• HRW: serious concerns of post-election violence, esp in Tamil areas

    Jan 06
    The New York based rights group, Human Rights Watch, called on Sri Lankan authorities to ensure the presidential election on Thursday occurs without voter intimidation or violence, warning of the possibility of violence continuing after the election, particularly in the Tamil areas.

    "There are also serious concerns about violence after the elections, regardless of the outcome. The Election Commission and other relevant authorities need to ensure that police and other security forces act in an impartial manner and respect the human rights of the population. This is especially true in the ethnic-Tamil dominated north and east of the country and other minority areas," HRW added in a statement.

  • No faith election will bring about political change for us - Jaffna Uni Students' Union

    The Jaffna University Students' Union said in a statement on Tuesday, the Sri Lankan presidential election on January 8, will in no way help to bring about a permanent political solution for the Tamils.

    “We do not have a drop of faith that this election will bring about a permanent political solution for us, the Tamil people” since both of the main candidates were “proponents of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism," JUSU said.

    “Today in this country, the Tamil people are living in a dark age, without good, stable political leadership, without freedom, and without rights,” the Union added.

  • Future president must address Tamil issue first - BJP
    The winner of Sri Lanka's presidential election must first address the Tamil issue, stressed the BJP's global convener of overseas affairs, Vijay Jolly.

    "Whoever wins in Sri Lanka should first address the Tamil issue," he was quoted by IANS as saying on Wednesday.

  • War affected women demand future president demilitarises North-East
    Over a hundred war affected women and several women's organisation predominantly from the North-East, listed their key demands of the new president following the election on January 8, including addressing the issue of enforced disappearances,  demilitarisation of the North-East, repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and prosecution of those responsible for torture and sexual violence.

    "The forthcoming election is the second Presidential election after the war. Since then, the North and East of Sri Lanka has undergone heightened militarisation. Around 89,000 women headed households in the former war areas struggle to address livelihood needs, look after their remaining family and in many cases also look for their missing loved ones."

    “Despite numerous promises, no independent investigation into serious human rights violations has resulted in a successful prosecution and conviction of alleged perpetrators, a sign of the culture of impunity pervasive in post war Sri Lanka."

  • UN Sec General urges election to be inclusive of minorities
    The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, urged Sri Lanka to ensure that the upcoming presidential elections on January 8 was "inclusive, including for minorities".

    "Obviously, we've seen the recent events in Sri Lanka, even those today and I think it makes the Secretary‑General's call for reconciliation and political dialogue that much more important and also his call to the Government to ensure that the elections are peaceful and that they're inclusive, including for minorities,” Ban Ki Moon's spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying to a press briefing this week.

  • Ensure people can vote without fear says Amnesty
    Amnesty International urged officials in Sri Lanka to ensure that people could vote in the presidential election on January 8 "without fear", amid what it described as a "surge in election-related harassment and violence".

    “The growing harassment and violence against those campaigning in the coming elections is deeply troubling – the authorities have a responsibility to ensure that all people in Sri Lanka can exercise their rights to political participation and freedom of expression without facing threats or violence, and that on election day they can vote without fear,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia Pacific Director.

  • Challenges Ahead: Sri Lanka's mass atrocities and international justice
    Detailing the difficulties faced by Tamil voters in the North-East during Sri Lanka's presidential election on January 8, the exiled journalist Nirmanusan Balasundaram, called for a strong international justice mechanism to be set up, stating that regardless of who wins the election, Tamils could not expect justice through a domestic process.

    "A gruelling battle is taking place in Sri Lanka between both leading presidential candidates despite certain factors which keep them united, such as ‘war victory’, denial of mass atrocities and rejection of an international investigation into such atrocities. Disturbingly all leading figures in the presidential debate are in competition with each other for self-proclamation and self-promotion in terms of credibility for the war victory, and complete denial of responsibility or acknowledgement of mass atrocities during the war," Mr Balasundaram wrote.

    "Regardless of which leading candidate is to win Sri Lanka’s seventh presidential election, victims and survivors of mass atrocities will find it difficult to expect justice or a genuine and credible domestic mechanism into these heinous crimes. Considering Sri Lanka’s political dynamics, the culture of impunity in Sri Lanka will remain unchanged regardless of the outcome of the election. The colour may change but the cage will remain the same," he added.

  • Sritharan and Maavai campaign for Maithri in Kilinochchi


    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs S. Sritharan and Mavai Senathirajah held a campaign rally in Kilinochchi on Monday, urging locals to come out and cast their vote.

    The rally took place at the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi's Kilinochchi office.



  • Army attack in Killinochchi injures two children
    An adult and two children were admitted to hospital after being injured after army soldiers attacked a shop owner in Killinochchi reports the Uthayan.

    A 46 year old man, who runs a sewing shop in the region, was attacked by an Sri Lankan army on Sunday night, resulting in injuries to his head.
  • Indian foreign minister orders return of mistreated workers in Sri Lanka
    Indian workers in Sri Lanka will be returned home after the Indian high Commission in Colombo intervened following allegations of mistreatment by management in Sri Lanka, reports The Hindu.
  • Sri Lankan navy chase away Tamil Nadu fishermen
    The Sri Lankan navy reportedly threatened and chased away a group of Tamil Nadu fishermen at gunpoint, early on Tuesday.

    The president of the Rameswaram Fishermen Association stated that over 1,000 boats had left Tamil Nadu to fish near Katchatheevu.
  • No justice for assassinated human rights lawyer Kumar Ponnambalam, 15 years on
    Kumar Ponnamabalam, assassinated 5 Jan 2000.


    Fifteen years after Kumar Ponnambalam, a prominent human rights lawyer and leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) was assassinated in a busy Colombo suburb during Chandrika Kumaratunge's government, his killers have not been brought to justice.

    Mr Ponnambalam, who was renowned for his pro bono work in defending Tamil and Sinhala youths detained under Sri Lanka's draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, had filed reports in important human rights cases that incriminated the Chandrika government, including the gang rape and murder of the Tamil girl, Krishanthi Kumaraswamy and mass graves in Chemmani. 

    He was shot dead by unidentified gunman on January 5th, 2000, whilst in his car on Ramakrishna Lane, in the Tamil area of Colombo, Wellawatte.

  • No demilitarisation of North, no agreement on devolution - Maithri
    Reiterating his earlier statements vowing to ensure the military remained in the Tamil areas, the common opposition's presidential candidate, Maithripala Sirisena, said he had "no intention of withdrawing the army from the north" if he wins the election on January 8.
  • International pressure for accountability will not go away whoever wins election says ICG
    The International Crisis Group (ICG) warned that international pressure on Sri Lanka to ensure accountability for the mass atrocities against the Tamil people at the end of the ethnic conflict in 2009 would not go away whoever won the presidential election on January 8.

    "Sirisena [the common opposition's presidential candidate] has promised to continue the current government’s policy of rejecting efforts by the international community to ensure accountability for the thousands of civilian deaths incurred at government hands at the end of the civil conflict in 2009," the ICG's senior Sri Lanka analyst, Alan Keenan, wrote on Monday.

    "These efforts have not gone away, even five years after that bloody denouement, but rather have intensified."

    "Thus whether Rajapaksa or Sirisena, whoever wins will need adequately to address the many credible allegations over the army’s conduct at the end of the war if they are effectively to reduce international pressure."

  • TNA yet to decide on whether to join govt if Maithri wins
    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has not reached a decision on whether to join a government led by the common opposition's candidate Maithripala Sirisena if he should win the presidential election on January 8, said the TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran.

    Asked by LankaSri whether the TNA would join the government, Sumanthiran replied: "When a question was asked regarding this at a press conference the other day, [TNA leader] Sampanthan said we [TNA] had not made a decision on this yet."

    "However, until the party takes a decision I would like to state my own views. My view is that we should not take part in such a government. There are many reasons for this," he said.

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