• Academics condemn Sydney Uni's acquiescence of Sri Lanka's demands

    Sep 15
    Academics in Australia condemned the University of Sydney's decision to acquiesce to the Sri Lankan military's demands to withdraw invitations to NGOs known to be critical of the state for a conference hosted along side the University of Colombo this week in Bangkok.

    In a letter to Dr Daniella Celermajer at Sydney University, a group of lecturers and academics said her decision to withdraw invitations "threatens to bring the University of Sydney's commitment to and connection with human rights into disrepute," reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

    "[The conference is at] serious risk of providing the appearance of human rights cover to a brutal regime that continues to perpetrate gross violations and is going to great lengths to silence critical voices both within Sri Lanka and in the international community".

  • Over 5700 cases of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka says UN
    The UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, presenting its report to the UN Human Rights Council at the Council's 27th session in Geneva currently underway, condemned the ongoing use of enforced disappearances by states.

    "Forced disappearances is not just a crime of the past, it is still being used in conflict situations, where there is internal instability, or in order to fight terrorism and organised crime. Enforced disappearance cannot and must not be the response to such challenges," said the Chair Rapporteur on Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Ariel Dulitzky, adding that "enforced disappearance is a flagrant violation of the basic principles which underpin the international system of human rights."

    The Working Group reported over 43,000 cases of enforced disappearances in 88 countries, including over 5700 in Sri Lanka, as well as 16,400 in Iraq, 3000 in Algeria and over 2000 in Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru.

  • Gotabaya hits out at Chief Minister Wigneswaran

    Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa criticised Chief Minister of the Northern Province CV Wigneswaran for “not cooperating” with the government’s development in the region, while speaking at a UN Habitat event.

    Rajapaksa said the chief minister’s lack of cooperation was affecting the “ordinary people” in the north of the island, and that political differences with the central government resulted in some officials, showing reluctance to work with the government.

    The defence secretary pointed out that the Colombo Municipal Council is working with the Urban Development Authority and Ministry of Defence, despite it being governed by the opposition UNP, adding that the Northern Provincial Council must also work with the government, in the best interest of the people in the region.

  • Increasing religious violence in Sri Lanka - CPA
    The increasing religious violence taking place on the island was highlighted in a new infographic on “Religious Violence in Post-War Sri Lanka” released by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) on Tuesday.

    “The trends highlighted by CPA have continued unabated, most recently evident in the June 2014 violence in Aluthgama and surrounding areas. Other incidents of violence have not received the same attention as Aluthgama, thereby skewing the understanding of the scale and level of violence targeting minority religions in particular, in Sri Lanka,” said the CPA in a statement.

  • Land and military issues remain in East says British High Commission
    The British Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, noted that difficulty in dealing with issues regarding land ownership and coexistence with the military forces remained for the people in the Eastern province, in a statement on her recent visit to the province.
  • China announces new projects in Sri Lanka during Premier's tour of Colombo
    China signed a host of trade agreements with Sri Lanka this week, including a currency swap deal and Beijing funding a $1.4 billion port in Colombo, as Chinese Premier Xi Jinping visited the island.

    The two countries also agreed to strengthen defence and maritime security relations, with China announcing its opposition to any interference in Sri Lanka's “internal affairs”.

    Alluding to the upcoming United Nations investigation into mass atrocities on the island – a move that China opposed - Xi stated that, "China... resolutely opposes any move by any country to interfere in Sri Lanka's internal affairs under any excuse.”

    Sri Lanka meanwhile, “reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China policy, and support for the efforts by the Chinese Government to realize national reunification.”

    Amongst the deals announced was a $1.63 billion currency swap, which would allow the People's Bank of China to invest in China's interbank bond market on behalf of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and the inauguration of a $1.4 billion dollar port project in Colombo.
  • Woman's body found washed up in Oluvil
    The body of a 40 year old woman was found washed up by the fishing areas of Oluvil in Amparai district within the Eastern province.

    The police are carrying out further investigations into the discovery of the body, which has not been identified yet, reported BattiNews Sunday.

     
  • Nigerian official slams 'highly discriminatory' treatment of citizen by SL authorities
    2nd Lead 17.50 GMT
    Nigeria's chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa slammed the treatment of a Nigerian man by Sri Lankan authorities at Colombo's airport as "highly discriminatory", after he was quarantined and deported by the authorities who suspected him and his family of being infected with the Ebola virus.

    Condemning the stigmatisation of Nigerian nationals due to the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, Dabiri-Erewa said it “must be addressed instantly before it spirals out of control.”

    "Our citizens are mainly harassed and unfairly treated for the fact that they are Nigerians, and in some case sent back from the airport. This act is very predatory and must be checked immediately," she was quoted as saying by Nigeria's Daily Times newspaper.

    Citing the example of a Nigerian national, Adeseye Adeyemi, who travelled to Sri Lanka to get married but his journey turned "to sadness," she added, "by the terrible treatment received from the Sri Lankan authorities.”

  • 2009 was a genocide says former UK home secretary
    The former British home secretary, David Blunkett described what took place during the final stages of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 as a "genocide" and called for it to be "properly investigated", meeting with members of the Tamil community at an Advice Surgery last Saturday.

    Mr Blunkett said he "believed genocide had taken place on the island of Sri Lanka and that evidence that human rights violations had occurred during the armed conflict in 2009 must be properly investigated."

    He went on to express "disappointment at Sri Lanka’s obstruction of the currently ongoing UN Human Rights Council mandated investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Sri Lanka" and adding his support "to the need for an independent international investigation on abuses that have happened in Sri Lanka."

    Mr Blunkett, who is currently the Labour MP for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough, was the UK home secretary from 2001 to 2004.

    The Tamil community representatives, also members of the British Tamils Forum (BTF) said they had met with Mr Blunkett "to garner support for UK Tamil organisations and individuals that have been targeted by Sri Lanka’s efforts to silence dissent through the use of UN Security Council Resolution 1373."

    Mr Blunkett meets with the Tamil community 

  • Army organises children’s sports meet in North-East

    The Sri Lankan army organised a sports meet for the Vazhaham Children’s Home earlier this month.

    The event took place with the “full patronage” of the 14th Gemunu Watch, an army division based in the area, at the Maraththanamadam Girls’ School, a school for those with sight impairments, reported the website of the Civil-Military Coordination – Jaffna.

  • SL to discuss Free Trade Agreement with China
    Sri Lanka and China will launch negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement, during the Chinese Premier’s visit to Colombo on Tuesday, reports Colombo Page.

    The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a “Joint Working Group on Trade” which, in March, concluded a Free Trade Agreement would be beneficial to both countries.
  • India to step up surveillance of Eelam Tamil refugees fleeing from Sri Lanka

    The Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Home Minister N. Chinarajappa said surveillance was to be stepped up in an attempt to stop boats of Eelam Tamil asylum seekers leaving the Indian coast towards Australia.

    Speaking to reporters in Andhra Pradesh, Chinarajappa said more marine police stations would be opened up to stop the Eelam Tamils, who have fled from Sri Lanka, from boarding boats along the coast in a bid to reach countries such as Australia.

    Earlier this year, a group of over 150 Tamil asylum seekers were stranded at sea, after they left the South Indian coast attempting to reach Australia. After more than a month of being held at sea by Australian authorities, the group were brought to a detention centre in Western Australia before being transferred to Nauru.

  • Sri Lanka has ‘assured and re-assured’ us on implementation of 13A, says India

    The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly re-assured India of its commitment to implement the 13th Amendment, stated a spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) today.

    Responding to a question on India’s stand on the 13th Amendment at a media briefing on Monday, spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said,

    “Our stand is that any decision that has been taken by the Sri Lankan people and which their leaders have assured to us on repeated occasions (that it) should be implemented.”

    “And we have been assured and re-assured by the leaders of Sri Lanka that they are committed to full implementation of the 13th Amendment and we will go by what they have told us.”

    See from 42:30 onwards below.

    Despite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to go beyond the 13th Amendment, Rajapaksa has repeatedly stated that he would refuse to devolve land and police powers to the Tamil North-East of the island, a key component of the amendment.

  • Thousands demonstrate in Geneva demanding justice for genocide and independence referendum

    Thousands of Tamils from across Europe demonstrated in Geneva on Monday, demanding justice for the genocide and a referendum on independence.



  • Canada denies Sri Lankan prison officials visas over human rights violations

    The Canadian government has denied visas to two of Sri Lanka’s leading prison department officials, due to the country's human rights violations, The Island reported on Friday.

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