• War crimes suspect Jagath Jayasuriya takes up diplomatic post in Brazil

    Former army commander General Jagath Jayasuriya, who is widely thought to be responsible for mass atrocities during the last phase of the armed conflict, has taken up his new post as Sri Lanka's ambassador to Brazil.

    The general presented his credentials to President Dilma Rousseff earlier this week and briefed her on the political progress seen on the island since the change in government.

    The Foreign Ministry announced in June that former army commander Jagath Jayasuriya and former army chief Daya Ratnayake have been nominated as envoys to Brazil and Pakistan respectively. Both held senior positions during the last phase of the armed conflict, which saw grave violations of international humanitarian law. Mr Jayasuriya was denied a US visa earlier this year over the allegations.

  • Government changes name of Tamil island to Sinhala

    The NPC passed a resolution on Thursday demanding the revocation of the change in name of the island Nainathivu to the Sinhala name, Nagapattina.

    The resolution, which was unanimously approved, said the government gazette mandating the change of the name was an attempt to distort history.

  • OHCHR releases fact sheets on OISL Report

    The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released seven “fact sheets” for the report of the OHCHR’s Investigation on Sri Lanka. The documents briefly summarize key parts of the many chapters of the report and highlight important findings.

  • National government needed to withstand foreign pressure – SL minister

    Sri Lanka’s University Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella said a united national government with the two major parties was needed in order to withstand pressure from foreign governments.

  • UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances to visit Sri Lanka

    The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will visit Sri Lanka next week, at the invitation of the Sri Lankan government.

    A statement by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced that the group will be on an official visit from the 9th til the 18th of November.

  • Sri Lanka PM promised 32 Tamil political prisoners to be released on Monday

    32 Tamil political prisoners will be released on November 9th, leader of the opposition and TNA leader, R. Sampanthan has said.

    Mr Sampanthan said that the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had reassured him that the 32 would be released on the 9th, with a further 30 to be released before the 20th and another 48 to be released pending investigation.

  • I prevented Gota from being arrested says Sri Lanka's Justice Minister

    Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyasadasa Rajapakshe told Sir Lanka’s parliament that he had prevented former Defence Secretary Gotabaya from being arrested.

  • Investigate Tamil journalist murders and abductions - NPC resolution

    The Northern Provincial Council has called for the Sri Lankan government to open immediate investigations into the murder and assaulting of journalists across the North-East.

  • Army attempts to legalise landgrab in Mannar village

    The Sri Lankan Army is attempting to make its occupation of over 3000 acres of land in Mannar, permanent.

    3,524 acres of Tamil owned-land in the village of Sannar was seized by the army during the Rajapaksa regime.

    Reports from the area claim that the occupying army are attempting to gain legal rights over the land for permanent military use.

  • Tamil political prisoners declare intention to fast unto death unless granted amnesty

    Tamil political prisoners have announced their intention to fast unto death again unless they are granted amnesty.

    Calling on the Sri Lankan president to secure their release before November 7th as promised in a letter, the prisoners said that unless a general amnesty was granted they would resume their hunger strike and refuse to call it off for any other reasons.

  • Work of Tamil judges in Sri Lanka often compromised by fear of consequences

    Tamil judges are often too intimidated to pass the right judgements, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province has said.

    Meeting with the Japanese ambassador, Kenichi Suganuma on Wednesday, Mr Wigneswaran said that a domestic accountability mechanism would be of no good to victims of atrocities, and that unbiased international judges would be crucial to the process.

  • All cases in Chavakachcheri court to be conducted in Tamil

    A district court in Jaffna has announced that from January 2016 all cases will be conducted in Tamil.

    District judge Srinthi Nanthasekaran told visiting Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe that despite the apparent recruitment of 600 Tamil police officers, police in the North did not conduct any cases in Tamil.

  • Sri Lanka’s deputy foreign minister meets with US, World Bank officials

    Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harsha De Silva met with officials from the United States State Department and World Bank to promote economic and business ties, reports the official government news portal of Sri Lanka.

  • Sri Lankan military denies running businesses
    The Sri Lankan military denied that it is currently running any businesses, reports The Sunday Leader

    Military Media Spokesperson Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera told the newspaper “We have no business ventures run by the military at present”.
  • Former minister and Buddhist monks campaign against cattle slaughter
    Former Sri Lankan government minster Mervyn Silva and Buddhist monks have called for the government to bring in laws to ban the slaughter of cattle.

    The minister commenced a signature campaign
    calling for the ban by a statue of Anagarika Dharmapala statue last week. 

    “I am against killing animals and I will stand by the principals of Anagarika Dharmapala,”
    said Mr Silva. “As a son hailing from Ruhuna, I will do the best I can to stop cattle slaughter.” 
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