• Sri Lanka scrambles against UN resolution

    Jan 26

    Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga held over 90 meetings in the past week in Geneva, reported the Daily Mirror, as he led attempts to try and thwart a resolution at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council Session in March.

    Weeratunga, who will be leading the Sri Lankan delegation this March, reportedly met with at least 90 permanent country representatives based in Geneva, before flying off to Washington to meet with the US State Department.

  • Sitsabaiesan ‘right to be concerned’ says NDP Leader
    The head of the Canadian NDP Party has said MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan was “right to be concerned” after she reported facing political intimidation on a private visit to her place of birth, in the the North-East of Sri Lanka.
  • Gotabhaya slams 'interfering' diplomats

    The Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has accused the US Ambassador in the country, Michelle Sison, of interfering in domestic affairs and overstepping her mandate, after it emerged that the ambassador had met NPC Councillor Ananthi Sasitharan, along with Chief Minister Wigneswaran and TNA MP Sumanthiran.

  • Ceylon Teachers' Union condemn increasing Army interference in Vanni schools
    The Sri Lankan Army's interference in schools in Vanni has increased said the Ceylon Teachers' Union to the Education Minister of the Northern Provincial Council, reported the Uthayan.

    Demanding that action be taken to stop this, the CTU's General Secretary, Joseph Stalin, said that since the re-opening of schools in Vanni, the army's interference is directly disrupting the students' education.

    Drawing attention to incidents such as the Sri Lankan military hosting events in the school grounds whilst lessons are happening, Stalin said this must be stopped, and students must be able to learn without any interference.

  • Australian student raped by tourist guide in South
    An Australian student in Sri Lanka was raped by a tourist guide in the Southern town of Ambalangoda, reports the Colombo Page.

    The student was part of a group of 15 taking part in an educational activity.
  • SL spends over US $100,000 a month lobbying the US
    The Sri Lankan government spends US $ 66,000 a month hiring Thompson Advisory Group LLC (TAG), a US lobbying firm, reports the Sunday Times.
  • Disappeared man found dead in Pannai sea
    The body of a 30 year old Tamil man, who went missing earlier this week, was discovered by local fishermen in Pannai sea by Jaffna yesterday, reported the Uthayan.
  • Arrest warrants to be issued for almost 60,000 army deserters
    The Sri Lankan government has announced that almost 60,000 deserters, who left the Sri Lankan Armed Forces after the armed conflict in 2009, are to have warrants issued for their arrest.
  • Rs. 700 million awarded to soldiers having their third child
    Over Rs. 700 million has been cashed out to soldiers from the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in the past year, in the form of grants for those who have their third child, stated the Ministry of Defence.
  • Minister seeks exemption from land sales regulations to foreigners
    The Investment Promotion Minister, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene, submitted a Cabinet memorandum this month,  seeking to overrule current legislations that ban sales of private or crown Sri Lankan land to a foreign national or company.
  • International legal experts reiterate need for accountability in Sri Lanka


    Panelists at a discussion hosted by the American Society of International Law and American University Washington College of Law UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic hosted an event on accountability in Sri Lanka that criticised the on-going impunity, and stressed the need for justice and accountability.

    The event, which took place on January 22nd comprised of a panel, moderated by Jennifer Leonard, the Deputy Director and Washington Advocacy Director of International Crisis Group. Panelists included Juan Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Yasmin Sooka, one of the experts appointed by the UN Secretary General to serve on the UN Panel of Experts, and Frances Harrison, former BBC foreign correspondent and author of 'Still Counting the Dead'.

    Highlighting the impunity for atrocities committed in 2008-09, and ongoing violations in Sri Lanka, Mendez spoke of a referral of Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and stated, "an ICC referral is probably the only way to break the cycle of impunity."

  • Officer who exposed GDP data fudging to be sacked

    A senior official, who revealed that the government was manipulating GDP growth data, is going to be sacked, reported LBO.

  • Sri Lanka has done everything 'humanly possible' - SL envoy

    Sri Lanka has declared to have done everything "humanly possible" since July 2012 to implement the National Plan of Action on implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

    Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, briefed the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday on 'progress in the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka'.

  • UK readying necessary support for potential resolution on international war crimes investigation in SL
    The parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) Affairs, Mark Simmonds, outlined today, that the FCO was already working to gain the necessary majority at the United Nations Human Rights Council to pass a resolution calling for an international investigation into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka.
  • PPT releases verdict on genocide in Sri Lanka

    The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has released the full report of their high profile session held in Bremen, Germany last month, where they unanimously ruled that Sri Lanka was guilty of genocide.

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