Features

04 May 2011 Q: Will the Government respond to the UN Panel report? If so, what will be contained in this response? No, the government has no intention of responding to the report. Because the report has been prepared and submitted to the Secretary General by three persons he has nominated on his own personal […]

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, May 3 — After the UN belated published its Panel of Experts’ report on war crimes in Sri Lanka, Inner City Press asked the French Mission to the UN in writing for a comment on the report and what should happen next. While the French mission never answered in […]

 04 May 2011By Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera The government has decided to write to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon notifying him of the accomplishments made locally and internationally up to date in the post war period, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told Parliament yesterday. Making his remarks in the House for the first time […]

2011-05-03Mr Speaker, The UNP wishes to place its views on the Advisory Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka, before the House at this preliminary stage, when some critical decisions have to be made by the Government. Let me briefly recap the background to the current problem. During the last […]

On 17th January 2011, at around 2 pm, two students of St. Xavier’s College, Mannar were abducted by a group of unidentified persons in a white van as they were returning from school.  (AJR aged 19 and AR aged 18) Both boys were in school uniform when they were abducted. There were no witnesses to […]

The UN report has returned us to that moment, and if intelligently and constructively used may help us explore roads not taken, toward a better, brighter and kinder future for all its citizens.  by Darini Rajasingham Senanayake It was my sense after May 18, 2009 when the LTTE was defeated that Sri Lanka was missing […]

A Citizens’ initiative based on consultations in the various regions of the country by Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, Dr. Fara Haniffa, Dr. Devenesan Nesiah Preamble Publish Post Sri Lanka was long famous for its rich social diversity and the harmonious co-existence of various communities. Since independence, however, there has been a failure to define and realize […]

The Court has ordered the AG to amend the Bill as per the union requests The Supreme Courts in Sri Lanka has ordered the Attorney General (AG) to amend the Pensions Bill for private sector workers. AG has agreed in courts to amend the Bill to include provisions for spouses to be paid following the […]

 By Olindhi Jayasundere The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) hotline 1929 for public complaints on child abuse has received 21,507 complaints up until April 30 this year, the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment said.. The hotline which was introduced in June 2010 was set up for the public to report incidents of any […]

02 May 2011 Martin Nesirky, the Spokesperson for the UN chief said Friday the United Nations has not seen an official response from the Government of Sri Lanka. While the United Nations is yet to receive a formal response from Sri Lanka on the report submitted to the UN Secretary-General by the Panel of Experts […]

02 May 2011, Two veteran Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) politicians, C.V.K Sivagnanam and Mavai Senthirajah, on Sunday urged international supervision of a process that guarantees both a proper negation process and the implementation of results in the talks between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). The two officials […]

02 May 2011 By Sandun A. Jayaekera President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday charged that external forces were trying to destabilize Sri Lanka by throwing allegations of Human Rights violations and war crimes. Addressing the UPFA May Day rally at the Colombo Town Hall Grounds, President Rajapaksa alleged that those who wrote reports against Sri Lanka had […]

BY TN Gopalan India is urged to mobilise international support for a war crimes tribunal Political parties in Tamil Nadu are seeking to mount pressure on the federal government on the issue of the alleged war crimes committed by Sri Lanka in the closing stages of the war against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. The parties […]

The regime continues to castigate the Darusman Report as a pro-Tiger document and a Diaspora conspiracy. And yet the full Report contains damning criticisms of the Tiger modus operandi plus a scathing analysis of the role played by the Diaspora in the rise of the LTTE. It also contains extremely serious charges against the Rajapaksa […]

May 1, 2011, The Federation of National Organisations has requested the government to terminate its talks with the TNA, as the TNA had sided with a section of the international community who are hostile to Sri Lanka. By siding with the anti Sri Lankan forces the “TNA has exposed its motives and confirmed in no […]

The Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) says that the UN Report of the Advisory panel of Experts on Sri Lanka commissioned by the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon is “unsubstantiated, flawed, presumptuous, irrational and prejudiced.” “The conclusions in the said report are an attempt to undermine the humanitarian efforts by the Government of Sri Lanka […]

Tamil group also demands detainees’ list, as media awaits joint statementBy Chris Kamalendran The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) met a team of government delegates on Friday to reiterate its request that the Concurrent List in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution be dropped. The five-member TNA delegation said the Concurrent List would reduce powers enjoyed […]

The LSSP calls upon the government to respond effectively and with dignity on the lines outlined here so that we can effectively defeat the machinations of the imperialist countries. We give our fullest support to the government in this endeavor. 28 April 2011 Following is the statement sent by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party on […]

Demonstrations in first week of May demanding detailed enquiryThe Communist Party of India (Marxist) will organise demonstrations in major cities of the State, demanding an enquiry into “war crimes” committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the final phase of the civil war. In a statement, CPI (M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said the […]

Senior Sri Lanka officials may be arrested and tried abroad as a result of the UN expert panel report on Sri Lanka, a legal expert said. Wijedasa Rajapakshe, an opposition MP, said it is possible for interested parties abroad to seek a warrant to arrest visiting dignitaries as a result of the UN report. Amnesty […]

30 April 2011 Diplomats, representatives of diplomatic missions and Non-Governmental Organization representatives in Colombo met at the United States Ambassador’s residence to discuss the United Nations Secretary General’s Panel Report. The meeting was reported to have been held at the invitation of US Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis on Thursday but the US Embassy refused to […]

   2011-04-30 17:33:42 China said Saturday that it believes the Sri Lankan government and people will handle properly problems conerning its civil war and urged the international community not to complicate the issue. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks when asked to comment on a panel report on armed conflicts in Sri Lanka […]

IN RECENT years the default mode for Sri Lankan diplomats has been a posture of affronted national dignity beneath a mask of outraged, sanctimonious innocence. This week, after the publication of a report by a panel of experts for the United Nations on the final stages of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war, some were recalled […]

‘Solheim transforms from peace facilitator to facilitator of war crimes indictment escape’ – Tamil Net  Friday, 29 April 2011,Norway’s former peace facilitator to the island of Sri Lanka, Mr. Erik Solheim, speaking to Norwegian state owned media NRK (Dagsnytt 18) on Wednesday, argued against any immediate international investigation on the war crimes in the island […]

In the wake of grossly misleading reports in the national media as to who the members of the Advisory Panel of the United Nations, appointed by United Nations Secretary General Mr Ban Ki Moon are, based on their uncritical acceptance of abuse by government politicians, the Sri Lanka Guardian publishes an authoritative sketch of their […]

“It seems therefore that sound strategy would oblige the democratic opposition, Tamil political parties and civil society in Sri Lanka to regain lost legitimacy among the populace by drawing the line at international intervention as well as immediate criminal accountability. This entails neither an abdication of Sri Lanka’s international obligations nor a renunciation of the […]

Sri Lanka is at a critical moment as it emerges from a decades-long war and rebuilds its politics and economy. There are worrying signs the Rajapaksa government already is heading in the wrong direction. That makes it even more important for leaders abroad to tread carefully, lest they inadvertently push the country back into sectarian […]

28 April 2011.Britain Wednesday welcomed the UN Panel of Experts report on the war crimes in Sri Lanka’s war and expressed support for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s decision to commission the study. Calling on Sri Lanka to respond positively to the expert panel’s report, the UK said accountability for war crimes must be resolved […]

28 April 2011.The Times newspaper (London) said Wednesday that the UN expert panel’s report on Sri Lanka’s war crimes confirms the newspaper’s reporting in May 2009 that the “Sri Lankan Government was party to the mass murder of civilians.” Referring especially to mass bombardment of civilians in so-called no-fire zones, the paper demanded that “perpetrators […]

TamilNet,27 April 2011, The wife of slain Batticaloa Commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on Thursday verified that the dead body shown in the photo released on Wednesday was that of her husband, Col. Ramesh. On Wednesday, a former member of the LTTE identified a photo leaked in recent days by the […]