In a new report, the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) states that the risk of future enforced disappearances remains today as Sri Lanka has failed to “tackle structural weaknesses and to undertake necessary reform.”
A committee appointed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe will coordinate the allocation of public land to members of the Sri Lankan military. The Land Commissioner had mentioned in meetings with g overnment officials that the lands allocated for former members of Sri Lanka’s military needed to be more adequate. Acting on this Wickremesinghe proposed a cabinet paper to revise the methodology for granting lands to former members of Sri Lanka’s military. This includes the appointment of a committee comprising President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, the land commissioner, the Chairman of the...
Preparations are underway at Mullivaikkal memorial yard ahead of May 18, also known as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, despite surveillance by Sri Lankan navy. Sri Lankan naval officers were seen in a van circling the memorial yard as Tamils put up red and yellow flags as part of the final preparation for tomorrow's commemoration event. May 18 will mark 15 years since the Tamil genocide where as many as 169,796 Tamils were slaughtered by Sri Lanka. Each year, the Tamil nation marks the day despite intimidation and surveillance by Sri Lanka. Earlier this week, Tamils in Trincomalee were...
Tamil lawmaker M A Sumanthiran called out the hypocrisy of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem in parliament this week, as the former Sri Lankan justice minister who lobbied against international accountability for the Tamil genocide, demanded his government cut ties with Israel over the “genocide in Gaza”. “We know what is like to have suffered this way, so we stand in solidarity,” the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) MP told the house, adding that members of parliament were being hypocritical when it comes to Tamil people and Palestinians.
A landmark resolution was introduced to the US Congress calling on the United States to work towards an independence referendum for Eelam Tamils and recognise the genocide committed against them by the Sri Lankan state. The resolution, introduced by Representative Wiley Nickel, is the first of its kind to be brought to the US Congress. It comes as Tamils marked 15 years since the Mullivaikkal genocide this week, with May 18 commemorated as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day worldwide. The resolution calls for the “nonrecurrence of past violence, including the Tamil Genocide, by supporting the...
Muttur Magistrate Court has rescinded a ban on the distrbution of kanji after Tamil and Muslim lawyers successfully called for the court order to be overturned. On Sunday, Sampur police officers threatened Tamils in Trincomalee with a court order which stated that kanji could do not distributed due to public health concerns. It also said that certain individuals were prohibited from participating in remembrance related activities but also stated that the order "applies to all people" and that they should not gather at schools or temples and vehicular protests cannot be carried out either...
Tamils in the North-East are marking the fifth day of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week by distributing kanji to honour the victims of the massacre at Mullivaikkal. Over the last few days, Mullivaikkal kanji has been distributed in the lead-up to May 18, also known as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. The sharing of kanji is an attempt by Tamils in the homeland and abroad to chronicle their struggles, understand their plight, and honour them in their deaths. Mannar Events were held in Nanattan and at the main bus stand in Mannar this morning, as Tamils gathered to commemorate Mullivaikkal through...
The Eastern University's student union has condemned the arrest of four Tamils in Trincolmalee and called for their immediate release. On Sunday, four Tamils - Kamaleswaran Themila, Kamaleswaran Vijitha, Kalirajah Sujani and the Tamil National People's Front Muttur organiser, Hariharakumar - were arrested for distributing kanji as part of commemorations to mark 15 years since the Tamil genocide. Video footage shows Sri Lankan police officers dragging some of the women during the arrest. "The rights of the Tamil people are being denied by the Sri Lankan government and there has not been any...
Three of my children were killed in an artillery attack on the same day at the same place. If they were alive today, the eldest son would be 20 years old, daughter would be 17 years old, and the youngest son would be 15 years old. With them, nine members of my family, including my mother-in-law, my husband’s 6-year-old sister, his younger brother, brother’s wife, their 6-year-old son and their 9-month-old daughter, were killed in that incident. Six of them were children.
Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) MP Selvarajah Kajendren called for the immediate arrest of two police officers whom he says are responsible for the death of 41-year-old Pradeepan Selvanayakam in Jaffna.