Tag: politics

COLOMBO, April 7, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday rejected calls for cooperation with a UN investigation into war crimes and vowed it will not subject itself to the jurisdiction of the world’s highest rights body.Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said Sri Lanka will not allow United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi […]

COLOMBO, April 4, 2014 (AFP) – India has asked Sri Lanka to grant limited autonomy to its ethnic Tamil minority and ensure “genuine reconciliation” five years after crushing Tamil guerrillas, New Delhi’s top envoy said Friday.Indian High Commissioner (ambassador) Y.K. Sinha said New Delhi had also urged Colombo to probe allegations that its troops killed […]

Apr 04, 2014 (LBO) – The US wants to see progress on human rights, rule of law and attacks on religious minorities and was for closer economic ties at this point, rather than economic sanctions, its envoy to Colombo said. She said on March 09, a pastor in a Church in Badulla district was assaulted […]

Apr 04, 2014 (LBO) – The full text of US ambassador Michele J Sison’s address to the Foreign Correspondents Association in Colombo on Thursday. Ambassador Sison’s Remarks to the Foreign Correspondents Association April 3, 2014 Thank you for inviting me to speak tonight. Last year, you also invited me to speak in early April, and […]

COLOMBO, April 1, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s energy minister offered flowers and lit thousands of oil lamps as she prayed for rains to replenish drought-hit reservoirs which are used for hydro-power plants, an official said Tuesday. Minister Pavithra Waniarachchi illuminated the sacred temple town of Anuradhapura with 4,000 coconut oil lamps seeking divine help […]

COLOMBO, April 2, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has designated 15 foreign organisations run by ethnic Tamils as “terrorist groups”, accusing them of trying to revive a separatist war which ended in 2009, an official said Wednesday. Among the designated groups are the British Tamil Forum, World Tamil Movement, Canadian Tamil Congress, Australian Tamil Congress […]

COLOMBO, March 30, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party was headed for victory in local elections but with smaller than expected margins in a crucial mid-term test for President Mahinda Rajapakse, early results showed Sunday.The ruling party had tried to turn Saturday’s vote into a referendum on a UN Human Rights Council’s resolution last […]

COLOMBO, March 30, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party won local elections, but with smaller than expected margins in a crucial mid-term test for President Mahinda Rajapakse, official results showed Sunday.The president campaigned for polls held Saturday for southern and western provincial councils, both in the ethnic majority Sinhalese heartland, which account for more […]

COLOMBO, March 28, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Friday ordered the release of Indian fishermen detained for poaching after New Delhi surprisingly refused to back a US-led censure motion against Colombo at the UN’s top rights body.The exact number of fishermen who were released was not immediately known but several dozens are thought to […]

COLOMBO, March 28, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka tried to claim a moral victory Friday and insisted it would push on with reconciliation efforts after being censured by the UN’s top rights body for failing to bring perpetrators of war crimes to justice.The US-initiated resolution was carried at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva […]

Mar 27, (LBO) – The following is a statement from US Secretary of State John Kerry on UN resolution on Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan people are resilient. They have demonstrated grit and determination through years of war. Now, they are demanding democracy and prosperity in years of peace. They deserve that chance. The United […]

Mar 27, 2013 (LBO) – India abstained on voting on a resolution on Sri Lanka’s human rights which called for a external probe. The full statement is reproduced below:- India’s Explanation of Vote on Resolution œPromoting Reconciliation, Accountability, and Human Rights in Sri Lanka (A/HRC/25/L.1/Rev.1) Mr. President, 1. The UN Human Rights Council has adopted […]