A Navy officer, Lieutenant Commander Mapa Mudiyanselage Dhammikka Anila Mapa, was remanded on Monday over the disappearance and abduction of two Tamils in 2009, Vaduveli Pakkilasamy Loganathan and Ratnasamy Paramanandan. The officer was working with the navy intelligence wing at the time, the Daily Mirror reported. He has been remanded until January 26. A complaint was previously filed with the CID by Mr Loganathan's wife. Both men were athe time employed by the Colombo Municipal Council. On January 11, 2009 they left for Wellampitiya in a van and were not seen since.
A former LTTE cadre was arrested on Saturday evening by the Terrorism Investigation Department. Murugaiyah Thavendran from Thiruvaiyaaru, Kilinochchi, a former cadre that had been through Sri Lanka's 'rehabilitation' process, was arrested by persons identifying as TID police. Mr Thavendran's whereabouts are currently unknown to his family, who have filed reports with Kilinochchi police and the Kilinochchi citizen's committee.
Sirisena’s government will never agree to a federal solution, the Sri Lankan president stated at a gathering. Addressing a political gathering in Galle on Saturday, the president said “my government will never agree to grant federalism in this country”. The president accused some parts of the media of abusing press freedom and spreading misinformation, including rumours that GSP+ was being restored to Sri Lanka to pave the way for federalism.
The Sri Lankan government on Friday rejected changes called for by the European Union as part of a programme of commitment enabling the preferential trade tarrif GSP+ to be granted. Despite calls for homosexuality to be decriminalised and for a two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to approve the introduction of a state of emergency, the government has dropped these two changes in its five year, National Human Rights Action Plan (NHAP), the SundayTimes.lk reported. According to the paper, the changes were dropped at a meeting chaired by the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday,...
The Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday marked the Tamil harvest festival of Thai Pongal, with a special video message of celebration.
Valvettithurai's annual Pongal kite-flying festival took place on Uthayasuriyan beach today, with hundreds in attendance.
In a ceremony in Thyiddy, Jaffna today, the military professed to hand over a 2-acre Oorani Fishing Anchor Point to fishermen who have been displaced from the area for 27 years, but instead gave over a new unconstructed anchor point which is in a rocky area unsuitable for docking and launching fishing boats. The 4 pre-existing anchor points in Oorani still remain under military control. The ceremony heavily featured the military and displays of Sinhala culture, and included an address by the Secretary to the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation, Mr. Sivagnanasothy, as part of...
Chief Minister Wigneswaran met with Ontario's Premier on Wednesday to discuss strengthening the relationship between the Northern Province and Ontario. Ontario's Premier, Kathleen Wynne, told the Chief Minister that Ontario was interested in strengthening the relationship between the North and Ontario, including to strengthen support for the Northern Province in economic development, women's empowerment, institutional governance and public sector capacity building. A press release from Premier Wynne's office stated: The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, hosted The Honourable...
Sri Lanka's prime minister said moves to restore European Union trade concessions were a victory for his government and for "all of Sri Lanka", after the European Commission recommended reinstating the GSP+. "The government's commitment over the last two years, towards protecting human rights is now bearing results," declared the prime minister. The GSP+ was revoked from Sri Lanka under the previous government. The move will allow Sri Lanka to gain a wider access to the European market noted the prime minister. He went on to thank the "many people who committed their time and worked...
The Global Tamil Forum on Thursday called on the Sri Lankan government to implement the Consultation Task Force's recommendations "expeditiously". "GTF welcomes the comprehensive recommendations related to the proposed judicial mechanisms, in particular, the need for ‘international expertise including judges in each transitional justice mechanism’, ‘both male and female judges representing all ethnic communities’, and ‘a special structure for women and children during examination of witnesses related to sexual crimes and crimes against children." "A credible and impartial judicial process is...