Tuesday, December 31, 2013

‘After terrorism is eradicated'; but people in the North and East still live in terror.- Bishop of Mannar

Sulochana Ramiah Mohan
Bishop of Mannar, Dr. Rayappu Joseph, in an interview with Ceylon Today says he has always been accused of being an LTTE supporter by senior ministers of the government and adds that he thinks Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, who recently accused him of being a spokesperson for the LTTE, is misusing his position as the government spokesperson, using official platforms to utter personal opinions.

Following are excerpts:

Deported Journalist Claims Torture in SriLanka

Tamil Nadu journalist Tamil Prabhakaran arrived in Chennai on Saturday after the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) handed him over to the Immigration Department for deportation.
The TID had apparently concluded after interrogation that he had no terrorist links and had not indulged in terrorist activity, and that the only fault was that he had violated visa regulations.

At the close of a year that has proved to be disastrously negative for Sri Lankan democracy, Sri Lankans should look to the Indian people to see the manner in which democracy is defended by bold action on the ground.
Lessons from across the Palk Strait
This Saturday, India’s unassuming anti-corruption activist Arwind Kejriwal assumed office as Delhi’s seventh – and youngest – Chief Minister after resoundingly defeating his predecessor, seasoned front-liner of the Congress Party Sheila Dixit in assembly polls earlier this month.

Sri Lanka deports Indian reporter covering ex-warzone

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has deported an Indian journalist arrested on a charge of working in the island's former war zone without media credentials, police said.
The 24-year-old, who was working for a magazine based in the Indian city of Chennai, was arrested on Christmas Day for photographing military installations in Sri Lanka's north, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said.

A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will go to Geneva to push for an international independent investigation into alleged war crimes abuses committed during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka.
TNA MP Suresh Premachandran said that the party will also brief foreign diplomats on the situation in Sri Lanka ahead of the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva in March.

Sri Lankan Tamils hold pictures of family members who disappeared during the war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at a protest in Jaffna on November 15. (Reuters)

New York-The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for the immediate release of an Indian journalist and filmmaker who was arrested in Sri Lanka on Wednesday while allegedly filming and photographing a military base.

Tamil Prabhakaran was arrested by Sri Lankan security forces in the northern Kilinochchi district and is undergoing an investigation by the island nation's Terrorist Investigation Department on charges of violating visa regulations and taking pictures of a military installation, The New Indian Express reported.

Rift Between Wigneswaran, Guv Deepens in North Lanka

P K Balachandran
The conflict between the Governor and the Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking Northern Province is escalating with Governor Maj Gen G A Chandrasiri asking the police to investigate telephonic threats to Chief Secretary R Vijayalakshmi, who he had appointed in the teeth of opposition from Chief Minister C A Wigneswaran. On his part, Wigneswaran has been saying publicly that the Lankan government is commissioning a “former LTTE military commander to restart an LTTE outfit subservient to the powers-that-be,” with an aim of eliminating Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leaders. The CM reportedly said this both in his budget speech on December 10, and at a meeting of Sarvodaya workers in Colombo on December 21.

Colombo arrests Indian journalist touring Vanni

A young journalist from Tamil Nadu, Thamizh Mahapirapaharan, who was touring in the North was arrested by the occupying Sri Lankan military and the SL police Wednesday noon, while he was talking to the parish priest of St. Antony’s Church in Ponnavea’li, news sources in Vanni said. The Indian journalist visiting the island on tourist visa was together with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Sritharan, Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member S. Pasupathipillai and Karaichchi Piratheasa Chapai (PS) member S. Thayaparan during the detention, interrogation and arrest, the news sources further said.

Sri Lanka war dead count improper: Tamil party

World | Press Trust of India

Colombo: Sri Lanka's main Tamil party today said a census to ascertain the number of dead and disappeared in the country's nearly three-decade-long civil war was not being conducted properly.
"We feel that the census is not being properly conducted," said M A Sumanthiran, a senior leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
TNA's grassroots representatives in the former conflict zone were of the opinion that the census was not being done in the right manner, he said.
In September, the TNA swept the first polls held in the Tamil-majority Northern Province after 25 years.

Freudian motive to Sri Lanka's notoriety in rape

While one may expect that the word "sex" may emerge as a heavily searched word in Google, what is surprising is that Sri Lanka has created a world record for topping the list of the countries with the most number of searches for this "word" viewed by philosopher Freud as the most important in the dynamics of the psyche of humankind. Sri Lanka has excelled in demonstrating this Freudian motive even while the Rajapakse family had over two years ago banned most such web sites about sex, preventing Sri Lankans in logging into those sites.

Sri Lanka: HRCSL should defend human rights, not the regime

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) had submitted to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem, recommendations in order to enhance the powers and mandate of the Commission. The recommendations have envisaged to endow the Human Rights Commission with powers to enact its recommendations by submitting them to the High Court or the Court of Appeal; powers to enact interim orders; powers to conduct investigations into matters of national concern and authority to issue warrants bearing the signature of the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission in the face of warrants being ignored by individuals.

Transparency International Sri Lanka’s Election Monitoring arm, ‘The Programme for Protection of Public Resources (PPPR)’ has recommended that an Election Judge should be appointed to investigate into election violations and malpractices with special focus on the misuse of public resources. As for offences against public property, presently only the Attorney General can go to courts on the misuse of public resources. This should be revised to entertain private plaints.

The Census and Statistics Department’s National Accounts Division Director H.S. Wanasinghe in a revelation made during an investigation, the report of which is now filed as a document in court and referred to in Parliament last week said the Department’s Director General had told him to inflate the economic growth rate initially computed by them to show a higher rate.

SL Police officer threatens rights activist Sundaram in Trincomalee

[TamilNet]
The Sri Lankan Police Inspector, who is in charge of the Trincomalee Police Station had threatened the head of the committee of missing persons, Mr Sundaram Mahendran, when he went there to make a complaint on the attack on him and the protesters on the Human Rights Day. A squad of masked men, allegedly operated by the intelligence wing of the occupying SL military, attacked the peaceful protest organized on December 10 as the SL police was watching the Sinhala squad’s assault on the demonstrators. Mr Sundaram was wounded in the attack and admitted to the hospital.

The government says it will reject any resolution put forward by Britain on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) next March.
The British government said last week it was looking at co-sponsoring a resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March next year.

Kumar David
"Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living"

- Marx: Eighteenth Brumaire

New mass grave found in Sri Lanka four years after war

Agence France-Presse

olice tape closes off part of a mass grave, at the Matale hospital compound in central Sri Lanka. (File pic)

Colombo: An unmarked mass grave has been found in Sri Lanka's former war zone, the first discovery of an unmarked gravesite since troops defeated Tamil rebels more than four years ago, police said on Sunday.

Construction workers in the coastal district of Mannar stumbled on at least 10 skeletal remains buried at a location where they were laying a new water pipe, said police spokesman Ajith Rohana.

Devanagala - Latest in the racist agenda to provoke Muslims

By Latheef Farook

Devanagala is a beautiful peaceful village in the central hills about six kilometers from Mawanella on the way to Hemmathagama. The village has been known for the rock called Devanagala Rock. There is a Buddhist temple and an inscription on the rock. According to those in the village Devanagala area was believed to have been the place from where Sinhalese kings dispatched garrisons to different places. Muslims in the village claim that they were settled there by Sinhalese kings to defend the Kandyan kingdom from invaders.

Sri Lanka: Wigneswaran fears new LTTE organised by the Govt

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran claims there is an attempt to form an new LTTE which will operate with the backing of the Government.
Speaking at the Sarvodaya Annual General Meeting on Saturday, Wigneswaran also said there are fears for his safety and security and that he may face the same fate as some Tamil politicians in the past.

Sri lanka: Revisions to HRCSL Act submitted to President

Niranjala Ariyawansha
Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa, said revisions to the existing Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act, which contains five recommendations, had been submitted to the President as well as the Minister of Justice for their perusal, two weeks ago.

Rajapaksa calls for home-grown solution for Tamils issue

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited main Tamil party leaders, including Chief Minister of the northern province C V Wigneswaran, to join hands with him for national reconciliation rather than looking for a solution from a “foreign nation”.
“I invite Mr (R) Sampanthan (TNA leader) and northern chief minister Mr Wigneswaran to join hands for the sake of peace and national reconciliation,” Mr. Rajapaksa said in the Parliament during a debate on the 2014 budget yesterday.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) adopted four resolutions at the party convention held at the UNP headquarters in Sirikotha today.
UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake proposed the resolutions and party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe then called for a show of hands to have them approved.

The chief architect of the Galle Literary Festival Geoffrey Dobbs refused entry to Sri Lanka

Geoffrey Dobbs

The chief architect of the annual Galle Literary Festival, British born Australian Geoffrey Dobbs has been denied entry into Sri Lanka, opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament today.
He said that refusing entry to someone in the caliber of Dobbs, who had opened some hotels down south and is also mentioned in leading travel magazines, could hurt Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.

Muslim Members of Parliament (MP) met Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, who is also the Minister of Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs, this afternoon and raised concerns over attempts to close three Mosques in the Dehiwala area.

A Pakistan HRD

We are pleased to inform you that the first UN resolution on the protection of women human rights defenders was adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on 27 November 2013. More than fifty States co-sponsored this important resolution.

The resolution, inter alia:

- expresses concern about systemic and structural discrimination and violence faced by women human rights defenders of all ages, and calls upon States to take all measures necessary to ensure their protection and to integrate a gender perspective into their efforts to create a safe and enabling environment for the defence of human rights;

Sri Lanka : It is too soon to define what any international investigation might consist of The UK Minister of State Hugo Swire

Hugo Swire

House of Commons – Questions on Sri Lanka, 17 Dec 2013:
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress he expects the Sri Lankan government to make on an independent investigation into war crimes and human rights abuses before the UK decides not to pursue a resolution on an international inquiry at the UN Human Rights Council in Mar 2014.

Sri Lanka: Deputy Minister ( retired Navy admiral) calls for ban on TNA

Labour and Labour Relations Deputy Minister Sarath Weerasekera told Parliament yesterday that the government should ban the TNA, which was propagating the LTTE ideology of separatism even after the defeat of the terrorist organisation.

19th December, 2013
We the undersigned, strongly condemn the arbitrary arrest and illegal detention of Raveendran Kajeepan (21), Alfred Piratheepan (30), Murukaiya Ashokkumar (35) and Nageswarasri Yarsan (22) from Jaffna, and the arrest and continued detention of three other youth* from Mannar, by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) between the 25th and 27th of November, 2013. It has become common practice for the Government to arrest and detain Tamil youth under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) coinciding with the time of Mahaveerar Naal (LTTE Heroes Day). In November 2012 too, four Tamil students from the University of Jaffna were arrested and detained under the PTA, and released intermittently over the course of 3 months.

[TamilNet]
Almost all the buildings that were situated in the 6,400 acres of lands seized by the occupying Sri Lankan military in Valikaamam North in Jaffna have been completely bulldozed by the SL military, according to those who have witnessed the destruction in recent days. The entire area of fertile cultivation and residential lands now looks like single piece of desert land, they said. Except the buildings used by the genocidal military at the ‘forward line’ and the building at the rear, close to the Palaali military base, everything else has been razed to the ground.

Mohan Peris

Lalith Kotalawala, a frontline businessman had been subjected to a miscarriage of justice whereby the prosecutor who filed the action against him had himself heard the case . This most depraved and deplorable judicial hearing involved the Attorney General (AG) Mohan Peiris who filed the charges then against Kotalawala, hearing the case now against Kotalawala the accused. When the case was heard on 18 Dec 2013 Peiris the former AG and present chief justice sat as the judge in this case.

Meera Srinivasan

Tamil Nadu fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters interfere with the livelihood of Sri Lankan Tamils struggling to make a living from the sea after a brutal war

The haunting image — from a reporting assignment over a month ago — of an army of Indian trawlers charging towards the shore of Analativu, a small island in the northern tip of Sri Lanka, remains vivid in my memory.

Though there were no arrests reported that night, the Sri Lankan Navy, on several occasions before and after that, have arrested Indian fishermen on charges of trespassing. Not just in Analativu, but at different points off Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern coasts.

(AFP) – Sri Lanka is considering a South African-style reconciliation commission nearly five years after crushing Tamil separatists in an offensive that triggered international allegations of war crimes, a minister said on Tuesday.

Information minister Keheliya Rambukwella said President Mahinda Rajapakse, who attended a memorial service for former South African president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg last week, was trying to replicate the late civil rights icon’s reconciliation bid.

A letter to President Rajapakse from Nelson Mandela

Sunanda Deshapriya

Dear Mahinda Rajapakse,

At the outset , I would like to tell you one thing. I regret very much that we have never met and not had the opportunity to share our experience. Perhaps you could not visit me before I became bedridden because you were bogged down with a difficult war.

National Peace Council
On International Human Rights Day, December 10, a public protest by families of missing persons in Trincomalee was attacked by goons while the large contingent of police present at the scene remained inactive. They carried photographs and posters about their missing loved ones and demanded that the government should take steps to provide information about their whereabouts. Civil Society and democratically elected representatives of the people also participated in the protest. The goons attacked those participating in the protest and tore their posters, assaulted them, injured them and warned them that they should not carry out protests against the government.

LLRC and reconciliation process: GoSL report to UNHRC CCPR Sri Lanka session

8. LLRC and reconciliation process
70. His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in May 2010 in order to strengthen the national reconciliation process and ensure the dividends of peace to all Sri Lankans.

800 Tamil families displaced in Sampur lands being acquired for company owned by Rajapaksa clan

Meera SrinivasanA white, rectangular board with Sinhala and Tamil letters appears once every few metres along the iron fence around a huge expanse of land in the sea-facing town.
‘Ilangai Minsara Sabaikkuriya Kaaniyaagum. Utpravesithal thadai’ [This land belongs to the Ceylon Electricity Board. Entry is banned] reads the board. This is where a 500-MW capacity, coal-fired power plant will come up in a few years from now in a joint project between Sri Lanka and India.

NORTHERN CM WIGNESWARAN ALLEGES GENOCIDE, CALLS FOR PLEBISCITE

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

Mr Akashi was absolutely right when he urged flexibility and reform on the Sri Lankan government and sounded the alarm of serious consequences in Geneva March 2014 (that’s 75 days away, folks) if it failed to shift in the right direction. He did get one thing wrong though. There is neither a “Central government” nor a “Northern provincial government” in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka launches diplomatic offensive ahead of UN rights meet

Sri Lanka: facing another resolution

PTI

COLOMBO: Faced with the prospect of a third UN human rights council resolution in as many years, Sri Lanka on Sunday launched a diplomatic offensive to counter international pressure over alleged rights abuses during the final phase of its civil war in 2009.

Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya, the military spokesman, said some eight video documentaries produced by the army had been dispatched to Sri Lankan missions overseas and the UNHRC member states.

O! Justice, what crimes are committed in thy name - Editorial Daily Mirror

Monday, 16 December 2013
One of France’s kings was once asked about the rule of law. His infamous reply quoted for hundreds of years to define dictatorship, was “I am the state”. It is said that he was executed for his vulgar or extravagance arrogance and he was dumped in the garbage heaps of history. Yet most world leaders, with the exception of the legendary statesman Nelson Mandela, seem to have learnt little or care less about the grim warnings from world history.

DMK to Centre: Move resolution against Sri Lanka in UNHRC

Besides urging the Indian government to move a resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) seeking a credible international inquiry into killing of Sri Lankan Tamils, war crimes and human rights violations in the last leg of the civil war, the DMK's general council meeting on Sunday wanted India to facilitate a referendum among the island nation’s Tamils to find a permanent political solution.

Yashwant Sinha

Siva Prasanna Kumar
Chennai: “Tamil Eelam is not far away”, declared BJP senior Yashwant Sinha at a well-attended party meeting held at a marriage hall in the city on Wednesday. Admitting that the BJP during its NDA rule had advocated political settlement for the Tamils within a united Lanka, the former foreign minister insisted that the position now was different.

Letter to Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on the postponed Tortutre Commission

The following text was sent as a letter addressing the Chairman, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka today. It was signed by Sudarshana Gunawardana of Rights Now Collective for Democracy on behalf of 16 civil society organisations.

This was faxed to the Human Rights Commission today (Friday 13.12.2013) and it will be sent to the HRC by registered post tomorrow.

The thrust of the UPFA Government was just the opposite last week. External Affairs Minister (EAM) G.L. Peiris met Colombo-based diplomats. He handed them a 22-page document titled “Progress by thematic areas” on the implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. The document was prepared by a Task Force headed by Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga. Listed first among them is an issue which drew considerable attention during last month’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) — probing allegations of war crimes.

The government has appointed a deputy inspector general (DIG) of police to the Northern Province without the knowledge of the Northern Province Chief Minister.
The TNA has raised objections to the appointment of DIG Pujitha Jayasundera to the North.
TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran has told parliament that the Constitution notes that a DIG had to be appointed only in consultation with the Chief Minister and that it had not happened in the appointment of the new northern DIG.

Mahindananda Aluthgamage

‘Lankatruth’ revealed that the value of assets bought by Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage in his wife’s name was nearly Rs.90 million. Already, a complaint has been filed at the Bribery Commission regarding the Minister’s assets.

In an interview the Minister had with a weekend newspaper he had said he earned Rs.60 million by selling vehicle permits. He has said he got six vehicle permits and he sold them for Rs.60 million. He also has said he gets an annual income of about Rs.20 million from his businesses and assets he owns are worth Rs.80 million.

SL military governor declares NPC's inaugural budget null and void

While the elected members of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) on Thursday passed the inaugural budget of the NPC after 3 days of sittings at their secretariat in Kaithadi, Colombo's military governor of North, Major General (retd) G.A. Chandrasiri on Friday hastily summoned the officials and secretaries of various ministries to a conference at Koappaay College of Education and told the officials that the budget was not valid until he approved particular sections of the budget. The TNA was not abiding by the Sri Lankan Constitution in preparing the budget, he has told the officials.

If International Community shows laxity, lethargy and indifference the plight of the Tamil speaking people would become irreversible

Tamils protest in Jaffna

C.V.Wigneswaran
Hon’ Chairman, Hon’ Ministers, Hon’ Members of the Provincial Council belonging to the ruling party as well as the opposition!
Before presenting the draft of the Annual Financial Statement and Appropriation statute for the year 2014, I have made a statement in Tamil. I think it is appropriate to translate the said statement to English too and deliver same.

Yasushi Akashi

Visiting Japanese special envoy Yasushi Akashi said today that it was not only the International Community but also Sri Lankans who are anxiously “waiting for action and not just sound and fury”.
Responding to a question on corruption, good governance, the adherence to the rule of law and the Government’s commitment to all stakeholders including the International Community to address these concerns, Mr. Akashi said the Government should not repeat such failures on its commitments.

‘Latimar House principles a necessity, beneficial to Lanka

UNP MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe yesterday claimed that some UPFA ministers didn’t know what was good for the country as well as the government.
President’s Counsel Rajapakshe said that he was dismayed by the UPFA’s opposition to his motion seeking consensus on the removal of judges, of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, in accordance with the Latimar House Principles already adopted by several leading members of the Commonwealth.

The European Union (EU) Parliament has passed a resolution calling on the Sri Lankan government to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission in full.
EU MPs appreciate the restoration of peace and welcome the first ever elections in the Northern Province. However, they note with concern that “the presence of government military forces in the former conflict areas remains considerable” and that there are continuing reports of intimidation and human rights violations.

Amantha Perera
Its early morning in Mankulam, and I’m driving along the A9 – the road is paved, in marked contrast to the giant potholes that dotted the track a decade ago. It looks more like one of those new highways that have come up elsewhere in the country. This one is not as busy, but drivers need to be mindful of cyclists and cattle straying onto the road. I am here to cover the provincial council polls, as are many other journos. The ‘parachutes’ have landed from New Delhi and elsewhere. And almost all of them are converging on Jaffna.

The masked men, who on Tuesday attacked a peaceful demonstration, which was staged by the relatives of missing persons in Trincomalee, belong to a squad operated by the intelligence wing of the occupying SL military, the organisers of the protest said on Wednesday. The members of the squad arrived through the Sinhala market, parked their motorbikes and launched the attack after covering their faces with clothes. More than one hundred peaceful demonstrators, most of them women, carrying the photos of their missing kith and kin, were brutally attacked by the men, who also destroyed the photos and placards on Human Rights Day in the city of Trincomalee while SL Policemen were watching the unfolding violent episode.

Sri Lanka: Arms, funding from Gota to revive LTTE! - LNW

We are hereby exposing a top secret plan to revive the LTTE organization, presently in a state of inaction both locally and internationally, and its combat capabilities, and use it for the furtherance of the government by misleading the world community.
It is entirely a plan by defence secretary Gotabhaya Nandasena Rajapaksa, which is being plotted without the knowledge of the commanders of the three armed forces or top government politicians. A handful of local military officers very loyal to him are making the plans under his direct and full supervision.

Arrested Indian Fishermen ( File photo)

Chennai, Dec 12 (IANS): India cannot continue with the facile "do not touch" policy with Sri Lanka in the wake of its "brazen" and "warlike" mass abduction of Indian fishermen, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said Thursday.
"These are the largest and most outrageous acts of mass abduction of our fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy," Jayalalithaa said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday, the text of which was released to the media here.

A development based strategy for durable solutions for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka is essential - Beyani

"Constructing a development based strategy for durable solutions for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of conflict is now essential," UN rights expert says.

COLOMBO/GENEVA, 11 December 2013: "After having made impressive strides in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed during the conflict, post conflict reconstruction in Sri Lanka should also focus on addressing durable solutions for all IDPs and those who have returned to their areas of origin on a comprehensive basis," the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs, Chaloka Beyani, said at the end of his visit to Sri Lanka from 2 to 6 December 2013.

Without cooperation from States, we cannot do our work for human rights - Key UN expert group

GENEVA (10 December 2013) - The largest body of independent experts in the United Nations Human Rights system today urged world governments to cooperate with them, and allow human rights organisations and individuals to engage with the UN "without fear of intimidation or reprisals."

G. A. Chandrasiri

TNA ULTRA VIRES THE CONSTITUTION - NP Governor

Civilian or Military, a Governor has to play by the rules

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has to abide by the country's Constitution and the National Policy as members of the Northern Provincial Council, Northern province Governor G. A. Chandrasiri said yesterday.

Minister with the first lady

STATEMENT CALLING FOR RESIGNATION, THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT: MR. TISSA KARALLIYADDE

Mr. Tissa Karalliyadde has on several occasions made extremely sexist remarks that are humiliating to Sri Lankan women in general, without any sense of responsibility for the cabinet office he holds as Minister of Women’s Affairs and Child Development. He has stated on several public platforms that women should not be appointed to responsible positions of public office because by nature they are unable to get on with each other and constantly fight and slander other women.

Sri Lanka: Peaceful protestors assaulted on world human rights day

The violation of human rights in Trincomalee on World Human Rights day proves that the Rajapaksa regime doesn't care two hoots for the Commonwealth Charter let alone the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, despite the President being the Commonwealth Chairman, the 'Samagi Balawegaya' says.
In a statement, the 'Samagi Balawegaya' condemns the violent conduct of the state sponsored thugs at a peaceful demonstration by them in Trincomalee yesterday (Dec. 10).

Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri

The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) has unanimously passed a resolution yesterday, urging President Mahinda Rajapaksa to remove Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri from the post of Northern Governor, and appoint a new Governor with no military background.
The resolution was brought by former Parliamentarian and NPC Councillor, M.K. Sivajilingam, and was seconded by Councillor, K. Sarveswaran.

By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo

Hundreds of Sri Lankans have held a demonstration in Colombo, demanding to know the whereabouts of two activists who disappeared two years ago.

Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan organised rallies against political disappearances before being apparently abducted in the north of the country.
The rally was held on the second anniversary of their disappearance.

Another Rajapaksha white elephant: Ravi K. says Govt. can’t pay back Sooriyawewa stadium loans

By Ashwin Hemmathagama

The Mahinda Rajap-aksa International Cricket Stadium at Sooriyawewa became the subject of heated debate in Parliament yesterday after the United National Party charged that the Government had stopped repaying loans borrowed to construct what he called a white elephant stadium.
UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake said four mega development projects in Hambantota opened amid much fanfare had provided Sri Lanka very little benefit.

Sri Lanka: EU calls for more progress on implementation of LLRC recommendations

The European Union (EU) Delegation in Sri Lanka today urged the Government to take further action to implement the recommendations in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report in order to ensure justice and meaningful reconciliation.

Hulugalle: war for secrete life

Businessman claims Hula’s affair with wife

Another event of significant embarrassment to the UPFA Government was the sudden closure of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) retrospectively from November 1, thus evicting, unceremoniously, its Director General Lakshman Hulugalle. He was, however, adamant that his position still remains though the MCNS was wound up. The claim is similar to a chauffeur saying I am still the driver when his boss had sold the vehicle. There was only a two line terse announcement in a news alert of the Government – news.lk – about the closure.

EPDP leader and Rajapaksha

A pre-emptive strike by President Mahinda Rajapaksa appears to have saved his Government from one more accusation before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva — last week’s murder of Daniel Rexian (42), Chairman of the Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) in Delft, the furthest inhabited island off the northern Jaffna peninsula.
Accusations, including some from sections of the UPFA partner, the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), were initially levelled against the Sri Lanka Navy that has a unit on the islet. Another partner, Minister Wimal Weerawansa’s National Freedom Front (NFF) in a statement blamed the TNA for “the first political murder after the end of the conflict on May 19, 2009?. The date marks the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas.

Killings gets more brutal in Sri Lanka

The killings in November make up a total of 450 killings, a drop by 15 per cent when compared with the previous year that saw around 646 cases, according to police and military statistics. However, the killings this year were of a more brutal nature where the killers went on to wipe out entire families irrespective of gender or age apparently in a bid to wipe out evidence or eyewitness accounts, Police Spokesperson Senior Superintendent (SSP) Ajith Rohana said.

A 20-20 Human Rights Vision

Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for Human Rights Day, 10 December 2013

Twenty years ago, a historic document was adopted in Vienna. It crystallized the principle that human rights are universal, and committed States to the promotion and protection of all human rights for all people, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems.

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Tamil Nadu fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters interfere with the livelihood of Sri Lankan Tamils struggling to make a living from the sea after a brutal war

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