• UNP reiterates rejection of federal solution

    Jul 28

    The UNP rejected the possibility of a federal solution to the long-running ethnic conflict, the latest southern party to do so.

    Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith Perera said the policy of the party and its alliance the UNF was to devolve powers to the provinces in consultation with all concerned and within a united and undivided Sri Lanka, Colombo Gazette reported.

    “We will not agree to a Federal solution,” Mr Perera said insisted.

    The minister further stressed that there was no new or past agreement with the TNA with regards to the elections.

  • Sri Lanka’s most pressing problems are both structural and systemic - Taylor Dibbert
    A more subtle war still rages across the historically Tamil northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, said Taylor Dibbert, writing in The Diplomat on Tuesday.

    Commenting on a report released by the International Truth and Justice Project that outlined ongoing account of torture and sexual violence against the Tamil community under Sri Lanka’s new government, Mr Dibbert said,

    “This report is a stark reminder that, irrespective of what happens during the upcoming election, many of Sri Lanka’s most pressing problems are both structural and systemic; the Sinhala-dominated state has discriminated against Tamils for decades.”

    Full piece reproduced below.
  • Everybody should consider this as a one country' says President in Kilinochchi
    Photograph Colombo Page


    The  Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena, currently on a visit to Kilinochchi said that "everybody should consider this as a one country," reports Colombo Page.

    "The demographic divisions of the country such as North, South, East, and West are only in maps," Mr Sirisena told those gathered at the opening of a supermarket in the town, which was the former administrative capital of Tamil Eelam.

  • Sri Lanka continues 'multifaceted assault of terror' on Tamils under new government

    Abductions, torture and sexual abuse of Tamils by Sri Lanka's security forces continue under the new government of President Maithripala Sirisena, according to a new report released on Tuesday, which calls on the UN to refer its reports to the International Criminal Court for further action against those responsible for the crimes.

    Location of a secret torture camp in Trincomalee - International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka report

    The report, by the International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka (ITJP), says 100 so-called "white-van" abductions occurred between 2009 and 2015, one from as recent as this month, and describes torture and sexual violence by military forces and police against Tamils in locations across the North-East and Colombo.

    ITJP in its report published 41 locations on the island where victims say they were tortured since the end of the armed conflict, revealing the GPS coordinated for the notorious intelligence detention facility in the Trincomalee Naval Dockyard. The locations include 15 military camps, 15 police stations, 10 "Rehabilitation Camps" and Menik Farm internment camp.

  • UK diplomats warned not to fly with Sri Lankan air force company
    British diplomats in Sri Lanka have been advised against travelling with a Sri Lankan air force operated company, after it was revealed it had been functioning with an expired air safety certificate.

    The Sunday Leader reported that Helitours, the commercial wing of the Sri Lankan air force, has an expired Air Operating Certificate (AOC) which had been previously issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL).

    Since then staff at the British High Commission have subsequently been advised against flying with the company by the UK Foreign Office.
  • Sri Lanka studies building navy base at Hambantota port
    The Sri Lankan cabinet approved a feasibility study to examine the prospect of building a naval dockyard at the Chinese-built Hambantota port on the south of the island.

    Sri Lanka's Minister of Ports Arjuna Ranatunga made the announcement, which will allow him to negotiate with the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), who initially put forward the proposal for the building and repair of navy ships.

    Hambantota Port was built at a cost of $1.5 billion, financed through a loan from EX-IM Bank of China. Work is currently underway on the second phase of development at the port, at a cost of $808 million. It was built by CHEC, who also won a $1.4 billion contract to construct the Colombo ‘Port City’, a project that has been stalled by the current government.
  • SLMC reiterates desire to re-establish Tamil homeland by re-merging Northern and Eastern provinces
    The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress welcomed calls to create a homeland for Tamil speaking people by re-merging the Northern and Eastern province, reports Ceylon Today.

    Speaking to press, the SLMC General Secretary Hasan Ali, said,
  • Internal UN document details plan for “domestic probe” in Sri Lanka

    An internal UN document, obtained by Channel 4 News, outlines a purely domestic process for accountability and redress for the gross violations of human rights during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka.

    The document says the establishment of the mechanism would be overseen by the Sri Lankan government and its foreign ministry, while UN involvement would be limited to support and technical assistance.

    The Northern Provincial Council is mentioned as one of the key implementing partners of the project, alongside the Sri Lankan government, however Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran described the document as a “betrayal” of the hopes pinned on the UN process by the war victims and that the plan undermined calls for an international court.

     

    The chief minister said the NPC was not consulted in the process and was minded to reject it. He also accused a UN official of attempting to "strong-arm" him to agree to the plan.

  • Tamils tell Sri Lankan president to return their missing children
    Tamils in the North-East today demanded the Sri Lankan president returned their missing children to them, during a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena in Jaffna.

    Mr Sirisena, who visited Jaffna on Tuesday, met with families of the disappeared at the house of the SLFP regional organiser, Ankajan.

    "Our loved ones were taken away by the military and armed men. We don't know if they are alive or not," the families told Mr Sirisena.

  • Tamils demonstrate against disappearances as Sri Lankan president visits Jaffna
    Photograph Tamil Guardian


    Families of the disappeared protested in Nallur on Tuesday, as the Sri Lan    kan president visited the region, demanding their missing children by returned to them.

    Stating that they would not vote for anyone in this election or in any election until their missing loved ones were returned to them or they received news about them, the protesters condemned both the previous government and the present government.

  • UPFA election manifesto limits political solution to ethnic conflict to 13A
    Sri Lanka’s main opposition party the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), led by Sri Lanka’s current president Maithripala Sirisena, committed to limiting any political solution from going beyond the widely criticised 13th amendment of the current Sri Lankan constitution.

    The UPFA manifesto, released on Tuesday, said,

    “We aim to arrive at a solution acceptable to all by strengthening the provincial and local governments by not venturing the 13A,” said the UPFA constitution.

    The 13th amendment has been rejected as a starting point for a solution to the ethnic conflict by all Tamil political actors including the Tamil National People’s Front, the Tamil National Alliance and the Chief Minister of the Northern Province.

    TNA manifesto calls for constitutional change that accepts Tamil right to self-determination (25 Jul 2015)

    ‘13A can never be the final solution’ says Chief Minister Wigneswaran (12 March 2015)

    TNPF: 13A is not a starting point, interim or final solution (13 Jun 2013)

  • Google Loon to launch in Sri Lanka

    The Government of Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Google to be the first country to launch the Google Loon project, which will provide high-speed internet services across the island.

  • UK money transfer company looks to tap into US $7 billion transferred by diaspora to Sri Lanka

    A UK based money transfer company will launch a mobile money transfer process that will allow customers to transfer money to the mobiles of family and friends in Sri Lanka.

  • White van abductions are returning says TNA
    White van abductions, which became notorious under the former Rajapaksa government, are once again on the rise in Colombo, said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson, Suresh Premachandran.

    Speaking to journalists at the Jaffna Press Club on Monday, Mr Premachandran said that "many hundreds of Tamil youths have been abducted by white vans, and even today there has been no explanation as to where they are. Hundreds of mothers are still striving to search for their children who were abducted by the white vans and wives are searching for their husbands."

    Highlighting a recent report that the former defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa criticised the presence of a white van by him, arguing it threatened his security, Mr Premachandran said Mr Rajapaksa's statement proved he knew the damage caused by white vans during his own era.

  • TNA will not accept an internal investigation reiterates spokesperson
    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will not accept an internal inquiry following the publishing of the upcoming UN report examining mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, said the party spokesperson, Suresh Premachandran at a press briefing on Monday.

    Speaking at the Jaffna Press Club (JPC), Mr Premachandran responded to the current government's statements on the issue.

    "They said that once the UN report is released, we will give our response after reading that, or we will arrange to have an internal investigation. We [TNA] want to say something very clearly. The UN report must be released [and] we expect it to be released in September."

    "We expect that the UN report following the investigation, will include many issues such as who is responsible for war crimes, what were the reasons for this, issues relating to human rights violations."

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