News

by Basil Fernando,   The Asian Human Rights Commission which has documented over 1500 cases of torture and ill treatment by the Sri Lankan police has now compiled a report of 323 cases. In this presentation Mr. Basil Fernando, the Director of Policy and Programmes explains the causes of police torture in Sri Lanka and the […]

Twenty-six Sri Lankans deported by the UK have arrived back in Colombo on an overnight charter flight.A BBC reporter outside the airport and sources inside confirmed their plane had touched down. Reports say the deportees were taken for questioning.Human rights groups have criticised Britain, saying the mainly Tamil asylum seekers may not be safe. The […]

“All allegations of war crimes and human right violations require investigation, perpetrators must be punished as well as a reparation scheme be put in place. 2 years have passed without addressing issues of disappearances, extra-judicial killings, murder of journalists and political assassinations. 5 years we have waited for the Charter of Human Rights and for […]

16 June 2011by D.B.S. Jeyaraj A Tamil National Alliance meeting with 5 TNA MP’s present was attacked by a group of Sri Lankan army men at Alaveddy in Jaffna on june 16th.[‘Hooliganism in Colombo-Attacks on Tamil Satyagrahis‘, Times UK, June 6, 1956]About 15-20 uniformed army personnel wielding poles,batons&rods entered the Saiva Maha Sabhai hall premises […]

16 Jun 2011 / Source: reuters // ReutersJaffna, Sri Lanka, June 16 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s main ethnic minority Tamil party on Thursday said the military had attacked its campaign events in the former war zone in the north to create a climate of fear ahead of the first local government polls in 26 years.Legislators […]

16 June 2011In what is seen as retaliation for Channel 4 broadcast Tuesday, the genocidal SL Army occupying Jaffna brutally attacked TNA parliamentarians, journalists and public in Jaffna on Thursday, causing injuries to an unspecified number of people, according to initial reports. The blatant attack by SL Army in uniform took place when the TNA […]

16 June 2011/By Andrew Buncombe, The British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said he was shocked after seeing footage of attacks on civilians shown in the Channel 4 documentary. The British Government has renewed calls for an independent investigation into allegations of war crimes against Sri Lanka after a documentary showed civilians being shelled and […]

16 June 2011 Three undergraduates who had been held under detention orders in the Mirihana Police for allegedly conspiring against the State had been taken to the CID for further interrogations, Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) yesterday charged.IUSF Convener Sanjeewa Bandara yesterday said that the detained undergraduates were allegedly forced to give statements and a […]

Denying the truth will not bury it15 June 2011, By Yolanda Foster, Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka researcher Tonight Channel 4 screens its harrowing new documentary, “Sri Lanka, The Killing Fields”. The film highlights massive human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war by both parties to the conflict.Some of the more shocking imagery includes […]

Political reforms should be urgently introduced with further possible delineation of powers to the Provinces by transferring some of the itemsfrom the Concurrent List to the Provincial List as per the aspirations of thepeople, especially the Sri Lankan Tamil Community. Relavent section of the Memorandum submitted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Selvi J. Jayalalithaa to […]

15 June 2011 /By Yohan PereraThe government decision to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee to work out a political solution to the national question is a ploy adopted to overcome international pressure, UNP parliamentarian R. Yogaranjan charged today.He said this was his personal view though it was backed by his party. Mr. Yogarajan called for […]

The most pressing need is perhaps not to punish the offenders but to relieve the problems of the survivors and minimise the risk of further violence. Sooner or later, if the government’s response to disagreement is repression, discontent will boil over in one part or another of the island. Bloodshed is likely to follow, unless […]

16 June 2011 /  By Duminda BalasuriyaWhile rejecting the contents of the video aired on the British Channel 4 news channel, Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday said they have received information that a fake video had been created by Channel 4 news after obtaining money from pro-LTTE elements.“Once again some pro-LTTE elements have used […]

Britain has renewed calls for Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of war crimes after video footage apparently showing the summary execution of naked and bound prisoners was broadcast on UK television, in the documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Field.The film, shown on Channel 4, reportedly shows “trophy videos” taken on mobile phones by Sri Lankan soldiers […]

By Serena Davies Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields went out at 11.00pm but was a flagship news programme for Channel 4, presented by the great Jon Snow and pitched as a clarion call for the world to wake up to the war crimes that allegedly took place during the final months of Sri Lanka’s 25-year-long civil […]

Innocents in the line of fireReviewed by Tom Sutcliffe This film contains very disturbing images,” warned Jon Snow at the beginning of Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields. It would, he continued, depict “death, injury, execution and evidence of sexual abuse and murder”. He was right too, though when the final credits rolled you couldn’t help but […]

Great controversy and concern surrounds the ‘leadership’ training programme designed by the Ministry of Defence for under graduate students, conducted in around 28 military installations around the country. As the Young Researchers Collective recently noted on Groundviews, “Although the government has stated that this will be a leadership training program rather than a military training […]

The 18th Amendment, we were told, would make the President more accountable to Parliament. The Editorial of the Sunday Observer noted back in the day, By making it mandatory for the President to attend Parliament at least once in three months to answer questions by MPs, the 18th Amendment has not only made a vital […]

14 June 2011/ By Col R HariharanRecently there had been a series of seemingly disconnected events in India, UK and the UN that have a common thread: Sri Lankas conduct in the post war period.Though these events were not unexpected sequels, surprisingly Sri Lankas response had been reactive than proactive. Peevishness, rather than calculated strategy, […]

‘Sri Lanka trying to pretend events of summarily executed prisoners are history, as the economy and tourism pick up. They are not’ Evidence that won’t be buried: On this occasion there are reasons why it was right to dispense with the responsibility broadcasters have to avoid causing distressGuardian UK Editorial, Jun 15, 2011 The footage […]

Other than the film by embedded “trusted” reporters and trophy mobile phone videos by the soldiers, the Sri Lankan authorities and the Sinhalese were in too much of a victorious mood, to realise that all their actions in the battlefield were under scrutiny by satellite surveillance of several nations. 12 June 2011/by Dushy Ranetunge in […]

15 June 2011 / By Lakna Paranamanna‘We are Sri Lankans (WESL)’ an organization agitating for the release of Tamil political prisoners said yesterday Tamils held in prisons and detention camps countrywide were allegedly being abused and neglected by prison authorities.WESL Executive Committee member and former Inter University Students Federation Convener Udul Premaratne told a media […]

15 June 2011/ by Lakna Paranamanna‘We are Sri Lankans (WESL)’ an organization agitating for the release of Tamil political prisoners said yesterday Tamils held in prisons and detention camps countrywide were allegedly being abused and neglected by prison authorities.WESL Executive Committee member and former Inter University Students Federation Convener Udul Premaratne told a media briefing […]

Tue Jun 14 Sri Lanka has dismissed as fake a new documentary to be shown on British television on Tuesday, alleging atrocities were committed in the final weeks of the island’s war with Tamil rebels.The defence ministry in Colombo said the videos, to be broadcast publicly for the first time on Channel 4, were a fabrication […]

Wednesday 15 June 2011 The Foreign Office says Sri Lanka must give a serious response after “horrific scenes” and “convincing evidence of violations of human rights law” were broadcast last night on Channel 4. The film ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ documents the final bloody weeks of the Sri Lankan civil war – in which at […]

2011-06-14 In any military conflict injured and captured fighters are supposed to be treated in a dignified manner according to international law and Geneva Conventions. Injured fighters are supposed to have been given medical attention without any undue delay. However Sri Lankan military personnel seem to have disregarded all international law, humanity and abused dead and […]

Once you’ve got past its annoying ‘take me seriously’ tics, Luther is pure escapist TV drama He’s deep, he’s troubled and he doesn’t play by the rules. It’s the generic tag-line for every maverick cop show and Luther (BBC1) is no exception. At the end of the last series, Luther’s wife had been killed by […]

The government presented a bill to the parliament on 2011.05.08 allegedly to grand pension benefits to employees in the private sector. It is clear that by this retirement benefit bill, the government is aiming to gradually prune the   EPF, ETF and Gratuity Benefits and to get control of these funds to gain economic benefits out […]

What new footage and new evidence of war crimes is in the Channel 4 documentary?•    Previously unaired mobile phone footage of point-blank extrajudicial executions of three people, including a woman.  •    Previously unaired mobile phone footage of dead Tamil Tigers, including women,,that suggests sexual abuse.•    First video testimony of a Tamil woman who says she […]

 Basil Fernando,This is a discussion on the serious crisis of law in Sri Lanka. 33 years of the promulgation of the present Constitution, what is legal and what is not has been obliterated in Sri Lanka. As an illustration of the crisis of law, three incidents are discussed:• The killing of young Chanake Roshanne; a […]