The British Commission in Colombo urged Sri Lanka " to renew its commitment to free expression by protecting journalists and ensuring investigations take place into past crimes " and highlighted the continuing harassment and intimidation of journalists, in a statement issued to mark World Press Freedom Day tomorrow. "Across the world, journalists face constant threats because of their work. Many journalists in Sri Lanka work against a similarly difficult backdrop: harassment and intimidation continue ," the statement read. "Sri Lanka continues to drop down the World Press Freedom Index . Nine...
In an open letter to President Rajapaksa, Muslim parliamentarians expressed concern over the "continued hate campaign, intimidation, and threats to Muslims carried out by some Buddhist extremist elements of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Sinhala Ravaya and Ravana Balakaya organizations", and called on the President to assist in their resettlement. "In the absence of any substantial support for their resettlement, the Muslim religious, political and civil society leadership has been soliciting support for their resettlement from benevolent donors of Muslim countries and individuals," said the...
The opposition party UNP's Sajith Premadasa said "Sri Lanka did not require foreign advice to solve its problems" and praised his late father, former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, for "not having succumbed to international pressure", the Island reported. "[The] late President Premadasa had neither succumbed to international pressure nor given in to those who promoted international presence to solve internal problems," Sajith Premadasa, former deputy leader of the UNP, and Hambantota District MP, was quoted by the Island as saying. "The late President did not try to get political mileage by...
09:54 BST Calling for Tamils' right to self-determination, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will be holding its event in Chavakachcheri, as well as another event in Batticaloa, which is already underway. Last week, TNA MP Mavai Senathirajah told reporters that the march would also include other issues such as the land-grabs by the Sri Lankan government, resettlement, cost of living and unemployment. The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) , holding its event in Karaveddy, Jaffna district, will be protesting against all forms of oppression faced by the Tamil people. " On this day, let us all...
The US limited counterterrorism cooperation and training with Sri Lanka, partly due to the failure to address “allegations of atrocities and violations of international law” , committed during the armed conflict, according to a State Department report. The “Country Reports on Terrorism 2013” further highlighted that the Sri Lankan government used the Prevention of Terrorism Act to stifle dissent among political opponents or other government critics, while maintaining a “strong military presence” in post-conflict areas. The report outlined continuing concerns by Sri Lanka about a “possible re-emergence of pro-LTTE sympathisers” and said that the country continued to search for financial links to the group, but also pointed out that criticism was made that this search for terrorists was extended “well beyond its utility and expanded to target legitimate political opponents of the government” .
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence rejected a media report in a Sinhala daily that the country has sent intelligence officers abroad as part of an operation against the LTTE, the Colombo Page reported. Quoting the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the newspaper yesterday reported that 18 Sri Lankan intelligence officers had been sent to 18 countries as part of an operation against 'LTTE organisations', a term often used by Sri Lankan ministers to refer to Tamil diaspora organisations. The report comes after a Sri Lankan Muslim was arrested by police...
Sri Lanka's ambassador to Japan, Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, thanked the government of Japan for abstaining on the UN Human Rights Council's vote last month, calling for an international investigation in Sri Lanka, during a meeting with the Japan's Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Norio Mitsuya this week. Stating that "fragments of the LTTE and its supporters domiciled, particularly, in western countries continue to influence the political apparatus of those countries with false propaganda" Admiral Karannagoda asserted that this was impeding the reconciliation process.
The Sri Lankan president's plans to build a rest house in Jaffna, through the Urban Development Authority, have been approved by the Cabinet, Colombo Page reported. The UDA, which will be responsible for the land and construction of the rest house falls within the Ministry of Defence, led by President Rajapaksa in his capacity as Minister of Defence and Urban Development, and overseen by his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Defence Secretary. A number of hotels and rest homes have been established across the North-East by the Sri Lankan armed forces since the end of the armed conflict, including...
The skeletons and human remains of over 80 people unearthed in a mass grave in Mannar have been transferred to Anuradhapura on Tuesday, Uthayan reported. The remains had till now been stored at Mannar hospital. The transfer was made at 10am, under the supervision of the Mannar judge, Aananthi Kanagaratnam. It is not known why the remains were moved. The mass grave was first discovered in December last year, when construction workers found two human skeletons whilst digging in Thirukketheeswaram.
A senior minister has said that the recent resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council, calling on the government to withdraw the ban on diaspora groups, is treason and proof that the TNA are terrorists, reported the Daily News . Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W. D. J. Seneviratna said that the Northern Provincial councillor’s actions clearly showed that they were promoting terrorism and the LTTE’s ‘separatist Eelam agenda’. "They have rallied to promote terrorism in the Council. This is proof they are terrorists." "The government took this decision to ban 16 Tamil Diaspora fronts, among them New York lawyer Visuvanathan Ruthirakumaran's Trans National Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), Fr. S. J. Emmanuel's Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Nadiyawan's Tiger group, Canadian Tamil Congress and the UK-based British Tamil Forum(BTF), because they pose a clear threat to the country for they are on a mission to promote activities that would destabilise the country's ongoing sensitive national reconciliation process," "These groups had direct connections with the LTTE in the past. They are now trying to promote the LTTE's separatist Eelam agenda to revive terrorism in Sri Lanka. They have launched massive disinformation campaigns against the government to achieve their sinister objectives,"