The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) mandated international investigation into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka will commence this month, the spokesperson at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville, told Xinhua on Sunday. "The High Commissioner for Human Rights will present an oral update to the September session of the Human Rights Council, and its final report will be presented to the council's March 2015 session. In accordance with usual practice, OHCHR will ensure that the Government of Sri Lanka has the opportunity to provide comments on both...
Indian intervention is needed for a political solution on the Tamil issue, said the TNA Northern Provincial Councillor MK Shivajilingam in a letter to Indian Premier Narendra Modi today. Mr Shivajilingam sought India’s intervention to seek, at the very least, true federal autonomy for the Tamils in the North-East, reports Colombo Page . “Having gone through more than 65 years of injustice by successive governments in Sri Lanka, Tamil people are fully aware that no political solution would reach Tamils without the direct and active involvement of India,” wrote the Northern Provincial...
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a ruling coalition party, has reiterated their rejection of a UN inquiry into allegations of atrocities in Sri Lanka, which is due to begin at the end of this month. The leader of the LSSP, and former All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) Chairman, Tissa Vitharan, told Daily News that a UN probe was “clear interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka by Western forces, that are under the influence of anti-Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora.” Further attacking the West and Tamil diaspora, the former Minister added that, “local political parties such as the...
The Asian Development Bank is set to grant Sri Lanka $1.4 billion over the next 4 years for “health, sanitation, education and energy” projects according to the Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka. ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Sri Widowati was quoted as saying, "ADB remains active in Sri Lanka and we want to do more. We will continue to focus on infrastructure development, including renewable energy, transmission efficiency, expansion of water supply urban areas with lower leakages at the same time focusing on the education sector.”
Sri Lanka has dismissed Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire’s comments to the Tamil Guardian , criticising the country for not attending the summit on ending sexual violence in conflict, held this week in London, saying they were not invited. Acting High Commissioner Neville de Silva said the criticism was "surely misplaced", according to The Sunday Island . "British Foreign Office specifically noted earlier that Sri Lanka cannot participate as it had not been invited" he claimed. "Swire might remember that he wrote to External Affairs Minister, Prof. G. L. Peiris, referring to the upcoming summit," he added. “Since the Minister was unable to attend, he nominated officials to participate. When the high commission contacted the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in order to announce our participation and register the participants, the British Foreign Office specifically said that Sri Lanka cannot participate as it had not been invited", De Silva told The Sunday Island.
The United Kingdom has reiterated concerns over the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, highlighting the North, in a statement in parliament earlier this week. Speaking as the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence was under way, Senior Minister of State Baroness Warsi stated in parliament, “We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka especially in the North. Our concerns include the continued intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders (HRDs) and activists, attacks on religious minorities, and the protection of the right to freedom of expression and opinion.”...
A missing school boy has been admitted to Vavuniya hospital, after he was released by a group of unidentified persons and discovered blindfolded near his home, earlier this week. The student, seventeen year old Mahalingam Rajeevan, was reported missing after he failed to come home on May 27th. A group of unidentified persons reportedly dropped him off on Friday, after his parents had lodged a complaint with Vavuniya police. They had spent the last few weeks searching army camps and reporting the disappearance to the human rights commission, searching for their son. Uthayan reported that...
Sri Lanka has told the UN Human Rights Council that it is taking concrete steps to combat violence against women, reports ColomboPage . In a statement at a clustered interactive dialogue with he UN's Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, Sri Lanka's representative said: "We believe that in national policy formulation to combat violence against women, it is necessary to focus on gender equality and the empowerment of women to enable them to fully enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms." The statements comes in the same week as the global summit to End Sexual Violence in...
A senior police official from Jaffna has said that anyone gathering in groups unnecessarily will be arrested, reported the Uthayan . Vimalasena said that gatherings around public places, such as temples, will not be allowed. The official asked the public to report any such incidents to the police, adding that those gathered are behind murders, thefts and robberies.
The JVP reiterated its opposition to the international inquiry into Sri Lanka's mass atrocities, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year, reports the Daily Mirror . In a press conference today the JVP leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake endorsed the government's call for a domestic inquiry however proposing an amendment to current plans. The killings of JVP activists during the uprisings of 1971 and 1987 remain unaccounted for.