• Maithripala to visit UK and 'lunch with Queen'

    Feb 25

    Sri Lanka's new president, Maithripala Sirisena will travel to the UK on March 7 on an official visit, Minister of Justice Wijayadasa Rajapakshe told the BBC Sinhala service.

    President Sirisena, who was acting defence minister during the bloody final stages of the war in 2009, will have lunch with Queen Elizabeth on March 11, said Mr Rajapakshe.

  • Young Tamil found dead in Batticaloa

    The body of a young Tamil man was found on Thursday in Eerakulam, Batticaloa, reported Battinews.

    Nallathambi Vijikaran, 20, who hails from Siththandi, was reported missing by his family three days ago.

  • HRW tells Sri Lankan president to press ahead on rights reform
    The New York based rights group, Human Rights Watch, urged Sri Lanka's new president to "advance a reform agenda to address past and ongoing human rights problems in the country" and stressed the need for accountability for violations of international law during the armed conflict in a letter sent to the president on Thursday.

    Stating that the government had undertaken important new initiatives, HRW said in a statement accompanying the letter, "however many important human rights concerns still need to be addressed".

    "Among them are the use of torture by police, the protection of minority communities, the independence of government oversight committees, and the repealing of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Holding accountable those responsible on both sides for violations of international law during Sri Lanka’s long civil war is crucial for the country’s future," the rights group added in a statement on Thursday.

  • JVP opposes UNP-SLFP national government
    The JVP this week said it would oppose any move towards a national government ahead of Sri Lanka's parliamentary election, stating that such a move was an attempt to deprive the electorate of the right to vote.

    On Sunday, the president's media office announced that the opposition party, SLFP had agreed to form a national government.
  • Sri Lanka's foreign minister visits China
    Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera left for China on Thursday, for a two day visit aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries.

    Mr Samaraweera is expected to meet with his counterpart in China. The visit comes ahead of the Sri Lankan president's expected visit next month.
  • BBS chief Gnanasara may contest general elections

    The head of the Bodu Bala Sena, a Buddhist group led by monks, says he is considering entering politics and contesting the general elections in summer.

    Speaking to Colombo Gazette, BBS General Secretary Galagodaaththe Gnanasara said he had been requested several times to enter politics.

    In January the Buddhist organisation announced it would form a party to “protect Buddhism form minority threats”.

  • Senior UN official to visit Sri Lanka this week

    The UN’s Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will visit Sri Lanka on Saturday, his first visit to the island.

    Mr Feltman will meet with senior officials of the government, political parties and civil society groups.

  • Sri Lankan court extends detention of Jeyakumari
    Tamil disappearances activist Balendran Jeyakumariy has had her detention extended by a court in Colombo on Tuesday after a request from Sri Lanka’s anti-terrorism police, reports Colombo Mirror.

    The campaigner, who was detained by Sri Lankan security forces ahead of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka in March 2014, will continue to be held in custody until March 10.
  • Wigneswaran tells Sri Lanka PM nothing racist about demanding truth
    Criticising the Sri Lankan prime minister's statement that a resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) calling for an international investigation in genocide as "racist", adding that the UN Human Rights council's decision to defer the publication of a report examining mass atrocities against the Tamil people was intended as a slap in the face to the NPC.

    “Asking that the truth should come out cannot be racism,” the Northern Provincial Council's chief minister, C V Wigneswaran told reporters on Wednesday. 
     
    “If only the truth is first learnt, a path for reconciliation can be created,” he pointed out.
     
    “The prime minister saying that [us] revealing what happened to our people is racism gives [us] great sadness. Saying the truth can never be racism. Real racism can be pointed out. That is what the resolution we brought to the Northern Provincial Council showed."
     
  • South African delegation visits Sri Lanka
    A South African delegation visited Sri Lanka this week, discussing cooperation in areas such as defence, trade and the zoological gardens, as well as sharing the country's experience of reconciliation.

    The delegation is led by South Africa’s deputy minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Nomaindia Mfeketo.

    The countries initiated the Declaration of Intent in the Field of Sustainable Tourism Development and the Memorandum of Understanding- between the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa and Department of National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka, the Defence Ministry's website, reported.

  • UK Tamils demonstrate in solidarity with Jaffna protesters
    Photographs Tamil Guardian

    Tamils in London held a demonstration on Wednesday in solidarity with Tamils in Jaffna, who a few hours before had come out in their thousands to call for the immediate release of the UN inquiry into mass atrocities against the Tamil people and reject a domestic Sri Lankan inquiry as a means of delivering justice.

  • Eastern province teachers demand schools taken over by navy returned
    The Eastern Province Tamil Teachers' Association (EPTTA) has demanded the Sri Lankan navy return two schools that were seized and turned into navy camps since 2006, reports Ceylon Today.

    S Jeyarajah, the EPTTA General Secretary, met with the Sri Lankan State Minister for Education Radhakrishnan at his Colombo office and told of how the Sampur Maha Vidiyalayam and Sri Murugan Vidiyalayam in Muttur have been taken over by the Sri Lankan security forces.
  • Tamil Nadu youth march in solidarity with Eelam Tamils
     

    Almost 100 youth in Tamil Nadu held a demonstration expressing solidarity with protestors in Jaffna, demanding the release of the report from the United Nations inquiry into mass atrocities committed against Tamils.

    Holding placards that said placards reading “#TamilLivesMatter” and “Justice delayed is justice denied”, the protestors gathered in front of the UNICEF office in Chennai. They handed in a petition demanding an immediate release of the inquiry findings, as well as a full investigation into genocide and a referendum to determine the Tamils people's right to self-determination.

    The delay in releasing the report “protracts the genocide of the Tamil people” said V Prabhakaran of the Tamil Youths and Students Federation. “This delay only encourages the ethnic cleansing that is taking place today,” he told the Tamil Guardian.

    “The report must be released immediately.”
  • World Bank pledges continued support for Sri Lanka

    The World Bank reaffirmed its commitment to support Sri Lanka to help “shape and implement policies”, to reduce poverty and promoting sustainable growth.

    World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region Annette Dixon, met with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake during her visit to Colombo, according to a press release published on Tuesday.

    “The Government has laid out an ambitious reform agenda aimed at improving governance, transparency and accountability and establishing strong institutions for that purpose within its first 100 days. This is no small feat and the Bank stands ready to provide support to the government to help achieve these goals,” Ms Dixon said as she concluded her first visit to Sri Lanka.

  • Sri Lankan PM says NPC's call for genocide investigation is 'racist'
    Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, said the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) earlier this month calling for an investigation into genocide committed by successive governments against the Tamil people was "racist" and that the UN Human Rights Council's decision to defer the publication of a UN report into mass atrocities against the Tamil people was intended as a rebuke to the NPC resolution.

    Addressing the Sinhala public at rally in Kurunegala this week, Mr Wickremasinghe said he was on a path to eradicate racism but faced obstacles.

    "In this journey to eradicate racism two groups stand in opposition," he said, pointing to the NPC resolution and the Sinhala print media supportive of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

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