The European Union (EU) has decided to back moves at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to actively support efforts to enhance accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, including a credible and independent investigation into the alleged severe crimes during the civil war, as well as to address the current human rights situation in the […]

Govt. ‘killed’ my role – Benaragama; Yasas’s ‘And Company’ banned  Actor Jagath Benaragama says a popular channel has ‘killed’ the role he was playing in a tele drama, as he is contesting the upcoming provincial council polls from an opposition party.He says the role he had been playing in the tele drama was a key […]

ATTACKS ON JUDICIARY AND LEGAL PROFESSION UNDERMINE THE RULE OF LAW AND PREVENT ACCOUNTABILITY WITHIN SRI LANKA  – ICJ statement The Sri Lankan justice system cannot ensure accountability for human rights violations and war crimes because the judiciary has been deprived of its independence and impartiality, and lawyers suffer intimidation, hindrance, harassment and improper interference.•    […]

Congress may pass resolution US congress may pass resolution A resolution on Sri Lanka submitted last week to the US Congress and now being considered by the Committee on Foreign Relations, is likely to get to the next stage.According to an agency tracking the resolution, there is a 73 percent chance it will go to the […]

Laksiri Fernando‘International pressure’ is something much talked about these days particularly in the context of the impending 3rd resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC next month. If one is not totally blind or prejudiced, it is clear that as a result of the previous two resolutions (2012 and 2013) and concurrent international pressure, that […]

By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo   One of Sri Lanka’s most prominent journalists, Mel Gunasekera, was stabbed to death in her home, on Sunday. Although this death does not appear to have been politically motivated, Sri Lankans have reacted by lamenting what they say is the “brutalised” nature of their country. To wake up to […]

Just days after his return to Colombo from the Washington visit, Weeratunga figured in ITN’s talk show Doramadalawa (Gateway). Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was among those who took part. Here are translated highlights of what he said: “What I felt during my visit to Washington and Geneva was that they tend to pressurise us more, […]

Ranga Jayasuriya Early this week, the General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, giving evidence in a Court hearing, on an attack on the Calvary Church at Araliya Place, Thalahena, alleged that 374 organizations, registered under the Company Act, are involved in ‘unethical conversions’ of Buddhists in the country. He alleges […]

The Secretariat for Muslims in collaboration with the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has been documenting the harassment, intimidation and violence perpetuated by extremist groups against the Muslim community in Sri Lanka.The several groups of monks that identify themselves as saviours of Sri Lankan Buddhism and act in ways that are discriminatory of minority religions […]

The intelligence wing of the occupying Sri Lankan military and the ‘Terrorist’ Investigation Department (TID) operatives in the North intimidate and threaten the families of the missing persons as many of the victims were not prepared to give up their complaints. The latest harassment comes in the wake of the so-called ‘independent’ Presidential Commission on […]

We have implemented 85 per cent of the LLRC’s recommendations By PTI – COLOMBO The opposition today blamed the Sri Lankan government for leaving room for the world community to interfere in the country’s internal matters over alleged rights violation duirng the war against Tamil Tiger rebels.A senior leader of the United National Party (UNP) […]

Young teenagers are at greater riskPhoto: Amantha Perera/IRIN  Sri Lankan authorities have expressed concern over an increasing number of reports that children are dropping out of school in the conflict-affected north, where economic pressure and poor prospects are creating conditions that could have negative consequences for the future development of the region. Most of the […]

Farhan Haq, the Acting Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that theThe United Nations (UN) has reiterated there needs to be accountability in Sri Lanka over the alleged incidents which took place during final stages of the war. This was stated by him at the  UN Daily Press Briefing today answering questions from Matthew Russell […]

For some time now it has been quite clear to economists that assessments of economic performance cannot be solely focused on overall income growth, but must also take into account income distribution.This is because a growing body of research has established that where the income inequalities are large and widening it’s often the case that […]

The Government says it will take at least a year to implement a bulk of the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).President’s Secretary Lalith Weerathunga reiterated the Government needs time and space to address the issue. Speaking in a Government propaganda video titled “Sri Lanka: Reconciling and Rebuilding” aired in the US, […]

Lakshman KiriellaThe UNP today said that there were human rights violations committed by the Government and they need to now set things right.UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella said that the Weliweriya incident where villagers were attacked when demanding water and the Welikada prison riot where several inmates were killed, are good examples of human rights being […]

Darisha Bastians the Government is with UNHRC Sessions in March, staving off an international war crimes inquiry may prove the least of its troubles. Having alienated its most crucial ally across the straits and with inaction by Colombo forcing  a reaction by some of the world’s most powerful nations to act, Sri Lanka’s real problems […]

you cannot miss these bill boards One of the very first things passengers getting off planes at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport see is a huge portrait of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The view remains pretty much the same as one travels across the island. You cannot miss the billboards and posters in every nook […]

Reuters COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka has refused a visa request for a U.S. State Department official, the U.S. Embassy said on Tuesday, after Washington signaled it would propose a U.N. resolution against the South Asian state over alleged war crimes.However, Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry said the embassy’s statement “was not a correct representation […]

Sri Lankan government minister GL Peiris has tried to justify a wave of attacks on churches and mosques, claiming that these were simply community reactions to unauthorised facilities. The state’s refusal to protect religious minorities further undermines human rights in Sri Lanka overall.For instance, two churches in Hikkaduwa were attacked during Sunday worship on 12 […]

GENEVA — Senior Sri Lankan government officials and military officers may bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during an offensive near the end of the island’s civil war, according to a new investigation that backs calls for an international inquiry into those events.The investigation, released on Tuesday by the Public […]

Sri Lanka’s battle theatre was sealed off from the outside world by the Sri Lankan Government.  International journalists were unable to access the war zone, and so could not directly report on the impact of the conflict on hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped inside. In early September 2008, the United Nations (UN) and international […]

Returnee woman with two grandchildren As of February 2014, four-and-a-half years after the end of Sri Lanka’s internal armed conflict, there were thought to be as many as 90,000 people still living in internal displacement as a result of it, most of them with host communities. Of more than 480,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) registered […]

12-year old son of a Tamil rebel leader Tom Allard  – National Affairs EditorPicture of Balachandran Prabhakaran, the 12-year old son of a Tamil rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Assassination: Balachandran Prabhakaran, 12, the son of the Tamil Tigers commander, where he was allegedly held in captivity, before he was later found shot dead. Sri Lankan […]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa today slammed attempts to bring a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next month. The United States is to sponsor the resolution on Sri Lanka’s human rights situation but the President says the resolution will be a grave crime against peace. Addressing the Nation at the […]

PR: Do you feel that an international investigation into the alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka in 2009 is justified and what do you make of the recent comments by the Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka Lalith Weeratunga that if such an investigation were commenced, IPKF must also be investigated?​RH:  Yes, I think […]

Catherine Russell In what is likely to be treated as a major diplomatic insult, the Sri Lankan Government has refused a visa to US Ambassador at Large for Women’s Issues, Catherine Russell, forcing her to cancel a high-level visit scheduled for February 10-11.“It is regrettable that the Government of Sri Lanka has refused to grant […]

J Jayalalithaa Demanding that India move a seperate resolution against Sri Lanka in a UN body next month, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today said Congress-led UPA however would not do that and claimed “scenes will change” after Lok Sabha elections where her AIADMK will have a say in this matter. Jayalalithaa said there were […]

Washington is once again trying to put pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to commission a credible independent investigation of crimes and human rights abuses committed during the end of that country’s bloody civil war in 2009. It was a good move to send a senior American diplomat to the island nation last weekend […]

”The past two years witnessed a negative turn in good governance of the country. The situation which had led to the impeachment of the Chief Justice, the inability of the government to enact a right to information law, and the lack of genuine interest of the government to control the uprising of extremism, indicate our […]