Sri Lankan Independence Day was not a day of celebration for Tamils given the ongoing plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka, the British Tamils Forum said in a statement. “For the first three decades since “Independence”, the Tamil people have been clamouring through non-violent, democratic means for equal status and freedom from Sinhala domination and aggression. These demands were met with violence by the Sinhala dominated state which unleashed pogroms against Tamils repeatedly. This resulted in emergence of armed resistance to this Sinhala colonial aggression. This armed resistance and liberation...
A Tamil boy died on Sunday after falling into an unprotected waste oil pit dug by the Sri Lankan army. The body of 10-year-old Gajenthirakumar Sajinthan was retrieved from an 15-foot deep oil pit which has been in Kankensanthurai for ten years. Locals expressed concern that the waste oil pit was uncovered, adding that it contributed to making their community spaces unsafe.
British Tamils gathered outside Downing Street last week to protest the Sri Lankan government's inaction on accounting for missing and disappeared persons.
A group of NGOs and individuals have called on the European Parliament to reject the EU Commission’s proposal to restore the GSP+ trade preference status to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was suspended from the preferential tariff in August 2010 in response to the deteriorating human rights situation in the country. In a letter to the European Parliament, the organisations noted concern about a number of “factual inaccuracies and omissions with the EU Commission ‘Report on assessment of the application for GSP+ by Sri Lanka.’” The letter outlined “Flawed factual analysis of Sri Lanka’s implementation...
The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council boycotted the military parade that was held in Jaffna to mark Sri Lanka’s Independence Day and instead attended a protest held by Tamil villagers. Justice C V Wigneswaran was invited to the military parade being held in Jaffna, but instead chose to travel to Keppapilavu and Puthukudiyiruppu in the Mullaitivu district to join protesting Tamil villagers, demanding the release of their land. See more on the protests in Keppapilavu here and Puthukudiyiruppu here . In Jaffna, whilst the security forces held an unprecedented parade, family...
Tamil businesses in Mullaitivu shut their shopfronts on Saturday, in boycott of Sri Lankan Independence Day celebrations taking place in the town.
Sri Lanka marked its 69th Independence Day on Saturday with a military parade in the capital as well as military-run events across the North-East. Tamils across the homeland held protests, despite Sri Lankan police seeking court orders to prevent demonstrations, rejecting celebrations of the day.
The Northern Provincial Council unanimously rejected the central government’s proposal to centralize decision-making regarding national economic policy through the Sustainable Development Strategies Bill. The NPC believes that the bill infringes on the provinces’ rights – as it limits the powers under the 13 th Amendment of the constitution. The bill will establish a Sustainable Development Council, which will consist of eight members – three of whom will represent the nine provinces. It is alleged that the minister of the Council is likely to be Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The bill...
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has said that the involvement of courts into the probe on Sri Lankan war crimes is not needed. Kumaratunga, the current head of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), responded to the question of national reconciliation in a recent interview stating: “It is successfully carried out. In the face of opposition and a handful of extremists, activities are continuing with the blessings of the majority. Reconciliation means a lengthy activity. What is urgent now is to bring in a new Constitution, and then comes the establishment...
The UN Human Rights Chief expressed his concern at Sri Lanka’s slow progress on accountability when meeting the country’s prime minister. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, commented on his meeting with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe regarding human rights issues in Sri Lanka. Zeid noted his appreciation of the consultation that was undertaken by the Consultation Taskforce on Reconciliation Mechanisms. However, he further stated, “At the same time, I expressed my concern at the slow progress in a number of areas, especially those relating to accountability, and...