News

 by Leon BerengerThe funeral of the slain Free Trade Zone (FTZ) worker, 22-year-old Roshen Shanaka was held amidst a large gathering and under tight security at the Gal Oluwa, St. Augustines Church in Minuwangoda yesterday evening.Thousands of mourners ranging from factory hands, schoolchildren to friends, relatives and others flocked to the tiny church from early […]

Criminal Procedure (Special Provisions) Act extendedBy Chandani KirindeThe Government has extended the operation of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provisions) Act which provides for the extension of the period of detention of persons arrested without a warrant and enables the Attorney General (AG) to directly file indictment in the High Court in certain cases […]

By Our Dipomatic EditorThe Indian Government will insist on following up on the points contained in the controversial Joint Statement issued a fortnight ago following the visit of Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris to New Delhi for bi-lateral talks.India’s position will be reiterated when the postponed visit to Colombo of a high powered […]

By Kishali Pinto JayawardeneThis week, a friend speaking to me on the phone, paused when I remarked that it took ordinary workers to teach this administration, its most telling lesson since it was returned to power post war, while the intelligentsia cowered under their beds, (metaporically speaking), except for some rare exceptions. I was then […]

Those who gave illegal orders still at large 04.June.2011, Lanka e news is in receipt of clear palpable evidence that on the 30th , the day the Katunayake free trade zone protests were staged , the police not only targeted the protestors on the streets but also the workers within the factories when they went […]

04.June.2011We are compelled to reveal with deep regret that the final funeral proceedings of young Roshen Chanaka who was ruthlessly murdered by the police faced obstruction from Rajapakse regime’s army owing to their forcible disgraceful intrusion into it.About a group of about a thousand army officers headed by a Brigadier had carried out this operation. […]

A  special investigation by Channel 4 featuring devastating new evidence of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka is screened at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, as pressure mounts for action. The documentary is an hour-long investigation into the final weeks of the bloody Sri Lankan civil war and features damning new evidence of […]

SRI Lanka deployed heavily-armed troops around the country’s main free-trade zone on Friday as tension mounted ahead of the weekend funeral of a factory worker shot dead by police, officials said.Soldiers were placed in the Katunayake zone, just next to the country’s only international airport where a range of international companies from India, Japan, China […]

By Saroj PathiranaA doctor who describes himself as Sri Lanka President’s personal physician is accused of prescribing a banned substance to Sri Lanka’s opening batsman Upul Tharanga.Upul Tharanga was reportedly informed by the ICC that traces of Prednisolone was found in his blood sample randomly taken during the World Cup co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka […]

A Statement issued by the Lawyers for Democracy Lawyers for Democracy (LfD) is shocked at the violence meted out to protesters at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and calls for an immediate halt to such violent practices and an independent investigation as to what transpired.The use of force was against workers who challenged the […]

04 June 2011/By Lakna ParanamannaHundreds of student monks marched to Temple Trees yesterday to protest the government’s suppression of people’s fundamental and democratic rights.The protest march which began at the Vihara Maha Devi Park continued right up to  Temple Trees without being stopped by security personnel unlike on previous instances.The barriers placed at the Kollupitiya […]

by Hui Min Neo GENEVA (AFP) – Sri Lanka came under renewed pressure this week at the UN Human Rights Council over video footages detailing violations allegedly committed by soldiers during the country’s civil war. A UN investigator authenticated some of the footage early this week, while at the end of the week, a documentary […]

GENEVA | Mon May 30, 2011/ By Barbara LewisVideo footage of summary executions apparently committed during the Sri Lankan civil war appears to be convincing evidence of “serious international crimes,” a U.N. special envoy said on Monday.The charge adds to pressure on Colombo to submit to an international inquiry into allegations that thousands of civilians […]

The International Federation of Journalists, co-author partner organisation International Media Support, and 37 signatory members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), including co-authors the Writers in Prison Committee – PEN International, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters sans Frontières, endorsed the following letter at IFEX’s General Meeting held in Beirut, Lebanon on May […]

AFPSri Lanka’s top military commander offered on Thursday to probe “specific allegations” of war crimes during the country’s fight against Tamil Tiger separatists that ended two years ago.Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said no civilians were killed by his forces, but he was open to investigating alleged rights abuses in the final stages of fighting.“I am […]

Gradual erosion of judicial independence in Sri Lanka concerns IBAHRI The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) is concerned about the increasing erosion of judicial independence in Sri Lanka. In a confidential letter, dated 19 May 2011, the IBAHRI outlined its concerns to the Government of Sri Lanka in regard to the 18th Amendment […]

1 June 2011/By the Socialist Equality PartyThe Socialist Equality Party (SEP) condemns the brutal police crackdown unleashed by the government on protesting workers in Katunayake free trade zone (FTZ) on Monday. Police attacked workers with tear gas, water cannons, clubs and fired live bullets.The SEP calls on the working class throughout the country to come […]

02 June 2011Attorney for the three Tamil plaintiffs who filed civil action against Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse for monetary damages under US’s Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in the District Court of District of Columbia, informed the Court Tuesday that defendant, Mahinda Rajapakse, has avoided service of process by not accepting mail sent by […]

02 June 2011 / By Nabeela Hussain Hundreds of Katunayake Free Trade Zone employees are stuck within the Zone unable to leave the area due to conflicting orders given by the government and the army, several trade unions said yesterday.The Free Trade Zone Workers Union (FTZWU) said according to a Board of Investment (BoI) directive, […]

 02 June 2011 /By Yohan PereraUnrest at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone had resulted in losses at many factories running into millions of rupees, Inter Company Workers Union President Wasantha Samarasinghe said yesterday.Mr. Samarasinghe blamed the police for the losses and said that in one of the companies losses were high as Rs 50 million. […]

 02 June 2011 / By L.B. SenaratneThe Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter the Most Venerable Tibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala thera yesterday said, in reference to the trade union action taken by the university academics, that the promises given to learned professionals should be honoured and university lecturers and professors should not be suppressed like university […]

Jun 1, 2011 Colombo: Members of the Joint Trade Union Alliance comprising 26 trade unions staged a massive protest today in Colombo against the pension reforms and the Monday’s police attack on Katunayake Free Trade Zone workers who were demonstrating against the proposed pension plan.The private sector employees marched along a busy street in Colombo, carrying […]

This is a tad confusing, since the US Ambassador at the time, going by this cable, did not seem to share the defence attache’s suspicion that the offers of surrender were ” a bit suspect anyway, and they tended to vary in content hour by hour, day by day.” The on-going ‘Defeating Terrorism: The Sri […]

by Melani Manel PereraClashes occurred on Monday when workers were protesting against a draft law that would not guarantee a lifetime retirement pension. Three people are said to have died in the incident.Police used tear gas and prevented wounded from being evacuated to hospitals.Catholic priests and human rights activists have firmly slammed the brutal police […]

 01 June 2011Channel-4’s announcement of screening of an hour-long film on Sri Lanka’s killing fields at UN on 3rd June, and the presentation of video footage to the UN Human Rights Council by the UN special investigator into extrajudicial killings, Christof Heyns, spread a gloomy war-crimes cloud over Sri Lanka making the terror-summit in Colombo, […]

Roshain Shanaka who received gun shot wounds during the protest against the proposed pension bill had died in Ragama hospital.The worker was in Intensive Care since he was shot during the clashes on Monday. Several police officers were also wounded as a result of retaliation by the protesting workers.Earlier Sri Lanka police chief, Mahinda Balasuriya, […]

01 June 2011 Police Chief Mahinda Balasuriya has decided to step down from his post this month, police sources said. An urgent meeting was also held at police headquarters today. The resignation comes amidst the police being criticized over the way they handled the protest by workers of the Free Trade Zone in Katunayake on […]

May 31, 2011/ by Zacki JabbarWhile one Katunayake Export Processing Zone worker remained critical and around 25 were being treated for injuries at the Negombo hospital, as a result of Monday’s clashes with the police, the main opposition, UNP, yesterday accused the government of having created a violent situation by trying to force an unfair […]

‘Workers spurned President’s offer to discuss PSP issue’ May 31, 2011,/By Shamindra FerdinandoUPFA MP Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle says a section of unruly workers had caused Monday’s brawl at Sri Lanka’s largest Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Katunayake and forced the government to shut down the facility on the following day. It could have been easily […]

Police, workers trade accusations – Katunayake EPZ closed todayMay 30, 2011By Lal Gunasekera and Norman PalihawadanaOver a dozen police personnel, including DIG Ravi Wijegoonewardene and many garment workers were injured in clashes between the police and the Katunayake Export Processing Zone (EPZ) workers  yesterday. The police alleged that they had no option but to use […]