Day: 15 February 2017

Families of the disappeared reject private deal in Colombo

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Families of the disappeared reject private deal in Colombo  Family members of disappeared Tamils rejected the government’s offer to set up a special inquiry to investigate the fate of just their missing relatives, rather than providing an acceptable solution to the 32,000 missing. “We came to get collective justice for thousands of our people who have gone missing, not only for our sake,” said one family member. The representatives that attended the meeting in Colombo were family members of the disappeared that ended a four-day hunger strike once given assurance…

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Witnesses cannot rely on Sri Lankan state for protection – ITJP

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Witnesses cannot rely on Sri Lankan state for protection – ITJP  Witnesses and victims in Sri Lanka cannot rely on the state for protection, a report by the International Truth and Justice Project has found. In the report ‘Putting the Wolf to Guard the Sheep’, ITJPSL underline that the Sri Lankan government has made three concerning appointments to a witness protection body, including alleged perpetrators of torture. “Appointing figures to a witness protection body who could one day find themselves on trial for serious crimes like torture, is akin to…

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Onus on Turnbull to Remember Sri Lanka’s Victims

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This week, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is visiting Australia. Besides growing economic cooperation, apparently ‘enhanced cooperation on development and sport’ between the two nations is on the agenda. But let’s hope that beyond friendly cricket matches, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull asks some hard questions about how the Sri Lankan government will provide accountability to victims and their families, still awaiting justice seven years after the horrific end to the country’s long civil war. Last year, the Sri Lankan government agreed to a 2015 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution that mandates the…

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The Jury Is Out: Armed Forces, Not India, Stalled JRJ’s ‘Jaffna Advance’

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by N. Sathiya Moorthy It’s sad that based merely on speculative assessments that India’s ‘Operation Garland’ of air-dropping food and medicines to the civilian population, bilateral relations had been allowed to flounder It needs to be recalled that only a day before ‘Operation Garland’, India had sent in civilian boats filled with food and medicines, for the civilian population of Jaffna peninsula Contemporary military history of India clearly shows as to how prepared or unprepared was the nation’s military for the IPKF operations J. R. Jayewardene The routinely declassified documents…

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Sri Lanka High Commission in London commemorates 69th anniversary of Independence

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Group photograph of the Chief Guest H.E. Dr. Ahmed Bin Abdulla Belhoul Al Falasi, the State Minister of Higher Education of UAE, H.E. Jeffry Suleiman Mohideen, Ambassador for Sri Lanka to UAE and Mr. Charitha Yattogoda, Consul General of Sri Lanka to Dubai and the Northern Emirates along with part of Consuls General based in Dubai   participated in the event    The High Commission of Sri Lanka in London commemorated the 69th anniversary of Independence with the representation of all the communities on 4 February at the High Commission…

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The TNA Has Failed In Its Duty To The Tamils

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By V. Anandasangaree – V. Anandasangaree The time has now come for the Tamils of Sri Lanka including those living abroad to wake up from their deep slumber to safeguard their rights and privileges that are eroding fast, due to mishandling and wrong approach of those who had undertaken to do so. It has lasted several years now with hardly any progress made. The curse of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka is that we have too many leaders who champion the cause of the Tamils but have no courage…

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No need for federal system- TNA

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The Tamil National Alliance says it is ready to abandon the proposal on the formation of a federal system when formulating a new Constitution. Speaking to the BBC World Service, Parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran said, the TNA is ready to provide the necessary support for a meaningful distribution of power which can be accepted by all, without focusing on a federal system. The MP said the public has misunderstood the meaning of distributing power through the federal system. MP Sumanthiran said the distribution of power through the federal system, was initially…

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Britain to sponsor resolution on Sri Lanka at UNHRC

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Britain is to sponsor a new resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at its upcoming session in Geneva. The decision was communicated to the Council at the organisational meeting for the 34th session of the UNHRC held in Geneva yesterday.  The resolution will look to give Sri Lanka time to address the accountability issue on the war. Ahead of the resolution being tabled, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera will address the UNHRC during 34th session. Samaraweera is to brief the council on the latest developments in Sri…

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Sri Lanka’s Mangala Samaraweera is a Scammer

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Sri Lanka’s Mangala Samaraweera is a Scammer. The UNHRC and High Commissioner Hussein Should Not Trust Him. “The world is watching the credibility of the UNHRC. If the UNHRC fails to give justice, everyone in the grieved world, search for justice by taking arms” NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, February 14, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ — Current Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera plays the role of the good cop with a big smile who travels everywhere throughout the world. His intention is to dismiss Sri Lanka from the international war…

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