• ACF killings show international role needed to ensure justice - HRW

    Jul 31
    Marking this week the ten anniversary of the killing of 17 aid workers from Action Contre La Faim in Muttur, Trincomalee, Human Rights Watch reiterated the call for justice and said the massacre underscored the need for an international role in any accountability mechanism by Sri Lanka as the only means to ensuring justice.

    “The failure to provide justice for the ACF massacre is Exhibit A in the breakdown of accountability for serious crimes during Sri Lanka’s civil war,” HRW's legal and policy director, James Ross said.

    “The mishandling of the ACF case shows why a war crimes court needs international involvement to shield it from political pressures.”

    On August 4th, 2006 masked gunmen executed the 17 local staff of the Paris based aid group who had been involved in a post-tsunami rebuilding project. No one has been brought to justice.
     
  • Sri Lanka to appoint another presidential commission over Buddhist clergy rifts

    In the latest of its presidential commission appointments, Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government would be appointing another to investigate reported attempts to create rifts within the Buddhist clergy.

  • Sri Lankan govt rejects reports China refused equity offer

    The Sri Lankan government has rejected a report by the Sunday Times that China had refused to convert debts into equity, accusing the paper of trying to disrupt the country's economic development.

    Colombo Page quoted the Government Information Department as saying, "a Sunday Times report that said China has declined Sri Lanka's request to convert into equity Beijing-funded projects including the Mattala Airport and the Hambantota Port was not true."
     

  • Japan grants Rs 14 billion loan to Sri Lanka
    The Japanese government has granted Sri Lanka Rs 14 billion for development projects.

    The soft loan was aimed at ensuring the implementation of the budget proposals made by the Sri Lankan government in the 2016 budget.

    Sri Lanka's finance ministry said this was the first such loan from Japan, Colombo Page reported.
  • Agreement reached on Rs 37 b of unpaid bills to Iran
    Sri Lanka's government has reached an agreement with Iran on its demand that Rs. 37 billion of unpaid bills are settle prior to Sri Lanka buying further crude oil.

    It was agreed during talks in Tehren that the bills would be offset against tea export payments, amongst other measures, reported the Sunday Times.

    See more here.
  • Certificates of Absence to be issued by end of year
    Sri Lanka's ministry of home affairs this week pledged to complete the issuing of  'Certificates of Absence' to families of those reported missing during the armed conflict by the end of this year.

    Ceylon Today quoted the ministry's secretary, J J Rathnasiri as saying the process was already under way but would be complete by December.
  • China declines Sri Lanka's equity request

    China has declined Sri Lanka's request to convert into equity the loans funding projects including the Mattala airport and Hambantota port.

    Chinese ambassador Yi Xianling has told the Sri Lankan prime minister that such a transfer wasn't possible within Chinese laws.

  • Vali North IDPs angered as Sri Lankan army plays cricket on occupied land


    Residents of Valikaamam North, many of whom have been displaced for over two decades, complained this week that the Sri Lankan army not only continues to occupy their land, but is using it to play cricket.


    The 1 acre of land has been converted into a sports ground and is situated adjacent to Kankesanthurai Nateswara College which was recently released by the president, Maithripala Sirisena.

    "Do they require our own lands to play cricket?" one displaced Tamil, who wished to remain anonymous said. 

  • Sushma chairs meeting on fishermen arrests
    India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday chaired a meeting with Tamil Nadu and Kerala regional authorities and fishing groups, aimed at finding a permanent solution to the ongoing arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.

    “External Affairs Minister chaired a meeting of internal stakeholders earlier today afternoon to discuss the way forward towards a permanent solution to the fishermen issue between India and Sri Lanka,” the minister of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup was reported by the The Indian Express as saying. 

    "The discussions between stakeholders on the Indian side focused on different aspects requiring attention, including the livelihood concerns of Indian fishermen and introduction of sustainable fishing practices,” he added.

  • Sri Lanka cannot investigate itself - speakers at Black July event


    Remembering the pogrom of over 3000 Tamils by Sri Lankan state sponsored mobs in 1983 British Tamils, academics, journalists and activists at a Black July remembrance event in London on Monday reiterated the need for international judges in any accountability mechanism in Sri Lanka.

    Speaking at the event organised by the British Tamils Forum (BTF), entitled 'Black July 1983 - Not the beginning but a continuation of Tamil Genocide', the director of 'No Fire Zone' documentary, Callum Macrae, the human rights activist, Ruki Fernando and a barrister at Mansfield Chambers, Shivani Jegarajah, highlighted Sri Lanka's long history of impunity for crimes against the Tamil people.

  • Indian fishermen allege inhumane treatment by Sri Lankan navy
    Seventy-seven Tamil Nadu fishermen who were held in detention by the Sri Lankan navy and released on Thursday, allege they were treated inhumanely by the Sri Lankan navy, the New Indian Express reported.

    “We were fishing near the IMBL when the Lankan Navy personnel arrested us. We were lodged at Jaffna Prison and treated in an inhumane manner. They provided us stale food and threatened to take us to Pakistan," one fishermen told the paper.
  • Canadian foreign minister meets with Wigneswaran and TNA

    Canada's foreign minister, Stephane Dion who is currently visiting Sri Lanka met with the chief minister of the northern province, C V Wigneswaran on Friday.
  • Canadian FM discusses international involvement with Ranil
    Canada's foreign minister, Stephane Dion discussed international involvement in any accountability mechanism with the Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

    "Spoke w/ @RW_UNP on int’l involvement in accountability processes, women in politics & regional issues," Mr Dion tweeted on Thursday evening.
  • Canada tells Sri Lanka 'much remains to be accomplished'
    The Canadian foreign minister on Thursday told the Sri Lankan government that "much remains to be accomplished" on the implementation of the UNHRC resolution.

    Mr Stephane Dion, who is currently visiting Sri Lanka, was quoted by Colombo Page as saying at a press conference after a meeting with his counterpart, Mangala Samaraweera,
  • Singapore looks to Jaffna as it signs trade agreements with Colombo

     

    Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said his government was looking to expand relations beyond Colombo and reach out to Jaffna, after signing a series of free trade agreements with Sri Lanka earlier this month.

    Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was on an official three day visit to Singapore last week, where he signed “four Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), and a Joint Statement between the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore and the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade of Sri Lanka to launch negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement”, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Prime Minister Loong though said his country wanted to go beyond Colombo, stating Sri Lanka can be a gateway “to the Indian Ocean region for Singapore companies”.

    During a lunch held to mark Mr WIckremesinghe’s visit Mr Loong highlighted how “since the 19th century, Singapore’s small but vibrant Sri Lankan community has contributed significantly to our development”.

    He went on to point out that “Jaffna Tamils in the Straits Settlements’ civil service helped to lay the foundation for Singapore’s administrative and government services”.

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