Blog Archives

British PM demands answers in defence minister row

Britain's Prime Minister Cameron delivers his keynote speech on the final day of the Conservative Party annual conference in Manchester

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday demanded an urgent report into claims his defence minister involved a friend in government business concerning Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Libya.
Liam Fox denied that national security was compromised by his ties to Adam Werritty, who was best man at his wedding but has no official government […]

By | Published on October 9, 2011 at 10:46 pm

CHAINS ARE NOT FOR ELEPHANTS

By | Published on October 9, 2011 at 3:52 am

Human Rights Groups want George Bush prosecuted for Torture

The New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ) lodged a detailed and lengthy indictment setting forth the case against former U.S. president George W. Bush with the Attorney General of Canada, urging him to
open a criminal investigation against Bush for his role in authorizing and overseeing his […]

By | Published on October 3, 2011 at 11:46 am

Ban stresses need for accountability process over end to civil war

UN News Centre, 24 September 2011– Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need for a “credible national accountability
process” over actions in the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka during a meeting with Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country’s President.
Mr. Ban reiterated the need for such a process as envisaged in the joint statement he […]

By | Published on September 24, 2011 at 7:04 pm

UK concerned about credibility of LLRC, warns Sri Lanka it will revisit all options if no progress by year’s end

The eight report (13 July 2011) of the Foreign Affairs Committee on the Human Rights work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the FCO’s
response was presented to British Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by Command of Her Majesty in September 2011. The report addresses issues relating to Sri Lanka from […]

By | Published on September 16, 2011 at 9:35 pm

Sri Lanka’s government under pressure - Turning the screw

Robert Blake shakes hands with President Rajapakse on September 12, 20011 in Colombo. Photo taken from http://news.yahoo.com/photos/photo-of-the-day-slideshow-1309242001-slideshow/robert-blake-met-sri-lankan-president-mahinda-rajapakse-photo-073419728.html

Sep 15th 2011, 15:00 by The Economist online | THE United States is not in the business of threatening its friends, said Robert O.
Blake, US assistant secretary of state, in Colombo on September 14th. But, he added, smiling placidly, there will be pressure. If a domestic commission appointed by Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s president, does not […]

By | Published on September 16, 2011 at 8:39 pm

Sri Lanka govt restricts religious freedoms in practice says US report

Picture shows scenes after a church was attacked on July 6, 2008 by a large mob led by Buddhist monks

The US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour released its report on Sri Lanka on September 13, 2011.
The International Press Freedom Report covers the period from July-December 2010 and states that while Sri Lanka publicly endorses religious freedom it is not applied in practice. Below is the full statement.
The Constitution
The constitution and […]

By | Published on September 16, 2011 at 7:10 am

ICG slams Sri Lanka government, calls on HRC to endorse int’l inquiry into war crimes: Lifting emergency laws hoax

(1) Post-war progress? Assessing government claims
More than two years after the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, the political situation in the country remains deeply worrying. The unique opportunity the government has to build a lasting and just peace after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is being lost. The government […]

By | Published on September 14, 2011 at 11:23 pm

US showed President Rajapakse images of shelling civilians

The Foreign Minister insisted that satellite images did not provide information needed to determine the source of fire,' says the US embassy cable

US diplomats in Sri Lanka have shown satellite images of damage by shelling in “safe zone” even after the government announced ending heavy artillery and aerial bombing, according to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Charge d’Affaires of the US embassy James R. Moore, has said that he showed the images to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and

Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona […]

By | Published on September 6, 2011 at 9:04 am

JAFFNA: BRUTAL ASSAULT OF CIVILIANS IN NAVANTHURAI

25 Aug, 2011 WATCHDOG:Around 100 young men from Navanthurai, a village in the Jaffna District, were detained in an operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army around 1.15am on 23rd August 2011. The villagers were severely beaten by the army and dragged to the main road near the Navanthurai Army Detachment located around 300 meters […]

By | Published on August 29, 2011 at 3:10 pm