News

Groundviews  The Island newspaper continues to publish leaks from the report produced by the Panel appointed by the UN Secretary General to look into allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka. Groundviews flagged key points and placed in context what is widely acknowledged to be the executive summary of the report, published in The Island […]

“On that basis, the UN report may be important to global level investors in the issues of racial equality and war crimes which are naturally connected in the case of Sri Lanka. It is the duty of such Global participants to ensure that it does not cause further damage to the little that is left […]

“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 […]

Julia Zebley at 7:49 AM ET [JURIST] The UN announced on Tuesday the completion of a report on allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka, but Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] said the report would not be released until President Mahinda Rajapaksa [official website] has time to review it. This has prompted criticism from Human […]

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 […]

By Arthur WamananThe failure of the government to divulge the list of Tamil detainees for the second time has irked the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The TNA yesterday expressed its anger and frustration at the government for calling off a scheduled visit to the Terrorism Investigations Department office in Vavuniya at the eleventh hour. The […]

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 […]

 CWC Leader and Minister Arumugam Thondaman recently complained to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa about the non-inclusion of a Tamil description in documents handed over by the government. Interestingly, Thondaman decided to express his displeasure when on stage before commencing his speech at a function organised by Rajapaksa’s Ministry.Rajapaksa visited the Nuwara Eliya District on […]

The politics of habeas corpus and the marginal role of the Sri Lankan courts under the 1978 constitution The protection of the freedoms of individuals and the functioning of public institutions are therefore deeply linked. The public institutions, if they are managed for the achievement of various goals of the government, such as development, national […]

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 […]

Information smuggled out of the notorious Magazine Prison in Borella, Colombo, reveal that 58 Tamil prisoners, 44 of them with no charges filed or charged without any viable court case or witnesses to prove guilt, are being held under the Island’s Emergency Regulations in the prison for more than 12 years. One of the inmates […]

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 […]