Category: Politics
Wife of jailed Sri Lankan reporter accepts Peter Mackler Award
WASHINGTON, October 2, 2009 (AFP) – J.S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil reporter and editor serving a 20-year prison sentence in Sri Lanka, was awarded the first Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism on Friday.The Peter Mackler Award rewards journalists who fight courageously and ethically to report the news in countries where freedom of the […]
‘s rape remark
October 3, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka lodged a protest over US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks that rape had been used as a war tactic on the island, officials said Saturday.Colombo’s displeasure over a statement by Clinton to the United Nations Security Council was conveyed to US diplomats in the Sri Lankan capital, […]
Sri Lanka bomb kills student, wounds 11: officials
October 2, 2009 (AFP) – An explosion ripped through a school bus in northwestern Sri Lanka on Friday, killing one girl and wounding 11 other students and their driver, police said. The incident took place in Kurunegala district, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the capital Colombo, a police spokesman said, adding an investigation was […]
Sri Lanka discharges nearly 25,000 deserters: officials
October 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military has formally discharged nearly 25,000 security personnel who deserted the army at the height of fighting with Tamil rebels, officials said Friday.Military officials said some 20,000 troops in the army and about 5,000 from the navy and air force had been taken off the books of their […]
UN ratchets up criticism of Sri Lankan camps
September 29, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations on Tuesday issued its strongest criticism yet of Sri Lanka over its continued internment of 250,000 people who fled fighting in the final stages of the island’s separatist war.Walter Kaelin, a representative of the United Nations secretary-general, said civilians held in tightly-guarded camps should be granted freedom […]
Sri Lanka says to resettle displaced Tamils quickly
UNITED NATIONS, September 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s prime minister vowed anew here Saturday that Colombo would quickly resettle civilians still in state-run camps after being displaced by the government rout of Tamil separatists.He complained that Sri Lankan authorities were not making sufficient progress in implementing a deal reached in May by Colombo and […]
Sri Lanka under pressure from rights groups over war refugees
September 23, 2009 (AFP) – Human rights groups urged world leaders Wednesday to pressure Sri Lanka over the immediate resettlement of quarter of a million war-displaced civilians held in state-run camps.New York-based Human Rights Watch said the upcoming UN general assembly as well as the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh should address the plight of […]
Sri Lanka gets UN refugee envoy visit: official
September 21, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations is sending a top official to Sri Lanka this week to press for the speedy resettlement of 300,000 war-displaced, officials said Monday, the second UN visit in as many weeks.Walter Kalin, the UN Secretary-General’s envoy for refugee rights, will arrive late Wednesday for a five-day visit that […]
Sri Lanka raises 23 mln dollars to rehabilitate ex-combatants
September 20, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is seeking foreign money for an ambitious plan to rehabilitate tens of thousands of former Tamil Tiger rebels and has already collected 23 million dollars, officials said Sunday. The Tamil Tigers, who fought for a separate homeland from 1972, were defeated by Sri Lankan troops in mid-May when […]
UN calls for Sri Lanka probe into rights abuse charges
September 19, 2009 (AFP) – A top UN official issued a strong call for “truth-seeking” into alleged excesses by security forces during the crushing of Tamil rebels as he ended a visit to Sri Lanka, a UN statement said Saturday. The UN has said that up to 7,000 civilians may have perished in the first […]
Sri Lanka pressed by UN to free war-displaced
September 18, 2009 (AFP) – A top UN official was due to wrap up a three-day visit to Sri Lanka on Friday after pressing the authorities to free tens of thousands of war-displaced civilians held in internment camps. UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe is scheduled to meet with President Mahinda Rajapakse […]
Sri Lanka sets January deadline to settle war-displaced
September 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse promised the United Nations on Friday that he will resettle all war-displaced civilians by January, his office said. Rajapakse made the pledge during talks with the UN undersecretary-general for political affairs Lynn Pascoe, who is here to follow up on Colombo’s previous pledge to return […]