Devolution

(New York) – Respect for fundamental human rights in Sri Lanka is in serious jeopardy following Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election as president in November 2019, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020. Rajapaksa, along with his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was named prime minister, were implicated in numerous human rights violations during their previous years in […]

Why no overtures will be made to Tamils and Muslims by the SLPP until after the parliamentary elections. (Daily Express) The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), whose Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the November 16 election without the support of the minority Tamils and Muslims, and is still to reach out to them in any […]

Speaking in Parliament yesterday (8th Jan 2020) the TNA leader R. Sampathan insisted that “the commitments on the devolution of power  made to the international community, including India and the Co-Chairs. They need to be kept and implemented.” Transcript of the speech follows: Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees, we are debating the Policy Statement enunciated […]

Image: TNA parliamentary group led by its leader R.Sampanthan meeting former president M. Sirisena to discuss issues related to devolution of powers. (file) ” The last 30 years have seen the country making such positive efforts towards resolving issues that have plagued it since Independence by meaningfully acknowledging the plural nature of our polity. We […]

Issuing  a statement the National Peace Council has listed three issues that can have  impact upon inter-community relations with the state. The statement says that “at this time we want to express our concerns about several matters that could potentially impact upon inter-community relations with the state. “The first is the president’s statements that development […]

Colombo, Dec 20 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said he cannot entertain the 2015 UN Human Rights Council resolution co-sponsored by the previous Sirisena government on alleged war crimes during the country’s three-decade long civil war with the LTTE in its current form. Commenting on the Tamil demand for political autonomy, Rajapaksa on […]

Image: Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (AP/ File) In Sri Lanka, with the longest history of universal suffrage in Asia, every election excites the nation, and that will be the case with the upcoming parliamentary polls. Less than a fortnight after Sri Lanka’s November 16 presidential elections, the country is faced with two realities. One, a […]

“Accepting our request and rejecting the call to boycott or to vote for a Tamil candidate and by voting for Mr. Sajith Premadasa the Tamil people have sent a clear message to the leaders of our country and to the international community, that the Tamil people are firm in achieving their rights, within a united […]

Presidential Election – 16th November 2019. An Election for a President to be democratically elected for Sri Lanka is due to be held on 16th November 2019. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) -The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) as the party with the third largest number of seats in Parliament desires to state its position, […]

(File photo by AP) The upcoming Presidential Election seems far from the troubled mind of Pari Amma. Living in a partially built home on her land returned by government forces three years ago, her thoughts these days are consumed by raising funds to dig a much needed well in her garden. Having struggled during the country’s […]

Image: Presidential Election meeting in Jaffna ( Lanka Truth photo) Although the origins of political Buddhism in Sri Lanka goes back to the 19th century, it was harnessed as an election winning tool in the 1950s by the founder of SLFP, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. It was from him that even the CIA is said to have […]

Image courtesy of Tamil Guardian. Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna  and its presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa have rejected the demands submitted by five major Tamil parties to prsidential candidates, reports pro Rajapaksa web site lankaeyewitness,  Calling the demands as an Eelamist proposal,  It further says that Gotabaya Rajapaksa will only adhere to 13th amendment. Sajith Premadasa, […]

The United Kingdom Minister of State for the Commonwealth, UN and South Asia and Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met with the Tamil National Alliance Leader AR. Sampanthan and the Spokesperson Hon M A Sumanthiran in Colombo Yesterday (01.10.2019). Apprising the Minister on the resolution […]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Sri Lanka is going into another presidential election in a few weeks with unresolved human rights issues and undelivered promises in hand. The Executive Presidency continues unabolished despite repeated promises of the presidential candidates who came to power in the last 25 years. Though the 19th Amendment to the Constitution trimmed the powers […]

Meera Srinivasan. Jaffna district MP and Tamil National Alliance spokesman on the national unity government’s performance, the 13th Amendment, and India’s relations with Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka’s presidential poll in 2015, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), representing Tamils of the north and east, led its constituency in a crucial protest vote against then President […]

(Press Statement/21.08.19.)   Senior Japanese Diplomat and United Nations administrator His Excellency Yasushi Akashi met with the Leader of the Tamil National Alliance Hon R Sampanthan member of Parliament, Yesterday (20.08.2019) at his residence in Colombo.   Mr. Sampanthan expressed upon the Special ambassador that though the armed conflict has come to an end, the solution […]

Image: “So, please remember this and the earlier  you do it, the better. If you do not do it and abstain from doing the right thing, I do not think the Tamil people will take it lying down for too long,” Sampanthan tells the govt. NEW CONSTITUTION WITH NATIONAL CONSENSUS. R. Sampanthan. Mr. Deputy Speaker, […]

Today in this House it is the UNP that is in Government. The responsibility is with you. The Prime Minister became the Chairman of the Steering Committee that has met over 80 times and has brought two comprehensive reports. The second one includes a draft of the constitution made by the experts to the steering […]

Speech delivered by Hon R Sampanthan MP, at Matara on 7th July 2019, at the event to felicitate Hon Mangala Samraweera MP, Minister completion of 30 years in active politics. Hon Mangala Samaraweera my dear friend for a long time, Hon Sajith Premadasa Minister, Hon Ministers Hon State Ministers, Hon Deputy Ministers Hon Members of […]

Image: In Bandara Koswatte, the mob attacked the main mosque despite Police and Army presence, says HRCSL. In a letter to Acting Inspector General of Police, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka  has provided evidence of police complicity in the recent anti-Muslim attacks in Sri Lanka and recommended urgent action to be taken . Same quotes form the […]

Image: Disappearances by S.P. Pushpakanthan. (10 April 2019, London) The statements made by the Sri Lankan delegates at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) 40th session and again within a week after returning from Geneva are highly disappointing. The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) finds this disconcerting, considering Sri Lanka has just taken the positive step of co-sponsoring […]

 R .Sampanthan. As I have often stated earlier, the future of the country is not purely an economic issue. It is a very multifaceted issue. Even the future economy of the country is dependent upon several issues; it is dependent upon its unity and its strengths based upon the unity; it is dependent upon the […]

Image: Sri Lanka delegation at HRC 40. The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. Human Rights Council, 40th Regular Session. Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’, Statement by Hon. Tilak Marapana, PC., MP, Minister of Foreign […]

The UN Resolution 30/1 on Sri-Lanka was adopted by the Council along with the co-spon-sorship of Sri-Lanka to ensure truth, justice, reparation and non-recurrence based on the inter-national human rights law and international humanitarian law. But the Sri-Lankan government has given up these international standards and the objectives of the Resolution 30/1 and uses it […]

(Press Statement/TNA) The former United Nations Under Secretary General for political Affairs Mr Jeffrey Feltman met with the Leader of the Tamil National Alliance Mr. Sampanthan in Colombo today (18.03.2019) Mr Jeffrey Feltman commended the TNA and its Leader for the crucial role they played aftermath of the events took place 26th of October 2018. […]

Image: Thousands of mothers are still waiting for the answers and justice for their disappeared children. (c)s.deshapriya. (GENEVA, March 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ ) The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), the British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and the US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) today welcomed the UN Office of the High Commissioner’s report to […]

(The Island/03.04, 2019,) A delegation consisting of representatives of at least four Tamil political parties is scheduled to head for Geneva to lobby the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for an international mechanism to speed up investigations into alleged human rights violations and accountability issues. The delegation would also request the appointment of a UN […]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Read the full report as a PDF:Sri Lanka Briefing Note No 14 Feb. 2019 In the last two months of 2018, Sri Lanka witnessed a political coup led by its President. The coup was short lived. The attempt to overthrow the democratically elected Government and bring back the authoritarian ruler, who was rejected […]

Image: A rusted bicycle standing idle by the Jaffna lagoon, April 2018. © S. Deshapriya. ( Daily Mirror 18.02.19) A decade after the war, the North continues to be mired in a social and economic crisis, with little light at the end of the tunnel. The liberals address this crisis by increasingly resorting to attitudinal, behavioural and […]

image: Michelle Bachelet Jeria with UNSG. Jaffna/30 January 2019. Her Excellency Michelle Bachelet Jeria The High Commissioner for Human Rights Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson 52 rue des Pa quis CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland. Your Excellency, Re: Your Report to the UNHRC in March 2019 on Sri Lanka We […]