Senior US officials have arrived in Sri Lanka for talks with government officials and civil society leaders on issues including reconciliation and justice, announced the US State Department. The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday. A State Department press release said talks would focus on “US-Sri Lanka cooperation to further economic growth, strengthen good governance and democratic institutions, and promote reconciliation and justice”.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera addressing reporters after meeting US official Nisha Biswal today. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the government was implementing “independent domestic mechanisms” to address human rights violations on the island, after meeting with senior US officials earlier today. After discussions with Nisha Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia and Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour of the US State Department, Mr Samaraweera said he “outlined measures being taken to...
The Sri Lankan government's Presidential Commission into Missing Persons is to release a second interim report, just days before the release of the UN's report, the OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka. “We handed over the First Mandated Interim Report in April and the Second Mandated Interim Report will be handed over to President Sirisena on Friday. It will mainly deal with the issues of the violation of the International Humanitarian Law or War Crimes allegedly committed by both parties and the recommendations to prevent a repetition,” the report's chairman, Maxwel Paranagama, was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. The paper also stated that "highly placed diplomatic source told Daily Mirror the government should present the Paranagama Commission report in Geneva to counter the allegations levelled at the Sri Lanka government and the armed forces personnel by pro-LTTE groups". The commission, which has been marred by claims of military intimidation of witnesses, has been criticised by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), who labelled it “deceptive”. Highlighting Sri Lanka's historic failure of domestic inquiries, the Bishop of Mannar refused to testify before it and protests were held outside other hearings in the North-East.
The US Embassy in Colombo has announced it will provide $1 million to support resettlement efforts in Sampur, in the Trincomalee district, as part of its “continuing commitment to strengthen Sri Lanka’s peace and development”. “Our goal is to help Sri Lankans around the country overcome the effects of conflict and displacement, improve the lives of their families and communities, and live with dignity,” said the new US Ambassador Atul Keshap. The first $100,000 will be managed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide the newly-resettled communities with a range of services and means of support to meet their basic needs, the embassy said in a statement . Another $900,000 is earmarked to build two schools in the Sampur region with facilities to support and house displaced families.
Sri Lanka’s annual defense seminar will focus on threats to national security including “non-military threats to national security,” reports Colombo Page . The seminar is expected to discuss themes such as “nature of threats affecting the National security of a nation,” ”terrorism and challenges to national security, and “Non-military threats to national security.” A total of 20 guest speakers including 10 foreign scholars are said to have bene invited to the 2 day seminar. The former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai will deliver the keynote address with Sri Lanka’s army commander...
Nearly 800 protestors were arrested during a demonstration against the detention of Eelam Tamils in special refugee camps across Tamil Nadu. The protestors, supporters of the Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi assembled “along the Tiruchi–Pudukottai national highway to lay siege to the Tiruchi special camp functioning inside the Central Prison premises”, before police stopped them, The Hindu reported. Leader of the party Mr T Velmurugan, told media that keeping Tamil refugees in the special camps was “condemnable” and went against human rights. "The Union and State governments should deal this...
Twelve Tamil Nadu fishermen reported being attacked on Monday night by Sri Lankan navy personnel, reported Indian newspapers. The fishermen said that the navy personnel stripped some members, before beating them with sticks and stones. The fishing equipment was damaged, and there remain unconfirmed reports that twenty boats were damaged in the attack. See here and here . Fishermen from Tamil Nadu have reported attacks by the Sri Lankan navy, who accuse the fishermen of straying into Sri Lankan waters.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has offered cricketer Kumar Sangakkara the post of High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, after the batsman concluded his final test match on Monday. Mr Sangakkara, a cricketer from the south of the island, had been widely tipped to go into politics, following his retirement. He said he respected the offer but has not yet accepted the role. The offer was reportedly made after former UNP parliamentarian Rosy Senanayake confirmed that she rejected offers to take up the post last week. Mr Sangakkara, who the president called "a great honour to Sri Lanka", was widely hailed for his 2011 Cowdrey lecture at Lord's in London, igniting rumours that he may enter politics after his sporting career. In his speech, the cricketer spoke out against Sri Lankan cricket administrators, whom he accused of losing “accountability and transparency in administration and credibility of conduct”. He went on to suggest the solution in tackling the sport's mismanagement may lie in international cricketing authorities “taking a stand to suspend member boards with any direct detrimental political interference and allegations of corruption and mismanagement”. Whilst his criticism of the cricketing administration drew appreciation from abroad, the call for international intervention sparked an investigation by the Sri Lankan sports minister.
Residents of a Mannar village are facing land-grab and eviction by Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation. The 22 families of Kuruvilvaan village have complained to the civil society group, Mannar Citizen’s Committee of having long faced intimidation from department officials, including their homes being trespassed upon, with the ultimate purpose of having their lands grabbed. Villagers said that despite the land disputes awaiting a decision in the courts, signs have appeared in the village, declaring the land as ‘Giant’s Tank Sanctuary’. The villagers expressed their fear that they...
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena is to receive a copy of a United Nations report into mass atrocities committed during the final stages of the armed conflict, which saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed, according to the Daily News . Quoting diplomatic sources, it was reported that Mr Sirisena receiving the report will coincide with the visit of US Assistant State Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal. The report is expected to state that tens of thousands of Tamil civilians died predominantly due to the actions of the Sri Lankan government forces. The report was initially due to be released in March of this year, but was delayed until September. At the time of the delay, which the Sri Lankan government celebrated as a diplomatic success , UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein spoke directly to the victims and gave his “personal, absolute and unshakable commitment that the report will be published by September." “I want this report to have the maximum possible impact in ensuring a genuine and credible process of accountability and reconciliation in which the rights of victims to truth, justice and reparations are finally respected,” he had said.