Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Ahead of the Sri Lankan President’s visit to Jaffna, landowners who spoke to the media demanding the release of their lands were subject to intimidation and surveillance by the police. A press briefing was organized on Thursday near the Vasavilan junction by the "Valikamam North Land Release Committee," where affected residents intended to voice their demands to the President via the media.…

Amnesty on Sri Lanka's LLRC

Amnesty International has released a new report criticising Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission as "flawed at every level".

The report went on to urge the UN to establish a full international independent investigation into war crimes.



Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia Pacific Director said,
"The Sri Lankan government has, for almost two years, used the LLRC as its trump card in lobbying against an independent international investigation.
"Officials described it as a credible accountability mechanism, able to deliver justice and promote reconciliation. In reality it's flawed at every level: in mandate, composition and practice."
In a 69-page report, the human rights group has said,
"Amnesty International urges the international community not to be deceived that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission -- the latest in a long line of failed domestic mechanisms in Sri Lanka -- will deliver justice, truth and reparations to the tens of thousands of victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other crimes committed during the conflict by both sides, particularly during its last bloody few months,"
Entitled “When Will They Get Justice?” the report called on the UN to establish a credible international, independent investigation into war crimes, calling it “crucial” to “protest the global principle of accountability”.
"All U.N. member states should fulfill their shared responsibility to investigate and prosecute persons suspected of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka by exercising universal jurisdiction."

Yolanda Foster of Amnesty International said,

We’re publishing this report now as a wake up call to UN member states that they must act on the … credible evidence of very serious crimes that happened at the end of the war and (the UN) recommended an independent international investigation”.

A previous UN panel report also called for an independent international investigation to take place on Sri Lanka's war crimes.


Amnesty's report comes amid increasing pressure on Sri Lanka, as the UN Human Rights Council is expected take up the issue in three-week meeting in Geneva starting Monday.

US watched shelling of civilians hoping it would cease

Puthukurippu hospital was shelled repeatedly by Sri Lankan forces in the final months of the war. The red crosses are clearly marked on the roofs and were visible to circling Sri Lankan drones guiding the shelling. Circles mark some of the shell impacts. Image from March 6, 2009.

Diaspora Tamils have to reapply for land deeds

The Sri Lankan Government has asked all Diaspora Tamils who own land in the north of the island to apply for new land deeds.

Minister for Land and Land Development Janaka Bandara Tenakoon has said that members of the Tamil Diaspora had ‘abandoned’ their properties and gone abroad.

Once the new forms have been received the application will be authenticated by the Ministry for Land and Land Development and the area surveyed before it is decided whether new deeds are issued to the owners or not.

Gotabhaya promotes army to Vietnamese

Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, currently on an official visit to Vietnam, used the opportunity to promote the incorporation of the army into civilian life and the country's wider development.

Gotabhaya met with President Truong Tan Sang and the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Monday.

Why Sri Lanka matters

Edward Mortimer, director of communications to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 1998 to 2006, writes in New World magazine's 2011 Autumn edition:

"Chinese and Russian support for the GoSL is perceived as a major stumbling block. However, we should remember that, in 2005, China allowed the Security Council to refer war crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court, despite the two countries' significant oil and economic ties, and this February, both China and Russia voted to do the same with Libya.

Army defend use of PTA on civilians

Sri Lanka's military spokesperson, Brig Nihal Hapuarachchi, claimed the civilian protests at the on-going 'grease devil' incidents were a 'terrorist act'.

He warned the army will take action against them under the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), adding:

"It is wrong for civilians to attack an army camp or police station. Those who do that are terrorists."

Over 120 Tamil civilians have been arrested after protesting at Jaffna's military camp.

"They attacked a joint army-police camp. It is a terrorist act," Brig Hapuarachchi, said about them.

EU to stress accountability at UNHRC

Lulia Costea, press officer to Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative, stressed the European Union's belief in an 'independent process' to establish accountability for allegations of war crimes, during an interview with the Sunday Leader newspaper.

She warned the EU expected the government of Sri Lanka to 'respond positively' to the findings of the UN panel of experts at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) later this month. 

“As EU High Representative Catherine Ashton has recalled, the EU believes that an independent process to address the extremely serious allegations contained in the report of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts should contribute to strengthening the process of reconciliation and ensuring lasting peace and security in Sri Lanka.”

“Should this matter be discussed at the Human Rights Council, the EU will continue to encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to respond positively to the report and address the issue of accountability as an essential part of the process of national reconciliation and, in this context, to engage with the UNSG on the contents of the report.”

Sri Lankans instructed to protect regime

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister warned the country's citizens to be mindful of 'anti-government elements' and urged them to 'protect the government' against this danger.

Jayaratne, addressing a crowd gathered to witness new appointments to the Sri Rohana Sanghasabha, went on to state that the import of substandard cement and petrol to the country was also the work of these elements, who he claimed were engaged in a conspiracy to destroy Sri Lanka's economy.

Patriotic business

It seems apparently no one in Sri Lanka - except the Tamils, of course - wants the regime’s mass killings of 2009 investigated.

This week four of the largest private sector associations in Sri Lanka joined the government in denouncing the report by the UN panel of experts on the final months of the war.

Out with the old, in with the … old

"On one hand, they abolished the emergency laws to satisfy the international community, while on the other hand, they bring in new regulations to the PTA, which itself is a draconian law. We oppose this move. We have always been calling to abolish the PTA, too."

"What's the use of abolishing emergency laws if they include the same tough laws in the PTA? This will not help to strengthen democracy at all."