Category: Politics

COLOMBO, August 28, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has criticised the UN Human Rights Council as its top official toured the battle-scarred nation to probe alleged war crimes, according to state media Wednesday.President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is on a trip to Belarus, has told his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that both nations are being targeted […]

Aug 27, 2013 (LBO)- Sri Lanka has signed a series of bilateral deals involving trade, taxation, tourism and defence co-operation following a visit by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Belarus.Agreements on trade and economic co-operation, avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion, tourism and technical co-operation on military affairs had been signed, the media […]

COLOMBO, August 27, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s cultural affairs ministry has taken strong exception to a mass “wedding” of police dogs, which used symbols of traditional Buddhist nuptials on the Indian Ocean island. Culture Minister T.B. Ekanayake demanded an explanation for Monday’s ceremony in central Sri Lanka, which was intended to promote a programme […]

COLOMBO, August 27, 2013 (AFP) – Families of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s ethnic war demonstrated in the former rebel stronghold of Jaffna Tuesday as UN rights chief Navi Pillay visited the area on a fact-finding mission.Demonstrators led by women held photographs of their missing relatives outside the Jaffna library and urged Pillay, the […]

COLOMBO, August 25, 2013 (AFP) – The UN’s top rights official began her visit to Sri Lanka Sunday by brushing aside criticism that she overstepped her brief and vowing to raise human rights concerns with Colombo.Navi Pillay, who has previously called for a war crimes investigation against Sri Lanka, said she was only holding it […]

COLOMBO, August 26, 2013 (AFP) – Buddhist monks led protests in the Sri Lankan capital Monday against the UN’s top rights official, who began a fact-finding mission to the country following concerns about war crimes.Dozens of monks and pro-government activists staged the noisy demonstration outside UN offices, accusing the international community of drumming up false […]

August 25, 2013 (AFP) – The UN’s top rights official begins a fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka on Sunday after the government dropped public hostility towards her and promised access to former war zones.Navi Pillay, who has previously been accused by Colombo of overstepping her mandate, is on a week-long mission that will include talks […]

MUMBAI, August 24, 2013 (AFP) – A Bollywood spy thriller set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war has been pulled from British and some Indian theatres after protests over its depiction of rebel fighters, the movie’s distributors said Saturday. The bloody conflict in Sri Lanka, which cost up to 100,000 lives, erupted […]

Aug 22, 2013 (LBO) – Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-Won will visit Sri Lanka from August 28, the country’s embassy in Colombo said.It will be the first official visit by a prime minister of Korea after the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1977. He will hold talks with Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa, participate […]

COLOMBO, August 18, 2013 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan media rights group on Sunday accused the military of intimidating journalists who reported a deadly army crackdown on villagers protesting at contaminated water supplies.Residents of Weliweriya, the village 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Colombo, have also told Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Council of their fear […]

Aug 13, 2013 (LBO) – The European Union Delegation in Sri Lanka has expressed concern over the killing of unarmed protestors by the military and series of attacks on mosques and churches by religious nationalists. “The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of worship are fundamental to democratic societies and […]

COLOMBO, August 12, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Muslim leaders closed down a new mosque in Colombo on Monday after attacks by a Buddhist mob revived simmering religious tensions and sparked US concern.The Sri Lanka Muslim Council said it had agreed to shut its Grandpass mosque and move to an older place of worship which […]