The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has released its annual human rights report and has listed Sri Lanka as a country of concern, along with countries such as North Korea, Iran, Russia and Syria. Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke at the launch of the report in London on Monday and welcomed the many positive moves towards democracy that had occurred around the world in the past year. Mr Hague added that Britain’s main focus will be on those countries, whose human rights have not shown any improvements or deteriorated over the past year. “Human rights is an indivisible part of our...
Sri Lanka imports 90% of its oil from Iran, and w ith US-EU sanctions on Iran looming, needs to source oil elsewhere. But its sole refinery, at Sapugaskanda, needs upgrading if it is to refine oil from other countries. Yet, Sri Lanka has rejected an offer by the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to do this. Instead, Colombo will seek expressions of interest from others to do the work, which it claims will cost $500m. The reason, according to Petroleum Minister Susil Premjayantha, is IOC already operates a majority of fuel stations in Sri Lanka and increases fuel prices at will...
Seven years have passed since the Tamil journalist and editor of TamilNet was found assassinated in Colombo, inside a High Security Zone. No-one has yet been brought to justice for his murder, after a trial was postponed earlier this year. 2005 saw the deaths of Sivaram, and two other Tamil media workers, S. Suhirtharajan, Trincomalee correspondent for Sudar Oli, a Tamil daily and Mrs. Relanki Selvarajah, Tamil broadcaster. Below is an excerpt from a speech delivered in London on Aril 29, at the fifth anniversary of the death of Sivaram. "The Tamil Guardian has had a relation with Sivaram...
The Dambulla dispute maybe resolved by intervention from the president, reports The Sunday Times. Representatives of Muslim political parties hope to discuss the situation directly with the president in the hope a solution maybe found. See also: At the mercy of the King (30 Nov 2011)
The Sri Lankan army has been collecting information on young Tamil men and women who it claims are former LTTE cadres, reports Tamilwin. Upto 500 young men and women, including 200 in Trincomalee have been targeted. All in the name of 'rehabilitation'. See also: Security forces to search for 'ex-LTTE' returning from abroad (24 Apr 2012) Army collects personal details of NGO employees in Batticaloa (22 Apr 2012)
Speaking to the BBC, the senior Buddhist monk who led the protest against a mosque in Dambulla has stated that footage from the protest has been “ technically manipulated ”. The footage showed a mob of 2,000 Sinhala protestors, led by the monk Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, violently attacking a long-standing mosque in the area while security forces stood by. It also showed a monk disrobing and exposing himself in front of the mosque, expressing his outrage that the mosque had been built in the area. Screenshot from News 1st TV, showing a Buddhist monk exposing himself in front of Dambulla mosque...
Muslims in Ampara and Batticaloa districts demonstrated for a second day through strike action, over the desecration of a mosque in Dambulla. According to reports in the BBC , demonstrations were halted by the Sri Lankan military. In a separate incident the office of the Mosque Federation in Kattankudi was set on fire last night in an arson attack. Meanwhile, Muslims by the Dambulla mosque held an a special prayer session on Friday. One worshipper said, "There was a special dua [prayer] which basically implored the almighty to protect us, and the country from evil influences,” Following the...
Despite the United Nations having released more evidence of cluster bomb use in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Army has continued to deny their use. Noting that it was “not the first time such allegations have been hurled at us”, Brigadier Wanigasooriya said , “We have on previous occasions as well said the Sri Lankan Army did not use cluster bombs during the civil war and we stand by it.” “At the same time, we must make it clear that this is not an official accusation made by the UN. A UN official had mentioned in an email he sent, that Sri Lanka had used cluster bombs during the civil war. This...
The Ministry of Defence and Urban Development declared the month of May (specifically, 30th April to 30th May) as the 'Ranaviru Month' (War Heroes Commemoration Month) for the Sri Lankan armed forces and police force. A parade will take place on 18th May at the Galle Face. President Rajapaksa is scheduled to attend. G.L. Peiris, Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister will be unable to attend, due to a prior engagement .
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against a number of political parties that use the word “Tamil” in their names, claiming that it violates the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Referring to parties such as the Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil United Liberation Front, the petition states that naming these parties using the word “Tamil”, means that establishing a separate state is within their aims. The petition states that the parties infringe upon the 6th amendment of the constitution and calls for a ban on the use of the word “Tamil” in political parties. The petition was filed...