Tag: politics

September 17, 2009 (AFP) – A top UN official toured camps holding thousands of war-displaced civilians in northern Sri Lanka on Thursday, amid international concern over delays in resettling the refugees.UN under secretary general for political affairs Lynn Pascoe, who arrived here late Wednesday, travelled to the northwestern district of Mannar and was to visit […]

September 16, 2009 (AFP) – A top UN official was expected in Sri Lanka Wednesday to press for a probe into possible rights abuses during the final stages of the military’s victory over Tamil rebels.UN under secretary general for political affairs Lynn Pascoe was sent by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who has voiced concern […]

September 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will not submit to an investigation into its rights record to qualify for extended trade concessions from the European Union, a government minister said Tuesday.The deputy minister of state revenue, finance and planning, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, said Colombo wanted an extension of the EU generalised system of preferences (GSP […]

UNITED NATIONS, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations on Thursday called on Sri Lanka to respect the human rights of two UN employees who have been held without charge since June on suspicion of collaborating with Tamil separatists. One of them, Charles Raveendran Navaratnam, was working for the UN refugee agency UNHCR in […]

UNITED NATIONS, September 8, 2009 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon Tuesday denounced a decision by the Sri Lankan government to expel a UNICEF spokesman, who allegedly took a pro-rebel stance at the end of the island’s ethnic war. “The secretary-general strongly regrets the decision of the Sri Lankan government to expel Mr.James Elder,” Ban’s […]

September 7, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is reviewing a move to expel a senior United Nations official over comments he made during the final weeks of the country’s decades long ethnic war, a senior official said Monday.James Elder, communications chief for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), was ordered out of the country for […]

September 6, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government said on Sunday it had ordered a senior United Nations official to leave the country over comments he made about the recently ended war against Tamil Tiger separatist rebels. James Elder, spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), appeared regularly on foreign television news channels […]

BRUSSELS, September 3, 2009 (AFP) – The European Union joined Thursday the international outcry over the sentencing to 20 years in jail of a journalist in Sri Lanka for his alleged links to Tamil Tiger rebels.The foreign ministry in Colombo has rejected international criticism of the verdict, which has also come from the United States […]

UNITED NATIONS, September 3, 2009 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon met with a Sri Lankan minister in Geneva Thursday to discuss the plight of civilians displaced by the government defeat of the Tamil separatist insurgency earlier this year, his press office said. But she added that UN officials could not confirm its authenticity. The […]

Sept 04, 2009 (LBO) – The United Kingdom is giving 17 million rupees to support the rehabilitation of ex-combatants in Sri Lanka conflict by the island’s ministry of justic, the International Organization of Migration (IOM) said.Justice minister Milinda Moragoda has welcomed the support given for the rehabilitation efforts led by his ministry and Sri Lanka’s […]

September 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka faced a barrage of criticism on Tuesday for sentencing a journalist to 20 years of hard labour, led by US condemnation and warnings about censorship from press freedom groups.Human Rights Watch urged Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to overturn the Colombo High Court order that on Monday convicted […]

PARIS, September 1, 2009 (AFP) – France sharply rebuked the government of Sri Lanka on Tuesday after a court there sentenced a reporter to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges related to his alleged ties to Tamil rebels. “J.S. Tissainayagam was given this heavy sentence simply for carrying out his profession as a journalist,” […]