• Vatican confirms Pope visit to Sri Lanka

    Jul 29
    The Vatican confirmed on Tuesday that Pope Francis would be visiting Sri Lanka in January along side a visit to the Philippines.

    He will be in Sri Lanka from January 12th till the 15th, before travelling to the Phillipines where he will be until the 19th, UCA News reported. An itinerary for his trip is yet to published.

    Earlier this month, Tamil civil society groups urged the Pope to visit the North-East and to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to stop colonising Tamil land, account for the war-dead and disappeared, and ensure a political solution for the Tamil people.

  • Tamil Nadu to issue biometric ID cards to Eelam refugees
    Tamil Nadu state government is to issue biometric identity cards to Eelam Tamil refugees living within camps, the Hindu reports.

    According to officials the new system, due to start in September, is to ensure cash hand outs are given to the correct individual.
  • MoD rejects US concerns, accuses embassy being led by 'pro-LTTE diaspora'
    Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence rejected concerns expressed by the US embassy this week, accusing embassy officials of fashioning their perceptions on Sri Lanka "primarily on the interests of pro-LTTE diaspora and likeminded elements within the country."

    "The government of Sri Lanka rejects unreservedly these baseless and uncorroborated statements and repeated attempts by the US Embassy in Colombo to malign the conduct of Sri Lanka’s security forces," said the military spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya in a statement published in the pro-government paper, Island on Wednesday.

    Accusing the US of "departing from all accepted norms of respectful engagement, which should characterise diplomatic exchanges between countries", Wanigasooriya said the embassy appeared to be attempting to "sensationalize issues rather than find answers".

    "It appears the US Embassy officials are unaware of the factual position with regard to strengthening of democratic freedoms since the end of the conflict in May 2009," directing them to "revisit the 1987-89 period" and warning them to "desist from indulging in exaggerated statements".

    "In this context, it is particularly unfortunate to note that perceptions of the US Embassy officials about reconciliation in Sri Lanka seem to be fashioned primarily on the interests of pro-LTTE diaspora and likeminded elements within the country. Such perceptions largely ignore the ground realities as well as the tremendous progress that has been made in Sri Lanka in recent years," he concluded.

  • British tourist sexually harassed in Sri Lanka

    Sri Lankan police have arrested a person on suspicion of sexually harassing a 20 year old British woman, in Arugam Bay, according to Sri Lanka Mirror.

  • Sri Lankan Army ‘permits’ church festival in High Security Zone

    A celebration at a church in the High Security Zone in Palali has been facilitated by the Sri Lankan Army, after a request by a priest, reported the army’s Jaffna command website.

    Over 500 people are reported to have attended the centenary celebrations of St James’ Church, which lies within the militarised High Security Zone around Palali South.

    Permission to enter the HSZ was granted by Jaffna Commander Major General Udaya Perera after a request by Fr. Anton Bala of St. Joseph’s church in Atchuvely.

  • Sinhala settlements continue in North says TNA MP
    The Sri Lankan government is attempting to build Sinhala settlements in land that was appropriated supposedly for army camps, forcing Tamils into refugee camps, the TNA's General Secretary, MP Maavai Senathirajah was quoted by the Uthayan as saying, when speaking at an ITAK event.

    "People who did fishing and farming for generations are facing unfortunate lives as homeless refugees, as their native lands are being grabbed by the military," he said.

    "Those who are seizing those lands are planning to build Sinhala settlements in Tamil regions. Today, Sri Lankan government acts to reduce the proportion of Tamils. It is focused on creating restlessness in North and the East and to banish [Tamil] people from there," he added, stating that almost 2 lakhs of Eelam Tamils were currently in refugees camps in India.

  • Violence against Tamils continues in occupied North-East says USTPAC
    Marking the 31st anniversary of Black July, an anti-Tamil pogram that saw over 3000 Tamils killed by state-sponsored Sinhala mobs, the US based advocacy group, USTPAC, stressed that violence against Tamils continues in the North-East where Tamils live under occupation.

    “Black July was a watershed event that signaled to the Tamils that they would have only a subservient place in a Sri Lanka ruled by the majority Sinhala Buddhists, for their exclusive benefit,” said USTPAC President, Dr Karunyan Arulanantham.

    "Tamil lands are expropriated, Tamils are denied the right to mourn their dead, Tamil children and women are raped with impunity, all while an ex-military governor appointed by the president holds executive authority and the largest military per capita in Asia is stationed in the traditional Tamil homelands," he added.
     
  • 50 Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy

    Sri Lanka’s navy has arrested 50 fishermen and seized seven trawlers from Tamil Nadu off the coast of Jaffna, accusing them of poaching in Sri Lankan waters.

    There are already 38 Indian fishermen and 55 trawlers in Sri Lankan custody, according to The Hindu.

    Chief Minister Jayalalithaa last week called on Prime Minister Modi to secure the release of the fishermen describing it as a "deliberate strategy of the Sri Lankan government to destroy the primary means of livelihood of Indian fishermen."

  • Sri Lanka ‘committed to repression’ of Tamil journalists – Jaffna Press Club

    The Jaffna Press Club “strongly condemns” the treatment meted out by the military to Tamil journalists, travelling to a work shop in Colombo, and accused the Sri Lankan security forces of deliberately placing marijuana in the vehicle they were travelling in.

    In a statement, the group said that Sri Lanka is “committed to preventing journalists from the North from fostering a relationship with journalists in the south in every way [and] repressing them by any means available”.

    “On one hand, as the Sri Lankan government is trying to portray the journalists of the [Jaffna] peninsula as terrorists, on the other, it is taking measures to ensure their circle of contacts does not widen,” the statement charged.

    The statement described how the journalists were followed by vehicles, from Jaffna, before being stopped at Maankulam and Omanthai, by members of the police and the military.

  • Jayalalithaa slams 'deliberate and callous' arrests as Sri Lanka detains more fishermen
    Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has written to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for decisive action over the arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities, as dozens more fishermen were detained this week.
  • Buddhist monks 'operate under protection of government' in Sri Lanka – US
    Sri Lankan authorities have allowed Buddhists monks to operate with impunity in attacking places of worship across the island and continued to build Buddhist shrines in the Tamil North-East, said the United States in a report released this week.
  • Police summons 7 Tamil journalists who protested against military for questioning
    Journalists who protested against military intimidation have been called for questioning  tomorrow by the Omanthai police, reports a journalist at Yarl Thinakkural, a Jaffna based newspaper.

    The journalist, Monday morning, tweeted that 7 journalists who protested against the military had been called in for police questioning.

  • Cross-party concern over 'betrayal' of Sri Lankan soldiers in Presidential Inquiry
    The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Missing persons, this week, received criticism from both opposition and ruling coalition parties, reports the Sunday Leader.

    The opposition UNP in a statement criticised the decision to conduct the inquiry, suggesting that it was a betrayal of Sri Lankan soldiers.

    “They (the public) should be told why President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who boasted he would sit in an ‘electric chair’ than betray soldiers, has now done an about turn and that too quite secretly. The UNP strongly believes the public should also know whether the actions are in the best interests of Sri Lanka or are the outcome of ignorant, shady but powerful brokers who are on an adventure wrapping up secret diplomatic deals behind the backs of the people,” read the statement.

    The leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a party within the ruling party (UPFA) coalition, criticised the government’s expansion of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Missing Persons without gaining approval from members of the ruling coalition.

    Warning of unrest should anything happen to Sri Lankan soldiers as a result of the inquiry, the General Secretary of the JHU, Minister Champika Ranawaka said,
  • US concern about intimidation of journalists

    The US embassy in Colombo has expressed “grave concern” about the intimidation by Sri Lankan security forces of journalists, covering the court proceedings related to the gang rape of an 11-year old Tamil school girl by Sri Lankan Navy personnel in Jaffna.

    In a statement released on Monday, the embassy also said it was deeply concerned about the cancellation of a training session for Tamil journalists, which was financially supported by the US embassy, after protests hit the venue in Colombo.

    The US said that “well-organised protestors” disrupted the third such event since May, threatening to harm the participants, and accused the Sri Lankan police of not providing security to the threatened journalists, or taking action against the groups making the threats, despite their presence during the incidents.

  • Sri Lankan Army organises football coaching for Tamil children

    Photograph CIMICJaffna.lk

    A football coaching camp for Tamil youths and schoolchildren was held by the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna.

    Coordinated by the Commander of the 533 Brigade Colonel Vijith Subasinghe and the president of the Sri Lankan Football Federation Ranjith Rodrigo, the three day camp in the Duraiyappa Stadium saw participation by coaches and players from the US-based Soccer Outreach Association, Pennsylvania.

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