• Successive Sri Lankan authorities have ignored commissions – Amnesty International

    Aug 27

    Amnesty International stated that successive Sri Lankan governments have appointed and largely ignored commissions to investigate the issue of disappearances on the island.

    In a statement released to mark the “The Day of the Disappeared” on 30 August, Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General said:

    “Governments in every region of the world, from Syria to Mexico and from Sri Lanka to Gambia may be holding hundreds or even thousands in secret detention. In many countries, the authorities continue harassing and intimidating those who are looking for their relatives. The struggle for justice must not cease.”

    Amnesty International said that “tens of thousands are presumed to have disappeared” in Sri Lanka with “very few cases have been resolved and there has been blatant intimidation reported against families who have dared to ask questions about the whereabouts of their loved ones”.

    “Several commissions have been appointed by successive governments since 1990 implicating leading politicians and high ranking officers in the police and security forces,” continued the statement. “However, the authorities have mostly ignored recommendations that these figures, some of whom remain in their positions, should be prosecuted.”

  • UN Human Rights chief to visit Sri Lanka and discuss report on mass atrocities

    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein will visit Sri Lanka before the country is to come under review at the UN Human Rights Council, according to media reports.

    Colombo Gazette stated that the High Commissioner will visit the island and is expected to hand a UN report over to Sri Lankan government officials, including president Maithripala Sirisena.

    The report is expected to detail the deaths of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians during the final phase of the island’s armed conflict. A previous United Nations report found that the majority of deaths occurred due to Sri Lankan government shelling.

    However, the editor of Swarnavahini TV tweeted an email from Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, stating that the High Commissioner will not be visiting before the UN session in September.

    It is not yet known whether members of the investigative team, who were refused entry on to the island, will be accompanying the High Commissioner.

  • Ranil to appoint committee for constitutional reforms
    The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe is to appoint a committee in view of produce proposals for constitutional reforms, reports the Colombo Page.

    The committee, which is said to comprise of intellectuals, will include the president's counsel, Jayampathy Wickramaratne, and professor M O A de Soyza, from the Peradeniya university.

  • Japan congratulates Ranil
    The Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, on Thursday congratulated the Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, on his election victory last week.

    In a statement issued by the Japanese embassy in Colombo, Mr Abe said that Japan "intends to work closely with the new government to further develop the Japan-Sri Lanka relationship and that Japan will also continue to support Sri Lanka’s efforts towards economic development and national reconciliation."

  • UNP-SLFP agree formulation of national government for 'our motherland's future'
    The UNP chairman, Malik Samarawickrama, said the UNP and the SLFP had agreed a formulation of a national government in order to "uplift our motherland's future" and "furthering our national interests".

    "We have held several rounds of talks with SLFP top members and those negotiations which were cordial and lengthy and at the end of these talks both parties have agreed for the formulation of national government," Mr Samarawickrama was quoted by the Island as saying in a statement released on Wednesday.

    "We have held several rounds of talks with SLFP top members and those negotiations which were cordial and lengthy and at the end of these talks both parties have agreed for the formulation of national government."

  • Eknaligoda suspects detained by defence ministry order

    Sri Lanka's defence ministry has approved an order allowing the detention and questioning of four members of the security forces, who were arrested in connection to the abduction of cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda on Monday, military spokesman Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera said according to Ada Derana.

    The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday (24) arrested an army corporal, a sergeant, and two lieutenants, in connection with Mr Eknaligoda's abduction.

    Earlier this month a senior military official admitted questioning the cartoonist in custody, in the first admission by a member of the security forces that the cartoonist was detained.

  • Elections strengthened Tamil nationalist politics - TNA MPs

    TNA MPs say the recent elections and the alliance's massive victory in the Tamil North-East gave Tamil nationalism a "big boost".

    Batticaloa MP Seenithamby Yogeswaran said the Tamil freedom struggle, started by Tamil leaders several years ago, would continue until its objective is achieved, while addressing a meeting in Thuraineelavanai.

  • India gifts coast guard ship to Sri Lankan navy

    The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, YK Sinha, has formally handed over an Indian coast guard ship to Sri Lanka's navy.

    The ship was initially given to Sri Lanka in 2006 " in appreciation of the Sri Lanka Navy’s efforts to maintain the maritime security in the region", the Daily Mirror reported.

    Defence Ministry Secretary B Basnayake accepted the ship on behalf of the Sri Lankan government.

    Sri Lanka's navy is regularly accused of attacking Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu, worsening an already tense diplomatic relationship with the southern Indian state.

  • Sri Lankan army ran 'shadow LTTE group' using surrendered cadres
    The Sri Lankan military ran a “shadow LTTE group” using former cadres who had surrendered to the army in 2009, reports the Sri Lanka Mirror.

    The website reported that the military intelligence unit used a disabled former LTTE cadre who had surrendered to the army in 2009. The former cadre allegedly told the military that disappeared journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda had links with the LTTE.

    The journalist disappeared in January 2010, with his wife claiming his work investigating the use of the chemical weapons by the military may have led to his abduction.
  • Indian National Defence College officers visit Jaffna

    Senior officers from the Indian  National Defence College visited the Sri Lankan military in Jaffna on Wednesday.
  • Sri Lanka must 'bring all killers to justice' – CPJ
    The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the arrest of four Sri Lankan army officers in the case of disappeared journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda and called for all those involved in his abduction to be brought to justice.

    Commenting on the arrest, Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator, called for further progress in the case, saying “if the government of President Maithripala Sirisena resolves the journalist's disappearance, the Eknaligoda family will finally be able to find some closure in their long search for justice."

    He went on to add that "still, Eknaligoda's case is only one”.

    “At least nine journalists were murdered in direct relation to their work under the leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa, first as prime minister and then as president,” he said. “It is important for the new government to bring all of those killers to justice and break Sri Lanka's cycle of impunity once and for all.”
  • Tamils only 10% of agricultural research appointments in North

    Tamil farmers and agricultural workers from Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu protested on Monday that over 90% of newly appointed agricultural research assistants to the North are Sinhalese.

  • Sri Lankan president discusses reconstructing Buddhist 'sacred city' in East
    Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena held a discussion with Buddhist monks and other politicians regarding the reconstruction of a Buddhist 'sacred city' in the East on Tuesday.

    Meeting with a member of parliament from Amparai and the director general of archaeology, alongside religious leaders, Mr Sirisena emphasised the importance of conserving archaeological sites across the island.

    Since Mr Sirisena came into power earlier this year, the Sri Lankan government has continued to authorise the building of Buddhist temples in the Tamil North-East.
  • US to work with Sri Lanka towards UNHRC resolution and domestic inquiry

    The US announced on Wednesday it would support the Sri Lankan government in creating a credible domestic process to address accountability and reconciliation.

    Speaking to reporters, US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal said "We support efforts to create a credible domestic process for accountability and reconciliation."

    "The failure of past efforts is very much on our minds, but that is why you have to emphasise on building trust."

    “We have recognised that there is a different opportunity that exists today and a different landscape for trying to advance reconciliation,” Ms Biswal further said. “We look forward to a process in Geneva that allows an opportunity to reflect on that.”

    The assistant secretary said the US would propose a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council next month and hoped that Sri Lanka would collaborate. She said the thrust of the resolution would be decided after reviewing the final report of the OHCHR Inquiry in Sri Lanka, which is expected to find that tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in the last phase of the armed conflict alone.

  • Domestic investigation will leave Sri Lanka following US instructions says Colombo MP
    Criticising the Sri Lankan government's decision to establish a domestic investigation into war crimes allegations committed during the final stages of the armed conflict, the Colombo MP, Udaya Gammanpila, said such an inquiry would leave Sri Lanka following American instructions.

    "A US-backed domestic investigation is more dangerous than an international investigation," Mr Gammanpila was quoted by the Island as saying, at a press conference on Tuesday at the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) party head office.

    "This domestic investigation is like a person who is new to driving a vehicle with ‘L’ board. He has to follow all instructions of his master. Similarly, Sri Lanka will follow the instructions of the US in conducting the proposed domestic investigation."

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