The Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) condemned efforts by the Sri Lankan government to repress memorialisation efforts by Tamils, after a Sri Lankan court ordered a stay against a memoiral event planned by Tamil civil society for tomorrow. “Over the past month, Tamil civil society activists involved in memorialisation work have been repeatedly visited and interrogated by military intelligence and police,” said ACPR in a statement released today. In particular, the statement highlighted the summoning of two civil society activists by Sri Lankan police in Mullaitivu and “a letter...
The International Truth and Justice Project condemned the recent ban by Sri Lanka’s government on the commemorations of the dead by Tamil families in Mullivaikkal and called on the government to lift the ban immediately, in a statement released on Wednesday. “Remembering the dead is a fundamental right of the culture of every people and begs the question of how weeping parents, remembering their loved ones, can threaten national security? The ban on the basis of national security is based on spurious grounds and is a sign of the ongoing repression and militarisation that continues to affect...
Former LTTE cadres held a ceremony to mark Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week at Sampur today. The ceremony, attended by Northern Province Councillor Ananthy Sasitharan, saw a flame lit in remembrance of those killed during the final phases of the armed conflict.
The Mullaitivu magistrates court has served a stay order banning Mullivaikkaal commemorations planned for May 18th by Tamil civil society members.
Mullaitivu police detained an individual involved in Mullivaikkaal remembrance activities and summoned one other organiser for questioning on Tuesday evening. The organiser, Father Elil Rajan, responded to the summons by attending the police station with a lawyer. Father Elil was questioned about the remembrance activities he was involved in organising and was released after submitting a statement. The other individual was also released after the statement was given. Last week, multiple military officials were reported to have harassed the same civil society members involved in the...
Sri Lanka could lose a real opportunity to address the roots of its decades of political turmoil with chances of an eventual return to violence would then grow considerably, concludes the International Crisis Group in their latest report on Sri Lanka. Highlighting the new unity government’s failure to implement tangible changes to build confidence within the Tamil North-East, the ICG said, “Tamils in the north and east were assured of confidence building measures that require major changes in the security forces’ role. Yet, the military resists returning additional occupied land to its owners...
Organisers of the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week held a ceremony in Point Pedro today, where a flame was lit in memory of those who have been killed.
Hundreds of students at the University of Jaffna protested today against the transfer of the trial for the rape and murder of a Punguditivu student to a Colombo High Court.
Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe this week asserted China's 'One Belt One Road' programme would help Sri Lanka "to become a hub of the Indian Ocean", the Daily Mirror reported. Mr Wickremesinghe made this remark as he took part in talks on the programme in Beijing along side over 30 heads of states. “It is important to establish peaceful non military ties among the countries in the region. Therefore it is essential to establish multilateral trade ties based on a commercial basis,” he was quoted by the paper as saying.
Sri Lanka's Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) party on Monday slammed the Indian prime minister's plans for development, accusing him of viewing the island as India's 30th state. “Mr. Modi pledged to expand the Indian-funded ambulance service to cover the entire country and build 10,000 housing units for residents in the estate sector. What right has he to make decisions on behalf of Sri Lanka? He spoke as if Sri Lanka was the 30th state of India with President Sirisena as the Governor and Premier Wickremesinghe as the Chief Minister of that state,” PHU General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila was...