• Tamil genocide remembered at Navali church



    The bombing of displaced Tamils inside Navaly's St Peter's Church on July 9th, 1995 was marked on Saturday as part of Mullivaikkal Remembrance week, which remembers the genocide of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka over several decades.

    At least 120 Tamil civilians were massacred in the Navali church attack.



    The Northern Provincial Councillor, M K Shivajilingham lit a flame of remembrance at the church.



    Launching the remembrance week on Thursday, Mr Shivajilingham began proceedings in Chemmani, where the mass graves of Tamils are situated.

  • Danish parliament hosts conference on accountability for Sri Lanka's mass atrocities

    A conference on international humanitarian and human rights law violations in Sri Lanka was held in the Danish Parliament this week, with speakers from around the world discussing mass atrocities committed on the island and the current human rights situation.

  • Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week organisers followed by Sri Lankan military intelligence

    The organisers of Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week have been followed and intimidated by Sri Lankan military intelligence, stated Northern Provincial Council member M K Shivajilingam.

    Mr Shivajilingam said that since he and other Tamil politicians lit a flame to launch commemoration the 7th anniversary of the massacre of Tamils at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009, Sri Lankan military personnel have been following him and other organisers.

    They report being followed and filmed by military intelligence personnel.

  • Modi raises fishermen issue with Sirisena
    The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday raised the ongoing arrests of fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy with the country's president, Maithripala Sirisena, who is currently in New Delhi for talks.

    Mr Modi stressed the need "to develop a mechanism and find a permanent solution to the issue of fishermen straying into each other waters."
  • Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week launched in Jaffna


    Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week was officially launched on May 12th in Jaffna, with the lighting of a flame, marking the 7th anniversary of the massacre of Tamils at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009.

  • US Ambassador to UN discusses accountability and on-going violations with former Sri Lanka president
    The US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power met with former Sri Lankan President Chandrika, Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, currently Chairperson of Sri Lanka’s Office of National Unity Reconciliation (OUNUR) , and Mano Tittawella, Secretary General for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms on Wednesday.
  • Sri Lankan military intimidates Tamil protestors in Poonakari

    Armed Sri Lankan soldiers surrounded and photographed a group of Tamil demonstrators in Poonakari this week, as they protested against military land grabs in the area.

     

  • Sri Lankan minister warns against 'LTTE remembrance'

    Sri Lanka's state minister of defence on Thursday warned the police has been ordered to crackdown on any activities it deemed were in remembrance of LTTE cadres, during next week's Mullivaikkal remembrance week commemorated by Tamils.

    “We will not allow the LTTE flag to be raised or any event to be held in support of the LTTE leader or LTTE cadres,” he was quoted by Colombo Gazette as saying.
  • Protests continue in London against Sirisena

    Tamils in London continued to protest against the visit of the Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena to the UK for an anti-corruption summit.

  • Sri Lanka's former foreign affairs minister warns of increasing EU conditions for GSP+
    Former foreign minister GL Peiris said that any the number of conditions that the EU was imposing on Sri Lanka to regain the GSP+ trade concession had increased since his tenure as Sri Lanka’s foreign minister.

    Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Peiris said that there were only 11 conditions that Sri Lanka had to fulfil to regain the trade concession.
  • Sri Lanka committed to prisons reform says minister
    The Sri Lankan government is committed to reforming prisons in line with UN standards, the minister D M Swaminathan said on Wednesday, the Colombo Page reported.

    Pledging to improve the humanitarian conditions, Mr Swaminathan failed to comment on the recent comments by the UN Special Rapporteur highlighting the ongoing use of torture against those in detention.
  • UN Special Rapporteurs urge Sri Lanka to stop torture and repeal PTA
    UN Special Rapporteurs on Wednesday urged the Sri Lankan government to stop the ongoing torture taking place and ensure the legal framework allowing human rights violations is replaced and the Prevention of Terrorism Act is removed.

    “Sri Lanka is taking steps to draft a new constitution, an undertaking that presents an opportunity to reinforce the independence and impartiality of the justice sector and provide more safeguards against torture and other serious human rights violations,” Mónica Pinto, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Juan E. Méndez, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said in statement following their recent visit to the island.

  • Sinhale threaten LGBT activists in Sri Lanka
    The far-right Sinhala group, Sinhale, has threatened to attack Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) activists organising a pride event in Colombo next month.

    Threatening to take the law into their own hands to stop the event, Sinhale members accused foreign embassies of paying NGOs to "put this filth into the minds of our Sinhala people and make us all extinct."

    Translation of Facebook posts written in Sinhalese:
    "How many fags do we have here in Colombo? NGOs are obtaining a good dowry from embassies. They are going to attempt to put this filth into the minds of our Sinhala people and make us all extinct."

    "The scum of the earth f**kers who hide behind colourful rainbow flags are preparing to have an event from June 10th to 18th, and before that they're preparing to try and legalise faggot f**kery."

    "Faggot activities aren’t legal. Let’s take the law into our own hands. If the police aren’t going to do anything about it our community is ready to do it ourselves. We will not let these mother f**king dogs to ruin our culture. Ladies and Gents of Sinhale, join us on the 28th to look at the faces of these faggots at Race course.”
  • British Tamils protest against Sri Lankan president

    Protestors in London are currently demonstrating against Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, who is visiting the United Kingdom today.

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