Remembrance event for Saththurukondan Massacre halted by court order

(Pictures: BattiNews) A commemorative event for Tamils killed in the 1990 Saththurukondan Massacre, committed by Sri Lankan forces in Batticaloa, was stopped by a court order, preventing relatives of those killed and Tamil politicians to observe the anniversary on Tuesday. Tamil National Alliance MPs P Ariyanenthiran, P Selvarasa and C Yogeswaran, along with several family members of those massacred, attempted to proceed to the site of the event in Kokkuvil, however police read out a court order which banned the event to “prevent damage to people and properties”, issued by Batticaloa District Court. At least 184 Tamil men, women and children were hacked to death after being taken to the Sathurukondan army camp, on September 9, 1990. The relatives and the MPs were forced to go to a temple in Saththurukondan, and lit candles there in remembrance of the dead. TNA MP Ariyanenthiran condemned the hypocrisy shown by the authorities in cracking down on Tamil remembrance events, while allowing Sinhala and Muslim events to go ahead. “Muslims and Sinhalese are free to hold events to commemorate their dead, but Tamils are not able to do so,” he said to the Tamil Guardian.

Jayalalithaa urges Modi to ensure release of Tamil Nadu fishermen

Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the release of the six fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday . In a letter to Modi, Jayalalithaa said that it was “inhumane” of Sri Lanka to detain the fishermen, who were in distress, due to a technical issue with their boat. "These boats in distress and Indian fishermen on board are being apprehended and remanded to custody in Sri Lanka. This is a totally inhumane approach and completely against the ethics of maritime search and rescue operations," she said according to PTI . The Sri Lankan strategy of keeping the apprehended fishing boats of the fishermen in its custody had "snatched away" the source of their meagre livelihood and "is also fuelling despondency and great unrest amongst the fishermen," Jayalalithaa said.

UN investigation has ‘full support’ of UK - Swire

UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) minister Hugo Swire stated Britain “will continue to give full support” to the upcoming United Nations investigation into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Swire said the UK welcomed the resolution which established an investigation, adding, “The UK was a main co-sponsor of the resolution and will continue to give full support to the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in establishing an international investigation, as mandated by the UN Human Rights Council.” Commenting on Sri Lanka reiterating...

15 year old Tamil girl reported missing in Wattagoda

A 15-year-old Tamil school girl has been reported missing in Wattagoda, Madakumpura lower division estate in the island's hill country, reports Uthayan . Sakthivel Niththiya, a student at the Wattagoda Tamil Institution, has been missing since September 5. Despite the girl's family and neighbours searching for her, there have been no signs of her whereabouts. A missing persons complaint has been filed at the Thalavakkalai police station.

Spanish woman arrested for allegedly breaching visa

The Sri Lankan police have arrested a Spanish woman who was staying in Hikkaduwa for reportedly overstaying her visa. The 30-year-old woman was detained by Sri Lankan police for the alleged breach and was due to be brought before the Galle Magistrate's court on Monday. See more from the Daily Mirror here .

HRW urges UN to learn from failures in Sri Lanka in opening UNHRC statement

Human Rights Watch urged the new UN Human Rights Commissioner to “not let victims of abuse down as it did in Sri Lanka,” in its opening statement at the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). “Governments are primarily responsible for protecting human rights but when the fail the UN and its member states must act decisively and unequivocally to prevent abuse. Often the UN intervenes too late when a crisis is already underway or it fails to adequately confront perpetrators to secure the protection of civilians,” Human Rights Watch added. The statement noted concern that “migrants...

Western countries attempting to divide peace says SL Prime Minister

Sri Lanka's prime minister D.M. Jayaratne accused western countries of trying to breach the peace on the island. "Western countries are attempting to divide the peace achieved by Sri Lanka," he told the Cuban foreign minister, reports the state's news cooperation, SLBC . "these countries instead of assisting those affected by the war, are putting the country into difficulty," Jayaratne reportedly added, stating that this was " common feature witnessed in many developing countries".

Chinese president to visit India, Sri Lanka

The Chinese President Xi Jinping is to make an official visit to India, as well as the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan, the country's foreign ministry said Tuesday. The trip will commence in Tajikistan, where he will be attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a security coalition including Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, later this week. The programme of his visit to India is being finalised in Beijing with India's National Security Advisor Ajith Doval, reports PTI .

Sri Lanka bans import of potatoes

The Sri Lankan government announced that it has banned the import of potatoes, in a bid to protect local farmers from going out of business this week. The move comes after Sri Lanka announced that it would increase import taxes on both potatoes and onions last month , in a bid to increase vegetable prices. Traders had complained that the falling prices of vegetables had left many of them unable to make a profit. Sameera Gurusingha, a potato grower from the South told the Sunday Times , “We mortgage our properties to buy the components that we need for potato cultivation but we don’t get enough profits to pay the mortgage and regain our belongings. We have to use the income to begin the next cultivation.” The government has made efforts to try and protect the Southern farmers, purchasing potatoes through state-owned Lanka Sathosa retail network as well as declaring a guaranteed price of Rs. 80 per kilo in March this year.

Government seeks to change ethnic demographics of North-East - Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

The Sri Lankan government is trying to change the ethnic demographics of the Tamil North-East said the leader of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF). Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, in an interview with the Sunday Leader , accused the government of using land appropriation, militarisation and Sinhala colonisation to change the ethnic demographics of the region. “They are building towns within their military bases. Over time, when they take the military boundaries away there will be an entire Sinhala colonised village within that area,” he said. “There are cantonments where the military has...

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