Institute of Peace and & Conflict studies Researcher Priyakala Manoharan says China’s deepening relationship with Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly conspicuous as the emerging super power extends relations beyond its sphere of influence.
Her research paper entitled “The Sri-Lanka-China Relationship: A Print Media Analysis”, conveys the Sri Lankan perceptions of the unconditional and timely help of China for Sri Lanka’s overall development. Some of prominent Sri Lankan newspapers have been referred to gauge the general Sri Lankan outlook. The relevant questions in this context are the factors driving Sri Lanka towards China and whether China’s unlimited help to Sri Lanka is with or without strings attached.
ICC prosecutor Mrs Bensouda, Bensouda speaking on Power Day at the OpenForum declared, I would like to introduce the idea of a new paradigm in international relations, which was introduced by the work of the drafters of the Rome Statute and the establishment of the International Criminal Court: this idea is that of law as a global tool to contribute to the world’s peace and security.
Sri Lankan President arrived in Bangkok for a four-day official visit from 29 May – 2 June, as a guest of the royal Thai Government.
It was reported that President Rajapakse is scheduled to have a royal audience with Princes Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on May 30 at the Srpathum Palace and will be meeting the Thai Prime Minster Yingluck Shinawatra on the same day, where the two leaders will share views on bilateral relations and multilateral issues.
The Tamil Information Centre deplores and condemns in the strongest terms the massacre of women and children in Houla, an incident that resembles the deadliest days of the Sri Lanka’s armed conflict.
The mass killings of over 100 people in Houla on Sunday, 27 May — one of the deadliest single events in the 15-month-old uprising - brought widespread international criticism of the regime of President Bashar al Assad. However, Syria’s strong ally, Russia, said both the government and the rebels were to blame.
In the last week there have been three or four attempts in the Kingston, Tolworth and Worcester Park areas to abduct children from schools and parks, by an unidentified man and woman. David Lindsell writing in Surrey Commet say, according to police the two alleged abductions at schools are unlikely to be linked.
Kingston police had believed that incidents at Knollmead Primary School, Tolworth, and Grand Avenue Primary School, Surbiton, may be connected.
The international criminal court's new chief prosecutor launched an aggressive defence of the institution, rejecting the view that it is "a pro-western, anti-African court". Fatou Bensouda, from Gambia, will next month replace Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who has been accused of applying "selective justice" to Africa. The decade-old court has sought justice for millions of victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, the Central African Republic, Darfur in Sudan, Kenya, Libya and Ivory Coast, Bensouda said on Wednesday.
Strongly supporting the creation of an independent, sovereign state of Tamil Eelam in the island of Sri Lanka, Member of Parliament and president of the Lok Janshakthi Party, Ram Vilas Paswan, called upon the international community to ensure that a referendum is conducted to determine the political aspiration of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.
President Mahinda Rajapakse today rejected international calls to withdraw troops from the former warzones.
"Some are shouting remove military camps from the north and east," Rajapaksa said at a ceremony to mark the third anniversary of crushing of the Tamil Tigers, claiming "the LTTE diaspora had not given up their separatist ideas."
Capital punishment is a big problem for the human society . The major problem with capital punishment is that it is final: once it is carried out it cannot be undone. There are very few cases when we can be 100% sure that someone is indeed the killer. Killings rarely have eye witnesses, and even where there are eye witnesses, people do make mistakes and identify the wrong people as the perpetrators of crimes when that is not so. Since capital punishment cannot be undone in the event that it is discovered, after the execution of the accused, that in fact the accused person is the wrong person, it must be stopped worldwide. Many people on death row have been cleared by DNA. The question is how many are dead and did not commit the offense for which they were sentenced to death.
In the Queen’s Speech, a new bill was proposed, the “Justice and Security Bill”, following a green paper and consultation over the past six months. The proposals contained in the green paper faced a huge amount of criticism and thus the government has decided to bypass what is usually the next step of the procedure of introducing a new law – a preparatory white paper - by presenting it as a bill to parliament. The proposals in the bill will allow secret trials to be held and would prevent the intelligence services and ministers from being investigated openly for their involvement in torture and other crimes against humanity.
In a press release issued the Democratic People’s Front Leader Mano Ganeshan said TNA leader Sampanthan had shown his political will for an undivided Sri Lanka by holding the national flag in Jaffna which he cited as the cultural capital of Tamils.
Mr. Ganeshan said Mr. Sampanthan had spoken about his Sri Lankan identity and dream.
Forest officials of the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve abutting the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka have reported depleting numbers of marine wildlife, as smugglers exploiting lax conservation laws in the region tank up on protected species used in traditional Chinese medicines and fine dining.
"The government of South Korea will provide loans through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) aggregating commitments amount to 200 million U.S. dollars for the years 2013 to 2015," Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.
Abeywardana said, a new Framework Arrangement for the period 2013-2015 as an amendment to the agreement already signed in July 2010 between South Korea and Sri Lanka would be signed during President Mahinda Rajapaksa's official visit from April 23 to 27.
In a press release issued by UNHCR, the UN refugee agency said, the number of refugees and asylum seekers returning to Sri Lanka has fallen in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the previous year, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The UN refugee agency began repatriating Sri Lankan refugees from southern India by ferry on 11 October 2012.
The Climate Change International is launching its 2012(CCIC12) conference from 8th - 12th June 2012 at the London Eco Hotel, 26 Brook St, London, W1K 5DQ, United Kingdom.
Global warming is now universally recognized as a significant global environmental challenge and as a consequence, debate over the measures needed to tackle climate change has moved up to the top of the agenda amongst civil society, business and government. The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP17 2011 in Durban, South Africa highlighted the major challenges and opportunities associated with climate change as we move towards post 2012 carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets.
The Sri Lankan police continued to arbitrarily detain, torture or ill-treat people in Sri Lanka, which are illegal under international and local law. Such events are taking place at different Police Station in the country over many years.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) has received reports that Aruna Roshantha of Mugunuwatawana, Chilaw in the district of Puttalam was illegally arrested, detained and has been brutally tortured. The 42 year old Aruna is a Sinhalese. He is married with one child. He works as a labourer in a brick kiln in the area. He was arrested by officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Chilaw Police station Manoj Ranagala, alleging that he is involved in manufacturing illicit liquor.
Tamil refugees from the boat stranded in 2009 in Merak, Indonesia, after being stopped at the request of then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, have been told that 24 of their number have been accepted to be resettled in Australia.
The announcement came only a couple of hours after a demonstration of about 80 of the 134 recognised refugees at the Medan United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in protest at the long delays in their resettlement.
Three persons arrested in northeast Sri Lanka for commemorating the birth of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and the “National Heroes Day” were produced in a court today.
Police said they were arrested at Murukkandi in Mannar district on November 26. They were presented before the local magistrate.
"It is illegal to celebrate a banned terrorist organisation," police spokesman Ajith Rohana said.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai has passed away . yesterday at a Nairobi hospital . She was reported to have been suffering from complications arising from cancer.
Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace”. She was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She stood at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa. She took a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women’s rights in particular.
Within minutes of the Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s getting the state Assembly to pass a resolution on Wednesday demanding that India must get the UN to launch an investigation of the Sri Lankan government for war crimes, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao booked her flight to Chennai hoping to convince her to fall in line with Delhi’s Lankan policy — which is not to push President Rajapaksa too hard lest he becomes a vassal of China, writes K. Karthikeyan in the Nation.
Sri Lanka, the ‘Teardrop Isle’, has been under international attention for more than two decades for its ethnic conflict and civil war, and recently, under intense media scrutiny for what seems like a decisive end to the civil war. While the ethnic conflict and the civil war have been the subjects of numerous academic and non-academic studies in both the East and the West, there has been no significant research on nationalism, particularly Tamil nationalism, as it manifests itself in Sri Lanka.
The Kuwait University hosted the 4th International Conference on Social Sciences from 29th – 30th November under the patronage of Prof. Moudhi Abdul Aziz Al Humoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education of Kuwait and President of the Kuwait University. As part of the conference, over 25 countries participated in a two day country promotional exhibition featuring their culture, touristic attractions, fashion, people, food & hospitality etc, which attracted visitors in hundreds.
Ex- Campaign Manager for Presidential candidate and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and the current UNP Parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera, says that although the present regime talks about making Sri Lanka the emerging wonder of Asia, all signs are that we have become the emerging rogue state of Asia.
In a speech to parliament today (Nov. 27), the MP said, “Instead of utilizing the great window of opportunity our country got on the 19th May 2009 to win the peace our people are crying out for and ensure that the face of terrorism never raises its ugly head, ever again in our country, the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, intoxicated with power is paving the way for yet another uprising in our country with its foolish and short sighted policies.”
The monument built in the vicinity of the Parliamentary complex in Kotte in honour of the Indian troops killed in the north and east of Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990, was to have been formally unveiled by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh more than two years ago, but it turned out to be a non-event.
However, the monument has now received official sanction from India
Sri Lanka’s top diplomat in Canada has dismissed claims her government committed war crimes as it crushed the LTTE last year, and said the world has no business investigating such “unsubstantiated” allegations in a sovereign country. “We say that there were no war crimes,” Chitranganee Wagiswara, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Ottawa, told The Globe and Mail. “We have been handling this conflict, so let us handle this.”
