யாழ் திரைகடலோடி

UN and world bodies express disappointment over withdrawal from the ceasefire agreement UN and the international community have expressed disappointment over Sri Lanka's abrogation of ceasefire agreement. UN Secretary General's statement in this regard emphasizes that all parties should pay attention to solve the problem without bloodshed. He expressed concern over the abrogation of ceasefire while escalation of violence and urged the state to guarantee the security of the humanitarian workers and civilians. US, Canada and Norway have also expressed displeasure over the abrogation of ceasefire. However, India has not issued an official statement in this re…

UN Reports from India - Tamil National High Commissioner for UNHRC is in India on an official visit; Ms Navanetham Pillai raised the Sri Lankan issue during her discussion today with the Indian external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee. Commenting on Sri Lanka to the reporters, she said ‘I have asked the Sri Lankan government to allow human rights monitors there. I have not got any response. I am going to press for that.’ She further said, ‘our view is that you can never succeed through military solution, the problem can be solved politically. UN wants Sri Lankan government to ensure safety of the civilians.’ More to this, today Human Rights Council conclu…

The United Nations on Wednesday pointed the finger at Sri Lankan forces over the killing of 17 French charity workers on the island nine years ago, despite repeated denials by the military. A UN war crimes report on Sri Lanka said the 2006 attack against Action Against Hunger (ACF) staff was "the most significant case of humanitarian workers killed" in the country. "Based on the information (the investigation) has compiled, there are reasonable grounds to believe that members of the security forces committed the extrajudicial executions of the ACF staff," the report said. It is the first time a UN organisation has placed blame for the aid workers' deaths on Sri Lank…

[size=5]A report filed by an independent researcher based on eye-witness accounts from twelve United Nations humanitarian workers during the last phases of war ending in May 2009 on the policies implemented by Colombo, leading to starvation, deprivation of medical supplies, indiscriminate bombings of hospitals and schools in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1612 amounting to war-crimes and crimes against humanity, accuses the United Nation's officials' inaction, failure to speak out and willingness to acquiesce with the Rajapakse government's rights violations and state sanctioned killings of tens of thousands of unarmed civilians. [/size] [size=5]Professo…

International Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French delivers joint statement by the Core Group on Sri Lanka Thank you Madam President This statement is on behalf of Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Montenegro and the UK, the Core Group on Sri Lanka. We thank the High Commissioner for her update on Sri Lanka. In 2015, Sri Lanka co-sponsored resolution 30/1, which provided a framework to address the legacy of conflict and build the foundations for sustainable and inclusive peace. Sri Lanka committed to delivering progress on accountability, reconciliation and human rights with the support of the Council and reaffirmed those commitments throu…

UN Inspector Says Bush and Blair Should Be Tried At Hague 20 years on, should George W. Bush be on trial for Iraq? | The Mehdi Hasan Show

An Analysis on the ‘UN Internal Review Panel’s findings during the final months of the war in Sri Lanka [size=5]The internal probe commissioned to examine the conduct of the United Nations during the final months of the war in Sri Lanka with a view to putting its house in order is to be commended for being forthright about UN’s own failures. However it’s findings must also be seen as a scathing indictment on the Rajapaksa Government’s conduct of the war; the revelations contained in it conclusively making the case for the genocidal state to be put in the dock, indicating that the time has come for its senior political and military leaders and President Mahinda Rajap…

A judge has ruled that the U.N. refugee agency unfairly punished one of its investigators for documenting a rape case in Sri Lanka a decade ago. U.N. Dispute Tribunal Judge Coral Shaw says former investigator Caroline Hunt-Matthes lost her job at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees due to retaliation and suffered other damages after she collected evidence in 2003 that an agency employee had raped a refugee in Sri Lanka. Wednesday’s twin rulings, which can be appealed, are critical of the U.N.’s accountability system, including its ethics office, and award Hunt-Matthes a year’s salary and benefits, plus $58,000 for her damages and suffer…

The United Nations may become involved in the case of the Tamil asylum seekers who were detained on an Australian customs boat, with a court hearing to take place in Canberra in October. A brief high court directions hearing in Melbourne on Thursday resulted in Justice Kenneth Hayne setting a date of 14 October and 15 October for the full court case. The legal team representing the asylum seekers indicated that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Australian Human Rights Commission were looking to intervene in the case. George Newhouse, a lawyer for the asylum seekers, said the UN and other human rights organisations were 'following the cas…

The call by the United Nations’ top human rights officer for a domestic-international hybrid court to address allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka should receive strong endorsement by members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Human Rights Watch said today. On September 16, 2015, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, released a report on human rights abuses by Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during Sri Lanka’s civil war. His report calls for the establishment of a special court “integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators” …

The UNHRC panel to appointed to probe alleged human rights abuses during final stages ofconflict in Sri Lanka will continue to seek access to the country despite its refusal to allow them into the nation, a statement on the OHCHR website said.In the terms of reference for the probe available on the OHCHR website, it says it will continue to seek to engage with the Government of Sri Lanka in accordance with the resolution. The High Commissioner for Human Rights will continue to request for the team conducting the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) to have access to the country to meet with government officials and others, as well as to have access to all relevant docu…

UN probing Sri Lanka 'executions': Channel4 Tuesday, 01 September 2009 21:59 administrator The UN says it is viewing with 'utmost concern' a video broadcast on Channel 4 News which allegedly shows Sri Lankan troops executing prisoners, reports Nick Paton Walsh for Channel4. Philip Alston, who is the UN's special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, explained whether he thought the pictures were authentic. The images are 'horrendous' and, if authentic, are a serious breach of international law. The United Nations’s own expert called for an investigation into footage broadcast by this programme. But there are accusation…

The United Nations released a report Wednesday saying Sri Lanka cannot rely on its own justice system and instead should use a special court to achieve accountability for violations that took place during the country's 26-year civil war. The recommendation came as part of a report on what the U.N. Human Rights office said were possible war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict that pitted government forces against rebels seeking independence for the nation's Tamil minority. The fighting killed up to 100,000 people, according to widely accepted estimates. Sri Lanka, the report said, should look to the way other countries have used international judges…

UN slams Sri Lanka warring parties over slow tsunami recovery by Amal Jayasinghe Tue Dec 26, 6:32 AM ET COLOMBO (AFP) - The United Nations slammed Sri Lanka's warring parties for stalling tsunami reconstruction efforts as the island marked the second anniversary of the disaster. The outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan blamed both Colombo and the Tamil Tiger rebels for the violence that has slowed rebuilding after the December 26, 2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 31,000 people in the island. In a statement, he said the conflict between the government and rebels had made reconstruction even more difficult in the mainly B…

UN tribunal sentenced Ex-Khmer Rouge jailer to 19 years...how about Mahinda and Co! By Satheesan Kumaaran The United Nations-backed tribunal found the former Khmer Rouge chief jailer, Kaing Guek Eav, aka Duch, guilty of war crimes against humanity on July 26, 2010. During the four-year hard-line communist reign from 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge, which was headed by Pol Pot, was blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians. Duch was one of the perpetrators of the crimes against humanity and sentenced to 19 years. The question is, why doesn’t the UN do the same for perpetrators in Sri Lanka for unleashing genocidal war against Tamils? The sentencing of th…

UN urged not to ignore Rajapakse regime [TamilNet, Friday, 09 February 2007, 12:58 GMT] The UN security council working group which is set to study underage recruitment in Sri Lanka later Friday should not ignore the practice of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse’s regime in the practice, a senior columnist with The Guardian newspaper wrote in Friday’s edition. And condemning political movements for the violence they turn to, “whilst ignoring their complaints and the degree of support they command leads only to political stalemate and more bloodshed,” Jonathan Steele said in an op-ed published Friday. He criticised President Rajapakse for destroying the 2002 tr…

UN, Sri Lanka should cooperate on human rights, High Commissioner says Louise Arbour 15 October 2007 – Citing ongoing reports of abuses in Sri Lanka, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has just wrapped up a visit to the country, called for UN-Government cooperation to address the problem. “There is a large number of reported killings, abductions and disappearances which remain unresolved. This is particularly worrying in a country that has had a long, traumatic experience of unresolved disappearances and no shortage of recommendations from past Commissions of Inquiry on how to safeguard against such violations,” Louise Arbour said …

While the UN says that after its inaction in Sri Lanka while 40,000 were killed in 2009 it is now studying the “lessons learned,” Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday morning met with Sri Lankan Ambassador Palitha Kohona and four other Permanent Representatives to accept a quite contrary report. Before Inner City Press was asked to leave the conference room, Japan's Permanent Representative Tsuneo Nishida told Ban that “Sri Lanka is an important country” and “this morning we would like to present our report.” Then the meeting was closed; in fact, no topic was ever listed for the meeting. Inner City Press was the only media there. See short YouTube video here…

UN's website breached by hackers Hackers have attacked the United Nations official website, forcing some sections to be taken offline. Slogans accusing the US and Israel of killing children appeared on the pages reserved for statements from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Other pages on the site were also breached by the group, who described their actions as a "cyberprotest". In other attacks by hackers using the same names, they have claimed to be from Turkey. The message on the UN site said: "Hey Ysrail and Usa dont kill children and other people Peace for ever No war." The hackers named themselves as "kerem125", "Gsy" and "M0sted".…

LTTE cadres attack passenger vessel carrying 854 unarmed soldiers, successfully retaliated Munza Mushtaq in Colombo, August 1, 2006, 5.10 p.m.. The LTTE today afternoon fired mortar and artillery shells targeting a passenger vessel carrying 854 unarmed soldiers from Kankasanthurai, Trincomalee while she was entering the Trincomalee Harbour. The naval troops successfully retaliated the terrorist attack and brought the passenger vessel and the unarmed security forces personnel unharmed. Three boats were destroyed in the process. The incident occurred at around 2.15 p.m. Tigers failed in a similar type of attack when they targeted the passenger vessel Pearl Crui…

Underage paramilitary recruit attests to SLA-Karuna link [TamilNet, February 03, 2006 11:05 GMT] A 15-year-old boy, recruited by the paramilitary cadres of Karuna Group, later sent on vacation, and who managed to move with his family into the Liberation Tigers held area in Ayithiyamalai, addressed a press meet at Solayaham in LTTE controlled Kokkaddicholai Friday. The underage youth, Arulraj, has revealed details on how he was abducted, transported to Thivuchenai and trained at the training camp of the paramilitary group at Thivuchenai in Welikande. Arularj, who was on leave, managed to escape as his "guardian", an EPDP cadre Rama Ranjan, who accompanied him to Ba…

India and USA largely dictate the so called international community’s (IC’s) policy on the Sri Lankan conflict. India and USA increasingly have common objectives to counter regionally and internationally making them strategic partners of the future. The conflict in Sri Lanka is no different when it comes to their partnership; in-fact they stand together to gain from it. Then... India as the regional bully/mercenary attempted the containment policy through a temporarily merged North-East back in 1987 in return for maintaining a military presence in parts of the island. In the process India dictated through military muscle of IPKF a weak and cosmetic political soluti…

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Unemployment increases slightly to 5.1% in 3Q 2019 Sri Lanka’s unemployment rate has increased slightly to 5.1% in the third quarter of 2019, from 4.9% in the second quarter, the latest data from the state statistics office show. The number of unemployed persons is estimated as 437,797 during the third quarter 2019. Overall unemployment rate reported for female is 8.5 percent and it is 3.3 percent for male. Youth unemployment rate (age 15 – 24 years) corresponding to the third quarter 2019 is 23.3 percent and that is the highest reported unemployment rate among all age groups. Further the unemplo…

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will adopt the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report on Sri Lanka during the 22nd session of the UNHRC which begins next month in Geneva. According to the agenda of the session Sri Lanka’s UPR report is among a list of UPR reports of countries listed to be adopted at the council session. The UPR on Sri Lanka was held last November in Geneva, during which, Sri Lanka rejected 98 and accepted 111 recommendations submitted by countries at the UPR. Sri Lanka is expected to face severe criticism during the UNHRC session in Geneva in February and March. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay had said last week that sh…