UN-Sri Lanka

By Chandani KirindeSri Lanka is to carry out a pre-emptive campaign ahead of the UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva next week to ward-off any moves to trigger a debate on allegations of human rights violations during the last stages of the fighting against the LTTE.Plantations Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe who has also been assigned […]

20 May 2011 Whenever there is a proper foreign policy coupled with professional diplomats, all these problems can be handled without any harm to the country. Unfortunately, we lack it today. Q : In the event of the release of the UN report and Sri Lanka involved in a diplomatic crisis, how will the JVP […]

20 May 2011 02:03By Sandun A. Jayasekera European Union Ambassador Bernard Savage yesterday reiterated that Sri Lanka needed to take follow-up action in line with the recommendations made by the United Nation Secretary General’s Advisory Panel Report but emphasized the EU had no intention of bringing about a regime change in Sri Lanka.“The allegations are […]

18 May 2011Rallies were held around the globe by Tamil organizations on Wednesday – May 18th, which the organizers have marked is a “Time to mourn; A time to reflect; A time for resurgence and creating awareness towards seeking “Justice for Genocide Victims of Tamil Eelam.”Among the attendees at a rally near United Nations in […]

TamilNet,19 May 2011“I’m not the best-placed person to suggest how China and Russia could be convinced and how one could pass a resolution at the UN Security Council. One should pose this question to the governments of USA, United Kingdom and France, those who negotiate with China and Russia in New York,” said Vidar Helgesen, […]

The Rajapaksa troika needs to accept this simple truth. They’ve got to be honest at least to themselves. President Rajapaksa needs to sideline political clowns, to have sensible and practical advice with accurate information.  by Kusal PereraSri Lanka was sent a very confidential message by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton through Assistant Secretary for […]

May 18, 2011,India has asked Sri Lanka to devolve power, probe human rights violations and withdraw emergency regulations, among other things. This kind of diplomatic pressure amounts to interference in this country’s internal affairs, but in diplomacy and war, might is right whether one likes it or not.However, unlike in the 1980s, when India harassed […]

Sri Lanka: Human Rights Council Support for an International Investigation is Necessary to Address Impunity for Violations and Abuses of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Date: 17th May 2011The armed conflict in Sri Lanka had been over for less than ten days when on 27 May 2009 the UN Human Rights Council adopted a […]

18 May 2011,Amid increasing calls by world’s premier human rights NGOs, newly elected Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for independent international investigations into alleged accusations of war-crimes committed by Sri Lanka on Tamils, Tamil expatriates in several countries in the West are preparing to commemorate the massacre of Tamil civilians during the final phase of […]

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 […]

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” […]

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 […]

Canada and Switzerland have countered complaints by Sri Lanka that their governments summoned meetings in Geneva to discuss matters relating to the UN Advisory Panel’s report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. Among those invited for such meetings, the External Affairs Ministry has learnt, were Sri Lankan human rights activists. Canada’s High Commissioner Bruce […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

The General Secretary of the JVP said, “Imperialists make use of internal crises in countries to interfere in them. 11 May 2011 19:43 Whatever facts are included in the report compiled by the ‘Panel of Experts’ appointed by the UN Secretary General, the JVP rejects the political objectives that were the background for compiling such […]

11 May 2011 The UNP has strongly criticized the government call to the people and to local government bodies to sign petitions and hold protests against the UN expert panel’s report on Sri Lanka. Speaking to the media today, party MP Lakshman Kiriella said it was a ridiculous that they have been asked to oppose a […]

Speaking at a gathering to collect signatures in blood to oppose UN panel report on Sri Lanka Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva blamed the chairperson of the panel of having a beast mother. here is the translation of relevant section:   ” I ask this Darusman , the executioner  whether he used his had or […]

Basil Rajapaksa said that according to the SL president there are no more High Security Zones but the entire island is a ‘peace zone.’ 09 May 2011, Sri Lanka President’s brother and SL Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa made an unannounced sudden visit to Jaffna Monday. Nothing will happen by some welcoming the UN panel […]

9 May, 2011 The Uthayan newspaper runs a revealing story on its website which suggests that on 8th May, the campaign to collect a million signatures against the UN Panel’s report basically forced people to sign up to the campaign. Groundviews has already covered this bizarre, mindless campaign when it started in Colombo, before in […]

07 May 2011, The Maldivian foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem told journalists in Colombo that the UN report into human rights abuses in the closing days of Sri Lanka’s civil war is “singularly counterproductive,” reports Minivan News, an independent news service from Maldives, Saturday. Maldives is currently a member of the UN Human Rights Council. This […]

A priority for the visiting Indian delegation, the Sunday Times learns, is to urge the government to speedily address accountability and reconciliation issues raised in the UN Panel’s report By Political Editor A high powered Indian delegation will arrive in Colombo on Friday to discuss matters arising from the United Nations Advisory Panel’s report to […]

The European Parliament, which represents 27 countries, is to debate on Thursday what it calls violations of human rights and humanitarian laws in Sri Lanka. The “emergency debate” has been sought by 50 members of the Green Party after the release of the report of the three-member UN Advisory Panel to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. […]

By Kishali Pinto JayawardeneUnder creeping cover of the report of the Advisory Panel mandated by the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG), the Government of Sri Lanka appears to be leading the country even further down the precipitous slope of constitutional anarchy than it has gone so far. Unhappy comparisons to a rowdy nation. At one […]

The United States called on Sri Lanka Wednesday to bring to justice anyone responsible for war crimes committed as the island crushed a decades-long insurgency. US diplomat Robert Blake said Colombo should carry out its own investigation into allegations contained in a United Nations report of atrocities during the 2009 offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels. […]

May 3 2011 22:23 | Last year, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, commissioned a report into human rights violations in the closing months of the decades-long Sri Lankan civil war that ended in 2009. The report points to credible evidence of mass shelling of civilians and summary executions. It also concludes that Sri Lanka’s […]