• UN Human Rights Chief blasts Sri Lanka's ‘extraordinary lengths to sabotage’ inquiry

    Nov 06

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has slammed Sri Lanka for refusing to co-operate with a United Nations inquiry into mass atrocities, stating that it has gone to “extraordinary lengths to sabotage” the investigation.

    “The Government of Sri Lanka has refused point blank to cooperate with the investigation despite being explicitly requested by the Human Rights Council to do so,” Zeid said.

    In a statement released in Geneva on Friday, the High Commissioner went on to say,

    “Such a refusal does not, however, undermine the integrity of an investigation set up by the Council – instead it raises concerns about the integrity of the government in question. Why would governments with nothing to hide go to such extraordinary lengths to sabotage an impartial international investigation?”

    Zeid went on to criticise Sri Lanka for its attempts to obstruct witnesses from testifying before the inquiry, saying,

    “The Government’s attempts to deter and intimidate individuals from submitting evidence to a UN investigation team is unacceptable conduct for any Member State of the United Nations which has committed to uphold the UN Charter.”

    “Since the end of the conflict in 2009, Sri Lanka has continued to obstruct any independent investigation despite the persistent, compelling and widespread allegations that possible serious international crimes were committed by both sides during the conflict in Sri Lanka.”

    “This continuing campaign of distortion and disinformation about the investigation, as well as the insidious attempts to prevent possible bona fide witnesses from submitting information to the investigating team, is an affront to the United Nations Human Rights Council which mandated the investigation.”

    “A wall of fear has been created that has undoubtedly served to deter people from submitting evidence,” he added.

    See his full statement here.

    The US Ambassador to the Human Rights Council Keith harper “applauded” Zeid’s condemnation of Sri Lanka’s “persistent disinformation campaign”.

     

  • Landslide victims complain about ‘oppressive military presence’ to Tamil politicians

    TNPF officials meet with survivors of the landslide in a welfare centre (Pics: Lankasri)

    Politicians from the Tamil National People’s Front visited the area hit by landslides which left at least 11 dead and heard concerns from people who are temporarily housed in welfare centres.

    President of the TNPF Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and Secretary Kajendren Selvarajah visited the approximately 2,500 displaced from the Upcountry Tamil community in Koslantha Sri Vidyalayam and Poonakalai Tamil Vidyalayam.

  • TNA ‘exploiting’ Koslanda tragedy – Sri Lankan minister

    Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that those orphaned in the Koslanda landslide will not be given to the Northern Provincial Council, after they expressed concern that the children would lose their Tamil identity if left in the hands of the Sri Lankan government.

  • Gotabaya appointed head of dual citizenship body

    Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been appointed the head of the committee which grants dual citizenship, Minister Dilan Perera told parliament on Tuesday, according to Lankasri.

  • US warns Sri Lanka over intimidation

    The United States has warned Sri Lanka over its attempts to silence those who cooperate with the UN on the OHCHR Investigation in Sri Lanka (OISL).

    The US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council Keith Harper said in a tweet that attempts at intimidation to those individuals were an attack on the UN.

    Sri Lanka has warned against submitting evidence to the OISL and has arrested one individual who was collecting information for submission to the inquiry.

  • LTTE ‘continues violent, unlawful activities’ – India

    An Indian tribunal at the high court in Delhi, looking into the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, heard that the organisation continued to be active in a manner detrimental to India, reported PTI.

  • Leading UNP members will join ruling party says Minister
    Sri Lankan government Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena stated that several leading members of the opposition United National Party will be crossing over to join the government, following the recent budget proposals.

    Abeywardena made the claim at the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party headquarters on Wednesday. ColomboPage reported the minister as saying “The opposition is breaking into pieces and the government is getting stronger.”

  • OISL ‘flawed procedure’ unacceptable – GL Peiris

    Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs GL Peiris expressed his “deepest displeasure” at recent comments by a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who said that submissions of evidence to the OHCHR Investigation in Sri Lanka, which are received after the deadline, will not necessarily be refused.

    During a meeting with the heads of missions and representatives of the main countries involved in the OISL, including the High Commissioner of Australia and the deputy country director of the UNDP, Peiris “expressed strong displeasure at the selective and biased approach followed where the investigation determines the nature of the information they wish to receive”, an MEA statement said.

  • TNA should be banned - Deputy Minister

    The Deputy Labour Minister Sarath Weerasekara has called for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to be banned.

  • Sinhala colonisers settle in Northern village renamed after Namal Rajapaksa
    Sinhala families have been colonising a Tamil village in the North which has now been renamed after the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's son, said JVP MP Vijitha Herath in parliament this week.

    The families, from Rajapaksa's home town of Hambantota, have been gifted an acre of land each, said Herath.
  • Amnesty International welcomes UN Human Rights Committee observations on Sri Lanka
    Amnesty International has welcomed the concerns the UN Human Rights Committee raised on Sri Lanka regarding ongoing human rights abuses and impunity in its fifth periodic report last month.

    “The UN Human Rights Committee review of Sri Lanka has once again highlighted the vast disconnect between Sri Lanka’s promises to Sri Lankan citizens and the UN to improve human rights protection in the country and to tackle the grave reality of ongoing abuse and impunity,” said Amnesty International in a statement last week.

    Amnesty International went on that say that it “welcomes the Committee’s far-reaching recommendations to address these problems and calls on authorities to move swiftly to fully and effectively implement them.”

    “The Committee clearly saw through the government’s repeated denials and empty promises,” added the non-governmental organisation.
  • India gives 'unstinted support' to death row fishermen
    The Indian government has offered its “unstinted support” to the five Tamil Nadu fishermen who have been sentenced to death by a Sri Lankan court last week.

    India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Yash Sinha visited the fishermen, who are currently being held in Welikada prison in Colombo, on Monday.

    "He (Sinha) assured them of unstinted support and cooperation of government of India in ensuring that their case receives the utmost attention. He also assured them that the government will make all efforts to secure their early release and repatriation to India," said Akbaruddin.

    The comments come as the families of the five fishermen met with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

    "We will study the matter in detail and hold discussions with officials and later discuss it in the cabinet,” said Gadkari, adding that he would convey the families' messages to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • Government rejects SLMC demand for separate administrative districts for Muslims

    The Sri Lankan government has rejected a demand reportedly made by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, to establish separate administrative districts for Muslims, after UNP MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe raised the issue  in parliament, criticising the proposal as unethical.

  • Tamil man returning from Qatar arrested on alleged LTTE links
    A Tamil man who was returning from Qatar was arrested by Sri Lankan police on Sunday, on allegations that he was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

    The man has been named by police spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana as Somasundaram Vasanthakumar, reports Colombo Page.

    "The suspect tiger cadre has not been rehabilitated after the end of war," said Rohana when speaking about the arrest.

    According to the police, Vasanthakumar, who reportedly left Sri Lanka shortly after the war, was picked up as a wanted person on his immigration records.

  • SL - India begin joint military exercises
    Sri Lanka and India commenced joint military operations on Monday, following the 'Annual Defence Dialogue' talks held last month between the two countries and co-chaired by Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Indian counterpart, R. K. Mathu. 
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