"Today, two years on, our nation once again stands united to remember. Not just amongst us here in London, but we stand united with Eelam Tamils in every major city, throughout the world, and with every mind of every Tamil who continues to live oppressed in our homeland. We will never forget those horrors that passed. "So on this day every year, we recall that at our nation’s bleakest moment, we came together. In the face of unimaginable destruction, we stood united. " Time may have numbed the raw pain, but it has only strengthened our resolve. Today, we renew that resolve. We renew our...
"The UN Panel of experts has reported that there is credible evidence to institute an inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the conduct of the war in Sri Lanka. However, the UN continues with its inaction by calling on the very same murderous Sri Lankan regime to investigate its own murder. "The Tamil people have no faith in the Sri Lankan judiciary or any other Sri Lankan state appointed mechanism to conduct an independent investigation to bring the war criminals to account. We demand an International Independent Investigation into the crimes committed against our...
India on Tuesday urged Sri Lanka to probe human rights abuses, implicitly endorsing the UN expert panel’s report, which made allegations of war crimes committed in the last stages of the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers. In a break with tradition, and despite refraining from joining international endorsements of the UN report, India "urged the expeditious implementation of measures by the government of Sri Lanka, including... investigations into allegations of human rights violations," a statement said.
Sri Lanka and Iran are finalising plans to expand trade ties between the two countries. Currently there is about $120 million worth of annual trade between the two countries, but the Iranian Foreign Minister expressed hopes that it would reach $400 million. The announcement came during a visit to Iran by a Sri Lankan delegation, seeing to promote industrial and commercial ties. Commenting on the ‘already existing favorable ties’ between the two countries, the Iranian Foreign Minister noted that Islamic Republic is ready to expand relations with Sri Lanka in the industrial area, construction...
In the last days of Sri Lanka ’s war in mid-May 2009, over 300,000 Tamil civilians fled from the war zone and were housed in internment camps in sub-standard conditions. Gradually they have been released from the camps, and the Sri Lankan government has tried to claim credit for a ‘return to normalcy’ or improving conditions. But a recent report from the OCHA paints a different picture and gives more accurate figures. Over 373,000 civilians have been released from the Menik Farm detention centres as of mid May 2011, but more than 16,000 , mainly from Mullaitivu, still remain in the Vavuniya...
“During this month, we all must not be guilty of forgetting our history. We must instead actively remember the sufferings of our people, and educate our peers about their plight. We can all bear witness to the truth of what happened , and we must educate our friends, peers, coworkers, and neighbors.” - Mathusan Mahalingam , Canadian Tamil activist. See his comment here
“President Mahinda Rajapaksa invited four selected editors to a meal last Friday, to seek their views and advice as to how the government should react to the panel report. “Though all four were not from national newspapers two of them said that the government should consider even sending troops to New York to assault Ban Ki-moon if the need arises. “ The third was more moderate. He said that reality had to be faced. He proceeded to ask several questions as to what plans the government had to handle the panel report. “ The two editors who spoke earlier butted in at this stage before Rajapaksa...
“ It is completely obvious Sri Lanka is a country where people are subjected to various forms of persecution. We are reasonably sure there were liquidations during the last stage of the civil war. ” - Erik Solheim , Norwegian Minister of International Development, when asked about allegations that Norwegian embassy officials have helped people to flee Sri Lanka. See his comments here .
The European Parliament (EP) Thursday welcomed in a resolution the UN expert panel’s report on Sri Lanka and applauded UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who commissioning the report, for publishing it. The EP statement follows a similar declaration Wednesday by the High Representative, Catherine Ashton, on behalf of the European Union. (see here ) The EP expressed its concern at the serious nature of the allegations in the UN report and stressed that those allegations, and the issue of accountability for them, must be properly addressed before lasting reconciliation can be achieved in Sri...
These are extracts from a speech in parliament on May 3 by Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National party (UNP), on the UN expert panel’s report on Sri Lanka’s war crimes (see full text here ): “We made it clear that we will whole-heartedly extend our cooperation to the government in respect of all genuine efforts to uphold our sovereignty and democracy.” “The present situation is perhaps the single most difficult position we have faced externally since the [Indian] airdrops of 1987. “ In whatever we do, we, as a responsible party in the Opposition are...