US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned of China’s “predator” relationship with Sri Lanka as he held high level meetings with Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo today, with trade, accountability for rights abuses and a US travel ban on army commander Shavendra Silva also discussed.
Pompeo met with Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who himself stands accused of war crimes, where the two discussed “post-pandemic economic recovery and development and the importance of our partnership to bolster sustainable and transparent trade and investment”.
Tamil News
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Reporting on the continued militarization of the North-East, PEARL (People for Equality and Relief in Lanka) highlights that in Kankesanthurai (KKS) region there is “least 40 military bases, 4 police institutions, 4 army canteens and resorts, and 3 Buddhist temples” within just 90 square kilometres of land.
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A Tamil director has requested for ‘urgent’ protection for his life after claiming he received several life threatening messages for asking Vijay Sethupathi to opt out of the controversial Muttiah Muralitharan biopic ‘800’.
Seenu Ramasamy, who worked with Vijay Sethupathi in the Tamil films ‘Dharma Durai’ and ‘Thenmerku Paruvakaatru, insisted that his life was “in danger” and took to Twitter to call for Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister to offer him some sort of security.
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Sri Lanka has seen a recent rise in COVID-19 cases causing authorities to increase the coronavirus-related curfew zones to 56 police divisions and increasing militarisation, which many human rights advocates have voiced concern over.
So far, the island has reported over 8,000 COVID-19 cases with the total number of deaths rising to 16. More than...
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The Sri Lankan navy has attacked Tamil fishermen from Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu early Tuesday this week, in yet another assault on Indian fishermen in a pattern that has been ongoing for years.
Whilst the fishermen were fishing in Dhanushkodi, the Sri Lankan navy is reported to have been patrolling in the area and have allegedly attacked the Tamil fishermen using stones, glass bottles and also destroyed the fishing material. The navy has also been accused of...
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again paid tribute to the Tamil language this month, as he spoke to Tamil Nadu hairdresser on Sunday speaking to him in Tamil and praising Thirukurral, on his monthly radio program “Maan Ki Baat.”
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The trial of detained human rights lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, which was due to take place on Wednesday, has been postponed to February 24, 2021. He has been detained for over six months since being arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in April, and has remained in detention without charges or any credible evidence being submitted...
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Heavily armed security teams have been deployed in Sampithpura and Mattakkuliya in Colombo under the order of accused war criminal and army head, Shavendra Silva. The measure was taken on the grounds of enforcing safety precautions during the coronavirus pandemic.
The intense army presence has been deployed to Lankapura (North...
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Two boys aged 12 and 13 were critically injured in a grenade blast on Sunday in the Iranai Iluppaikkulam area in the Madhu division of Mannar. They were both taken to Vavuniya hospital.
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The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has condemned Sri Lanka’s 20th amendment to the constitution, which seeks to centralise power and limit the power of parliament and the courts, as a “blow to the rule of law”.
In their statement the ICJ attacks the amendment, which passed into law on 22 October, paying particular attention to the reintroduction of Parliamentary Council. The measure allows for judicial appointments at the Presidency discretion at has...
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US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has arrived in Sri Lanka as part of his larger trip which includes stops at India, the Maldives, and Indonesia.
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Responding to US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Dean Thompson’s, statement that US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, will “continue to urge Sri Lanka to advance democratic governance, human rights [and] reconciliation”, China accused the US of coercion and bullying.
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The United National Party has alleged that Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC) has betrayed their voters made a “secret deal” with the Rajapaksas in exchange for votes on the 20th Amendment.
The 20th amendment, which seeks to centralise power within the executive presidency and removes checks and balances on the...
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In response to US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo’s, visit Sri Lanka Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), accompanied by Sinhala Buddhist monks, have staged a protest outside the US Embassy in Colombo against what they see as US “imperial ambitions” attempting to undermine Sri Lankan sovereignty.
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As US Secretary of State Mike Pomepo lands in Colombo today, close attention will be paid to his meetings at Temple Trees, where he will meet with Sri Lanka’s war crimes-accused president and prime minister. The Sri Lankan government will no doubt spin this as an US attempt to court the regime in Colombo or even as international applause for how the Rajapaksa siblings have ruled...
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The Colombo-based Defence Advisors of Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, United States and the United Kingdom held a meeting with the war crimes accused head of the Sri Lankan military last week, to discuss the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Speaking in parliament, JVP MP, Vijitha Herath, claimed that the murder of Makandure Madush, a notorious drug “kingpin” who was under police custody at the Maligawatte Housing complex, was done to protect 80 politicians complicit in drug trafficking.
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Sri Lankan Opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa, has called for the reinstatement of the death penalty for “terrorists and drug dealers”.
The call for reimplementing the death penalty, which has currently been on a hiatus for the past 44 years, follows discussions between Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister, Ali Sabry and Premadasa on the removal of constitutional checks...
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A biopic of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is back in the works according to an announcement made by Kollywood actor Bobby Simha last week.
The actor told his fans on social media that the film titled “Seerum Puli” - 'Raging Tiger', in which Simha would play the lead role could be expected for release soon. It is expected to chronicle the early life of Prabhakaran and chart his rise as a liberation fighter.
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Ahead of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Sri Lanka tomorrow, Tamils families of the disappeared in Vavuniya called on the United States to ensure that it pushes into the wherabouts of their disappeared loved...
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A Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) constable was sentenced by the Batticaloa High Court to 15 years in prison for raping a child in 2009.
The officer was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in February 2009 when he was serving at a Special Task Force (STF) camp in Vellaveli, Batticaloa.
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Protests have taken place across Tamil Nadu in support of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) President Thol.Thirumavalavan and calling for a ban on an ancient Hindu text Manusmriti, which has caused controversy over segments that denigrate women.
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Sri Lanka’s High Commission in London has been busy lobbying the British government after a ruling last week found that the Home Office decision to keep the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) proscribed as a terrorist organisation was “flawed” and unlawful, reports the Sunday Times.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Saroja Sirisena reportedly held a Zoom...
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US Secretary of State may be in for a fiery meeting with Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo this week, with a report claiming that the Sri Lankan officials will hit back at US calls on human rights, justice and economic policies.
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File photograph: Modi and Wigneswaran in Jaffna. 2015.
Tamil lawmaker C V Wigneswaran thanked Indian prime minister Narendra Modi for his call for the “essential” implementation of the 13th Amendment in Sri Lanka, as he asked New Delhi to ensure there would be no further Sinhalisation of the Tamil North-East.
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Sri Lanka’s former president claimed that the appointment of a relative of an LTTE member to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) resulted in several reports of human rights abuses committed by the security forces reaching the United Nations, and the eventual vetting of Sri Lankan troops from UN peacekeeping missions.
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Tributes have poured in for Coimbatore Transgender Association President Sangeetha, who was found murdered at her residence on Wednesday.
Tamil Nadu Police have arrested 23-year-old Rajesh, with reports that allegedly killed Sangeetha who had rejected his sexual advances. Police Commissioner Sumit Saran told TNM that a 'personal dispute...
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The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a plea by Veerasangili Kanniah Thanabalan (V.K.T. Balan), one of the accused in the attempted assassination of LTTE chief negotiator and political strategist, Anton Balasingham. V.K.T Balan appealed to quash the case on the grounds of a long delay.
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Five people were arrested on charges of possessing illegal firearms in the Thirukkovil area of Amparai district on Saturday morning.
Thirukkovil police raided houses located in Kanchirankuda, Thambiluvil, Vinayagapuram and Thirukkovil.
Police claimed to have recovered five locally-made firearms, for which five people were arrested. Police said the arrested would be produced in court.
Earlier this week, two Tamil men, including a former LTTE cadre, were arrested in...
World News
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A Tamil director has requested for ‘urgent’ protection for his life after claiming he received several life threatening messages for asking Vijay Sethupathi to opt out of the controversial Muttiah Muralitharan biopic ‘800’.
Seenu Ramasamy, who worked with Vijay Sethupathi in the Tamil films ‘Dharma Durai’ and ‘Thenmerku Paruvakaatru, insisted that his life was “in danger” and took to Twitter to call for Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister to offer him some sort of security.
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Rwandan genocide suspect, Félicien Kabuga, 84, has been transferred into detention at The Hague to face trial for his alleged participation during the 1994 genocide of thousands of Tutsis in Rwanda.
He was on the run for over two decades until he was arrested in France in May. The United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, which handles outstanding war crimes cases for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, is due to try the former tea and coffee tycoon....
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During US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo’s, visit to India earlier this week, he emphasised the “strong and growing bilateral relationships with India” whilst also condemning China’s Communist Party, stating;
"The CCP is no friend to democracy, the rule of law, transparency, nor to freedom of navigation — the foundation of...
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Samuel Paty, a French teacher was beheaded last Friday near Paris after sharing caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad with his class. The suspect, 18-year-old Chechen man, was shot dead by police.
The images were part of a lesson on freedom of speech held in October. The controversial cartoons were originally published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2012. And were cited as the motivation behind the killing of 12 people by Islamist extremists at the magazine's offices.
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Amnesty International has reported that 12 people have been killed during peaceful protests against police brutality in Lagos, Nigeria.
69 people have been killed by Nigeria’s security forces whilst protesting police brutality since October,
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Chinese officials have warned the US that they will detain Americans if the Justice Department prosecutes Chinese scholars who are affiliated with the Chinese military, The New York Times reported.
US law enforcement officials report that five recently arrested Chinese scholars did not disclose their military affiliations on their visa applications, therefore accusing that China may be...
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Thailand authorities have ordered internet providers to block Telegram, a messaging app, which has been used by pro-democracy protesters.
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Bolivia’s elections on Sunday saw the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), claim a victory after securing 52.4 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls.
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The Standing Committee of China’s congress passed amendments to a law which will criminalise insulting the national flag and emblem.
The amendment which will come into effect on January 1, 2021, will criminalise those who intentionally burn, paint, deface, discard or display the flag upside down and will be prone to investigation for criminal responsibility.
Amendments to the law were proposed after pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong last year desecrated the Chinese flag...
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China and Russia's appointment as members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has caused outrage amongst human rights campaigners. It "is like making a gang of arsonists into the fire brigade”, commented UN Watch, a Geneva-based monitoring group.
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Allegations of systematic violence against a local community in Kenya by guards working for an avocado farm, Kakuzi, that supplies UK supermarkets have resulted in a lawsuit against the farm’s British parent company, Camellia. 79 claims of “extreme violence”, dating from 2009 to January 2020 were found. Claimants include former employees of Kakuzi.
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On Taiwan’s National Day president Tsai Ing-wen promised to strengthen Taiwan’s defence and alliances with regions partners as China tensions heighten.
During her speech, she called for ‘meaningful dialogue’ with China however she added that “this is not something Taiwan can shoulder alone; it is the joint responsibility of both sides.”
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Following days of violent protest against the alleged killing of a man by the Nigerian police’s notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Nigeria’s government has announced that all SARS with be abolished and officers will be redeployed to other roles.
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Nine people have been arrested by Hong Kong police under suspicion of assisting 12 activists that attempted to escape Hong Kong in August.
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Technology entrepreneurs have petitioned the Indian government seeking support to create an Indian app store which would rival Google's market dominance in India, which government officials claims stands at 98% of Indian Android operating systems.
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15-year-old, Abou died in a hospital this week, after being evacuated from an Italian quarantine ship used to isolate refugees amidst the coronavirus.
Italian officials are investigating the death after several witnesses reported Abou, who travelled from the Ivory Coast, as very ill, dehydrated, malnourished and with evident signs of torture on his body. However, he wasn’t transferred to a hospital until 30 September where he tested negative for Covid-19 and fell into a coma.
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Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers were expelled to Niger by Algerian authorities during roundups of mostly sub-Saharan Africans across at least nine cities, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday.
Migrants were pulled from streets, homes, and work sites before being crammed into trucks and buses before being expelled to Niger.
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Writing in the Australian paper, The Age, Rawan Arraf, Director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, argues that Australia needs a “dedicated and permanent program” to investigate and prosecute war criminals in Australia.
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According to government statistics, the UK has ranked as the second-largest arms dealer in the world for the past decade, second only to the US.
In 2019, UK arms deals made up 16 per cent of the global sale of arms and secured £11bn worth of contracts for military equipment and services. This is...
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The gang rape and murder of two Dalit women in the last recent weeks has sparked outrage across India, with calls for the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh to resign.
Both murders took place in the Northern state of Uttar Pradesh, with the two women belonging to India’s marginalised Dalit caste.
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On Wednesday, Afghanistan’s top peace official, Abdullah Abdullah, stated he does the expect the results of the anticipated US presidential election to change the Afghan peace process or troop withdrawal plans.
The Trump administration has brokered peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban to end 19 years of war. The US Taliban Agreement negotiated on February 29 2020, concluded that US armed forces would withdraw from Afghanistan under pretences of a truce.
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A special court in India has acquitted 32 men, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani, a sitting BJP politician, and three leaders from the party, of the destruction of Babri mosque (masjid) which led to religious riots and the massacre of 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.
The court’s decision is seen as yet another...
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China’s National Day has previously been a day of pro-democracy expression in Hong Kong but this year thousands of police officers smothered most forms of protest and free expression.
China marks its founding on October 1, but last year saw heavy clashes between protesters and Hong Kong police anti-government violence following the impostition of national security legislation earlier in the year. Thousands of protesters took to the streets to directly challenge China’s increasing...
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Amnesty International announced on Tuesday that it has closed it's Indian offices after the government froze its bank accounts as part of their crackdown on human rights defenders and organisations.
Amnesty described the Indian government’s campaign against activist organisations, as a “witch hunt,” adding that fund-raising and operating have been made impossible. The actions, they believe, are in response to “unequivocal calls for transparency in the government.” And exposing human...
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The Public Prosecution Service (PPS), the principal prosecution authority in Northern Ireland, has concluded that there is “insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction of any of the 15 soldiers” who were charged with the unlawful murder of 13 civil rights activists in January 1972, during Bloody Sunday.
The PPS has only...
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Warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a prisoner exchange of 1081 people, the largest exchange since late 2018, as part of a trust-building programme which aims to revive peace negotiations, the UN reports.
UN Envoy Martin Griffiths told Reuters;
“It’s very rare to have prisoner releases of this scale during the conflict,...
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The UK government’s proposed legislation to restrict the ability to hold British soldiers accountable for crimes committed overseas – the Overseas Operations Bill - passed its second reading in Parliament yesterday. The law will provide a “presumption against prosecution” after five yearsfor British soldiers and veterans. The legislation forms part of the Conservative party election manifesto pledge to protect British armed forces from ‘vexatious’ claims.
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Protests have erupted across the US following the news that the two officers who killed Breonna Taylor were not charged however one officer who fired shots during the incident was indicted for wanton endangerment.
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Indian lawmakers approved 2 controversial farming bills on Sunday that the government claims will boost growth in the farming sector, but opposition parties and long-time ally of the ruling party called “anti-farmer.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi fiercely supported the bills saying, the new laws will remove middlemen from agriculture trade, allowing farmers to...
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A rare Mediterranean hurricane, known as a medicane, swept through western Greece on Friday, flooding streets and homes.
The storm, named Ianos, uprooted trees, flooded highways and caused power cuts in the Ionian islands of Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Ithaca.
The body of one man was found under the collapsed roof of his house; another 63-year-old man was found dead in the same area; and, the body of an elderly woman was found nearby Farsala, as reported by brigade officials....