The United States military concluded their four day Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) maritime exercise with the Sri Lankan Navy, which included training in “anti-terrorism security”, in Trincomalee. Senior Defense Official at the U.S. Embassy Anthony Nelson said “CARAT aims to enhance the ability of our navies to defend our own nations and uphold the international standards that serve our mutual interests.” The Sri Lanka Navy stated on its website that it “stands to benefit significantly from the exchange of new knowledge, skills, and experiences during these exercises.” They...
The Canadian government said it “supports meaningful action leading to justice, accountability, peace and reconciliation,” when asked by the Tamil Guardian about the Sri Lankan government’s objection to the genocide monument in Brampton. The Sri Lankan government reportedly summoned the Canadian High Commissioner i n Colombo over plans to construct a monument to victims of the Tamil genocide in the Canadian city of Brampton. The final design for the Tamil Genocide Memorial was approved by the Brampton City Council earlier this year and pays tribute to over one hundred thousand Tamils killed...
File photograph: Jaffna Press Club journalists remember Rajivarman and Sivaram in 2014. Today marks 17 years since the killing of the young Tamil journalist Selvarajah Rajivarman. The 25 year old, who was working for Jaffna-based newspaper Uthayan, was shot and killed by a lone gunman riding a motorbike in Jaffna on April 29 2007. Before joining Uthayan, Rajivarman worked for Namathu Eezhanadu and Thinakkural. TamilNet reported that he was on duty collecting news when he was shot. Rajivarman used to go to the police stations and hospitals to seek information about the many crimes that were...
A Sri Lankan court has sentenced five Sri Lankan police officers over their role in the killing of eight Tamils in 1998, an incident dubbed the Thampalakamam massacre, more than 26 years after the murders.
The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka celebrated the Tamil and Sinhala New Year alongside a Sri Lankan commander who is currently barred from entering the US over his role in executing Tamils.
Slain Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram was remembered in Batticaloa, Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya today to mark 19 years since his abduction and murder. Sivaram, popularly known under his nom-de-plume Taraki, was abducted in front of Bambalipitiya police station in Colombo on April 28 2005 and was found dead several hours later in a high security zone in Sri Lanka's capital, which at the time had a heavy police and military presence due to the ongoing conflict. His killers, highly suspected to be linked to the government of then-president Chandrika Kumaratunga, were never caught. Read...
This month marked the anniversary of the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, which killed hundreds in hotels and churches across the island. Five years have passed, and there are now more questions than answers - particularly around the role of the Sri Lankan state. What has become increasingly clear, however, is that Sri Lanka remains incapable of transparency, and of delivering justice to the victims and their families. As even the most hardcore proponents of domestic mechanisms have come to realise, just like for the atrocities before them, the Easter Sunday attacks deserve international accountability.
Image courtesy of Tamil Narratives Today marks the 19th anniversary since the abduction and murder of Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram.
Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, the spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Colombo, was summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), just days before Sri Lanka marked the 5th anniversary of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings last week. The bombings, which occurred on April 21, 2019, claimed the lives of 268 people and injured more than 500 others. Speaking outside the CID headquarters in Colombo Fernando said that he had already made the same statement before and had no hope justice would be meted out for the attacks. “We have shared what we know plenty of times,” he said. “As far as I...
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles told officers from the notorious Special Task Force (STF) that it is “not a sin to eliminate” those accused of drug trafficking, as he urged troops to “use your weapon without fear”. "We will stand for you," he told the officers, as Sri Lanka’s police force introduced a new motorcycle squadron to purportedly tackle the trade of narcotics. "In any emergency situation, if you must use your weapon, use it to do the right thing. We will support you. It is not a sin to eliminate those who traffic heroin into the country and the underworld...