage of the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka is proof that the international community disapproves of the manner in which the Rajapaksa government is addressing the fallout of its Armageddon moment of mid-May 2009. The resolution, backed by India, asks Sri Lanka credibly to investigate allegations of rights violations in […]

Acting Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said yesterday media in Sri Lanka should exercise self censorship, with regard to matters pertaining to the country.Speaking at the Cabinet briefing held yesterday, he said that whilst media freedom exists in the country, media outlets should censor what they report, and media should not report on matters that […]

The High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay today warned that there must be no reprisals against Sri Lankan human rights defenders in the aftermath of yesterday’s adoption by the Human Rights Council of a resolution on Sri Lanka.During this Human Rights Council session, there has been an unprecedented and totally unacceptable level of threats, […]

Geneva, Switzerland – The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the resolution of the Human Rights Council adopted today on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka. The resolution urges the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of a report issued last November by the Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), […]

by Maihnda Samarasinghe Madam President, Thank you for this opportunity, as the country concerned, to outline our position in respect of the draft resolution before the Council. Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Plantation Industries of Sri Lanka addresses before the voting of resolution on Sri Lanka L.2 during the 19th session of the Human Rights Council. 22 […]

Whatever the outcome in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva is, Sri Lanka will not change its policies and ongoing projects, a government spokesman said on Thursday.Acting Cabinet spokesman Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena on Thursday said that the conduct of the government would not be changed depending on Thursday’s decision in Geneva. […]

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today welcomed the adoption of a resolution, co-sponsored by Canada, to promote reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka:“I am very pleased by the response of members of the UN Human Rights Council to the resolution on Sri Lanka. “Canada has consistently urged the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the […]

By Yolanda Foster, Sri Lanka team, Amnesty International Today, the Human Rights Council has made good on its mandate and voted for a resolution that will ensure a future for human rights protection in Sri Lanka. This is a vital first step towards justice for the thousands of people who have suffered during and since […]

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Nationalist Sri Lankan groups called Friday for a boycott of American goods to punish the U.S. for backing a U.N. resolution urging the South Asian nation to investigate possible war crimes during the final months of its civil war.But human rights groups and ethnic Tamil politicians praised the move as […]

Minister of Public Relations Mervyn Silva warned that he will break the limbs of some journalists, who have gone abroad and made various statements against the country, if they dare to set foot in the country. “I’m the one who chased one of those journalists ‘PoddalaJayantha’ out of this country. I will break the limbs of […]

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted in favor of a U.S.-sponsored resolution calling on Sri Lanka to again investigate alleged abuses during its 26-year civil war, stepping up pressure on the government in Colombo.The resolution that passed in Geneva today by 24 votes in favor to 15 against, with 8 abstentions, urges the Sri […]

(Reuters) – Sri Lanka should ensure government troops who committed war crimes towards the end of its war against Tamil rebels are brought to justice, the U.N. Human Rights Council said on Thursday.The Geneva-based forum adopted a resolution brought by the United States urging the Sri Lanka government to implement the recommendations of an official […]