A coalition of 15 key Tamil diaspora organisations worldwide have urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, to ensure the report on the UN inquiry into mass atrocities against Tamils in Sri Lanka is released next month as originally intended in a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014. In a letter sent to Mr Zeid on Sunday, the organisations - Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), British Tamil Conservatives (BTC), British Tamil Forum (BTF), Centre for War Victims and Human Rights (Canada), Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Ilankai Tamil Sangam (ITS), New Zealand Tamil Society (NZTS), People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), South Africa Tamil Federation, Swedish Tamil Forum, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), Tamils for Labour, US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) and World Thamil Organization (WTO) - endorsed the Northern Provincial Council's resolution on genocide and its call to ensure the report is released next month. "Our organisations representing the 1-million strong Tamil Diaspora forced out of Sri Lanka due to the conflict, and having lost tens of thousands of relatives, fully endorse the call by the Northern Provincial Council, and urge you to release the OISL report in March 2015 as originally mandated," the coalition said, adding, "President Sirisena’s election and short tenure do not negate the need for a timely release."
Sri Lanka's new president, Maithripala Sirisena, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday as part of an official visit. He was greeted on arrival by India's Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, P Radhakrishnan. Mr Sirisena, who is set to meet with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, is accompanied by Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, and the leader of the government coalition partner, the JHU, Champika Ranawaka, as well as the resettlement minister, D M Swaminathan, the justice minister, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and the presidential secretary, P B Abeykoon.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been urged to back a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, which will support the adoption of a report on mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) M Karunanidhi. “Now that the Sri Lankan Provincial Government has passed a resolution calling for an international probe into genocide, I request you to kindly consider moving a suitable resolution in the UNHRC,” said Mr Karunanidhi earlier this week. "The community of the Tamils anxiously expect the Indian government to support the adoption of the report in the UNHRC," he added. Mr Karunanidhi’s comments come as Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena arrived in India on his first official visit of the country. Since Mr Sirisena took office in January though, efforts taken towards appeasing Tamil demands have failed to materialise said Mr Karunanidhi. "What is now happening in Sri Lanka has upset the Tamils. The promises and announcements are too many and what has been achieved is either nil or very little," Mr Karunanidhi said . “What can be done in a couple of days has not been done and there are no positive signals towards what should be done within a timeframe.”
A domestic investigation cannot be accepted regardless of when the release of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights report into Sri Lanka’s atrocities (OISL) occurs, the Tamil National Alliance said on Sunday. Commenting on Sri Lanka’s requests to delay the OISL report to allow for a domestic initiative, TNA MP M Sumanthiran, said, “The government has announced that it is seeking support from the international community for an internal investigation. We do not have hope in an internal investigation.” Mr Sumanthiran further added that a delay in the release of the OISL report...
Photograph: Sri Lankan Ministry of External Affairs UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon discussed human rights, accountability and reconciliation with the Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs Mangala Samaraweera, outlining them as “critical priorities” for Sri Lanka on Friday. The meeting at UN headquarters in New York comes after Mr Samaraweera visited the UK and US, where he announced publicly that Sri Lanka was seeking to delay the findings of a United Nations investigation into mass atrocities on the island. Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, UN diplomatic sources said Mr Samaraweera had made the same call to the UN Secretary General. Inner City Press reported that Sri Lanka's outgoing Ambassador to the United Nations Palitha Kohona was also present at the meeting.
The United States said it is focused on supporting “accountability and reconciliation” in Sri Lanka, following a visit from the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Mangala Samaraweera, who was in Washington on Thursday. “The United States, our focus and the focus of our partners in the international community is supporting accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka,” said US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, s peaking at the daily press briefing on Friday. “We’re determining the best way forward to address these issues,” said Ms Psaki, confirming that the United Nations investigation into mass atrocities against Tamils was discussed at Mr Samaraweera’s meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry. However, she added that conversations around delaying the report would be kept “private”, stating that “this is a matter for the UN High Commissioner (Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein) to determine”. “We have absolute confidence in [the High Commissioner] and in this process,” she added.
The chief minister of the Northern province, C V Wigneswaran, told the Sri Lankan president that the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) calling for an international inquiry into the crime of genocide against the Tamils by successive Sri Lankan governments expressed the Tamil people's "thoughts and feelings". Meeting President Maithripala Sirisena a couple of days after the resolution was adopted by the council, Mr Wigneswaran told BBC Tamil , that he also called for the Mr Sirisena's pledge of reconciliation between the North and South to be established sooner.
Leader of Sri Lanka's opposition and SLFP head, Nimal Siripala de Silva condemned the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) calling for UN inquiry into genocide against the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan state, calling for the provincial council system to be re-considered as a result. "If the provincial councils go about doing this kind of work, we will have to take a closer look at the provincial councils system," Mr Siripala de Silva was quoted by India Times as saying on Friday. Stating that the resolution threatened Sri Lanka's national security, he accused the Tamil diaspora of being behind the resolution.
Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has taken key responsibilities from the defence ministry. The move means the number of institutions under the control of State Minister for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene have been drastically reduced. President Sirisena is now in control of ten defence institutions, including the armed forces, only leaving the minister with four institutions, the Rana Viru Seva Authority (veteran welfare), the Defence Services College, Defence Services Command and Staff College and the National Cadet Corp, reported Colombo Post .
Sri Lanka's revised budget could stoke inflation and further economic imbalances, warned rating agency Moody's Investors Service. The 47 percent hike in public sector wages can boost consumption and growth but it would also boost inflation, a historic problem in Sri Lanka according to Moody's. "Given that public sector employees make up 15 percent of the work force, the 47 percent increase in nominal wages will boost consumption, thus supporting growth," Moody's said.