• Reporters Sans Frontières urge UNHRC to condemn violation of press freedom

    Feb 29

    Reporters San Frontieres called on member states at the 19th UN Human Rights Council to pass a resolution condemning the Sri Lankan government's "violations of freedom of information and to demand an end to threats and violence against news media and human rights defenders in Sri Lanka".

    In a statement released Tuesday, RSF condemned the Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS) on Tamilnet.com, as well as a number of Sri Lankan news organisations.

    RSF said:

    “For more than a year we have been seeing new forms of censorship and a deterioration in journalists’ ability to work although the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officially ended in 2009,”

    “Rather than wait until the Universal Periodic Review to make recommendations, the Human Rights Council’s members should adopt a resolution now urging the government to take measures to improve freedom of information.

  • ‘Shocking allegations’ says US judge

    A US judge, ruled she ‘must dismiss’ a suit against the Sri Lankan President over allegations of killings by his country’s armed forces as the American administration has decided that he is immune from litigation as a foreign head of state.

  • ICG warns of 'future violence' if Sri Lanka does not improve

    The International Crisis Group (ICG) warned that the current ground situation in Sri Lanka could result in "future violence", and the UN Human Rights Council had a chance to do something about that.

  • Tamilnet website cyber-attacked ahead of 19th UNHRC

    The online site, Tamilnet, was out of service at the weekend after experiencing effective cyber-attacks, ahead of the 19th UN Human Rights Council session.

    In a statement, published Monday, Tamilnet's editorial board, said,

  • Sri Lankans protest against UNHRC resolution
    Rallying behind the Sri Lankan government's call to arms against accountability for mass atrocities against Tamils, protests took place Monday as the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council began. 
     
    In the weeks leading upto the session, government ministers have publicly denounced the "western plot". 
     
    Speaking today, member of parliament for Badulla district and former deputy minister of justice, Dilan Perera told reporters, 
     
  • UK urges Sri Lanka to implement LLRC recommendations - UNHRC
    Speaking at the opening session of the 19th session of the UN human rights council, UK minister of state, foreign and commonwealth office, Jeremy Browne pledged the UK's commitment to working against the violation of human rights, and urged Sri lanka to implement the recommendation made in the LLRC. 
     
    "Where states fail, institutions of the UN should act to make change," said Browne. 
     
  • Our duty to Sri Lanka, and human rights'

    Writing in the Guardian, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish President Mary Robinson, members of The Elders, global leaders working for peace and human rights, called on the UN Human Rights Council to "support a resolution that seeks accountability for the terrible violations of international law".

    See their full piece here. Extracts reproduced below:

    “This week the UN Human Rights Council has an opportunity and a duty to help Sri Lanka advance its own efforts on accountability and reconciliation. Both are essential if a lasting peace is to be achieved. In doing so, the council will not only be serving Sri Lanka, but those worldwide who believe there are universal rights and international legal obligations we all share.”

    “In the absence of a credible and independent investigation into what happened in Sri Lanka, the Human Rights Council has an obligation to uphold human rights law and international humanitarian law during its upcoming 2012 sessions.,”

    “Against this background, and continuing reports of human rights violations by the authorities, we urge the council to support a resolution that seeks accountability for the terrible violations of international law that have taken place, and establishes mechanisms to monitor progress on the steps the government is taking on accountability. If there is insufficient progress by the government in establishing a credible accountability process in the near future, we urge council members to support the establishment of an independent investigation.”

  • Come and 'die like dogs', minister threatens US
    Sri Lanka's public relations minister, Mervyn Silva expressed his thoughts on a US resolution at the UNHRC.

    According to BBC correspondent Charles Haviland, Silva said Monday, 

    “Americans, if you want to die like dogs as Prabhakaran did, come to Sri Lanka.”

  • HRW produces new evidence of torture, as TAG fights deportations

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) produced fresh evidence of Sri Lanka’s torture of recent Tamil deportees, on Friday, which significantly bolsters ongoing litigation to halt the UK’s continuing deportations says Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) in a litigation update released Saturday.

  • We have dealt with accountability issues' - Sri Lanka tells Navi Pillay

    Sri Lanka's delegation to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva due to begin Monday, assured the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, that "we [Sri Lanka] have dealt with accountability isses".

  • Sri Lanka outraged at Silva humiliation

    Sri Lanka has expressed outrage at the humiliating treatment meted out to Major General Shavendra Silva by a UN committee.

    Silva, who is accused of war crimes, was ejected from the peacekeeping advisory panel to Bank Ki-moon earlier this week, after widespread criticism of his selection to the committee.

  • Silva 'not appropriate' for UN body

    A UN peacekeeping committee reportedly barred Major General Shavendra Silva of the Sri Lankan Army from attending their meetings.

  • Member states & Ban Ki Moon should endorse barring of Silva - HRW

    Endorsing the "principled stand" of Louise Frechette, the chair of the UN body who made the decision to bar Major General Shavendra Silva from the UN's Special Advisory Group on Peace Keeping Operations, Philippe Bolopion, the UN director for Human Rights Watch, called on UN member states and the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to publicly back her decision.

  • Sri Lanka vows large protests against any UN call for independent probe

    The Sri Lankan government vowed to conduct large scale rallies against the "Western forces" that are calling for an independent probe into the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    The government's spokesperson, Susil Premajayantha, told reporters,

  • Conservative MP calls for UK boycott of a Sri Lankan Commonwealth summit

    The Conservative MP for Harlow, Robert Halfon, writing on the ConservativeHome website, endorsed the Canadian pledge to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in

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