Sri Lanka’s infamous Minister Wimal Weerawamsa has questioned whether the Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission had ‘attacked himself’, reported the Daily Mirror . Speaking on Thursday the Minister stated that “The facts surrounding the attack are rather suspicious” “Why did the man who said there were threats on his life open the door when a man knocks on it? What is the advantage for the government after an assault like this? Who is benefited from this assault? Only those who are politically bankrupt will be the real beneficiaries” The Minister went on to dismiss all notions that...
Celebrating their launch as an affiliated body of the Conservative Party, British Tamil Conservatives held a drinks reception at the Tory Party Conference 2012 in Birmingham on Tuesday. The BTC has become the first ethnic specific group to be affiliated to the Conservative Party in the UK. Celebrating this success along side the BTC were a number of notable members of the Party including: the Party Chairman Grant Shapps, Cabinet Minister Theresa Villiers and the Vice President of the National Conservative Convention, Steve Bell, as well as many other MPs and MEPs.
The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) has confirmed that it will hold its Commonwealth Business Forum in Sri Lanka next year. The CEO of the CBC, Dr Mohan Kaul, is currently on a visit to Sri Lanka and called on president Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday, reported ColomboPage. The Commonwealth Business Forum is planned for November, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of government Meeting (CHOGM). Speaking during a meeting with Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiyutheen, Dr. Kaul said that the forum will bring an important business audience to Colombo. "It (the forum) will...
The European Commission (EC) has warned that the Sri Lankan garment sector will face difficult times as the Sri Lankan Rupee's value continues to decline against the US dollar. The Economic Advisor to the European Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Dilesh Jeyantha has warned that over the next six months the Sri Lankan Rupee is likely to settle at around 138 per US dollar, while speaking at a seminar organised by the European Commission (EC), which looked at the European crisis and its influence on the Sri Lankan economy. Speakers at the seminar also warned that the Sri Lankan garment sector is...
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) condemned the attack on Sri Lanka’s Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission, describing it as, “ another terrible step downward in the on going effort to undermine judiciary and the rule of law in Sri Lanka.” Imploring the Sri Lankan government to act promptly on the incident, ICJ’s Asia director, Sam Zarifi, said, “The Sri Lankan government has to investigate this event and bring perpetrators to justice, and ensure that the country’s judges are secure from assault and intimidation.” After disrepute between the President and the JSC, state...
In an interview to TamilNet on Friday, following Frances Harrison's book launch, Alan Keenan of the ICG hoped that there would one day be an independent investigation into the events of 2009 and its aftermath, and that the " question of genocide should be included among those issues ". Asked about the ICG's view of the Tamil nation's right to have a sovereign state of their own, Keenan replied, " I don’t think that the Crisis Group has ever rejected the right of the Tamil people to rule themselves in a sovereign fashion . I think what we have argued, in the current political context, that the demand for separation is not a wise one." Asked to clarify what he meant by the current political context, Keenan explained: "This is always a difficult judgement to make. I am not Tamil. I don’t live in Sri Lanka. But from an as dispassionate and as compassionate perspective as I can come to, the costs of pursuing a separate state to the Tamil people, given the lack of international support and given the virulent opposition that it would provoke among the Sinhalese , it would not be a wise thing. The costs, in terms of death, physical destruction, to the Tamil people themselves is not worth it especially given that the chances of succeeding are very small. That’s what I mean ‘it’s contextual’. If it was a different political context, if there was a larger percentage of the Sinhala population which was potentially amenable or open to that, if they were more sympathetic, if the political dynamics among Sinhala dominated parties was more open, then that might well be something that could be pursued. But in the current context, it is a recipe for further violence and further conflagration that will just add up more dead bodies to the already enormous pile of dead bodies that Sri Lanka, particularly Tamils have suffered the last 30-40 years." See here for sound clip of the interview.
The ICC has said it will not use six umpires from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who have been accused by Indian media of being prepared to influence matches at the recent Twenty20 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka. An ICC spokesperson told reporters, "The officials named are not contracted by the ICC and those boards who employ and nominate the umpires directly will conduct the investigations as a matter of urgency." The umpires did not participate at the world cup, but the ICC said they will not be allowed to officiate at matches before an investigation is completed. True to Sri Lankan...
Imperial College London student and member of the Tamil Youth Organisation UK, Praveen Gnanasambanthan has written in “Felix”, Imperial College’s student magazine, as to how sport in Sri Lanka has been used to legitimise the country and mask questions of humanitarian issues and human rights on the island. See his piece here . It has been reproduced in full below. "The summer of 2012 has been a stunning exhibition of top quality sports, as world-class athletes congregated in London for an unforgettable Olympics and arguably the best ever Paralympics. An intriguing Euro 2012 was showcased earlier in the summer in Eastern Europe, and this trio of gargantuan sporting festivals were bookended by the Wimbledon and US Open Grand Slams. Many would think that this is set to continue into September with the T20 World Cup held in Sri Lanka, but in reality the Tamils that inhabit the Northern and Eastern parts of the country and the Tamil diaspora have plenty of reason to think otherwise. " "Questions are once again being raised as to why the International Cricket Council has permitted Sri Lanka not only to participate but also to host one of the sport’s most prestigious tournaments, especially with the on-going allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes against the Tamils of Sri Lanka. This essential role bestowed upon Sri Lanka legitimises and condones a country that is in dire circumstances. "
Sri Lanka has announced that defence spending by the country will rise by more than 25% for 2013, despite more than three years having passed after the proclaimed end of armed hostilities. No reason has been presented as to why the defence budget has increased by such a large amount, but according to AFP , part of the reason may be to repay arms bought during the war. Figures show that spending for the Ministry of Defence will now increase to 289.5 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) from an estimated 231 billion rupees for this year. Overall the spending for the government has also seen an...
Following last week's call by Action Against Hunger for an independent investigation into the murder of 17 aid workers, they have teamed up with Avaaz and Daily Motion to release a powerful new campaign video. See Avaaz's petition for an independent United Nations investigation into the massacre and war crimes to be handed to the President of the UN Human Rights Council on the 22nd of October, here . The massacre was widely believed to have been committed by members of Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces, after 15 ACF staff members were found gunned down execution style on the floor of their office in...