One-time Norwegian peace envoy, ex-minister Erik Solheim and TNA MP Suresh Premachandran are teaming up in Oslo tomorrow (May 15), for a fresh attack on Sri Lanka.

External Affairs Ministry sources told The Island that the LTTE rump and some of its supporters among various political parties abroad had been working overtime to undermine ongoing efforts to resume negotiations between the government and the TNA……. read more

The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) says it will contest the provincial council elections in the east with the government.
TMVP spokesman Azad Maulana told The Sunday Leader that even if the council is dissolved before the due date and elections are held in September the TMVP will contest with the government. Elections for the Eastern Provincial Council is due to be held in March 2013, but there are moves to dissolve the Council this year and hold elections in September…………….. read more

The third anniversary of the end of the war will be celebrated in the coming week. In the past two years this has taken place with victory parades and with public commemorations of war heroes by the Government although many people would say it was not appropriate after a civil war when citizens of the country were killed in large numbers. It is also necessary to remember that the government is being accused of war crimes and violations of humanitarian laws…………… read more

In this film several victims talk about their experience of torture by the Sri Lankan police and the continuing ordeals they suffer, psychologically and socially due to this torture.

All of them state that their arrests were baseless and that after their arrest the police tortured them even before asking any questions at all. Torture has been used as a means of trying to collect evidence in cases which the police have failed to investigate and solve………….. read more

The EU’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, Bernard Savage addressing the Europe Day celebration in Colombo last week, said that they hoped to accompany Sri Lanka as it moved forward to a peaceful and prosperous future………….. read more

COLOMBO, May 14 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka’s main opposition on Monday called on the president tofind a lasting solution to the country’s long dragged ethnic conflict, the president’s spokesman said.

A delegation led by Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the United National Party (UNP) called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa and a number of senior members of the government, President’s spokesman Bandula Jayasekara said…………… read more

Sumanthiran demands independent international investigation Part 1

Sumanthiran demands independent international investigation Part 2

We have mourned enough for Mullivaikaal. Mourning can unite people and give them a sense of identity in abstract. But for concrete identity politics, there is no substitute for using the moment to convey a consensus of a political position. So let the occasion not just be a time to shed tears for those butchered, but also a time when we try to live up to the standards of those who fought till the end for what they believed in, for what is our right. Let the month of May be a time we undertake a ruthless analysis of where we stand and why, a cold assessment of who our friends are and who our enemies are, and frame a strategy that will deliver the primary political goal of Tamil Eelam…………….. READ MORE

Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) is ready to persuade the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to join the parliamentary select committee (PSC) if the government implements the LLRC recommendations to achieve reconciliation….. READ MORE

As one of the handful of speakers requested to address the mourners and pay tribute to the late Mr Padayachie, the GTF’s spokeperson, Suren Surendiran, shared his memories of Comrade Roy, who he described as a pivotal and inspirational figure to the organisation.

Sri Lankan authorities released information for the first time on Sunday about thousands of people held under draconian anti-terror laws despite it being three years since Tamil rebels were crushed.

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said an information centre was set up to provide details of detainees, a long-standing demand of rights groups which accuse the government of holding thousands of suspects without trial……………. read more

The unprecedented invitation extended by South Africa to a top GTF representative to deliver a speech last Wednesday (May 9) on behalf of the organization at the state funeral of South African Minister, Roy Padayachie, who was of Tamil descent, couldn’t have come at a worse time for Sri Lanka, government sources acknowledged……. read more

On line voting for the current affairs category Ends on May 13 (Sunday).

The Sinhala British Sri Lanka Forum has urged Sri Lankan Sinhalese to vote for the al-Jazeera production, in a bid to thwart Channel 4 winning another award, at the expense of Sri Lanka.

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) yesterday said that the Tamil community wanted “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished’ to win the British award. GTF spokesman Suren Surendiran told The Island that the all Tamil organizations were supporting the Killing Fields to win the BAFTA awards. That was part of an awareness campaign to highlight the need for an inter ITN-Channel 4 documentary which called for an international independent investigation to establish the truth, he said. Continue Reading

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been invited to participate at the British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee on her ascension to the throne.

The President will also undertake a visit to the United Kingdom from 3rd June on a four-day visit. “This is not a state visit,” an official from the British High Commission in Colombo added………… READ MORE

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) joined President Jacob Zuba, ministers and senior government officials of South Africa to pay tribute to the late activist and minister, Roy Padayachie, at his state funeral in Durban on Wednesday……….. READ MORE

The Mahinda Rajapaksa administration is unlikely to complete the Action Plan on the implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations before External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris’ visit to the US this week.

The government initially decided to prepare the LLRC Action Plan before Peiris’ visit to Washington DC. 

Ironically, Peiris is to meet US government officials on the 18th when Sri Lanka would be conducting its third Victory Day parade to celebrate the third anniversary of ending the 30 year civil war……….. READ MORE

Mannar Bishop Rev. Rayappu Joseph has been questioned by the police on his statement to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) regarding disappearances.
The Bishop was among several people, including government officials, who had given statements to the LLRC during its public sittings. Bishop Joseph said that police officers had visited his office in Mannar last Tuesday after seeking a prior appointment………… READ MORE

The Dambulla mosque fracas engineered by the militant elements of Sri Lankan Buddhists, the reaction to it by local Muslim politicians and Muslim religious leaders, the former threatening to withdraw their inconsequential support to the government while the latter urging Muslim masses to pray to Allah to restore the status quo, and the conflicting messages from the nation’s prime minister and the president, both of them without condemning the perpetrators but trying to mollify the aggressor and the aggrieved, demonstrate yet again the toxic mix of militant Buddhism (perhaps a contradiction in terms) and national politics. The Muslim community is precariously placed between militant Buddhism and political ineptitude………………. READ MORE

“People want to rebuild their lives and they want democratic space to express themselves. We need to facilitate this process by joining hands with democratic and liberal elements of Sri Lanka’s opposition. We cannot do this on our own and we have to shed our Tiger proxy image,” he said. “This is making a mountain out of a molehill. There are many issues we need to focus on, in the north and the east.”…….   READ MORE

The government was not genuine or sincere in its efforts to either ensure a civilian administration, or totally move out the military from the province.

“Still there are a large number of lands that they have not been handed over to the civilian population in the Wanni. These things are being deliberately dragged on by the government to suit its interests, and God only knows when this resettlement drive will be completed,” he opined………………. READ MORE

TNA has demonstrated the importance of the Sri Lankan identity for moving forward.

The TNA leader last month remarked in Parliament that any framework for a settlement ought to be Lankan-led. Secondly, at last week’s May Day rally in Jaffna, members of the Tamil National Alliance were seen carrying the national flag. Thirdly, the TNA leader was reported to have declared to the visiting Indian delegation last month that he was proud to be Sri Lankan: all three instances kindle a sense of genuine hope in the possibility of reaching a settlement that is truly Sri Lankan and acceptable to all communities and peoples………….. READ MORE

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted leave to proceed with petitions filed by 51 Jaffna Tamils who allege that the military and police assaulted them in the aftermath of the ‘grease yaka’ (devils) incidents in the peninsula last year.
The petitioners also say that their fundamental and language rights were violated by the police forcing them to sign statements in Sinhala, which they do not understand. The first respondent in this case is Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The others include the army commander, the security forces commander, Jaffna, the inspector general of police, commander of the 51 division, commander of the 512 brigade, and other army and police officials………. READ MORE

CP’s stance on implementation of LLRC proposals:  Scrap Concurrent List, distribute only State land to landless, give limited police powers to Governors

“On the political solution, from our past experience the bilateral talks will not carry us anywhere. The two major parties – the UNP and SLFP – should reach a consensus. You can never solve the problem if there is going to be confrontation between the major parties,” he added……………. read more

“You will recall that my instructions were to be in Geneva on time to handle the 18th Session of the Council in September 2011. However, vital information on a US initiative calling for an interactive dialogue on Sri Lanka was withheld from me.

It was only fortuitously, and only five weeks before the Session opened, that I discovered that this information had been communicated, as early as June 2011, to the private email address of my predecessor in Geneva by the US Ambassador. After that, an email exchange had taken place on the subject, unknown to the Ministry of External Affairs……………. read more

The appointment of Tamara Kunanayakam as Ambassador to Cuba effective July stands, External Affairs Ministry in Colombo said.

A top official at the ministry said the decision would stand, as it was done according to Ministry protocol.Meanwhile, Kunanayakam had written to External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris expressing her surprise and displeasure on her transfer…………. read more

Clinton is now certain to raise what Washignton calls “accountability issues not addressed by the LLRC.” The US is not in favour of the military investigating itself and holds the view that it “should be credibly investigated” by a “centralised mechanism.” However, the US has not made clear what such a mechanism is. This is notwithstanding the visit to Colombo by Stephen J. Rapp, Ambassador-at-Large heading the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the U.S. Department of State. It is also in favour of cash payments for those affected though Washington is reluctant to call it “compensation.”………… read more

External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris, whose incompetence became visible with  Sri Lanka ’s humiliating defeat at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva in February, should accept responsibility for the debacle and tender his resignation without further delay, UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa stressed at a press briefing on Thursday (10)…………. read more

The team, which will be headed by External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris and will include Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, will meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on May 18. It was earlier expected that they will take a copy of such an action plan – the details of which are yet to be released to the Sri Lankan public – to be presented to Secretary Clinton……… reads more

New Delhi Establishment’s Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, addressing her party convention in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, and citing TNA leader R. Sampanthan, implied that Tamils in the island don’t ask for independence but only some political parties in Tamil Nadu want it. ……... read more

The District Court of Eastern District Court of New York Friday freed Kandasamy Karunakaran who was arrested five years ago and charged with providing material support to Liberation Tigers designated as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)” in the U.S. Judge Raymond Dearie noting that “this is not a garden variety terrorism case,” and adding that “[w]e have to pull back that emblazoned banner of terrorism and look at the case specifically,” ……….. read more

The occupying Sri Lankan military in Ki’linochchi is making every effort to cover up the culprits of the brutal killing of Canadian Tamil citizen who was struggling to get his business properties back from the SL military in Ki’linochhci, informed civil sources in the town told TamilNet Saturday. The intelligence officers of the occupying SL military are now attempting to pass the blame of the slaying of the property owner on petty criminals. …………. read more

Tamil War Widows Turn to Sex Work in Sri Lanka!

COLOMBO, May 11, 2012 (IPS) - On May 18, some 800 women in Sri Lanka’s northern region will hold Hindu religious ceremonies for the welfare of thier husbands who disappeared or surrendered to the military as it moved in to mop up nearly three decades of armed Tamil separatism.

“These women continue to live in hope even though many of those Tamil men may have died in the last days of the fighting,” says Shreen Abdul Saroor, a prominent rights activist working with conflict-affected women in northern Sri Lanka…………… read more

ITN Chairman Rosmand Senaratne has informed UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake that the video clips telecast on his TV channel showing a group of men waving LTTE flags were provided by the Defence Ministry, party sources said yesterday. In a letter addressed to UNP General Secretary Mr. Senaratne had said no one from the ITN had covered the event.

Mr. Karunanayake therefore said those who waved LTTE flags should have been arrested immediately. “Authorities should arrest these men now as they can be easily identified by the video clips,’ he said.

by Veerasingham Anandasangaree

Text of a letter sent by TULF Secretary-General and former Parliamentarian Veerasingham Anandasangaree to Pressident Mahind Rajapaksa over the recent mass arrests in Trincomalee district……….. read more

The post-war discourse on 13-A, or 13-A-Plus, or whatever has revolved mostly around Police and Land powers. There are also issues over shared-powers between the Centre and the Provinces under the Concurrent List and fiscal powers……………. read more

By Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and Bishop Norbert M. Andradi

Much has been written and discussed since the publication of the Report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL) wishes to look at the Report of the Commission mindful of this biblical imperative and invitation to be peacemakers and agents of reconciliation in this post-war society of Sri Lanka……. read more

A protest by Hindu Munnani activists on TTK Road near Music Academy in the city on Monday evening turned dangerous when a LPG-powered autorickshaw went up in flames after the protesters burnt a effigy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa inside the vehicle………… read more

by Dr. Vickramabahu Karunararatne

The economic consequences of the decisions made by the Mahinda regime, to satisfy the international money lenders, are becoming intolerable.

Apart from those who contribute to the Sinhala Buddhist ideology of the regime and those who are profiting by the regime’s excesses, the rest fight on a daily basis without much coordination, to cope with the rising cost of living………. read more

• UPFA constituent parties send in views; left parties call for widespread implementation
• Peiris visit seeks to strengthen ties with US, but relations with India on rocky road
• Different versions emerge on controversy over Eelam flag at UNP rally in Jaffna

External Affairs Minister Peiris and his entourage will have the unenviable task of not only talking to top US officials about the March UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka. In fact, his talks which are to mend fences with the United States would naturally persuade his delegation to present a new image of the government. Elsewhere, that image is getting clouded by rising prices, public discontent and the absence of austerity measures. Politicians seem to continue to be in a celebratory mood…………. READ MORE

What happened in Dambulla and its fallout is yet another reflection of the growing chaos unleashed by the chauvinist regime. Having unleashed, fuelled, nurtured and protected Sinhala Buddhist chauvinist forces to the maximum, this regime has no other way to handle the growing resentment except by using such barbaric pogroms. It will mobilize its most ardent and passionate supporters. The regime’s Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism is the main factor that is providing it with some militant mass support at the moment. Any indication that it is not willing to stand by its racist credentials will complete the growing disillusionment and anger that is growing against the regime. The false aggressiveness of the regime only shows that its downfall is near………….. READ MORE

The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) has rejected allegations of child recruitment in the British Human Rights report on Sri Lanka.
“During the war the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal armed themselves as a means of self-defense and at no point did we forcibly recruit anyone to fight alongside ourselves,” TMVP spokesman Azad Maulana, told The Sunday Leader………… read more