In a letter to the Sri Lankan president and prime minister the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) reiterated its rejection of pre-fabricated steel homes, and called for proper houses for Tamils displaced in the North-East. 

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremensighe has outlined plans to lease large stake in the Hambantota port to a Chinese Company reports Colombo Page.

The Prime Minister said that the government planned to lease the Hambantota port or $US 1.2 billion to a Chinese company China Merchant, in an attempt to aid in Sri Lanka’s Balance of Payments.

Hours after the head of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) organisation in Sri Lanka threatened to incite bloody attacks against Muslim communities unless a Muslim leader was arrested, Sri Lanka’s police arrested the Secretary of Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamath (SLTJ) Abdul Razick.

In a situation brief released today titled "Student killings, Aava gang and the Securitisation of Jaffna", the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) raised alarm at the Sri Lankan government's "failure to meaningfully confront systemic policing and military intelligence issues that have once again been brought to the forefront by the recent killings of two Jaffna University students by police."

In an op-ed published this week on Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, researchers at Together Against Genocide, Vinesh Mistry and Brami Jegan called on the EU not to miss the opportunity "to insist on meaningful transitional justice, rather than giving its blessing to a government whose commitment to human rights deserves serious scrutiny"

The Colombo based Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) on Friday expressed concern over what it described as "a spate of recent events with ominous portents for ethnic and religious harmony and reconciliation in Sri Lanka."

The Brussels based media organisation, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Free Media Movement on Friday condemned the attacking of a journalist in Trincomalee on November 15. 

“The IFJ condemns the attack and threat to journalist in Trincomalee and urges the Sri Lankan authorities to take every measure to ensure punishment to the responsible; and to establish a safe working environment for journalists in Sri Lanka," the IFJ said in a statement. 

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on Thursday demanded foreign judges to be involved in the post-conflict accountability process. 

“The president has told Meera Srinivasan of The Hindu in an interview that he will not agree to foreign judges. Then how can we expect justice?” TNA parliamentarian, S.Sritharan was quoted by Colombo Gazette as asking parliament. 

By Dr Arujuna Sivananthan

IMPROVEMENT

Sri Lanka’s 2017 budget seems to be receiving several accolades, not from those outside Sri Lanka or anyone credible within, but from politicians in the ruling coalition. So it should!

Sri Lanka’s delegation to the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) deflected questions from UN experts regarding a member of the delegation’s knowledge of well-documented cases of torture by Sri Lanka’s armed forces and Terrorism Investigation Department (TID).

The Head of the Buddhist organisation Bodu Bala Sena has issued a one day ultimatum for the arrest of a Muslim leader, claiming that a blood bath will begin otherwise.

Speaking after the arrest of a Sinhalese man who threatened to bomb Muslims in Sri Lanka, Galagoda Gnanaara, said,

The International Truth and Justice Project has submitted a memo to the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) implicating Sri Lanka’s former Deputy in Charge (DIG) of the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID)  Sisira Mendis, with responsibility in failing to prevent torture and hold perpetrators accountable.  

The British Tamils Forum (BTF) and US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) expressed their dismay at the presence of the former head of Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division, Sisira Mendis at the UN Committee Against Torture meeting in Geneva on Tuesday as a representative of Sri Lanka, and called for his arrest on the basis of universal jurisdiction. 

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS)  expressed their dismay at the presence of Sri Lanka's former head of the Terrorism Investigation Division at the UN Committee Against Torture meeting in Geneva on Tuesday.  

Sisira Mendis, who was in charge of the TID and the Criminal Investigation Department from March 2008 till June 2009, is accused of overseeing the routine use of torture and sexual violence against detainees.