Day: 29 April 2016

Maithri trashes TNA’s ‘federal’ solution -And rubbishes Jayalalithaa’s ‘Eelam’ cry

Karu

By Gagani Weerakoon President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday vowed he will not allow, support or even acknowledge any proposal that would jeopardise the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. Addressing the heads of media institutions at President’s House in Colombo yesterday (27) he said anybody could pass any resolution, but it is the government that has to endorse them. He made these remarks when journalists asked about the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council calling for a federal solution. “Anybody can pass resolutions. But, the government will never allow…

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Sri Lanka: A Troubling Spate of Arrests Across the Northern and Eastern Provinces

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A recent spate of arrests across Sri Lanka’s Tamil-dominated Northern and Eastern Provinces is cause for serious concern. It’s been more than fifteen months since Mahinda Rajapaksa was thrown out of power, yet the island nation’s state security personnel (the vast majority of whom are ethnic Sinhalese) don’t seem to have stopped their discriminatory ways. People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), a non-profit organization, has released a press statement about these arrests. Here’s part of that statement: PEARL is deeply concerned by Sri Lanka’s latest arrest and detention…

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TNA demands probe over ‘illegal occupation’ by Sri Lankan Army

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Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked the army to verify the ownership of the land, TNA sources said. Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance on Wednesday called for a probe on the alleged illegal occupation of civilian lands by the military in the Northern Province. The Tamil National Alliance was responding to accusations that on April 16, a group of party legislators led by the main opposition leader R Sampanthan had forcibly entered a military installation at Paravipanjan area in the northern Kilinochchi district. “There is no…

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Former Sri Lankan policemen admits organised sexual assault whilst facing trial in UK

Karu

A former Sri Lankan police officer who migrated to London and worked as a masseuse was jailed after sexually assaulting a female client. The former Sri Lankan police officer’s defence lawyer, told the British court that “While he was in employment of the military police he was required to deal with opponents of the Sri Lankan government, which involved the organised sexual assaults and humiliation of the opponents of the regime.” See full report here. Massage from hell for 21-year-old woman as convicted bus flasher gets job at parlour and…

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Maithri unmasks Mahinda!

Karu

By Nisthar Cassim President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday fired on all cylinders at MP and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, exposing the latter’s past ill-doings and sinister intentions and warned any comeback bid for an oppressive and corrupt rule would be a pipe-dream and strongly thwarted. The stage for Sirisena’s scathing attack on his former boss-turned-nemesis whom he defeated at the 8 January 2015 presidential poll was the breakfast meeting with editors and came ahead of a much-speculated showdown of the strengths of opposing camps within the Sri Lanka Freedom Party during…

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UN Rapporteurs urged to hold Colombo to its international commitments

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Stressing that torture is still ongoing in Sri Lanka, a top UK-based human rights organisation on Wednesday urged visiting UN Special Rapporteurs to hold Colombo government to its international commitments to end rights abuses and probe war-time abuses. UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Mónica Pinto, and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, are making a joint visit to Sri Lanka from April 29 to May 7, at the invitation of Sri Lanka. Hailing the…

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