The Sri Lankan government’s rejection of a report detailing military occupation of the Tamil North-East “reeks of defensiveness and reflects the lack of political will to be honest to the victims and the international community”, said the executive director of the Oakland Institute. In a statement to JDS , Oakland Institute's Executive Director Anuradha Mittal said Sri Lanka’s response had reinforced the report’s findings on the Sri Lankan military deployment in the Tamil homeland – “under President Sirisena's government, it is déja vu”. “The attitude of “we know better” denies the day to day loss and suffering of the communities in the North and the East of the country, as reported to the researchers of the Institute during the course of our field work,” said Ms Mittal. “More important, Mr. Perera fails to back up his statement with facts and evidence that would prove our findings wrong or make a strong case for the “strong rejection.” Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Affairs minister Ajith P Perera had earlier said the report was compiled by an “outside organisation” with “only a limited knowledge”. He went on to say that Sri Lanka had “every right to decide how many soldiers need to be deployed”.
Mass atrocities carried out during the final phase of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka compelled developers to launch a new smart phone app that allows war crimes to be documented and verified instantly. Named “eyeWitness to Atrocities”, the app was designed after developers saw mobile phone footage of Sri Lankan soldiers executing Tamils who had surrendered in May 2009. It will allow users to instantly upload photo and video footage of potential war crimes to a secure database and to legal experts, so that evidence can be used in the prosecution of war criminals. "This could be a real game-...
Sanctions placed on Iran have affected progress on a US $529 million hydropower development project in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Iran has struggled to invest the pledged amount into the project due to ongoing sanctions against its government said the Mahaweli Development and Environment Ministry Secretary, Nihal Rupasainghe. Rupasinghe added that Sri Lanka would not be able to provide extra investment for the short-fall as requested by Iran. The Uma Oya Multi-Purpose Development Project includes a series of damns, a hydropower plant with a 134 MW capacity, and a tunnel system that...
Updated 08/06/2015 The United Nations will establish a fund to help Sri Lanka produce a mechanism that will address human rights violations and accountability issues in line with international standards. The UN peace building fund will provide $3 million to establish a peace building process that looks into reconciliation and accountability. The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Sri Lanka Subinay Nandy, outlining plans of the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (OHCHR) to assist accountability measures, said, “First, technical support to establish an inclusive credible...
Pakistan and Sri Lanka discussed ways of enhancing bilateral defence ties on Saturday, reports Colombo Page . Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Raheem Sharif, held discussions with Sri Lanka’s army commander Crishanthe De Silva, during an official visit to Sri Lanka. Both generals shared experiences in fighting terrorism and focused on ways to enhance each others defence services. Sri Lanka’s military commander De Silva is thought to be responsible for dispatching civilians fleeing the conflict zone during the end of the war in 2009. Newly appointed military officials oversaw massacres of Tamils...
Members of the Catholic clergy from the North-East say it is “too early” to return asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka, as it still is not safe. Speaking to The Guardian , Catholic priest and lawyer Fr Veerasan Yogeswaran, who runs the Centre for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, says although the new government has brought in some positive changes, concerns remained. “My general view of the countries holding asylum seekers: please do not send them back immediately,” he said. “There are positive developments. But at the same time these are not signs that everything is good and everything is democratic now.” The priest from Trincomalee said the human rights situation in Sri Lanka remains unresolved and uncertain. “The minority communities are of the opinion still that we do not feel safety and security in this island. And that is one of the reasons that they are also fleeing. There may not be abductions but there can be constant harassment and intimidations,” he said, adding that the heavy military presence continued to cause insecurity.
The Buddhist organisation Bodu Bala Sena will meet with the governor of Sri Lanka’s Central bank to object to the launch of financial services under Islamic principles by a private bank recently. In a letter to the governor, the BBS said: “We have got a number of complaints from bankers and citizens that CBSL is not taking any measures to ban introducing religious based banking practices which might create social division in the country. We strongly believe this leads situations against equal rights ensured in the constitution, “Our organisation decided to send a delegation to CBSL to meet with you or any responsible officer to discuss this nationally important matter.
Members of the Sri Lankan military organised an event in cooperation with a garment producer to employ Tamils from Kilinochchi in the south of the island. According to news.lk , troops with the 9 Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE) Regiment under the Security Force Headquarters-Killinochchi, worked with Tri Star Apparels (Pvt) Ltd conducted a series of interviews in May, and selected 58 Tamil youths from the town in the North-East. The Tamils will be employed in the Ratmalana branch of the company, a town near Colombo.
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) raised concerns regarding the lack of transparency with the Sri Lankan government’s Presidential Commission to Investigate In to Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (COI), stating that there is a question of “genuine willingness” to address issues of truth and justice. In a letter addressed to the COI, the CPA said “the mandate and operation of the COI begs the question of whether there is genuine willingness by the Government to address issues of truth, justice and reparations”. Highlighting three main areas of concern- the interim report, the nature of public and private sittings and the status of investigations – the CPA went on to state, “Such developments highlights that the new Government too is relying on the tactics of the former regime to delay any independent and credible truth and justice mechanisms.”
A delegation from the British Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) visited Sri Lanka’s Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene on Monday. The RCDS, which on an education tour in Sir Lanka, discussed matters of bilateral relevance and mutual interest reports, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence website. Photograph: Defence.lk