Twenty-one of the 151 Sri Lankan Tamils taken into custody by the Kollam police on Sunday night were arrested on Tuesday for violating the Foreigners Act. They were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-2 here and remanded for 14 days.Sindhuja and Muthumalar, two women among the arrested, were lodged in the Kottarakara sub-jail. Their three children, all infants, were lodged with them in the same jail; three other minors, children of some of the arrested, were sent to the juvenile home here. The 19 were sent to the district jail.
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 Analysisâ€, 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.
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.
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 Billâ€, 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 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 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.
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.â€
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today that it had examined over 200 photos taken on the front lines in early 2009 produced by a soldier from the Sri Lankan Air Mobile Brigade and had new witness accounts of troops shelling civilians.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned by ongoing threats to Sri Lanka’s journalists and media organizations. Anonymous letters with death threats, at left, recently sent to Sunday Leader Editor-in-Chief Frederica Jansz and News Editor Munza Mushtaq echo those that ended in the death of the paper’s founder, Lasantha Wickramatunga, in January.
“Our concern is that these most recent threats, like so many others, and the deaths of 11 journalists since President Mahinda Rajapaksa came to power in 2006, will remain unexplained and those behind them will remain unprosecuted,†said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The air of impunity surrounding violence against the media is having a chilling effect on journalists.â€
Outspoken Sri Lankan female journalist Dileesha Abeysundera who works for the Sinhala-language edition of the Sunday Leader had come under threat by unknown gangsters. The newspaper has suffered numerous serious attacks on its staff and offices in the past.
The federal government reacted angrily after hundreds of protesting Sri Lankans vandalized the Canadian High Commission in Colombo yesterday, accusing Ottawa of supporting Tamil Tigers
A group of American Tamils representing different diaspora organizations met with US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, (via video link) on 8th April in Washington, D.C., to discuss the current humanitarian crisis Tamils face in Sri Lanka.
The army announced , the shrine of Our Lady of Madhu has been reopened, and will remain open until August 17 to allow pilgrims to visit the place during the celebrations for the feast of the Assumption. Only 200 faithful will be allowed to visit per day, since the area is still dangerous.
Devotees visiting the Our Lady of Madhu Shrine after its revered Marian statue was recently returned, say they are prevented from reaching Madhu shrine. An army roadblock on the road to the Madhu shrine is preventing us from reaching the place, said Oawald.
The Government of Sri Lanka and Cairn India today signed the Petroleum Resources agreement for the exploration licence to explore for oil and natural gas in the Mannar Basin.
The signing took place in Colombo today with the Minister for Petroleum and Petroleum Development Resources A.H.M Fowzie from the Government of Sri Lanka and Indrajit Banerjee the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Cairn India.
Political officer Mahendra Ratnaweera attached to the British High Commission in Sri Lanka and acting manager advocacy of the Sri Lanka Press Institute Namal Perera travelling by car, on their way home from work were stopped and attacked by unknown persons. The Sri Lanka Press Institute said a group of people carried out the assault. It is not clear who they were. The two men were both seriously injured in the attack and taken to Colombo hospital. The assault took place on the busy highway, in the vicinity of an army installation, the government Information Department and the security checkpoint.
Sri Lank'a inflation of 25 per cent during April is the highest rate of price rise in Asia, the Financial Times has reported quoting a study by the London-based HSBC Bank.
According to HSBC Bank’s Global Research report – “Sri Lanka Inflation: How High will it Go?†, Sri Lanka has the highest annual inflation in Asia with April figures touching 25 per cent while Vietnam at 21.4 per cent has the second highest inflation rate in the region during the month.
At least 43 South Indians, including a 79-year-old man and six women, are languishing in Lankan jails for more than 8 years, according to a Chennai-based human rights group.
"There are 40 Tamils and 3 Malayalis now imprisoned in Lanka. They are behind the bars for allegedly trying to smuggle narcotics into the island nation. In addition to these people, there are many fishermen who were held by Lankan Navy. They are languishing in various jails in Sri Lanka without any legal support. Some of them have spent 15 years in jails," alleged Mr G Subramanaian, co-ordinator of organisation for protection of Indians' rights abroad (OPIRA).
Canada’s banking watchdog today announced that they have added the World Tamil Movement (WTM) to its terrorist financing watch list, alerting all banks, credit unions and insurance companies operating in Canada to scour their client lists and immediately report any findings to authorities.
This move by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions came about two months after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) seeking court approval to seize the World Tamil Movement’s bank accounts. The WTM is considered the nation’s leading front group for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which the Canadian government deems a terrorist organization.
Jaffna Member of Parliament Mr.Selvarajah Kajendren, strongly condemned the areal bombings on civilians' areas in Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu district and called on the International community to take necessary steps to pressure the Sri Lankan Government to stop its indiscriminate areal bombing on highly populated Tamil areas.
Thiyagarajah Thayanathan, a disgruntled and alcoholic Tamil was allegedly killed by a fellow Tamil and police are considering the killing as manslaughter.
The killing had taken place in Wembley in the Northwest London on 31 May 2008. The victim is said to be severely beaten by the assailant. The Wembley Police is investigating the killing and is looking for information about the suspect assailant.
