• Jayalalitha slams Centre for failing to address Tamil issues in Sri Lanka

    Mar 08
    The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa, slammed India's Central government for not addressing the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu fishermen.

    Highlighting Congress’ training of Sri Lankan military amidst allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, she said,
    “What did the Congress government to do on the Sri Lankan Tamils Issue? It gave military training and weapons to Lankan government. It was responsible for the killing of Tamils there.“
  • Draft resolution 'deeply dismaying' - TNPF
    The draft UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka, tabled at the Council last Monday, was "deeply dismaying", said the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) in a statement released yesterday.

    Criticising the resolution's failure to ensure a meaningful international inquiry, immediate relief from the on-going oppression faced by the Tamil people, and a meaningful political solution to the ethnic conflict, the TNPF called on fellow Tamils in the diaspora and on Tamils in Tamil Nadu, to work towards pushing for a stronger resolution.

  • Protest against Britain's 'assurance of terrorist rights'
    The Sri Lankan British Union is holding a protest on Saturday condemning Britain's 'policy of assuring rights to terrorists' through its support for a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council on accountability for mass atrocities in Sri Lanka,
  • Tamil women need justice says GTF on Women's Day
    Marking International Women's Day, Global Tamil Forum (GTF) called for an international inquiry, to provide justice and accountability for Tamil women for the widespread sexual violence faced during and after the final stages of the armed conflict, and the on-going "sustained assault" endured by them in the North-East.

    Pointing to the "militarisation of Tamil areas in Sri Lanka since the end of the war in 2009, by state security forces who are almost entirely ethnically Sinhalese" the GTF outlined the on-going sexually violence and insecurity faced by Tamil women at the hands of the Sri Lankan military.
    "A culture of impunity exists and many women are afraid to report cases of intimidation and ill-treatment to the authorities."
    The GTF celebrated the "courage and resolve" of women in the North-East who are acting as agents of change, highlighting the work done by Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthi Sasitharan and the Women's Action Network (WAN) in the North-East.
  • Sinhala women's group marks IWD with protest against Navi Pillay and UNHRC resolution


    Marking International Women's Day, the Sinhala women's group - Lakmawa Diyaniyo - held a protest outside the US Embassy in Colombo, demonstrating against the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay and the resolution tabled on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council earlier this week.

  • Sinister' and 'unjustified' obsession on Sri Lanka, says SL ambassador to UN
    The Sri Lankan permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, speaking at an informal discussion event on the draft resolution on reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, rejected the draft resolution tabled against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), alleging ‘sinister motives’ behind the ‘unjustified’ resolution.

    Aryasinha further described the resolution as an intrusive politicised 'obsession', based on “sinister motives in relentlessly targeting Sri Lanka, mainly to appease pro-LTTE Tamil constituencies, for collateral electoral political gain.”

  • OHCHR led inquiry inadequate, CoI needed as step towards criminal prosecutions - Tamil civil society
    Criticising the current draft UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka, K. Guruparan, of the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF), a network of Tamil civil society activists in the North-East, said stressed that "if there is to be a proper international investigation, it must involve criminal prosecutions" and a "Commission of Inquiry is needed as an important part of the process" towards that.

    Speaking to journalists at the Jaffna Press Club (JPC) the day after the draft resolution was released this week, Mr. Guruparan said, "there is a difference between the UN Human Rights Council being asked to undertake a report [following an inquiry] and Navi Pillay's office being asked to undertake it," and added that the Government would simply reject any OHCHR report, whilst one mandated by the UNHRC would carry the sway needed to lead to a criminal investigation.

  • Sri Lanka concerned at Mauritius support for resolution – Menon

    India’s National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said that Sri Lanka had expressed concern about Mauritius co-sponsoring the UNHRC resolution.

    “Sri Lanka expressed concern that Mauritius had co-sponsored the resolution” Menon told media in New Delhi, speaking after the third Trilateral Meeting on Maritime Security Cooperation, between India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

    Mauritius is set to join the maritime security group, prompting Sri Lanka to say that trust needed to be built between neighbours.

  • Britain urges Sri Lanka to sign UN sexual violence treaty

    The British government has urged Sri Lanka to sign the UN Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Daily Mirror reported on Friday.

  • Navy Pillay is a liar – Sri Lankan Minister

    The Sri Lankan Minister for Plantations Mahinda Samarasinghe called the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay a "liar" and accused her of being determined to be aggressive against Sri Lanka.

    Speaking at an election rally, Samarasinghe, who is also the president’s special envoy on human rights, said the government will not “succumb to pressure from some countries or the UN Human Rights Chief to betray the soldiers who fought the war against the LTTE”, the Colombo Gazette reported.

  • Sri Lanka ready to face any challenge – Basil Rajapaksa

    Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka is ready to face any challenge to preserve its independence and sovereignty, reported Outlook India magazine.

    "Achieving a stable peace has made it possible for the government to secure Sri Lanka's sovereignty, independence and food security thus strengthening its resolve to face any challenge," the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa said at an event in Ratnapura.

  • Indian NGO calls for COI on genocide in Sri Lanka
    Addressing the UN Human Rights Council today, Indian NGO Pasumai Thaayagam called upon the Council to establish an international Commission of Inquiry that will investigate the crime of genocide.

    Speaking as part of the Council discussion dedicated to     the 65th anniversary of the “Convention on the prevention and punishment of the Crime of Genocide", the organisation stated,
    "When crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity are left unpunished, and the international community lacks the will to ensure accountability, it creates an environment of impunity that makes the world more vulnerable. Accountability requires first of all fact-finding, then the identification of those responsible, punishment, reparations for victims, and restructuring of national institutions. When accountability is not a priority, prevention against future violations will also suffer."
  • Body of elderly woman found in Jaffna
    The body of an elderly woman was found on Wednesday in the Velanai part of Jaffna, reported the Uthayan.

    The body was found with wounds suggestive of an attack, and has been identified as that of a 70 year old woman called Arulappu Alvinamma.

  • Draft resolution fails to mention international investigation - TNA MP S. Premachandran
    Expressing disappointment over the current text of the draft UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka, the TNA Spokesperson Suresh Premachandran said it did 'nothing constructive towards addressing the genuine grievances towards the Tamils affected by war'.

    Speaking in an interview to Ceylon Today, Premachandran said,
    "Canada, Britain and the US had earlier vehemently condemned the human rights violations in Sri Lanka and had also called for an international investigation into the alleged war crimes in the Island. But the US draft resolution had failed to mention anything on the International investigation into the alleged war crimes,"
  • When Buddhist supremacism unites
    Photograph Colombo Telegraph


    The Sinhala Buddhist monk Galagoda Atte Gnanasara of Sri Lanka's Bodu Bala Sena met with the leader of Burma's notorious 969 movement, Ashin Wirathu, at the sidelines of the BIMSTEC conference in Burma earlier this week, reports Colombo Telegraph.

    The Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa was also present at the conference, however it is unknown if BBS's Gnanasara traveled as part of the President's entourage.

    See 'This is the modern axis of Buddhist hate' by Jake Scobey-Thal published in Foreign Policy today.

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