• Sri Lankan police to be armed for 'self-defence' says Police Dept.

    Mar 09
    Sri Lankan police officers, including traffic patrolmen, are to be armed with a pistol or revolver, said the police spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana, reports the Colombo Page.

    Speaking today, the spokesperson said that Sri Lanka's Police Department made this decision due to alleged rising violence they faced in duty, and that the officers had been instructed to only use the firearm in 'highly necessary occasions for their self-defence'.

  • British Tamils gather cross party support for international investigation
    British Tamils met with parliamentarians from various political parties across the country this week, as they gathered support for accountability in Sri Lanka, calling on British Prime Minister David Cameron to live up to his pledge of ensuring a credible international investigation.

    Members of the British Tamils Forum met with Paul Blomfield Labour MP for Sheffield, who personally committed to ensuring the matter is brought to the attention of the Prime Minister stating,
    “I’m shocked that the Prime Minister having given a very clear commitment to use all of Britain’s diplomatic efforts to ensure that there is a independent internationally led investigation, has not seen that through, so I’ll be taking that issue up directly with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary.”


    Another British Tamil constituent who wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May told the Tamil Guardian that he received a reply from the Home Secretary stating,
    “The Foreign Secretary has now confirmed that the UK is pursuing this issue actively at the UN Human Rights Council in order to secure an international inquiry of the type recommended by the UN High Commissioner.”
  • Keep your hands off' says Sri Lankan group to Cameron

    Photographs:     Sesatha

    A group of Sri Lankans protested against the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka outside British Prime Minister David Cameron's office in London this weekend, telling the UK and the international community to ‘keep your hands off a peaceful Sri Lanka’. 

    The protest, organised by “Sri Lankan Living in UK”, saw protestors wave placards which read “Is defeating terrorism a war crime?”, ”USA & Britain are hypocrites” and “Our vote bag is bigger than LTTE”.

  • Hunger striker hospitalised as protests continue in Tamil Nadu

    An Indian student who has been on hunger strike in Tamil Nadu was hospitalised on Monday, as protests calling for an independent international investigation into genocide in Sri Lanka and a referendum on the island continued.

  • British Tamils protest at Commonwealth Day reception

    The annual celebration of Commonwealth Day saw protests by British Tamils, who called on the body to suspend Sri Lanka and not let President Mahinda Rajapaksa take chairmanship of the Commonwealth.

    The protest, organised by the British Tamils Forum, took place outside Marlborough House, where a reception for representatives of member governments was held.

    Sri Lanka was represented by External Affairs Minister GL Peiris.

  • Canadian PM highlights Sri Lanka in Commonwealth Day message

    The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper criticised Sri Lanka in his statement to mark Commonwealth Day.

    Sri Lanka, the only country he highlighted, has “failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values” despite being the current chair of the Commonwealth, the Prime Minister said.

  • Social media used by US to overthrow Mahinda – Minister

    Minister for Construction Wimal Weerawansa has accused the US embassy in Colombo of promoting the use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook to overthrow Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government.

  • Sri Lankan school bans hijab

    A Sri Lankan school has banned the wearing of the hijab, the Islamic headscarf.

    The Colombo Gazette reported that the principal forced two girl to remove their hijabs if they wanted to attend classes.

  • New video emerges of sexual violence against Tamil fighters by Sri Lankan soldiers
    Published 11:23 GMT
    Photograph Channel 4


    New video evidence has been released by Channel 4 (see here), depicting sexual violence and brutality against Tamil women and men, presumed to be LTTE fighters, by Sri Lankan army soldiers.

    The video, the latest in a growing pool of graphic video and photograph evidence of atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan military against Tamil civilians and fighters, depicts Sri Lankan military soldiers laughing, cheering and filming over the bodies of a Tamil woman and man. The woman's bloodied body is seen to be lying on the floor, stripped naked from the waist down. 

  • Tamil Nadu students demand India supports international investigation into genocide
    Groups of Tamil Nadu students have dismissed the current draft UNHRC resolution as weak, calling on the Indian central government to ensure an international investigation into war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the Sri Lankan state, as well as a referendum amongst Eelam Tamils over independence.


  • Sinhalese mob attacks bus travelling to Jaffna
    A bus transporting people from Vavaniya to Jaffna was attacked by a Sinhalese mob, reports the Uthayan. 

    Storming the bus at a rest stop in Iranaimadu, the attackers verbally abused the passengers for being Tamil and linked to the LTTE.

  • Tamil women coerced into SL army says C.V. Wigneswaran
    Tamil women are being coerced to join the Sri Lankan military said the Northern Province's Chief Minister, CV Wigneswaran, reports the Uthayan.

    Addressing an event for International Women's Day in Jaffna yesterday, Wigneswaran, said the Sri Lankan army was going into their houses coercing Tamil women, who were too afraid to refuse, to join.
  • We will not bow down to international pressure says Rajapaksa
    The Sri Lankan government will not bow down to international pressure said President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Sinhala voters at an election rally held in Gampaha on Sunday, reports the Colombo Gazette.
  • TNA welcome draft UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka, urges international Commission of Inquiry
    The Tamil National Alliance on Sunday welcomed the draft resolution on Sri Lanka being circulated at the UN Human Rights Council, calling on the international community to “move expeditiously towards mandating an international commission of inquiry”.

    In a statement released as member states prepare to meet and discuss the resolution in Geneva, the TNA outlined ongoing rights violations occurring the North and East of the island, including “mass scale appropriation of land by the military” and “sexual violence targeting Tamil women in the North and East”.

  • Draft resolution is a 'diplomatic fudge' - Callum Macrae
    The draft UNHRC resolution was a "bit of diplomatic fudge" said the director of 'No Fire Zone: Sri Lanka's Killing Fields', Callum Macrae in an interview with Channel 4 news.

    Speaking on the news programme following the emergence of more video evidence of Sri Lankan soldiers committing sexual violence against Tamil female fighters, Mr. Macrae said,
    "An earlier draft [of the resolution] has leaked, which is a little bit of a diplomatic fudge really. It doesn't call for the setting up of an independent mechanism or commission as many people hoped."
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