• Sampanthan attempts to defend himself

    May 04

    Commenting on recently taken photographs of waving the Sri Lankan flag with UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the TNA R. Sampanthan defended his actions to Charles Haviland, BBC correspondent for Sri Lanka.

    According to tweets posted by Haviland on Saturday, Sampanthan dismissed concerns regarding his actions stating that it was the national flag.

  • US official reviews demining efforts in North-East

    Walter D. Givhan, US State Department official on political-military affairs reviewed demining efforts in the North-East over the past week.

    Discussing the situation with local NGOs, Givhan reviewed the challenges faced and ongoing support needed.

  • Press in Sri Lanka remains ‘Not Free’ - Freedom House
    The annual press freedom report from US-based NGO Freedom House, has found that media freedom in Sri Lanka has fallen, with the country continuing to be classed as “Not Free”.

    Sri Lanka remains ranked just one place above Afghanistan in the Asia-Pacific rankings and behind states such as Iraq in the global rankings. Classified as “Not Free”, Sri Lanka joins countries such as China, Iran, North Korea and Somalia.
  • Sri Lanka slams both London’s leading mayoral candidates
    As voting gets underway to decide London’s next mayor in the UK on Thursday, Sri Lanka has come out to condemn both leading candidates in the election.
  • Rajapaksa pilots Sri Lanka's airlines

  • Sampanthan campaigns at May Day rally

  • Activists in New York demand 'Justice for Trinco 5'

    Over 700 activists attended Amnesty International's annual 'Get on the Bus for Human Rights' event in New York on Friday, calling for justice, accountability, and an end to human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia and Tibet.

    Activists called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the Trinco-5 killings of Ragihar Manoharan and his fellow four students in Trincomalee on 2nd January 2006.

    J.S. Tissainayagam, a former Sunday Times journalist imprisoned by the Sri Lankan government in 2008, spoke at this year's event, detailing the Sri Lankan government's failure to deliver justice and his own ordeal during detention.

  • Australia urged to address asylum seeker torture concerns
    Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Law Centre has called on the Australian government to raise the issue of asylum seekers being tortured, when Immigration Minister Chris Bowen visits the Sri Lanka later this week.

    With Australia “working closely” with Sri Lanka regarding asylum seekers fleeing the country, the Minister is set to visit Sri Lanka from May 2nd to 4th.
  • Sri Lanka indignant at UK after FCO report

    The UK has no right to accuse Sri Lanka of not doing enough to address accountability of the war, said Sri lanka's deputy external affairs minister Neomal Perera on Tuesday after the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office released a report on Monday concluding that significant progress was still needed.

  • Currency intervention threatened with Sri Lanka stumped
    The Secretary to the Treasury has told reporters that Sri Lanka may revert back to intervening in the country’s exchange rates, after the fast falling rupee hit record lows this week, leaving Sri Lankan officials perplexed.

    P. B. Jayasundera told reporters,
    "I honestly can't see any rationality behind the behaviour of either in the exchange rate or interest rate."

    "If the element of speculation goes beyond a tolerable level that is the time the market should intervene not by just simply releasing foreign exchange, (but) probably with the announcement of two rates. If that is what speculators are looking for, the government is quite competent in managing it."
    The rupee has fallen 12.3 percent since February, after the government gave in to IMF pressure and halted their policy of artificially propping up the rupee. Sri Lanka is estimated to have spent more than $2.6 billion to help support the value of the rupee, depleting its reserves by almost a third.

    See our earlier posts:

    Sri Lanka’s emerging economic crisis (18 Mar 2012)

    Prices rise as Mahinda Economics unwinds (16 Feb 2012)

    Mahinda Economics (21 Sep 2011)

    It hit a record 133.5 to the dollar last week, but has since recovered slightly to just over 130. However, Jayasundera was wary of the ruppe falling to the 125 to the dollar mark, stating,
    "There is no economic or fundamental reasons for the rupee to go beyond 125 a dollar. There is no reason why the rate goes beyond this because the policy actions are already in place."
    Meanwhile, Sri Lanka may delay plans to stop the supply of dollars to meet oil import bills, originally set for May. The plans would have forced the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to buy dollars from the market rather than the state-owned Central Bank, increasing pressure on the rupee.
  • U.S. Congressman calls for international investigation
    U.S Congressman Bill Johnson (R) from Ohio reiterated calls for an international investigation and accountability in Sri Lanka while meeting Tamil and Indian constituents, as he campaigned for re-election in November.

    Representative Johnson was welcomed with a flower garland from the host and lit the traditional oil lamp.
  • Eelam flag seen at Jaffna May Day Rally
    Video footage of Tuesday’s May Day rally in Jaffna, organised by the UNP and TNA, has shown a man waving the Tamil Eelam national flag whilst marching with the procession.

    The footage, which has been broadcast on state TV, shows an unknown man flourishing the Tamil Eelam flag as the procession marched through.
  • Rajapakse will fight foreign 'conspiracies'

    President Mahinda Rajapakse has said that he will not allow international ‘conspiracies’ under the guise of human rights to break Sri Lanka.

    Addressing a May Day rally Tuesday in Colombo, the Sri Lankan president said "the unity of working people is essential to rebuild this nation".

  • Prasanna set to flee permanently this week
    Major General Prasanna de Silva, Sri Lanka's military attache at the high commission in London, has been reported to be planning his permanent departure back to Sri Lanka this week, after growing calls to declare him a persona non grata.
  • UK ‘concerned’ about human rights in Sri Lanka

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has released its annual human rights report and has listed Sri Lanka as a country of concern, along with countries such as North Korea, Iran, Russia and Syria.

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