[Families of the disappeared has been on the street for a long time campaigning for justice (c) sunanda deshapriya, Aug 2016] Enforced disappearance of persons remains one of the widely known human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The war that ended in May 2009 took the figure of the alleged abductions and disappearances to alarming […]

By Dharisha Bastians. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has called for introspection by the country’s mass media on World Press Freedom Day which was celebrated globally yesterday, in a speech that urged journalists and editors to decide if they wanted to go back to the ‘dark ages’ or see the quality of their freedoms enhanced through […]

I was asked to comment on the Sri Lanka government’s decision to extend value-added taxes to the telecom industry. Below is my response. I have always taken the position that telecom services should be treated no differently from other goods and services. Therefore, I do not object to making telecom services subject to VAT. The […]

Gotabaya Rajapaksa left for America several weeks ago. It was to be known that Mahinda had told his close associates that he had gone to America to visit his mother-in-law and inquire into her state of health. It was reported that the Tamils For Obama organization had requested that he be taken into custody because […]

The Supreme Court has apprised the Parliament some sections of the Right to Information bill are not consistent with the constitution thus it needs a two third majority, the Speaker announced today. The observation was made when this was discussed at today’s Parliament section, Ada Derana reporter said. The Speaker has also said it required […]

First Court decision in South Asia to make general pronouncement recognising the human rights of all people living with HIV. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has welcomed a decision by Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court to prohibit HIV discrimination in education settings. The country’s highest court issued the directive in response to a […]

The leader of the Opposition Hon. R. Sampanthan met wit the Party leaders who staged a demonstration against him on alleged forcible entry to the military camp. Party leaders thanked the honorable opposition leader for briefing them on this issue and requested him to organize a visit for them to see the places in North […]

(An auto-rickshaw drives along a flooded street in Colombo, Ishara S. Kodikara | AFP | Getty Images ) By Leslie Shaffer/CNBC. Sri Lanka’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have averted a crisis, but the bailout may undermine a key source of strength: the country’s impressive economic growth rate. The deeply indebted country […]

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) marked World Press Freedom Day by releasing The Road to Resilience: Press Freedom in South Asia 2015-16. The 14th annual report documents the press freedom situation, national and regional activities to empower journalists and capsule reports on important issues of South […]

In the wake of increasing media suppression all over the world, I would like to call upon the government of Sri Lanka to take immediate steps to demonstrate its commitment to media freedom and ensure its protection in our country. Disturbingly, Sri Lanka has been ranked 141 out of 180 countries in the World Press […]

Every Tom, Dick and Harry in this country wants to teach journalists a thing or two about how they ought to do their work. Those self-interested busybodies range from the bigwigs at the very top of the government to the Kachcheri clerks in the periphery and the NGO captains of civil society to the fishmongers […]

COLOMBO: Cash-strapped Sri Lanka announced on Sunday (May 1) it was setting up a special panel to chase after nationals likely to figure in the “Panama Papers,” a trove of leaked documents on global tax evasion. The government, which came to power in January last year on a promise to clean up corruption, has accused […]

(Canadian Tamil Congress with the support of Trincomalee Welfare Association (Canada) committed to build temporary houses for these 41 women headed families. A little over $100,000 was raised through the Tamil Canadian Walk-a-thon for the Sampur housing project which was held on September 13th 2015. TNA leader R.Sampanthan delayers them open) By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan. […]

28.04.2016, (Geneva) – At 10 years, the UN’s peak human rights body should move to become more accessible to rights holders, more protective for victims of human rights violations, and more effective in holding States and non-State actors to account. In a joint civil society paper published on the occasion of the anniversary of the Human […]

( Sivaram showing victory sign at Kilinochchi) Today’s event focuses on one man. Today morning, there was a protest in Colombo, organized by a coalition of media freedom groups and others, demanding accountability for Sivaram’s murder. It is fitting that events to remember Sivaram are held in both North and South, as he had also […]

With a woeful history of repressive state regulation of the media still fresh in our collective memory, the ‘Yahapalanaya’ Government’s announcement this month that it will set up an ‘independent authority to regulate the electronic media’ caused many to jib nervously and shy away. Unconvincingly persuasive explanations Apparently the proposed authority would be vested with […]

The Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) will file legal action against the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for allegedly funding the election campaign of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in January, last year. An authoritative police source said the FCID would file a B report in court in this regard within the next three weeks. The […]

Editorial, The Sunday Leader. More laws – less Justice: Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman philosopher, politician and a great orator of his time. We need to find refuge in the words of such wise men, even 2000 years after they were made, to overcome the stupidity of our modern day rulers who try to fashion our […]