All 7 Sri Lankan navy soldiers that were arrested in suspicion of being involved in the rape of an eleven year old Tamil girl in Jaffna have been released after the victim failed to identify her attackers. The girl was asked to identify her attacker whilst suspected navy personnel were paraded in front of her, reports Global Tamil News . The girl was admitted to Jaffna hospital after the attack on Wednesday with one suspect initially arrested. 11 year old girl raped by navy officer in Jaffna (16 July 2014)
The Tanzanian Foreign Minister, Bernard K Membe, who also chairs the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) will visit Sri Lanka next week, reports news.lk . Memba will meet with the Sri Lanka Minister of External Affair, GL Peiris, to form agreements on the Establishment of a Joint Commission on Cooperation and on Bilateral Political Consultations that will reportedly be signed by the two Ministers.
Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa invited three international experts to the country's domestic disappearances commission, reported Reuters , amid increasing international pressure over mass atrocities committed against Tamils in the final stages of the armed conflict. The three experts include a former UN prosecutor in Sierra Leon war crimes investigations, Sir Desmond de Silva, a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Sir Geoffrey Nice, and the chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, David Crane. The invitation comes as the UN Human Rights Council mandated international inquiry examining the final stages of the armed conflict formally began earlier this week. "The government is under pressure. That's why it has had to resort to these measures," a government official was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Sri Lanka told the United States not to base its relationships on human rights, warning this was where it was "falling behind" to China, reported Bloomberg . "[Human rights] should not be the yardstick by which you base your relationship, especially bilaterally in a geopolitical situation as what we face globally today,” said Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, the Sri Lankan president's coordination secretary in an interview in Washington on Tuesday. "That’s where, fundamentally, the U.S. is falling behind and where China is gaining," he added.
A four day anti-Christian campaign was launched Tuesday, by a Buddhist group in Sri Lanka, reports the Barnabus Fund . Reports suggest that the Ravana Balaya General Secretary announced a 4 day campaign against ‘Christian fundamentalism’ and advised Christians to halt their activities. The organisation’s General Secretary Ittekande Saddhatissa further warned that firm action would be taken should Christian organisations fail to listen to the campaign's advice. He added that the decision to run such a campaign was made after several Buddhist monks complained about Evangelical Christians.
Amnesty International today, called on the Australian government to return 153 Tamil asylum seekers, detained in in a patrol boat at see, to Australian shores to have their claims processed, reports the Guardian . Australian court documents revealed that the asylum seekers were begin held in windowless rooms, with no access to translators whilst being split up from their family groups. “Detaining men, women and children on a boat, locking in rooms without windows and severely restricting their communication to the outside world with no access to translators, is inhumane,” said Amnesty...
The United Nations refugee agency, Wednesday, warned that Australia may have breached an international refugee convention by returning a group of asylum seekers to Sri Lanka after intercepting their boat at sea, reports the Sydney Morning Herald . The United Nations High Commissioner for refugees, warned that Australia’s ‘enhanced screening’ of the refugees before handing them back to Sri Lanka fell short of the requirements for a fair screening process, which could result in the asylum seekers facing persecution when back in Sri Lanka. "You can only ensure respect for the principle of non-...
The body of a man was found near the Mayilliddi army camp in Point Pedro, on Wednesday morning, the Uthayan reported. It has been identified as Balasingham Sathasivam, a 40 year old man from from Azhiyavalai, Thalaiyadi, on the Jaffna peninsula. Point Pedro police said they are carrying out investigations into the death.
An 11 year old girl has been admitted to Jaffna Hospital after being raped by an officer within the Sri Lankan navy, reported the Uthayan on Wednesday. The rape occurred in Karainagar, near Jaffna. Oorkavaththurai police are said to have arrested a suspect in connection with the incident.
Sri Lanka's media minister and government spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella told a group of Buddhist monks that he will look into their complaint against English language media, accusing them of bias in their coverage of the violence in Aluthgama. The monks, made up of members from the Bodu Bala Sena, the Sinhala Ravaya and the National Bhikku Front lodged a formal complaint with the ministry, with BBS leader Gnanasara saying that the media disrespected Buddhism, reported Colombo Gazette . “Some journalists are being funded by Embassies to publish misleading reports on the Aluthgama incident,” he said. A Muslim minister meanwhile accused the media of being partly responsible for the rise of racist outfits.