Overview: The Sri Lankan government defeated the terrorist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. Concerns remain that widely reported allegations of atrocities and violations of international law committed by both the government and the LTTE during the civil war have not been addressed. Partly as a result, counterterrorism cooperation and training with the […]

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is preventing president Mahinda Rajapaksa from implementing the recomendations of the LLRC, government minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara has said in an interview. The government had ignored a list of proposals put forward by a group of ministers, including himself, to implement the LLRC recommendations, introduce a political solution and to cooperate with […]

The overall measure for each country is based on a basket of 10 indicators. The number in each row is drawn from the source for that particular indicator. The sources of data and calculations used are detailed on   Sri Lanka ranked 26th in 2014′s Peoples under Threat index and fell five places from 2013′s ranking.Visit […]

Samaraweera: Sharma, act now ”We recall that you promised Sri Lanka would put plans in place to change its legislative procedures to remove senior judges within weeks of a key meeting of a Commonwealth Ministers Grouping (CMAG) in April last year. We were further encouraged by your announcement that the Commonwealth Secretariat will assist Sri […]

”In the context of dialogue on the establishment of a comprehensive truth and reconciliation commission, I urge the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure that such a transitional justice mechanism explicitly seek accountability for sexual violence crimes and that national authorities put in place the necessary services, remedies and reparations for survivors.” – Conflict related […]

Muslim IDPs in Manner Wilpattu dispute: Presidential Task Force allocated lands for Muslims – Mannar DS * Sinhalese (2.6 percent) given 378 acres after clearing scrub jungle Mannar Divisional Secretary S. Keetheswaran, refuting allegations by the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) that Muslim families driven out of the Musali Pradeshiya Sabha Division by the LTTE in […]

Are all Tamils terrorists? The need for caution and space to heal  by Dilrukshi Handunnetti  Earlier this month, the Sri Lankan Government by special Gazette, listed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and 15 Tamil Diaspora groups –considered LTTE front organizations by the Sri Lankan State– together with individuals. It was to be viewed […]

SL police ( file photo) A special police unit to handle religious disputes will be established today at the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, the government announced.  The religious disputes unit would operate similar to the tourism and environmental police units that currently operate, Police Media Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana said.  According to […]

General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) Joseph Stalin accused Army is collecting data of school children, teachers and principals in the North. Stalin said the process had been carried out by the Army throughout the recent past and it had instilled fear in the hearts of the school children, teachers, principals and parents. […]

A key focus of the human rights discourse in Sri Lanka during this period was the UN Human Rights Council sessions in March 2014, where a resolution on Sri Lanka was passed, condemning the ongoing human rights violations, impunity for past violations and asking the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to undertake an international […]

Against 70%? Leader of the Democratic Left Front and Minister of National Languages and Social Integration, Vasudewa Nanayakkara, said more than 70% of the government ministers and MPs in Parliament were in favour of abolishing the Executive Presidency.What the country requires is a major constitutional amendment which will do away with the Executive Presidency system, […]

A “friendly” NGO is to watch the interests of the Sri Lankan government at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) mandated international probe into allegations of war crimes  against its security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) due to commence in June. Diplomatic sources told The Sunday Island yesterday that despite […]

Cyril Ramaphosa ”The South African initiative would probably take shape only after Ramphosa’s visit to Colombo next month. So it is too early to talk of Indian response to the initiative. At the same time, India had been stressing the need for resuming the stalled reconciliation process which had been delayed by the negative tactics […]

”OHCHR will pursue these behavioural, institutional and legislative changes in cooperation with relevant partners, using the different strategic tools at its disposal – monitoring and reporting, capacity-building and advisory services, advocacy and awareness-raising (see chapter one) – on the basis of an assessment of the specific context. It is expected that if achieved, these results […]

S.J.V. Chelvanayakam S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Memorial Oration -”The National Question: All about State Power”  Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne -President’s Counsel I am thankful to the S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Commemoration Committee for inviting me to deliver this memorial oration on the occasion of the 37th death anniversary of S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, Q.C., a revered leader of the Sri Lankan Tamils. […]

The University of Jaffna’s Student Union in a statement on Friday condemned an extensive military search of the male students’ residence, which the Union describes as a breach of security that has created a tense atmosphere around the campus. The Union also criticised the administration for remaining mute on the subject, including the fact that […]

AI photo Stone harted persons and officials in the island are a hurdle to the possibility of bringing reconciliation between the Tamil and Sinhala people, Bishop of Mannaar Rt Rev Rayappu Joesph told TamilNet this week citing how the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry scuttled a joint visit by him and the Bishop of Anuradhapura Rt. […]

Duminda Happuarachi An innocent passenger who was allegedly assaulted by the police during a protest at the Fort railway station last week is to file a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition against the police over the incident. Duminda Happuarachi claims he was assaulted by the police when he got caught between the police and the mob […]

One of them- Mayor H,tota The  thug  attack on visiting  UNP MPs at Hambantota harbour is the responsibility of  some ministers, ministry officials & heads of institutions, the Speaker said at the parliament on Thursday. He further added that he is very guilty on the  fatal incident  which took place at  the Hambantota harbour , […]

More photos below Sri Lanka (SL) is perhaps the only country in the whole world where shooting at a target training is given to players of another sport apart from marksmen. The pictures herein show some of the players of SL rugby team being given special training in use of firearms at eastern Trincomalee alongside […]

Editorial – Ceylon Today The government is mooting new laws to monitor funds received by local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). At his regular breakfast meeting with newspaper editors on Thursday, responding to a question by a newspaper editor, the President revealed plans to formulate the new law. He said under the laws that existed before 1977, […]

S. Premachandran (© S.Deshapriya) With the military claiming to have shot dead Selvanayagam Kajeepan alias Gobi and two others who were said to be attempting to revive the LTTE in the North, several Tamil political parties and civil society organisations have raised doubts on the possibility of any such rebellious activities. According to some, the […]

John Rankin Economic sanctions on Sri Lanka are not in the interests of his country, and movers of a UN resolution are expecting progress which would make such questions redundant, UK’s envoy to Colombo said. “Sanctions are not currently an issue,” High Commissioner (ambassador) John Rankin told an LBR-LBO CEO forum on meeting the challenges […]

Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Bangura briefs the press. UN Photo/Evan Schneider Special Representative  Zainab Bangura briefs the press. UN Photo/Evan Schneider Despite unprecedented political momentum to fight rape in war zones, sexual violence remains a global crime affecting women, men and children in more than 20 countries, a senior United Nations […]

Zainab Bangura Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, April 24 — Amid reports of rapes in Sri Lanka targeted at Tamils, Inner City Press on April 24 asked the UN’s Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, what if anything the UN is doing about it. UN video here from Minute […]

UNP supporters oppose casino bill ”The problem lies with not legalizing the casinos, but, with the government’s secretive clandestine approach.Sri Lanka may be heading in the wrong trajectory. It would soon become a mirror image of Cambodia, Packer’s latest casino destination.  Cambodia suffers an aggravated version of many of ailments that affect Sri Lanka: corruption, […]

The SL criminal defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse had 21st Monday issued an automatic firearm and matching bullets in compliance with the request made in writing by Bebedhu Galagoda Aththe Gnanassara Thero, the leader of the Bodhu Bala sena (BBS) which has by now been condemned and classified as a terrorist organization internationally. The firearm identified […]

The briefing External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris today briefed the Colombo based diplomatic community regarding the action taken by the Sri Lankan government against groups and individuals involved in terrorist funding and other activity connected with plans to revive terrorism.  The Minister said that the government’s action in designating 16 groups and 424 individuals […]

 National Shoora Council Press Release – on contempt of Quraan by BBS The National Shoora Council (NSC) urges the government and its principal law enforcement agency, the police, to ensure prompt prosecution of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) led mob which forcibly disrupted under threat of death the 9th April press conference of the respected […]

BBS mob rule ”The anarchic conduct of the BBS et al too is indicative of emerging trends. The Rajapaksas can beat back a Sinhala opposition, a Tamil opposition and a Muslim opposition. But a Lankan opposition, united across ethno-religious divides, can mount an effective challenge to the Family. Therefore the Rajapaksas need to keep the […]