A Tamil mother in Mulangavil slammed the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Disappeared, after she was offered poultry farming when she had attended to register the disappearance of her son. “Who are you fooling, you cannot fool God. I want my child," she shouted, after s torming out of the Commission's session in Mulangavil.
Sri Lanka is not concerned by an Amnesty International report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee said the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commissioner, on Thursday. Amnesty International submitted a 40 page report documenting violations of civil and political rights to the UNHRC International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which will convene on 07 October. Speaking to Sri Lankan press , the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commissioner Prathiba Mahanamahewa, said, “This is only a report so nothing to worry about that but we, Sri Lanka, have to be very much concerned about...
Published 29/09/14 Updated 17:30 BST 01/10/14 Sri Lankan authorities have sabotaged a journalism training program set to take place in a resort in Negombo, reports the Associated Press and Reuters . Action Committee for Media Freedom, an umbrella media rights group, said that the owner of the resort was threatened by plainclothes police officers against letting the workshop go ahead. The owner of the Negombo workshop did not allow the workshop to take place and returned the advance payment to the Professional Web Journalists Association. The group which had organised the workshop on digital...
MP Nick De Bois addressing the event The Chairman of the Conservative party, British government ministers and Members of Parliament voiced their support for the Tamil community in the United Kingdom and backed calls for justice for the Tamil people at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham this week.
Criticising the Australian government's continued deportation of asylum seekers fleeing Sri Lanka as "extremely reckless", the Human Rights Law Centre, said Australia was placing the deportees in direct danger. Speaking as further evidence of the rape and torture of Tamil deportees emerged, this time those who had been deported from Australia, HRLC's Director of Advocacy and Research, Emily Howie, said: “The Immigration Department should stop denying Sri Lankans the opportunity to use the proper processes to make claims for protection. By using a flimsy screening process, Australia is being extremely reckless and risks placing men, women and children directly in danger."
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa instructed the Cabinet on Wednesday to expedite the bill restricting land sales to non Sri Lankan citizens, reported the Daily Mirror . It was due to be debated and voted on by parliament last week, however had to be withdrawn due to a "lack of clarity on the content of the Bill", the paper added. The proposed bill was discussed in a Cabinet meeting today.
Sri Lankan police arrested a 31 year old Indian citizen in Nanu Oya, in the Central province on Tuesday citing alleged visa violations. The 31 year old, who is from Tamil Nadu, was accused of overstaying his tourist visa and selling clothes illegally, reports the Daily Mirror . He was brought before Nuwara Eliya magistrate and released on bail. Last month, Sri Lankan police arrested seven Indian nationals for alleged visa and trade violations in Kalmunai in the Eastern province.
The new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O. Panneerselvam, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, seeking the release of 20 fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan navy this week and urging that New Delhi take "positive and concrete steps", reports The Hindu . "The traditional rights of fishermen from Tamil Nadu to fish in the waters of Palk Bay is continuously being infringed upon by the Sri Lankan Navy," wrote Panneerselvam in a letter dated September 30, also praising the former Chief Minister Jayalalitha's "untiring and relentless efforts" to release Tamil Nadu fishermen detained by Sri Lanka. Whilst commending Modi's efforts in securing the release of over 70 fishermen previously, Panneerselvam said "unfortunately, 71 fishing boats of these fishermen have not yet been released by the Sri Lankan Government and are falling apart from disuse there itself."
12:53 BST A senior Tamil journalist, Ratnam Thayaparan, was detained by Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers earlier today, said the Jaffna based media group, the Jaffna Press Club. Thayaparan, who is also a prominent campaigner for press freedom for Tamil journalists in the North-East, was interrogated by special CID officials based in Kankesanturai.
(DailyMirror) Buddhist nationalist groups from Sri Lanka and Burma have signed a deal , agreeing to work together to protect Buddhism.