The United States wished warmest greetings to those marking Tamil and Sinhala new year on April 14 and expressed hope for change. "This New Year is marked by the extraordinary positive change that has occurred in Sri Lanka over the past several months and represents a renewed opportunity for the people of Sri Lanka to join together in the spirit of reconciliation, tolerance, and peace," the US Secretary of State, John Kerry said in a statement on Friday.
Three Indian nationals were arrested on Saturday for accused of violating their visas and engaging in trade illegally, reported the Daily Mirror . The men, aged 24, 38 and 52, were arrested by the police in Kandy following a tip off by a member of the public, the paper said.
Sinhala Ravaya announced that it will be filing a petition in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court against an announcement to allow the Sri Lankan national anthem to be sung in Tamil. Sinhala Ravaya chairman, a Buddhist monk called Akmeemana Dayarathna, said Sri Lanka’s National Executive Council (NEC) cannot make such a decision as it is illegal under the constitution, and his organisation will file a petition in the Supreme Court next week.
Photograph: The Hindu Fishermen in Rameswaram staged a demonstration in protest of the continuing arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen and the confiscation of their boats, The Hindu reported. Members of all mechanised boats fishermen associations, raised slogans against the Sri Lankan navy for intimidating the Indian fishermen when they ventured into sea. Fishermen leader P. Sesu Raja urged Delhi to press Sri Lanka to secure the release of boats and fishermen arrested after the third round of talks with their Lankan counterparts in Chennai on March 24.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Sri Lanka in the first week of May, according to news reports. The State Department has not confirmed Secretary Kerry's visit yet, but the Ceylon Today , quoting "reliable government sources", says Sri Lanka's parliament will be dissolved for the elections only after Mr Kerry's visit, who was invited by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera during his trip to Washington in February. If confirmed, John Kerry would be the highest-ranking US official to visit Sri Lanka in years.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Mr Pablo de Greiff, said following his visit this month to Sri Lanka that the "creation of initiatives that satisfy legally binding rights to truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence" were complementary elements of a reconcilialion policy, adding that there were "no 'shortcuts' to reconciliation". Mr Grieff visited the island from March 30 to April 3 and travelled to the North-East, including Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya and Batticaloa. In a statement released on Saturday, Mr Grieff pointed to the potential of Sri Lanka to build a sustainable peace, but added that "most of the work necessary to redress violations and abuses, however, is still to be done."
The Sri Lankan army said on Friday that it had released 570 acres of land in Valali and Kankasanthurai, in the Valikamam region of Jaffna district. "Under today's phase, 397 acres from Kankasanthurai South and 173 acres from Valali in the Valikamam sector have now been released to the District Secretariat, thus completing the extent of 1000 acres assured by the Government," the army was quoted as saying by Colombo Page. "Under today's phase, 397 acres from Kankasanthurai South and 173 acres from Valali in the Valikamam sector have now been released to the District Secretariat, thus completing the extent of 1000 acres assured by the Government," the Army reportedly added in a statement.
Sri Lanka's state minister of defence held a Buddhist ceremony on Friday in order to "invoke blessings on war heroes who had sacrificed their lives during the fight against terrorism", the ministry of defence's official website reported .
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena speaking at a meeting of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) said that there were no obstacles for former President, Rajapaksa to contest at the upcoming general elections. Sirisena was speaking at a meeting with the UPFA to discuss constitutional and electoral reforms, reports Colombo Page .
10 April 2009 - Stop shelling No Fire Zone, HRW tells Sri Lanka Human Rights Watch in a press release demanded that the Sri Lankan government stop firing heavy artillery into the ‘No Fire Zone, where they estimated some 100000 Tamil civilians were trapped. The Asian director at Human Rights Watch described Sri Lanka’s No Fire one as ‘the most dangerous place in the world.’ Reaching out to Human Rights Watch, a doctor in the No Fire Zone, said, "We have been reporting every day, every day providing reports to relevant authorities and to the international community, and still there are no real steps taken to save these innocent civilians." See full Human Rights Watch press brief here. 10 April 2009 - US Tamil organisations urge state department to check reports of chemical weapons used in No Fire Zone Eleven Tamil organisations in a meeting with the US state department urged the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, to investigate allegations and evidence of chemical weapon attacks against Tamil civilians and called for aid to be delivered to the No Fire Zone. See press release from the US state department meeting here . 09 April 2009 - Over 300 injured civilians admitted to Puthumaathalan make shift hospital Over 300 injured Tamil civilians were admitted to the makeshift hospital with 47 people dying after being admitted throughout the day. Sources on the ground told Tamilnet that several civilians that were killed by indiscriminate shelling and gunfire by the Sri Lankan military had been left were they lay. The sources further added that an estimate of the total killed and injured for the day was hard to calculate. 09 April 2009 - ICRC team leader killed in Vanni A team leader for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Sinnathurai Kugathasan, was killed by Sri Lankan military shelling within the No Fire Zone, rescue workers told Tamilnet . 08 April 2009 - Child nutrition centre shelled by Sri Lankan military 411 civilians including 100 children were affected by the shelling of a child care centre and milk powder distribution centre at Pokkanai, within the No Fire Zone. Reports given to Tamilnet alleged that three artillery shells were fired into the civilian facilities, leaving 129 dead and 100 children injured. An survivor of the shelling in an eyewitness account to Human Rights Watch, said , “There had been no distribution of milk powder for three months, and so when they announced that there would be distribution today, hundreds of people lined in queue. It was early in the morning. I heard the first shell, and hit the ground. I survived by miracle, but my 45-year old uncle died on the spot- he lost both legs.”