The New Zealand prime minister, John Key was urged to raise ongoing human rights concerns with the visiting Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who lands in Auckland on Saturday evening. Amnesty International's New Zealand director, Grant Bayldon was quoted by AFP as saying that whilst it was true progress had been made, much more needed to be done. "There's two laws that need dealing with, one is the so-called prevention of terrorism act in Sri Lanka - basically it's a licence to abduct people and to torture people, and that has to be repealed," Mr Bayldon reportedly said. "The...
Five Buddhist groups have filed a petition against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and its member organisation, Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) accusing the organisations of advocating secession in their manifesto, reported FT.lk. The petition was filed at court this week and a date set for November 21. The petitioners are representatives from five groups including, the Patriotic National Movement, Patriotic Buddhist Front Secretary, Swarna Hansa Foundation, Buddha Maha Sanvithanaya and the Jaffna Buddhist Association. See more here .
The deputy chairman of the Northern Provincial Council passed away on Saturday morning after suffering an acciden whilst riding his motorcycle to Mullaitivu. He is believed to have suffered a heart attack following an accident and was pronounced dead at Mancholai hospital.
Photographs have emerged of Sinhala Buddhist protesters brandishing death threats to the Northern Province Chief Minister during a demonstration in Vavuniya this week. “We all need to live in peace or you rest in peace,” threatened one placard held by a protester. Another read “Bin Ladan. Prabakaran. Now Vignashwaram (sic)." “Last episode will be televised soon,” it warned. Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led the protest against the mass Tamil rally that took place last weekend, Ezhuka Tamil. “If Vigneswaran carries on with his campaign, we will smash the...
The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) looked to assure Sinhala Buddhists that any new constitution for the island will not threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. Rauf Hakeem stated that a new constitution will not divide the island and that it would not be a threat to Sinhala Buddhists on the island. See more from Colombo Gazette here . His comments come as Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday, against Tamil demands for federalism.
The Sri Lankan army has backtracked on its earlier admission that it kept a list of surrendering LTTE cadres in a court hearing this week, with a military commander "flatly denying" its existence. Sri Lanka's Major General Chanayaka Gunawardena told the court that no such list existed, contradicting his statement earlier this year. The commander, who heads the army's 58th Division, said in February that the military kept a list of all those who surrendered during the final three days of the armed conflict in May 2009. None of the surrendees, who were taken prisoner by the 58th division, have...
The Sri Lankan Freedom Party's senior vice president, Nimal Siripala de Silva on Thursday accused the chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran of inciting ethnic tensions during his speech at the mass Tamil rally on September 24, Ezhuka Tamil. “He must not make this kind of remarks which will inflame extremists in the North agitating for a separate state and those in the South who are attempting to create a fear psychosis among the people about the resurgence of LTTE separatism in the country. This government will not tolerate these,” he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as...
Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday against the mass Tamil rally that took place last weekend, Ezhuka Tamil.
The Sri Lankan Federal Party (SLFP) on Thursday categorically rejected the inclusion of foreign judges in any accountability mechanism and said it would never support a federal structure. “We, the SLFP, will never support to divide the country via a federal structure under any circumstances. It’s not possible to get two thirds majority without our support for the new constitution,” minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told a presss conference in Colombo. “We will continue to demonstrate our position in and out of the constitutional assembly, in order to protect the unitary character of the state...
The commander of the Sri Lankn army warned that the military will “do what it must” in response to comments made by Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran. Speaking to reporters after paying tribute to Sinhala Buddhist monks, Army Commander Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva said he would protect the "unity" of the country as well as "national interests" according to Colombo Gazette . The commander’s comments came as Sinhala politicians in the South called for the government to arrest the chief minister, in response to his involvement in a mass rally on Saturday. “It is our duty...