The Sri Lankan government will establish a secretariat to coordinate activities of various players engaged in reconciliation. The secretariat is expected to follow up progress on the implementation of recommendations made by various panels such as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and the Office of The High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as well as coordinating with the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission. The latest secretariat is to also be tasked with developing plans with recently set up institutions such as Office on Missing Persons, the Truth Reconciliation and...
Commenting on the recent visit of the US Under Secretary of State for political affairs, Thomas Shannon’s visit to Sri Lanka, Talyor DIbbert stressed concern on the US State Department ‘s willingness to uphold pressure for accountability in Sri Lanka. Full opinion piece published in The Diplomat reproduced below. There was another high-level U.S. visit to Sri Lanka this week. State Department Counselor Thomas Shannon visited the island nation from December 14-16. The highlight of his trip seems to have been the formal announcement that the first “U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue” will be held in Washington this February. The dialogue will focus on four broad areas: governance, development cooperation, and people-to-people ties; both economic and security cooperation; and global and regional affairs.
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon concluded his visit to Sri Lanka announcing a US Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue to take place in February 2016 in Washington DC. Speaking during a joint press brief with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera Ambassador Shannon said, “The United States will assist reconciliation and broader transitional efforts at the homeland level, community label, and national levels. Sri Lanka’s contribution to the development of regional consciousness one that promotes the values of democratic governance and respects for human rights...
The Sri Lankan government’s proposed Penal Code amendment on hate speech “directly contravenes” pledges made in a UN Human Rights Council resolution said the Tamil National Alliance, adding that it is “nearly identical” to the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act used to target Tamils and Muslims. Strongly opposing the amendment, the TNA stated the amendment is “nearly identical to Section 2(1)(h),” adding “the previous government used this very provision to target persons from the Tamil and Muslim communities and to deprive them of their freedom of speech and expression”. The statement went on to recall the cases of Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam and Muslim politician Asath Salley, both of whom were detained under Section 2(1)(h) of the PTA. “Both these persons were critical of the previous government’s policies, particularly with respect to the treatment of minority communities,” said the TNA. “These incidents and others like them prompted international condemnation of the previous government’s use of the PTA to suppress media freedom and dissent.”
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera, welcoming the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs visit Sri Lanka, said that this year had been a “milestone year” in terms of US-Sri Lanka relations. In a statement made after an evening of discussion with Ambassador Thomas Shannon, Mr Samaraweera said, “I think it would be appropriate to say that Ambassador Shannon’s visit, combined with all the important visits that preceded, indicates the level of excellence that relations between our two countries have now reached.” Detailing discussions topics of the discussions, Mr Samaraweera said ways of making the partnership between the two nations stronger were addressed, including enhancing “bilateral trade and investment; and maritime cooperation including Sri Lanka’s participation in the ’Our Oceans’ Conference.
Pope Francis met with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at the Vatican today, to discuss matters regarding peace and reconciliation on the island, according to an official press release. A statement from the Holy See Press Office said "cordial discussions... focused on certain aspects of the country’s recent history and the process of peace and reconciliation that is underway, with the hope that it may contribute to promoting stable social harmony". Discussions also included "the contribution of the Catholic Church in various sectors of society and the importance of interreligious...
The US has blocked a visa application from Sri Lankan Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka due to his involvement in war crimes, reports Daily Mirror. The former commander of the Sri Lankan army, who was in charge at the time of the killing of tens of thousands of Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict, reportedly applied for a US visa two weeks ago. Daily Mirror quoted sources close to the former commander as stating his involvement in war crimes, documented in the OISL report released earlier this year as the reason for the application being blocked. “Most probably this must be why the US embassy has refused him a visa to visit the US. There are no other issues,” said the sources. “He has not visited the US during the past five years and his green card has also expired,” they added.
Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and an extraordinary theoretician within the Tamil struggle, is remembered by Tamils across the world today. His death at his home in London on 14 December 2006, a few weeks after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, shook the Tamil nation. As over 50,000 Tamils across Britain , Europe and the diaspora came to pay their respects, and many thousands more marked his death in Canada and other diaspora centres across the world, tens of thousands of Tamils in the homeland attended memorial events in Kilinochchi and Mullaitheevu. It was a day of national grief . Honouring his three decades of service to the Tamil struggle, the LTTE conferred the title 'Voice of the Nation'.
Almost 100 leading film makers, lawyers, writers and artists worldwide have called on the Malaysian government to drop the case against Lena Hendry, a human rights activist who was detained after screening the film, 'No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka'. Lena Hendry, who is also the manager of Kuala Lumpur's Freedom Film Festival, was charged under Malaysia's censorship laws for screening a film that had not been approved by the country's censorship board. She is due to stand trial on December 14th, facing a possible jail term of upto three years. The documentary, by the director Callum Macrae, displays the mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka at the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009.
Sri Lanka will hold local government elections before the Tamil and Sinhala new year in April, the country's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in parliament on Friday. Responding to a question by the chief opposition whip on electoral reform, Mr Wickremesinghe said discussions on electoral reforms are being held. "We will take a decision in Parliament. Women's representation in Local Government Institutions will be 25 percent," he said. "According to the new system it could be even 100 percent. But 75 percent will be the maximum male representation."