Tamil rights

Sri Lanka’s unilateral withdrawal from Resolution 30/1 is a clear rejection of human rights and accountability and displays total disregard for UN Member States Sri Lanka is unwilling & unable to hold state officials accountable for heinous violations of int’l human rights & humanitarian laws. Reason-it is the state itself that committed these heinous crimes”— […]

Image: Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne and visiting Zambian Army Chief Lt. Gen. W.M Sikazwe. Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne has told the visiting Zambian Army Chief Lt. Gen. W.M Sikazwe that although the Sri Lankan military had completely defeated LTTE terrorism militarily 10-years ago, the challenge of defeating its separatist […]

Just two days after the meeting with  Rep. Ami Bera assured that the United States in Colombo, TNA has met with visiting United Kingdom Parliament Member, the Rt. Hon the Lord Malcolm Bruce PC and emphasised that need for finding a political solution to the ethnic conflict of the country. In response Lord Malcolm Bruce  […]

In a meeting with the Tamil National Alliance today in Colombo, Rep. Ami Bera assured that the United States will do all things possible to ensure that the Government of Sri Lanka delivers on its commitments to the International Community. Rep. Ami Bera  is a Member of Congress and Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on […]

Image:A woman holds a picture of a missing relative at a protest calling for investigations into enforced disappearances, Colombo, Sri Lanka, February 14, 2020.  © 2020 AP Photo Rajapaksa Government Should Uphold Commitments to UN Rights Council says HRW. (New York) – Sri Lankan security forces and intelligence agencies have intensified surveillance and threats against families of victims […]

“Let me bow before you my country, where It is ordained that none will walk the streets with his head held high.” Faiz (Let me bow before you) On the 72nd anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa conferred the rank of major general on 17 brigadiers. The list included Deshapriya Gunawardane, the commanding officer […]

(Suhasini Haidar/The Hindu) Sri Lankan Prime Minister seeks delay in debt payment. Sri Lanka wants India to allow debt repayments by Colombo to be deferred for three years, visiting Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said in order to help the country deal with its massive debt burden. The issue was at the top of the agenda […]

Image: Sri Lankan traditional dancers perform during an event to mark the anniversary of country’s independence from British colonial rule in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) The 72nd Independence Day celebrations took place this year at the Independence Square under the auspices of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Those interested in national […]

Image: For the first time since 2016, there will be no Tamil national anthem at the 72nd Independence Day celebrations in Sri Lanka(AFP). (Press Trust of India/Colombo) The then Sri Lankan government in 2015 started including the Tamil national anthem as a means of achieving reconciliation with the Tamil minority community. For the first time […]

Leaflets threatening to kill seven Tamil journalists were left at the Batticaloa Press Club and a nearby bus stop in Batticaloa, a city in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) and its affiliates Sri Lankan affiliate, the Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Union (FMETU) condemn the threat and urge […]

Statement of urgent public importance pertaining to the Bungalow of the Leader of the Opposition and other matters related thereto. Dear Hon. Speaker, You recognized me as the Leader of the Opposition of the Sri Lankan Parliament in September 2015. At that time, for over twenty years, as a Member of Parliament, I had been […]

(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 […]

The Sri Lankan government is reportedly set to release a soldier who was sentenced to death over the massacre of eight Tamil civilians, according to an opposition parliamentarian who applauded the move. “Now we have got information that the government has taken measures to release 34 members of the intelligence and Sunil Ratnayake, as mentioned […]

“If we lift the hideous rags of History, we find this: hierarchy versus equality and order versus liberty.” – Éric Vuillard (The Order Of The Day) The indications are clear, as are the implications. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, elected on a Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist platform intends to rule as a Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist president. For the first time 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 […]

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 […]

Image: A Sri Lankan Tamil refugee cleans utensils outside her house in a refugee camp in Perambalur district, about 250km (155 miles) from Chennai [File: Nathan G/EPA] Nearly 100,000 Sri Lankan refugees living in India are not eligible for citizenship under a new law, sparking concerns they may be forced to return to the island nation they […]

A Sri Lankan brigadier who motioned death threats to Tamil protestors in London last year has been found guilty by a British court of violating the Public Order Act, after a protracted legal battle. Westminster Magistrate’s Court upheld a previous ruling that Sri Lanka’s Brigadier Priyanka Fernando “is  not  protected  by  diplomatic  immunity”, despite pleas […]

Leader of the Tamil National Alliance R.Sampanthan has told Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz that although the TNA is prepared to work with the economic development initiatives of the government which are beneficial to the people it  will not surrender the interest and the rights of our people at any point. He has further said that […]

Speaking at the press conference today held in New Delhi on the visit of Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime minster of India has said that ” I am confident that the Government of Sri Lanka will carry forward the process of reconciliation, to fulfill the aspirations of the Tamils for equality, justice, peace and […]

Sri Lanka Brief Presidential Election Update No 02. Polarised vote The president elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR) of SLPP and Sajith Premadasa (SP) of NDF respectively received 52.25% & 41.99 of the total votes polled in the presidential election held on 16 November 2019.  This numbers could be misleading. The result shows unprecedented level of polarisation […]

Image: Gotabaya Rajapaksa met with  India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on 20 Nov 2019. The Indian government expects Sri Lanka’s new government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to take forward the process of national reconciliation in order to meet the aspirations of the Tamil minority for “equality, justice, peace and dignity”. This was the […]

Image: Sri Lanka’s President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves at his supporters as he leaves, after the presidential swearing-in ceremony in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka November 18, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte. As was widely predicted, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), decisively won Sri Lanka’s presidential election on November 16. His opponent, Sajith Premadasa, of the United National Party […]

People’s democratic choices must be accepted, says the senior Tamil leader. Meera Srinivasan./The Hindu. It is unfair to attribute a “racist” dimension to the Tamil vote in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, according to senior Tamil leader R. Sampanthan. His remark comes a day after the results of the country’s biggest election were declared. The winner […]

The people have spoken. President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been given a mandate by the people to govern the country for the next five years. The Elections Commission, public employees, Police and the voters deserve credit for the conduct of a free and fair Presidential Election where a record number turned out to exercise their franchise. […]

In the wake of his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory in the presidential election 2019, former strong man Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a statement on their immediate plans. They include (between the lines  reforming or removing the 19th amendment,  action to deliver justice for the persons persecuted for  corruption  and human rights violations since 2015 and steps to stop Tamil […]

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who spearheaded the brutal crushing of Tamil Tigers a decade ago, stormed to power Sunday but promised to be a president for all Sri Lanka’s races and religions after a divisive election. Seven months after Islamist extremist attacks that killed 269 people, Rajapaksa was elected on Saturday on the back of a nationalist […]

 The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) urges Tamil people from the North-East and throughout Sri Lanka to freely exercise their franchise at the November 16 Presidential Election, giving careful consideration to the political formations and agendas of the major contenders.  After playing a decisive role in the political change of 2015 and experiencing disappointments on the […]

Image: Peter Ilancheliyan. Peter Ilancheliyan, a prominent member of ITAK’s youth wing and son of the late former deputy chair of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Anthony Jeyanathan, is the fourth Mullaitivu-based individual to be summoned for questioning in recent weeks. Journalist Shanmugam Thavaseelan, former NPC member A Puvaneswaran, and vice chair of the Puthukudiyiruppu […]

(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 […]