Ranil Wickremesinghe to resign as Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Mahinda to take over

Updated 1145 GMT Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced that he will resign from his role as Sri Lanka's prime minister and will be informing the new president of his decision tomorrow.

Tamils attacked in Kegalle as Rajapaksa is sworn in

A group of unidentified Sinhalese men attacked Tamils in Kegalle earlier today, as violence broke out in the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s presidential election this weekend.

Round-up: global media reacts to election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa

The Sri Lankan presidential elections were watched closely by journalists and human rights observers around the world, with much being written and broadcast during the campaign period, and much more expected in the aftermath of the result. The Telegraph today captured the fear which rippled through the Tamil North-East, which voted overwhelmingly against Rajapaksa, with record numbers coming out to deliver over 80% of the vote to Sajith Premadasa. Qadijah Irshad speaking to Tamils in the North writes: As Mr Rajapaksa prepared to be sworn in as the island’s new president on Monday in the...

Tensions high as Tamils vote in Sri Lanka’s presidential elections

Tens of thousands of Tamil voters have cast their ballots early across the North-East amidst a ramped-up security presence and heightened tensions, as Sri Lanka’s presidential elections were underway on Saturday. Tamil voters have reportedly begun stocking up on supplies and groceries, amidst fears of violence in the wake of a close election between the two leading candidates Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa.

‘We fed bodies to crocodiles’ admits driver of Sri Lanka’s white vans

Sri Lanka’s white van squads abducted, tortured and murdered victims before feeding their bodies to crocodiles, admitted a man who was supposedly a driver for the squads under the previous government. In a dramatic press conference in Colombo on Sunday, Anthony Fernando was introduced by Sri Lanka’s health minister as white van driver who had personally witnessed kidnappings and torture.

Sri Lankan military pressure bars Jaffna University law head from private practice

Pressure from the Sri Lankan military has led to the University of Jaffna barring the head of its law department from engaging in private practice, after he took up a public interest habeas corpus case into the 1996 disappearance of more than two dozen Tamil youth. On August 21, 2019, the military sent a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC) asking whether Kumaravadivel Guruparan, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Law at Jaffna University, had permission to engage in private practise. Acting swiftly, the UGC that very same day forwarded the letter to Jaffna University...

Outrage over racist Sri Lankan stamps

Outrage has erupted over social media after images of recently issued stamps in Sri Lanka with a racist depiction of Tamils surfaced.

Remembering Thamilselvan 12 years on

Today marks twelve years since S. P. Thamilselvan, the head of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was assassinated by the Sri Lankan air force (SLAF). On November 2, 2007 Sri Lankan air force jets carried out a strike on a residence of members of the LTTE's political division. Five other LTTE officials - Lt. Col. Anpumani (Alex), Major Mikuthan, Major Nethaaji, Lt. Aadchiveal and Lt. Maavaikkumaran - were killed alongside Brigadier Thamilselvan, in the attack. The assassination came as the Sri Lankan government ramped up its military offensive in the Tamil homeland. Brigadier Thamilchelvan was a member of the LTTE negotiating team that took part in peace talks with the Sri Lankan government in 2002 and 2003, becoming the Chief Negotiator after the death of Anton Balasingham. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' (OHCHR) report into Sri Lanka's atrocities (OISL) noted that Sri Lanka's military killed the LTTE's political head before it officially withdrew from the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) in 2008. It noted that the attack was preceded by a military budget that "had reportedly risen by 40 percent and the Army had tripled in size from 100,000 to 300,000, with almost an additional 5,000 troops recruited per month between 2005 and 2008".

'May 17 2009, I saw my dad for the last time' - 14-year-old Mullivaikkal survivor

Kalaiyarasi Kanagalingam, a 14-year-old survivor of Mullivaikkal, spoke about the last memory of her father and the importance of Tamil genocide recognition at a conference hosted at the Houses of Parliament and attended by several senior British politicians and international legal experts on Thursday. Read her full speech to the conference below. "Hello, my name is Kalaiyarasi Kanagalingam, I am 14 years old. I'm here today to speak about how my life has been affected by what happened in 2009. 2009 was the most memorable and painful year of my life. May 17 2009, I saw my dad for the last...

British MPs push for Tamil genocide recognition in Parliament

On Thursday, the APPGT (All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils) hosted it's first-ever conference on Tamil Genocide Recognition in the Houses of Parliament were politicians from across the political spectrum voiced their support in obtaining justice and accountability for the massacres of Tamils. The conference was well attended by MPs from all major political parties, including the leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, the former Conservative party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal-Democrats, Sir Ed Davey. The conference also featured a number of eminent academic and legal experts including a panel featuring former UN Assistant-Secretary General Charles Petrie, former UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights Ben Emmerson QC, current Member of Canadian parliament Gary Anandasangaree, and head of Together against Genocide, Jan Jananayagam.

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