Day: 5 February 2021

It is believed that the government has asked all English tabloids to NOT to cover the protests by the minority in Sri Lanka. Tamil protesters are marching in large numbers against the government who have received a large scale of minorities supporting it. They are protesting against Rajapakshes Sinhala Buddhists governments racist acts to please the majority Sinhalese. Changing Hindu Temples to Buddhist Temples with the help of the SL Army.. Large scale Land Grabs by Government State Sponsored Sinhale Settlement programmes. Failure to implement the Promised Rs 1,000 wage…

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As we mark the 73rd anniversary of our independence, the two extracts from an exchange in New York before the United Nations exemplifies the situation Sri Lanka finds itself in.  Whilst the Permanent Representative Peiris quite brazenly equates the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), victims groups and human rights organizations as tools of “vanquished terrorists” in front of the General Assembly, the Secretary General of the United Nations gives him a primer in contemporary international relations, pointing out that if the Sri Lankan people and government…

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GENEVA (5 February 2021) – UN human rights experts* have urged the Sri Lankan authorities to stop rolling back hard fought progress made in recent years on rebuilding democratic institutions, and to press for accountability for past crimes and deliver justice for victims and promote reconciliation between communities. The independent experts published today an assessment of the government’s follow up to some 400 recommendations made following 10 official visits from 2015 to 2019. They called on the Human Rights Council to continue its efforts to increase independent human rights monitoring in the…

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The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has made a request from the United Nations’s (UN) Department of Peace Operations (DPKO) to suspend the deployment of Sri Lankan peacekeepers due to the report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) Michelle Bachelet, which allegedly raises new doubts about whether Sri Lankan troops can be properly vetted. “The DPKO has a legal duty to ensure due diligence before deploying troops. The report of the UN HCHR confirms that the UN General Assembly is not in a position now to certify…

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Hundred percent assurance cannot be given on getting infected with COVID-19 virus for people who continue to smoke and consume alcohol, even if they were vaccinated, National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Chairman Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa said. He told the Daily Mirror that same scenario had proven from several tests done by the vaccine inventors. Specialists in many countries have made similar comments relating to COVID-19 vaccine, he said. Dr. Rajapaksa requested people to avoid smoking and consume alcohol at least for six months, if vaccinated. “The vaccine will…

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The government is contemplating a minor cabinet reshuffle in the next few days, informed political sources said. Accordingly, two new cabinet portfolios and four state portfolios will be appointed during the cabinet reshuffle. It is learnt that s dedicated ministry for human rights will be appointed as a way of easing pressure mounted on Sri Lanka by the United Nations Human Rights Commissions. Sri Lanka made a similar move before 2015 when the country came under pressure on the human rights front in teh aftermath of the end of the…

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Sri Lankan magistrates across districts in the North-East issued bans and injunctions against civil society members, journalists and other individuals ahead of a ‘walk for justice’  organised by Tamil war victims’ families, civil society organisations and Tamil politicians. The protest march, which mobilised around demands for the United Nations and international community to heed Tamil calls for justice and accountability, began today from Pottuvil despite the imposed restrictions, roadblocks and police interference. The walk, which coincides with the Sri Lankan independence Day celebrations, has been named after the route from…

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Canadian MP for Scarborough-Rouge Park,  Canada, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Gary Anandasangaree, expressed a message of solidarity for Tamil protesters walking for Justice from Pottuvil to Polikandi. Noting in his message that “their purpose is to seek accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan state”. This statement comes as Families of the Disappeared in Jaffna and Vavuniya defied court bans against this protest and launched hunger strikes demanding to know what happened to their loved ones. These protests are…

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Sébastien Nadot, the MP for Haute-Garonne stated that France must “speak out loud and clear for justice and freedom in Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council” in a tweet as he joined the #GenocideSriLanka campaign, and showcased his question in French parliament to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, on France’s stance at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session. In a written question to Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, MP Nadot highlights the “prevalence of nationalism, restrictions on religious freedom…

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“I was fascinated with the theme that we must make it happen together, which was perhaps said a countless number of times during your presentation. But Sri Lanka has a problem. We are made to feel we are not in it together. It’s 12 years since the end of the conflict and we have come a long way from those times. The temperature in the country is very low now. It is peaceful. But it appears that the global temperature for Sri Lanka, particularly in the Human Rights Council has been…

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If colonization is the exercise of hegemony, administrative control and the fundamental subjugation of one group of peoples to another, then the question for post-independent Sri Lanka should be whether or not we find remnants of colonialism within our own borders. It calls for an expanded definition of colonialism, beyond the direct or indirect rule of a foreign country. Rather, neocolonialism in the Sri Lankan context is the sustained practice of colonial attitudes, practices and relations that subjugate one group to another under a veil of state hegemony. Thus, I…

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The External Affairs Minister bats for Sri Lankan Constitution’s 13th amendment that talks about devolution of power to the Tamil community. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said fulfilling the expectations of the Tamil people for equality, justice and peace within a united Sri Lanka will be in own interest of the island nation. In response to a question in Rajya Sabha, Mr. Jaishankar said he reiterated India’s support for the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka during his discussions with its top leaders in Colombo last month. “It is…

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… says people voted to elect true leaders, but they got dealers By Saman Indrajith Tamil Progressive Alliance leader SJB Parliamentarian Mano Ganesan recently said that people who had voted for the SLPP expecting true leaders to develop the country had instead got a bunch of dealers. Addressing the media at the Opposition Leader’s office in Colombo, MP Ganesan said that prior to the presidential and general elections a political campaign led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa the people had been promised that the country would be run by professionals. “That was…

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Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said today that the politicians who have been in power after the Independence were responsible for creating divisions among the people and making the country a debt laden one. He pointed out that all parties in the country should work together to solve the problems in the country. The Cardinal expressed these views at the Catholic service for the 73rd Independence Day held at the All Saints Church in Borella. “We cannot try and sell the resources of the country to the powerhouses of the world.…

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Today the decorations will be up and Sri Lanka’s military will take centre-stage with a scaled-down march past and the National Anthem will be sung but in Sinhala only. In the East, the Tamil National Alliance, led by some of its Parliamentarians began a march from Potuvil protesting what they call are the violation of minority rights in the North and East of the country. In the East, the Tamil National Alliance, led by some of its Parliamentarians began a march from Potuvil protesting what they call are the violation…

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President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today reminded the Nation that he is a Sinhalese, Buddhist leader. Addressing the Nation during the 73rd Independence Day celebrations held at Independence Square, the President said that he follows the Buddhist teachings when leading the Nation. He said that he will never hesitate to say that he is a Sinhalese, Buddhist leader. However, the President further noted that Sri Lanka will continue to ensure equal rights to all communities as enshrined in the Constitution. He also said that there will not be room in Sri Lanka…

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President Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the target of a blistering tongue-lashing by JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake this week about the executive’s flagrantly despotic plans to unseat critics from Parliament and strip them of their civic rights through what he called a ‘Kangaroo Court’. President Rajapaksa’s tainted Commission to investigate claims of political victimization was really an attempt to give immunity to the perpetrators of true acts of political vengeance, Dissanayake told supporters at a meeting at the National Library auditorium on Tuesday (2). The seminar was titled “Kakkille Komisama”. “Who killed Lasantha Wickrematunge?…

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Serious questions have been raised about the manner in which the Commissioners who constituted the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on political victimization (PCoI) have compromised the independence with which they were expected to discharge their quasi-judicial role. The Commission was appointed by President Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa to inquire into and report on acts of political victimization of public officials, corporation employees, police officers and members of the armed services. According to opposition sources, it is clear that the PCI, chaired by Upali Abeyratne, former Supreme Court Judge who has been a controversial figure…

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t was widely reported in the media early this week that the National Anthem would be sung in Sinhala only at the official celebrations of Sri Lanka’s 73rd anniversary of gaining independence from Britain. Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne made it unambiguously clear at a press briefing that the National Anthem would not be sung n Tamil at the official freedom day event. Even though Tamil is the language spoken by around 25% of the island’s population comprising the Sri Lankan Tamils, Muslims and Up Country Tamils and is…

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