Features

‘The Indian government must act. It should exert diplomatic pressure on the Sri Lankan government and ensure action in this matter, PTI | ,Apr 28,2011 Chennai, Apr 28 (PTI): The CPI(M) state unit today urged the Indian government to exert ‘diplomatic pressure’ on Sri Lanka to ensure punishment for those responsible for alleged war crimes, […]

The DMK, a key ally of Congress-led UPA at the Centre, on Wednesday appealed to the Union government to make all efforts to ensure that those responsible for alleged warcrimes in Sri Lanka faced action. Referring to a UN report on ‘tens of thousands’ civilian casualties in the final stages of war between Lankan armed […]

PRESS RELEASE The Government of Sri Lanka refers to the release by the UN Secretary-General of the “Darusman Report” on accountability in Sri Lanka.  The Government of Sri Lanka reiterates its position that the “Darusman Report” is fundamentally flawed in many respects and that among other deficiencies, the Report is based on biased material, which […]

by M A Sumanthiran(text of SJV Chelvanayakam Memorial lecture 2011) I consider it a great honour to have been asked to deliver the Thanthai Chelva memorial oration this year. Last year too I had the honour of delivering the key-note address at the annual commemoration ceremony held in Jaffna on the 26th of April. Today, […]

26 April 2011 The report, which was made public today, concluded that tens of thousands of civilians were killed in northern Sri Lanka from January to May 2009 and that the Sri Lankan Government knowingly shelled areas where it had encouraged civilians to gather. The report gives credibility to allegations that both the government and […]

Apr 27, 2011, NEW DELHI: Reacting to the report by a UNSG-appointed panel of experts, which has accused Colombo of committing war crimes, India said it was willing to engage Sri Lanka on the contents of the report. India is having to walk a tightrope over the issue because of its concerns over the still […]

Tue Apr 26, UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The United Nations feared for its staff in Sri Lanka as government troops crushed a Tamil separatist uprising in 2009, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said defending the actions of UN agencies. As pressure grew for an international investigation into the killing of “tens of thousands” in the […]

Truth and accountability are not divisible, and a single failure of international justice is also a collective one When Richard Goldstone, the judge who headed a UN fact-finding mission to Gaza, partially recanted last month – an act that was disowned by fellow members of the mission – the saga was used as Exhibit A […]

“The eyewitness accounts and credible information contained in this report demand a full, impartial, independent and transparent investigation,” the High Commissioner said. “Unless there is a sea-change in the Government’s response, which has so far been one of total denial and blanket impunity, a full-fledged international inquiry will clearly be needed.” GENEVA (26 April 2011) […]

“In Sri Lanka there are funds collected by employees after working for 30 or 40 years. This is an attempt by the government to collect the money in the ETF and EPF, put it into one account to invest and fall into trouble.” said the Secretary Trade Union Federation, Saman Rathnapriya. April 26, 2011 : […]

 No one can deny that there were several thousands of causalities during the war. Very many factors contributed for this situation. How or why did this happen?. All these must come to light. You are aware that I am neither a flatterer nor a stooge of the Government or of the LTTE His Excellency Mahinda […]

Rather than coming out with such an unqualified statement, why can’t the panel recommend a Sudan-model referendum among Eezham Tamils in the island, to see whether they are divided or united on the question of independence? TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 April 2011. Eezham Tamils hoodwinked by war crimes indictments that are doubtful of materialising into actions, […]

April 25, 2011    The Expert Panel’s finding that the government and Tamil Tigers committed abuses and that the government has failed to hold its forces accountable shows the need for an international investigation. Russia and China should stop blocking efforts to find justice for victims in Sri Lanka and support the panel’s recommendations. – […]

Many such stories have been shared by Vanni people, particularly families of those directly affected, during hearings of the government appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in the North. Such stories are also reflected in the submissions to the LLRC by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka and Church of Ceylon and Church […]

Mon Apr 25, UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The Sri Lankan army killed most of the tens of thousands of civilian victims of a final offensive against Tamil separatists in 2009 but both sides may be guilty of war crimes, a UN panel said Monday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he could not order an […]

The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) issuing a press release yesterday condemned the advisory document of the UN General Secretary’s expert panel. The release said: “The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna is of the view that the advisory document of the so called expert panel comprising three persons is entirely a result of personal exercise on the part […]

April 26, 2011      * Influential polling firm’s global wellbeing surveys in 2010 claims only 5% in Sri Lanka are thriving    * Says high wellbeing eludes the masses in most countries as majorities in 19 out of 124 countries “thriving,” mostly in Europe and the Americas Despite the end of the war, doubling of per […]

April 25, 2011, 9:01 pmUrges govt to meet legitimate grievances, rights and aspirations of Tamils The Communist Party of Sri Lanka says UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s move, at the behest of a section of the international community, is motivated and dictated by their global strategies and geo-political interests and not by humanitarian considerations or through compassion […]

Tuesday, 26 April 2011 The BJP has said that India should not bail out the Sri Lankan government from being implicated in the report of the UN panel of experts for violation of human rights during the final stages of the war with the LTTE, ‘The Hindu’ reports. BJP national executive member L. Ganesan has […]

New York, 25 April 2011 The United Nations has today made public the advisory report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on accountability with respect to the final stages of the decades-long armed conflict in Sri Lanka, which was submitted to him on 12 April 2011. The decision to release the report was made as […]

If the Government says that it is flawed as it has been quick to do, surely would not the simplest option have been to issue a sober and calm denunciation of its contents and findings without all this unseemly hysteria?   By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Could anything have betrayed our desperation more clearly than the […]

Gorden Weiss says the UN should have exerted pressure on the Sri Lankan government to stop attacks on civiliansThe United Nations should have done more to prevent civilian casualties at the last stage of the war in Sri Lanka, a former UN spokesman said. Gorden Weiss, the UN spokesman in Colombo during the peak of […]

    * Banging Ban Ki-moon as Bakamoona may not be the best course as diplomatic blunders contributed to this crisis    * Russia and China will go thus far and no further for Lanka, while India may take neutral stand By Our Political Editor Ministers have been “grounded”. A directive from President Mahinda Rajapaksa says they […]

The mysterious leaking in Colombo of the Darusman (UN) Report was accompanied by a carefully choreographed outbreak of patriotic-hysteria. The President, in a hyperbolic-excess, declared his willingness to brave the electric chair  By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The illusion of destiny extracts a remarkably heavy price”. — Amartya Sen (Identity and Violence) The mysterious leaking in Colombo […]

by Steve A. Morrell The United Nations (UN) is being used by Western imperialist powers which have been acting in an acrimonious manner against Sri Lanka, National Languages and Social Integration Minister, Vasudeva Nanayakkara charged last week. “They are scheming to put Sri Lanka and the Government into difficulty by making baseless war crimes allegations”, […]

This brings us to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). It is a pity that some organisations and individuals declined to give evidence before the LLRC. By doing so, they have made the same mistake that the Government made in not engaging with the UNSG’s panel. The composition of the LLRC includes some outstanding […]

Justice demands that. We must find the whole truth, not just one side. It is wrong for the government to react from the one side, they must think of the Tamil side too. The LTTE too must be investigated (The Sunday Leader’s Faraz Shauketaly spoke to Head of the Global Tamil Forum, Father Emmanuel, asking […]

Even as Sri Lankans cry foul and engage in a finger-pointing, tongue wagging, mud-slinging exercise against UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, none of us, and that includes the entire local and foreign media in Sri Lanka were present in the hinterlands of the Wanni or anywhere near the Nandikadal lagoon as the war drew to […]

Saturday, 23 April 2011 Sri Lanka says the UN panel of Expert report on Sri Lanka has the ingredients of the LTTE remnants and the Tamil Diaspora. Sri Lanka Government spokesman Media minister  Keheliya Rambukwella  said that skeletons of various statements and utterances made by the LTTE rumps and the Diaspora during the last stages […]

Apr 23, 2011 (LBO) – A much respected retired Sri Lankan business executive, financial professional, Chandra Jayaratne, has written President Mahinda Rajapaksa to stop state plans to build a controversial pension fund by dipping its hands into the salaries of private sector workers.Jayarante has been actively campaigning to improve the liberties of all the people […]