After yet another week of political turmoil in Sri Lanka, with the president accused of overriding the constitution and appointing a man the Supreme Court found personally participated in torture as the head of police, one might have imagined the authoritarian path the regime is trudging down was clear to all. Not so in Washington. One of the US State Department’s most senior officials flew into the island last week and declared that, despite the ramping up of repression, they would be looking to send yet another vessel to the Sri Lankan navy. The move sends a troubling message across the island and around the world. At a time when US foreign policy is coming under intense scrutiny, it seems as if authoritarianism is being rewarded in Sri Lanka once more.
Sri Lanka is seeking a five-month hold on a lawsuit filed by a bondholder over the country’s historic debt default, telling a New York federal judge that it wants more time to negotiate with private creditors. The island nation was sued in July 2022 by Hamilton Reserve Bank Ltd., which sought full payment on more than $250 million of Sri Lanka’s dollar bond that was due that month. The bank says it holds more than 25% of the bonds, which would likely enable it to block any modification of the notes. On Friday, Sri Lanka sought an extension of a delay of the lawsuit that was granted in...
Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) his government once again rejected a resolution that calls for a hybrid accountability mechanism to prosecute for war crimes committed against Tamils, but also called for action on the “existential threat to the people in Gaza”. Delivering his oral statement at the 5th Meeting of the 55th regular sessions of the UNHRC, Sabry said “Sri Lanka rejects extensive external evidence gathering measures established following the resolution 46/1 and 62/1," which he claimed "will have wide-ranging...
UN High Commissioner Volker Türk told the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that it is only through addressing the “root causes” of the conflict and ensuring accountability for rights abuses, that Sri Lanka will see “genuine reconciliation and sustainable peace and development”. In his oral update at the 55th session yesterday, Türk said sustainable peace and reconciliation will not be achieved in Sri Lanka "with regressive laws and authoritarian approaches". "It is only through addressing the root causes of the country’s conflict and economic crisis, and ensuring accountability, that Sri Lanka...
13-year-old Harikaran Dhanwat, a student of Hindu College Trincomalee, has successfully attempted to swim 31.5 km across the Palk Strait to raise awareness of the need to protect marine resources and conserve the environment. Supported by Trinco Aid Foundation, this was the first time that Harikaran attempted the swim. He started his journey from Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu on March 1 and reached Thailaimannar in Tamil Eelam on the same day. The new Consul General for India in Jaffna Shri Sai Murali was also present at the event to congratulate him.
After three years of anticipation, the final design for the Tamil Genocide Memorial in Chinguacousy Park has been approved by the Brampton City Council. The monument, standing at 4.8 metres tall and made of stainless steel, will serve as a permanent reminder of the genocide faced by the Eelam Tamils at the hands of the Sri Lankan state during the armed conflict, particularly in its final stages in 2009. The inspiration for the memorial came after the Mullivaikkal memorial at Jaffna University, which was erected in 2019 to honour the Tamil lives lost in the genocide, was destroyed. This act of...
In a recent parliamentary session, Swiss MP Fabian Molina of the Social Democratic Party grilled the Swiss government over its engagement with Sri Lanka regarding human rights violations and the establishment of new mechanisms to address them. In response, the Swiss government stated that it currently has no intention of supporting such a commission. According to the Swiss government, the Swiss embassy in Sri Lanka, along with the South African and Japanese embassies, has presented a list of proposals to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe aimed at building confidence and promoting...
The untimely demise of T Suthendraraja alias Santhan (55), one of the seven freed convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has shocked many in the Tamil homeland who were anticipating his return. Tamil members of parliament and civil society shared their condolences and sympathy adding that the yearning of Santhan’s mother who had waited over 30 years to see her son is symbolic of the struggles of many mothers and fathers in the homeland, who are yet to even find out if their loved ones are among the living. The leader of the Tamil National People's Front and member of parliament...
The Colombo High Court has acquitted Tamil politician M.K Shivajilingam who was facing charges for his role in organizing an event in Nallur to mark the 33rd commemoration of Lt. Col Thileepan's hunger strike. The case against Shivajilingam was filed under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act which was used to argue that any commemoration or glorification of fallen LTTE cadres violates the constitution of Sri Lanka. When the case was taken up for hearing earlier in February, the defence raised preliminary objections stating that the Colombo High Court did not have Jurisdiction power to...
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s (JVP) National Organizer Bimal Rathnayake said the United National Party (UNP) and current Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe were responsible for the 1983 Black July pogroms that killed thousands of Tamils and claimed ‘that false information’ regarding his party’s involvement was preventing Tamils from joining the JVP. “They are spreading false propaganda among the Tamil people that the Black July riots were carried out with the intervention of JVP,” said Rathnayake. “This is a blatant lie.” “The architects of the riots in Black July were JR Jayawardena...