Features

“Just as Russia opposed any Council discussion of Sri Lanka during the final, bloody stages of the conflict in 2009, on April 18, 2011 in the Council Russia raised a number of “procedural” objections, sources told Inner City Press afterward.“ By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, April 19 — Sri Lanka and the UN Panel […]

18 April 2011 Question:  A couple of questions.  Number one, on this Sri Lankan report, this report is now available all over in Sri Lanka by the Sri Lankan newspapers, who are reporting it.  The Secretary-General had made a position that he will wait for the reply from the Sri Lankan Government on the report […]

by Rajasingham Jayadevan Why ‘The Island’ newspaper best source to leak? The report was published with typographical errors causing embarrassment for the UN panel and the UN media Inner City Press has highlighted these errors in its news. Some of them are so material, distorting the very meaning of the comments. In a country where […]

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, April 18 — Three full days after portions of the Sri Lanka war crimes report was leaked, presumptively by the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, to The Island newspaper, the UN still at its Monday noon briefing did not release the full report. Inner City Press asked acting Deputy Spokesman […]

In an interview with Radio Australia, Gordon Weiss, a former UN spokesperson who accused Sri Lankan Government earlier of killing 10,000 to 40,000 Tamil civilians by discriminate shelling during the final stages of war, said that the real impact of the UN-panel’s report “really in its absolute clarity that grave crimes were committed and that […]

R. Sampanthan, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in his response to the leaked recommendations of the UN Panel, on Monday said that the TNA urged the Rajapaksa regime not to miss the opportunity to “constructively engage in a process which would result in all the Peoples of Sri Lanka being […]

Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political party on Monday hailed a leaked UN report which called for an international war crimes probe into the island’s political and military leadership. The moderate Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said the report, commissioned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, amounted to “irrefutable confirmation” of atrocities during the final stages of […]

The former UN spokesman in Sri Lanka Gordon Weiss tells Channel 4 News that a leaked UN report into “credible allegations” of war crimes represent Sri Lanka’s “Srebrenica moment”. Weiss told Channel 4 News they were at the “hard edge of humanitarian work” and were prevented from reaching the area by the Sri Lankan government. […]

The report of the ‘Panel of Experts’ of the Secretary General is an attempt to intervene in internal affairs of Sri Lanka for various political interests states the JVP and emphasizes that the imperialist intervention against Sri Lanka should be defeated. In a communiqué issued by its Political Bureau the JVP further states the anti-social […]

Government should face UN and international community taking the Tamil people on its side. Choosing the line of triumphalism based on the victory against LTTE to counter UN censure on accountability will be a political error. It is time to leave the war victory to history and start addressing the political aspirations of the Tamil […]

The three-member UN panel rejected Sri Lanka’s two-pronged notion of accountability that focussed on the responsibility of past Governments and of the LTTE, saying that the approach “does not envisage a serious examination of the Government’s decisions and conduct in prosecuting the final stages of the war or the aftermath, nor of the violations of […]

Groundviews The Island newspaper published today sections of what appears to be a large excerpt from the report of the UN Panel of Experts looking into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka. Inner City Press followed up with a report suggesting that the text was authentic, and that the UN […]

Reacting to the contents of the UN expert panel’s report on Sri Lanka’s war-crimes, Professor Boyle, expert in International Law, and Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, told TamilNet, “there is absolutely no way the GOSL [Government of Sri L anka] is going to implement any of them [panel’s recommendations], and the […]

“During the final stages of the war, the United Nations political organs and bodies failed to take actions that might have protected civilians,” said the United Nations Panel on Sri Lanka in its final report to Secretary General Ban-ki Moon. The report has also admitted that the UN system knowingly failed to release the casualty […]

COLOMBO (AFP) Sri Lanka’s president has called for mass protests against a UN report which urged a probe into alleged war crimes committed during the fight against Tamil Tiger rebels, his office said Sunday. President Mahinda Rajapakse said in an address to officials of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party that this year’s May Day rally should […]

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday lashed out at the UN experts panel report on the conduct of the Sri Lanka government and armed forces during the last stages of the war against the LTTE in 2009, saying there was an agenda behind the report and if the United Nations cannot protect one of its member […]

By Matthew Russell Lee WASHINGTON –  When the UN gave a copy of its long delayed Panel of Experts’ report on war crimes in Sri Lanka to the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa while withholding it from the press and public, the next steps were foreseeable.First, the government criticized the report as “flawed” and “baseless” while […]

Teams to visit Non-Aligned countries; White paper to explain justification for use of force to end terrorismBy Our Diplomatic Editor Sri Lanka will launch a diplomatic offensive in “neutral” countries to meet the allegations made against the government in the report of the three-member experts’ panel that advised the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on […]

Allegations found credible by the UN Panel The Panel’s determination of credible allegations reveals a very different version of the final stages of the war than that maintained to this day by the Government of Sri Lanka. The Government says it pursued a “humanitarian rescue operation” with a policy of “zero civilian casualties”. In stark […]

Saturday 16 April 2011A leaked United Nations report indicates “credible allegations” of Sri Lanka war crimes. Video first broadcast by Channel 4 News, showing alleged Tamil executions, formed a key part of the evidence. A leaked version of the long-awaited report by the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) panel reveals “credible allegations” of war crimes […]

By Matthew Russell Lee WASHINGTON DC, April 14 — On Sri Lanka, the Obama administration would like the Mahinda Rajapaksa government to “use” the Panel of Experts report on presumptive war crimes in the final stages of the conflict, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told Inner City Press on Thursday. Toner said the US has […]

A crackdown precedes a new report on the end of the civil war SRI LANKA’S government has got its retaliation in first. On April 12th a panel of experts delivered a report to the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, assessing whether war crimes were committed when the nation’s army bloodily won a long-running civil war against […]

H.Res.177 –Expressing support for internal rebuilding, resettlement, and reconciliation within Sri Lanka that are necessary to ensure a lasting peace. US Congressman GRIMM submitted new and strong resolution on Sri Lanka, focusing on human rights and US foreign policy. With the US State Dept. HR report, and UN Panel report on alledged war crimes by […]

By Charles Haviland BBC News, ColomboThe Sri Lankan government has rejected a report commissioned by the UN on alleged human rights violations at the end of the country’s war two years ago. The report, by a panel of rights experts, has just been submitted to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and to the government in Colombo. […]

President to meet trade union representatives By Yohan PereraAs several trade unions are gearing up to launch a protest against the proposed private sector pension scheme, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to hold discussions on the matter with all trade union representatives on April 25. Several trade unions including the Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU), Ceylon […]

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is studying an expert report into thousands of deaths during Sri Lanka’s 2009 military drive against Tamil rebels, as calls grow for an international probe. Ban has given himself just days to decide on recommendations made by a panel of experts which handed its report on […]

 Amnesty International Media Release (Washington, D.C.) A United Nations (U.N.) report on accountability for war crimes committed in the Sri Lankan armed conflict must be made public, Amnesty International said today as a panel of experts submits their findings to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “Sri Lankans must be allowed to see the panel’s findings. […]

Photos of the dead bodies with gunshot wounds of LTTE political wing leader B.Nadesan and S. Pulithevan who were killed by the military after surrendering with white flags at the last stage of the war have been published by the Tamil websites worldwide. The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly said that no LTTE leader who […]

Three senior police officers transferredSuspect left minister’s staff on Thursday – Press Secy By Lal Gunasekera Three top police officials have been transferred with immediate effect over their failure to take action against extortionists. Officers of the Colombo Crime Division on Sunday arrested Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva’s Parliament Affairs Secretary Jayasena Mudiyanselage Buddhi and […]

H. M. G. S. Palihakkara, LLRC, When domestic processes fail to find solutions to internal problems, external forces find space to advocate or even impose solutions for their own political or strategic convenience. Sri Lanka is no exception. Leadership failures since independence by all governments and mainstream political parties contributed to externalizing the conflict from […]