• India in Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa’s regional ally or aspirant global power?

    Nov 13

    As India’s External Affairs Minister arrived for the CHOGM summit today, he sought to underplay the significance of the Indian Prime Minister’s absence. Manmohan Singh was forced to withdraw in response to concerted political pressure from Tamil Nadu where the State Assembly has unanimously passed two resolutions demanding an Indian boycott. Whilst Tamil Nadu insists that India must make justice for the Tamils central to its policy in Sri Lanka, Delhi thinks otherwise. Wedded to an out of date Cold War framework in which great power interests are calibrated by spheres of influence, and subsequently driven by paranoia about Chinese investments in the region, it desperately seeks influence in Sri Lanka and is willing to collude with Colombo’s crimes to that end. But this conciliatory approach is bound to fail. The central obstacle to Indian interests on the island is the Sinhala Buddhist majoritarian order that produced the Rajapaksa presidency. Until India works to undermine and contain this, it will not be able to realise any of its commercial, political or diplomatic objectives on the island.

  • Law Society of South Africa gravely concerned at denial of IBAHRI entry
    In a statement released on Wednesday, the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) expressed its "grave concern" at high level delegation of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) being denied entry into Sri Lanka, and called on President Zume and the South African government "to consider boycotting the CHOGM, as other countries have done."

  • Britain should secure alternative to Sri Lanka for Commonwealth chair – Ed Miliband
    Writing in the Tamil Guardian today, Britain’s Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, said Premier David Cameron, having rejected calls, including by the Labour Party, to boycott this week’s Commonwealth summit in Colombo, should now ensure Sri Lanka is not permitted to chair the Commonwealth for the next two years.
     
    The full text of Mr. Miliband’s opinion follows:


    The Prime Minister flies to a summit in Colombo today amidst growing and continuing concerns about Sri Lanka’s human rights record after two decades of civil war.

    An estimated 40,000 civilians died in that brutal conflict and yet there has still been no investigation into allegations of war crimes because the Sri Lankan government has so far refused to carry one out.

    Instead of making progress, the situation in Sri Lanka seems to be getting worse.

    Last month, Britain's cross-party foreign affairs select committee criticised the scant evidence of progress in political and human rights.
  • Cameron’s resolve faces test as Sri Lanka warns over war crimes talk
    British Premier David Cameron has been warned by the Sri Lankan government not to raise its human rights record when he attends the Commonwealth summit in Colombo later this week, the BBC reports.
     
    In rejecting calls to boycott the summit given Sri Lanka’s worsening human rights record, Mr. Cameron said he would use the opportunity to raise press for an independent investigation into wartime atrocities and rights abuses since the war’s end. (See his op-ed in Tamil Guardian last Thursday).
  • US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka launched

    Published 04:34 GMT

    A US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka was launched on Wednesday, at Capitol Hill in Washington DC at 2pm local time.

    The Caucus, co-chaired by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), has already seen additional US Members of Congress joining. 
  • Britain's Hague on sexual violence by Sri Lanka forces

    Speaking in Colombo yesterday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called for an international investigation into alleged war crimes if the Sri Lankan government fails to undertake an 'independent, thorough and credible' investigation of its own.

    Hague said:

    "The British government along with other members of the international community has consistently called for an independent, thorough and credible investigation into allegations of violations and abuses of International humanitarian and human rights law by both sides in the military conflict and in the absence of an independent investigation pressure will mount for an international investigation,"

  • Cameron calls on Commonwealth leaders to unite on Sri Lanka’s rights abuses

    Writing in the Times of India on Thursday, British Prime Minister David Cameron called on the leaders of Commonwealth to unite in pressing for a thorough investigation into Sri Lanka’s war crimes, and for “an end to the intimidation of journalists and human rights defenders, action to stamp out torture, demilitarisation of the north and reconciliation between communities.”

    "Of course," Mr. Cameron said, "we need to see a thorough investigation into alleged war crimes, and if it does not happen rapidly, an international independent investigation will be needed."

  • Sri Lanka must not be allowed to chair Commonwealth – Amnesty
    Commonwealth leaders must use their summit in Colombo this week to pressure the Sri Lankan authorities to end their alarming crackdown on dissent, Amnesty International said Thursday.
     
    Steve Crawshaw, Director of the Office of the Secretary General who is in Colombo representing Amnesty International around CHOGM, said in a press release:
    “The Commonwealth and those attending the summit must use the coming days to highlight and condemn ongoing human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Under no circumstances should Sri Lanka be handed the chair of the organization for the next two years.”
     
  • Jaffna University Student Union criticises prolonged closure of uni
    The Student Union at the University of Jaffna has criticised the unexplained decision to keep teaching suspended until December, despite all other universities in Sri Lanka being set to reopen on Monday 18th November.

    See original statement on Uthayan (Tamil). Translation follows below:
    "The University Grants Commission announced that classes in all universities would be suspended for the Commonwealth summit, between 11th and 17th November. University students were also ordered to vacate their accommodation for this period.
  • Vali North protest enters day 3 despite intimidation

    Photograph Uthayan

    Tamils at Valikaamam North continued their protest, now into day 3, against the on-going Sri Lankan military land grabs and enforced High Security Zones within the North-East, despite intimidation and threats.

    Vehicle owners transporting demonstrators to the protest site were threatened and had nails thrown at their tires in attempts to prevent the hunger strike gaining mass support.

    Tweeting from the protest, the leader of the Tamil National People’s Front party, Gajen Ponnambalam, took the following images:

  • Australian Senate passes motion on independent investigation on human rights and humanitarian law violations in SL
    The Australian Senate rejected Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s stance on Sri Lanka, calling for an independent investigation into allegations of human rights and international law violations, Thursday.
  • Rajapaksa maintains he has 'nothing to hide'
    In the face of mounting criticism over his human rights record, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa remained defiant, insisting he has 'nothing to hide'.

    Speaking to reporters in Colombo, Rajapaksa also remained unperturbed on the subject of his upcoming meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, who promised to ask the Sri Lankan President some "serious questions". Rajapaksa stated,
    "I will be meeting him and we will see, I will also have to ask some questions."
     
    Hitting back at international criticism, Rajapaksa said:
    "Today no-one is getting killed... there is no killing in Sri Lanka."

    "If anyone wants to complain about the human rights violations in Sri Lanka, whether it is torture, whether it is rape, whether it is... We have a system. You all must respect the system of a country, the culture of a country."
  • Cannot guarantee foreign journalists' safety - SL Media Minister
    Four years after the end of the armed conflict, with a flourishing military presence, Sri Lanka's Media Minister said that he could not guarantee that foreign journalists would be safe if they ventured outside the Colombo.

    Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said:
    "There is 'huge dissent' among the public regarding Callum Macrae, the Channel 4 Director who exposed alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, and the people appear to have taken steps on their own to agitate."
  • William Hague: meeting Tamil community important part of my visit
    Meeting members of the Tamil communit was an "important part of the purpose of coming to Sri Lanka," said Hague, following a meeting with the TNA in Colombo.

    Hague     said:
    "An important part of my purpose of coming to Sri Lanka was to meet members of the Tamil community as well as those working across Sri Lanka to promote human rights, reconciliation and accountability for past crimes. I am pleased that the Prime Minister is visiting the north of Sri Lanka to see for himself the work that needs to be done to address the legacy of the conflict.
  • Concerned about efforts to sanitise LTTE rump - Gota
    Speaking to CHOGM delegates on Monday, the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa warned about the 'LTTE rump'.

    Refering to the Canadian delegate, Deepak Obhrai, laying a wreath at Elephant Pass, Gotabhaya said:
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