The inclusion of exiled victims and witnesses in Sri Lanka’s consultation for an accountability mechanism will be a litmus test of its credibility, writes former BBC correspondent Frances Harrison. Writing in the Huffington Post, Ms Harrison noted that “the extent of organised sexual violence and torture by the Sri Lankan security forces in the post-war period and right up to the present day and the chilling way every medical facility was deliberately attacked is now a matter of record,” with the release of the OISL report. “The fact the Sri Lankan security services this week went to question the only Tamil activist who spoke in public in Geneva appears to be an attempt to embarrass the government,” she added. “This sort of harassment causes disproportionate bad feeling and suspicion, especially when the target is a highly respected Catholic priest who works tirelessly with the families of the Disappeared.”
The European Union(EU) called for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide and welcomed Sri Lankan Justice Minister’s announcement that his government would vote in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution on a moratorium on the Death Penalty. The EU statement comes as Sri Lanka’s parliament debated the reinstatement of capital punishment and as the government prepares to interview for a new hangman next week . Sri Lanka’s Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha said this week that the Foreign Minister told the UN Human Rights Council last month that Sri Lanka would not implement capital punishment. Mr Rajapaksha, who is also minister of the Buddha Sasana, said that the matter had to be considered carefully, and would not be implemented this year as Sri Lanka voted in favour of a UN resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty. “The death penalty is a cruel and ineffective punishment,” said the EU. “Many death sentences are issued after confessions obtained by torture. Innocent people die and a person more likely to be sentenced to death if they are poor or belong to an ethnic or religious minority.”
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), headed by President Maithripala Sirisena, said that there would be no room for an international or hybrid mechanism for Sri Lanka’s investigations into war time atrocities. Speaking at a party meeting, the SLFP Vice Chairman and Social Empowerment and Welfare Minister SB Dissanayake said that the government would never allow foreign judges work on a accountability mechanism, reports dailyFT.lk . “The government will defiantly establish a domestic investigation mechanism with local judges and lawyers in order to hold an impartial inquiry into war crimes and...
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Affairs told parliament that 1318 families remain displaced and live in resettlement camps across the Jaffna district on Wednesday. Addressing parliament D.M. Swaminathan said there were 4737 internally displaced persons of 1318 families, according to The Island. He went on to add there were 32 welfare camps across the Jaffna district, including in Point Pedro, Karaveddi, Kopai, Thellipalai, Uduvil, Sandipalai and Nallur divisional secretariats. The figure was disputed by the National Fisheries Solidarity Organisation, with local...
Indian fishermen and their families observed a hunger strike on Wednesday to protest against the Sri Lankan navy’s repeated arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen. Members of 11 fishing associations held the protest in Rameswaram, calling on the Indian government to help them trace Vilvaraj – a fisherman who went missing at sea last month. Colleagues of Vilvaraj told of how the Sri Lankan navy had rammed their fishing boat with the attack craft causing the boat to sink. Whilst three of the fishermen were subsequently threatened at gun point by the Sri Lankan navy not to reveal details of the incident, Vilvaraj is thought to have been trapped and drowned in the sunken boat.
The case of a Tamil woman raped by Sri Lankan military soldiers in Vishvamadu highlights the structural nature of the sexual violence against ethnic minority women in Sri Lanka, and the barriers such victims face in seeking justice, said a collective of women's groups based in the North-East, Women's Action Network (WAN), on Thursday. Saluting the bravery of one of the victims who pursued justice despite being intimidated and harassed by the military after she lodged a complaint in June 2010, WAN criticised the "insensitive manner in which the [southern] media has reported on or dealt with cases of sexual violence against women" including this case.
Two paramilitary members were detained by Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday, for questioning over the assassination of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, Joseph Pararajasingham in 2005. The two men were detained in Batticaloa, the Colombo Page reported. Edwin Silva Krishna Kandaraja and Rengasami Kanyagama were two former LTTE members who broke away with the Karuna faction of the LTTE which later aligned itself with the Sri Lankan government.
The Sri Lankan military handed over bicycles to school children in Kilinochchi on Wednesday. The event took place as part of the Sri Lankan cricketer, Kumar Sangakkara's 'Bikes for Life' campaign, and happened in conjunction with a cricket tournament also organised with the assistance of the Sri Lankan military in Kilinochchi for local school cricket teams.
Two Indian nationals were arrested by Sri Lankan police in Vakarai on Wednesday for allegedly violating their visas, reports Ceylon Today . The men, aged 36 and 40 from Tamil Nadu, were accused of engaging in commercial activities.
A group of four Sri Lankan soldiers have been sentenced to 25 years in jail for the gang rape of a Tamil woman that took place in 2010. The Jaffna High Court found the men from Sri Lanka’s 572 Brigade guilty of raping the 27-year old Tamil mother of two, in Kilinochchi in 2010. The case is the first on the island of a Tamil rape victim identifying the perpetrators in court, and comes despite reports of repeated military intimidation. Whilst three of the soldeirs appeared in court, the fourth suspect had earlier absconded and remains at large. Judge M Elancheliyan said the crime was “...