A protest was held in Jaffna today calling for the immediate release of Tamil political prisoners.
Tamil National Alliance MP and spokesperson M.A. Sumanthiran called on the Sri Lankan government to release all political prisoners, as he visited hunger striking inmates at Anuradhapura Prison. Mr Sumanithran, accompanied by Provincial Council members Asmin Yakoob and Sanankiyan Sayandan, demanded the government release the prisoners as agreed and stated if there was no response in the coming days, he too would join the prisoners in their hunger strike, according to a party press release.
Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe declared “there are no political prisoners in the country’s prisons,” as protests continue across the island. Mr Rajapakshe, the government’s justice minister and minister of the Buddha Sasana, told reporters : “The prisoners are ones who are held for aiding and abetting the activities of LTTE terrorists. They are not political prisoners.”
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said he would take a decision on Tamil political prisoners detained in jails across the island, after a report was compiled and submitted to him on the issue. The government response comes as over 200 Tamil inmates started a hunger strike across the island, now entering its fourth day. Protests in support of the prisoners and calling for their immediate release, have also been held in the North-East. ColomboPage reports the president asked Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Law and Order Minister Thilak Marapana and government minister Mano Ganesan to meet with the Attorney General and discuss the issue before submitting a report to the president’s office. Once the report has been submitted, the president would examine it and come to a decision, said Mr Ganesan. Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapakshe visited the prisoners on hunger strike on Thursday morning and “assured speedier action,” reports The Hindu . However, yesterday the minister told reporters that “there are no political prisoners in Sri Lanka”.
The Northern Provincial Council Minister for Rural Development P Deniswaran said that data collection had started in the Jaffna district to assess the needs of former LTTE cadres. The data collection forms the first stage of a livelihood assistance programme for former Tamil militants, learns Tamil Guardian. The NPC minister further data collection is expected to happen in Mannar, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu throughout this month said the NPC minister. The news comes amidst several reports of on-going land appropriation and construction of Buddhist Stupas in the North-East. Tamil...
The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) extended its support to the hunger strike protest undertaken by Tamil political prisoners demanding their immediate release. Outlining its intention to participate in protests in support of the political prisoners, the TCSF said, “We also support and will take part in the token strike and protests being planned to be staged by their relatives all across the North-East in the forthcoming days.” Calling for the removal of the PTA and granting of bail for all those detained indefinitely, the civil society organisation added, “TCSF adopts the definition of political prisoners that Amnesty International uses in its work. Accordingly it is our opinion that our brethren who took up arms for the sake of the liberation of the Tamil people and those who supported it, despite being criminalized by Sri Lankan laws, did so for a political reason and hence belong to the category of political prisoners. It has been 6 years since the end of the war and it is our opinion that if the Sri Lankan Government is interested in genuine reconciliation that they should immediately release all political prisoners languishing in its prisons.”
The proposal of appointing District Development Ministers for the Northern Province by Sri Lanka’s government unnecessarily weakens the powers of the province said the Northern Provincial Council Chairman CVK Sivagnanam. Speaking at a sitting of the Northern Provincial Council last week, Mr Sivagnanam said that government attempts to appoint District Development Ministers weakens the powers devolved to the provinces. Sri Lanka’s government intends to appoint District Development Ministers to manage development schemes for all districts on the island.
Photograph: Sabeshwaran Protests by local Tamil residents in Kilinochchi stopped army attempts to survey their land for future acquisition on Tuesday. Reports suggest that the military was surveying 16 acres of Tamil land for future acquisition, before they were interrupted by protests. The Tamil National Alliance MP Sritharan was also present at the protest and expressed strong opposition against the military surveys.
The leader of Sri Lanka's National Freedom Front stated his party is "pleased" to hear Russian military intervention in Syria is "continuing unabated," stating it was a "noble objective". In a letter to the ambassador of Russia in Sri Lanka, Wimal Weerawansa said his party is "very pleased to hear about the military capabilities and the achievement of the Russian forces who conduct those humanitarian operations with noble objectives in mind". "We are also very pleased to learn about the technological prowess of the Russian forces in using cruise missiles with perfect precision targeting terrorists as far as 1500 km away without causing any deliberate harm to innocent civilians anywhere in the region," he added. "The noble objective of this intervention is diametrically opposed to the objectives of military interventions carried out by the USA and its allies."
A Tamil refugee in India has gone on hunger strike, calling on Indian authorities to release his wife from Mandapam Camp prison in Rameswaram. The 34 year old B Suthakaran from Mullivakkal fled Sri Lanka with his family in May last year, after repeated harassment from Sri Lankan security forces. The intelligence wing of the Sri Lankan Navy arrested and detained him for almost 2 years in 2008, reported The New Indian Express. However, once he arrived in India, despite claiming refugee status, he was imprisoned for a year in Puzhal Prison in Chennai. "After I reached Dhanuskodi, I telephoned the Q branch police," said Mr Suthakaran. "I informed them that I am Sri Lankan and had come with my family thinking that they will register us as refugees and put us in the camps." "But everything went awry as my wife and I were imprisoned and my children were separated from us," he said.