Victim consultation and international participation are crucial to achieve accountability and a sustainable peace, according to NGO Pasumai Thaayagam. Speaking at the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, a representative urged the council to "remain persistent" in encouraging the implementation of the resolution on Sri Lanka, passed in October last year. "While the Sri Lankan government has made some strides in the right direction, we remain concerned with government statements and messages contrary to commitments made by the government," Pasumai Thaayagam said. "There is increasing fear amongst Tamils that the current progress on the government's pledges, such as the establishing the Office of Missing Persons, is designed to alleviate international pressure rather than genuinely address concerns. Such fears are exacerbated by the government's lack of transparency and lack of consultations with the victim community in establishing such mechanisms."
The former head of Sri Lanka’s army Sarath Fonseka has been denied a visa to enter the United States, reports the Daily Mirror. Diplomatic sources were quoted as stating “incidents that happened when he held the post of Army Commander might have resulted in the rejection process,” though this has been denied by his media secretary. Mr Fonseka, who oversaw the final phase of the armed conflict on the island where tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were massacred, was promoted to become Sri Lanka’s only five star general and the by Regional Development Minister by the current Sri Lankan government. In December 2015 the former army general was previously denied entry to the US, reportedly over his role in overseeing war crimes.
Sri Lanka handed over its first set of fishing exports to the Ambassador to the Delegation of the European Union in Sri Lanka David Daly, in a ceremony that marked the first export since the lifting of the ban on fishing exports last week. Participating in a press conference at the Dikowita Fisheries harbour, Ambassador Daly officially announced the lifting of the Sri Lanka’s fishing exports ban to the EU. Mr Daly added that he believed Sri Lanka would use this opportunity to preserve the ability to export to the EU and not lose it again, reports Colombo Page.
Swiss Tamils were joined by Tamils from France, Germany and the UK at a rally outside the UN Human Rights Council today, calling for justice to be served through an international accountability mechanism.
Voices from the North (Uncut) from Together Against Genocide on Vimeo . Together against Genocide, launched its report “No Justice, No Truth: Unfulfilled Promises of UN resolution 30-1 (Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights)” at the 32nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council last week. The event saw diplomats addressed by a panel including the director of Together Against Genocide (TAG) Jan Jananayagam, Barrister at Mansfield Chambers Shivani Jegarajah, and Fellow at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and Washington Post columnist Dr Kate Cronin-Furman. Introducing the event, the director of Together Against Genocide (TAG) said that the report, to be released later this week, found that minimal progress had been made by Sri Lanka on the recommendations of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which were referenced in the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 30-1. After outlining the methodology behind the progress report, Ms Jananayagam said, “On looking at the recommendations of the resolution, and mapping them to which of the 33 recommendations of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation into Sri Lanka’s (OISL) report they refer to, our conclusion is that very little has been implemented.” Speaking on institutional reform Ms Jananayagam further noted the “Sri Lanka simply doesn’t have the legal framework to deal with the systemic crimes against humanity outlined in the OISL report. On security sector reform, she added that the intense militarisation of the Tamil North-East remained and raised concern at Sri Lanka’s selective attempts to vet military soldiers, stating, “The North-East is the most highly militarised regions in the world. If Sri Lanka vets the troops it sends out on peacekeeping missions without betting those remaining on the island, it actually means that you have a higher concentration of mass atrocities perpetrators on the streets of the Tamil North-East. So partial implementation of security can be counter productive. “ Dr Kate Cronin Furman went on to highlight underlying political barriers in progressing on accountability and transitional justice in Sri Lanka. Noting demographical challenges in Sri Lanka, Dr Furman said, “In practice accountability and justice in places were mass atrocities occurred also depends on politics. Transitional justice is a very hard sell when either of two things are true. One is that Perpetrators remain powerful even though they are not explicitly in office. The other is when large sections of the voting population oppose accountability. Unfortunately in Sri Lanka both these things are true.”
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has reiterated her commitment to reclaiming the Katchatheevu Island which were given to Sri Lanka by India in 1974, reports Colombo Page. Responding to a later from the opposition , the Chief Minister said, she will bring an amendment that assured the island was retrieved from the Sri Lankan government. Ms Jayalalithaa previously said that he ceding o the Katchatheevu islet to Sri Lanka was one of the root causes behind the Indian fishermen detention problem. Sri Lanka will not return Katchatheevu islet to India (22 Feb 2016) Tamil Nadu Chief...
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a ceremony in Jaffna today for the inauguration of the Duraiappah Stadium, the renovation of which has been funded by the Indian government. Mr Modi said it was a “landmark day” and praised the renovation which cost over Rs 7 crore. The stadium has been out of use since 1997, at which point the Sri Lankan government controlled the Jaffna peninsula. In 2002 at least 23 human skeletons, including those of children, were discovered during refurbishment works. Addressing the ceremony via a video link, Mr Modi said that “after a wait of nearly 20 years your applause and cheers will once again rekindle the soul of Duraiappah stadium”. “Even while we are sitting thousands of kilometres away in Delhi, we can feel the pulse of vibrancy, an atmosphere of change in Jaffna,” he added. The Indian prime minister went on to praise the people of Jaffna stating, “its foundations are supported by your courage and great sacrifices”.
A Tamil woman has been killed and her daughter critically injured after a Sri Lankan military vehicle collided with the couple in Jaffna. Hiru news reported that the mother and daughter were travelling on a scooter, when a military water bowser collided into them.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena declared that invaders had not succeeded in “vandalizing our rich and unique culture” as he praised Sinhala Buddhism in a statement to mark Poson Poya Day and rejected claims that his government was facing international pressure. In a statement on Saturday, Mr Sirisena marked the “the establishment of Buddha Sasana with the arrival of Arahath Mahinda… which occurred 2,323 years ago as the most significant milestone of the Sinhala culture”. “We received an extraordinary spiritual stimulant and cultural pride through Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy,” he added. “We should recall on this important Poson Poya Day that none of the external forces that invaded our country from time to time could succeed in vandalizing our rich and unique culture,” the president declared .
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena has issued directives to police and armed forces arresting people under the draconian Prevention for Terrorism Act (PTA) that call on officials to refrain from humiliating and torturing the detainees, reports Colombo Page. Mr Sirisena’s directive to the armed forces and security forces referred to guidelines for detention under the PTA that were issued by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) last month. The directive places guidance on the arrest procedure, the procceses that must be adhered to after arrest and on the treatment of...