Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigations Department on Monday told a court that the former president's brother and former defence minister, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ran a 'top secret death squad', Al Jazeera reported. The death squad was responsible for the assassinations of political opponents and journalists, including the former Sunday Leader editor, Lasantha Wickremetunge. Excerpts of a report compiled by the CID was read out in court: "Testimony from the former army commander [Sarath Fonseka] shows that there was a special secret unit outside his authority and controlled by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa...
Impunity Reigns in Sri Lanka, a new report released by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), examines the failure of successive Sri Lankan governments to service justice for the massacre of Tamil civilians in Kumarapuram which took place over 20 years ago. The report details findings based on, “interviews with victim survivors from Kumarapuram and the lawyers who represented/assisted them; and interviews with a broad cross-section of human rights lawyers in Sri Lanka.” In a press statement released on Monday, PEARL’s Human Rights Director, Dharsha Jegatheeswaran, said, “While Sri...
The Mayor of Toronto paid tribute in Mullaitivu to the thousands of Tamils massacred by the Sri Lankan state in the final stages of the war in 2009.
China's minister of defence Chang Wanquan left the country on Sunday to embark on a visit of Sri Lanka and Nepal, Reuters reported. Details of his trips are unavailable. The deputy naval chief, Su Zhiqian is to be part of the offical delegation.
Sri Lanka will carefully study the recommendations made by the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, made in her report which follows her visit to Sri Lanka late last year. "We believe the visit was timely as the Government and the people of Sri Lanka have embarked on a historic journey to achieve durable peace, reconciliation and development," the ambassador, Ravinatha Aryasinha said. "Madam Rita Izsák’s Report on her visit is being studied carefully, and, with Sri Lanka’s renewed commitment towards greater engagement with human rights mechanisms and the international...
Sri Lanka's foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera reportedly criticised a Sri Lankan Major General publishing a book which details the extensive war crimes of the army, calling it the "biggest betrayal to the war heroes". “This book basically confirms everything that the radical Tamil groups have been saying. We are going around telling the international community that there have been no war crimes, but this book gives information about how the army has been going around breaking houses, breaking legs and even killing,” Mr Samaraweera was quoted by the Colombo Telegraph as saying. The book by...
Stephen Rapp, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues in the Office of Global Criminal Justice, called for a clear "time frame and benchmarks" for Sri Lanka to implement its "commitments to accountability" in a press release issued this week. “ From discussions this week in Geneva it was clear that there is a consensus among Member States in favor of reaffirming the mandate for full compliance with the transitional justice provisions of Resolution 30/1 while providing Sri Lanka with more time to achieve compliance,” said Mr Rapp. “I therefore urge that Member States in...
Jegath Jayasuriya, a former Sri Lankan army commander and the government's current Ambassador to Brazil, is alleged to be complicit in the torture that took place at the Joseph Camp in Vavuniya between August 2007 and mid-July 2009, according to a report released by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITPJ). The report, launched this week, describes the many incidents of torture at the Joseph Camp – formally known as Vanni Security Force Headquarters. “Witnesses provided ITJP with searing testimony of torture in Joseph Camp that included rape with objects such as cricket wickets and...
The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution this week, stating that Sri Lanka had “not taken any meaningful steps for a credible justice process and an accountability mechanism that it had accepted, promised and committed to”. “The Government of Sri Lanka has not taken any meaningful steps to implement its own commitment to establish an impartial credible mechanism” said the NPC, noting that “the victimized Tamil people do not have any confidence on any domestic judicial mechanism that does not contain majority of foreign judges, lawyers, prosecutors and investigators”. The...
Photograph: Protest outside the Malaysian High Commission in London. Courtesy of Sri Lankan Campaign. Protests were held internationally in support of Lena Hendry this week – an activist who was convicted in Malaysia for screening “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” without the approval of the Malaysian ensorship Board. A press release issued by International Friends of Lena Hendry, stated that protests were held internationally at various Malaysian embassies such as in London and Zurich on March 9 th and in Colombo earlier today. Photograph: Protest outside the Malaysian High...