• Tamil Civil Society Forum extends support to hunger-striking Tamil political prisoners

    Oct 14
    The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) extended its support to the hunger strike protest undertaken by Tamil political prisoners demanding their immediate release.

    Outlining its intention to participate in protests in support of the political prisoners, the TCSF said,
    “We also support and will take part in the token strike and protests being planned to be staged by their relatives all across the North-East in the forthcoming days.”

    Calling for the removal of the PTA and granting of bail for all those detained indefinitely, the civil society organisation added, 

    “TCSF adopts the definition of political prisoners that Amnesty International uses in its work. Accordingly it is our opinion that our brethren who took up arms for the sake of the liberation of the Tamil people and those who supported it, despite being criminalized by Sri Lankan laws, did so for a political reason and hence belong to the category of political prisoners. It has been 6 years since the end of the war and it is our opinion that if the Sri Lankan Government is interested in genuine reconciliation that they should immediately release all political prisoners languishing in its prisons.”
  • Government appointment of District Development Ministers weakens Northern Provincial Council says chair
    The proposal of appointing District Development Ministers for the Northern Province by Sri Lanka’s government unnecessarily weakens the powers of the province said the Northern Provincial Council Chairman CVK Sivagnanam.
     
    Speaking at a sitting of the Northern Provincial Council last week, Mr Sivagnanam said that government attempts to appoint District Development Ministers weakens the powers devolved to the provinces.
  • Fast in support of Tamil political prisoners as hunger strike enters second day

    A fast in support of Tamil political prisoners was held on Tuesday in front of Nallur temple in the Jaffna district.

    The protest fast, organised by the Jaffna Tamil Youth Organisation, was attended by relatives of political prisoners, politicians, including TNA MP Saravanapavan, and NPC members, Sukirthan, Kajatheepan and Paramsothy and other members of the public.

    Over 200 Tamil political detainee across the island started a hunger strike on Monday, demanding to be released.

    Wigneswaran urges president to ensure fasting Tamil detainees are not harmed (12 October 2015)

  • Tamil protests halt military land appropriation surveys in Kilinochchi

  • NFF leader 'immensely appreciates' Russian military intervention in Syria
    The leader of Sri Lanka's National Freedom Front stated his party is "pleased" to hear Russian military intervention in Syria is "continuing unabated," stating it was a "noble objective".

    In a letter to the ambassador of Russia in Sri Lanka, Wimal Weerawansa said his party is "very pleased to hear about the military capabilities and the achievement of the Russian forces who conduct those humanitarian operations with noble objectives in mind".

    "We are also very pleased to learn about the technological prowess of the Russian forces in using cruise missiles with perfect precision targeting terrorists as far as 1500 km away without causing any deliberate harm to innocent civilians anywhere in the region," he added. "The noble objective of this intervention is diametrically opposed to the objectives of military interventions carried out by the USA and its allies."
  • Tamil refugee in India goes on hunger strike calling for release of his wife
    A Tamil refugee in India has gone on hunger strike, calling on Indian authorities to release his wife from Mandapam Camp prison in Rameswaram.

    The 34 year old B Suthakaran from Mullivakkal fled Sri Lanka with his family in May last year, after repeated harassment from Sri Lankan security forces. The intelligence wing of the Sri Lankan Navy arrested and detained him for almost 2 years in 2008, reported The New Indian Express.  

    However, once he arrived in India, despite claiming refugee status, he was imprisoned for a year in Puzhal Prison in Chennai.

    "After I reached Dhanuskodi, I telephoned the Q branch police," said Mr Suthakaran. "I informed them that I am Sri Lankan and had come with my family thinking that they will register us as refugees and put us in the camps."

    "But everything went awry as my wife and I were imprisoned and my children were separated from us," he said.
  • Sri Lanka's state minister of defence praises Buddhist education
    Sri Lankan state minister of defence Ruwan Wijewardene donated Rs. 100,000 to Buddhist viharas as he praised religious education as the best way to cut the island's crime rate.

    Receiving blessings from Buddhist monks, the minister donated the cash to five Temples in Biyagama on Sunday.

    He added that his donation was for the Buddhist viharas' educational programs , stating, "this noble initiative would indirectly contribute to trim-down the rising crime rate in the country while making younger generation aware and attentive on religious based education."
  • Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence hands over houses to 'War Heroes'

    Thirty-five houses built for families of Sri Lanka’s ‘War Heroes’ were presented to recipients during a formal ceremony at the Defence Services College in Colombo on Monday.

  • BBS leader surrender to Sri Lankan police

    The general secretary of Bodu Bala Sena Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara has handed himself in to Sri Lankan police in Colombo, after a warrant was issued for his arrest earlier this week.

  • Tamil Nadu chief minister writes to Modi over repeated arrests

    Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jaylalithaa called on the Indian prime minster not to be a “mute spectator” after the Sri Lankan navy arrested another group of Indian fishermen this week.

    "India cannot continue to be seen as a mute spectator as the rights of Indian fishermen are repeatedly infringed upon," said Ms Jayalalithaa, calling for the fishermen issue needs to be placed at the top of the agenda in any interaction with Sri Lanka."

    "This is a livelihood issue of thousands of our fisherfolk and is taking on a huge social and political dimension," she added.

  • Hangman interviews take place amid calls for death penalty abolition

    The Sri Lankan government interviewed 14 applicants for the post of hangman today, amidst calls for the abolition of the death penalty on the island.

  • Detained LTTE cadre launch hunger strike in Sri Lanka prison
    Former LTTE cadre detained at Magazine prison in Colombo launched a hunger strike on Monday, calling on the authorities to release them from indefinite detention under Sri Lanka's notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act.

    The prison officers reported that detainees were refusing to come out of their cells and accept food.

  • Arrest warrant issued for BBS leader
    An arrest warrant has been issued against the leader of Sri Lanka's extreme Buddhist monk organisation, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), for failing to attend court.

    The court case is in relation to charges filed against the general secretary, Gnanasara Thera, and two other monks over making defamatory remarks against the Quran, Colombo Page reported.

    See here for more.
  • Minister dismisses hybrid court and vows to 'safeguard' Sri Lanka

    Sri Lanka’s Housing and Construction Minister Sajith Premadasa said there is “no such thing” as a hybrid court being implemented on the island and vowed to “safeguard our motherland”.

  • 71 Sinhala university academics oppose UNHRC resolution
    Seventy-one Sinhala academics in universities across Sri Lanka opposed the resolution passed at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) stating that it was a "grave danger to Sri Lanka's national interest".

    In an open latter the academics, which includes 30 professors and the general secretary of the National University Teachers Association Sri Lanka, said the resolution and its call for a judicial mechanism with the participation of Commonwealth and foreign judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators was "entirely incompatible with our national sovereignty and self-respect and also grossly unfair by the Armed Forces that achieved the defeat of terrorism in our country".

    "We are of the view that the said Resolution causes graver harm to the already existing national conciliation, peaceful co-existence, ethnic harmony and progressing economy than creating any better conditions in our country."

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