• Cartoonist abduction investigation suspended due to 'military pressure'

    Aug 16

    Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe suspended the probe investigating the abduction of cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda due to warnings from the military that the inquiry could cause a stir within the military, a local paper reported.

    Mr Wickremesinghe was informed by high-ranking military officials that several senior officers were involved in a unit set up for abductions and further inquiries could reveal the entire operation, and as such decided to suspend the probe until after the election.

    The army officials said around 650 officers were attached in this unit, which was formed by then-army commander Sarath Fonseka during the armed conflict. After 2009 the unit is said to have continued under Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and included current chief of staff of the army Jagath Jayasuriya.

    A sergeant major, currently in custody, earlier this month admitted to questioning the cartoonist, after years of denial of knowledge of his whereabouts by the military.

  • No processions for at least 7 days
    The public should refrain from any processions for at least 7 days after Sri Lanka's general election result is announced said the Sri Lankan police spokesperson, Ruwan Gunasekara.

    "Elections laws would be strictly implemented during the post-election period," Mr Gunasekara was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
  • Special Task Force deployed to Vavuniya, Mannar and Puttalam
    Special Task Force personnel and additional police officers have been deployed to Mannar, Vavuniya and Puttalam ahead of tomorrow's general election, reports the Sunday Times.lk.
  • UNP activist shot dead in Batticaloa

    A supporter of a UNP candidate in Batticaloa, Ameer Ali, was shot dead on Saturday reports the Island.

  • ‘International standards’ needed for accountability says British minister
    The British Foreign Office Minister for Asia said there needs to be accountability in Sri Lanka and called for an independent credible investigations into violations of international humanitarian law.

    Hugo Swire told The Telegraph, “Whatever mechanism is employed should be independent, credible and in accordance with international standards". “There needs to be accountability in order for Sri Lanka to move on from this extraordinarily dark period,” he said. “Sri Lankans need to know the truth about what happened.”

    “A key will be to focus on those most responsible for most serious crimes,” said Ruki Fernando, who works with a human rights centre in Colombo. “Dropping the ball now, would be a great insult to survivors and victims families and human rights defenders, who have been abandoned and let down by the international community in the past, and who had yet taken great risks to share stories of suffering with the UN investigation team.”

    “Their right to truth, justice, reparations, guarantees of non occurrence and to be consulted must be ensured.”

    The Telegraph also spoke to Tamil disappearances activist Balendra Jeyakumary, who was detained by the Sri Lankan government last year. Ms Jeyakumary, a survivor from the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, described the massacres she witnessed in Mullivaikkal.
  • Concerns raised regarding evidence of preferential vote rigging in Sri Lanka
    The British Tamil Conservatives has sent a brief to the British Government, European Union, and the European and Commonwealth election monitoring teams to urge the Election Commissioner of Sri Lanka to mitigate potential opportunities to manipulate the preferential vote count process in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

    A spokesperson at the BTC told Tamil Guardian that “credible sources on the ground had said that there was vote manipulation in the preferential vote count stage of the previous parliamentary elections. Given how crucial this election is in voting genuine representatives for all people in Sri Lanka, we want to ensure their democratic choice is respected.”

    See press brief below.
  • Jaffna University Teachers Union calls on North-East to elect those in support of Tamil Nation
    The Jaffna University Teachers Union, warning voters of attempts to “weaken Tamil people’s strength” called on Tamils in the North-East to vote wisely to secure the “Tamil National identity.”

    Extracts from the statement reproduced below,

    "The teacher's association believes that it is important that forces that are supportive of the Nation and are for the unity of the Tamils are elected and sent to parliament."

    "We have learned that a solution to the ethnic conflict and the struggle for the Tamil people's basic rights cannot be achieved with another chauvinistic government. Voting for candidates that are aligned to such chauvinistic powers will be detrimental to the future of the Tamil people."

  • Sri Lankan security forces must respect voting rights says HRW

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Sri Lankan government to ensure all voters in the upcoming general election are protected from violence and that the Sri Lankan security forces remain impartial.

    In a statement released just days before the general election, HRW noted that 135 major incidents of election violence, including the use of firearms, had been noted in the last month alone, primarily in Jaffna, Colombo, Batticaloa, and Gampaha districts.

    “With evidence already of violence in the run-up to these elections, Sri Lankan authorities should take all necessary steps to protect voters and party supporters from attacks, threats, and intimidation,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW.

    He went on to state Sri Lankan security forces must remain impartial and ensure that the human rights of all voters are respected.

    “The role played by the security forces during and after election day will send an important message about the future of human rights in Sri Lanka,” Mr Adams said. “Meeting the basic requirements of a free and fair election is an important step toward addressing the country’s persistent rights problems.”

  • Sri Lankan military displaces Tamils to make way for holiday resort

    Tamils in Jaffna are living in slums whilst the Sri Lankan military runs a luxury holiday resort on land seized from them, reports the BBC.

    More than 200 people, which includes 58 families, were driven from their homes to make way for the "    Thalasevana Holiday Resort” inside the Valikamam North High Security Zone, reports BBC South Asia correspondent Justin Rowlatt.

    Speaking to the BBC, one of the displaced villagers Julius Selvamalar said: "We are forced to live like refugees in this slum. It is like living in hell. I had to bring up my children here".

    “I don’t think we will ever get our land back,” she continued.

    Just last month, the Sri Lankan army was     engaged in fortifying the Valikaamam North High Security Zone, despite previous government statements that the area of land would be released back to the local civilian population.

  • Rajapaksa claims Tamil leaders are ‘dividing the country'

    Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa criticised Tamil leaders for allegedly “dividing the country” in comments made to the BBC, in the run up to next week’s general elections.

    Speaking to the BBC’s Justin Rowlatt, Mr Rajapaksa was asked whether he thought it possible that Sri Lanka would be split under the current government. “Yes, certainly because this is the feeling of the people,” he replied.

    Mr Rajapaksa went on to criticise Tamil political leaders for remarks made in the run up to the elections.

    “I mean you just listen to the Tamil leaders speeches,” said Mr Rajapaksa. “They have already divided the country.”

    In the run up to the election, Tamil political parties in the North-East were unanimous in their calls for an international investigation into the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils during the closing stages of the armed conflict in 2009. Mr Rajapaksa was president and commander in chief of Sri Lanka at the time, overseeing the military assault on the North-East.

  • Sri Lanka offers 8 year tax holiday to lure Volkswagen
    German car manufacturer Volkswagen agreed to set up an assembly plant in Sri Lanka, after it was offered an eight year tax holiday by the government reports Economy Next.

    The plant, to be built in the South, will only be making cars for the local market within the first three years of operations, said Sri Lanka's Board of Investment (BoI).

    According to BOI chairman Upul Jayasuriya, at least US$5 million of the US$26.5 million needed to set up the plant, will also be financed through loans, with the plant hoping to be operational in 30 months.
  • Tamil youth from North-East and Upcountry call for demilitarisation and end to Sinhalisation

    Almost 3000 Tamil youth from across the North-East and from Upcountry demanded political parties call for and end to Sinhalisation of historically Tamil areas and immediate demilitarisation, ahead of the island’s parliamentary elections on Monday. 

    As part of an event titled, “The Power of Youth is the Zip Code of Democracy” last week, thousands of youth came together in Kilinochchi to put forward a set of 25 demands to political parties.

    Amongst the demands, which they handed to the Chief Minister of the Northern Province C V Wigneswaran, were the demilitarisation of the North, East and Hill Country, the administrative merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and an investigation into violations of international humanitarian law.

    They also passed a resolution, stating the youth would “support only to those who accept our demands in promoting genuine democracy”.

    The event also saw the discussions on the role of youth in democracy and strategies to make informed electoral choices.

    See a full list of their demands below.

  • Sirisena's prime ministerial post nominees reject offer to back Rajapaksa
    Senior members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that were selected as nominees for the post of prime minister by President Maithripala Sirisena have rejected the offer and backed Mahinda Rajapaksa as the most suitable candidate.

    Sp

  • Profiles of 2006 Sencholai massacre
    Marking the ninth anniversary of the Sencholai massacre when 53 school girls were killed by a Sri Lankan military air strike on a children's home, Together Against Genocide (TAG) published an account of the incident based on interviews.

    The following account written by Shash Trevett is based on interviews to Together Against Genocide (TAG). Personal details of Meena (not her real name), place names and dates have been changed to protect her identity.

    It was early in the morning of 14th August 2006. Meena was at home getting ready to attend a computer course at her school. She had completed her A Level examinations a couple of months before, and was shoring up her qualifications further. At 7.30am that morning, Meena was outside her family home when she saw Kfir planes belonging to the Sri Lankan Air Force fly over her house. A few seconds later she heard a loud explosion, accompanied by a bright light. Terrified, she dropped to the ground, covering her ears, trying to protect herself from the sounds of the aerial bombardment.

  • Jaffna University students condemn circulation of false party aligned election statements

    The Jaffna University Student’s Union (JUSU) condemned the circulation of false political statements that aligned the organisation to political parties.

    In a statement issued on Saturday, the JUSU said,

Subscribe to Tamil Affairs

Most-Read Articles

Senior Buddhist monk from Anuradhapura remanded over sexual abuse of minor
A senior Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and chief prelate of the Anuradhapura Atamasthana,…
Velupillay makes history as first Tamil at a FIFA World Cup
Photograph: @Socceroos Nishan Velupillay has been selected in Australia's squad…
17 years today - A massacre in Mullivaikkal
To mark 17 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens…
In Pictures - Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day commemorated in Mullivaikkal
All photographs by Uthayarasa Shalin Thousands of Tamils gathered at Mullivaikkal…
Tamil rapper arrested for ‘terrorism’ over TikTok video
A Tamil rapper from Kilinochchi has been arrested and remanded under Sri Lanka's…