Photograph US embassy The US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, Nisha Biswal, who is currently visiting Sri Lanka, met with the wife of the missing political cartoonist, Prageeth Eknaligoda on Wednesday. Earlier this week, the Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Department has questioned four army officers over the disappearance of cartoonist, who his wife says disappeared after he had uncovered evidence of the Sri Lankan army’s use of chemical weapons against the Tamil people. “In 2008, Prageeth wrote and informed the diplomats about the Sri Lankan government’s usage of chemical weapons against the people in the north," Mrs Eknaligoda told the BBC in 2010.
The commander of Sri Lanka's army stated the military was still on alert, despite more than 6 years since the end of the armed conflict on the island. Lieutenant Crishanthe De Silva said terrorism, as well as human trafficking and drug peddling were issues that the army was wary of and ready to tackle. His comments came at a press conference announce the '5th Defence Seminar' due to take place at the Colombo Galadari Hotel next month. Colombo Gazette quoted the commander as saying, “For any military in the world, national security is the priority and all military officers are therefore...
The US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, Nisha Biswal, met with the Tamil National Alliance and the chief minister of the northern province on Wednesday. The TNA delegation, which included the leader, R Sampanthan, Mavai Senathirajah and M A Sumanthiran, stressed to Ms Biswal that the party would continue pushing for an international inquiry into mass atrocities, despite the US announcement on Wednesday to support a credible domestic inquiry in Sri Lanka.
The South African Tamil Federation congratulated the Tamil National Alliance on its recent election victory in the North-East and called on the party to ensure “peace, stability, political and economic rights for the Tamil speaking people in Sri Lanka”. The organisation, which represents 650,000 Tamil speaking people in South Africa and has Provincial Structures in 7 Provinces across the country, continued to say the election victory was a message that the people “want change and that change should take place immediately”. “The SATF will be waiting for the outcomes of the United Nations Human...
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...