The Paris based charity, Action Contre la Faim on Thursday called for a credible investigation into the killing of 17 of its local aid workers in Muttur in Sri Lanka in 2006.
Sri Lanka’s debt situation is so severe, over 95% of all government revenue is spent on repaying loans, reports Forbes this week.
In a piece examining the government’s struggle to make repayments, Wade Shepard wrote in Forbes:
“Sri Lanka’s debt situation is severe. The country is currently in $58.3 billion deep to foreign financiers, and 95.4% of all government revenue is currently going towards paying back its loans.
Marking this week the ten anniversary of the killing of 17 aid workers from Action Contre La Faim in Muttur, Trincomalee, Human Rights Watch reiterated the call for justice and said the massacre underscored the need for an international role in any accountability mechanism by Sri Lanka as the only means to ensuring justice.
“The failure to provide justice for the ACF massacre is Exhibit A in the breakdown of accountability for serious crimes during Sri Lanka’s civil war,” HRW's legal and policy director, James Ross said.
“The mishandling of the ACF case shows why a war crimes court needs international involvement to shield it from political pressures.”
On August 4th, 2006 masked gunmen executed the 17 local staff of the Paris based aid group who had been involved in a post-tsunami rebuilding project. No one has been brought to justice.
In the latest of its presidential commission appointments, Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government would be appointing another to investigate reported attempts to create rifts within the Buddhist clergy.
Colombo Page quoted the Government Information Department as saying, "a Sunday Times report that said China has declined Sri Lanka's request to convert into equity Beijing-funded projects including the Mattala Airport and the Hambantota Port was not true."
Sri Lanka's government has reached an agreement with Iran on its demand that Rs. 37 billion of unpaid bills are settle prior to Sri Lanka buying further crude oil.
It was agreed during talks in Tehren that the bills would be offset against tea export payments, amongst other measures, reported the Sunday Times.
Sri Lanka's ministry of home affairs this week pledged to complete the issuing of 'Certificates of Absence' to families of those reported missing during the armed conflict by the end of this year.
Ceylon Today quoted the ministry's secretary, J J Rathnasiri as saying the process was already under way but would be complete by December.
Residents of Valikaamam North, many of whom have been displaced for over two decades, complained this week that the Sri Lankan army not only continues to occupy their land, but is using it to play cricket.
The 1 acre of land has been converted into a sports ground and is situated adjacent to Kankesanthurai Nateswara College which was recently released by the president, Maithripala Sirisena.
"Do they require our own lands to play cricket?" one displaced Tamil, who wished to remain anonymous said.
India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday chaired a meeting with Tamil Nadu and Kerala regional authorities and fishing groups, aimed at finding a permanent solution to the ongoing arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.
“External Affairs Minister chaired a meeting of internal stakeholders earlier today afternoon to discuss the way forward towards a permanent solution to the fishermen issue between India and Sri Lanka,” the minister of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup was reported by the The Indian Express as saying.
"The discussions between stakeholders on the Indian side focused on different aspects requiring attention, including the livelihood concerns of Indian fishermen and introduction of sustainable fishing practices,” he added.
Remembering the pogrom of over 3000 Tamils by Sri Lankan state sponsored mobs in 1983 British Tamils, academics, journalists and activists at a Black July remembrance event in London on Monday reiterated the need for international judges in any accountability mechanism in Sri Lanka.
Speaking at the event organised by the British Tamils Forum (BTF), entitled 'Black July 1983 - Not the beginning but a continuation of Tamil Genocide', the director of 'No Fire Zone' documentary, Callum Macrae, the human rights activist, Ruki Fernando and a barrister at Mansfield Chambers, Shivani Jegarajah, highlighted Sri Lanka's long history of impunity for crimes against the Tamil people.
Seventy-seven Tamil Nadu fishermen who were held in detention by the Sri Lankan navy and released on Thursday, allege they were treated inhumanely by the Sri Lankan navy, the New Indian Express reported.
“We were fishing near the IMBL when the Lankan Navy personnel arrested us. We were lodged at Jaffna Prison and treated in an inhumane manner. They provided us stale food and threatened to take us to Pakistan," one fishermen told the paper.
Canada's foreign minister, Stephane Dion who is currently visiting Sri Lanka met with the chief minister of the northern province, C V Wigneswaran on Friday.
Canada's foreign minister, Stephane Dion discussed international involvement in any accountability mechanism with the Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.
"Spoke w/ @RW_UNP on int’l involvement in accountability processes, women in politics & regional issues," Mr Dion tweeted on Thursday evening.
