by C.A.Chandraprema The crisis in the judiciary caused by the irregular appointment of Ramanathan Kannan as a High Court judge still remains unresolved. Judges of the District Courts wait for long years to be promoted to the High Court as do Senior State Counsel in the Attorney General’s Department. If a member of the private …
Popular Indian play back singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam has announced that he and his troupe would not be singing or performing film songs on stage for which the music has been composed by “Maestro” Illayarajah. SPB as Balasubrahmanyam is generally known has arrived at this decision following a legal notice sent by layers on behalf of …
By P.K.Balachandran Concerned about Sri Lanka’s lurch towards the US and the West, China is sending its Defence Minister Gen.Chang Wanquan to Colombo for a there-day trip beginning on Sunday. The hurriedly planned visit will be part of a tour of some countries in the region (not in the Indian subcontinent). Gen.Chang Wanquan will meet …
By Rajavarothayam Sampanthan (Text of Speech “Ballot vs Bullet” Made by the Sri Lankan Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Rajavarothayam Sampanthan at the Counter Terrorism Conference in New Delhi on the 15th of March 2017) Ballot Versus Bullet The choice should not be difficult, looked at superficially. But our experience …
By P.K.Balachandran The Sri Lankan government proposes to cut China’s stake in the Hambantota port from 80 per cent to 60 per cent, the Daily Mirror reported on Saturday. Well placed sources told this correspondent that the watering down has been made upon the insistence of the Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, who has been campaigning …
By Asnah Anver The Government yesterday announced the safe and ransom-free release of the Sri Lankan crew members aboard oil tanker Aris-13 that disappeared off the seas of Djibouti in the early hours of 17 March.dfh Speaking to the press, Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said that the Government had commenced communications with …
“WE ARE like dogs in the street, while your men occupy our homes,” read one of the banners strung up by Tamil protesters, mostly women in saris and ragged children. They had been camping for more than a month in a jumble of makeshift tents on a baking, dusty roadside near a Sri Lankan air-force …
By Dr.Nirmala Chandrahasan At the current 34th sessions of the UNHRC the draft resolution on ‘Reconciliation, accountability and human rights’, to be placed before the Council shortly, requests Sri Lanka to fully implement the measures identified in HRC Resolution 30/1 that are outstanding, while extending the time limit. In this context we have to once …
BY DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA Hafeel Farisz has written a double-barreled critique of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and me, though as he says, I am the primary target because of the intellectual dimension or pretensions that I bring to bear. It is quite tempting for me to respond at the level of theory, but that would be a …
Continue reading ‘“Why I want Gotabhaya as President and Mahinda as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka”’ »
By Hafeel Farisz Ali Shariati was the ideologue of the Iranian Revolution. It was Shariati’s liberation theology- a rationalization of Marxism through the lenses of Islam that propelled Ayathollah Ruholla Khomeni’s take-over of power in 1979 overthrowing the Pahlavi dynasty. Shariati’s politics was anti- imperial and Marxist with a firm base in Islamic liberation theology, …
By Aparna M.Sridhar (Eminent writer, and orator of Hinduism, Sanskrit and Indian dance and music, Ashtavadhani Dr PAPPU VENUGOPALA RAO, has been the Secretary of the Music Academy, Chennai, for the last decade.Steeped in both traditional learning as well as modern scholarship, he is an institution by himself. In this interview with Aparna M Sridhar, …
(Full Text of Response issued by Foreign Affairs minister Mangala Saaraweera to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Media Release of 13 March 2017) On 13 March 2017 the former President of our country, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, issued a media release titled “Constitutional and legal reforms to destroy the nation”. My initial inclination, when confronted with statements …
By S.S. Selvanayagam When the fundamental rights petition filed by former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa came up in the Supreme Court yesterday, the Additional Solicitor General said that the investigation against him was continuing and that if there was a cognisable offence against him, the integral part of such an offence was a mandatory requirement …
By Sarath Dharmasena and Shyam Ganewatte A team of lawyers appearing for the main respondent in the alleged bond scam, former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran was yesterday granted permission by the Presidential Court of Inquiry probing the issue, following a request made by the main Counsel appearing for Mahendran, President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva …
By M.Sooriasegaran The Constitution of Sri Lanka must fulfil the aspirations and needs of the Sinhalese, the Tamils, the Muslims, the Burghers and the Plantation Tamils in order to unify them.Unity in diversity should be the guiding principle. It needs to be inclusive, guaranteeing equal rights and opportunities to all Sri Lankans without any form …
by Shamindra Ferdinando Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has alleged that those who had been with the LTTE until the very end of the conflict in May 2009 were now pursuing war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka. Referring to a conversation with former US Ambassador in Colombo Patricia Butenis, war veteran Rajapaksa said that when …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Democracy must not be confused with liberalism. This government may be liberal but it is not exactly democratic. Liberalism is laudably concerned with individual freedoms. Democracy is primarily about the character of government as defined by the key variable of representation. Democracy is about being governed by chosen representatives of the people: …
by Maheesha Mudugamuwa Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera yesterday vowed to continue arresting Indian fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters illegally to plunder fish resources in the seas off the country’s north. The Minister made this statement during the launching of Wewak Samaga Gamak fisheries villages development programme at Kudawella in Hambantota, a …
(Ottawa): Today, Member of Parliament and Conservative Party of Canada Leadership Candidate Hon. Deepak Obhrai called on the government of Sri Lanka not to delay any longer its probe on alleged war crimes. Sri Lanka has demanded a two year extension to its probe mandated by the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30.1 of October …
By Ananth Palakidnar Famed Tamil film maker and politician Seemaan and 300 others have been arrested for demonstrating against the Sri Lanka Navy outside the Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai yesterday. They were demonstrating over last Monday’s shooting of Rameshwaram fisherman Britjo near Kachchatheevu. Seemaan, who heads a political party named ‘We Tamils’, led …
When the fundamental rights petition filed by former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was taken up by the Supreme Court today, the Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kotagoda said investigations were continuing. He said if there was evidence of a cognizable offence the mandatory requirement was to arrest the offender.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday appealed to SLFPers in the government and the UNP parliamentarians to see the danger that awaits the country through proposed constitutional changes envisaged by the yahapalana rulers, which would lead to the ‘hogtying’ of the central government and the creation of a dangerous federal set up. The text of ex-President’s …
By P.K.Balachandran A bill to ban the pernicious practice of bottom trawling, which will affect thousands of Sri Lankans and Indians fishing in the sea between Sri Lanka and India, is to be passed by the Sri Lankan parliament by March end, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, M.A.Sumanthiran, told Express on Monday. “My private …
By Don Manu A family row has broken out in public between Lanka’s top notch singing legend Victor Ratnayake and his son over the singer’s live in lover, 45 years younger to him. Using his Facebook account the son Lelum Ratnayake put the family feud in the public spotlight by stating last week ‘My father …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene The Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) issued in regard to Sri Lanka on March 3rd this year is illuminating in several respects. It was significant that the Observations were released just a few days before the world marked the International Day …
By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan Rtd. Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara will leave for Geneva tomorrow leading a three-man delegation to meet UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein to mount an offensive against the case, now argued before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), that Sri Lankan forces committed war crimes, especially during the closing …
By Romesh Madusanka and Thilanka Kanakarathna Navy Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne yesterday denied allegations by Indian fishermen that the Sri Lanka Navy had opened fire on Indian fishing vessels recently. After attending the Feast of St. Anthony’s Sacred Church located on Kachchativu Island, he responded to a question raised by a journalist as to …
BY DR. DAYAN JAYATILLLEKA The impact and landmark nature of the Viyath Maga annual convention is discernible in the coverage in the country’s top business paper which has a wide corporate readership, the Daily FT, owned, I might add, by the Wijewardene family, hardly backers of the JO or the Rajapaksas. (http://www.ft.lk/article/601558/Mahinda-pricks-Govt.-over-plight-of-public-servants http://www.ft.lk/article/602544/ViyathMaga–Professionals-for-a-better-future). As for …
Continue reading ‘Why I Was Critical of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Then But am Supportive of him Now’ »
By Namini Wijedasa A liquor manufacturing firm helmed by Arjun Aloysius, is fighting local authorities in the Batticaloa District, over plans to build a grain-based alcohol distillery in Kalkudah. Last year, the Excise Dept gave approval to W.M.Mendis & Co Ltd (of which Aloysius is Chairman) to set up the alcohol manufactory on instructions from …
by Amal Jayasinghe President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in Sri Lanka promising justice for war crimes, breaking from his hawkish predecessor and presenting the island with its first real shot at a lasting peace. But that optimism has been sorely tested as Sirisena, having missed a two-year deadline to investigate war-era abuses, declared he …
Sri Lanka has come under renewed international criticism over police failures to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of what it calls “emblematic cases,” including the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunga. The UN Human Rights Council received a report outlining systematic failure of Sri Lanka’s police to prosecute suspects in 11 high profile cases it considers emblematic of …
By Kumar Chellappan The death of Bristo, a 21-year-old fisherman from Thankachimadom, a fishing hamlet in southern Tamil Nadu, has once again brought to surface some stark realities. Fishermen who were engaged in fishing with Bristo at Palk Bay alleged he was shot at by Sri Lanka Navy, while they were inside the territorial waters …
By Chris Kamalendran Indian devotees planning to attend the festive mass at the Kachchativu island off Jaffna today were obstructed by Indian fishing societies which declined to provide boats for them to travel. This was in protest against a shooting incident which claimed the life of an Indian fisherman earlier in the week. The Kachchativu …
By KAMAYANI SHARMA On the morning of 27 January, while the filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali was shooting for his upcoming period drama Padmavati at the Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur, members of Shri Rajput Karni Sena—a caste organisation of Rajputs—barged into the fort. The horde ran amok, some smashing expensive film equipment, others breaking anything within …
By S. Theodore Baskaran Shakespeare entered the Tamil world through Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar, an illustrious playwright. It was Mudaliar’s translations of plays such as Hamlet ( Amaladityan in 1906) that introduced Shakespeare to Tamil readers and then to drama and film audiences. In his passion for the stage, Mudaliar had helped establish the Suguna Vilas …
By Meera Srinivasan The Sri Lankan government will implement a new programme for the development of the Northern Province, President Maithripala Sirisena announced last week. From the time the island’s civil war ended in May 2009, claiming over 1,00,000 lives, there has been considerable talk about developing the war-battered north, home for over 10 lakh …
(Text of a Press Release Issued by the Tamil National Alliance Media Office on March 11th 2017) The following decision was arrived at following a meeting of TNA Members of Parliament and Provincial Council Members held in Vavuniya today (11th March 2017): All Sri Lanka’s obligations in terms of UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 …
By Meera Srinivasan Few students in Vadamarachchi, part of Sri Lanka’s northern peninsula, had heard of Visual Basic until Sebastian Selvanayagi started offering a course in it at her modest computer centre. “Even basic programming languages haven’t come to our village in a big way,” she said, entering a small room in her home, in …
By Pradeep Samarakoon and Chaminda Silva Multi-billionaire businessman’s son who abducted a female student of an international school and mercilessly assaulted her after taking her to a hotel room in Talahena was arrested by the Narahenpita police. Investigations have revealed that the 22-year-old suspect has had a love affair with the 20-year-old victim and later …
by Saman Indrajith Parliament sittings came to an abrupt end around 11.50 am yesterday when the Leader of the House and government MPs walked out, protesting against what they called Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s failure to take action against Opposition MPs who disrupted proceedings. Sources said it was the first time in parliamentary history of Sri …
by Saman Indrajith Public Enterprise Development Minister Kabir Hashim told Parliament yesterday that the government decision to cancel three A-350 aircraft ordered for SriLankan Airlines had been taken by the Economic Management Committee after discussions with all stakeholders. In answer to a question by UPFA MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage, the minister said the government had been …
By Dharisha Bastians in Geneva On Wednesday, 1 March, inside Room XXI of the Palais des Nations, the Sri Lankan delegation was winding up a four-day mission in Geneva on a high note. The Government had organised a public discussion on Sri Lanka’s reconciliation efforts on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) …
BY Kavindya Chris Thomas The Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into the Issuance of Treasury Bonds (PCIIIITB) learned that Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake met the Primary Dealers at the Treasury Bond auction that took place on 27 February 2015, which is probably the first time such a meeting has taken place. The …
By S.S. Selvanayagam Five Police officers arrested in connection with the shooting of two Jaffna University students are seeking the Court of Appeal to transfer their case out of the Northern and Eastern provinces. They are also seeking the Court to issue an interim order restraining the continuation of their case in the Jaffna Magistrate’s …
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe accused the Joint Opposition of allegedly staging a protest with the LTTE during his recent visit to Deakin University. “Some Joint Opposition activist along with a handful of LTTE extremists protested at the gate using a portable public addressing horn,” he said in response to UPFA MP Padma Udayashantha Gunasekera.
By Steve Creech It has finally happened. It’s been threatening to happen for a while now. The news is deeply saddening and everyone’s thoughts must be with the family members of the 22-year-old Tamil Nadu fish-worker from Thangachimadam in central Rameswaram, who was shot and killed while fishing illegally in Sri Lankan waters early yesterday …
ආරක්ෂක හමුදා සන්තකව පවතින ඉඩම් මුල් අයිතිකරුවන් වෙත නිදහස් කිරීම படையினரின் வசமுள்ள காணிகளை அவற்றின் உரிமையாளர்களுக்கு விடுவித்தல் RELEASE OF LANDS OCCUPIED BY SECURITY FORCES TOORIGINAL OCCUPANTS ගරුරාජවරෝදියම්සම්පන්දන්මහතා (විරුද්ධපාර්ශ්වයේනායකතුමා) (மாண்புமிகுராஜவரோதயம்சம்பந்தன் – எதிர்க்கட்சிமுதல்வர்) (The Hon. RajavarothiamSampanthan – Leader of the Opposition) Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees, I move the following Adjournment Motion before I make submissions on it: …
By W.A. Sunil Sri Lankan foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera plans to present a resolution to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) requesting two years to prepare a “mechanism” to investigate war crimes and human rights violations during the military offensives against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Samaraweera called on the US, the …
By Dr Nalin Abeysekera Open University of Sri Lanka A variety of topics and headlines surface on the economic and social set up of Sri Lanka from time to time. Learned people and others from different walks of life express their views based on the way such topics are highlighted in the Media. Whatever its …
Continue reading ‘Re-visiting and Re-analysing the “Real” Problems Raised by the SAITM Issue’ »
By P.K Balachandran As a first step towards defusing the fishermen’s agitation in Tamil Nadu, the Sri Lankan and Indian governments on Thursday agreed to simultaneously release all fishermen in each other’s custody. While Sri Lanka will release 85 Indian fishermen, India will release 19 Sri Lankan fishermen. However, a court in Chennai on Thursday …
By Shamindra Ferdinando The Joint Opposition (JO) has sought an urgent explanation from the government in respect of Geneva Resolution 30/1 in the wake of both President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe ruling out foreign judges’ participation in the proposed judicial process. The 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 30/1 on Oct …
By Nisthar Cassim Both a political activist and a corporate and media personality, Krishantha Prasad Cooray is not known to mince words and is quite forthright. Wearing multiple hats as Chairman of Hotel Developers (Lanka) Plc, which owns Hilton Colombo and Independent Non-Executive Director at DFCC Bank as well as a Working Committee member of …
by Zacki Jabbar Pointing out that UN resolutions were not binding on a sovereign nation, the government said yesterday that neither the UN Human Rights Council nor the international community had demanded that Sri Lanka adopt a federal solution to resolve its ethnic issue. Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva, addressing a news conference at …
By Saman Indrajith MEP and Joint Opposition Parliament group Leader Dinesh Gunawardena who fought for the National Freedom Front’s right to function in the House as a separate party has been suspended for one week from parliament on grounds that his conduct was against dignity and decorum of Parliament yesterday. The decision to suspend MP …
By Niran Anketell As Sri Lanka gets placed, once again, on the Human Rights Council agenda this month, it is difficult to ignore the significant shifts — internal and external — that have taken place since Sri Lanka was last on the Council’s agenda in September 2015. Then, flush with victory and the confidence to …
By Ranga Jayasuriya In game theory, there is this hypothetical strategy game that is used to explain why two rational individuals may not cooperate even when it is in their mutual interest to cooperate. It goes like this: Police arrest two criminals, but cannot find evidence to indict either of them on the principal charge, …
By Rathindra Kuruwita The time has come once again for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), comprising such defenders of human rights as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to scrutinize, among other things, how reconciliation is going in Sri Lanka. Since the end of the hostilities in May 2009, we have been under pressure from …
By DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA [Summary of speech on “Sri Lanka’s International Relations in a Changing World” delivered at the 2nd annual convention of Voice of Professionals–Viyath Maga– at Golden Rose, Boralesgamuwa, March 4th 2017] As the Daily FT reported (Monday, March 6th 2017), the annual convention of the Voice of Professionals, better known by its …
By the Political Editor of “Sunday Times” The “Sunday Times” today reveals how Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga is trying to obtain Government approval for a mixed development project including the construction of apartments. According to documents available, this was through Wills Realtors (Private) Limited, a company which he formed with Prasad Wasantha Sirimanne …
FROM its gleaming new headquarters, Jaffna’s police force serves around 100,000 people. The vast majority of the local population are Tamils or Tamil-speaking Muslims; fewer than 50 locals are members of Sri Lanka’s biggest ethnic group, the Sinhalese. But the vast majority of the city’s 532 police officers are Sinhalese; only 43 are Tamil, and …
(Text of Editorial appearing in “the Hindu” of March 6th 2017 under the heading ” Elusive Reconciliationn”) A United Nations report released last week on the progress of reconciliation efforts by the Sri Lankan government should be a wake-up call for President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Raising serious concerns about the delay …
By Meera Srinivasan A fortnight ago, Asela Gunaratne slammed a pacy 84 against Australia, steering Sri Lanka to a remarkable victory in the T20 series. His innings made headlines here, but the series win was not the only cricket news. Around the same time, senior Buddhist monks called for a ban on the country’s “big …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says that the country is suffering for want of what he calls workable formula to achieve post-war development objectives. Comparing the period in the aftermath of successful conclusion of the war in May 2009 with that under the current yahapalana administration, Rajapaksa stressed the pivotal importance of …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Akin to the fabled (and damned) Scarlet Pimpernel of Baroness Orczy fame, one is constrained to search high and low for Sri Lanka’s elusive Witness Protection Authority. In fact, advocates in this country may be forgiven for indulging in the ditty ‘we seek (it) here, we seek (it) there, is (it) …
A group of former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members in Sri Lanka has announced formation of a new party, saying people are getting frustrated by mainstream political parties as they have “failed” to address issues faced by the minority Tamils. ‘Rehabilitated United Liberation Tigers Front’ was formed in the eastern port district of …
BY Kavindya Chris Thomas One of the most extraordinary financial frauds to have ever taken place during the Yahapalana Government’s tenure in its very first year in power is still being argued and debated in the public forum. It is the 2015 Treasury Bond scam. And just when things seem as if they are about …
By Barkha Dutt For six days, the world’s most garrulous (and seemingly most underworked) head of state, famous for his bilious 3 a.m. tweeting IN ALL CAPS, found neither one word of empathy nor 140 characters of condemnation for last week’s fatal shooting of an Indian engineer in Kansas. The early silence of President Trump …
A 39-year-old Indian in the U.S. was injured on Friday when an unidentified person shot him outside his home. The suspect allegedly shouted “go back to your own country” at the Indian. The victim, who observes the Sikh faith, was working on his vehicle outside his home in the city of Kent on Friday when …
A 43-year-old Indian-origin store owner in the US has been shot dead outside his home, just days after an Indian engineer was killed in Kansas in a hate crime shooting that had sent shockwaves across the country. Harnish Patel (43), the owner of a convenience store in Lancaster County, South Carolina, was found dead of …
By C.A.Chandraprema Not holding the local government elections has become a major part of the survival strategy of this government. While the local government elections have been put off due to complications in the delimitation of wards, elections for the Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces will be due at the end of the third …
By Namini Wijedasa The Highways Ministry has sought Cabinet approval to hire consultants for Ruwanpura expressway’s Section 1 which is expected to be awarded on a single proposal — without competitive bidding — to a Chinese firm. The company identified for the 26.3 km stretch from Kahathuduwa to Ingiriya is China National Technical Import and …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka believes that the UN Human Rights Council’s resolution on it, to be passed at the end of this month, will not force it to accept adjudication by foreigners in war crimes cases. It is true that in its latest report to the UNHRC, the Office of the High Commissioner of Human …
By Aparna M. Sridhar (Intelligent, articulate and self-aware SUDHA RAGUNATHAN chats with Aparna M Sridhar about three decades of life in Karnatic Music, gently tossing back at critics the casual, unfair barbs about everything from her sartorial style to the “early” bestowing of top awards) Sudha Ragunathan’s is a story about sustained success, and as …
By Manekshaw The Leader of the Opposition and TNA Leader R. Sampanthan reiterating his commitment towards strengthening the reconciliation process has said that Sri Lanka should be given time with conditions to fulfil its commitments vis a vis the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution of 2015 which was cosponsored by the island nation. …
(Text of Press Release Issued by the Tamil National Alliance Media Office on March 3rd 2017) The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) welcomes the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the implementation of the 2015 Human Rights Council resolution, and its recommendations. While the report acknowledges some areas of progress, such as …
By PK Balachandran The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has said that the momentum towards lasting peace and ethnic reconciliation in Sri Lanka could be derailed by the “slow pace of transitional justice and the lack of a comprehensive strategy to address accountability for past crimes.” It has also insisted on the establishment of a …
By Sandun A Jayasekera President Maithripala Sirisena told the SLFP executive committee meeting that he had shown his ‘backbone’ to the International community by rejecting UNHRC Chief Zeid bin Ra-ad Al Hussein’s recommendation for a hybrid court to probe war crimes allegations in Sri Lanka. “Two weeks ago the UN Human Rights High Commissioner in …
by Maheesha Mudugamuwa A hybrid war crimes tribunal, recommended by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in September 2015, was not feasible in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe said yesterday. The PM was speaking at the inauguration of the National Law Week 2017- Colombo Segment at the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) …
By Dharisha Bastians in Geneva Sri Lanka has obtained a two year extension to tackle post-war reconciliation and allegations of war crimes, according to a first draft of the UN resolution that is likely be adopted at the Human Rights Council at its 34th Session currently underway in Geneva. According to the “zero draft” of …
by Shyam Nuwan Ganewatte Additional Director of the Statistics Department of the Central Bank (CB) Dr. M. Z. M. Azim told the Special Presidential Commission probing the controversial bond issue, yesterday, that former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran had instructed the Superintendent of Public Debts to accept Rs. 10 billion worth bids on Treasury bonds …
By DharishaBastians in Geneva Sri Lanka has shown little commitment to setting up a special judicial mechanism to prosecute alleged war crimes, the United Nations said in a new report released in Geneva yesterday that criticises the Government for its “slow pace of progress” on post-war reconciliation and justice. In a hard-hitting report to the …
By Dharisha Bastians in Geneva The Government will not enact new laws to incorporate foreign judges and lawyers into a local judicial mechanism to address allegations of war crimes, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told a UN Human Rights Council side event in Geneva on Wednesday (1). “But with or without foreign judges, the mechanism the …
By Shayam Nuwan Ganewatte and Sarath Dharmasena Top Central Bank official Dr. M. Z. M. Aazim yesterday told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that Governor Arjuna Mahendran had entered the Public Debt Department on the tenth floor of the CBSL building at 10.45 am on Feb 27, 2015 while an auction of treasury bonds was …
By Dharisha Bastians President Maithripala Sirisena had issued directives that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Sri Lanka’s draconian anti-terror law was no longer to be used to charge suspects, Mano Tittawella, who heads the Government office coordinating reconciliation mechanisms said in Geneva on Wednesday. “The old PTA is not operational anymore,” Secretary General of …
By Dharisha Bastians in Geneva Moments after a speech on Tuesday (28) in which he blamed extremists on both sides of the ethnic divide for stalling Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera was briefly accosted by a member of a pro-LTTE group at the Palais des Nations, the building that houses the United …
James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con) I beg to move, That this House has considered human rights in Sri Lanka and the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gapes, not only because it will be wonderfully fair and impartial but because I know …
By Meera Srinivasan “When I lie down here at night, I imagine being under the roof of my home,” says Singarathinam Sellamma, 83, seated among a small group of people outside the divisional secretariat in Puthukkudiyiruppu here. For about 25 days now, representatives of 49 families have been taking turns and fasting at the entrance …
By Lahiru Pothmulla Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake will be better off with another portfolio like that of Cultural Affairs or Buddha Sasana Affairs, the joint opposition said yesterday. It said the minister should resign as he had made baseless allegations that former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was responsible for the controversial bond sale issue. “If he …
By Dharisha Bastians Sri Lanka will co-sponsor a resolution led by the US and the core group at the 34th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Government confirmed in Geneva yesterday. Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms Mano Tittawela told Daily FT in Geneva that the Government would submit a …
By Dharisha Bastians in Geneva The permanent Office of Missing Persons should be ready to go in two or three months, the Sri Lankan Government announced in Geneva yesterday, urging victims and activists to be patient as frustration mounts about the pace of its progress on reconciliation and justice. The Government had already allocated Rs. …
By Dharisha Bastians Sri Lanka was an example of a country in which the UN Human Rights Council had catalysed progress for reform and provided assistance to improve accountability for past violations, the US Government said in Geneva yesterday. Addressing the High Level segment of the UNHRC 34th Session at the Palais des Nations, US …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka A funny thing happened in-between the reconvening of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly (Feb 21) and the adjournment motion on the Constitution held the next day in Parliament. TNA MP MA Sumanthiran and target of an assassination attempt by the LTTE, struck a discordant note in his speech at a …
By Dharisha Bastians in Geneva In the face of mounting criticism about the pace of reform and setbacks in the transitional justice process, Sri Lanka told the United Nations yesterday about dilemmas the Government was confronting as it attempted to lead a war-torn and divided country on a journey of reckoning with a violent past. …
By Dharisha Bastians Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera met with British Parliamentary undersecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs, Alok Sharma on the sidelines of the 34th Session of the UNHRC in Geneva yesterday.
By Norman Palihawadana and Sarath de Silva Seven persons including five prisoners and two jailers were killed when a group of gunmen dressed in police style uniforms launched an audacious daytime attack on a prison bus at Ethanamadala in Kalutara around 8.30 am yesterday. Among the dead was notorious underworld kingpin Aruna Udayashantha alias Kaduwela …
By Chamikara Weerasinghe Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake yesterday challenged former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to go to Courts if he can over the controversial Gazette notification dated Jan 1, 2015 on the issuance of Treasury Bonds by the Central Bank. “This is exactly what we want for the truth to come out,” Karunanayake said. He was …
By Rathindra Kuruwita Issuing a report on transitional justice a few days before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva, Centre for Human Rights and Research (CHR) stated that neither the government nor NGOs have recognized the suffering of Sinhalese and Muslims who were affected by the conflict. The report added that …
By Marwaan Macan-Markar COLOMBO – Since November 2012, the students of St. Joseph’s College, an all-male secondary school in Colombo, have watched a landmark tower rising over their backyard. The construction work rattled some of the classrooms closest to the Lotus Tower, as the 350 meter freestanding structure is called, and put paid to the …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s New Right to Information Law Puts Corrupt Officials In Crosshairs’ »
By ABBAS RANA– Two candidates seeking the federal Liberal nomination in the vacant Markham-Thornhill, Ont., riding are crying foul over the party’s handling of the nomination process, saying the party is “doing everything they can” to get Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s director of appointments, Mary Ng, elected as the candidate in next weekend’s nomination meeting. …
By Uditha Jayasinghe Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy yesterday joined forces to assure investors that bonds issued by the Government remained “sacrosanct” and would be honoured even as they admitted the procedures of gazetting them remained problematic. Convening a press conference at the Finance Ministry, Karunanayake soothed market concerns …
The Government Printer Gangani Kalpana Liyanage revealed yesterday that the 1 January 2015 Extraordinary Gazette No. 1895/19 relating to the issuance of Treasury Bonds by the Central Bank was actually submitted for printing on 22 December 2016. She told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the issuance of Central Bank Treasury bonds that the relevant …
By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta and Sarath Dharmasena Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr RHS Samaratunga yesterday informed the Commission of Inquiry investigating the controversial bond sale that former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran had opted to sell Treasury bonds through public auction without approval from the Monetary Board. In answer to a question by …
By Shyam nuwan Ganewatta and Sarath Dharmasena Acting Government Printer Gangani Kalpana Liyanage yesterday informed the Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating the controversial bond sale that the name of former Finance Minister and President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s name had been included in the gazette No 1895/19 relevant for the controversial sale on instructions from the Central …
Dharisha Bastians reporting from Geneva Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera will address the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva today, delivering a speech that will outline Sri Lanka’s reconciliation and justice efforts since 2015 and appeal for more time to deliver on its transitional justice pledges as the country reckons with its violent past. Sri …
BY DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA Hon. Sampanthan’s 90 minute (written) speech during the recent adjournment debate (Feb 22) on the Constitution was ‘historicist’, in the sense that he invoked a great deal of political history. But his argument was a-historical and illogical. The Tamil nationalists, including Mr. Sampanthan himself spurned the many offers made by successive …
A major battle has erupted between Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa over a 2015 January gazette by the Central Bank listing past and future Treasury bond issues with an aggregate value of a staggering Rs. 1.8 trillion. Karunanayake yesterday charged that the Central Bank under the Rajapaksa regime had violated regulations …
By Rory Carroll Moonlight has won the best picture Oscar in a chaotic awards ceremony climax which mistakenly awarded the top honour to La La Land, a fiasco which stunned Hollywood and viewers around the world. Faye Dunaway named La La Land as the year’s best picture at the end of Sunday night’s ABC broadcast …
Damien Chazelle’s La La Land landed the Oscar for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards, except it didn’t, as the award presenters read out the wrong winner.Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight was in fact given the accolade, in an unbelievably surreal piece of television and undoubtedly the most dramatic moment in Oscars history. Presenters Faye Dunaway …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene When leaving his position as Chairman of the National Police Commission (NPC) to assume an academic appointment overseas last month, Professor Siri Hettige’s reported observation that Sri Lanka’s Independent Police Commission is unable to control the police force and that the Commission has had to seek appropriate powers, attracts a peculiar …
The Finance Ministry is set to investigate the controversial Extraordinary Gazette notification on the issuance of bonds by the Central Bank, dated January 01, 2015. Referring to Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. 1895/19 dated January 1, 2015 issued by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Minister of Finance and Planning at the time, the Ministry of …
Ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday condemned what he called a diabolical attempt by the government to frame him for the bond scams, and vowed to take legal action against those responsible for it. The former President has said in a statement: “It is with regret that I inform the public of a diabolical attempt by the …