Sri Lanka’s current president Maithripala Sirisena pardoned the killer of a Swedish teenager this weekend, in a move that has symbolised the climate of impunity on the island.
The Tamil political leadership should join the “extra-parliamentary” agitations across the North-East in order to achieve the political goals of power-sharing, accountability and demilitarisation, argued journalist J S Tissainayagam in an article for the Asian Correspondent last month.
<p>A fresh contempt of court hearing against Gnanasara, a leader of the extremist Sinhala-nationalist BBS organisation, has been set for February 17, 2020 by the Sri Lankan court of appeal.</p>
<p>The action was filed by TNA MP Shanthi Sriskandarajah after Gnanasara had led the cremation of a Buddhist monk on Tamil temple premises, directly contravening a court order prohibiting the action.</p>
Pressure from the Sri Lankan military has led to the University of Jaffna barring the head of its law department from engaging in private practice, after he took up a public interest habeas corpus case into the 1996 disappearance of more than two dozen Tamil youth.
Tamils clearing the Kanchikudiyaru thuyilum illam (LTTE cemetery) were threatened by the Sri Lankan army on Friday morning.
On Friday, families of fallen LTTE cadres and members of the public gathered to clear up the cemetery in Amparai district, in preparation for Maaveerar Naal on November 27.
Sri Lanka’s leading presidential election candidates have spent over Rs. 1 billion so far on their campaigns in just two weeks, according to figures released by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV).
Over 250,000 Australians have been campaigning to stop the deportation of a Tamil family from Australia to Sri Lanka. Despite their campaign for fairness, “the Morrison government still insists on denying assistance to the Biloela family,” Meggan Devery writes for Independent Australia.
The United Nations (UN) claimed that Sri Lankan peacekeepers to be deployed with its mission in Mali have a “critical and specialized capability” needed to protect convoys on the ground, as controversy erupted over the Sri Lankan army’s continued participation on peacekeeping missions.
<p>Socialist Party of Malaysia’s Deputy Chairperson, S Arutchelvan, condemned the Special Measures Act (SOSMA), which has been used to detain 12 men for their alleged ‘LTTE links’.</p>
<p>According to the Green Left, Arutchelvan said that SOSMA must be repealed urgently. He was previously a veteran of the campaign against the Internal Security Act (ISA), legislation which was used to detain people without trial but has now been repealed.</p>
Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals dropped by 22.5% in October, representing a seventh straight month of decline, despite the government launching several worldwide "aggressive" tourism campaigns.
Both Sri Lanka’s leading candidates in upcoming presidential polls have emphasised their commitment to “national security” and strengthening the controversial military, as canvassing heats up this week.
Sri Lanka’s president declared open a new military complex this morning, speaking at a grand opening ceremony alongside accused war criminal Shavendra Silva.
<p>There have been no police investigations and no accountability for the threats and violence faced by refugees and asylum seekers in Sri Lanka says a new report published by Amnesty International and Minority Rights Group International. </p>
Sajith Premadasa, the UNP’s presidential candidate, has stated that once elected he would appoint a new Prime Minister who could command the confidence of parliament.
.jpg)
.jpg)
