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Ahisma Wickrematunge has filed a complaint against Senior Superintendent of Police W.Thilakaratna for attempting to aid Udayanga Weerathunga to escape arrest, at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC). The complaint has been filed on 21 Feb 2020. In her complaint, she says that 0n 07 February 2018 acting under case number […]

The Defence Ministry has established a Task Force (TF) to monitor the progress to speed up the on-going investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) into last year’s Easter Sunday serial terrorist attacks in the country, which had claimed more than 250 lives, reports defence.lk. The six-member TF, which includes top officials from various intelligence […]

Image: On 19th at a public meeting in Galaha, President Rakapaksa has said that ” Do not consider the independence given to judiciary as our weakness.” (Lankanesweb) When Sri Lanka’s President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa reportedly articulates that, ‘unnecessary judicial interventions are harmful to democracy’ (The Island, February 21st, 2020), one is intrigued. Pray, what would a […]

Image: Kapila Chandrasena & Nishantha Wickramasinghe. The Board of Inquiry on Sri Lankan Airlines. The Board of Inquiry was appointed on 16th February 2015 . Its members were J.C.Weliamina, Chair Person (President’s Counsel and social activist), U.H. Palihakkara (Chartered Accountant, former Chairman of Finance Commission), BAW Aberywardana (f Accountant, an expert in procurement and public […]

Image: According to the report, a number of countries have already banned the burqa. | Photo Credit: AP. (PTI)The report suggested that the police should have the power to ask anyone wearing a face covering in a public place to take off such clothing in order to establish the identity of the person. A Sri […]

Image: how countries vote on Sri Lanka resolution in 2012. Sri Lanka government has decided to inform UNHRC 43 session it’s commitment to achieve sustainable peace through an inclusive, domestically designed and executed reconciliation and accountability process, including through the appropriate adaptation of existing mechanisms, in line with the Government’s policy framework. This would comprise […]

Image: Major General (Retd) Prasad Samarasinghe served as the Army Spokesman and the Director Media of the Sri Lanka Army. Major General (Retd) Prasad Samarasinghe Appointed Chief Manager Of Lotus Tower Colombo Sri Lanka Government has appointed two more Retired Major Generals to rin civilian institutions. Retired Major General Prasad Samarasinghe has been appointed the […]

Image: The best chance of a political settlement is while Tamil leader R. Sampanthan is alive and active. He is the only one with the moral authority to persuade the Tamils and the international community. After him, no one will have that stature. The ‘diplomatic drone strike’, the dramatic US strictures against the Army Commander, […]

Collective travel ban imposed on the Army Commander and his family by the USA. The United States of America has prohibited the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva or members of his family from entering that country. Even though we are now in the 21st Century, even members of his family […]

Image from berkeleyhighjacket.com. Issuing a statement National Peace Council of Sri Lanka says that “the appropriate path for Sri Lanka to take at the present time would be that of restorative justice where the state would acknowledge the human rights violations and crimes of the past that occurred on all sides and focus its priority […]

Summary: Pursuant to resolution 40/1 of the Human Rights Council, the present update assesses the progress made in implementing Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, particularly during 2019. While some progress has been made since 2015 in promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in line with […]

Just two days after the meeting with  Rep. Ami Bera assured that the United States in Colombo, TNA has met with visiting United Kingdom Parliament Member, the Rt. Hon the Lord Malcolm Bruce PC and emphasised that need for finding a political solution to the ethnic conflict of the country. In response Lord Malcolm Bruce  […]

Sri Lanka government is going to deploy a police officer for each school in the guise of a drug prevention program. This program will  be launched to eradicate the drug menace from school children, stated the Ministry of Education, Ada Derana reports. Under the program, interested parents or past pupils of each school will be […]

Colombo, February 18 (newsin.asia): On the grounds that the Sri Lankan government’s 2015 decision to co-sponsor the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution No: 30/1 on it was gravely flawed, the incumbent Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime has decided to withdraw the co-sponsorship. A top official in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office told newsin.asia that the decision to […]

Say, who will be the happiest over the US ‘travel ban’ on army chief, Lt-Gen Shavendra Silva – and more so, when it comes to the timing of the American announcement? Not, not even the Sri Lankan Tamil community or the TNA. It’s not even the SLT Diaspora, which has persisted with their anti-Rajapaksa since […]

Image:A Sri Lankan policeman keeps watch at a demonstration in the capital, Colombo, on August 14, 2014.   © 2014 Getty Images  C/O HRW. Reprimanding several CID officials, Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake today repeatedly emphasized that the CID’s behavior in arresting and producing suspect Udayanga Weeratunga over the alleged MIG 27 deal was unusual and […]

In a meeting with the Tamil National Alliance today in Colombo, Rep. Ami Bera assured that the United States will do all things possible to ensure that the Government of Sri Lanka delivers on its commitments to the International Community. Rep. Ami Bera  is a Member of Congress and Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on […]

Image:A woman holds a picture of a missing relative at a protest calling for investigations into enforced disappearances, Colombo, Sri Lanka, February 14, 2020.  © 2020 AP Photo Rajapaksa Government Should Uphold Commitments to UN Rights Council says HRW. (New York) – Sri Lankan security forces and intelligence agencies have intensified surveillance and threats against families of victims […]

Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena today (16 February 2020) formally conveyed to the US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz Sri Lanka’s strong objections on the imposition of travel restrictions by the Government of the United States of America on Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, Commander of the Army and Actg. Chief of Defence Staff, as well as his […]

Image: The 19th Amendment had nothing to do with the removal of an IGP. The escalating clash of words (hopefully, not arms) between the Attorney General (AG) and the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) over the failure to ‘immediately’ file charges against an interdicted High Court judge on the basis of allegedly attempting to […]

United States Ambassador Allaina B. Teplitz has been summoned to the Foreign Relations Ministry today to be told of the government’s displeasure over the travel ban on Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Shavendra de Silva, considered a ‘war hero’ in Sri Lanka, and his family. Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who will meet her at noon today, […]

Image: During the final stages of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, center, commanded an army division the United Nations accuses of rights violations.Credit…Ishara S. Kodikara/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. By Maria Abi-Habib and Dharisha Bastians/Feb. 15, 2020. NEW DELHI — The United States has imposed an entry bar on Sri Lanka’s army chief, Lt. Gen. […]

Image: Vikalpa (14 February 2020) In Sri Lanka, many families of the forcibly disappeared mark 14 February as ‘Missing Lovers Day’ in remembrance of their loved ones and to demand truth and justice The Sri Lankan government must deliver justice, truth and reparation to the families of the forcibly disappeared, Amnesty International said today, as […]

SRI LANKA TAKES STRONG OBJECTION TO THE IMPOSITION OF TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ON LT. GEN. SILVA AND HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY BY THE US Media Releases | Fri, 14 Feb 2020 It was announced a short while ago that the US Department of State has designated Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, current Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and Acting […]

Public Designation, Due to Gross Violations of Human Rights, of Shavendra Silva of Sri Lanka Under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. PRESS STATEMENT by MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE The Department of State has designated Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, current Commander of the Sri Lanka Army […]

Speaking at UN Security Council Open Debate on ‘Peacebuilding and sustaining peace: Transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict situations’ on 13 February 2020, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN Mrs. Kshenuka Senewiratne said that ” when seeking mechanisms of transitional justice, related simple theories would need to take cognizance of the various historical, […]

Issuing a statement after the meeting with visiting EU delegation. the TNA says that “The EU delegation assured that their concerns on the justice for missing persons and ascertain the truth will be reflected soon in their decisions.” Full statement fellows: The European Union delegation led by Ms. Paola Pampaloni Director, Deputy Managing Director, Asia […]

During an address to senior Buddhists leaders at the Vibhajjavadi Dhamma Symposium and Maha Tripitaka Pooja on 4 January, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the defence of the Buddhist order is central to ensuring unity and the protection of religious freedom of Sri Lankans who profess other faiths. Just one day prior, his brother, […]

PHOTO: Mr Chen has been publicly critical of the Chinese Government over human rights abuses and media suppression. (Supplied) A citizen journalist who has been critically reporting on Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus crisis from the city of Wuhan has been missing for almost a week, according to his family. Key points: Chen Qiushi reported many hospitals […]

Image: A father has written his disappeared son’s name on a remembrance wall, Malidu Liyanage David and the day of the disappearance.  © sunanda deshapriya The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) has commenced issuing Interim Reports to families of the missing and disappeared in order to obtain a Certificate of Absence (CoA), Saliya Pieris P.C. […]