Hundreds of Tamil Nadu youth marked International Women’s day with a rally calling for justice for those Eelam Tamil women killed by the Sri Lankan security forces.
The Indian government said it is working with Sri Lanka to repatriate thousands of Tamil refugees, who fled to India during the armed conflict. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said discussions about the return of 100,000 Tamils from Tamil Nadu were ongoing. "We had agreed when Sri Lanka's foreign minister was here (India) in January to find ways by which these refugees could go back with honour, dignity (and) safety," Mr Jaishankar told reporters on Monday. "We've already had one meeting on the bilateral side on January 30 to discuss the issue." "We are discussing a lot of issues with Sri Lanka and the issue of reconciliation features significantly," the foreign secretary said. "We want to encourage that process." Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to visit Sri Lanka this week and is expected to become the first Indian leader to visit the Tamil North-East of the island.
The former army commander General Sarath Fonseka has been acquitted of harbouring army deserters, by the high court in Colombo. Judge Devika Tennakon de Livera said the prosecution had failed to prove the case, which was brought by the government after Mr Fonseka’s failed electoral challenge to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, without reasonable doubt. Meanwhile media in Sri Lanka reported the general is due to be promoted to the rank of field marshal, the highest rank in the Sri Lankan army. President Maithripala Sirisena is likely to grant him the rank during a ceremony on March 22, in “...
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, S Sritharan said no one amongst the Sinhalese had the courage to give Tamils a solution, criticising the current prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe's statements that he seeks a solution with the Tamil people, as false. "In Ranil Wickremasinghe's view if we speak about our ethnic community then [we] are a terrorist. He [Ranil] says he cannot speak to him [the 'terrorist']. It was this Ranil Wickremasinghe who destroyed our struggle," Mr Sritharan said on Sunday, addressing those gathered at an event for International Women's Day in Jaffna. "Ranil Wickremasinghe played a key role in making the individual Karuna turn against our struggle and destroying our land. Even today, it is he [Ranil Wickremasinghe], who proclaims that he played the greatest role in killing Tamil people and shattering their struggle," he added, remarking: "And he is coming - coming to speak to the Tamil people."
A UN report published Monday found that Australia's detention policies regarding asylum seekers and children, were in breach of the UN's Convention Against Torture by violating the " rights of migrants and asylum seekers to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment". The UN's special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, who investigated allegations of torture in 68 countries, also examined "allegations concerning the situation of two groups of Sri Lankan asylum seekers and migrants (203 in total), including a significant number of Tamils, and their incommunicado detention and imminent deportation to Sri Lanka by the Australian Government, in contravention of Australia’s non-refoulement obligations" the report said. "The Rapporteur concludes that the Government of Australia, by failing to amend the provisions of the two bills to comply with the State’s obligations under international human rights law, particularly with regard to the rights of migrants, and asylum seekers, including children, has violated the rights of migrants and asylum seekers to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided by articles 1, 3, and 16 of the CAT."
Members of India's Lok Sabha expressed outrage over comments by Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, endorsing the Sri Lankan navy's shooting of Tamil Nadu fishermen. The opposition member, Rajiv Shukla, accused India's external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj who held discussions with Mr Wickremasinghe days before his comments, of being "helpless". Mr Wickremasinghe's comments were a "slap in the face" to India, Mr Shukla added. Rejecting his remarks, Ms Swaraj was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "I am not helpless. I am a very influential external affairs minister."
British Tamils protesting outside Marlborough House in London earlier today Commonwealth Day events in London saw protests by British Tamils, who opposed the presence of Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena. A Commonwealth Day service was held at Westminster Abbey and was attended by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, alongside representatives of Commonwealth Nations including President Sirisena.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the United Kingdom expects to see progress on accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, as he welcomed Sri Lanka's president and foreign minister in London today. In a statement released after meeting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in London, Mr Hammond said, “The UK looks forward to supporting the new Sri Lankan Government as it implements its planned reforms, and as it works towards building a more democratic and accountable government, that will help Sri Lanka grow into a stronger and more prosperous nation for all its people.” The British Foreign Secretary further said “I particularly welcome Sri Lanka’s engagement with the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR),” adding, “The UK expects to see progress on Sri Lankan commitments to set up a credible domestic reconciliation and accountability processes ahead of the UN Human Rights Council in September 2015 and the publication of the report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka.”
Photographs Uthayan Mothers who had been protesting by Nallur temple, demanding that the Sri Lankan government returns their missing children to them, ended their symbolic three day hunger strike on Sunday, reports Uthayan . Breaking their fast with fluids given to them by local priests, protesters pledged to continue demanding to have their loved ones returns to them.
Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said he disputed the UN's estimated figure of the numbers of Tamils killed at the final stage of the armed conflict but Sri Lanka was "willing to verify it", in an interview with Thanthi TV. Referring a report published by a UN Panel of Experts, which stated that at least 40,000 Tamils were killed predominantly by government shelling, Mr Wickremasinghe told Thanthi TV that he did not think the casualty number would come to that. Criticising the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) as "very, very irresponsible", Mr Wickremasinghe said it was difficult to liaise with the NPC's chief minister when such statements were passed, adding that people were killed on all sides.