Minister Samarasinghe's speech is for consumption of the international community and there is little genuine interest to follow through in Sri Lanka

Response to the Statement Made by Minister Mahinda Samarasinge

22nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council
Civil Society Collective/ 28 February 2013
This document is prepared in response to the statement made by Minister Samarasinghe on 27 February 2013 at the High Level Segment of the 22nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). A similar document was prepared in response to the statement made by the same Minister at the 19th Session of the UNHRC in 2012, based on the ground realities in Sri Lanka.

The Hermitic Crisis : No discernible way out

Tisaranee Gunasekara
“Of course he won’t give up power…. What were we thinking? The old man isn’t going anywhere, he’ll die in office”. -  Peter Godwin (The Fear: The Last Days of Robert Mugabe)
Another milestone in the Rajapaksa plan to control every aspect of Lankan life has been reached. 4,000 school principals have been ordered to undergo 45 days of military training and receive military titles. “The letters sent out by the Sri Lanka Cadet Corps…state that officials of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service who hold the post of principal and those in Grades I and II of the principal’s service have been asked to attend the interviews on March 4, 5 and 6.” (Daily Mirror – 27.2.2013).

4,000 more principals to get military titles : more concerns over the militarization.

Some 4,000 school principals have been called for interviews at the Cadet Corps Headquarters next week to be awarded military titles, raising more concerns over the militarization of more than 50 per cent of the schools in the country.

Resumption of Anti-Muslim Campaign Echo the same Anti-Muslim Sentiments of Sinhala Buddhist Agitators Before 1915 Anti-Muslim Riots

Dr.Ameer Ali
In the aftermath of a pyrrhic victory over the LTTE and in a mood of triumphalism, President Mahinda Rajapaksa lectured to an anxious nation that there would henceforth be no more Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims, and no more majority and minority in his country but only Sri Lankans. Those who listened to those words at that time or read them afterwards heaved a sigh of relief.

Khurshid says accountability must for rights violations in Sri Lanka

External affairs minister Salman Khurshid: no accountability, no reconciliation in Sri Lanka

In the wake of fresh allegations of rights violations against ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, India on Wednesday said there should be accountability for such issues but remained evasive on the position it will take at the UN on a resolution against that country.

We expect our actions to be assessed in their totality, in a spirit of objectivity and impartiality: Mahinda Samarasinghe to UNHRC

Addressing the 22 Human Rights Council session currently underway Mahinda Samarasinghe the Special Envoy of H.E. The President on Human Rights stated that the Sri Lanka government was promoting and protecting human rights in the country while, sustainable development had been made in the war affected areas.

US ‘disappointed’ with SL - Blake .

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert Blake said the US was ‘disappointed’ about Sri Lanka’s failure to address several issues including the implementation of the LLRC action plan.

'Sri Lanka should be encouraged in its reconciliation process, rather than being singled out for any disproportionate attention in the HRC'

Sri Lanka Permanent Mission, Geneva
Exercising a ‘right of Reply’ to a statement made by Ms Esther Brimmer, US Assistant Secretary of State for international organisations during the High Level Segment of the 22nd Human Rights Council today ( 26 February 2013), Ms. Priyanga Wicremasinghe, Counsellor of the Sri Lanka Permanent Mission in Geneva said, “Sri Lanka should be encouraged in its reconciliation process, rather than being singled out for any disproportionate attention in this Council”.

Sri Lanka security forces rape, torture Tamil detainees: HRW

Ambassador, Prasad Kariyawasam: We cannot fight with the most powerful country in the world and their NGOs

 

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka's security forces have used rape to torture and extract confessions from suspected Tamil separatists almost four years after the country's civil war ended, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday.

Esther Brimmer Presents U.S. Priorities at HRC 22 Opening: The Council’s work remains unfinished on Sri Lanka

Mr. President, fellow delegates, distinguished guests,
It is an honor for me to once again represent the United States before the UN Human Rights Council, to present our first intervention since being elected to a second term.  In September 2009, I delivered the first U.S. intervention as a member of this esteemed body, in which the United States pledged to pursue broad international cooperation, both with traditional partners and across longstanding divides, to advance universal human rights and strengthen the Human Rights Council’s ability to achieve its essential mandate.

The state of media in Sri Lanka: In conversation with Dilrukshi Handunnetti

Groundviews

Dilrukshi Handunnetti is currently Senior Deputy Editor, Ceylon Today and was, before Lasantha Wickrematunge’s murder, lead investigative journalist at the Sunday Leader.
We begin by going into why after years as a journalist, Dilrukshi joined Transparency International for a few years to advocacy for many of the same issues that she had written about in the media. She is also asked whether in her current position at Ceylon Today – geared more to the oversight and curation of content others produce – she missed actually writing investigative articles herself.

How a minister intervened and got his son released form non bailable offence : DIG’s son speaks of assault

Asela Waidyalankara: they were drunk, abusive and vulger

The condition of the son of DIG Ravi Waidyalankara, Asela Waidyalankara is currently reported to be stable and he is undergoing treatment at a leading private hospital in Colombo.
Asela Waidyalankara, son of DIG Ravi Waidyalankara speaking to Daily Mirror said two Police officers in uniform who were on duty and had intervened during the assault were also allegedly assaulted by the gang which comprised the son of Minister Maithripala Sirisena.

NfR Sri Lanka expresses deep concern on the threats to Sri Lankan human rights lawyer Lakshan Dias and calls for show of solidarity

NfR Sri Lanka, a net work of Sri Lankan journalists and Human Rights Defenders expresses its deep concerns on the reported Threats and intimidations directed at Sri Lankan human rights lawyer Lakshan Dias.
Mr. Lakshan Dias is a well known human rights activist with a  long standing experience  in promoting and protecting all human rights for all.

Sri Lanka Opposes UN Screening of Critical Film

 FRANK JORDANS Associated Press
Sri Lankan diplomats are working to block a British-made documentary about the Asian country's civil war from being shown on the sidelines of a United Nations human rights meeting this week, arguing that it is part of a concerted campaign by the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels to destabilize the peace.

Sri Lanka Government wants to ban the Channel 4 film 'No Fire Zone' at UNHRC

In a strange move the Government of Sri Lanka send a letter to the President of the UNHRC on the first day of the 22^nd session calling for censorship within the UN premises. In two page letter GoSL said that the GoSL strongly protest the use of the premises of UN for the screening of this film, No Fire Zone produced by the Channel 4. The film is a documentary on the alleged war crimes that has taken place during the last phase of the war in Sri Lanka.

Muslims in Wayamba feel Insecure as scattered acts of anti-Muslim Violence Increase in Kurunegala District

Muslim traders threatened

The town of Narammala is a busy, bustling one. Although it lies several kilometres away from Kurunegala, it still abounds with shops, eating houses and banks. But beneath the bustle is a layer of tension. Some 30 Muslim-owned shops received a shocking letter in the post around February 11 – ‘Close your shop by the end of March, or you will die’, the letter said, the word ‘maranawa’ scrawled in red ink.

India to vote against Sri Lanka in UNHRC

India will vote in support of a US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka proposed to be moved before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva next month, Union minister in the Prime Minister's Office ( PMO) V Narayansamy said on Sunday.

The Numbers Never Lie: A Quick Look at Sri Lanka’s LLRC Progress

24 Feb, 2013 The Social Architects 

The administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa won the ethnic war, but Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict is more alive than ever. There is a lot of talk about how the situation in the North and East has improved, but most of these assertions are misleading. The rebuilding of physical infrastructure alone is not a very helpful indicator when it comes to reconciliation.

Mahinda Samarasinghe sent to Geneva as Delegation head at the last Minute as Efforts by Envoy Aryasinha Fail to “Water down”US Resolution at UNHRC

Minister Saarasinghe: Mission Impossible

The Sunday Times Political Editor
Last week When the cabinet meeting was over President Rajapaksa beckoned to External Affairs Minister Peiris and Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe to meet him before leaving ‘Temple Trees’. Samarasinghe is also the President’s Special Envoy for Human Rights. After the cabinet meeting, the two ministers were ushered into an area where President Rajapaksa was already seated. “I want you to go to Geneva,” the President told Samarasinghe.

Minister Maithripala's son badly assaulted Deputy Inspector General of Police G Vidyalankara's son

 In another appalling display of political impunity and the culture of violence spreading in Sri Lanka, the son of a senior police DIG Ravi Vidyalankara was brutally assaulted by an inebriated group led by the son of Senior Minister Maithripala Sirisena today.

EU demands independent probe

Jean Lambert

The European Union (EU) wants an independent investigation and evaluation into the final years of the war in Sri Lanka, in addition to the national enquiries.
Jean Lambert, Chair of the European Parliament Delegation to South Asia, told The Sunday Leader that the EU remains concerned about reports of threats and attacks on human rights defenders and journalists in Sri Lanka, and encourages authorities to hold those responsible accountable.

CPI (M) general secretary Karat wants India to demand credible probe into Sri Lanka rights violations

India should demand an independent, high-level, credible inquiry into the atrocities and human rights violations that took place in the last phase of the war in Sri Lanka, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said on Saturday.

Neo-fascism on the rise in Sri Lanka

If Buddhist extremism is left unchecked, the existing peaceful ties between the island’s Sinhalese and Muslims could only lead to violence and an ethnic war

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Govt. efforts at investigating alleged war crimes lack credibility: Navi Pillay

Namini Wijedasa in an e-mail interview with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (HR) Navi Pillay
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (HR) Navi Pillay says none of the steps taken domestically in Sri Lanka, to investigate allegations of war crimes, have inspired confidence. This made an international investigation essential. Excerpts from her email interview with the Sunday Times:

A referendum is needed for the 13th amendment in the constitution -GOTA

In terms of the government’s constitution, in order to extend the 13th Amendment it needs a referendum. This was disclosed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Services and the Urban Development activities Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

TNA to head to Geneva

A four-member Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary delegation will leave for UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva, to brief the representatives of the member countries, who will be dealing with the US resolution on Sri Lanka.

Written Statement to UNHRC : Sri Lanka: The need for the preservation and proper inquiries into the remains of about 200 bodies found in the mass grave at Matale

1. The ALRC and its sister organisation, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), have documented numerous cases of enforced disappearances to the state of Sri Lanka and to the UN Working Group.

Written statement to UNHRC: The absence of action regarding complaints of torture and ill-treatment

Sri Lanka: The absence of action regarding complaints of  torture and ill-treatment
The ALRC and its sister organisation the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has submitted to the government of Sri Lanka in 2012 a total of 46 complaints relating to torture and ill-treatment. All these cases related to serious assaults on persons after arrest and during the period of detention at police stations. The victims in these cases and the date of the incidents are listed below:

Written statement to UNHRC - Independence of Judicairy

Attacks and interference regarding independence of judges and lawyers in Sri Lanka[1]

 Today, lawyers and judges in Sri Lanka are subject to systematic political and physical attacks.[2] The independence of the judiciary is widely recognized as a safeguard with respect to the protection of human rights and the rule of law, and serves as an essential check on the other branches of the State. As such, these attacks, and the coercive climate they engender, constitute a significant threat to the independence of the Sri Lankan judicial system, the maintenance of the rule of law, and the protection and promotion of human rights.

Written statement to UNHRC:Freedom of Expression

Introduction[1]

 Since the end of the civil war in 2009, Sri Lankan journalists and media workers have been subject to a campaign of intimidation and violence,[2] resulting in an oppressive environment of de facto censorship. Individual journalists, who speak out on issues such as national politics, corruption, human rights, or the civil war and its aftermath, are subject to intimidation and vilification. Some of them have been publicly branded as having links to a ‘terrorist’ organization.

Written Statement to UNHRC: Arbitrary Detention in Sri Lanka[1]

Arbitrary Detention in Sri Lanka[1]

In 1983, at the outbreak of the civil war in Sri Lanka, the International Commission of Jurists concluded that Sri Lanka's abuses of prisoners constituted a “systematic” and "almost universal” practice;[2] that year, for example, 53 Tamil inmates were killed by Sinhalese guards at the Welikada high security prison.[3] Thirty years later, the system remains unchanged and the systematic abuse of prisoners continues to be the norm; in November 2012 it was reported that 27 inmates were killed at Welikada prison.[4] Continuing abuses highlight the unchanging nature of Sri Lanka's detention policy and the associated violations of human rights that have resulted in over 11,000 internments since the end of the civil war in 2009.[5]

India: Pressure mounts:Cong MPs from TN meet PM, want resolution against Lanka; When the no fire zone became a killing field

Cong MPs from TN meet PM, want resolution against Lanka
Seeking to exert pressure on the Centre, Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that India join western countries like the US in bringing a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC over the alleged human rights violations during the war.

Sri Lanka: No citizenship for asulym seekers

The Sri Lankans, who have sought asylum in other countries, have been excluded from the Sri Lankan citizenship under the new Citizenship Act, the Controller of Immigration and Emigration, Chulanada Perera told Ceylon Today. He said the Department and Emigration will soon start accepting applications for dual citizenship.

Norochcholai Power Plant US$ 300 M ‘pocketed in commission’ ;Rs 6.4 B fraud at RMV; Rs 600 M missing from Education Cooperative Fund

Norochcholai Power Plant US$ 300 M ‘pocketed in commission’
The main opposition, United National Party (UNP), has accused that the government's estimated cost of US$ 1,300 million for the construction of the Phase 1 of Norochcholai Power Plant, included US$ 300 million 'pocketed in commission'. They alleged the actual construction cost was US$ 1,000 million, sans commissions.

Jayalalithaa demands economic sanctions on SL

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram today blasted the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government over the "inhuman act" of alleged cold-blooded killing of slain LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran’s 12-year-old son Balachandran.

The Return of Darusman: Navi Pillay’s Report on Sri Lanka

''Our country and people need a vision to restore its historical role, a long-term strategy that is in their interest, a correct analysis of the international situation, geopolitics and geostrategy, consistency and convincing arguments, and the means to defend its millenary values. Today, we may be a step closer to regime change, but the country is not disarmed; it is gifted with women and men of quality, patriots, capable of confronting this renewed threat to its sovereignty, unprecendented in its gravity since independence was won in 1948!''

Tamara Kunanayakam

Ban wants accountability in Sri Lanka

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon wants accountability in Sri Lanka through a genuine and comprehensive national process.
Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman Martin Nesirky said that the UN Chief was aware of the new video footage released on the war in Sri Lanka and the reports about that video footage. He was referring to the video allegedly showing the youngest son of LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabakaran having snacks in an army bunker before being shot dead.

Upul Jayasuriya at the helm of Bar Association: Clear endoesement of BASL stand on Impeachment

Upul Jayasuriya, Attorney-at-Law and senior human rights lawyer, was elected as the new President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka,
in what lawyers called a ‘historic’ margin of victory.

 ■Jayasuriya defeats main opponent Tirantha Waraliyadda PC by more than 1,700 votes
Jayasuriya beat his main contender Tirantha Waraliyadda PC, the senior criminal lawyer, by a margin of over 1,700 votes, BASL sources said. Former BASL President Wijeyadasa Rajapakse won the election in 2012 with 1297 votes in total, while Waraliyadda who also contested the last election received 676.

Death of local apparel manufacturing is nigh

The problem with being emotional and political about an argument is that one misses some important cues that in hindsight can cause disruptive change. The current discussion on the hard hit local manufacturing sector is a case in point. In their eagernss to find an excuse for their falling fortunes, management, especially in the apparel sector has the ultimate fall-guy: losing GSP Plus concessions.

UN Looks, Sri Lanka Ducks

International pressure has not dented support for Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS.

 Amantha Perera  

(IPS) - It has now become an annual affair. When the Geneva based UN Human Rights Council readies itself for the first of its annual regular sessions in February, the government in Sri Lanka gets ready to ward off yet another attempt to scrutinise its rights record.

Sri Lanka’s Authoritarian Turn: The Need for International Action – ICG

Asia Report N°243 | 20 February 2013
Executive Summary
Government attacks on the judiciary and political dissent have accelerated Sri Lanka’s authoritarian turn and threaten long-term stability and peace. The government’s politically motivated impeachment of the chief justice reveals both its intolerance of dissent and the weakness of the political opposition. By incapacitating the last institutional check on the executive, the government has crossed a threshold into new and dangerous terrain, threatening prospects for the eventual peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections.

The dominant ‘regime discourse’ of majoritarian militarism facilitate ethno - religious fascism - Dayan

‘What we are witnessing is nothing less than the emergence of an ethno-religious fascist movement from the dark underside of Sinhala society’ says Dr. Dayan Jayatilka,  political scientist, referring to reports of the recent manifestation in Maharagama.

Prabhakaran's son killing: an act of extreme cruelty, says Jayalalithaa

The HinduA file picture of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at a function in Chennai. Photo: M. Vedhan

Describing the killing of Balachandran, the son of LTTE leader Prabakaran, “as the cold-blooded war crime of gravest nature and unforgivable act” Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday called upon India to work together with the United States and like-minded countries to ensure that those responsible were made to face an international trial.

Rising cost of living makes Government unpopular, BT-RCB poll reveals

 The cost of living in Sri Lanka is going one way: UP, and that impact is reflecting on the popularity of the Mahinda Rajapaksa-led Government, an islandwide poll conducted by the Business Times (BT) and the Research Consultancy Bureau (RCB) has revealed.

Sri Lanka BMW registrations up 281-pct in Jan after tax changes

(LBO) - Sri Lanka's registrations of BMW luxury cars rose 280 percent in January 2013 from a year earlier following changes to taxes while new registrations of small Maruti/Suzuki models plunged 84 percent, data compiled by an equities research house show.

The killing of a young boy

By Callum Macrae

CHILLING DETAILS: Digital image analysis by an expert for Channel 4 has confirmed that this photograph showing 12-year-old Balachandran Prabakaran before and after he was shot dead, were taken with the same camera.

An individual who refused to give ‘kappam’ for function attended by President’s wife killed

An individual who did not give extortion money for decorations towards a function attended by President’s wife had been abducted by the white Van and murdered , according to reports reaching Lanka e news. The victim is 37 year old Waniganetti milth Niroshan , a married person with two children residing at Attanagalla road, Nittambuwa.

Sri Lanka Media Freedom Faces Downward Spiral

Media freedom in Sri Lanka took a severe blow over the weekend as two separate incidences involving the abuse of journalists took place.
On Friday night (the 15th) Faraz Shaukatally was shot by three unidentified gunmen in his own bedroom. Shaukatally, who is an investigative journalist for the privately owned Sunday Leader (whose editor was murdered in 2009), has been known for his exposés on corruption in the country.

SRI LANKA: Matale mass grave called a 'crime site'

Human remains in central Matale district is "the scene of a crime", a forensic medical officer has told Al Jazeera.
The remains of more than 150 people have been excavated in the town of Matale in central Sri Lanka.
The skeletal remains were discovered late last year by workers building a facility at a hospital in Matale.
Dr Ajith Jayasena, Matale hospital's judicial medical officer in charge of the investigation, told Al Jazeera that the site "is a crime scene".

Handed a snack, and then executed: the last hours of the 12-year-old son of a Tamil Tiger

Photographs show boy was held before he was killed at close range

(Warning: Some may find the second image in the accompanying gallery distressing)
New photographs have emerged which raise fresh questions about the conduct of Sri Lanka’s armed forces during the final stages of the operation against Tamil rebels and have led to claims the 12-year-old son of the militants’ leader may have been summarily executed.

Sri Lanka: EU to push for accountability; support US resolution

The European Union (EU) will push for accountability from Sri Lanka during the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva next month.

A statement following the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels yesterday said that the EU will also support efforts aimed at keeping the issues of accountability and reconciliation as well as the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka on the agenda of  the Human Rights Council.

Minister prompts DIG transfer, Minister Jayasena says called IGP to “seek relief

Top Police sources alleged yesterday that the controversial removal of the Moneragala Police division from DIG M.R.Lathif was prompted by an incident involving the arresting of illegal sand miners connected to Cabinet Minister Sumedha Jayasena of the Moneragala District.

Accordingly the Cabinet Minister had allegedly exerted pressure on Police officers to release, three men who were arrested while sand mining on the banks of Kumbukkan oya on December 27.

Christian clergy living and serving in North and East of Sri Lanka call for a strong and action oriented resolution on Sri Lanka

18th February 2013
To: The President and all members of the UN Human Rights Council

Call for a strong and action oriented resolution on Sri Lanka at the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council

As a group of concerned Christian clergy living and serving in North and East of Sri Lanka, we are writing to appeal for a strong and action oriented resolution in relation to accountability, reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka, which will go beyond the resolution adopted at the 19th session of the Council.

Don’t Let the Rajapaksas Ruin Sri Lanka

Photo by Getty; Illustration by Bloomberg View 

By the Editors 

Sri Lanka was for decades an example of how sectarian conflict can wreck an otherwise fortunate country. It has had three years to show how devolving power to an ethnic minority can bring about lasting peace. Now it looks as if the opportunity will be lost.

First draft of the US resolution: Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka

Here is the first draft of the resolution to be submitted by the US  to the Human rights Council and circulated by the UN Mission Geneva. ( Please note that this is a not a confirmed official US document yet )

The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant instruments,

The Independent Editorial: Britain's hypocrisy over Sri Lanka

Few Western countries were louder than Britain in condemning the Sri Lankan army’s shocking violations of human rights as it moved to suppress a bloody rebellion by ethnic Tamils demanding a separate state.
Clearly, those words of reproach were either not intended to be taken that seriously, or we just move on fast from such squabbles because, as this newspaper reveals, the UK sold several million pounds worth of arms last year to a regime we castigated only a few years ago.

TNA not prepared to bail out Sri Lanka Government in the international forum

Who is this Mr. Hathurusinha? he can't speak for the Govt. Lands in Valikamam North must be given back- Sampanthn

South Africa experiences could be useful for  Sri Lanka
The Tamil National Alliance has no obligation to bail out Sri Lanka Government in the international forum, when the Government has failed so far to actively engage them.
The Government is bringing this precarious situation upon itself and TNA has asked why they should be the advocate of the Government?

Govt. clips DIG’s wings for ruffling minister’s feathers

Shamindra Ferdinando
Moneragala DIG M. R. Latiff has been stripped of one of the police divisions he administered following a tussle between the Moneragala police and some ruling party politicians.
Police headquarters has named newly appointed DIG Roshan Fernando as Latiff’s successor in the Moneragala District.

BBC journalists detained and abused by Bodu Bala Sena

BBC News Charles Haviland was among the journalists detained briefly

As we finished filming at the rally, our three-member BBC team and driver were seriously threatened with violence by some members of a mob of more than 20 young men who told us not to drive off.
Some police arrived and looked on as my Sri Lankan colleagues were verbally abused in filthy language, described as "traitors" and accused of having "foreign parents" and working for a "foreign conspirator" who was "against Sri Lanka".

Sri Lanka hardline group calls for halal boycott

T-shirts denouncing halal products were worn by people at the rally

 A new hardline Sinhalese Buddhist group in Sri Lanka has called for the abolition of the Muslim halal system of certifying foods and other goods.

The Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Strength Force, also said foreign propagators of religions should leave the country within a month.

We will soon be subject to greater constraints, in the form of the constraints and controls that others wish to impose

Destroying the President’s defenders by Rajiva Wijesinha

Sri Lanka is full of conspiracy theories. There are many reasons for this, not least the fact that theorising about conspiracies is a universal practice, and we in Sri Lanka are victims of this as well as practitioners.

US resolution calls for Unfettered access for UN rapporteurs

An early draft of the United States sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council calls upon the Government to allow “unfettered access” to UN rapporteurs responsible for different topics.They include mandate holders dealing with independence of judges and lawyers; torture; human rights defenders; freedom of expression; freedom of association and assembly; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances.

Leader Journalist Shot; And adverse ‘ Norochcholai' report

Faraz Shauketaly  is being treated at GH, Colombo

Easwaran Rutnam
Faraz Shauketaly, a journalist attached to The Sunday Leader newspaper was shot at by unidentified gunmen at his house in Hotel Road, Mount Lavinia late on Friday night.
Eyewitnesses said they saw three men running away from his room following the shooting incident. Shauketaly received bullet injuries in his neck and was admitted to the Kalubowila Hospital.
The house in which he is staying is also a mini guest house. A group of foreign tourists who had checked in a day earlier said they heard a commotion and screams and when they opened the door leading to Shauketaly room they found blood all over his body.

Broken Dreams: The Truth about Sri Lanka

President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrives at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London on June 6, 2012
Photo by Adam Gasson/Commonwealth Secretariat

 

 

By The Social Architects

The brutal civil war in Sri Lanka ended nearly four years ago, but people are still hurting. The country’s North and East are plagued by a host of problems that are unlikely to be resolved soon. Misguided policies emanating from the central government in Colombo have directly contributed to these negative trends. Lofty talk about “the defeat of terrorism” and majoritarian triumphalism have further antagonized people.

Chinese Chasm (a`la Dutch Disease) in Sri Lanka

 ''In summary, Sri Lanka’s international economic relationship (trade – especially exports, investment, tourism, and foreign loans) is overwhelmingly dependent on the USA, UK (and other Western countries), and India is the only notable Eastern country. China accounts for less than one percent of Sri Lanka’s total exports, total foreign portfolio and foreign direct investments, and total tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka.''
 Muttukrishna Sarvananthan

Death Threats To Muslims

At least 50 Muslim shop owners in Narammala in the Kurunegala District, have received death threats by mail.
They have been warned to close their shops by March 31 or face death, Kurunegala district organizer of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Abdul Sathar said.

63 civil society organisations condemn anti-Muslim attacks

A host of civil society organisations yesterday issued a statement condemning the growing anti-Muslim rhetoric and attacks. At a time when we need to foreground our common humanity rather than the differences spawned by a long and difficult war, we must not permit the baser elements of our society to be our only voices.

Inquiry Reveals That The Instances Of Shellings Were Not Caused By The Army - The Army Court of Inquiry

Makeshift hospital in Vanni 2010

International community had failed in their duty to stop the war crimes committed by the LTTE terrorists
 
The Army Court of Inquiry appointed by the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya VSV USP ndu psc to investigate the controversial Channel 4 claims referred to in the LLRC Report, completed their inquiry concerning the 1st Part of their investigation with regard to the allegation of excessive civilian casualties that said to have been caused due to heavy shellings.

Military personals carried out attack against people engage in hunger strike at Waligamam North; Photo journalists assaulted

MIlitary dismantled  the the Uthyan journalist's camera

15 February 2013

People together with politicians engage in hunger strike protest on demanding to release lands and resettle people at the high security zone in the Waligamam north this afternoon.
Due to the attack tense situation reported in the area. However people were confident on their protest. According to the sources hunger strike protest commenced at 8.30 am this morning. Opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe was also present at this site.

Anti-impeachment lawyers being hunted countrywide: Lawyers Collective

 ■Anti-impeachment lawyers being hunted, Collective says
 ■Call on all members of BASL to elect the ‘progressive’ candidate as the next President of the Bar
 ■Claim one BASL presidential aspirant is being backed by Govt.
 ■Collective pledges to continue the struggle for judicial independence

Tiger taxes in the past, Islam Hala taxes today - JHU

The General Secretary of the Hela Urumaya Minister Patalie Champika Ranawaka has alleged that similar to the attempt made by the LTTE leader Prabhakaran to divide the country using weapons, the Jamiyathul Ulema Organization is attempting to divide the country by Halal.   He said that they are Islamizing the production process of this country and the whole world and added that bringing in of Arab culture to this country would lead to major conflicts.

Colombo shuns Tamil representation in Delimitation Committee in Trincomalee

Not a single Tamil officer was appointed to the six-member Trincomalee District Local Authorities Delimitation Committee that is headed by the Sri Lankan Government Agent (SLGA) who is a retired Major General of the occupying Sri Lanka Army, civil sources in Trincomalee said. Four members are Sinhalese, including the SLGA, and the remaining two are Muslims.

Sri Lanka:The Military Expansion into Education

Military training for University students

Shamala Kumar 

Militarisation, or securitisation, in Sri Lanka is not necessarily restricted to the formal military structure; its orientation is far more pervasive, as can be evidenced in the recent developments in the education sphere. Already existing imbalances and practices in the education sector have been exacerbated by the military ideology imposed upon it by the Sri Lankan government.

Female Journalists Walk on Eggshells in Sri Lanka

Dilrukshi Handunnetti holds the wallet containing the media accreditation card of slain journalist and editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

  Amantha Perera

(IPS) - The year was 1998 and porters at the wholesale vegetable market in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo had gone on strike, virtually suspending vegetable distribution in the city and its suburbs.
A national news channel, Sri Lanka Maharaja Television, had dispatched a crew of reporters to cover the porters’ union general meeting; the atmosphere was charged and tension was palpable.

TGTE wants India and IC to follow Jayalalithaa’s call for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) welcomes Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr Jayalalithaa’s call to the Indian government to move a separate resolution to impose economic sanctions against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC and calls upon all governments to follow her lead. 

Can India accept this situation in an increasingly embarrassing political atmosphere in which it has been placed by President Rajapaksa?

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-pic: PTI

Col. R. Hariharan
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is well known for wrongly timing his foreign visits. In the past his India visits were more successful than his European sojourns because they were diplomatically ‘tenderized’ in advance to avoid any embarrassment to the President.

Swiss push reconciliation plan for Sri Lanka

Image Caption:

Sri Lankan journalists demonstrate over a dozen killings of editors, reporters
and newspaper workers, and press freedoms in Colombo on January 29, 2013

by Simon Bradley

Almost four years after Sri Lankan government forces crushed Tamil rebels, Switzerland is backing a South African post-Apartheid reconciliation initiative to bring parties to the negotiating table, but the prospect for lasting peace remains elusive.

Since 2011 South Africa and civil society groups have been leading a multi-pronged peace initiative aimed at restarting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Sri Lankan government negotiations and supporting potential reconciliation efforts following the end of 30 years of war.

The Buddhist Crusade Driving Sri Lankan Muslims Into Radicalism

Anti Muslim Social media add calling for rejection of famous Sinhala language vocalist of Muslim origin,  late Mohideen Beg 

The nationalist chauvinist sections of the Sinhala polity suffer from the worst form of inferiority complex. They have to be constantly a party to the oppression of another race, society or religion to feel euphorically superior. The leaders who can afford this to them can continue to be in power notwithstanding any other shortcoming however grave.

Populist Politics and Anti-popular Economics

Tisaranee Gunasekara

“A structure built on human callousness will inevitably collapse in on itself”.

Avraham Burg (IHT – 6.9.2003)

 First they came for the pavement-traders.

Sri Lanka's wartime investigation lags as abuses persist: U.N.

Reuters/Reuters - Sri Lankan commandos march during a rehearsal ahead of the War Victory parade in Colombo May 17, 2012. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

By Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters 

GENEVA (Reuters) - Sri Lanka is failing to investigate alleged atrocities committed by government forces in defeating a Tamil insurgency and activists and opposition politicians are still being killed or abducted, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Tamil Groups Welcome UN Rights Chief’s Call For Probe in Sri Lanka

The British Tamils Forum, the Canadian Tamil Congress, and United States Tamil Political Action Council acknowledge the Report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which emanates from United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 19/2. While welcoming High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay’s continuous commitment to human rights in Sri Lanka, the use of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) as a framework against which to measure progress is a grave mistake.

Sri Lanka: Commonwealth SG Kamalesh Sharma promises to help politically controlled institutions to become more stronger

Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma with FM G.L. Peiris in Colombo

By SLB.
Issuing a statement at the end of his 3 day visit to Sri Lanka Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma promised to strengthen the Human Rights Commission and Press Council of Sri Lanka among other such promises. 

Consolidating fiscal deficits crucial for Sri Lanka, says IMF;SL now need is life support, claims Harsha

 * Public debt and inflation high, tax revenue and exports on the decline
* Capital expenditure cut to contain budget deficit in 2012
 * Cost recovery  pricing for energy on government agenda
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Sri Lanka would have to stick to budget deficit targets in order to bring down high levels of public debt, contain high inflation and put the economy on a much more sustainable growth trajectory and attract foreign direct investments to boost the balance of payments.

Observations of the GoSL on the draft report of the UNHCfor Human Rights on advice and technical on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka

Reference to the UNSG‟s PoE Report
1. The Report A/HRC/22/38 refers on several instances to the United Nations Secretary General‟s Panel of Experts Report (hereafter called the PoE Report) on Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) would like to request the OHCHR to delete all references to the PoE Report for the following reasons

Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on advice and technical assistance for the Government of Sri Lanka on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka

The  Lessons  Learnt  and  Reconciliation  Commission  made  significant  and  far-reaching recommendations towards reconciliation and strengthening the rule of law in Sri Lanka, despite its limitations. In order to define areas of possible advice and assistance by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the special procedures pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 19/2, the present report examines the recommendations of the Commission and the plans of the Government of Sri Lanka to implement them, and to address alleged violations of international law. To date, the Government   has   made   commitments   on   only   selected   recommendations   of   the Commission,  and  has  not  adequately  engaged  civil  society  in  support  of  a  more consultative and inclusive reconciliation process

Sri Lanka: Three Years On - No Progress into Abduction and Killing of Human Rights Defender Pattani Razeek

Pattani Razeek and remains found buried under a half built house  in Valaichenai.

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights group representing 47 human rights organizations from 16 Asian countries including Sri Lanka, has expressed its deep frustration in a statement issued to mark the three years of the abduction and killing of human rights defender Pattani Razeek. 

TN parties for anti-Lanka motion

 Chief Minister Jayalalithaa: Initiate a  resolution in the UN council  to impose economic sanctions against Sri Lanka

With Parliamentary session all set to begin, the UPA Government is girding up to withstand pressure from both the DMK and AIADMK to support a resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against Sri Lanka. The Centre is, however, keeping all options open. 

2016: Minister propose a Referendum instead of general election

Of that trial balloon, Editorial, The Island

The present government’s attitude towards unbridled powers provided for by the JRJ Constitution is similar to that of a hypocritical clergyman towards sex, which he enjoys in private and condemns in public. The self-righteous SLFP politicians never miss an opportunity to bash and demonise JRJ even posthumously and frown on the draconian methods he employed to achieve self-aggrandizement, but there is nary a provision in his Constitution which they themselves have not made use of to retain and abuse power.

The Hindu confirms Rajapaksha's meeting with RAW chief

Unable to conceal his displeasure at the widespread protests against his visit, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Saturday that in a democratic country like India everyone had a right to protest.

In a brief interaction with journalists, Mr. Rajapaksa said anyone was free to visit his country for a firsthand assessment of the conditions and see what constituted the truth, making an indirect reference to the allegation that he had masterminded the “genocide” of the Tamils and his government was responsible for the desecration of Hindu temples.

Matale Mass Grave:arms and legs appear to have been severed and the bodies buried in a haphazard manner

Nearly 200 skeletons unearthed: clear sings of torture ( Photo- Ceylon Today)

The skeletal remains found in the mass grave at the Matale Hospital premises do not belong to people who had died due to natural causes, as their arms and legs appear to have been severed and the bodies buried in a haphazard manner, a senior police official said.