• ‘Delay on part of Attorney General’ in reviewing prisoners cases says minister

    Dec 08

    Sri Lankan Minister D.M. Swaminathan said the Attorney General was reviewing the cases of 20 former LTTE cadres who have been detained under the government’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.

    Daily Mirror quoted the minister as stating the Attorney General was deliberating on whether the former cadres would be prosecuted or cleared for “release or rehabilitation”, adding,

    “There is a delay on the part of the Attorney General’s Department in clearing these cases”.

  • ‘Our government will never sign the CEPA’ says Ranil

    Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government would “never” sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) deal with India, in a speech delivered to parliament on Wednesday.

    “Our government will never sign the CEPA agreement under any circumstance, and that it won’t be signed under another name,” said the prime minister. “This harmful CEPA agreement has been removed completely from our nation.”

    Also see our earlier feature: Sri Lanka’s Indophobia (07 Aug 2015)

  • UK defence adviser will work with Sri Lankan troops on accountability and human rights
    Britain said that the appointment of a Defence Adviser will allow the UK to work with the Sri Lankan military on issues of accountability and human rights, in order to address the legacy of the armed conflict.

    A British High Commission spokesperson told The Island that the Defence Adviser in New Delhi will concurrently function as non-resident military representative for Sri Lanka.

    "The Sri Lankan government has committed itself to addressing the legacy of its long conflict, including through co-sponsorship of a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council this year,” said the spokesperson. “The military have a crucial role to play in this process and in fulfilling the commitments Sri Lanka has made on long-standing issues of reconciliation, accountability and human rights. The appointment of a Defence Adviser will enable the UK to work with the Sri Lankan armed forces on these issues, just as we are supporting the Government and civil society.”

    However former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who was credited with masterminding the final Sri Lankan government offensive which saw tens of thousands of civilian deaths, expressed his concern over the move.
  • India says it is committed to building 50K houses for Tamils in Sri Lanka

    The Indian government on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to building 50,000 houses for internal displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Economic Times reported.

    Addressing the Lok Sabha, India's minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju said the 50,000 homes project would include the building of new homes, as well as repairing ones that were damaged. The project would be driven via agencies as well as through beneficiary owners.

    "The beneficiaries of the housing project are identified through a consultative process," Mr Rijiju said.

  • Case fixed for Raviraj murder suspects
    The case against seven men accused of being responsible for the assassination of the former TNA MP N Raviraj was on Tuesday fixed for January 4, the Daily Mirror reported.

    Three of the seven suspects, including Palana Sami Suresh, Prasad Hettiarachchi, Gamini Seneviratne, Pradeep Chaminda, Sivakanth Vivekanandan, Fabian Royston Toussaint and Sampath Munasinghe are in absentia.

    The prosecution has reportedly sought the assistance of Interpol to find two of the men who are believed to be out of the country.

  • GTF activities will be investigated says Sri Lanka govt
    Sri Lanka's state minister for defence, Ruwan Wijewardene on Tuesday said that the Tamil diaspora organisation, the work of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) would be investigated.

    Mr Wijewardene made these remarks following criticism by an opposition MP of the government's decision to de-proscribe the GTF, despite the organisation allegedly continuing to display of the Tamil Eelam map on its website.

    "De-proscription was welcomed if the organizations which are de-proscribed had given up separatism, but the government should be alert if these organizations continued to hold such views," the opposition MP, Dullas Alhapperuma was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.

  • Former president needs more security says spokesperson
    The former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, requires more security said his spokesperson on Sunday, stating that his life was in danger as former LTTE cadres had been released from prison.

    "the release of hardcore LTTE cadres posed a serious threat to the former leader and those who had spearheaded the war against the LTTE," his spokesperson, Rohan Weliwita, was quoted as saying.

  • Sri Lanka's missing persons commission to meet in Jaffna on Friday
    Sri Lanka's domestic Missing Persons Commission is set to meet in Jaffna on Friday, despite government announcements that the process was to be scrapped in October.

    Colombo Gazette reported that the commission was set to hold sittings in Jaffna, Nallur, Vadamarachi and Vallikamam later this week.

    However in October, Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who is also minister for the Buddha Sasana, announced the abolition of the commission, admitting that “even locally, most of the people are not happy with the Commission and they have no faith in its process”.
  • Mangala denies existence of secret detention centres in Sri Lanka
    Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera denied the existence of secret detention centres on the island, in a speech made to parliament last week.

    "As we have mentioned before, there are no secret detention centres in operation in this country under this Government," said the minister.

    "If anyone in Sri Lanka or overseas has any information regarding any such facility that may be in operation, the Government will take upon itself the task of ensuring that such facilities are examined and action is taken under the due process of the law," added Mr Samaraweera.

    His comments come after the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances  (UN WGEID) visited the island and announced that it had discovered a “secret underground detention cum torture center”, calling on the government to reveal the existence of other such centers if any existed.

    The minister though seemingly denied the group's findings, stating that their visit "proved to those both within the country and outside the country who allege that there are still secret detention centres in operation in this site, that there are no such detention centres in existence anymore in the Navy Base in Trincomalee".
  • Bar Association of Sri Lanka calls for accountability mechanism 'within framework of constitution'

    The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) said an accountability mechanism to deal with crimes committed during the final phase of the armed conflict must take place "within the framework of Sri Lanka's Constitution" in a statement released last week.

  • Jaffna political prisoner declares hunger strike

    A Tamil political prisoner has declared a hunger-strike to highlight the ongoing delays in the release of Tamil political prisoners.

    Currently being held at the Jaffna Prison, 36-year-old S. Jeleepan is undertaking the hunger strike, which has already come to the attention of the Commissioner General of Prisons.

  • EU announces housing project for war victims in North-East
    The European Union will invest 14 million Euros to build houses and improve infrastructure in 9 divisions of the North and East.

    The EU programme will seek to benefit over 300,000 people in Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Vavuniya and Batticaloa.

    The Habitat for Humanity project aims to construct at least 16,000 houses for conflict affected persons, minimise debt and provide holistic development support.
  • Sri Lanka to heighten security at Colombo international airport
    Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Authority Director General HMC Nimalsri announced that Sri Lanka will heighten security measures at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo to combat terrorism.

    The official said that Sri Lanka was mandated to use body scanners to screen passengers at airports and would use the body scanners depending on the security threat level and if there was a need.
  • Sri Lanka rejects calls for re-merger of Northern and Eastern provinces
    Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake rejected the idea of a re-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

    Responding to a question by The Hindu on whether the two provinces be merged, Mr Karunanayake said,
  • TNA constituent party will not back budget unless Tamil prisoners are freed
    The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), a constituent party of the Tamil National Alliance, announced that it would not back Sri Lanka’s 2016 budget in parliament unless the Tamil political prisoners were freed.

    The TELO leader, Selvam Adaikalanathan informed the Tamil National Alliance of his decision today, reports Colombo Gazette.
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