President Maithripala Sirisena this week attempted to reassure Sri Lanka's diaspora in South Korea that he would "never betray the nation or the country". Speaking whilst on an official visit to South Korea, Mr Sirisena said "that he came to power with the pure intention of rectifying the historical errors and to ensure that the people of Sri Lanka would live in peace, harmony and communal coexistence." He asserted that his "desire is to fulfill the mandate given to him by the people, despite the hurdles and challenges come across." Mr Sirisena's comments come amid rising tensions both within...
Sri Lanka's Ports Minister, SLFP MP Mahinda Samarasinghe on Tuesday told parliament that his party would refuse to implement the liberalisation of the shipping sector as outlined by the 2018 budget. “The position of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is that we oppose this proposal. And as the minister in charge of the subject, I will not issue the gazette notification (giving effect to the budget proposal),” Mr Samarasinghe told Parliament. Asserting that the Sri Lankan president agreed with the SLFP position, he added, "the President is firmly against this move." "Our policy is not to...
Sri Lanka's apparel industry has lowered its export target to adjust for the delay in granting of preferential trade tariffs (GSP+). “Actually, we were expecting GSP Plus to come earlier and we needed to revise the target based on the changes in economic conditions,” the chair man of Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters’ Association (SLAEA) Felix Fernando was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. The SLAEA had previously set a target of reaching $8.5 billion exports by 2020. Mr Fernando added that Brexit would have a negative impact on Sri Lanka's apparel industry, unless the countries entered a trade...
The demand for a separate state will grow again if a federal solution is not adopted, the Chief Minister of the North told the Australian High Commissioner. Speaking to journalists after his meeting with High Commissioner Bryce Hutchesson, Chief Minister Wigneswaran said he had pointed to the Australian federal system as a comparative to the demands for Tamil self-determination. Consecutive Sri Lankan governments had been a stumbling block to meeting the simple demands for self-rule, he said.
A Sri Lankan Navy commander has been ordered to provide details of all officers who served under him as the investigation into the disappearance of 11 Tamil youths was taken up in court on Wednesday. Judge Jayaratne at the Colombo Fort Magistrate Court ordered Lt. Commander Prasad Hettiarachchi to provide the details to the Criminal Investigation Department. The remanded Navy spokesperson D. K. P. Dassanayake was among 7 Navy officers to appear in court over the abductions. The case has been adjourned until December 13.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will conduct an official visit to Sri Lanka from 4th to 15th December 2017 said the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The experts will make their preliminary observations at a press conference on 15 December 2017 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The UN Working group comprises five independent experts Mr Jose Antonia Guevara Bermudez, Ms Leigh Toomey, Mr Setondji Roland Adjovi, and Mr Seong-Phil Hong. See statement released today here.
British Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field said he reiterated the need for a credible accountability process with international judges and prosecutors during his recent visit to Sri Lanka. Responding to a question tabled by MP for Ilford North Wes Streeting, Mr Field said, “During my visit in early October 2017 to Colombo and Jaffna, I raised with Foreign Minister Marapana the importance of the Sri Lankan government implementing in full its commitments under UN Human Rights Council Resolution 34/1, which rolled over the commitments made under 30/1. Resolution 30/1...
Human Rights Watch called on Sri Lanka to move from promises to action, criticising the government's refrain that it was "making haste slowly". "While the government has made some progress, most of the promises remain unfulfilled. Just ahead of the UPR, the government announced that it was operationalizing the much-delayed Office of Missing Persons, one of four key transitional justice mechanisms, and funds had been budgeted. Tellingly, there was no budgetary allowance for the other three. And, while the UPR team referred to draft legislation on a truth-seeking mechanism and a reparations...
The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) this month highlighted the widespread denial by the Sri Lankan government of the ongoing torture and rape of Tamils committed by Sri Lankan security forces. In an interview with Ceylon Today following a report published by Associated Press highlighting the ongoing crimes committed under the present government, ITJP said, "What we witness is the ongoing denial of these crimes not only by the Sri Lankan government but also some Sri Lankans, who refuse to admit that these crimes continue to be perpetrated on this scale. It is easier to blame it...
Postage stamps marking Tamil National Remembrance Day (Maaveerar Naal) were released in the UK on November 27. The stamps, depicting symbols of Tamil Eelam, including the national flower, bird, tree and animal, were launched at the Maaveerar Naal commemorative event in London.