As we approach seven years since the end of the armed conflict where Sri Lankan government troops systematically killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians, the Tamil Guardian is revisiting the events of the final weeks. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in mass atrocities accompanied by a litany of systematic rights abuses that have since been outlined in UN reports. Seven years on, not a single prosecution for these crimes has taken place and the military responsible for the atrocities remains deployed in the Tamil speaking areas. 23…
Read MoreDay: 22 April 2016
Army fails to submit list of missing people
A list of people who surrendered during the last phase of the armed conflict in 2009 was not submitted to the Mullaithivu magistrate court by the army, despite a pledge by the 58D Brigade Commanding Officer to do so. Mullathivu Magistrate MSM Samsudeen ordered the officer on February 17 this year to furnish the list by April 20, however the state counsel was not present in court, causing the case to be postponed till May 17, according to Ceylon Today. A writ of mandamus regarding people who went missing after…
Read MoreRichmond Hill woman Malini Siva missing for 2 months
York Regional Police is seeking public assistance locating a 44-year-old woman missing from the Town of Richmond Hill. Kalamalini Sivakumar was last seen Feb. 19, leaving her residence in the area of Bathurst Street and King Road. Later that day, her van was located by a family member in a shopping mall parking lot in the area of Rutherford Road and Jane Street in Vaughan with a note inside from the missing person indicating she would be home in 15 days. On March 22, her family contacted police when they…
Read MoreBuddhist Extremists Block Sri Lankan Christians From Using Public Cemeteries
By Lorraine Caballero Sri Lankan Christians cannot bury their dead in public cemeteries because Buddhist monks are stopping them from doing so, charity group Release International says. The persecution of Sri Lankan Christians has now reached the level where Buddhist monks have joined forces with nationalists and prevented Christians from burying their dead in public cemeteries. Local government officials have also been shutting down churches and prayer gatherings in the country. A prominent human rights lawyer, who spoke under conditions of anonymity, recalled one occasion wherein a Christian burial was interrupted…
Read MoreClash of Titans on May Day in Sri Lanka will See Grandstanding like Hitler and Churchill During world war 2
By Winston de Valliere While Political parties and Trade Unions flex their muscles to observe May Day in just a week’s time, the enormity of the explosive emotions sizzling just beneath the surface of the two major political parties can be expected to manifest themselves in grandstanding such as that seen in the days of the Second WW by Hitler on the one side and Churchill on the other. Make no mistake about it May Day in Sri Lanka is just an euphemism for venting political venom on one’s opponents with…
Read MoreWasim Thajudeen murder: Arrest of four top cops imminent
The Criminal Investigations Department is likely to arrest four other senior Police officers, including a serving ASP and a retired Senior DIG, in connection with rugby player Wasim Thajudeen’s murder. The CID arrested Sumith Chinthaka Perera, former Crimes OIC of the Narahenpita Police Station, over the same incident on Wednesday. The serving ASP facing imminent arrest was also an OIC of a police station in the Colombo district at the time of the rugby player’s killing, authoritative Police sources told the Daily News. The Police officers are likely to be…
Read MoreLarge-scale gem fraud during last regime: Authority
A financial fraud involving the loss of vital foreign exchange earnings beyond calculation had been caused to country through the smuggling out of large stocks of gems since 2013, Chairman of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority Asanke Welagedara said. He said the fraud was uncovered as a result of a state audit. He said the large-scale fraud had occurred by way of a voucher system called the ‘N.N.S’, costing an annual fee of Rs.1,500 US dollars that allowed for any number of gems to be taken outside of the…
Read MoreRajapaksa protected the killer of British citizen Khuram Shaikh Zaman says President Maithiri
President Maithrippla Sirisena on Wednesday accused his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa of having thwarted a bid to take disciplinary action against the then Chairman of the Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha, Sampath Chandra Pushpa Vidanapathirana in the wake of his alleged involvement in the killing of British citizen Khuram Shaikh Zaman, (32) in late December, 2011. President Sirisena claimed that the former President had strongly opposed a decision taken by him in his capacity as the General Secretary of the SLFP together with the then UPFA General Secretary Susil Premjayantha to sack the…
Read MoreSampanthan’s decisions questionable
Leader of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and former TNA Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran stated that, certain decisions taken by the leader of the TNA and Opposition Leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan are questionable. He made this comment addressing a media briefing held on Tuesday (19) in Jaffna. Former Parliamentarian Premachandran further said that TNA’s election manifesto has emphasized the Federal Constitutional System and the need of combining of the North-East. But the President and the Prime Minister have said that the North-East would not be connected. So the extensive talk with government…
Read MoreDemocracy in Post War Sri Lanka | April 2016
19 April 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka: According to the latest ‘Democracy in Post War Sri Lanka’ survey conducted by Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lankans have a low level of confidence in the Government’s commitment towards eradicating corruption in the country. While 40.8% are of the opinion that the Government is not committed towards eradicating corruption in the country, 34.5% say that the Government is committed. The decrease in the level of confidence is seen when compared to October 2015 data, where…
Read MoreFrom ‘war-policing’ to ‘community policing’
From adversary to protector- Sri Lanka Police have turned to ‘Community Policing’ as a way to build bridges between communities and the police at a time when public faith in the police is at an all-time low. Retired Senior DIG, M. Gomes spends much of his retirement as the President of the Wellawatte Civil Security Committee (CSC) but this time, he remains outside the police station and helps people connect with the police. “The police department wanted to start committees to empower civil society but at the moment it is…
Read MoreQuestions of Haste, Urgency and Consultations in Transitional Justice
On a recent visit to the United States, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera made a revealing series of comments in response to a question at a forum organized by the United States Institute of Peace. When asked about the government’s timeline to introduce what the government calls “reconciliation mechanisms”, his response reflected his view that controversial Transitional Justice (TJ) mechanisms must be initiated quickly, without much delay. Citing Margaret Thatcher, he claimed that the most controversial aspects of a government’s agenda must be implemented within “a year or two” of its…
Read MoreThe Joint Opposition Is A Bunch Of Asylum Seekers & Debris Of A Rogue Regime
By Vishwamithra1984 – “There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue. Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass. Commit a crime, and it seems as if a coat of snow fell on the ground, such as reveals in the woods the track of every partridge, and fox, and squirrel.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson They call themselves the Joint Opposition. They are a twice-defeated, once at the Presidential and then at the parliamentary elections, lot of parliamentarians and two or three-time Ministers, who ransacked the country’s…
Read MoreBouquets And Brickbats For Sri Lanka In UK’s Annual Human Rights Report
“There was an improvement in the overall human rights situation in Sri Lanka in 2015, although some concerns remain. Reversing the downward trend of recent years, the government of Sri Lanka took positive steps to improve freedom of expression (including the media) and freedom of movement, reduce inter-community tensions, and restore the independence of institutions such as the Human Rights Commission. The government also signalled its willingness to address long-standing allegations of past human rights abuses and violations, co-sponsoring a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council in October committing…
Read MoreEuropean Union Lifts Ban On Fish Imports From Sri Lanka
The European Union today announced that it has lifted the ban on Sri Lankan fish imports, Minister of Fisheries Mahinda Amaraweera announced. The EU decision came following a crucial discussion today between officials from the Sri Lankan government and the European Union. Since the ban, Sri Lanka recorded a loss of at least US$ 100 million annually. The EU imposed a ban on importing fish from Sri Lanka to EU countries in January 2015, due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities carried out in Sri Lanka. The decision to…
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