Appeal to UN over missing Sri Lanka activists

Charles Haviland -   Campaigners in Sri Lanka have urged the United Nations to intervene in the case of two activists believed to have been abducted last month. Some accuse the security forces of abducting the men but police say they are doing their best to find them.

Can implement LLRC recommendations only according to road map: Minister Keheliya .

The government said yesterday that it could implement the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) only according to a road map as spelled out earlier.   Asked for a comment about the remarks made by the religious leaders with regard to the implementation of the key recommendations by the LLRC, Cabinet Spokesman Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the government could not implement the report in its entirety without having a dialogue with all the stakeholders.

Kelaniya PS members want Mervyn out

Norman Palihawadena - The UPFA group of the Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha yesterday urged the government to oust Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva from the Kelaniya electorate.  Addressing the media at Kelaniya PS, its Chairman, Prasanna Ranaweera appealed to the government to liberate Kelaniya from the clutches of Minister Silva the way it had finished off the LTTE.

LLRC somewhat endorses the UN report – UNP MP Kiriella

The LLRC report has somewhat endorsed the Report on Sri Lanka compiled by the Expert Panel appointed by the UN chief Ban ki Moon, UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella said today. Addressing a press briefing he added that contrary to the government’s claim of ‘zero civilian casualty’ at the end of the war, the LLRC has attested to the fact that there were major Human Rights violations.

An appeal to the Tamil Community and its civil and political representatives

Since the end of the war in May 2009, it has become important for all ethnic communities of Sri Lanka to re-examine and re-evaluate their past. It is through this process of self-reflection that some of the major issues that confront state and civil society today can be meaningfully reconceived and reconfigured for the future.

Ministry to grant registration to 41 websites

(Srilankamirror) - The media ministry will grant registration next week to 41 websites that were selected under a selection process, said its secretary W.B. Ganegala. A three member committee, including an additional secretary of the ministry and a representative of ICTA, has approved registration for these websites, he said.

Sri Lankan government accused over bulldozed hotels

Hoteliers and human rights groups have accused the Sri Lankan government of bulldozing dozens of occupied, independent guesthouses – putting livelihoods at risk – to make way for new holiday resorts.
Oliver Smith

Violence Against Women: This is my story

''Young men reading this, ask yourselves if you have not seen your father make your mother cry, your father hit your mother, even. Young women, ask yourselves if you do not throw yourselves into a social life that keeps you away from home for as long as possible because you just don’t want to go home and have to see the limited life your mother lives or at how abusive the father you love can be to her? Yes, there are exceptions, but I speak not for them or of them, I speak for all those of you in the system.. ''
Roel Raymond 

Would Lessons Be Learnt From the Lessons Learnt Commission?

The much-awaited LLRC report is finally out. Anik Pituwa would have welcomed a more forthright report with less “wahen oro” (indirect) language, especially about the last stages of the war and allegations of human rights. The report appears to be a compromise- between those who understand the international and internal ramifications of the issues involved and those who do not or do not want to.

LLRC ignores torture and evades accountability - Freedom form Torture

''The remarkable failure to acknowledge at all, let alone address, widespread use of torture by the Sri Lankan authorities – either during or following the conflict – makes a mockery of the Commission's objective to promote reconciliation by recognising the losses and suffering of the past. Either the Commission has chosen to paper over any testimony of torture that it received, or such testimony was withheld because the Commission lacked the confidence of Sri Lanka's countless torture survivors and their families.''

White Van murder syndrome – fourth murder on fourth day since dawn of New year

(Lanka-e-News ) As the New year dawned so have the ‘white Van crimes’ multiplied. Every day since the dawn of the New year , there had been a ‘white Van’ murder . Today , the 4th , the white Van murder syndrome claimed its fourth victim, according to reports . The body of an individual who was abducted yesterday night in Grandpass , Colombo was discovered this morning.

LLRC report, an inconvenient truth?

''On the whole, the LLRC final report presents the government with inconvenient truths that lay bare the factual inaccuracies and inadequacies of its own post war policy trajectory and narrative. This coming from not from the UN's Darrusman report but from our own CR (Bulla) De Silva report, comprising by no means government opponents, but clearly government insiders. When President Mahinda's own senior and respected people, tell him in no uncertain, (but very polite) terms to change tracks, he should take note.''

International responses to the LLRC Report

Dr. Kumar David  - Assessing how the international community is reacting, the LLRC Report is the strategic key for the regime. For the government, what the locals think is irrelevant. Not only Rajapaksa and his ministers but just about everybody in the country knows and has known for a long time how to reconcile with the Tamil community – substantial devolution, demilitarization of the N-E and release of thousands of illegally incarcerated Tamil youth.

LLRC Report: Win-Win solution on the middle path -Daily Mirror Editorial

''The LLRC has recommended that if Sri Lanka is to be rebuilt on a solid foundation, there must be a tri-lingual policy with Sinhala, Tamil and English given equal place. The Commission has recommended that reference to race be removed from all official documents except at a national census. This will help in restoring a Sri Lankan identity as in the United States or India where people from different states though they are of different races, refer to themselves as Americans or Indians and not by their race. ''

Body of abducted male found in Grandpass .

The body of a man allegedly abducted by an unidentified group on Tuesday night was found in Grandpass this morning. Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana said the body was found at around 6.30am on Ferguson Road in Grandpass.

Sri Lanka: Another abduction and murder

On the 2nd January a man by the name of Mohammad Nistar was abducted by a group who arrived in a white van from San Gartikulam at Puttalam. According to reports at the time of the abduction Mr. Nistar was traveling in a three-wheeler. Sometime later his body was found with bullets wounds to the head. According to reports Mr. Nistar was engaged in the rehabilitation of drug addicts at a centre in the area.

CPA believes that LLRC report reinforces the demands for an international investigation

Our disappointment extends to the commission’s treatment of the issue of the number of civilians in the Vanni during the last phase of the war and the provision of food and medical supplies to them. In this regard we are concerned that information from actors in international governmental and non-governmental organisation in direct contact with civilians on the ground, may not have been sufficiently sourced. This concern includes the population data available from the civilian administration in the region. The “White Flag incident” involving the killing of surrendering LTTE officials, the legality of High Security Zones, 

A Happy New Year! Get ready to be indebted to the tune of Rs.3150 million a day!

It has been made necessary to get at least Rs.3150 million as loans every day to meet the government expenses during the year 2012. The deficit in the budget presented by Mahinda Rajapaksa for this year is Rs.1150000 million.

Sri Lanka Government ready to discuss scopes on Police, land powers with TNA - Govt Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella

Sri Lankan Government spokesman, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that though the government is concerned about giving land and Police powers to the provinces it is prepared to consider its scope provided the Tamil national Alliance put forward its proposals at the talks with the government

About 200,000 displaced people are still living in refugee camps in northern Sri Lanka, even though southerners believe everything is back to normal.

Terence Fernando-  Almost three years since the end of 30 years of ethnic conflict, Sri Lanka has not yet resolved its so-called ‘Tamil problem’. About 200,000 Tamil internally displaced people live in refugee camps in the northern part of the country under military control, unable to go home to their villages. Ethnic Sinhalese appear oblivious of what went on (bombardment and war crimes) and is going on trips to the former war zone. Here is a story of courage and hope of a priest who visited the refugee camps in Cheddikulam.

Tamil polity and LLRC report

 The report of the LLRC would count as amongst the most important public documents that investigates and analyses the causes of the ethnic conflict and problems of governance in the country. However, the TNA’s preliminary statement on it echoed that of international human rights organizations which strongly critiqued and rejected the LLRC report. Earlier they had found fault with the composition of the LLRC and now they found it wanting in terms of international humanitarian law. 
Jehan Perera -

University system and its discontents

 Dhanuka Bandara - Last Friday the march organised by the students’ union of University of Peradeniya was aborted by the police at the Galaha junction. The students intended to march to Colombo in protest against the pending ‘Private University Act.’ The university was under siege, surrounded by the police and military personnel and the latter were armed with automatic rifles. Since I entered university in 2008, this was the most threatening defence build-up

Ganeshan lashes out at UPFA

Pabodha Hettige -  Democratic People’s Front (DPF) leader Mano Ganeshan yesterday accused the government of failing to address the legitimate grievances of Tamil speaking people, though the conflict ended in May 2009. He said his party no longer believed in the UPFA’s promises to resolve the national issue.

Extravagance - National Pride to Continue in 2012 as well ? -Brief analysis of Corrupt Public Expenditure in SL

Just few months ago, in response to a public outcry for more accountability and transparency in the use of public funds, the State Council, which is the Cabinet in the Chinese government, directed 98 public institutions including ministries to make public their budgets and expenditure on official receptions, official overseas visits and public vehicles. Why these three items?

Sri Lanka: The New Year Wish List- 2012

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
All Sri Lankans will wish that the coming year will not be like the last one and, in fact, that it be different from previous years also, years in which deep insecurity has been prevailing due to the failure of the political system, resulting in serious problems in the legal system. People reduced to powerlessness will want to regain their powers, those which should exist within a democracy rooted on a rule of law system. We fervently hope that their dream to move out of repression will come to be realized in this new year.