• Sri Lanka asks UN to delay report into mass atrocities against Tamils

    Feb 11
    The new Sri Lankan government is seeking a delay in the publishing of the UN inquiry investigating allegations of mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people, the country's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.

    "Once the report is finalised, we are hoping they can refer it to our domestic mechanism for action," Mr Samaraweera was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

    "We are hoping they could hold on to it until our mechanism is in place – maybe August, you know, or so," he added.

    The report, which was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014, is scheduled to publish its findings at the end of next month.

  • Sri Lanka's foreign minister tells world to 'be patient'


    Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, urged the international community to "be patient", stating that the new government was attempting a "fragile transition".

    Addressing the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace in Washington on Wednesday, Mr Samaraweera said "the Government of Sri Lanka is committed to the success of this journey of strengthening democracy, good governance and the rule of law while ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights of all her citizens," however, added, "but remember, this is also a sensitive process involving the participation of a multitude of political parties that are essential to ensure the success of this  journey."

    "There are still some extremist elements within and outside the country who, for obvious reasons, want this journey derailed," Mr Samaraweera warned.

  • Sri Lanka to hold 'War Heroes Day' in Galle
    Sri Lanka's new government on Thursday approved President Sirisena's motion to hold this year's 'War Heroes commemoration' in Galle.
  • Sri Lanka to seek $4 billion IMF assistance
    Sri Lanka will look to start talks on a $4 billion dollar loan by sending a high level team to Washington, said the Finance Minister, Ravi Karunanayake, on Thursday.

    Speaking to reporters in Colombo, Mr Karunayake, said,

    “There is a lot of international goodwill and we can get finance from the IMF and World Bank at 0,5 percent.”
  • TCSF urges UN to avoid delaying report into Sri Lanka's atrocities, take steps towards accountability
    The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF), highlighting the Tamil peoples' lack of faith in Sri Lanka's domestic processes,  urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, to release the findings of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation into Sri Lankan atrocities (OISL) without further delay, and initiate steps for international prosecution should people be found responsible for serious crimes. 

    In a letter to the UN rights chief, the TCSF spokespersons, Kumaravadivel Guruparan and Elil Rajendran, referring to a Northern Provincial Council resolution on the genocide of Tamil people, said,

    “We wish to respectfully urge you not to take any promise for domestic investigations seriously, particularly in the absence of any concrete proposals that demonstrate such intentions. We also would kindly refer you to the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council on the 10th February 2015 also expressing disbelief in the credibility of domestic mechanisms delivering on accountability, truth and justice.”
  • Sri Lanka cabinet spokesperson rejects NPC resolution as 'extremist'
    Sri Lanka's cabinet spokesperson, and minister of health, Rajitha Senaratne, rejected the Northern Provincial Council's resolution on the genocide of Tamils by the Sri Lankan state, which was passed on Tuesday, as an "extremist position'.

    "They cannot call it genocide,” Mr Senaratne told The Hindu, adding that “choosing confrontational ways will hamper forward movement on the issue.”

  • Poster in Jaffna uni condemns TNA attendance at Sri Lanka Independence Day event


    An anonymous poster found inside the student hall at the University of Jaffna condemns the attendance of the TNA leader, R Sampanthan, and the TNA MP M A Sumanthiran, at the Sri Lankan government's Independence Day event on February 4.

    Stating that the event, which includes a large scale military parade, symbolises Sinhala chauvinism that has oppressed the Tamil people since the island gained independence from British colonial rule, the poster said attendance by senior TNA figures has cause "shock and grief" to the Tamil people.

    "Tamil parties have boycotted any [Sri Lankan] national event for the past 43 years in order to demonstrate that Tamils never accepted Sri Lanka's constitution. This has been observed since 1972 to 2014. However, the Tamil’s senior representative “Sampanthan” has pawned all of that at once. Tamils’ senior representative “Sampanthan” and Sumanthiran’s attendance to an event which the entire Tamil population boycotted has caused shock and grief to Tamils," the poster read.

  • TNPF welcomes NPC resolution on genocide as a 'victory for all of us'

    TNPF President Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (right) and General Secretary Selvarajah Kajendran (left)

    The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) welcomed the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council calling for an UN inquiry into the genocide of the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan state, as a "victory for all of us".

    "We fully support yesterday's resolution, and highly praise the Northern Provincial Council and its chief minister, C V Wigneswaran," the TNPF president, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam told a media briefing at the Jaffna Press Club on Wednesday.

    Acknowledging the party's long-standing objection to the provincial council system as an inadequate starting point to resolving the ethnic conflict on the island, Mr Ponnambalam said he nonetheless wholly praised the passage of the resolution within such an oppressive system, and pledged to work under the leadership of Mr Wigneswaran to work towards the issues raised in the resolution.

    "[The resolution] is a big blow to a system that seeks to repress our [Tamil] nation's politics into a unitary state," he said.

  • We welcome NPC resolution – Batticaloa MP Ariyanethiran

    The Tamil National Alliance MP for Batticaloa, P Ariyanethiran, welcomed the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council on Tuesday, which called on the UN to investigate charges of genocide and prosecute those responsible at the International Criminal Court.

    “Our position is the same as the NPC. We welcome the resolution and wish to add to the call for a UN probe into genocide and prosecutions of those responsible,” the MP, who is based in the Eastern Province, told the Tamil Guardian over the phone.

    Mr Ariyenethiran echoed the NPC’s demand for an international investigation, regardless of whether the government conducts its own inquiry, saying that a domestic inquiry is designed to “cover up” the mass atrocities committed by the government.

  • Fonseka wants reinstatement as a Member of Parliament
    The former head of Sri Lanka's army Sarath Fonseka called to be reinstated as a Member of Parliament, stating he was prepared to go to court to gain his seat back.

    “Our party members will be pleased if we are given back this seat because we too played a role in the victory of this Government,” said Mr Fonseka, highlighting Sri Lankan President Maithripalal Sirisena's election victory earlier this year.
  • Kilinochchi protest over land rights issue

    Tamils living in villages in Kilinochchi demanded the Sri Lankan government issues them with certificates for their land, during a protest in the district capital today,

    Residents accused the government of deliberately withholding the certificates, in some cases for 25 years, which they require in order to be eligible for funds from the housing scheme, to connect to the electrical grid and other development. The land concerned is in the villages of Nathakkudiyiruppu, Ulavanoor and Punnaineeraavi, all in the Kilinochchi district’s Kandaavalai regional secretariat division.

  • BTF urges UK to act on NPC resolution
    The British Tamil Forum (BTF), in a statement released on Tuesday, welcoming the Northern Provincial Council resolution on the genocide of Tamils, called on the British government to take immediate steps to refer the Sri Lankan case of genocide to the International Criminal Court.

    "BTF calls upon the UK government to take immediate diplomatic initiatives to ensure that the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to delay and derail the international investigation are defeated. Furthermore, as called for by the NPC resolution, BTF calls upon the UK government to take immediate diplomatic measures to refer the Sri Lankan case to the International Criminal Court so that the perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity are brought to justice," the statement said.
  • Local health workers in Jaffna protest unfair recruitment in hospitals
    Health workers protested the government’s refusal to offer them permanent contracts at Jaffna Hospital despite working there for 10 years, for a second continuous day in Jaffna.
  • Hugo Swire discusses accountability and reconciliation with Sri Lanka's foreign minister
    The British Foreign Office Minister for Asia, Hugo Swire met and discussed the “importance of Sri Lanka making progress on reconciliation and accountability,” with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, on Tuesday, the British Foreign office announced.

    Recalling his visit to “Jaffna and Colombo”, Mr Swire said,
  • NPC passes resolution asking UN to investigate genocide of Tamils by Sri Lanka state
    08:32 GMT

    The Northern Provincial Council passed a resolution today calling on the UN inquiry to investigate the genocide of the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan government and recommend appropriate measures for the International Criminal Court, stating that the Tamil people have no faith in domestic commission.

    The resolution, tabled by the chief minister of the province, Justice C V Wigneswaran, was passed with an overwhelming majority around 9.30am local time.

    "This resolution provides as overview of the evidence demonstrating successive Sri Lankan governments' genocide against Tamils, and respectfully requests the ongoing United Nations Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) to investigate the claim of genocide and recommend appropriate investigations and prosecutions by the International Criminal Court (ICC)," the resolution read.

    Stating that the "Tamils have no hope for justice in any domestic Sri Lankan mechanism, whether conducted by the Rajapaksa regime, Sirisena regime, or its successor" the resolution called for justice and accountability for the Tamil genocide "to be driven and carried out by the international community".

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