Dozens of youth in India called for a boycott of all Sri Lankan products, at a demonstration held in Tamil Nadu this week. The Tamil Youths and Students Federation organised a protest in Chennai, calling for Sri Lankan products to be banned from the country due to the government massacres of Tamils in 2009 and the ongoing human rights violations on the island. “Even the state government has passed a resolution in the Tamil Nadu Assembly calling for ecconomic sanctions on Sri Lanka,” said co-ordinator V Prabhakaran, accusing Sri Lanka of carrying out genocide.
The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances confirmed that it will visit Sri Lanka later this year. The working group will visit the island from 2-12 August, and has already met with Tamil diaspora groups in Geneva. A team of five independent experts are expected to visit the island, reports Colombo Page. The working group had previously made several requests to the Sri Lankan government for access to the ground and received no reply. The visit comes as the North-East of the island has seen an increase in protests by Tamil families, rejecting Sri Lanka’s...
Sri Lanka's minister for power and energy, Patali Champika Ranawaka, on Monday denied reports that there is a fuel shortage in the country, reports Colombo Page . Also rejecting reports that Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was incurring losses, Mr Ranawaka, pledged that Sri Lanka will begin natural gas production by the end of this year.
Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena praised Pakistan's support in favour of Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council last year during a meeting with Pakistan's new High Commissioner, Major General (Rtd) Syed Shakeel Hussain. "Your Ambassador in Geneva fought for us as if he was fighting for his own country," said Mr Sirisena, reported Colombo Page . "Not only the Government of Sri Lanka but the entire nation is grateful to Pakistan for the enormous assistance provided to Sri Lanka to defeat the terrorists."
Patients at a medical welfare camp in Mullaitivu were intimidated and harassed by Sri Lankan security forces said the Northern Provincial Council member, S Sivamohan. The medical welfare camp which was organised by the Jaffna Medical Association, took place last Saturday in the Koddaikadiya Kulam region of Mullaitivu district, providing free medical care for Mullaitivu residents. Officers from the government's Civil Security Force approached residents and threatened them against attending the medical camp, Mr Sivamohan said.
A study team from the Nigerian National Defence College visited the Sri Lankan Naval Headquarters in Colombo on Tuesday. The 20 member team, lead by Commodore Chukwuka Joel Chiejile met with Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy Rear Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne where they discussed “matters of mutual interests” and participated on a presentation about regarding navy operations. Also see our earlier posts: HRW: 40,000 Reasons Why Sri Lanka Is No Model for Nigeria (16 June 2014) Nigeria may follow Sri Lanka’s war strategy against Boko Haram (12 June 2014)
Sri Lankan state intelligence took photographs of people participating in a discussion on the ‘Right to Remember’ at Jaffna Library on Sunday. Photographs: Tamil Guardian The event, organised by the Tamil Civil Society Forum, looked to discuss issues on remembrance. Lecturer in Law at Jaffna University and TCSF Co-Spokesperson, Guruparan Kumaravadivel, added that a plurality of narratives was possible within the collective memory of a political community using Tamil nationalism as an example.
The former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa has been cleared of all charges of corruption by an Indian court on Monday. "Truth and justice have prevailed," said Ms Jayalalithaa in a statement after the court decision. "I am immensely satisfied, the verdict has paved the way for me to emerge as tested pure gold," she added. Ms Jayalalithaa maintained that there was no wrongdoing and that the charges were “foisted (on me) by political enemies.” The ruling now clears the way for her to return as chief minister.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has denied the existence of secret detention camps, where Tamils are thought to have been sent during and after the armed conflict. "Last week, I had an opportunity to meet a group of mothers still looking for their missing children. The issue of secret detention camps came up and assured them such facilities do not exist. I assured them of a thorough inquiry in case they could reveal secret detention camps," the minister said to media . Thousands of Tamils remain missing, 6 years after the end of the armed conflict, including those taken captive by the Sri Lankan army in front of their families.
Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake confirmed that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was prepared to double its annual funding to Sri Lanka, raising the figure to US$1.2 billion. Mr Karunanayake said that the credit grant was due to independent reviews that placed confidence in Sri Lanka’s economy and not requests by the Sri Lankan government. The funds are to be directed towards government development initiatives, budgetary allocations, capacity development and debt relief reports Colombo Page . The credit increase comes in the wake of the ADB’s recent decision to downgrade Sri Lanka’s 2015 GDP growth forecast by 0.5%.