Category: Politics

June 03, 2011 (LBO) – The International Bar Association’s human rights arm said it was concerned over what it called “the increasing erosion of judicial independence in Sri Lanka.” The association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) said recent and planned changes to the island’s constitution could undermine the independence of the judiciary. The International Bar Association’s […]

June 3, 2011 (AFP) – Hundreds of Buddhist monks took to the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital Friday to express solidarity with factory workers protesting a controversial pensions bill. The legislation sparked clashes with police on Monday in which a factory worker was fatally shot and more than 150 were wounded. Saffron-robed clergy marched to […]

May 27, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday vowed to defend his military from war crimes allegations as the island marked the second year of its victory over Tamil Tiger rebels. “We will not betray you to the world,” Rajapakse told troops during a colourful military parade at Colombo’s seafront Galle […]

May 17, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka freed 858 convicts on Tuesday to mark the most important day in the Buddhist calendar, a prison official said. President Mahinda Rajapakse granted freedom to 13 women and 845 men held at 29 prisons across the country to commemorate Vesak, which marks Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death, commissioner […]

May 17, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities on Tuesday detained a Canada-bound container with a cargo of propaganda material for the island’s Tamil Tiger rebels, a police official said. Police were asked to investigate the consignment of promotional material for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on its way to Canada from the […]

NEW DELHI, May 17, 2011 (AFP) – India broke with past practice on Tuesday and called on Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of human rights abuses during the island’s civil war, upping pressure on President Mahinda Rajapakse. India has not joined recent demands from the United Nations and Western countries for a probe into alleged […]

SYDNEY, May 8, 2011 (AFP) – Australia on Sunday defended plans to send hundreds of asylum seekers to Malaysia, saying it was an important signal to people smugglers, but refugee advocates slammed the proposal as cruel. Australia wants to transfer 800 boat people to Malaysia for processing as part of a yet-to-be-finalised one-off deal which […]

May 1, 2011 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government used May Day rallies on Sunday to reject a United Nations report that alleged the military may have been guilty of atrocities during the island’s civil war. Roads were decorated in the party colours of blue, red and maroon, while billboards were erected showing the president […]

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2011 (AFP) – A US envoy heads to Sri Lanka next week to encourage a full accounting over its civil war after the government angrily rejected UN-backed allegations of atrocities, officials said Friday. Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state handling South Asia, will leave Saturday on a six-day trip to Sri […]

UNITED NATIONS, April 27, 2011 (AFP) – The United Nations feared for its staff in Sri Lanka as government troops crushed a Tamil separatist uprising in 2009, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday defending the actions of UN agencies. As pressure grew for an international investigation into the killing of “tens of thousands” in the […]

April 27, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka rejected Wednesday what it called a “divisive” and flawed report commissioned by UN chief Ban Ki-moon which holds the government responsible for thousands of civilian deaths in its civil war. “The public release of the report at this stage is divisive, and disrupts our efforts to reinforce peace, […]

SYDNEY, April 26, 2011 (AFP) – Australia moved to toughen its refugee stance Tuesday, launching a stricter character test so those convicted of crimes, including rioting, while in immigration detention could be shipped home. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the new law, if passed by parliament, would mean any asylum seeker found guilty of an […]