• Further reforms necessary before Sri Lanka can be considered to be on track - UN Special Rapporteur

    Jun 15
    Further reforms are necessary “before Sri Lanka can be considered on a path to sustainable democratisation governed by the rule of law,” said the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Monica Pinto during an oral update at the 32nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
  • Chief Minister tells Chinese Ambassador that Sri Lanka must honour Tamil rights

  • Indonesian police fire warning shot at Tamil refugees fleeing Sri Lanka
    Indonesian police fired a warning shot into the air to stop Tamil asylum seekers from disembarking from the boat which is currently stranded off Aceh's coast, The Age reported.

    The group of 44 men, women and children have been stranded there since June 11.
  • Jaya urges justice for genocide against Eelam Tamils
    The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa this week called on the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi ensure those responsible for genocide against Tamils to be brought to justice.
  • Sri Lanka's military must return all occupied lands to Tamil people says TNA
    The leader of the Tamil National Alliance condemned the new Sir Lankan government’s failure to release all Tamil lands and called for the immediate release of lands held by military in the North-East in parliament on Monday.

    Highlighting that the Tamil victim community were yet to see tangible change, despite voting in the new government, Mr R Sampanthan said,

    “The most affected people, the people most affected by injustice, inequality and violent conflict, the Tamil people of the North and the East, not merely made a very substantial and significant contribution towards the achievement of this change, but did so with certain definite expectations. They expected justice, equality, restoration of their lives and contentment. They expected conditions to be created for genuine reconciliation. But seven years after the conflict came to an end, seventeen months after a new President was elected, nine months after a new Government was elected, they remain a discontented people. In that context, reconciliation in the proper sense is not yet visible.”
  • US 'very firmly' committed to in Sri Lanka says Nisha Biswal
    The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Biswal said the US stood ‘very firmly’ on the need for progress on accountability in Sri Lanka.
  • Tamil patience running out amidst militarisation and colonisation of North-East says TNA
    The Tamil National Alliance spokesperson MA Sumanthiran said the day to day lives of Tamils in the North-East are yet to change, stressing that the “people’s patience is running out” amidst militarisation and state sponsored changes in demography.

    See tweets from the event here.

    Mr Sumanthiran was speaking alongside Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US who called for more time and “patience” at a recent event on constitutional reform hosted by the Congressional Caucus on Sri Lanka.

    The event, chaired by Wall Street Journal Columnist Sadanand Dhume at Capitol Hill on Tuesday, started with Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US Prasad Kariyawasam and Tamil National Alliance spokesperson MA Sumanthiran  addressing the congressional gathering.

    Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US called for “patience”  claiming  “we have achieved a lot already. Daily violence has stopped. ”

    The Ambassador said that ‘the government of Sri Lanka is working closely with international partners such as the UN, European Union and United States.”

    Stressing that ‘all efforts will take time,’  Sri Lanka’s Ambassador said  “the need of the hour is patience and tenacity, and support for moderate forces.”

    In response Mr Sumanthiran noted that the day to day issues of Tamils haven’t changed, lamenting ongoing militarisation and state sponsored colonisation.
  • Govt inaction putting Sri Lanka's economy at risks - IMF
    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday warned that the Sri Lankan government's inaction on critical areas was putting the country's economic outlook at risk, reported Reuters.

    "Despite positive growth momentum, the Sri Lankan economy is facing challenges due to the difficult external environment and a period of significant political transition," the IMF executive board was quoted by the news site as saying.
  • Amnesty urges Indonesia to allow Tamil asylum seekers to disembark
    Amnesty International on Wednesday called on the Indonesian government to allow over 40 Tamils fleeing from Sri Lanka to disembark and meet with UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) officials.

    “These people have endured a long and difficult journey already. Now that they have reached land in Aceh, they should be allowed to disembark and meet UNHCR officials,” Amnesty International’s director of campaigns for South East Asia and the Pacific, Josef Benedict said in a statement.

    Noting the ongoing discrimination against Tamils, Amnesty said in a statement:
    "Despite many recent improvements, there are still concerns about discriminatory practices against Tamils by law enforcement officials."

    "The UN Human Rights Council noted in April that Sri Lanka saw a spate of arrests of Tamils under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Arrests carried out under the PTA have, in a number of cases, failed to meet the minimum standards of due process laid out in directives by Sri Lanka’s National Human Rights Commission. Tamil Sri Lankans remain deeply concerned about what they say is a persistent culture of surveillance in the north and east of the country."
  • Government to replace PTA with three new acts - defence sec

    The Sri Lankan government is planning to replace the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act with three new acts. The National Security Act, the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act and the Intelligence Act will replace the PTA and are aimed at preventing the re-emergence of terrorism, consolidate inter communal harmony, the rule of law and national security, Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi told the Daily Mirror.

  • Sri Lanka announces Paranagama Commission to be disbanded
    As the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council began this week in Geneva, with an oral progress update by the UN High Commissioner for human rights anticipated the Sri Lankan government announced that the Paranagama Commission would be disbanded on July 15th.
  • Pasumai Thaayagam expresses deep concern at Sri Lanka's reneging on UNHRC commitments
    Pasumai Thaayagam expressed deep concern at the Sri Lankan government’s reneging on its commitment to including foreign judges in any judicial process, and refusal to remove the military from the North-East of the island.

    In a statement made at the opening debate of the 32nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Pasumai Thaayagam expressing ‘deep concern’ at the ‘mixed messaging the government is sending’, stated,
     
    “President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe have repeatedly stated that the judicial mechanism will not include foreign actors, a key component to the credibility of the mechanism from the perspective of victims. This week, Sri Lanka's military commander in Jaffna, Mahesh Senanayake, stated that the military planned to stay in the North-East, despite the fact that the Resolution calls for meaningful security reform.”

    The organisation went on to note the lack of trust in victims confidence that the new Sri Lankan government was willing to deliver on its commitment, “due to the government’s failure to address critical on-going human rights issues including militarisation, reports of on-going torture, continued illegal land acquisition, and the detention of political prisoners.”
  • Sri Lanka has made little progress conclude UK parliamentary groups

    Sri Lanka has made little progress in fulfilling its human rights commitments, observed a panel at a British parliamentary event hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) joint with the All Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG).

    The event on June 7th opened with the screening of the documentary ‘Silenced Survivors’, a film featuring harrowing testimonies of Tamil torture survivors, recounting their experiences at the hands of Sri Lankan military and authorities and raising their fears of ever returning. The film was produced by investigative journalist Emanuel Stokes.

  • Most occupied lands still not released by military says TNA leader
    The Sri Lankan military is still occupying most seized lands despite the government handing over some lands back to its owners, the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R Sampanthan was quoted by Ceylon Today as telling parliament.

    Highlighting lands occupied by the military in Valikaamam and Paravipachchan but that are not in active use, Mr Sampanthan asked, "why can't the army give these back to their original civilian owners?"
  • Monk tells minister Sri Lankan army must remain in North
    A senior Sinhala Buddhist monk told Sri Lankan government minister Mahinda Samrasinghe that army camps must remain in the North in order to preserve national security, reports The Island.

    The Mahanayake of Asgiriya, Warakagoda Sri Gunnaratana told Minister Samarasinghe that army camps in the North must not be removed, despite repeated calls for the military to be withdrawn from Tamil areas of the island.

    Mr Samarasinghe, who represented the previous Sri Lankan government in Geneva as the president’s special envoy on human rights agreed with the monk, telling him that “the army security in the north is essential".

    “Peace had been restored in the north again,” said Mr Samamrasinghe, stating that the “international community was extending its unstinted support to the country”.
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