Moratuwa cops erase tapes of peope'd protest

The Moratuwa police forced a video cameraman from a private television station to erase a video recording of a protest staged outside the police station this afternoon.

Eighth beggar clubbed to death

A beggar was clubbed to death this morning with a sharp weapon reportedly by an unidentified mob near the seventh mile post in Kelaniya, police said. They said this was the eighth such instance where beggars had been killed in a similar fashion during the past three months.

SLMC registrar who had voiced opposition to the private medical college assaulted

The registrar of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) Dr N.J. Nonis was assaulted by an unidentified individual near his residence at Moratuwa this evening.

Another death in police custody - Suspect in policeman murder jumps into river

One of the suspects in the murder of a policeman at Modera in Moratuwa jumped into the Bolgoda River this morning (Oct. 04) and died, police said.

Sri Lanka’s removal from Commonwealth urged in Canadian parliament

P. Sivakumaran,
 “Will the Canadian Prime Minister takes steps to urge the commonwealth to revoke Sri Lanka’s membership until it holds the perpetrators to account and they are judged in international courts? Will he support calls from the international community for action against the Sri Lankan government,

Militarization of Sri Lanka by a Rajapaksised military is the Ruling Family’s desideratum

 Tisaranee Gunasekara
“power without compassion, might without morality, strength without sight” -Martin Luther King (Speech on 4.4.1967)
The incident is indicative of the Rajapaksas’ will to control; it also demonstrates that the spirit of resistance is still alive in Lankan society.

Mervyn does it again (becoming violent )

Norman Palihawadana
A member of the Dharmaloka College Kelaniya Parent-Teacher Association who had been severely critical of a lottery that the school was planning to introduce to raise funds for the college swimming pool was severely warned by Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva.

Sri Lankan court orders to suspend doctors' strike

 The Colombo District Court has issued an enjoining order to suspend the token strike by Sri Lanka's doctors' union, Government Medical Officers� Association (GMOA), scheduled to be held for Tuesday.

Sri Lanka buys China planes weeks after Russia helicopter deal

China has delivered two passenger planes to boost Sri Lanka's post-war aviation industry, the island's air force said on Monday, as the South Asian nation seeks non-Western sources of financial assistance amid Western-led allegations of war crimes.

Court summons investigators in Sudarman Radaliyagoda case

Courts have summoned the investigating officers in the scrap iron case against ITN journalist Sudarman Radaliyagoda.

police killlings: Dompe victim's parents seek justice

The parents of an alleged police torture victim have called upon Sri Lankan authorities to conduct a proper investigation into the death in order to prevent any such incidents in future.29 year old Gayan Rasanga arrested by Dompe police on Thursday was found dead in custody on Friday morning.

Sri Lanka defeated EU move at UNHRC -

Sandasen MARASINGHE
The Sri Lankan government secured two significant victories during the recent United Nations Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva, Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said yesterday.

Sri Lanka defeated Canedian motion at UN HRC - Minister Samarasinghe

 Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe says Sri Lanka has been able to secure many victories by defeating the motions against the country brought through the United Nations Human Rights Council.

‘Released’ ex-LTTE cadres not allowed to go home with parents

A report on BBC Tamil service says, the “1,800 rehabilitated LTTE fighters released on Friday, September 30th after having rehabilitated them with skills development”, are yet to be re-united with their parents.

TULF wants new land registration scheme stopped

 The Tamil United Liberation front has appealed to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to intervene and stop the scheme of registering lands in the Tamil-dominated North and East. The process is flawed and would leave most Tamils landless and homeless, it has said.

Australian envoy draws ire for role in Tamil ceremony

Daniel Flitton
 Ambassoder Kathy Klugman has been criticised for presenting Sri Lankan awards.
A TOP Australian diplomat has handed out certificates to alleged Tamil rebels after they were put through two years of official ''rehabilitation'' at camps run by the Sri Lankan government.

Roshen’s family holds protests . .

The family members of slain factory worker-Roshen Chanaka today launched a silent protest calling for more compensation and details of the report compiled by a one-man committee on the incident.

The Unknown Killing Fields: Looking into the Sri Lankan Civil War

Dineke Pardijs
Summary executions, bodies of raped women, and families hiding from bombs in hastily dug trenches. The images shown in a recent Channel Four documentary bring back memories of tragedies such as the killing fields in Cambodia and the genocide in former Yugoslavia.

Economic disparity threatens equal opportunities for education in Sri Lanka

Joseph Stalin Fernando
 Although the per capita income of the GDP of Sri Lanka is US $ 1400, the income disparity between the higher income earning group and the lower income earning group is very high. The income of the richest 30% has increased rapidly to 65.6% of the GDP whilst the income of the poorest 50% is 17.64 % of the GDP. In this backdrop, the only option for the parents to save their children from poverty is education.

Crucial talks between TNA, Sri Lanka govt put off: Report

The government has postponed crucial talks with Sri Lanka's main Tamil party TNA to find a solution to the political aspirations of the minority ethnic community after the end of a three-decade civil war in May 2009.

LLRC report only in next year

LLRC says draft-copy will not be sent CW
The Commonwealth Committee expects the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to be submitted at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia later this month.

Mr. President “You Have Been Served”

Frederica Jansz
On Friday September 30, a thirty page long complaint detailing charges against President Rajapaksa, was sent to nearly 100 media outlets in Sri Lanka and around the world by U.S. Constitutional Lawyer, Bruce Fein.

Sri Lanka 'defeated conspiracy at UN'

There has been a major international conspiracy against Sri Lanka at the recently concluded UNHRC session in Geneva, the country's delegation claims.

British Labour Party calls for an international commission of inquiry into war crimes allegations in Sri Lanka

Rt. Hon Douglas Alexander MP, the British Shadow Foreign Secretary, has given the Labour Party’s full support for the establishment of an international commission to investigate the “acts of unconscionable violence” perpetrated in the final months of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict in 2009.

Sri Lankans In Wikileaks

A picture emerges from the WikiLeaks cables of a Sri Lanka where all is not as it seems. Mahinda Rajapaksa, contrary, to his caricature as a Sinhala extremist, emerges as a relative moderate, even in the eyes of an Archbishop. The cables also reveal broad awareness of human rights violations within the government and of dissent from within.