Iran will look to re-visit a Preferential Trade Agreement which was agreed with Sri Lanka in 2005, said Iran’s Energmy Minister Hamid Chitchian during his visit to Sri Lanka. Speaking in Colombo at the opening of the Joint Commission for Economic Co-operation (JCEC), Mr Chitchian said, “Iran and its new international atmosphere with respect to resolving Iran’s sanctions is completely ready to boost bilateral commercial relations and would like to increase the level of cooperation with Sir Lanka more than ever.” The Sri Lankan delegation was led by Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad...
A petition was launched this week by the National Movement for the Protection of Armed Forces, urging the Sri Lankan president Maithripala to reject foreign judges in the proposed war crimes court. The group, which has started collecting signatures, intend to submit the petition to the president later this month, the Island reported. See here for more.
Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, came together with the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday, to seek words of advice from Buddhist clergy. Meeting with the Hunupitiya Ganagaramaya temple's chief monk, Galaboda Gnanissara Thera, the pair were told to work towards the betterment of the country, the Daily Mirror reported. Highlighting criticism of the prime minister's aggression towards the media, the Buddhist monk advised him, “Don’t lose your cool as you can be aggressive. DO so only when the need arises." “Prime Minister is accused of being aggressive towards mass media these days and one has to be aggressive towards the media. The rulers of the country have the right to be aggressive towards media,” he added.
An asylum boat which left Sri Lanka was turned back by Australian border control, the Australian immigration minister, Peter Dutton said on Tuesday. "We determined that those people aren't refugees and then they go back to their country of origin. We have a good relationship with Sri Lanka as we do with Indonesia," Mr Dutton was quoted by AAP as saying in a radio interview to Brisbane radio 4BC. Stating that the "threat" of asylum seekers boats remained, Mr Dutton said, "We are dealing with possible ventures regularly."
The President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao met with Sri Lanka’s President on a two day meeting to the island reports Colombo Page . President Sirisena during his meeting with the ADB president, discussed development projects including a electrification project in the southern city of Galle and called for further cooperation with the bank. "I look forward to working with the government in elaborating and implementing its development vision and strategy through increased ADB support. ADB is re-orienting its operations to meet the evolving needs of Sri Lanka as it moves to...
Meaningful international participation in an accountability process in Sri Lanka is vital for genuine reconciliation, writes senior legal adviser for the International Commission of Jurists Nikhil Narayan. “The call by domestic and international human rights activists and observers for an accountability process that involves, as a minimum prerequisite, the meaningful participation of a majority of foreign judges and other personnel is very simply a matter of restoring public trust in the rule of law in the country, through a credible, impartial, independent, victim-centric transitional justice process that effectively addresses victims’ right to truth, justice, remedy and reparation, and on whose foundation the country can move forward with genuine reconciliation.” See full opinion peace below:
A group of Tamil political prisoners have launched a hunger strike calling on the government to release them without further delay, reports Ceylonews. In a letter to the Commissioner General of Prisons, they prisoners said that they had been held for several years without charge . Two prisoners form the Colombo Magazine Prison and two from the Anuradhapura prison said they would continue the hunger strike until a solution was found. Relatives of missing and political prisoners protest in Jaffna (25 Jan 2016) Towns across North-East shut down in support of Tamil political detainees (13 Nov...
Tamil civil society held protests in Kilinochchi and Vavuniya calling on the government to take action on the ongoing sexual violence that people in the North-East faced. Hundreds of members of civil society including teachers, school children, businesses and professionals marched through Vavuniya demanding justice for a series of rapes that had occurred in the North-East over the past month.
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leaders that there will be no drastic changes in the new constitution and the Northern and Eastern provinces will not be re-merged, reports SundayTimes.lk. Speaking to the Sunday Times, the prime minister said, “We have said that the government is willing to accommodate request for possible ‘working arrangements’ for co-ordination between the two Provincial Councils.” Mr Wickremesinghe added that most of the provisions of the 13th Amendment to the constitution and provincial council structure will...
A high level delegation from the German government will visit Sri Lanka in March to explore investment opportunities said Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake. The finance minister said that the German delegation will assess and analyse the investment climate following an investor forum held in Germany during the Sri Lankan President’s visit to the capital, reports Colombo Page. During the visit, President Sirisena and his delegation addressed the a Sri Lanka-Germany business forum, reiterating that, “Sri Lanka today is ready for business and our economic transition is set in motion...