In her Briefing paper entitled Sri Lanka: Transitioning from a Humanitarian Crisis to a Human Rights Crisis, Lynn Yoshikawa, Senior Programme manager of Inter Action, writes- “ Sri Lanka is recovering from a devastating 26-year civil war, which ended in May 2009 with the military defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the government of Sri Lanka.
Over 50 young women and men participated in a Vigil organised by Nepali Youth Forum (UK) in Strand near Nepali embassy, 21a Kensington Palace Gardens, W8 4QU on 11 January 2013 from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. Varadakumar, the Executive Secretary of the Tamil Information Centre also joined in the vigil. He said “I am here to show solidarity with the Nepali women. Their struggle against violence is also our struggle, where hundreds of women have been subjected to sexual violence in Sri Lankaâ€
Dr Brian Seniwiratne, the 81 year old Sri Lankan born Australian has been deported by the Malaysian immigration authorities today. Dr Senivaratne. Dr Seniwiratne is trained as a Gastroenterologist, Physician and has a practice located in Wynnum. He has been a long-time critic of the Sri Lankan Government over its treatment of Tamils.
A Group of 42 human rights and political activists and journalists from Southern Sri Lanka entering Tamil homeland in the north were detained by police in Jaffna and prevented from attending a protest to mark international human rights day in Jaffna on 10 December 2011, while events to mark Human Rights Day including protests in other parts of Sri Lanka such as in Colombo, Kandy and Kurunegela were allowed to take place without disruption. The police also tried to disperse the locals who gathered in Jaffna town to join the rally.
Tamil Solidarity organised an urgent protest in front of the Sri Lankan High Commission in London yesterday demanding an immediate unconditional release of Jaffna University students.
In Turkey on 16 July, the trial against 46 lawyers, three employees of law firms and a journalist who are suspected of having ties with the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) started. The Turkish authorities regard the KCK as the local branch of the banned Kurdish labour party PKK. The majority of the suspected lawyers is (or was) involved in the defence of Abdullah Öcalan. According to the office of the prosecutor, the suspects have communicated instructions from Öcalan to his supporters. The lawyers are accused of “working for, or belonging to, a terrorist organisation.â€
Convenor of the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) Udul Premarathne was arrested by police today. A representative of the Inter University Student’s Federation said that Premaratne was arrested when he came out after attending a discussion and press briefing at the UNP party headquarters Sirikotha.
China is expanding its economic, trade and military ties with Sri Lanka providing US$ 100 million (Rs. 13.2 billion) for army welfare projects initiated by the Ministry of Defence, official sources said. Plans are afoot to set up accommodation and infrastructure facilities in army camps in the north and east with Chinese assistance. The maintenance of military camps in strategic locations throughout the country is essential for national security, the Government has long argued despite pressure from some western nations and India to reduce the military presence in the north and east.
The controversy over Sri Lankan Army officers being trained by the Indian military establishment has yet again surfaced in Tamil Nadu, with the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa strongly condemning two more defence personnel from that country undergoing training here since May.
A national Assemblies of God pastor and his wife were viciously attacked by a mob in Sri Lanka after being accused of "spreading Christianity."
A mob of around 40 people led by members of the Buddhist clergy, severely attacked Regional Presbyter of Deniyaya Reverend Jayalath and his wife while they were returning home after visiting a member of their congregation, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL). The incident took place in Deniyaya in Southern Sri Lanka on August 9 at 1pm.
The Batticaloa party office of the Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS) located near the Batticaloa Municipal Council came under attack by a group in the early hours of Sunday, 19 August 2012. According to police, the attackers had caused severe damage to the party office and had also attempted to set fire to the van belonging to the EROS leader R Prabhakaran using petrol bombs. The fire was brought under control by the neighbours.
Wadamrachchie Jaffna, Disaster Management Center (DMS) announced that a fire which broke out at a Pine tree cultivation in the Manalkadu area in Jaffna has destroyed around 5 acres of land. Army, police personnel and residents in the area are currently attempting to quell the flames, which are rapidly spreading due to existing dry conditions and strong winds, Sri Lanka Army said.
A terrorist wanted for alleged involvement in the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team was killed in a shootout with police in Pakistan's Punjab province, officials said today.
Law enforcement agencies started checking vehicles near Ghazi Ghat bridge in Multan, 400km from Lahore, after getting a tip-off yesterday that some terrorists were bound for the city in public transport.
The cost of living is rising in Sri Lanka, data released by the Central Bank shows, with or without the consideration of price sensitive food and fuel in measuring inflation, which is the rate at which prices increase. The Central Bank yesterday said core inflation, which excludes price sensitive items such as fuel and food, had increased from 5.8 percent year-on-year in June to 6 percent in July.
Following participation of Sri Lankan exporter’s at the SAITEX 2012 International Trade fair held in Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand from 15-17 July, 2012; business delegations from Sri Lanka are looking to explore more investment opportunities in South Africa.
Indian Oil Corporation will set up its first refinery outside India with an investment of up to Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) in Sri Lanka. It will thus become the second Indian company to have a refinery abroad. The Ruias-promoted Essar Energy owns the Stanlow refinery in the UK and has 50 per cent interest in Kenya Petroleum Refinery. IOC operates 10 refineries in India and the capacity of its Sri Lankan refinery is expected to be 5-9 mtpa (million tonnes per annum).
Twenty three Tamil Nadu Fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan navy on 22 July when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits were released on 27 July. The news of their release was announced in New Delhi at a joint news conference attended by Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and the visiting Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.
The Ill- conceived policies of the government have resulted in the steady erosion of real wages of workers due to depreciation of the rupee and the consequent fall in its purchasing power. The trade union demand for a budgetary relief allowance of Rs. 5000/- to cushion the effects of the devaluation of rupee has been frowned upon by the government. Not even minimum wages of private sector employees have been raised and these employees continue to languish with a paltry sum of Rs. 7,500/- and struggle to make ends meet.
The Government of India (GoI) has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for two more years. LTTE was first banned in 1991 in the aftermath of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. According to the Home Ministry of India, "LTTE continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture as also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals, it is necessary to declare LTTE as an 'unlawful association' with immediate effect."
The Central Bank has reported economic growth at 8.3%, inflation at 6.7%, an unemployment rate of 4.2% and a per-capita income of US $ 2849 in 2011, a sharp increase from $ 2400 in 2010 – a success story which we should be proud of. This means the income of the average household in Sri Lanka which is 4 persons according to the Central Bank report has risen by Rs 14,035 per month between 2010 and 2011 - something which is difficult to imagine. This average income is obtained by dividing the national income by the population.
Omar Khadr is the only child soldier ever prosecuted, and Guantanamo's last western prisoner. In 2010, Omar entered into a plea deal with the Canadian and American governments in exchange for a promise that he could return home to Canada to finish his sentence. The U.S. has already signed off on his return, yet the Canadian Government has refused to follow through on its end of the deal. All the while Khadr sits in solitary confinement in Guantanamo Bay.
India and Sri Lanka discussed maritime matters, including the issue of fishermen straying in each other’s territorial waters, as they held a crucial annual meeting aimed at strengthening naval relationship. The 21st International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) meeting between Sri Lanka and India was held onboard the Sri Lanka Naval Ship Sagara at the Indo-Sri Lanka Maritime Boundary Line off Kankasanthurai yesterday, Lankan Navy said today.
Nimalaraja, a Tamil refugee who has fled persecution in Sri Lanka and moved to the UK after gaining asylum in Germany in 1993, has died following a confrontation with a group of teenagers in the east Midlands town of Leicester.
The local police have appealed for witnesses after launching a murder investigation into the death of Ponnuthurai Nimalaraja, 41, who died a week after he was found with serious head injuries sustained during the confrontation on June 9.
The Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka has this week signed a US$4 billion deal with Sri Lanka Gateway Industries (Private) Ltd. to construct a port related industrial zone for heavy industries in the country’s north eastern Trincomalee District.
Sri Lanka Gateway Industries, a foreign invested project company, will build a deep water jetty, a bulk commodities terminal with stockpiling and blending capabilities, and a power generation plant, the country’s state investment promotion agency said in a statement.
What explains the large number of Buddha statues in and around Thiyaganur, a nondescript Tamil Nadu village? We may never know, says A. SRIVATHSAN, after taking in some unusual forms of the Shakya Muni.
In most ways, Thiyaganur is a typical village in Tamil Nadu. Matchbox houses with gleaming white walls and red earth tiles, fields with irregular patterns, a provisional store that sells garishly coloured beverages, and the occasional bus chugging through. The lime-washed temple, in this village 80 km north-west of Tiruchi, has a familiar air about it too. Until one gets closer.
