An Australian company, specialising in the manufacture of solar panels, will set up a factory in Hambantota for $190mn. Energy Puzzle Group will create 150 jobs in the hometown of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
In a damning report on Sri Lanka's progress towards accountability and reconciliation , officially released today, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recommended “the establishment of an independent international inquiry mechanism, which would contribute to establishing the truth where domestic mechanisms have failed. ” See full report here . The report highlighted unresolved issues including human rights violations of former combatants and detainees, attacks on religious minorities, human rights defenders and freedom of expression, and arbitrary killings, whilst also highlighting the need for further internationally assisted investigations into newly discovered mass graves. Moving on to Sri Lanka's attempts of reconciliation and accountability, the report raised concerns over the limited and insincere implementations of the Lessons Learn and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) whilst also highlighting failed domestic processes for accountability and justice. The report concluded by stating, “ In the absence of a credible national process , she believes the international community has a duty to take further steps, which will advance the right to truth for all in Sri Lanka and create further opportunities for justice, accountability and redress.” “The High Commissioner reiterates her concern at the continuing trend of attacks on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, particularly against human rights defenders, journalists and families of victims, the rising levels of religious intolerance and continued militarisation, which continue to undermine the environment where accountability and reconciliation can be achieved. " See below for the list Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay’s recommendations to the Sri Lankan government.
Responding to the United Nations Human Rights Chief’s report the Sri Lankan government reiterated its ‘categorical rejection of the conclusions and recommendations contained in the High Commissioner’s publication. The Sri Lankan government’s official response, disregarded the Human RIghts Chief, Navi Pillay's findings as “reflecting bias” and “an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State.” The Sri Lankan government response, further disputed the Human Rights Chief’s conclusions, alleging that she had made ‘persistent arbitrary and intrusive efforts against Sri...
A British citizen who has been in a Sri Lankan prison since 2007 has been found dead, reported the Uthayan. The Tamil political prisoner Visvalingam Gopithas, 43, was accused of supporting the LTTE financially and arrested on his arrival at Katunayake Airport in March 2007 and had been held without charge for 5 years, before his conviction in 2012. Mr Gopithas denied all charges. According to the Uthayan , fellow inmates said his death was suspicious and demanded an investigation. Gopithas was found dead in the bathroom of Section C in Welikada Prison, also known as Magazine Prison. Reports say he was previously attacked by Sinhalese prisoners in 2011, who stripped and tortured him, and survived a murder attempt in 2012. Gopithas has spent more than 6 years languishing in a Sri Lankan prison, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. In 2011, a spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said, "FCO minister Alistair Burt raised Mr Gopithas's continued detention without charge with the Sri Lankan foreign minister, [G L] Peiris in June this year … [and] more broadly, the UK has regularly expressed its concern about legislation in Sri Lanka that allows for prolonged detention without charge." Read more on his case in our report: British Tamils held in Sri Lanka without charge (18 September 2011) (Edited 25 Feb 2014 at 20:30GMT to include details on conviction)
The Journalist Association for Social Change and Tamil Youths & Students Federation held a screening of the documentary ‘No Fire Zone: Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’, after the film was banned for theatrical release by Indian authorities for fear it may “strain relations” with Sri Lanka. Over 300 students, journalists and youth activists attended the screening in Chennai. Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, one of the organisers said, “This is the first step we have started, and we are going to educate the rural and village people about the genocide happened in Sri Lanka with the help of this video. We will screen the video every possible places and we will spread the awareness to the Tamil Nadu people.” Addressing the crowd via Skype, film director Callum Macrae spoke on issues such as the need for an international investigation, noting that justice cannot be expected from Sri Lankan courts. He went on to stress that the war against the Tamil people was still continuing on the ground. Tamil Nadu journalist Maga Tamizh Prabhagaran also spoke to the Tamil Guardian about the ban placed on ‘No Fire Zone’, stating, “The footage of the 2009 war shocked communities around the world and struck fear into those who helped in the bloody war against Eelam Tamils.”
The Asian Legal Rights Centre has call on the United Nations to investigate mass graves in Sri Lanka in their submission to the March 2014 session of the UN Human Rights Council. Calling on the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances to look into the mass graves discovered at Mattale and Mannar, ALRC said, “The general condition prevailing, relating to both of these mass graves is that the investigations are not being conducted in terms of modern forensic methodologies which are essential for the proper preservation of the findings as well as the prevention of the destruction...
Photograph:eKuruvi Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member of the Northern Provincial Council, MK Shivajilingam has said the people of the North-East have now demonstrated to the international community their demands for a international independent investigation, with the unanimous passing of a Northern Provincial Council (NPC) resolution. In an interview with Tamil Guardian earlier this week, Shivajilingam stated that any domestic investigation by Sri Lanka should be rejected and only an international investigation can bring progress and justice, a demand stated in a NPC resolution passed earlier this year.
The conflict on the island of Sri Lanka continues today, stated Alan Keenan of the International Crisis Group and Callum Macrae, director of “No Fire Zone”, at a screening of the documentary in King’s College London earlier this week. Hosted by the War Crimes Research Group at King’s College London, director Callum Macrae introduced the documentary, stressing the need for immediate action on the issue. He stated, “This is not just an academic exercise on accountability - this is a live issue... The international community catastrophically failed, now they must do something at least to create justice.” “A precondition for reconciliation is justice... The 9, 10 and 11 year old survivors, in 10 years time, if the international community fails to deliver justice, will get justice by their own hands.” His comments were echoed by Alan Keenan, a senior analyst on Sri Lanka at the International Crisis Group, who noted, “What we see in Syria today perhaps wouldn't be happening quite as it did we had a clear commitment in Sri Lanka”. Keenan went on to add that, Sri Lankan domestic enquiries producing prosecutions were “few and far between” stating there were “literally only a handful of cases and certainly no senior levels of prosecution”. “We don't have a body that will establish with any ease an international independent investigation... The UNHRC has no teeth. If it can't establish an investigation, then calling on a government that is quite possibly guilty itself, is not going to happen”, added Keenan.
The president’s son, Namal Rajapksa, taking a break from election campaign duties, visited the North-East yesterday to distribute hundreds of school books with a picture of himself on the front cover to children across Mullaitivu and Killinochichi. Distributing school books in Mullativ and Killinochchi. I do this every year & its amazing to see their smiles pic.twitter.com/HWGuDO3gxO — Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) February 22, 2014
The current season is expected to see a 35% drop in the paddy harvest due to drought affecting the condition of crops, which is thought to cause more increases in price for rice. “We have enough paddy stocks for a few months, but as the market is controlled by private rice mill owners there may be price fluctuations,” Agriculture Ministry Secretary, R.M.D.B. Meegasmulla said. Read more here .