Category: Politics

Sept 09, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will start diplomatic relations with El Salvadore, a small state in Central America, deputy economic development minsiter Lakshman Abeywardene, said. He said Sri Lanka’s envoy to Brazil will also be accredited to El Salvador. Abeywardene said over the past five years trade between the two countries has started […]

September 8, 2011 (AFP) – The Human Rights Watch lobby group on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka to scrap draconian detention laws and free thousands of people held under the regulations. The New York-based body said Sri Lanka’s ending of a decades-long state of emergency last week would have little effect as separate anti-terror laws still […]

September 7, 2011 (AFP) – Amnesty International on Wednesday said Sri Lanka’s inquiry into its military victory over Tamil rebels was “flawed at every level” and no substitute for an international war crimes investigation. The human rights watchdog issued a 69-page report slamming the work of the government’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) ahead […]

Sep 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party mayoral candidate for the capital intends to organize job fairs for unemployed youth and promised decent housing for squatters uprooted from prime land being cleared for commercial development. Milinda Moragoda said he œwill bring in a professional and capable administration, which will help ensure that Colombo […]

Sep 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s large trade have criticized a report by a UN panel alleging human rights abuses in a civil war that ended in 2009, and warned against international economic sanctions. The panel called for probes in to allegations of war crimes by both sides of the conflict in the latter […]

CHENNAI, August 27, 2011 (AFP) – Three men convicted of the 1991 assassination of then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi will be hanged early next month, a senior jail official has said. The announcement late Friday that the executions would be carried out on September 9 came after India’s president rejected mercy pleas from the […]

August 25, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president announced on Thursday that he was scrapping draconian emergency laws imposed nearly 30 years ago to deal with the armed Tamil separatist movement. The move, which was welcomed by the United States, comes as Sri Lanka faces growing pressure — led by Washington — over its human […]

August 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition, which is bedeviled by a string of electoral defeats and an internal battle to oust its leader, says its door-to-door campaign is haunted by a phobia among voters about ‘grease devils’. ‘Grease devil’ is a colloquial term used to describe peeping toms and other mischief makers […]

August 26, 2011 (AFP) – The United States is dispatching a top envoy to Colombo for talks next week ahead of a crucial UN meeting to discuss alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, diplomats said on Friday. US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake will be visiting Sri Lanka for a second time in four […]

August 23, 2011 (AFP) – Police carried out mass arrests in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday after residents clashed with troops alleged to have protected so-called “grease devil” sex offenders, officials said. At least 102 men were taken into custody in the Jaffna region when residents smashed two military vehicles, in a protest against the […]

CHICAGO, August 16, 2011 (AFP) – Sweeping new policing powers, the tacit acceptance of torture and a backlash against Muslims that has grown fiercer 10 years after the September 11 attacks have made the United States a less free and open society. The erosion of fundamental American values along with massive — and what some […]

GENEVA, August 4, 2011 (AFP) – Two rights groups said Thursday they have brought to Swiss authorities a criminal complaint against a Sri Lankan diplomat and former general, Jagath Dias, over alleged war crimes. The Swiss attorney-general’s office confirmed that it has received the complaint filed by the Society for Threatened Peoples and TRIAL (Track […]