Defence Secretary and war crimes accused Gotabhaya Rajapkasa has said he welcomes international visits to the north of the island, as this could help the government “counter the lies” that are spread by the “LTTE rump”. "Since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, many international figures had visited the Jaffna peninsula and the Vanni. United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay recently flew to Jaffna, stayed there overnight and then drove along the A9 to Iranamdu airfield for a special flight to China bay. “We believe such international visits could help us counter lies...
The Telegraph editorial on Thursday, entitled 'Sri Lanka's tragedy', called on British Prime Minister David Cameron to ensure Sri Lanka holds an 'independent and international inquiry' into the fate of the thousands of disappeared people. Sri Lanka has the second highest number of 'disappeared' people in the world according to the UN, behind only Iraq. Speaking on the upcoming CHOGM, the piece went on to say Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is 'deeply compromised' and it was 'never sensible' to allow Sri Lanka to host the event, yet it also added that a British boycott would not 'be...
Rape and torture by Sri Lankan security forces continues unabated despite the imminent arrival of David Cameron and 50 world leaders for a Commonwealth summit in the country, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) today. Data gathered by Human Rights Watch revealed that Sri Lanka had the 2 nd highest number of outstanding disappearance cases in the world. Just this year, the rights organisation documented 10 cases of suspects that were tortured and mistreated in detention. One Tamil women, whose case was documented by Human Rights Watch, told The Daily Telegraph that she was abducted by men driving an...
Sri Lanka has expelled two Australia media activists from the International Federation of Journalists, after raiding a Colombo hotel where they were speaking to colleagues on the island. The pair, Jacqui Park and Jean Worthington, were interrogated by immigration and police officials before being expelled for breaking visa conditions. Sunil Jayasekera from the Free Media Movement stated the two Australians were on holiday and were meeting their colleagues in a hotel in Colombo, before being held by the Sri Lankan authorities. See the report from AFP here .
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) urged the Sri Lankan government to regain Sri lanka’s image. The UNP spokesperson, Gayantha Karunathilaka, outlined the need to build confidence among members of the international community and improve the country’s ‘image’ in the international arena.
The Sri Lankan military commander of the 57 division that was deployed in Vanni during the final stages of the armed conflict, has been side-lined from an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) event in Australia. Dias was nominated by Sri Lanka to participate in a ICRC workshop on healthcare in danger situations, which was scheduled to take place, in Sydney, at the end of the year. In response to the ICRC’s decision to decline Sri Lanka’s offer, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, whilst blaming the international community for failed negotiations that preceded the brutal end of the...
The last two remaining LTTE graveyards in Tamil homeland have been demolished by the Sri Lankan military, a month ahead of this year's Maaveerar Naal or Heroes's Day, reported Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka . The remaining cemeteries were located in Kanakapuram and Muzhankavil in the Kilinochchi district and Theravil in the Mullaitivu district. The Jaffna based newspaper Uthayan was quoted as saying, "The soldiers could be seen busy clearing these graveyard grounds and erecting fences around the boundaries of these cemeteries with barbed wires and putting up temporary military...
The Vatican’s ‘Justitia-et-Pax’ (Justice and Peace) commission in the Jaffna diocese has denounced the genocide against the Tamil people and called on The Holy See to exert political pressure on the government of Sri Lanka.
An Australian activist was detained during a raid by immigration authorities on a meeting of journalists on Wednesday. Jacqui Park, the Asia-Pacific representative for the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), was accused of working without a visa. "She was meeting with us at a hotel in Colombo while on holiday," said the Free Media Movement’s spokesperson Sunil Jayasekera to AFP . "She was not engaging in any work as such, but was meeting with friends she had made over the years."
NPC Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran said it was unlikely that he would attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, according to Sri Lanka’s Financial Times . “I do not think I will be going,” Wigneswaran said. “I will ask the TNA to advise me on whether or not to attend CHOGM. I will go along with the party’s decision,” Wigneswaran said to the FT that he had not received an official invitation from the government. He expressed gratitude to the support shown by Tamil Nadu, but refused to back their call for a boycott of the summit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “Who...