The Sri Lankan Cricker Muralitharan was criticised by members of the Chaavakachcheri Urban Council on Thursday for his comments to the British Premier David Cameron, asserting that reconciliation was well under way. Passing a resolution, Councillor P Sritharan, said , “Perhaps, Muralitharan was playing cricket overseas when the Tamil people in the North were suffering and scores of young men and women disappeared. He has hurt the feelings of the Tamil people, grieving the loss of their loved ones, by undermining their struggles.” “Hereafter, we will protest if he held cricket training camps...
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has slammed the Indian government for failing to respond to repeated attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalithaa said , “The meek and pusillanimous response of the Indian government to these repeated instances of apprehension have emboldened the Lankan Navy to illegally arrest and detain more and more of our fishermen”.
A video has emerged from last week, of the TNA leader R Sampanthan facing distressed and angered Tamils, demanding that he get down from the car. The Tamils had been demonstrating against the disappearances of their loved ones outside the Jaffna library during the British Prime Minister's visit to Jaffna, in the hope that they would get a chance to tell him their stories and express their desire for justice.
Ananthy Sasitharan, a member of the Northern Provincial Council and prominent human rights activist in the Tamil northeast of Sri Lanka, has been threatened and intimidated since organising a demonstration during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Jaffna. Ms Sasitharan has filed a petition with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and said others who were protesting with her have also been threatened. She said to the Colombo Gazette that she is in fear for her life and that of her young children, as she is without police protection, despite her house being attacked before...
The Chairman of the UK's arms export control committee has called into question weapons sales to Sri Lanka, given the country's “ appalling ” human rights record Sir John Stanley, a senior Conservative MP who heads the weapons watchdog, told MPs, "I do not need to recite the appalling human rights abuses that have taken place in Sri Lanka. I strongly support the prime minister in his calls for an international independent inquiry. ” " However, against that human rights background, the house will wish to consider the British government's arms export licence approvals in just nine months of last year . They included 100 pistols, 130 rifles, 210 combat shotguns, 600 assault rifles, unknown quantities of small arms ammunition and unknown quantities of machine guns.
India's Finance Minister has called for Sri Lanka to be 'held accountable' for human rights violations committed during the armed conflict, as he addressed the 2013 South Asian Diaspora Convention on Thursday. Addressing over 1,000 delegates, Finance Minister P Chidambaram stated , " I think the Sri Lankan government owes a responsibility and a duty to its own people and the people all over the world to investigate the allegations of human rights violations and punish those who are responsible ." " That's an aspiration or a desire that recognises no national boundaries. It is a human rights issue." He went on to add that the Sri Lankan government, “ is indeed accountable, they must be held accountable, and they must bring to book those perpetrators to justice ".
The Mannar Citizens’ Committee, in a letter addressed to the Sri Lankan president today, outlined the intimidation and threats that Tamil human rights activists were facing in the North-East. The committee expressed concern regarding strong evidence that suggested police and army forces were responsible for several cases of threats and intimidation against human rights workers, in the lead up and after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Extracts from the letter , which also included descriptions of individual cases of intimidation, are reproduced below. “The competent authorities in the higher echelons of the Security Sector claim that the Government restored peace and security to the citizens of this country, but it is not so practically. The security excesses, CID threats and intimidation continue to be the order of civil routine almost daily. ” “Civil Organisations and their workers face threats and intimidation by various types from the intelligence side varying from warning to telephone threats, extortion and intimidation. Even the people affected in various forms expressing their grievances, objections or protests in the internationally accepted democratic way and peaceful resistance are not tolerated in this Country. ”
Six people charged with murdering British tourist Khuram Shaikh were granted bail on Friday. The suspects, including the chairman of Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha, Sampath Vidanapathiranage, pleaded not guilty to the charges including the killing of Shaikh on Christmas Eve 2011, and sexually assaulting his partner.
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa with Pope Francis (defence.lk) The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, was granted an audience with Pope Francis. The Pope received Gotabhaya, who was visiting as the special envoy of his brother, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the Vatican, along with his wife Ioma Rajapaksa, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Holy See Ravinatha Ariyasinghe, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Rome Bennet Cooray, the Commander of the Navy Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage and Chairman of the Urban Development Authority Nimal Perera. The visit has been widely...
Sri Lanka’s mandatory military-run ‘Leadership and Positive Attitude’ program for new university students begins this weekend. The three-week training program, conducted for the third consecutive year, is to be held for three waves of students in 22 military camps island wide, Colombopage reports.