News

Report of the Secretary General’s panel of experts on accountability in Sri Lanka –Responses of  the international community by Sunanda Deshapriya Summary: The report of the panel of experts appointed by the UNSG on accountability issues in Sri Lanka was officially released on 25th April 2011. Since then growing number of countries have been expressing […]

The Rajapaksas need to know that DMK and Karunanidhi were at one time the all powerful family dynasty, the  kleptomaniacs in Tamil Nadu life. It took only a single slogan to leave them battered and bruised like a limbless Gulliver. Politics and repressive power over a deceived people, have always been temporary and pretty dangerous […]

More than 130,000 acres of paddy lands, 47 tanks, 14 islands and several lagoons that had been used for fishing have been taken over by the government for various purposes.The government has seized more than 25,000 acres from Monaragala District and over 35,000 acres from Trincomalee District.3000 to 5000 acres of lands have been seized […]

15 May 2011 At the intended leadership training in Army camps for new entrees for universities the freshers will be taught how to wake up early morning, brush their teeth, wash their faces and how to take their meals properly says the Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake.  He had said there is no other […]

The report has noted obstacles to accountability in Sri Lanka. Should these persist and the Sri Lankan Government is unable to address the concerns detailed in the Panel’s report, I am certain the international community, including New Zealand, will be open to considering appropriate international investigative mechanisms to bring justice and accountability to the victims […]

15 May 2011 At the intended leadership training in Army camps for new entrees for universities the freshers will be taught how to wake up early morning, brush their teeth, wash their faces and how to take their meals properly says the Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake.  He had said there is no other […]

16 May 2011More than 130,000 acres of paddy lands, 47 tanks, 14 islands and several lagoons that had been used for fishing have been taken over by the government for various purposes.The government has seized more than 25,000 acres from Monaragala District and over 35,000 acres from Trincomalee District.3000 to 5000 acres of lands have […]

16 May 2011“A senile TNA member’s descendants are in the West. With one foot in the West and one in the grave this member thrive on the sufferings of the innocent Tamil civilians. And he likes kindling violence. And obviously TNA welcomed the findings of the Experts’ Panel,” was the editorial opinion of a “noteworthy” […]

16 May 2011The Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an ally of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has renewed its call for the abolition of the concurrent list in the 13th Amendment and for the establishment of a senate or second chamber as part of a solution to the national question.Minister and EPDP Leader […]

14 May 2011Eezham Tamils in NorthEast would mourn thousands of their slain kith and kin on 18 May, said M K Sivajilingam, a former TNA parliamentarian and the general secretary of Tamil National Liberation Front. “No one can suppress the memories of a people remembering the sacrifices of thousands of their loved ones,” the former […]

15 May 2011Suresh K. Premachandran, the official spokesman of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on Saturday sent TNA’s congratulations to Ms. J. Jayalalitha, the newly elected chief minister of Tamil Nadu state in India, saying that Eezham Tamils have become hopeful and are encouraged by the stand Ms. Jayalalitha has expressed to the media on the […]

Despite spin doctoring by envoys, EU resolution could have grave implications for Sri Lanka India still undecided as crucial battle looms at UNHRC sessions By Sunday Times Political Editor On Thursday, Sri Lanka completes two years after the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas. In that span, the government has taken several measures to ensure the […]

As one Commissioner mused several months back in a different context; “we were told by weeping mothers of children being literally grabbed from their arms and dashed on the ground with remnants of their heads being scattered around by enraged soldiers who had come upon a suspected subversive or JVP infiltrated village in the deep […]

Given the deadly potential inherent in this scheme, why is polity and society (including most of the academia) reacting to it with indifference? By Tisaranee Gunasekara Kristallnacht — “Night of Broken Glass”. On November 9-10, 1938 the Nazis initiated a pogrom against the Jews, Hitler youth and HitlerNazism offered….a society that had been scarred by […]

Delegation postpones visit as New Delhi tells Lanka to respond positively to UN panel reportBy Our Political Editor India is to ask Sri Lanka to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution giving full land and police powers to provincial councils as part of measures to address Tamil grievances. The move comes as the government […]

by Sunanda Deshapriya Since the publication of report political parties in Sri Lanka (and India) has been  expressing  their opinions on the report findings and desired responses to the report.  A clear polarization on ethnic lines was immediately  visible with regard to the panel report.  No political party based on majority Sinhalese community   approved the appointment […]

14 May 2011 “The TNA has consistently asked for power devolution on federal lines. The party has also insisted on the re-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces,” The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has refused to accept the government’s proposal to establish a Senate as a substitute for a power devolution arrangement, Daily Mirror learns. […]

14 May 2011 12:38 Days after the killing of a member of the Karuna faction, an unidentified gunman shot and killed a supporter of Eastern Province Chief Minister S. Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan in Batticaloa last night, police said. They said that the 34 year-old victim, identified as M. Ilanga Kumar, who is a Bar owner […]

14 May 2011 Families of youth who disappeared from Trincomalee protested at the Trincomalee Junction pleading with the Government to release information about their whereabouts, ‘We are Sri Lankans’ Convener Udul Premaratne said yesterday.“More than 100 youth from Trincomalee disappeared during the last phase of the war and up to now their whereabout are unknown,” […]

13 May 2011, By Shamindra Ferdinando Prabhakaran’s successor, T. S. Pathmanathan or simply ‘KP’ as he is known, says the controversial ‘Darusman Report’ will not help the ongoing national reconciliation process. Instead, it can cause irreparable damage to ambitious reconciliation efforts, he asserts.Pathmanathan asserts the report commissioned by UNSG Ban Ki-moon will only strengthen the […]

“I will exert pressure on the central government, after I take over as the CM, to take action against Sri Lankan president before international court for genocide and war crimes. “ 13 May 2011While most of the media in India don’t want to recognize the heart of the matter behind the unprecedented way in which […]

Ben Doherty /May 14, 2011 BEATEN and with nowhere left to run, they received the text message just before 9 o’clock on a Sunday morning.It came, through an intermediary, from the Sri Lankan foreign secretary, apparent instructions for a surrender: ”Just walk across to the troops, slowly! With a white flag and comply with instructions […]

By Varind Set to form the next government in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa today said the Centre should declare Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse a “war criminal” for the “genocide” of Tamils in the island nation. India should come out with economic sanctions against Sri Lanka to compel the government to take steps […]

13 May 2011By Ananda Weerasuriya In an explosive statement yesterday a former Army Intelligence Unit (AIU) member told Court yesterday that the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) had assured him of being made a state witness, provided security and a foreign job if he agreed to implicate a senior army officer in the brutal killing of […]

13 May 2011 00:48By Kelum Bandara The Japanese government has asked Sri Lanka to work towards national reconciliation and fulfil its accountability while maintaining close consultations with the United Nations, an official said yesterday. Responding to a Daily Mirror email request for comments on the UN Advisory Panel Report, Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry Deputy Media […]

13 May 2011 Complaints made in regard to missing persons in the police stations in Vanni are on the increase, according to Kilinochchi district police. Relatives of the missing persons make these complaints now as the war has ended and law and order has been properly established in these areas. Complaints of those who went […]

13 May 2011 The military has started registering the family members once again in some areas in Valikamam in Jaffna, especially in Sankanai and Mathagal area Valikamam west where the activities are now very briskRegistration of families Continue in Valikamam. The military has started registering the family members once again in some areas in Valikamam […]

Thursday, 12 May 2011 The United Nations has listed the Iniya Barrathi faction of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) that recruits or uses children, kill or maim children, and/or commit rape and other forms of sexual violence against children in situations of armed conflict on the agenda of the Security Council. Releasing the UN […]

11th May 20111. Introduction This note is based on conversations with 15 former detainees (7 women between 21 and 35 years and 8 men between 21 and 41 years) from villages in the Vanni region (areas previously under LTTE control from where the entire population was displaced during the final phase of the war and […]

May 12, 2011/Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-092-2011 Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. W.A. Lasantha Pradeep Wijeratna (36) of No. 98, Galahitiyawa, Ganemulla in the district of Gampaha was illegally arrested and severely tortured by the police officers attached to the Criminal Investigation Department on 15 August 2010. Lasantha […]