SL Minister dismisses death count as 'under 8000' to Japanese envoy

A Sri Lankan minister has refuted allegations of war crimes while talking to Japanese envoy Yasushi Akashi, reported the Colombo Telegraph . Akashi had criticised Sri Lanka's failure to act on human rights issues during his visit. Technology, Research and Atomic Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told Akashi that no war crimes occurred and that the number of dead was under 8,000, according to the census carried out by his government. “It is unfair that a massive campaign is going on against the country based on baseless figures of deaths during the latter part of the war, “The LTTE...

Pakistan and Sri Lanka discuss security relations

During a visit by the head of the Pakistan Navy, Sri Lanka and Pakistan held discussions regarding improving the security relations over the weekend. Pakistani Naval Chief Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila held a meeting with the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy, vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage, and other senior Naval officers where he was given a guard of honour. The discussion was reportedly centred around counter-terrorism and maritime security. See our earlier post: Pakistan Navy chief arrives in Sri Lanka (12 December 2013)

Tensions rise between Tamils and Sinhala settlers in Mullaitheevu

Villagers in Mullaitivu have been embroiled in a land-grab dispute after 20-acres of land was fenced off illegally, reports Uthayan . The land in the village of Naayaaru belonging to Tamils living abroad was fenced off by a Sinhalese man from the south. Northern Provincial Councillor Ravikaran visited the site of the dispute and discerned that the owners of the land were reportedly in the midst of proceedings to donate the land to the villagers. The person reportedly occupied the land with the help of surveyors and told the villagers that he did not plan to leave and was unconcerned about...

Ananthy Sasitharan tells Norwegian foreign ministry genocide continues

A member of the Northern Provincial Council, Ananthy Sasitharan, met with Norwegian parliamentary officials, Friday. In a meeting with a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lasse Bkorn Johannessen and other officials, Sasitharan, outlined the genocidal human rights violation committed by the Sri Lankan government forces. The coercive birth control of Tamil women, illegal appropriation of Tamil land and detainment of Tamil prisoners were discussed amongst Norwegian government officials. Sasitharan went on to highlight the inadequacy of the Northern Provincial Council in...

US officials' factfinding visit to North-East

Following on from our previous report relating to a visit to the North-East by a US delegation recent earlier this month, further details have emerged in Sri Lanka's Sunday Times regarding discussions that took place. The envoy, consisting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee representative, Damien Murphy, USAID Director of Governance and Vulnerable Populations, Trevor Hublin and State Department representative Maria Prajo, was accompanied by officials from the US Embassy in Colombo, on a fact-finding mission to the North-East, including Jaffna as well as traveling to the boundaries of the High Security Zone in Vasavilan.

Government offers harbours to East Asian countries

Sri Lanka is to offer its fisheries harbours to countries from East Asia and to Dubai, in a bid to prevent European countries from "exploiting fishing resources" in the Indian Ocean, reported the Sunday Times . Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Rajitha Senaratne stated that around 20 Chinese and 8 Japanese vessels had already been offered use of Sri Lanka’s harbours for fishing, adding, “They will be operating under the Sri Lankan flag and will process the fish for exports in local harbours. Sri Lanka will benefit by imposing port charges and export taxes”. The minister went on to slam...

800 families in Trincomalee displaced for Indo-SL power plant – The Hindu

Around 800 Tamil families have been displaced by the building of Sampur power plant and continue to live in misery, reported The Hindu . According to the paper, the Sampur power plant, a joint project by Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and India’s National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC), will take up more land than needed for the plant. The land was taken from Tamils who vacated the area during the conflict.

Barts students shocked by No Fire Zone documentary

After a successful Breaking The Silence genocide awareness campaign, Barts Tamil Society held a screening of the Channel 4 Documentary, 'No Fire Zone' , followed by a question and answer session with director Callum Macrae. The documentary left a fully packed lecture hall stunned into silence for minutes after the end of the film. Responding to questions on what the outcome may have been for Tamils in the North-East if the LTTE had retained control of Vaani, Macrae said, "The peace process of 2002 was relatively successful, and the Tigers themselves were successful in improving in a number of human rights issues for their people, including eradicating caste, improving women's rights etc. However it is questionable if peace talks could have been successful considering the impact of 9/11. The event swayed the balance of support and the military campaign against the Tamils was seen as a 'war on terror; which allowed Rajapaksa along with complicit members of the international community to go on, with this rhetoric enabling what was seen as the final solution."

DMK calls for UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka

The DMK general council has passed a resolution calling on Indian to push for an " independent international probe" into human rights violations in Sri Lanka at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council session in March 2014. The resolution also called for the implementation of the 13th Amendment as “interim relief” for the island’s Tamils.

Sri Lanka to use census to appropriate lands of diaspora Tamils - report

The Sri Lankan government has announced that it will be appropriating houses and lands in the Northern Province found to be owned by Tamils now living abroad, reported the Jaffna based newspaper, the Uthayan . The government will be using the data collated by the census to identify those properties belong to Tamils who have fled the island, the paper added. This development comes after a series of measures by the government since the end of the armed conflict in 2009 that have made it increasingly difficult for Tamils living abroad to own land and property in their Northeast homeland.

Pages