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South Asian Centre Urges Collective Action against Sri LankaSource: ITP - August 8, 2006 London, ITP: Dr. Raymond Philipps, Founder-Director of the South Asian Centre for Racial Equality and Peace (SACREP) has written a strongly worded letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations and to the International War crimes Commission stating that it is time these world bodies acted in favor of the Rule of Law to protect the most oppressed community in South Asia, namely, the Tamils of the proto-State of Eelam. The International community has a responsibility to save them from extinction and annihilation by the lethal Sinhala military machine. Though he was unwill…

Space Shuttle Atlantis has launched from the Kennedy Space Center. Senior NASA officials spoke glowingly of the shuttle Atlantis' performance late Friday after the orbiter shot into space this evening without any significant hiccups. "We had a very good countdown and launch," said NASA associate administrator Rex Geveden in a post-launch news conference. "The space shuttle Atlantis is safely in orbit for the STS-117 mission." Atlantis lifted off from Pad 39A here at NASA's seaside Kennedy Space Center at 7:38:04 p.m. EDT (2338:04 GMT), rising on a sinuous cloud of expanding smoke in a blue sky still illuminated by sunlight. "It was a beautiful launch…

INTERNATIONAL SEBASTIAN DERUNGS / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Spy cables reveal Sri Lanka hyped up Tamil Tiger postwar threat Exclusive: Sri Lanka played up concerns of LTTE regrouping in South Africa despite contrary intelligence report by Jyoti Thottam In November 2010, a Sri Lankan member of Parliament expressed his dismay when a small statue of a leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was erected on private property in a Paris suburb. It was an alarming sign, said Sarath Weerasekara, a retired rear admiral in the Sri Lankan navy, that the LTTE, an armed separatist group that Sri Lanka defeated decisively in 2009, might be regrouping in oth…

The government scents victory; to others, it smells like prolonged war THE Sri Lankan government, and the majority ethnic-Sinhalese population that backs it, are gloating over the death of S.P. Tamilselvan, political commissar of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in an air raid on November 2nd. To them it is proof that the Sri Lankan army has gained the upper hand under the leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president, and his brother, Gotabhaya, the defence secretary. They believe the latter's boast that his forces know the whereabouts of the Tigers' leaders, and that they will be killed one by one. To government loyalists, Sri Lanka is well on the road to an …

Sri Lanka - UN Inquiry Just the Start of a Long Road to Justice Sri Lankan human rights activists campaigned hard for an independent international commission of inquiry into war crimes during the end of the conflict in 2009. Last month members of the UN Human Rights Council did finally vote to set up an inquiry. To many governments it looks as if the issue of accountability is now being dealt with by the UN and they can put their minds at rest and move on. That couldn't be more wrong. The UN inquiry is just the start - not the end - of a long process of justice. It would be disastrous if the world stopped paying attention now. Not least because Sri Lanka and i…

Sri Lanka 'apologises' for India story PRIU sad Narayanan and Menon are members of the said panel The Sri Lanka government has apologised for an incorrect statement that said a high-level defence panel has been established with India after a visit by senior officials. The Policy Research & Information Unit (PRIU) of the Presidential Secretariat said on Thursday the panel was established during a visit by three senior officials to Delhi from 3-4 September. "The PRIU is informed that there was no decision among those who participated in these discussions to establish an Indo-Lanka High Level Committee on defence," a statement issued by PRIU stated on …

Sri Lanka 'complicit' in child-soldier recruitment Amal Jayasinghe AFP March 29, 2007 CHILD SOLDIERS: The Sri Lankan government has been condemned by a human rights group for failing to probe the recruitment of child soldiers and of even being complicit in their forced recruitment by the pro-government Karuna group. ( ) COLOMBO -- Sri Lanka came under fresh attack Thursday for failing to probe the recruitment of child soldiers as the government faced more allegations of abductions and extra-judicial killings. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) offered new evidence of state complicity in the forced recruitment of child soldiers by the "Karuna …

Sri Lanka 'needs UN monitors' There was great optimism when the ceasefire was signed US-based Human Rights Watch says the United Nations should send observers to monitor the fighting in Sri Lanka. The mission of Nordic ceasefire monitors there ends on 16 January following the government's decision to withdraw from a ceasefire. On Wednesday the government said the 2002 ceasefire deal was moribund. Thousands of people have been killed in the last two years with the military and the Tamil Tigers accused of widespread human rights abuses. The Nordic-led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was set up as part of the 2002 agreement to investigate…

Sri Lanka accused of killing civilians and aid workers By Justin Huggler, Asia Correspondent Published: 11 August 2006 Fighting in Sri Lanka has dramatically worsened, as the UN humanitarian chief called for an independent investigation into the killing of 17 international aid workers. The Tamil Tiger rebels claimed 50 civilians were killed in the areas they control after the government launched a renewed offensive with ground forces backed with air strikes and artillery fire. There was no way of confirming the Tigers' claim, but European ceasefire monitors said the rebels had informed them of 30 to 40 civilian deaths and they considered the figures credibl…

The torture of Tamil political prisoners is increasingly rife in Sri Lanka with some detainees dying in custody after suffering prolonged abuse, a new investigation claims. The findings will intensify pressure on Britain to withdraw from a controversial summit to be held in Sri Lanka later this year. Tens of thousands of ethnic Tamils have been held without trial since 2009, when Sri Lanka's military finally crushed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in a decades-long conflict for control of the island's northern Jaffna peninsula. Since then, according to a new report (pdf) by the London-based Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, the government …

Sri Lanka conflict More COLOMBO, July 1 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's only international airport is to resume night flights for the first time since air raids by Tamil Tiger rebels forced their suspension seven weeks ago, an airport official said on Sunday. "We have permitted all the airlines to operate 24 hours a day from today," the duty manager at Bandaranaike International Airport said by telephone, saying he was not authorised to give his name. "We are satisfied that the security situation is normal and we have permitted each and every airline to operate at night. The air force will provide all the facilities to operate." But it was not immediately clear…

Sri Lanka Allows Rupee Drop to Boost Exports, Central Bank Says Email | Print | A A A By Anil Varma Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka is allowing the rupee to decline at a faster pace, responding to exporters’ demand for a weaker currency to help weather the global economic slump, the central bank said. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka this week scaled back intervention aimed at stemming the rupee’s decline, Nandalal Weerasinghe, the chief economist based in Colombo, said in an interview. Foreign-exchange reserves are being exhausted and now may be enough to pay for less than three months of imports, according to Asian Development Bank estimates. Exports f…

Cdn Tamil Congress ‏@ctconline 1h We took part in TVO's #videoblog on @TheAgenda by @DanielKitts: #SriLanka and Canada's #Tamils. http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/sri-lanka-and-canadas-tamils … #CHOGM #humanrights (twitter) 15 ஆம் திகதி செய்தியில் வந்திருந்தாலும் இன்றுதான் கண்ணில் பட்டது. இணைக்கிறேன். November 15, 2013 All this week The Agenda has been exploring the situation in Sri Lanka in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo from November 15 to 17. Today's Sri Lanka is in large part defined by ethnic tensions between the country's Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority that resulted in ci…

It is that time of the year. As the heat builds up in an otherwise wintry Geneva, capital cities of the world are abuzz with preparations for the forthcoming UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions to be held in February-March 2013. While UNHRC sessions in general are important for Sri Lanka, the upcoming sessions in February-March 2013 are uniquely important for Sri Lanka for four reasons: first, it is the first time that Sri Lanka will come before the UNHRC after the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) review meeting; second, it is the first time that Sri Lanka sits at the UNHRC after the first ever UN Resolution has been adopted and passed on Sri Lanka; third, ther…

Sri Lanka And The US: A Pogrom And A Black Death At The Hands Of A White Policeman: Salutary Lessons Lionel Bopage on 06/20/2020 The Scene The morning of July the 25th 1983 is etched in my brain. I saw a group of people running or walking very fast away from the environs of Colombo. On enquiring I found they had shut up their shops and were escaping the riots that were taking place. Later in the day I saw the suburbs of Borella and Maradana ablaze. I witnessed mobs looting and burning properties belonging to Tamils and assaulting the inhabitants of those properties with impunity. Lorries a…

Defence Support 05 March 2007 16:07:01 Sri Lanka and United States sign reciprocal military logistics deal March 05 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and the United States has signed a deal to give reciprocal logistical support for the military forces of the two countries, the US embassy in Colombo said Monday. The 10-year agreement which will provide a framework for increased interoperability of the forces of the two countries has been signed between Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa and U.S. Ambassador Robert Blake. "The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) will allow the United States and Sri Lanka to transfer and excha…

Sri Lanka army 'kills 23 rebels' The Sri Lankan army says it captured four Tamil Tiger bases and killed 23 rebels in clashes in the east of the island overnight. The fighting took place in the district of Batticaloa, military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe said. There has been no comment from the Tamil Tigers. Some 4,000 people have been killed in escalating violence since late 2005, with tens of thousands of civilians being displaced. 'No confrontation' "There are 23 confirmed LTTE (Tamil Tigers) dead," military spokesman Brig Samarasinghe told journalists in the capital, Colombo. "We have captured four bases without c…

With the intention of marching towards Elephant Pass to seize control of the areas under the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, Sri Lank Army has adopted a new operation tactics and strategically approach successfully in their latest war experiment. Sri Lanka Army is said to be now determined to mobilize and enter into major onslaughts initially in the vulnerable Tiger controlled areas in Vanni in the Northern Province and according to set- plans, armed forces are engaging the LTTE fighters almost in all fronts http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/9252

Sri Lanka asking Pakistan for swift military assistance: Jane’s LONDON: Sri Lanka is looking to Pakistan for help to bolster its military capabilities as the ceasefire between the government and rebels appears increasingly fragile, specialist publication Jane’s Defence Weekly said on Thursday. Sri Lanka has asked Pakistan to facilitate the purchase of military equipment worth around 60 million dollars, according to high-level discussions detailed in documents seen by the defence magazine. Jane’s Defence Weekly said Sri Lanka had asked that their requests be treated with the “utmost priority” given the deteriorating security situation. The report was pu…

Sri Lanka ban on incorporating foreign firms over security concern ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has banned the incorporation of companies with foreign shareholders over a security concern and no legitimate investment will be restricted, Senior Economic Advisor to the Finance Minister Nivard Cabraal said. “This is a temporary measure until a clear regulation is issued covering a security concern,” Cabraal told EconomyNext. “It will not restrict any legitimate foreign investments. It will lifted soon.” Sri Lanka’s Registrar of Companies had said no foreign investor owned company could be incorporated until further notice. The agency later revi…

Sri Lanka becomes first Asia-Pacific country in decades to default on foreign debt May 19, 2022 at 5:44 PM http://www.newswire.lk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/gotabaya-rajapaksha-sri-lanka.jpg Sri Lanka’s central bank has confirmed the country has missed a deadline for foreign debt repayments, the first sovereign default in the Asia-Pacific region this century, according to Moody’s. “A 30-day grace period for missed interest payments on two international…

Sri Lanka blocking access to TamilNet, deeply disturbing: Free Media Movement. Noting that the access blocking of TamilNet in Sri Lanka is a significant turn in the erosion of media freedom in Sri Lanka and clearly demonstrates the extent to which media is censored and the free flow of information curtailed, without any accountability, transparency or judicial oversight, the Free Media Movement (FMM), in a media release issued Wednesday, called upon the Sri Lanka Government and relevant State authorities to immediately rescind the orders to block the access to TamilNet. Full text of the press statement by the Free Media Movement follows: The Free Media Movemen…

Sri Lanka civilians caught in conflict lack access to safe drinking water: UN In Sri Lanka, conflict continues in the No Fire Zone, and unconfirmed reports suggest significantly increased casualties, including hundreds of injuries Wednesday and Thursday alone. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - OCHA says more than 60,000 persons have come out of the Vanni over the past five months. Full Report with Voice Worsening humanitarian situation in conflict zone - General Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today discussed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the north of th…

Commenting that “[t]he promotion of Sanath Jayasuriya is a dark day in Sri Lanka’s cricket history,” following the appointment of Jayasuriya, a Government MP and close ally of Rajapaksa, to head the 5-member selection panel of the Sri Lanka cricket team, Australia’s most respected cricket author and journalist Gideon Haigh, said in his website that Colombo's "growing authoritarianism and hubris" will likely "buttress the case for a boycott of Sri Lankan cricket," the group Boycott Sri Lanka Campaign, headed by another well-known Australian journalist Trevor Grant, said in a press release. Full text of the press release from Boycott Sri Lanka Cricket Campaign issued…

Sri Lanka debt default has begun, says rating agency IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Sri Lanka is about to default on its debts, two of the world's largest credit rating agencies have warned. Fitch Ratings lowered its assessment of the South Asian nation, saying "a sovereign default process has begun". S&P Global Ratings made a similar announcement and said that a default is now a "virtual certainty". This week, Sri Lanka said it will …