Right to association

Attitude of welcoming different opinions and thinking of others ‘is decreasing now’ Peace and minority rights are illusory even two years after the end of a 30-year civil war, the secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference said September 3.“Minority rights were not respected by the majority of the people. Most of them do not like […]

‘Satanic Force’ contained over 1,000 names of women raped, men butchered by IPKF Jaya Menon, Material Objects (MO) 124 and 125 are now just piles of paper gathering dust in a court vault. But they helped enlist an army of fighters, and assassins, for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. ‘Satanic Force’, two large volumes […]

Mr Rajapaksa says army would act against anyone making trouble just as it defeated ‘terrorists’ Charles Haviland  An opposition MP in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka says many people there are in a state of panic and afraid to go out at night because of the security forces’ behaviour.Reports say the police and army beat up […]

Charles HavilandMilitary believes former Tamil Tigers were behind some of the crowd violence An opposition MP in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka says many people there are in a state of panic and afraid to go out at night because of the security forces’ behaviour. Reports say the police and army beat up 20 people […]

Melani Manel PereraThe appeal launched for the World Day of the disappeared. The women are asking the government to investigate a case without looking at ethnicity or religion. With 12 thousand missing persons, Sri Lanka is the second country with the highest number of disappearances in the world.  “Help us to find our children, without […]

Chitra WeerarathneTwo employees of Nortel Lanka Private Limited, Katunayake, had filed a fundamental rights violation application, in the Supreme Court, alleging assault, illegal arrest, illegal detention and denial of their freedom of expression by officers of the Seeduwa and Katunayake police.They had alleged that they, along with their colleagues, protested against the intention of the […]

Those who were taken into Army custody from their homes in Navathurai mercilessly assaulted: limbs brokenThe residents of Navathurai district Jaffna who were involved in a conflict with the Army over the grease devil menace , and were later taken into custody by the Army from their homes on the 22nd night had been assaulted […]

Lal GunesekeraThe National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) condemned the unwarranted action of the Police and CID in searching the offices of the trade unions that agitated against the abortive Private Sector Pensions Bill (PSPB) at Katunayake.Joint Secretary of the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZGSEU) Anton Marcus brought to the notice of […]

More than 200 media workers, politicians and activists from North and South joined hands at Jaffna Bus Station staging a protest Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. till noon against the brutal assault last month on Gnanasundaram Kuganathan, the chief news editor of Uthayan daily in Jaffna and against the prevailing suppression of freedom of expression in […]

 Nimal SanderatneThe Sri Lankan economy has functioned with only part of its potential capacity for the good part of its last three decades. Although some economic activities prevailed despite the war, most of the region was a battle zone rather than a thriving economy. This applied to all three sectors of the northern and eastern […]

Negotiating a political arrangement for post-conflict Sri Lanka can be considered daunting for Sri Lanka as it is for the US to resolve its debt crisis. The hard stand taken by the TNA even after three decades of death, destruction and untold suffering by the Tamil people is comparable to the unyielding stand taken by […]

Trade union leaders representing workers of the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) has called on the authorities to publish the report of the presidential commission that investigated recent unrest in the FTZ.President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed one-man commission chaired by retired judge Mahanama Thilakaratne after a young FTZ worker was shot dead by the police. The killing […]

The National Trade Union Center (NTUC) has organzied a unique poster campaign today (8) demanding a Rs. 10,000 salary increase for the working masses. The NTUC has organized the poster campaign on a human wall as a mark of protest against the removal of posters demanding a salary increase by the police. The poster campaign on […]

Former Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on Sunday that she still ‘agonizes’ over not using full presidential powers or authoritarian rule to implement the then draft constitution that would have ended dictatorial presidential rule.“I still agonize over this, over and over again as to whether I should have used full presidential powers or authoritarian […]

By Shihar Aneez Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils say President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s post-war development and infrastructure projects in the former war zone in the island’s north have yet to address their real concerns and have not excluded their participation.Sri Lanka’s northern cities hold local polls for the first time in many years on Saturday amid opposition […]

Chennai, Jul 21.Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today asked the Sri Lankan government to take immediate steps to resettle Internally Displaced persons, who are currently housed in temporary shelters in the island nation. She conveyed her concern over their plight to the island nation’s envoy to India, Prasad Kariyawasam, who called on her at the […]

There are positive signs in the direction that the trade union action of the university teachers would come to an end soon. However, the fundamental issues raised by the University Teachers’ Association remain unresolved although the government responded positively to their demands on salaries and working conditions. The fundamentals are incorporated in the demand for […]

”There are two underlying messages to Sri Lanka in the statement. One is India’s stance that in addressing Tamil grievances, the Sri Lanka government “must move towards a new system of institutional reforms, where the Tamil people will have a feeling that they are equal citizens of Sri Lanka, and they can lead and live […]

”Herein are pictures depicting how the participants in the protests launched on the 6th by the Lanka Teachers’ Association were mercilessly attacked by grade 9 Johnny’s goons and gangs.” ( see photos below the post) It is not only a Sinhala adage but also a respected tradition practiced by the Sinhalese that teachers are on par […]

Teachers associations of universities in the south of the island of Sri Lanka held an anti-SL government demonstration and meeting in Jaffna on Friday that was also participated by teachers of the University of Jaffna. It was an impressive demonstration and meeting held in Jaffna in recent times, news sources in Jaffna said. Their demonstration […]

Three persons were injured today when a protest organized by JVP affiliated Ceylon Teacher Services Union (CTSU) in Kurunegala was attacked by a group of thugs.The protest was organized by the CTSU opposite the Wayamba Province office of the Education Department Cooperative Society (EDCS) against the taking over the EDCS administration by the government.The EDCS […]

July 3, 2011/by C.A.ChandrapremaIn the course of their deliberations, the Parliamentary Select Committee on NGOs made certain observations on selected organisations which we publish below. It should be borne in mind that the interim report of the PSC on NGOs was signed by the UPFA, the UNP and the JVPNational Peace CouncilIt is reported that […]

The Rajapakse regime’s tested strategy of responding to all criticism through the propagation of and identification of conspiracies, scapegoats and ‘traitors’ might now be reaching its limits – dissent is seeping into the body politic. Himal, July 2011 The last two months in Sri Lanka have seen increasing international pressure coupled with domestic struggles against […]

By S.S.SelvanayagamTen workers of the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) filed a fundamental rights violation petition yesterday before the Supreme Court against the impugned police assault on the peaceful demonstrators within the FTZ on May 30.In their petition filed through their instructing Attorney-at-Law Gowry Shangary Thavarasha, they cited the Police OICs of Katunayake and Seeduwa […]

The Noolaham and Alaveddy incidents have seeds of potential mutiny in them. The people of Jaffna have a yearning to regain their political freedom – that they lost to two forms of their adversaries in the past 3 decades. But the army has its own agenda. This is hardly consistent with that of the Jaffna […]

 24 June 2011 The protest campaign held in Kilinochchi demanding government to find disappeared persons was successful even though the military personnel attempted to obstruct it occasionally, said steering committee member of ‘Api Sri Lankikayo’ organisation Udul Premaratna. The protest which was held in Kilinochchi town under the patronage of Api Sri Lankikayo organisation was […]

By Lakna ParanamannaBringing the university academics’ ongoing struggle to the streets, a protest march was staged in Colombo for the first time yesterday with the participation of academics from all universities.Hundreds of university academics from Colombo, Jayewardenepura, Sabaragamuwa, Moratuwa, Ruhuna and several other universities participated in the protest march which was organized by the Federation […]

Last week  the NGO secretariat took over the control of the Puttalam based non governmental organization, the Community Trust Fund (CTF) over alleged mismanagement and corruption. NGO secretariat comes under the defence ministry This is the first time an  non Tamil NGO has been taken over by the NGO secretariat/defense ministry  over allegations, without any […]

ITUC to agitate membership protest, demands Govt. immediately withdraw Pension Fund BillAn international grouping of trade unions has vehemently hit out at the recent unrest at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (KFTZ) that left a worker killed and scores injured, calling upon its 300 plus membership to launch individual protests against the Government of Sri […]

 By Gayan Kumara WeerasingheThe CID in its investigations have determined that when the police said that they had opened fire to save Senior DIG Ravi Wijegunawardena, who was being attacked allegedly by FTZ workers on May 30, the DIG was in fact in hospital.The police fire occurred after DIG Wijegunawardena had been admitted to the […]