• I gave orders, it will be me that goes to the electric chair - Sarath Fonseka

    Mar 05
    The former Army General, Sarath Fonseka, flatly rejected any allegations that his troops had committed war crimes during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, but added that "if there are war crimes allegations and somebody goes to the electric chair, it will be me because I commanded, I planned, I monitored, I directed, I supervised the battlefield activities and I gave orders."
    In an interview to the Daily Mirror.lk General Fonseka said,
    "If there are allegations of war crimes against the army, I have said that I am ready to answer that anytime to anybody because I don’t agree that the army had committed any war crimes. I deny that. If somebody has a specific complain and any credible evidence, then we can always conduct an inquiry like we have done in the past. But you can’t baselessly blame the army."
  • Draft resolution is disappointing, Cameron's pledge has not been realised - GTF
    The draft resolution tabled at the UNHRC on Monday is "disappointing", said the Global Tamil Forum (GTF).

    In an interview to BBC Tamil, the spokesperson of the GTF Suren Surendiran said,
    "It's certainly not satisfactory. It's disappointing. Importantly, when the British Prime Minister went to Sri Lanka last year for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet, he very clearly stated, if the Sri Lankan government does not conduct a credible investigation, then the coming March - ie. this month, March 2014 - he, the UK, and other countries would call for an independent, international investigation. Till now, that clear statement has certainly not been realised. Therefore, this is definitely a disheartening act. It has disappointed us."
  • PMK urges India to work towards strengthening draft UNHRC resolution

    The leader of the Paattali Makkal Katchi, a party in the Tamil Nadu ruling coalition, urged the Indian government to work towards strengthening the draft resolution on Sri Lanka, tabled at the UNHRC this week.


    The party leader, S Ramathas, stressed the need for India to strengthen the current draft resolution, and ensure that an international mechanism into war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide took place.

  • David Cameron urged to call for CoI by UK NGOs

    Several NGOs based in the UK have urged Prime Minister David Cameron to support the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry at the UN Human Rights Council.

    In a letter to the Prime Minister, Freedom from Torture, Redress, Minority Rights Group International, Sri Lanka Campaign and UNA-UK, said the Prime Minister should stand by his call for an international investigation, adding that little had changed since his visit in November.

    The groups said issues such as torture, disappearances and sexual violence, if left unaddressed, may lead to renewed conflict and said they hoped the UK would “champion robust action” at the council.

  • Cross-party group of UK MPs call for international investigation in Sri Lanka

    The chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), MP Lee Scott, left for the United Nations Human Rights Council, today, to aid efforts in ensuring that an international investigation into Sri Lankan atrocities is established by the UNHRC.

    Speaking to press before he left, he said,

  • State-owned airline projected to make nearly £10mn loss

    Mihin Lanka, a state-owned airline, is projected to make a loss of over Rs2bn (£9.2mn) for 2013-14.

    The Minister of Civil Aviation Priyankara Jayaratna was responding to a question raised in parliament and said that the budget-airline is in debt to the tune of over Rs283mn (£1.3bn).

  • Sri Lanka has ‘failed to satisfy the UNHRC’s call’ says High Commissioner
    The Sri Lankan government has failed to hold a credible investigation into allegations of human rights abuses, stated the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, as she presented her annual report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

    Speaking earlier today, Pillay told the council,
  • Archbishop Desmond Tutu urges UN to establish Commission of Inquiry in Sri Lanka
    The Archbishop Desmond Tutu urged the United Nations to establish a Commission of Inquiry in a joint letter to the UN, written together with other international human rights activists and notable Tamil voices from the North-East.

    The letter, published in the South African journal, Mail & Guardian, two days after a draft resolution tabled at the UN fell short of calling for a CoI, expressed concern, stating,
    "We, concerned individuals and organisations from around the world, urge the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to use their March 2014 session to pass a resolution that will include a commitment to an independent international investigation in the form of a commission of inquiry in Sri Lanka. Only this will help put the country on the path to justice and reconciliation."
  • Urgent international Commission of Inquiry needed say Tamil civil society activists
    The Tamil Civil Society Forum, a network of Tamil civil society activists including the Bishop of Mannar Reverend, Rayappu Joseph, urged the UNHRC member states to pass a resolution that calls for the establishment of "an urgent, Independent International Commission of Inquiry".

    Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, lecturer in law at the University of Jaffna, K. Guruparan of the     Tamil Civil Society Forum, said,
    "The current draft resolution on Sri Lanka effectively calls on the Sri Lankan government to investigate itself. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is merely entrusted with weak oversight responsibilities. What is desperately needed is an international Commission of Inquiry to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law including the alleged crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity."

  • Sri Lanka rejects OHCHR report ‘in its entirety’
    Last updated: 12:55 CET

    Sri Lanka has rejected a report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) “in its entirety”, stating it was “fundamentally flawed" today, in its opening address to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

    Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister GL Peiris told the council that the recommendations in the report were “arbitrary, intrusive and of a political nature”, stating that the High Commissioner Navi Pillay had reached conclusions in a “selective and arbitrary manner”.

    The report was slammed as being “based on questionable and baseless material”, after Sri Lanka stated "the references made in the council, welcoming the High Commissioner’s report, even at the highest level of the UN are regrettable", referring to     UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
     
  • Herbicidal Sri Lankan military

    The Sri Lankan Army has launched a “well coordinated” drive to eradicate weeds in the Jaffna peninsula, reported the Civil and Military Coordination – Jaffna website.

  • DMK demands international probe and referendum on self-determination

    The leader of the DMK, the largest opposition party in Tamil Nadu, described the draft UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka “disappointing” and called on India to propose a separate resolution, calling for an independent international investigation.

  • Labour: David Cameron must now deliver on international investigation pledge
    Britain’s main opposition Labour party Wednesday called on Prime Minister David Cameron to take personal charge of ensuring an independent international investigation into Sri Lanka’s mass atrocities is established at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva and that it makes “swift progress”. 
     
     
    Writing in the Tamil Guardian today, Labour’s shadow foreign affairs minister, Kerry McCarthy, called on the British government to: 
    “(1) Be unequivocal and unwavering in its support for an independent, international inquiry; (2) Make every effort to secure widespread support for a robust resolution; and (3) Ensure an international inquiry commences swiftly.”
     
  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister urges India to use diplomatic channels to free fishermen
    The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalitha, urged the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to intervene to secure the release of 153 fishermen that were detained by the Sri Lankan navy.
  • Sri Lankan govt continues to commit crimes against humanity against Tamils concludes new report

    The Sri Lankan state's continuing human rights violations post-conflict provided "credible allegations of crimes against humanity against the Tamil population in the Northern Province", concludes a damning 90-page report by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice.

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