The Sri Lankan government has built an apparel village over Menik Farm, the site of a former IDP camp where over 300,000 Tamils were interned by the Sri Lankan army and where rape, torture and enforced disappearances of IDPs were reported to be occuring routinely. The village of garment factories was hailed by Sri Lanka's ministry of industry and commerce as a step towards reconciliation. However, the move has been widely criticised by Tamil civil society groups who have described it as an attempt to whitewash sites synonymous with the Sri Lankan military's crimes committed against Tamils. An...
The Northern Provincial Council minister of education on reportedly refused to hoist the Sri Lankan flag at an event in Vavuniya. S Sarveswaran, who had been invited as the chief guest to an event at a school in Vavuniya, was requested to hoist the flag during the playing of Sri Lanka's national anthem. The event was held to distribute bicycles to students at the school.
Jaffna's High Court judge M Ilancheliyan has ordered Sri Lanka's army commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake to appear in court on January 18 in relation to disappearances in army custody in 1996, Ceylon Today reported. Twenty-four Tamil youths disappeared after they were taken into army custody on July 19, 1996 at Navakkuli. At a hearing on November 9, the case relating to 12 of the 24 disappeared was heard. Three people were accused in the petition: the army commander, the attorney general and the then commander of Navakkuli army camp. The three men were ordered by Justice...
Nineteen people were arrested by the Sri Lankan police after clashes broke out between Sinhala and Muslim people is parts of Galle yesterday, with reports of Muslim homes and businesses being attacked. Police imposed a curfew in Kurunduwatta, Maha Hapugala, Welipitimodara, Ukwatta, Ginthota and Piyandigama Grama Sevaka Divisions amid tensions in the region. The Law and Order minister Sagala Ratnayaka on Saturday urged people not to be "misled" by what he described as "false propraganda." "Under the instructions of the President and the Prime Minister, curfew was imposed in the area from last...
Sri Lanka reiterated its commitment to UNHRC resolution 30/1 on reconciliation accountability and justice whilst stopping short of accepting calls for a time-bound benchmarked action plan for its implementation in the final draft summary report of its Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council. The draft UPR summary report tabled on Friday afternoon said that 177 of the 230 recommendations made during the interactive dialogue of Sri Lanka’s Universal Periodic review on Wednesday, “enjoy the support of Sri Lanka.” A total of 53 recommendations, including calls for a timebound action...
Sri Lanka's finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera reiterated his endorsement of the 2018 budget, stating that liberalisation was "non-negotiable". His comments come after the country's Minister of Ports and Shipping, Mangala Samarasinghe criticised the budget's proposed plan to allow 100% foreign ownership in the shipping sector as "completely wrong". Stating that he was "willing to listen to suggestions where there may be mistakes to correct", Mr Samaraweera was further quoted by Economy Next as saying, "but the main theme of the budget, ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ and liberalisations are non-...
Sri Lankan police instituted a curfew in Galle on Friday night, amid reports that a number of Muslim homes and businesses in Gintota were attacked by Sinhala mobs. Police spokesperson, Ruwan Gunasekara was quoted by Ada Derana as saying a curfew was imposed until 9am on Saturday in Kurunduwatta, Maha Hapugala, Welipitimodara, Ukwatta, Ginthota and Piyandigama Grama Sevaka Divisions. According to the paper, riot police and Special Task Force officers were deployed to the area to bring the mobs under control. Sri Lanka's Home Affairs minister Vajira Abeywardena attempted to downplay the reports...
Police in Jaffna had their leave cancelled until further notice due to authorities claiming that a clash could break out around the time of Tamil National Remembrance Day (Maaveerar Naal). The order was issused by the Northern Province's Senior DIG Roshan Fernando on Wednesday evening, the Daily Mirror reported. Previous years have seen the large scale deployment of police officers and armed military personnel across the North-East in the run up to Maaveerar Naal. The deployment is viewed with suscipion by Tamils who feel it is an attempt to intimidate residents and dampen remembrance events.
Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena on Friday once against rejected reports of secret detention centres on the island. Meeting with families of the disappeared, Mr Sirisena said , "there is no such secret detention centers for the present government and no one is held in custody". Mr Sirisena also pledged to "provide swift solutions for the issuses faced by the family members of the missing persons". However, the families remained critical of the government's emtpy promises and failure to take any meaningful action on the issue. Families told the Sri Lankan president that they are “...
Tamil families of the disappeared told the Sri Lankan president that they are “deeply frustrated” and had been “let down repeatedly by broken promises”, as they called on the government to ensure lists of surrendees, detainees under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and all other indefinite detainees, be released within 20 days. Meeting Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena for the third time since their protest began 270 days ago, relatives of the disappeared said the president had not fulfilled promises made in a meeting in June of this year. “In Kilinochchi alone, five mothers...