Category: Politics

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 […]

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2011 (AFP) – “Terrorist” US lawmakers; Tea Party conservatives holding the nation “hostage;” Republicans “hijacking” the debt deal. Is this any way to conduct a political debate? The Politico news website said Vice President Joe Biden, who attended the meeting, used the term, although he and the White House denied it. Doyle […]

July 30, 2011 (AFP) – An ethnic Tamil journalist in Sri Lanka’s formerly embattled north was brutally attacked with iron bars, police said on Saturday, the latest in a string of assaults on the nation’s media. UN records show 5,653 outstanding “enforced and involuntary disappearances” in Sri Lanka. Among those missing is freelance journalist and […]

July 28, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military Thursday rejected new allegations that its political bosses ordered the execution of surrendering Tamil rebels during the final days of the island’s separatist war. Reacting to a new broadcast from Britain’s Channel 4 that accused defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse of ordering executions, military spokesman Ubaya Medawela dismissed […]

July 25, 2011 (LBO) – A Tamil minority party has swept the polls in Sri Lanka’s former war torn northern areas while the ruling coalition consolidated its gains elsewhere in a local government body poll. Out of 65 local bodies where elections were held over the weekend, the ruling United National People’s Alliance won 54 […]

July 25, 2011 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan lawmaker has challenged a government minister to a television debate over the sale of state land to a Chinese firm. Harsha de Silva, a lawmaker representing Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party, referred to a statement attributed to deputy economic development minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene by […]

NEW DELHI, July 15, 2011 (AFP) – India on Friday urged Sri Lanka to examine claims made in a British documentary that said it targeted civilians while crushing Tamil Tiger rebels two years ago. The Channel 4 documentary, “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” aired last month on British television contained footage of what it said were […]

GENEVA, June 30, 2011 (AFP) – The UN’s human rights chief Thursday warned Sri Lanka not to take too long in probing war crimes allegations, saying failure to carry out a credible inquiry could lead to international action. Colombo has questioned the authenticity of the Channel 4 footage but said that a local panel, known […]

June 21, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party used its parliamentary majority Tuesday to defeat an opposition-initiated bill to grant greater media freedom, a parliamentary official said. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance, which enjoys a two-thirds majority in the 225-member assembly, shot down the Freedom of Information Bill presented by an opposition […]