In a statement released Tuesday morning, the EU Heads of Mission in Colombo stated their concern over the growing lack of media freedom in Sri Lanka, after a recent crackdown on anti-government websites. The statement adds to the growing pressure on Sri Lanka, after the US and other free media organisations criticised moves by the Sri Lankan government stifling media freedom. A recent spate of website bans took place on the island after it was claimed they insulted government officials. The full EU statement said, “EU Heads of Mission in Colombo view with concern the recent blocking of...
A Sri Lankan delegation, led by Mohan Pieris, told the UN Committee Against Torture on Tuesday that they are acting to curb torture committed by its security forces. He told the panel that the Sri Lankan government agrees “110 percent” that there must be no tolerance for torture. Their claims come as several human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Freedom from Torture, released reports which include damning evidence of systematic state sponsored torture camps. Yolande Foster from Amnesty International said, " There is no longer an independently functioning unit...
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has backed the government's contentious expropriation bill . The court ruled that the controversial legislation, which would allow the government to acquire enterprises and assets deemed to be underperforming is consistent with the country's constitution. Parliament was informed of the court ruling on Tuesday. Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody said, "The Supreme Court has informed its decision that, subject to the drafting of errors, the bill has not been found inconsistent with the constitution," Weerakkody did not elaborate on the 'errors' identified. The bill is...
The Sri Lankan Government has blocked more websites from being accessed in the country, after calling on all news websites to register with the media ministry. The websites now blocked include Lankawaynews, the official website of the UNP, Sri Lanka Guardian and Sri Lanka Mirror, extending the list of banned websites, which already includes TamilNet and Lankanewsweb and Lanka-e-news, a website which was blocked last week, prompting condemnation by the US embassy in Colombo: “While the embassy does not endorse the views of any particular media outlet, the US believes that a free and...
NGOs and refugee agencies have criticised a Swiss federal court ruling that allows failed asylum seekers to be returned to Sri Lanka, calling it a “dangerous” decision. The ruling deemed that it was safe to return asylum seekers back to the island, despite acknowledging the worsening human rights situation, particularly with the deteriorating freedom of speech, and sparked a wave of criticism. The court also noted that government opponents are considered enemies of the state along with journalists, human rights activists and NGOs, and are at risk of persecution. Christoph Wiedmer, director of...
Victims of torture at the hands of Sri Lankan forces, as recently as this summer, have come forward to recount their ordeals. In anonymised interviews with Channel 4 news, the two men, with scars on their backs, described the shocking events: " They used to beat me with a steel cable. It would peel away my skin. The pain would be simply unbearable. They would hang me upside down and dunk my head into water. They covered my head with a polythene bag soaked in petrol and tied it tightly around my neck. When I tried to breathe in it felt like I was breathing fire." "They laid me upside down and dunked my head in a barrel of water. They lay me face down on a table and hammered me with wires, poles and rods. They burned me with cigarette butts. When I asked for water to drink, they gave me urine. I thought it would have been better if I had died at the end of the war, rather than survived to face this ." The victims' testimony comes on the eve of a review by the UN Committee Against Torture and as Tamil refugees are deported to Sri Lanka on the premise that their lives are no longer at risk. Further torture victims have come forward and given evidence to the group Freedom from Torture. Excerpts of testimonies have been included in the group's report, 'Out of the Silence: New evidence of ongoing torture in Sri Lanka', published on Monday. Excerpts reproduced below: Saarheerthan: “Many of us bear the marks of torture on our minds and bodies, but in Sri Lanka you can’t express that you’ve been tortured. If you show your scars to a doctor you risk them telling the authorities and you would likely be detained again .” Lakshiyan: "The government tortured people who they could say to the rest of the world “these are LTTE terrorists”. Other countries wouldn’t help, as the LTTE is a banned organisation. It seemed to us like they managed to ban the whole Tamil community .”
Freedom from Torture, a charity working with victims of torture, has handed a report on Sri Lanka to the UN on the eve of a meeting of its Committee against torture. The report reveals horrific details of continuing torture, mainly of Tamils, by the Sri Lankan state. Most of the torture was meted out to individuals who were perceived to have links to the LTTE. Doctors at the organisation reviewed 35 cases out of over 300 cases which had been referred to the charity’s clinics over the past two years. The vast majority of cases were for medico-legal reports (MLR), documents used to prove...
The Sri Lankan Government has urged all news websites to register with the media ministry, in a move widely seen as an attempt to further restrict the freedom of the press on the island. "This ministry believes that those who are operating and maintaining these clandestine websites have been doing so to discredit the government, the head of state," the ministry said in a statement. "Such slanderous publications should not only be discouraged but also acts of this nature would have to be effectively prevented in the interest of the general public." Last month, anti-government website Lanka-e-...
Colombo has announced that it will de-list over 60,000 Army deserters, signalled that they will no longer pursue trying to prosecute them. The 60,000 deserters who have left the Army since 1982, will be placed into four categories and “de-listed after due legal progress,” according to Brigadier N Hapuarachchi. Several “last chance” attempts at amnesties for soldiers who have fled have proved highly unsuccessful, with the most recent amnesty last year only leading to 2,000 surrendering of an estimated 50,000 wanted. Sri Lankan Army deserters have also been reported to take part in serious...
The United States has said that they have ‘high expectations’ for the forthcoming LLRC report, which is due to be handed over to Sri Lankan President mahinda Rajapakse later this week. Speaking in a daily press briefing , State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland commented on the TNA’s visit to Washington last week where they met with Under Secretary of State Sherman saying, “Under Secretary Sherman’s main point was that we have high expectations for the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission report which is due later in the month – not only that the report will be of highest...