• Army to import 10,000 cows to make milk for the country

    The Sri Lankan Army is to import 10,000 cows from Australia, as they aim to produce enough milk to support the entire country.

    Colonel A.V. Gunaratne, Director of Agriculture and Livestock at the army-run Kandakudah farm, was reported to have told journalists of the military project, as he took them on a tour of the area.
  • Jaffna Tamils students burn island constitutions on Jubilee day
    Tamil students in Jaffna marked the Queen’s diamond jubilee, where she dined with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa by symbolically burning the island’s constitutions from 1833 until the present day.

    The students laid the 7 constitutions in the form of placards and wreath down in St John’s cemetery in Jaffna, before setting them all alight as a mark of protest and managed to evade the security forces in the heavily militarised North.
  • Sri Lankan Minister forced to leave Coimbatore
    Sri Lankan Minister Reginald Cooray was forced to leave Coimbatore abruptly on Thursday as activists from Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) and Tamil Desa Poduvudamai Katchi (TDPK) flocked to his hotel to stage a protest.
  • New US envoy set to focus on human rights
    The current US Ambassador-designate has stated that she will prioritise human rights, if confirmed as the next Ambassador to Sri Lanka.

    Speaking at her Senate confirmation hearing, Michele Sison said that the US was looking for “near term progress” and stating,
  • Tamara doubts Pillay's 'impartiality'

    Sri Lanka's parting representative to the UN in Geneva, Tamara Kunanayakam, sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, questioning the impartiality of the UNHRC resolution passed earlier this year, the Daily Mirror reports.

    In a letter, published by the newspaper, Sri Lanka ambassador, asserts that Pillay's office, "instead of implementing the resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council at its Special Session on Sri Lanka in 2009, was playing the political agenda of the USA and other Western powers."

    Citing an email communication by the head of the Asia-Pacific division of the OHCHR, Rory Mungoven, to Pillay's office, 'triumpantly announcing the adoption' of the UNHRC resolution, Tamara writes,

    "The communication raises serious doubts about the impartiality, objectivity, and non-selectivity of the work conducted by the staff of OHCHR and their respect for decisions of the Human Rights Council."

    Tamara's full letter, as published in The Daily Mirror, is reproduced below:

    "I am writing to you in connection with an email communication dated 22 March 2012 addressed to the staff of your Office by Mr. Rory Mungoven, Head of the Asia-Pacific Division of OHCHR, triumphantly announcing the adoption that morning of the resolution on Sri Lanka by the Human Rights Council, describing it as “the culmination of the sustained and determined work by many in the team and other parts of the house over the past few years.”

  • $5bn into Hambantota Port, new race track by 2014

    Amid strong calls for reconciliation and rehabilitation in the North, the Sri Lankan government, who are currently accused of war crimes and human rights abuses, are looking to raise $5 billion dollars, to invest into Hambantota, President Rajapaksa’s home constituency, and in the southern capital city, Colombo.

  • Refugee Charity slam UK's deportation policy

    Writing in The Guardian, Donna Covey, the chief executive of a leading UK charity for refugees and asylum seekers, Refugee Council, condemned the UK's policy of deportation to Sri Lanka, following the recently published testimony of the tortured Tamil deportee, 'Hari'.

  • David Cameron presses Rajapaksa on war crimes
    As an estimated 8000 protestors gathered outside Marlborough House to demonstrate against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, it was reported that inside, British Prime Minister David Cameron also discussed the issue of war crimes with Rajapaksa.
  • Failed Tamil asylum seeker recounts torture on deportation

    In an article published in the Guardian on Tuesday, a failed Tamil asylum seeker, 'Hari', recounted his harrowing experience of being tortured in the infamous '4th floor' of Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department, accused of 'undermining diplomatic relations by complaining to the UK government' of previous abuses.  

  • Body found in Bambalapiti was former LTTE bodyguard

    The body of male, found mutilated by Bambalapiti Hindu College on Friday morning, is that of Kanapathipillai Udayakanthan, reported The Sunday Times.

    Udayakanthan, from Batticaloa, is said to be the former bodyguard of the LTTE political wing leader.

  • Thousands protest against Rajapaksa as he lunches with Queen
    Published 12:50 BST

    Thousands of Tamil protesters are marching through London to Marlborough house protesting against Rajapaksa's UK visit.

    There remains a heavy police presence with more police arriving, as rajapaksas arrival is expected.

    Follow us on Twitter @tamilguardian for live updates and coverage.
  • 8000 Tamils protest at Rajapaksa's lunch with Queen

    Published 22:40 BST

    Photographs added 07 Jun 2012 02:01 BST 

    Thousands of Tamils marched through the streets of London on Wednesday protesting against Rajapaksa's UK visit to have a Diamond Jubilee lunch with the Queen, before egging his car as he made his way to the airport.

    Protesters throw eggs at Rajapaksa's car as he leaves for the airport.

    At 8am this morning, buoyed but undeterred by the cancellation of Rajapaksa's key note speech at the Commonwealth Economic Forum,  hundreds of protesters began to gather outside Mansion House, before marching on to Marlborough House where Rajapaksa was due to have lunch with the Queen.

    As the march progressed, hundreds rapidly swelled into thousands as scores of Tamils arrived with placards, banners and Eelam flags. By mid-morning the march had reached an estimated 8000 protesters, as they congregated around Marlborough House. Hundreds of Tamils from France, Germany and other European countries joined the protest with their country's flags flying outside.

    Furious at the invitation extended to him, protesters dragged an effigy of Rajapaksa through the streets and burnt the Sri Lankan constitution.

  • Royal Commonwealth Soc head urges stronger action on Sri Lanka

    Speaking to Channel 4 News on the mass protests against Rajapaksa in the UK on Wednesday, the chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Peter Kellner, said the meeting with Rajapaksa had been an embarrassment to the Queen, however it was due to a "mistake" made at the last Commonwealth summit, when "they took no action against the mounting evidence" of human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

    See here for full interview with Channel 4 News.

    Transcript of interview follows:

    Q. I asked whether, in his view, the President of Sri Lanka should have been here today.

    A. No I don't think he should, it wasn’t a mistake that the Queen or Buckingham Palace made, Sri Lanka is a member of the Commonwealth. The mistake was made by the Commonwealth at their last summit, last year in Perth in Australia, when they took no action against the mounting evidence that you amongst others have provided, of things going wrong and human rights being violated in Sri Lanka.

    Q. But if they won’t suspend him, then he’s a legitimate leader of a Commonwealth country and has every right to be here and to be heard.

    A. Here’s the problem, it’s not just any old Commonwealth country, they are, Sri Lanka is hosting the next Commonwealth summit, which the Queen shall attend towards the end of next year, What worries me is that if nothing is done to improve the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, that summit is going to be a disaster.

  • Channel 4 officials deported from Sri Lanka

    Sri Lanka deported Channel 4 director, Stuart Cosgrove, and his wife of Tamil descent, Shirani Sabaratnam, on Sunday.

    Both have now been placed on a "blacklist" and barred from entering the country by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

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