Celebrations were held in Jaffna this morning as the first commercial international flight to Palaly, landed from Tamil Nadu.
Tamil News
-
Lawyers expressed concern that the 12 people charged for alleged ‘LTTE links’ may not get a fair trial.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, lawyer New Sin Yew said, “When someone is charged for terrorism-related offences, their criminal trial is governed by SOSMA, which is different from a normal criminal trial.’
He added that SOSMA takes away many safeguards for a fair trial under the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act, therefore favouring the prosecution.
-
In the lead up to the Sri Lankan Presidential election 16 November, both Sinhala and Tamil political commentators have quipped that this election is a clear cut choice between “the lesser of two evils” and have insisted on drawing parallels to the 2015 and 2005 elections...
-
The Commonwealth is deploying a team to monitor the presidential election in Sri Lanka.
The Commonwealth Observer Group will judge whether the election has been conducted in line with Sri Lanka’s election-related legislation as well as relevant regional, Commonwealth and international commitments.
The ten member team will assess all factors affecting the credibility of the electoral process by considering the the pre-electoral environment, the voting process, counting and...
-
A decade on since the end of the armed conflict there has been “no accountability for war crimes and other abuses” said Human Rights Watch, in an appeal to Sri Lanka’s next president on Monday.
“Sri Lanka’s presidential election is certain to have important implications for human rights in the country, including justice for wartime violations,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Whoever is elected president will be under domestic and international...
-
Commemorating 13 years since the murder of Tamil parliamentarian Nadaraja Raviraj, remembrance events were held in Jaffna and Vavuniya on Sunday.
-
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran defended his party’s decision to back Sri Lankan presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa in next week’s election, as criticism over the decision continues. -
Sri Lanka’s current president Maithripala Sirisena pardoned the killer of a Swedish teenager this weekend, in a move that has symbolised the climate of impunity on the island.
Jude Jayamaha was sentenced to death over the 2005 murder of Yvonne Jonsson, who was reportedly on holiday in Sri Lanka when she was beaten to death at a high-rise...
-
The Tamil political leadership should join the “extra-parliamentary” agitations across the North-East in order to achieve the political goals of power-sharing, accountability and demilitarisation, argued journalist J S Tissainayagam in an article for the Asian Correspondent last month.
-
A fresh contempt of court hearing against Gnanasara, a leader of the extremist Sinhala-nationalist BBS organisation, has been set for February 17, 2020 by the Sri Lankan court of appeal.
The action was filed by TNA MP Shanthi Sriskandarajah after Gnanasara had led the cremation of a Buddhist monk on Tamil temple premises, directly contravening a court order prohibiting the action.
The senior superintendent (SSP) and chief inspector of the Mullaitivu police department will also...
-
Pressure from the Sri Lankan military has led to the University of Jaffna barring the head of its law department from engaging in private practice, after he took up a public interest habeas corpus case into the 1996 disappearance of more than two dozen Tamil youth.
-
Sri Lanka’s leading presidential election candidates have spent over Rs. 1 billion so far on their campaigns in just two weeks, according to figures released by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV).
Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) reportedly spent Rs. 574 million expenditure, whilst Sajith Premadasa’s New Democratic...
-
.jpg)
The Sri Lankan navy continued with its militarisation of the Tamil North-East, announcing that it had constructed two pre-schools for Tamil infants in Pungudutivu and...
-
Tamils clearing the Kanchikudiyaru thuyilum illam (LTTE cemetery) were threatened by the Sri Lankan army on Friday morning.
On Friday, families of fallen LTTE cadres and members of the public gathered to clear up the cemetery in Amparai district, in preparation for Maaveerar Naal on November 27.
-
Over 250,000 Australians have been campaigning to stop the deportation of a Tamil family from Australia to Sri Lanka. Despite their campaign for fairness, “the Morrison government still insists on denying assistance to the Biloela family,” Meggan Devery writes for Independent Australia.
-
The United Nations (UN) claimed that Sri Lankan peacekeepers to be deployed with its mission in Mali have a “critical and specialized capability” needed to protect convoys on the ground, as controversy erupted over the Sri Lankan army’s continued participation on peacekeeping missions.
-
Socialist Party of Malaysia’s Deputy Chairperson, S Arutchelvan, condemned the Special Measures Act (SOSMA), which has been used to detain 12 men for their alleged ‘LTTE links’.
According to the Green Left, Arutchelvan said that SOSMA must be repealed urgently. He was previously a veteran of the campaign against the Internal Security Act (ISA), legislation which was used to detain people without trial but has now been repealed.
-
Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals dropped by 22.5% in October, representing a seventh straight month of decline, despite the government launching several worldwide "aggressive" tourism campaigns.
-
Both Sri Lanka’s leading candidates in upcoming presidential polls have emphasised their commitment to “national security” and strengthening the controversial military, as canvassing heats up this week.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella told Anadolu Agency that for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, national security “will remain...
-
.jpg)
Sri Lanka’s president declared open a new military complex this morning, speaking at a grand opening ceremony alongside accused war criminal Shavendra Silva.
-
No investigations and no accountability in attacks on refugees and asylum seekers says rights groups
There have been no police investigations and no accountability for the threats and violence faced by refugees and asylum seekers in Sri Lanka says a new report published by Amnesty International and Minority Rights Group International.
Following the Easter Sunday attacks, where more than 250 people killed in three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka, refugees and asylum seekers from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran faced attacks by armed mobs, forcing some to flee their homes.
-
Sajith Premadasa, the UNP’s presidential candidate, has stated that once elected he would appoint a new Prime Minister who could command the confidence of parliament.
He told reporters;
"As soon as I'm appointed President, a new Prime Minister who commands the confidence of Parliament will also be appointed. Sri Lanka will have a new first-time Prime Minister who...
-
An Indian airline will commence commercial flights between Jaffna and Chennai from Monday it announced, with plans to step up connections between the two regions.
Flights are due to start on Monday 11th of November, with a one-way fare reportedly costing in the region of USD $45 plus taxes.
-
The Sessions Court allowed a prosecution application to dismiss two charges of possessing items related to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaran.
Judge Madihah Harullah accepted the request after deputy public prosecutor Aslina Ahad made the application.
According to the charges, Gunasekaran allegedly had LTTE-related items in his office and house, Malay Mail reported.
The assemblyman was represented by a panel of...
-
Mahinda Rajapaksa, former war-time President of Sri Lanka and accused war-criminal, has criticised UNP Presidential candidate, Sajith Premadasa, of deliberately misleading the Sinhalese majority by avoiding the term “unitary state”.
In his statement, he claims the chapter of the UNP’s manifesto dealing with constitutional reforms will replace Sri Lanka’s “unitary state” and will lead to the nation becoming “a loose federation of virtually independent provincial units”.
-
Sri Lanka’s health minister Rajitha Senaratne claimed that each Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian would receive “Rs. 300 mn each to spend on their electorates”, according to a report in The Island on Wednesday.
Senaratne reportedly held a series of meetings in Jaffna, where he canvassed support for Sajith Premadasa in this month’s Sri Lankan presidential elections.
The Island quotes a health ministry statement with Senaratne reportedly telling a rally in Jaffna that...
-
Leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) released a statement endorsing Sajith Premadasa in this month’s Sri Lankan presidential elections, despite his refusal to engage with demands put forward by the parties.
“Mr. Sajith Premadasa is a leader with clean hands,” claimed the TNA statement on Wednesday. “In whatever capacity he has functioned, it is accepted that he has done his best.”
-
Former President and patron of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Chandrika Kumaratunga, faces expulsion for extending her support to the New Democratic Front (NDF).
President Maithripala Sirisena has called a meeting of the party’s Central Committee, its policy making body, to recommend her expulsion from the SLFP alongside party members who are backing her.
Api Sri Lanka, a component of the SLFP, backed Ms Kumaratunga, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last week to...
-
Sri Lankan parliamentarian SB Dissanayake’s security forces opened fire at a group of protesters blocking the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MP’s car, leaving two people injured on Wednesday.
Ruwan Gunasekara, police spokesman, said the injured were admitted to Teligama hospital and later taken to Karawanella hospital for treatment.
The group of protesters are reported to be Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) supporters.
-
Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved the payment of compensation to 78 journalists who were subject to ‘harassment’ and ‘persecution’ between 2005 and 2015 during the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa. A committee will decide the compensation to be handed out.
Several Tamil journalists reported receiving a form to apply for compensation in 2017 but refused to engage with the process, saying they wanted justice for the attacks against them as well as justice for over 40 of their colleagues...
-
Sajith Premadasa has said if elected as Sri Lankan president he will develop the North-East, the Tamil homeland, by holding donor conferences to obtain foreign aid for each province, ten years after the end of the armed conflict.
Premadasa, whose campaign refused to engage with demands including a federal solution and an end to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) put forward jointly by several Tamil parties, made the conference pledge at an election rally in Mullaitivu this week.
World News
-
A lawsuit accusing Myanmar of genocide for its treatment of the Rohingya people has been filed at the International Court of Justice.
The case was filed at the highest UN court by Gambia on behalf of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
“It is clear that Myanmar has no intention of ending these genocidal acts and continues to pursue the destruction of the group within its territory,” the lawsuit said, adding that the government “is deliberately destroying evidence...
-
Hundreds of pro-independence Catalonian protesters gathered on the AP-7 highway, a major traffic link between Spain and France, which could cost the Spanish economy 15 million euros on a daily basis, reports the Spanish Confederation of Goods Transport.
According to the Spanish Confederation of Goods Transport, spokesperson, Dulse Diaz, approximately said 20,000 trucks cross the border at La Jonquera every day in both directions. Following this protest, they have been diverted into...
-
Former Congolese rebel leader, Bosco Ntaganda, will appeal the International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) 30-year sentence, issued on Thursday, for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
-
Amnesty International has denounced the imprisonment of journalists in Turkey under charges of “assisting a terrorist organisation”.
Nazlı Ilıcak and Ahmet Altan were sentenced to 10 and a half years and 8 years and 9 months respectively after having spent three years detained pre-trial. Their legal representatives are currently having their cases retried following the decision against them by the Supreme Court of Appeals in July 2019.
Amnesty has condemned what they describe...
-
Chile has been forced to withdraw from hosting two international summits as the government is rocked by mass uprisings and mounting allegations of human rights violations.
With at least 18 people dead and 7000 arrested and allegations of police torture, Chile’s president Sebastian Piñera, who is facing legal action by civil society groups who accuse him of crimes against humanity, announced that he had taken the “painful” decision to cancel two high profile summits due to take place...
-
The Dutch government has admitted that a bomb dropped by a Dutch -16 fighter killed 70 civilians in an airstrike in Northern Iraq.
In a letter to parliament, the Dutch Defense Ministry wrote that an airstrike targeting an alleged Islamic State (IS) bomb factory in northern Iraq killed about 70 people, including IS fighters and civilians.
On June 2 2015, a bomb dropped by a Dutch F-16 fighter hit the bomb factory in Hawija, near the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, on the...
-
Speaking at a campaign launch, Adam Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru, has said in the run-up to the UK general election, Dec 12, that Wales may forge its own independence from the United Kingdom and remain a member of the European Union.
-
The highest court in Israel has authorised the deportation of Human Rights Watch (HRW) official Omar Shakir, a US citizen, for allegedly supporting BDS, the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement.
In 2017 Israel passed legislation criminalising support for BDS and blocking entry to those who have supported a boycott of Israel or its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
-
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has reportedly refuse to investigate the alleged use of white phosphorus against Kurds by Turkey, reports The Times, whilst Britain also continues its sales of phosphorus products to Ankara.
“The OPCW has not initiated an investigation regarding recent developments in northern Syria,” a statement sent to The Times from the international body read. Investigators reportedly refused to test tissue samples from injured...
-
Photo Credit: SBA73
Catalan separatists have protested on the streets of Barcelona during a visit by Spanish King Felipe VI, where they burned effigies of the monarch.
-
Syrian Kurds have criticised UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, meeting with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where they discussed the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.
During the meeting between the UN official and Turkey’s president, Erdogan outlined his plans to return an approximate 2 million of the roughly 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey to northeastern Syria. This has fuelled concerns amongst Kurds over a deliberate attempt to shift...
-
Anti-government protests have continued in Iraq this weekend, with tens of thousands of demonstrators shutting down the capital of Baghdad and a reported attack on the Iranian embassy in Karbala.
Political rallies staged in the capital and across the south of the country have charged the government with corruption and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. At least 250 protestors have been killed so far in clashes with security forces.
-
With an upcoming general election in the UK, Scotland’s First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, told thousands gathered in Glasgow that she would demand a second independence referendum in the next year.
During the rally, Ms Sturgeon insisted on the importance of a large turnout at the upcoming general election. In her speech she stated;
-
China has spoken out against India following the decision to revoke Kashmir’s special status and split the land into two federal territories, both of which will be governed by New Delhi.
The land has been split into two; one section for Jammu and Kashmir, and another for Ladakh.
Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Minister, responded to India’s decision with the following statement:
-
The US House of Representatives have acknowledged the Armenian genocide and has imposed sanctions on Turkey in response to its assault on Kurdish controlled territories in north-eastern Syria.
The Armenian genocide was carried out from 1914-1923 where an approximate 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed by the Ottoman Empire and subject to expulsion.
-
Pakistan has denied India use of its airspace for the third time due to “ongoing grave human rights violations” in Indian-administrated Kashmir.
Pakistan’s denial of its airspace follows the decision by India to strip the Muslim majority Kashmir of its limited autonomy and impose order through the deployment of the security forces. This continues to be the situation in Kashmir and has lasted over 80 days.
-
At least five people have died in Iraq as anti-government protests have entered into a second day. The death toll this month has been over 190.
Protests began on 1 October and during these earlier protests close to 150 people died due to clashes with the security forces. The government has released a report acknowledging that authorities had used excessive force in responding to these demonstrations.
The BBC has stated that the protests continued in Iraq despite the leaders of...
-
The US House of Representatives is set to vote next week on a resolution to commemorate the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.
Turkey has opposed the move, with its embassy saying in a statement “Turkey opposes all legislative steps and other official acts that try to render judgment on its history,” adding that the resolution would undermine reconciliation efforts between Turks and Armenians.
The issue of whether the US should recognise the Armenian genocide...
-
US President Donald Trump has lifted sanctions on Turkey in response to a ceasefire in Kurdish controlled northern Syria; he claims the ceasefire is permanent.
This decision withdrawal of troops from Northern Syria and a subsequent attack from Turkey on Kurdish controlled region. President Trump faced widespread opposition, including from senior officials from his own party.
During a White House speech, the President described the cease fire negotiated by Vice President Mike...
-
In a landmark decision, the Wiyot Tribe will regain the majority of an island off Northern California which they had lost to colonial settlers in a massacre in 1860.
In 1860 the Wiyot tribe was massacred as women, children and elders were slaughtered as the tribesmen were gathering supplies. The remaining 600 members of the tribe have since then continued to fight for their land.
-
HRW has released a statement yesterday calling for the Japanese government to hold Myanmar accountable for the atrocities committed against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, as well as to discourage investment that will benefit Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw.
In 2018, the UN accused Myanmar of genocide in response to a brutal ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people in 2017. This forced over 740,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. Over a million reside in overcrowded camps...
-
Following Turkey’s invasion of the Kurdish regions of Northern Syria, the UK has seized its sale of arms.
Since 2014, the UK has supplied £1.1 billion worth of arms to Turkey, weapons which may have been used in Syria.
The decision follows sharp criticism from both the UK Labour and Green party for the government’s initial reluctance to condemn Turkey’s actions during the EU foreign affairs council on Monday.
Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, told...
-
US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to withdraw American troops from the Kurdish regions of norther Syria, stating it was “strategically brilliant”, whilst lashing out at the Kurds in the region.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump said the Kurds were “not angels” and said the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were “probably worse at terror and more of a terrorist threat in many ways than" Islamic State.
He also commented on Kurdish militants who fought...
-
Following the sentencing of nine of Catalonian separatist politicians on Monday, the streets of Barcelona have erupted in protest for a second day, bearing witness to clashes between the police and demonstrators.
The Spanish Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday, that nine Catalonian politicians were guilty of sedition, has resulted in sentences between 9-13 years for the organisation of the October 2017 independence referendum.
-
British Kurds took to the streets of London in a mass demonstration of over 20,000 people to march against the US withdrawal of troops from the Kurdish regions of Northern Syria and the subsequent Turkish attacks on the Kurdish controlled territories.
-
Spain’s Supreme Court plans to convict and sentence Catalonia’s separatist leaders for up to 15 years in prison, over a 2017 bid for independence, according to a judicial source.
The 12 leaders would be found guilty of charges of sedition and misuse of public funds. The verdict is expected to be signed by the judges and made public next week.
The charges stem from the leaders’ role in an October 2017 referendum, which led to a short lived Declaration of Independence. Spanish...
-
Former South African President, Jacob Zuma, is expected to face trial on Tuesday on 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
The accusations specify that during his reign as President, 2009-2018, he took bribes from the French defence company Thales which was related to a 1999 multi-billion-dollar arms purchase, which he oversaw as vice president.
Zuma tried in March to have his case permanently dismissed however High Court Judge Wilie Sertie ruled against him;...
-
Police have detained the chief of the Tibetan Youth Congress and 11 other students for shouting slogans demanding freedom while holding "Free Tibet" flags ahead of President Xi Jinping's arrival in Chennai today for a summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
...
-
Following a week of protests which saw the deaths of at least 105 people, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned the “excessive and unnecessary lethal force” of the Iraqi military who were sent to suppress rock-throwing demonstrators.
In their report, HRW called upon Iraqi officials to hold accountable members of the security forces responsible for the brutal suppression of protesters in the capital Baghdad, and several other cities.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at...
-
Two people have been killed and another two seriously injured during a live-streamed anti-Semitic attack on a German synagogue on Yom Kippur.
The attacker, known as Stephan B, is a 20-year-old German male, who broadcast his crimes on Amazon’s game streaming service known as Twitch.
Reuters notes that during his broadcast he claimed:
“I think the Holocaust never happened,” he began, before adding “feminism is the cause of decline in birth rates in the West”...