Category: Politics

April 18, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political party on Monday hailed a leaked UN report which called for an international war crimes probe into the island’s political and military leadership. The moderate Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said the report, commissioned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, amounted to “irrefutable confirmation” of atrocities […]

April 17, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has called for mass protests against a UN report which urged a probe into alleged war crimes committed during the fight against Tamil Tiger rebels, his office said Sunday. President Mahinda Rajapakse in an address to his Sri Lanka Freedom Party officials said this year’s May Day […]

April 16, 2011 (AFP) – A UN panel has called for an independent inquiry into “credible” allegations that Sri Lanka committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in its final 2009 offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels. The panel of experts, appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, submitted its report last week, and leaked excerpts […]

April 13, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday rejected as “flawed” and “biased” a UN-commissioned report into alleged war crimes committed during the final 2009 offensive by government troops against Tamil Tiger rebels. The External Affairs Ministry said it had received a copy of the report by a three-member expert panel who handed their […]

UNITED NATIONS, April 12, 2011 (AFP) – A panel of UN experts on Tuesday handed over a report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka against Tamil separatists to UN leader Ban Ki-moon, his spokesman said. But the United Nations would not say whether the panel was allowed to go to Sri Lanka, which publicly […]

UNITED NATIONS, April 13, 2011 (AFP) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is studying an expert report into thousands of deaths during Sri Lanka’s 2009 military drive against Tamil rebels, as calls grow for an international probe. Ban has given himself just days to decide on recommendations made by a panel of experts which handed […]

April 7, 2011 (AFP) – The editor of a pro-opposition Sri Lankan news website was released on bail Thursday, a week after his arrest sparked protests from international media rights groups. Bennet Rupasinghe had been taken into police custody on charges of allegedly threatening a suspect wanted for a January arson attack on the offices […]

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2011 (AFP) – The United States said Tuesday that future cooperation with Sri Lanka depended on improvements in its human rights record and an accounting of the bloodshed at the end of the island’s civil war. With its strategic location and contributions to global peacekeeping, Sri Lanka “is poised to be a […]

April 1, 2011 (AFP) – International media rights groups Friday asked Sri Lanka’s government to release the editor of a pro-opposition news website, a day after he was remanded in police custody for a week. A total of 17 journalists and media employees have been killed in Sri Lanka in the past decade. Police arrested […]

NUSA DUA, March 30, 2011 (AFP) – Asian countries pledged Wednesday to take a collective approach to people smuggling and asylum seekers including a possible regional processing centre, after talks in Indonesia. Ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region signed a non-binding framework agreement to tackle smuggling networks and humanely process the large numbers of irregular […]