Mr Komakan at a protest earlier this year, calling for the release of political prisoners. A former member of the Jaffna municipality council has been released this afternoon after being detained at Colombo airport earlier in the day as he was due to leave for a temple pilgrimage in India. He has been ordered not to leave the country however. Mr Komathan is understood to be seeking legal advice regarding removal of the travel ban. M Komakan became the council member after winning the 2009 municipality election. However he was then arrested on August 23rd, 2010 by the Terrorism Investigation...
Sinhala Buddhist monks, accompanied by Sri Lankan police and Sinhalese fishermen, threatened a group of Tamil fishermen in Mullaitivu on Tuesday, as tensions continued to flare in the region between the two groups. The Tamil fishermen, who were setting up to dry their daily catch in Kokkilai, were approached by a group of Sinhalese fishermen on Tuesday. Accompanied by a local Buddhist monk and Sri Lankan police officers, the Sinhalese group proceeded to threaten the Tamils and destroying their equipment they said.
Inmates at Jaffna prison have launched a hunger strike this morning, according to latest reports. At least 18 inmates are reported to have joined the hunger strike, with reports that an even larger number had commenced the protest this morning. Daily Mirror and Adaderana report police officials as stating that the prisoners involved in the protest are being held on drug smuggling charges. Earlier this year a number of Tamil civilians were abducted from their homes in Trincomalee, and were believed to have been detained by Sri Lanka’s anti-drugs police. Last year towns across the North-East...
Displaced Tamil villagers in Mullaitivu have postponed a planned hunger strike after assurances from Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan that they would soon be returned to their rightful land. A hunger strike was initially planned by IDPs in Keppapilavu for Tuesday, to protest against the Sri Lankan military grab of hundreds acres of land belonging to Tamil villagers. Approximately 524 acres of land has been occupied by the Sri Lankan military since 2009, leaving villagers stranded in temporary resettlement.
Jaffna University vice chancellor Prof Vasanthi Arasaratnam said that teaching is set to resume at the university on Wednesday, after she announced the appointment of a committee to investigate clashes between Sinhala and Tamil students on the weekend. The university will begin a phased return to teaching with the medical faculty, 'Sithar' medical unit, engineering faculty and agricultural faculty resuming normal activities from Wednesday. Other divisions at the university will begin teaching later this week, she told reporters. Prof Arasaratnam also announced the appointment of a three...
Sri Lanka's powerful Buddhist clergy backed the president's rejection of foreign judges within a war crimes inquiry. The chief secretary of the Asgiriya Buddhist chapter, Dr Medagama Dhammananda said "there was no need for the Government to succumb to international pressure concerning the matter." “There is no necessity at all to have international judges in an investigation into alleged war crimes. What we explained to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is that during a conflict it is normal for both parties to the conflict to engage in inducing harm and problematic...
The UN World Tourism Organisation has been criticised for organising a conference in an Eastern resort notorious for human rights violations and the displacement of locals. The UNWTO conference entitled "Tourism: a Catalyst for Development, Peace and Reconciliation" held in Passikudah was dubbed a 'farce' by Sri Lanka Campaign. The Society for Threatened Peoples recently detailed in a report that tourism development in war-affected parts of the East result in human rights violations. “The local communities don’t benefit from tourism and they even suffer from its aftermath” Yves Bowie,...
The Tamil National Alliance said it was "deeply shocked to learn of the clashes that took place at the University of Jaffna on Saturday 16.07.2015". Clashes erupted between Tamil and Sinhala students at Jaffna University last week, after arguments over an attempt by Sinhala students to push for a Kandyan dance act to be leading the university event for new students. "We regret that several students have sustained injuries and that the Sinhala students had to be evacuated from the University and Jaffna as a precautionary measure," the TNA said in a statement on Sunday. "The TNA appeals to all students not to permit any recurrence of such incidents or anything that will hinder genuine reconciliation amongst communities in our country."
Officials at the University of Jaffna announced it was closing all faculties until further notice after violent clashes between Tamil and Sinhala students last week.
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) National Organiser Nishantha Warnasinghe warned that the clashes at Jaffna University between Sinhalese and Tamil students on Saturday were a sign that Sinhalese students have “lost their equality in rights”. Speaking to reporters Mr Warnasinghe said the incident, which revolved around the issue of a Sinhalese Kandyan dance performance at a welcome ceremony for students at the university, had “had aroused separatism and racism once again,” reports the Daily Mirror . “Sinhala students had never opposed the functions of any other religion or community,” declared Mr...