Attempts by the Sri Lankan Army to permanently appropriate the land of a destroyed LTTE cemetery have angered locals in Mullaitivu. Notices about the seizure by the village officer have gone up in parts of Alampil where the Thuyilum Illam, residents said. Alampil residents have stated that they will resist any move to build permanent army structures on the site. “We have nowhere to mourn our children,” one resident whose daughter was buried at the Thuyilum Illam said. “Now they want to to taunt us by building a camp on top of their bodies.”
The United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kate Gilmore on Wednesday reiterated the High Commissioner's call on states to exercise universal jurisdiction to ensure justice in Sri Lanka, stating that " authorities have yet to demonstrate with the willingness or the capacity to address impunity for gross violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law." "This strengthens the argument for the establishment of a specialized court to deal with serious crimes, supported by international practitioners. In the absence of such a mechanism, we call on...
The co-sponsors of Sri Lanka's UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Wednesday expressed disappointment that the "pace of progress has been slow", adding that "much still remains to be done to implement Sri Lanka’s commitments". The United States, UK, Macedonia and Montenegro also highlighted ongoing reports of human rights abuses by Sri Lankan security personnel. "We remain concerned about reports of abuse of authority by some security officials. And multiple incidents of intercommunal violence, attacks, and hate speech against minorities are alarming and demonstrate the need for...
The UK's Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Mark Field said Sri Lanka's "pace of progress has been disappointingly slow and that much remains to be done" in a dedicated Commons debate on the issue yesterday. Responding to questions raised by cross-party MPs of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), Mr Field said, "the UK’s message to Sri Lanka remains resolute: we absolutely expect the Government to implement in full their commitments made in good faith in the aftermath of a time of terrible conflict. As a close partner but also as a candid friend, we...
Sri Lanka's Joint Opposition today handed over a no-condidence motion against the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe. Dinesh Gunawardane of the Joint Opposition told reporters that several government MPs had also signed the motion. “We expect the Speaker to give maximum priority to this motion as per Parliamentary tradition,” he added. The former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa did not sign the motion, reported the Daily Mirror. Read more here .
The Sri Lankan President was met by protestors in Jaffna on Monday where he had travelled for the inauguration of a new school building.
A Sri Lankan army officer was remanded today for allegedly spreading hate speech via the social media platform, Facebook. The soldier was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on March 17. His bail application was rejected by Colombo chief magistrate, Lal Ranasinghe Bandara, Colombo Page reported.
Two Special Task Force intelligence officers accused of murdering a Tamil man in Jaffna last year have had their remand extended by the Jaffna magistrate. The case of the Ariyalai murder of 24-year-old Don Bosco Rikman was taken up at Jaffna magistrates court on Tuesday. The two officers’ remand was extended until April 3rd citing ongoing investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department. Requests by the STF to release a three-wheeler and motorcycle held in connection with the murder were also rejected by the judge.
SLFP minister are to inform the president of their support for a no-confidence motion against the current prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe. “We are signing a separate letter to be handed over to the President. We will inform him that we will support the motion unless the Prime Minister is removed before that,” the SLFP minister Dayasiri Jayasekara told Daily Mirror . The Joint Opposition this month began collecting signatures in support of the motion. The motion criticises Mr Wickremesinghe over his management of the treasury bond scam and the recent violence in Kandy.
Human Rights Watch calls on UN HRC to stop Sri Lanka 'playing games' with accountability commitments
Human Rights Watch called on the UN Human Rights Council to ensure Sri Lanka ‘stops playing games’ and delivers on its commitments including accountability involving international judges, prosecutors and investigators. In a statement ahead of Sri Lanka’s interim review at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Geneva director of Human rights watch, Jon Fisher, said, “The Human Rights Council needs to make it clear to the Sri Lankan government that it expects it to stop playing games and start delivering on tis commitments. The Sri Lankan government needs to move beyond pre-session PR...