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India has instructed Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political party, The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to go beyond the 13th Amendment when they hold discussions with the Sri Lanka government on power devolution. Jaffna District TNA Parliamentarian Mavai Senadhirajah said however, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has categorically informed that the police powers would not and could not […]

We wish to question what human rights protection experience and credentials they bring to the Human Rights Commission. In short, the criteria that may have been used for selection is highly suspect. The Friday Forum is an informal gathering of public spirited persons who are dedicated to promoting peace and development in Sri Lanka within […]

KILINOCHCHI, 23 February 2011 (IRIN) – Former female combatants in northern Sri Lanka face a tough time returning to civilian life, with fewer marriage, education and job prospects due to stigma, say aid workers and activists. “Former female child soldiers are just not being perceived positively by society,” said Thaya Thiagarajah, a senior official with […]

By Wilson Gnanadass TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said the mandate the party has obtained from the people is to find an immediate solution based on a federal system and this fact must now be honoured by the present government. The TNA that had been branded earlier as the ‘LTTE’s proxy’ won 12 councils of the […]

Alan Keenan   1. The need for an international investigation The International Crisis Group, like others concerned with a sustainable and just peace in Sri Lanka, has been calling for the establishment of an independent and international commission to look into the many credible and well-documented allegations of war crimes in the final months of Sri Lanka’s […]

United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Colombo district Parliamentarian Duminda Silva was discharged by High Court Judge Sunil Rajapakse on March 24, on charges of rape and engaging in sex with an under-age girl. The judge accepted the request made by State Counsel representing the Attorney General that the latter has agreed to withdraw the indictment […]

By Manopriya Gunasekara Questioning the Attorney General’s withdrawal of murder charges and acquitting the accused in the Nampamunuwa murder case – former MP Chandana Kathriarachchi and three others – lawyer J.C. Weliamuna, watching the interests of the deceased said that the action was illegal. Former MP Kathriarachchi and three others were charged for murdering a […]

By Chris KamalendranThe Tamil National Alliance wants the Government to grant the Northern Province police powers besides the right to manage land and forest reservations. This request will be placed before President Mahinda Rajapaksa through a government committee in the course of periodic consultations. The TNA points out that these subjects are already listed in […]

“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”— Orwell (In Front Of Your Nose) By Tisaranee Gunasekara As the latest WikiLeaks-cables reveal, lies and deception occupy a position of honour in the Rajapaksa modus operandi. Open defiance is not the Rajapaksa way, when operating in an unfavourable climate of opinion. […]

President’s intervention sought By Arthur Wamanan University lecturers, threatening to step down from the administrative level if the government fails to increase their salaries are planning to seek President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s intervention for a salary hike. After their attempt to press the government for an increment failed, the irate lecturers last week decided to inform […]