The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) on Monday called on the UN Committee Against Torture "to visit Sri Lanka to conduct an independent investigation into the continued 'white van' abductions, torture and sexual violence committed by the Sri Lankan security forces." "The ITJP has collected testimony from 36 Tamil victims in three European countries, who have suffered abduction, illegal detention, torture and/or sexual violence at the hands of intelligence and security officers under the Sirisena government," the group said. ITJP's executive director, Yasmin Sooka, said, “the...
The Tamil National Alliance rejected the government's offer to build 65,000 prefabricated houses in the North-East. “We don’t want those steel cages,” TNA MP, MA Sumanthiran told parliament on Friday. “We don’t want prefabricated houses. We want brick-and-mortar houses that we can give to our children and grandchildren, those that can stand the test of time and that will be permanent houses.” "We all want houses,” he added.“But we don’t want those prefabricated houses on which somebody’s making a killing." “The prefab houses did not have a foundation... You have to fix wheels and drag it...
Human Rights Watch this week urged the Sri Lankan government to take a lead on ensuring accountability for the killing of two Jaffna University students by the Sri Lankan police last month, describing it as "more of the same". "Human Rights Watch research shows that arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings by the police are all too familiar, and the government almost never holds officers responsible," the organisation said in a statement. "If the Sri Lankan government really wants to reform its security sector, it will need to take on police abuse, which may only get worse under...
A Sinhala Buddhist monk threatened to kill a Tamil government official in Batticaloa, call him a "Tamil dog." The saffron clad monk's racist verbal abuse was captured in a video which shows a Sri Lankan police officer standing by watching events unfold. "You are a bloody tiger. My blood boils when I see you. You are a bloody dog. You are a Tamil Grama Sevaka," the monk, from Batticaloa Mangalaram, identified as Ampitiye Sumana says. "You have been filing case after case against our Sinhalese. Stop filing cases against the Sinhalese. Go and take action against what is happening in Wilpattu and...
On Tuesday students at the University of Jaffna paid tribute to the two students who were last month shot dead by Sri Lankan police officers. Hundreds of students attended the memorial event, laying flowers and lighting candles. The killing of the students, 23 year old Nadarasa Kajan and 24 year old Pavunraj Sulaxan, sparked protests and demonstrations across the North-East, demanding justice.
Tamil fishermen protested in Mannar this week, demonstrating against Sri Lankan state sponsored colonisation of Sinhala fishermen into the region. Holding banners and posters, fishermen marched and shouted slogans of protest.
Concluding her visit to the island the UK's state minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the prime minister's special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict, Baroness Joyce Anelay reiterated there was "still much more to do, both to end sexual violence and to secure long term peace and stability." Ms Anelay, who stressed that "accountability is vital" in addressing sexual violence, added, "first, because it signals society’s rejection of sexual violence and shows that there will be no impunity. Secondly, it is about valuing the victims and helping to restore...
Today marks ten years since the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP and human rights lawyer, Nadaraja Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo. No one has been sentence for the crime despite a decade passing. A witness in an inquiry into the assassination of Mr Raviraj earlier this year alleged Sri Lankan navy intelligence officials were involved. The witness, Sampath Prithiviraj, said the officials associated with the navy intelligence office in Gangarama had planned the killing. In July six men, including three former Sri Lankan navy personnel were indicted. Three men absconded the proceedings,...
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil WIckremesinghe said that a consensus has been reached on devolution of power under the new constitution within new constitution, reports Colombo Page. Mr Wickremesinghe added that a consensus had been reached within parties like the United National Party (UNP) and United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). Speaking at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on Tuesday, he said, “We have reached consensus to a great extent on power devolution.” The prime minister added that the issue had also been discussed with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and that sub...
Sri Lanka's foreign minister Mangala Samaraweeran and the TNA MP M A Sumanthiran travelled to Delhi this weekend, to meet with Indian government officials and discuss the long disputed fishermen issue. A statement released at the end of the meeting on Saturday said that both governments agreed to set up a Joint Working Group on Fisheries to meet every three months and a meeting between the Ministers for Fisheries every six months. The meeting came as Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena prepared to visit India.