Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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Court orders Sallay to hand over passwords in Easter Sunday probe
The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court has ordered former State Intelligence Service Director Major General (Retired) Suresh Sallay to provide the Criminal Investigation Department with the passwords to his mobile phone and computer as part of the ongoing investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. The order was issued on Wednesday by Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena, while Sallay…

India reiterates need for meaningful devolution of political authority in Sri Lanka

Oct 1, 2015
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council at the adoption of a consensus resolution on accountability in Sri Lanka, India reiterated the need for meaningful devolution of political authority.

"As Sri Lanka's closest neighbour, India cannot remain untouched by developments in that country," India's ambassador to Geneva said on Thursday.

"India has always supported efforts to preserve Sri Lanka's character as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious society in which all citizens, including the Sri Lankan Tamil community, can live in equality, safety and harmony, and prosper and fulfil their aspirations within a united Sri Lanka."

"Towards this direction, we reiterate our firm belief that the meaningful devolution of political authority through the implementation of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of Sri Lanka and building upon it would greatly help the process of national reconciliation in Sri Lanka."

Tamil diaspora critical for meaningful dialogue on Sri Lanka says South Africa

Oct 1, 2015
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council at the adoption of a consensus resolution on accountability in Sri Lanka, South Africa reiterated the importance of meaningful dialogue in order to achieve reconciliation, adding that "the Tamil Diaspora remains an important constituency and its support is critical in fostering a real and meaningful dialogue."

"While there is recognition of the positive step taken, the High Commissioner’s report also highlights the endemic violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law including the lack of credibility in Sri Lanka’s domestic mechanism," South Africa said.

"South Africa believes that the establishment of a credible domestic mechanism on accountability, truth telling and reconciliation must be underpinned by sincere political dialogue process between all concerned parties, which includes the Singhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities to bring about a lasting political solution and the achievement of sustainable peace for the people of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Diaspora remains an important constituency and its support is critical in fostering a real and meaningful dialogue."

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister urges Modi to wage ‘strong diplomatic offensive’ on Sri Lanka

Oct 1, 2015

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa urged the Indian Prime Minister to “wage a strong diplomatic offensive to uphold the rights and interests of our Indian fishermen”.

In a letter to Narendra Modi, the chief minister called on him to act on the recent arrests of fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan navy. 28 fishermen and their 30 fishing boats are in Sri Lankan custody after being apprehended by the Sri Lankan security forces earlier this week.

Sri Lanka must ‘undertake a difficult but essential journey’ - US

Oct 1, 2015
The United States said the goal of the recently passed resolution at the UN Human Rights Council is to “to help Sri Lanka undertake a difficult but essential journey”.

Ambassador Keith Harper told the council the resolution “seeks to support Sri Lanka’s path to lasting peace, built on a foundation of justice and accountability”.

“The goal of this resolution—and of our efforts here in Geneva—is to help Sri Lanka undertake a difficult but essential journey,” he said. “And, we welcome that this resolution recognizes the critical role of continued OHCHR engagement.”

Sri Lankan ambassador had government approval for interventions at UN HRC

Oct 1, 2015

The Sri Lankan foreign ministry has confirmed that Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council spoke with government approval, when delivering interventions at discussions regarding the resolution last week.

Resolution 'crucial step' in ensuring accountability - David Cameron

Oct 1, 2015

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said the resolution on Sri Lanka, passed at the Human Rights Council on Thursday, was a "crucial step" towards uncovering the truth about alleged war crimes and ensuring accountability.

In a statement released on Friday, Mr Cameron pledged Britain's commitment to stand up for those affected by the armed conflict.

The prime minister welcomed Sri Lanka's commitment to ensuring perpetrators of war crimes are held to account and encouraged the government to continue working with the UN.

‘Proof of change will come in how Sri Lanka treats most vulnerable victims’

Oct 1, 2015
The proof of change in Sri Lanka following the passing of a UN resolution this week, will come in how it treats survivors of sexual violence, wrote Nimmi Gowrinathan and Kate Cronin-Furman.

Writing in the Washington Post, they said “for the victim community, and their advocates,” the passing of the resolution is “not unambiguously cause for celebration”.
“Even as the members of the Council commended Sri Lanka’s government for re-engaging with the international community, domestic civil society groups and international rights activists challenged the vagueness of the resolution’s call for Sri Lanka to ensure a “credible justice process”,” they said.

“Sri Lanka has a long history of domestic commissions of inquiry that function as impressive political theatre but have limited capacity to provide redress. The acceptance of a (yet to be specified) role for international experts and the passage of a victims and witnesses protection act are encouraging signs that the new government intends to break with this tradition and embark upon a genuine transitional justice process. But the proof of a change will come in how Sri Lanka treats the most vulnerable victims of the long conflict – those who have survived sexual violence.”

SLFP 'salutes' Maithri for saving Sri Lanka from imperialist trap

Oct 1, 2015

Posters by President Maithripala Sirisena's party, the SLFP, have appeared hailing him for saving Sri Lanka from the imperialist trap, after the passing of the consensus resolution on Sri Lanka on Thursday.

International scrutiny will be central in what happens next - Callum Macrae

Oct 1, 2015
Writing for Channel 4 news, the No Fire Zone documentary director, Callum Macrae, said that victims and human rights organisations will expect to see real measurable progress in Sri Lanka on the implementation of the UNHRC resolution.

Noting that Sri Lanka would come under real pressure if progress wasn’t seen by the international community in upcoming weeks, Mr Macrae said “One likely issue to become an immediate focus of campaigning will be for the establishment of properly staffed and adequately funded regional office of the OHCHR in the Jaffna or Kilinochchi areas of the north.”

International component crucial for credible accountability in Sri Lanka - Amnesty

Oct 1, 2015
Highlighting that international judges, defence lawyers, prosecutors and investigators were crucial for a credible accountability process, Amnesty International welcomed the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka as an “opportunity” for justice if “the resolution and underlying commitments of Sri Lanka’s government are implemented in good faith,” said Amnesty International in a press release on Thursday.
Tamil diaspora critical for meaningful dialogue on Sri Lanka says South Africa
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister urges Modi to wage ‘strong diplomatic offensive’ on Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka must ‘undertake a difficult but essential journey’ - US
Sri Lankan ambassador had government approval for interventions at UN HRC
Resolution 'crucial step' in ensuring accountability - David Cameron
‘Proof of change will come in how Sri Lanka treats most vulnerable victims’
SLFP 'salutes' Maithri for saving Sri Lanka from imperialist trap
International scrutiny will be central in what happens next - Callum Macrae
International component crucial for credible accountability in Sri Lanka - Amnesty
Sri Lanka will ‘fruitfully’ share experience on 'eliminating terrorism' says president
Tamil diaspora critical for meaningful dialogue on Sri Lanka says South Africa
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister urges Modi to wage ‘strong diplomatic offensive’ on Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka must ‘undertake a difficult but essential journey’ - US
Sri Lankan ambassador had government approval for interventions at UN HRC
Resolution 'crucial step' in ensuring accountability - David Cameron
‘Proof of change will come in how Sri Lanka treats most vulnerable victims’
SLFP 'salutes' Maithri for saving Sri Lanka from imperialist trap
International scrutiny will be central in what happens next - Callum Macrae
International component crucial for credible accountability in Sri Lanka - Amnesty
Sri Lanka will ‘fruitfully’ share experience on 'eliminating terrorism' says president