by Zachary Edward Walko The South Asian Centre for Legal Studies (SACLS) held a panel discussion to present their recommendations for a roadmap for implementation of HRC Resolution 30/1, adopted on October 1, 2015. Panelists included Attorney-at-Law A.M. Faaiz, Bhavani Fonseka Senior Researcher and attorney from the Centre for Policy Alternatives and TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran. SACLS’s […]

Excellencies, Colleagues, Friends, I would like first of all to welcome His Excellency Choi Kyong-Lim, who is presiding over his first session of the Council, and to thank the former President, Ambassador Rücker, for his sterling work. I am honoured to address this Council on the eve of its second decade. This is an anniversary […]

The direct police involvement in two high profile murders have been established, but a more alarming cover up that goes right to the top has also been uncovered, sources close to the investigation said. Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris on Thursday ruled that Sri Lanka’s former rugby captain Wasim Thajudeen had been murdered contrary to […]

Over 4,500 disabled in the Jaffna district have requested the government to include them in the state beneficiary grant scheme, a senior official at the Jaffna District Secretariat said. According to the data from the Secretariat, there were 8956 disabled in the district and of them only 2010 received the monthly grant of Rs 3000 […]

( Juan Méndez & Mónica Pinto) Two UN Special Rapporteurs are to visit Sri Lanka in April after the new Government agreed on the proposed dates. The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Mónica Pinto and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Juan Méndez […]

(File photo: Gotabhaya ordering DIG Anura Senanayaka – original image (c) Sanakav 16MM) Arrests likely in next two weeks, Suspects not permitted to leave country. A Deputy Inspector General of Police who had close links with the top brass of the previous administration is among the possible suspects in the Wasim Thajudeen case, authoritative police […]

(Chunnakam refugee camp: The small rusty zinc sheet-roofed homes that house 112 families. Pix by Indika Handuwala) It’s a showpiece of human misery and suffering in this northern capital where the ravages of a near three decades of separatist war have almost disappeared. Nestled amidst lush green tobacco and onion fields in Chunnakam, eight kilometres […]

Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was aware of the murder attempt of former MP Nadaraja Raviraj and arranged a payment of Rs 50 million to the Karuna faction, a police constable of the intelligence unit, claimed giving evidence before Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage yesterday. The witness, Liyanarachchige Abayaratne, claimed that the murder was carried […]

Thank you, Ambassador Taylor. It’s a real pleasure to be here today at the U.S. Institute for Peace, which has long sought to bring together and give voice to the constituencies for peace building and reconciliation. I also want to thank the Heritage Foundation, and especially Lisa Curtis, for co-sponsoring this discussion and also for […]

By Mangala Samaraweera. ‘Reconciliation and Development’, as you would agree, are intertwined. It is difficult, almost impossible, to have one without the other. At the time we gained Independence, in February 1948, Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, was in a unique position among the countries in the developing world as she had experience of representative government […]

(A worker looks on at the Colombo Port City construction site, which is backed by Chinese investment, Feb. 2. © Reuters) TOKYO — Sri Lanka has reversed its earlier decision and decided to allow Chinese investment in a port development project near its capital, Colombo. Situated off India’s southern tip, Sri Lanka serves as an […]

“Dismissed with outright contempt”. This was the common response of Muslims all over to Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Chairman Basheer Segu Dawood’s demand for a separate Muslim Province. During a discussion on the proposed constitution in Kattankudy on Saturday 20 February 2016 Segu Dawood had said Muslims cannot give up their demand for a separate […]

In October 2015, the Sri Lankan Government made historic commitments to the people of Sri Lanka and to the Human Rights Council (HRC) “to undertake a comprehensive approach to dealing with the past, incorporating the full range of judicial and non-judicial measures” aimed at delivering truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.1 These four pillars […]

University of Jaffna’s administration and Senate decided to implement a code of ethics for the university students and staff. Accordingly, the following instructions have been given by the university authorities. * Wearing denims and T-shirts are banned during the lectures. * Every Fridays women should wear sari. * Students and Academic staff are not permitted […]

( U.N. resolution calls for all alleged war crimes to be investigated and tried in special courts by international judges) By Idrees Ali. WASHINGTON –  Sri Lanka’s foreign minister said on Thursday he is willing to consider international participation in investigating possible war crimes during the 26-year Tamil insurgency. “I think it is only fair […]

(SLB) Northern province chief minister Wigneswaran wanted to  discouraged mixed marriages between Sinhalese and Tamils until the minority Tamils attain parity with the majority Sinhalese in terms of rights. His two sons are remarried to Sinhalese upper class women. Mix marriages among the upper class of Sri Lanka has been in practice for a generations. […]

( Samaraweera speaking at the Launch of Consultations on Reconciliation Mechanisms in Jaffna) By Mangala Samaraweera. On January 8th President Maithripala Sirisena was elected on mandate for true national unity, reconciliation and accountability. In fact, point 93 of President Sirisena’s 100 day work programme says,  “Since Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the Rome […]

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Tuesday informed the Homagama Magistrate’s Court that the very first voice tape connected with the suspect soldiers serving at the Army Camp in Giritale who had abducted missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda had conspired to kill him after the abduction. Senior Superintendant of Police Shani Abeysekera presenting evidence on behalf […]

“Human Rights Watch Asia Head is violating my human rights,” “He (Brad Adams of HRW ) must make sure that he ensures the human rights of everybody. If he does not know how to respect the human rights of the Army Commander who is a Field Marshal and also a Parliamentarian as decided by the […]

(A  protest launched by several professional organizations against the ECTA  in Colombo) The Ceylon Chamber has reaffirmed  its fullest support towards an agreement that widens and deepens our economic engagement with India, while reiterating the need for systematic stakeholder consultations, clear and coherent communications, and firm commitment to tackling issues faced by businesses. The statement issued […]

It was reported that the Commanding Officer in Jaffna, Major General Chagi Gallage, was transferred to Army Headquarters in Colombo last week, following a heated argument with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. The Major General was transferred to Colombo following the Foreign Minister’s refusal to include two military officers in the committee proposed by the Human […]

According to Deputy Government Whip Ajith P. Perera, MP,  the UNP and the SLFP has reached a consensus on drafting a new Constitution. Addressing the media at the Information Department, MP Perera, who is also the Deputy Power and Renewable Energy Minister, claimed that all proposals made by the SLFP had been accommodated in the […]

by Nikhil Narayan Image courtesy IRIN “The regime has changed, but the system remains the same; how can we expect justice from them?,” asked a Tamil nun who survived the brutal conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers in Vavuniya district in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Her sentiments echo a growing sense […]

Astrologer Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena has revealed that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his latter stage in office resorted to various black-magic without his knowledge and carved and pricked thorns to a statue of common candidate Maithripala Sirisena reports Daily News. Report further says that Mr, Sunandasa made  these revelations to Social Empowerment and Welfare Deputy Minister […]

London — I gave a talk last month at the Galle Literary Festival in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. This festival, whose home is in the southern city of Galle, has become over the past decade one of the brightest lights in Sri Lanka’s cultural firmament. This year, it established “outreach” festivals in Kandy, in Sri Lanka’s […]

The Systematic Country Diagnostic is a comprehensive assessment of constraints and drivers of progress towards the twin goals of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity.  It is an important input to how the World Bank Group engages with its client countries. Findings: Sri Lanka is in many respects a development success story.   Growth has averaged […]

( Activists call for the release  of Tamil Political prisoners) The release of Tamil prisoners in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) hit a snag as the prisoners refused to accept the flexible terms of parole the government has offered, Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D.M. Swaminathan told the Sunday Observer. […]

The TV anchorman, who revealed his temptation at hurling a ‘gadol baage’ – half brick – on Sri Lankan operatic soprano Kishani Jayasinghe, has been hit by a ton of bricks. Kishani Jayasinghe, recipient of high international acclaim as a soprano, gave a spell-binding rendition of the old Lankan favourite Danno Budunge in operatic style […]

These are curious times indeed. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his supporters who treated the Sri Lankan media and the legal system as their family hunting ground are struggling to emerge as newfound libertarians. We witness with enormous skepticism their ‘strutting and fretting’ on the political stage to protect the propriety of appointment to the […]

( A morning scene in Jaffna town. Pic by Indika Handuwela) JAFFNA: The thundering roar of a MiG-27 engine on training sorties over the skies of this peninsula revived memories of the brutal three-decade-long separatist war. Hindu Primary school students in the town area panicked. A teacher asked them to lie flat on the ground […]