President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said that 50 per cent of the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) had been implemented in line with the government’s post-war national reconciliation policy.  Commenting on the National Action Plan to implement LLRC recommendations as regards international humanitarian law issues, President Rajapaksa emphasized that the implementation […]

Screen Shot 2012-07-30 at 8.35.56 PM M.A.Sumanthiran, is a National List Member of Parliament from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Groundviews has carried in the past the Minister’s submissions to Parliament against the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, for which he faced the most outrageous heckling and insults within the legislature itself, and from fellow […]

 Public awareness and advocacy can help save young children By Amantha Perera – It was the ghostly silence that struck him hardest as he walked through the Colombo suburb of Kirulapone the day after the lifeless body of a six-year-old girl had been discovered floating in a filthy canal, Kumar de Silva, a well-known local media […]

Media Ministry Secretary Charitha Herath yesterday emphasized that the introduction of the ‘Right to Information Act’ couldn’t be at the expense of national security.  In spite of the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, the government couldn’t share everything, the Media Secretary said. Herath was responding to queries raised by those participating at the […]

By Namini WijedasaThe government made it clear last week that there will be no separate event on National Day to express solidarity and empathy will all victims of the war, as recommended by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.What would be observed instead was the present practice of continuing to “express solidarity as one nation […]

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R.Sampanthan and Tamil Nadu leaders are gearing up to give life to the dead Eelam dream of the LTTE terrorists, said Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka at a Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) convention in Maharagama today.  Addressing the gathering, Ranawaka said, “TNA Leader R.Sambandan is trying to start […]

Prof. Vitharana The Tamil National Alliance’s non- participation in the proposed PSC remains a major fetter to implement LLRC recommendations even as the government’s National Action Plan to implement Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations within a specific time frame is made known internationally, said Senior Minister of Scientific Affairs Prof Tissa Vitarana.  Prof […]

by Dr.Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri FUTA72812 6% of GDP for Education: Who is telling the truth?Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) is asking the government to prioritise education and to invest in education.Towards this end FUTA has shown a concrete figure of measurement: the allocation on education as a percentage of GDP.This is a globally accepted […]

Minister and  his wife In an unprecedented move, a top administrative position has been carved out in the Health Ministry for a Cabinet Minister’s wife whose earlier attempt to secure the directorship of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) was stalled following a Supreme Court (SC) directive, officials said.NHSL deputy director, Dr. (Mrs) Sujatha […]

Bishop Rayappu at the front ”We believe that by including the above in their election manifesto that there is a possibility that the TNA can lessen the impact of the argument that the Tamil people have accepted the Provincial Council system and a demerged North and East by participating in these elections. It is very […]

More than 2,000 graduate trainees in the Eastern Province have been given backdated appointment letters after the Provincial Council was dissolved ahead of fresh elections, officials said yesterday.The move was a clear violation of the election laws that prevent job appointments during the elections.  A senior government official told the Sunday Times the appointments were […]

Justice Balapatabendi The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIAOBC) is investigating over 60 complaints of corruption and illegal assets acquisition against politicians including MPs, Provincial Councillors (PCs) and members of Local Authorities, Commission Chairman Justice D.J.De S. Balapatabendi said. Along with these the Commission is also investigating complaints against several senior public officials […]

Kusal Perera Sri Lanka's President Rajapaksa attends the Executive Session III at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth  Photo credit: Daily FT The government announced (26 July, 2012) it has drawn up a comprehensive “National Action Plan to Implement the Recommendations of the LLRC” and has released same to the public domain. This […]

Dew The Socialist Alliance (SA) yesterday alleged that the forthcoming election to the Eastern Provincial Council could jeopardize the post-war national reconciliation process.  The government couldn’t be unaware of the ground reality, Senior Minister Dew Gunasekera, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka [CPSL] told The Island yesterday.  The SA comprises UPFA […]

Kuttimani and Jegan 1982 The occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) together with the SL Police on Thursday arrested former Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian and the political coordinator of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, a registered political party in the TNA alliance, for having put up posters remembering 54 Tamil political prisoners, including pioneer TELO leaders […]

Court order and Amare An order issued by the Tangalle High Court on Julampitiye Amare in April this year has come under scrutiny by members of the legal fraternity. While giving due respect to the court, the order issued by the judge in relation to Amare on an attempted murder case in the Middeniya Police […]

The Law & Society Trust views the reported attack on the Mannar court house by a group of persons, allegedly as a result of instigation by a Government Minister over an order made by a judicial officer as well as (reportedly) threatening phone calls made to the Mannar Magistrate cum District Judge regarding the same, […]

The government would submit the report which had listed the implementations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission to the United Nations within the next two or three days, External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris told a joint news conference at the External Affairs Ministry auditorium yesterday.  He was addressing the joint news conference […]

Read the Report as a PDF The Cabinet of Ministers yesterday approved the National Action Plan on the implementation of recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).  The Plan lists out implementation of recommendations according to Activity, Key Responsible Agency, Key Performance Indicator and Timeframe.The action plan covers International Humanitarian Issues, Human […]

Sri Lanka estimated Thursday it may take up to five years to investigate alleged killings of ethnic Tamil civilians by government troops at the end of the country’s devastating civil war — a timeframe criticized as an attempt to outlast international attention. The government recommended that investigators conclude inquiries into alleged killings within a year […]

Minister Bathiudeen. Seven senior lawyers today (July 25) filed a petition in the court of appeal against industries minister Risath Bathiudeen.  They are seeking an order for legal proceedings against the minister on a contempt of court charge.Threatening the Mannar magistrate, provocation that resulted in an attack on the Mannar courts complex and asking the […]

Daniel Flitton IMMIGRATION officials have forcibly deported a Tamil man suffering mental health problems to Sri Lanka, despite revelations former asylum seekers have been beaten and tortured on being sent home. In what threatens to be the first of as many as 150 cases of Tamils being involuntarily sent back to Sri Lanka on failing […]

Ahilan Kadirgamar As with most other societies ravaged by civil war, Sri Lanka’s public institutions have all suffered. Beginning in the late colonial period and continuing into the post-colonial era, the state made critical economic and social investments, particularly in universal free education and health care as well as a strong public service. Indeed, it […]

A group of Sri Lanka Army officers from the JOSSOP camp in Vavuniyaa, which is the operational headquarters of the occupying SL military in Vanni, have been visiting Mullaiththeevu district in recent days, exerting pressure on the families of the missing persons in the district to receive death certificates for the victims. Suresh Premachandran MP […]

A street sign in Colombo with Sinhala at the top followed by Tamil and English (IRIN) – Enhancing practical efforts to uphold the language rights of millions of ethnic Tamil-speaking Sri Lankans could play a key role in the country’s long-term peace and reconciliation, say analysts and activists. “Language parity is one of the biggest […]

Addressing a press conference in Vavuniyaa on Tuesday, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called for immediate release of all political prisoners who are held without any charges in the Sri Lankan prisons. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, representing the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) said that the International Community, especially the countries that backed the internal LLRC mechanism […]

By Govind Acharya Prison door in Sri Lanka Right now, hundreds of people are languishing in detention in Sri Lanka. They haven’t been convicted of any crime; indeed, they haven’t even been charged with any crime. Their detentions violate international law. Many of them are tortured while in custody. Some detainees have been killed.More than […]

Minister of Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen has reiterated that he never made any threat to the Mannar Magistrate and District Judge, and had not seen the Judge or contacted him over any matter. He said that as a responsible Minister, he knows the gravity of the crime and the consequence of threatening a member […]

Military in Jaffna by Nirmanusan Balasundaram “Given that 75% of the army’s divisions are stationed in the Northern Province, in addition to other formations such as task forces and independent brigades and regimental units, it is not unreasonable to assume that at least 60% of the army, i e, approximately 180,000 personnel, are stationed across the […]

By Camelia NathanielDespite the fact that it has been three-and-a-half years since the war that ravaged this country ended, the sufferings of thousands of war widows have been ignored.  These widows continue to live in poverty and suffer from social stigmatisation and economic deprivation, purely because they have lost their husbands.According to the Assistant Divisional […]