• TNA leader faces internal revolt over Sri Lanka Independence Day attendance

    Feb 03
    Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesman and parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran called for disciplinary action to be taken against party leader R Sampanthan and MP M A Sumanthiran for attending Sri Lanka's Independence Day ceremony in Colombo, on Wednesday.

    Mr Premachandran, who was speaking to Colombo Mirror, said,
    "We already raised our objection against his decision to attend the Independence Day celebrations. It is unbecoming for the TNA leader to go against the traditional party position that reflects the common will of the affected Tamil people."

    "It is their individual decision and the TNA has nothing to do with it."
    The TNA is now considering taking disciplinary action against both Mr Sampanthan and Mr Sumanthiran, added Mr Premachandran, stating that they had violated the position of the party and that of the Tamil people.

    “This is a very serious matter. It raises a moral question whether they can actually give leadership to the Tamil people any longer,” said Mr Premachandran. “The people are going to question about this and we will have nothing to hide.”
  • Sampanthan defends decision to attend Sri Lanka's Independence Day event
    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader, R Sampanthan defended his decision to attend the Sri Lankan government's Independence Day event on Wednesday, together with TNA MP M A Sumanthiran, amid outcry from within the party.

    "The decision to attend the celebration was made after careful consideration," Mr Sampanthan told BBC Tamil.

    "Regime change, the Tamil people’s future, and the faith in the new ruler were the key reasons for coming to that  decision," he said, adding that it was "discussed with senior leaders" within the party, but there were disagreements.

    The TNA spokesperson and MP Suresh Premachandran called on Wednesday for disciplinary action to be taken against Mr Sampanthan and Mr Sumanthiran for attending the event.

  • EU ban on Sri Lankan fishing exports suspended for six months claims Sri Lankan minister
    Sri Lanka's Fisheries State Minister Dilip Wedaarachchi said the European Union ban on imports of fishery products from the island has been suspended for six months.

    The suspension of the ban comes after Sri Lankan foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera visited the European Commission in Brussels last week, where Sri Lanka pledged to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).

    “The European Union gave Sri Lanka six months to get its act together to prevent Sri Lankan fishermen from engaging in Illegal fishing,” said Mr Wedaarachchi.
  • Modi to visit Jaffna
    India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, is scheduled to visit Jaffna during a visit to Sri Lanka next month, reported The Hindu on Tuesday.

    The visit, which coincides with the UN Human Rights Council's 28th session, will follow a visit by the new Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena to India later this month.

    Following the election victory of Mr Sirisena, Sri Lanka’s external affairs minister Mangala Samaraweera visited Delhi and met with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj and Prime Minister Modi.

  • UN investigation is first real hope for justice in Sri Lanka' says HRW
    Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Sri Lankan government to co-operate with the ongoing United Nations investigation into mass atrocities and take steps to ensure accountability and justice in its World Report 2015, released last week.

    “The UN investigation is the first real hope for justice for victims of atrocities on both sides during Sri Lanka’s long civil war,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW. “Sri Lanka’s new government should cooperate with the UN investigation and act to end the previous hostility to justice.”

    Noting that Sri Lanka had “immediately denounced the March UN rights council resolution” which had mandated the investigation, Human Rights Watch urged the newly elected president Maithripala Sirisena to ensure the government “take steps to ensure accountability and justice”.

    The non-governmental organisation also stated that it had “documented extensive surveillance in ethnic Tamil majority areas in the north, detention of activists, and shutting down of workshops organized in the south to train journalists from the north.”

    “The Rajapaksa government’s resettlement and reconstruction of affected communities in the post-conflict years has been seriously marred by oppression of the Tamil population,” said Adams.
  • Army denies lifting of Omanthai checkpoint restrictions

    The Sri Lankan military says Omanthai checkpoint would continue to operate as usual, denying Monday's reports the checkpoint was opened to all vehicles and people.

  • Wimal Weerawansa warns against Maithri's 100 day programme

    The leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF), a former key ally of the Rajapaksa-regime, warned against the new president Maithripala Sirisena's 100-day programme for reform.

    Wimal Weerawansa, whose NFF expressed support for the programme earlier this month, said it is an "undeniable risk" to Sri Lanka's "hard-earned freedom".

    The MP said the programme will pave the way for a federal Sri Lanka and called for national unity to oppose it.

  • Government prepared to implement capital punishment

  • Full and independent inquiry into war crimes' needed - UK Cabinet Minister


    Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers

    Britain's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers stated Sri Lanka's new government should co-operate with a United Nations inquiry into mass atrocities and called for the rights of Tamils on the island to be protected.

    In a statement released on Monday, Ms Villiers said “the UK Government has consistently called for a full and independent inquiry into war crimes and human rights abuses during the civil war in Sri Lanka.”

    “Now it is important for the new government in Sri Lanka to cooperate with the work on the UN on these crucial issues, and for all sides to work together for a negotiated inclusive settlement which provides for political equality and protects the rights of Tamils and all parts of the community in Sri Lanka.”

    Ms Villiers' statement also congratulated the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils and the British Tamil Forum for their “highly successful” dinner last week, saying the “fact that so many parliamentarians were here shows how influential the British Tamil community is in UK politics.”

    "I am sure that all the elected representatives who [were present] are determined to see justice for the Tamil people,” she added in her statement.
  • Protesters across North-East call on government to return detained relatives

    (Photos: Uthayan)

    Tamil protestors in towns in the North-East have demanded the return of relatives from state custody.

    A demonstration in Vavuniya, organised by the Vavuniya Citizens Group and a civil society organisation from across the North-East called Naangal, was attended by parents, children and other relatives of people who were disappeared, who surrendered to the army during 2009 and other political detainees.

  • Sirisena renews issuing of police powers to Sri Lanka's armed forces
    Sri Lanka’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, vested police powers to armed forces across the island in an “Extraordinary Gazette Notification“ announcement made on Tuesday, renewing an order introduced by the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
  • TNA tells Biswal that only international mechanism will deliver justice
    The Tamil National Alliance spokesperson told the visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Biswal, that only an international mechanism will ensure justice for the Tamil people, adding that the new Sri Lankan government was not paying attention to the Tamil people’s concerns.

    Nisha Biswal meets TNA delegation Photograph:@USembSL

  • Tamil mothers demand new Sri Lanka govt returns missing children
    Photographs Uthayan


    Tamil mothers of the disappeared protested in Kilinochchi on Monday, demanding the new Sri Lankan government provide an answer to where their missing children are, almost 6 years after the end of the armed conflict and release all political prisoners.


  • Hard work and difficult challenges ahead says Biswal on Sri Lanka visit

    The US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal, who arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday for a three day visit of the island, said that a lot of hard work and some difficult challenges remained.

    Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, Ms Biswal said:
    "President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe have put forth an ambitious agenda for their first one hundred days and much has already been accomplished in such a short time. But we recognise that there is a lot of hard work ahead and some difficult challenges."

  • Vavuniya residents call for accountability, justice and repeal of PTA
    Residents in Vavuniya called for the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the release of political prisoners and accountability and justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity, stating that until these issues were resolved, Sri Lanka's Independence Day on February 4, would be a black day for the Tamils.

    In a statement released on January 31, the Vavuniya Citizens Group and a civil society organisation from across the North-East called "Naangal" condemned the ongoing arrest of Tamils under the PTA and use of torture in detention camps, calling for a protest on February 3 to demand these issues be addressed.

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