A man who is being held on suspicion of having murdered Tamil National Alliance MP Nadarajah Raviraj, has filed a fundamental rights violation petition in Sri Lanka's Supreme Court. MA Sampath Munasinghe, alleges illegal detention by the CID and cited the IGP and the CID as respondents in the case. He requested the court to declare the violation of his personal liberty, The Island reported. Mr Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo in November 2006, at a time when the capital was heavily fortified by Sri Lanka's military. The government was accused of being behind the attacks by the TNA, diaspora organisations and the UNP. The US led international criticism of the government and urged it to conduct an investigation.
Parliamentarians from the Mahinda-faction of the UPFA claimed the former president had more support than ever and would be appointed the prime minister after the elections. Speaking to media on Thursday, former minister and Colombo District MP Bandula Gunawardena said the masses were demanding the return of the former president and the current wave of support in the country for him was much bigger than at the 2005 and 2010 presidential elections. Former external affairs minister G. L. Peiris and Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga also addressed the media. Mahinda Rajapaksa...
The Sri Lankan government has decided it will reconsider restarting the 'Port City' project, a Chinese-funded development. Cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne said the government will consider an Environmental Impact Assessment report, before deciding whether to go ahead with the $1.5bn project. The project was reviewed by the new government along with several others initiated by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Right after the election, the government announced it would cancel the project.
The United States State Department announced it is accepting submissions for project proposals that will “support the bureau’s policy priorities of promoting reconciliation and advancing transparency and accountability in Sri Lanka”. Announcing two projects, to advance “reconciliation and cooperation across religious and ethnic lines” and for “advancing transparency and accountability and countering corruption”, a total of approximately $1,750,000 of funding would be made available said the State Department.
Civil society organisations and activists from across Sri Lanka and the North-East expressed their “deep disappointment and outrage” at the failure of South African authorities to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir earlier this week, stating it raised “serious concerns” over their involvement in Sri Lanka’s accountability process. Noting that Mr Bashir is wanted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, 60 organisations signed a statement saying Mr Bashir’s visit “visit to South Africa presented a real opportunity to bring an international fugitive to justice”. “Given the involvement of the government of South Africa in the design of truth and reconciliation processes in Sri Lanka, we the undersigned wish to reiterate the centrality of the rule of law and victims’ right to justice in any efforts aimed at truth-seeking and reconciliation,” said the statement. “We also note that the shameful circumstances surrounding President al-Bashir’s visit to, and departure from South Africa will inevitably raise serious concerns over the propriety of the South African government’s involvement in the pursuit of truth and reconciliation in Sri Lanka and elsewhere,” the organisations added.
The Sri Lankan government said it has begun “internal consultations” on the prospect of a domestic prove to investigate mass atrocities committed during the final phase of the armed conflict on the island, more than 6 years ago. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maheshini Colonne told journalists that the “relevant authorities” have commenced “high level” talks on the subject, reports Colombo Gazette . Her comments were in response to remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussain at the opening of the 29th UN Human Rights Council Session this week, where he called for Sri Lanka to consult with the victims and their families to ensure support for an accountability mechanism.
The Norwegian government and European Union, in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, announced a project to promote tourism in the Eastern Province. The project will see the Eastern province become part of 22 geotourism programs that have been launched worldwide and will receive a certificate of participation from the National Geographic Society. “Our EU experience tells us that ownership is essential for any project to be sustainable and this particular project has the right elements,” said EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka David Daly. “By involving...
The only to way see justice in Sri Lanka is through international courts, said exiled journalist JS Tissainayagam writing in the Asian Correspondent on Wednesday. Commenting on Sri Lanka’s assertion that only 300 prisoners were in the new government’s custody, Mr Tissainayagam said, “The recent revelation that only 300 prisoners remain in Government custody only confirms that the crimes committed by the government are even more heinous than previously imagined. As such, no Sri Lanka government is going to facilitate the legal, administrative need to meet ‘international standards.’ The only way is for international justice to be dispensed by international courts.”
India’s central government is to consider building a road and rail link across the Palk Strait to North-East Sri Lanka, reports DNAIndia . India’s road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, said that a proposal for bridging the divide across the Palk Strait had been submitted to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), for a pre-feasibility study and subsequent financing. “The distance between Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram and the Sri Lankan boundary is about 23 kilometers. A sea-bridge would help in increasing the trans-SAARC road and transport network.” The Indian government previously...
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was unaware of a scheduled visit to Sri Lanka by the US President Barack Obama. The clarification was made in light of comments by a United National Party (UNP) minister alleging that Mr Obama was expected to visit Sri Lanka before the end of the year. The Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maheshini Colonne, said that there is a possibility that President Obama may visit Asia later this year, adding , “Sri Lanka will welcome a visit to Sri Lanka by President Obama as that wold be the first visit to Sri Lanka by a US president.”