The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has once again reiterated the government's stand against the devolution of police powers to provinces on the island. Colombo Gazette reports that when meeting with a group of foreign correspondents on Tuesday morning, Rajapaksa “insisted that police powers will not be devolved to the provinces under any circumstances.”
Thirty-three members of the Northern and Eastern Provincial Council have written to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), calling on the investigative team to examine the mass killings of Tamils from at least 1974 onwards and explore the charge of genocide against the Sri Lankan state. In a letter sent to the OHCHR offices in Geneva, the provincial council members stated that “there were several major incidents of massacres of Tamils” and that “none of them were properly investigated by the Sri Lankan government.” The letter went on to add, “The Tamil people strongly believe that they have been, and continued to be subjected to Genocide by Sri Lanka. The Tamils were massacred in groups, their temples and churches were bombed, and their iconic Jaffna Public Library was burnt down in 1981 with its collection of largest oldest priceless irreplaceable Tamil manuscripts. Systematic Sinhalese settlements and demographic changes with the intent to destroy the Tamil Nation, are taking place. We request the OHCHR investigative team to look into the pattern of all the atrocities against the Tamil people, and to determine if Genocide has taken place.”
Sri Lanka's minister of external affairs reiterated the government's refusal to take part in the UN inquiry into mass atrocities stating that the OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) was a "travesty of justice". Speaking at Sri Lanka's Defence seminar on Monday, G.L. Peiris said "evidence for the investigation is being clandestinely collected by people in Sri Lanka" and claimed that witnesses were being paid to submit evidence, the Colombo Gazette reports.
The body of a 63-year old Tamil woman was discovered by Point Pedro police, reported the Uthayan . Tharumarasa Lakshmi, who was a teacher, was found burnt in her house on Sunday morning, when concerned neighbours raised the alarm after not seeing her for a while. Police are said to be investigating her death further.
The Sri Lankan government's disappearances commission is likely to be further delays, said its chairman, Maxwell Paranagama. The commission is still processing data gathered since it began a year ago, Paranagama told The Nation . Last week, Paranagama claimed civil society organisations had falsely inflated numbers of missing persons from the North of the island. See here for more.
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank (CBSL) has signed a deal with a US-based lobbying firm to promote the country in the US, including to the government, reported the Sunday Times . The agreement with Liberty International Group LLC, worth $760,000, runs until July 2015 and will look to ensure the US receives “clear and accurate information” about Sri Lanka. The deal was signed on behalf of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank by Deputy Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, and Liberty International Group President Connie Mack. According to the contract, obtained by the Sunday Times, the PR agency is required by the CBSL to meet three “statutory stability objectives”, namely creating, “A political environment in the United States of America (US) that is more conducive to enhancing Sri Lanka’s long-term political and economic aspirations; a comprehensive information platform where decision-makers in the US receive clear and accurate information about Sri Lanka’s current achievements and future plans; and a higher volume of private sector investment in Sri Lanka from the US”.
Sri Lankan officials, for a second time, delayed an exhumation dig at a suspected mass grave that is thought to contain the bodies of over 100 Muslims, killed during the ethnic conflict on the island, reports the AFP . A local police official said that the exhumation had been delayed as there were problems transporting forensic experts from Colombo to the east of the island where the mass graves are suspected to be.
The Sri Lankan minister for fisheries said the 63 fishing boats impounded since June this year during the arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen, would not be released. “I don’t think it is possible to release the boats,” Senaratne told the New Indian Express . The Sri Lankan government earlier released over 94 detained Indian fishermen following a pledge made by President Rajapaksa to do so as an act of good will on India's independence day.
The leader of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a Buddhist monk Galagoda Gnanasara said the Muslim community poses a threat "not only to Sri Lanka, but to India as well", in an interview to Outlook India . "They [Muslims] are a minority in number but if you look at their economic power and their international network, they are not a minority," said Gnanasara. "We are aware that the majority of Muslims are innocent, but once they come under the influence of Muslim extremists, they can easily fall into smuggling, illegal weapon handling and even terrorist activities," he added. Dismissing local and international concerns about Buddhist mob violence against the Muslim community and places of worship, Gnanasara said:
The Presidential Missing Persons Commission, is a ‘deceptive move to mislead the Tamil people and international community', said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson, commenting on the Commission’s press brief in Mannar. Condemning the Chief Commissioner’s claims that the disappeared were all dead, Suresh Premachandran, in a post on social media , said, “Since he is saying that the disappeared are dead, he is obliged to explain those who are affected, how their children, or relations who were handed over alive, or arrested or surrendered died.” Suresh Premachandran highlighted that...