Yearly Archives: 2011

Reconcile sooner rather than later

Disregarding summons
President Mahinda Rajapaksa disregarded the threats of legal summons to the United States when he went there to attend the UN General
Assembly meeting. The President had an opportunity to meet several world leaders during the official sessions of the General Assembly and also on the sidelines of the official events. He stated his case […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on September 25, 2011 at 11:17 am

Good bye Joe: A great actor and a greater humanist, we’ll miss you

In the final interview that Gamini Fonsekagave the press before he passed away on September 30, 2004 he was asked one last question:
“Including yourself, who do you think is the best actor that Sri Lanka produced?” Gamini did not hesitate even a second. He came out with the answer: “Joe Abeywickrama”. Gamini Fonseka was never […]

By Vishnuguptha | Published on September 25, 2011 at 9:57 am

Ban stresses need for accountability process over end to civil war

UN News Centre, 24 September 2011– Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need for a “credible national accountability
process” over actions in the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka during a meeting with Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country’s President.
Mr. Ban reiterated the need for such a process as envisaged in the joint statement he […]

By | Published on September 24, 2011 at 7:04 pm

Dishonesty of Sri Lanka’s government revealed as draconian laws reintroduced

23 September 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) condemns the government’s decision to perpetuate a number of the most widely used Emergency Regulations, such as those relating to detainees, purported ‘surrendees’ and local authorities, in the form of regulations under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). We believe that the reintroduction […]

By Centre for Policy Alternatives | Published on September 24, 2011 at 2:24 am

Sri Lanka’s women deminers clean up legacy of Asia’s longest war

MANNAR, Sri Lanka, Sept 23 – Wearing a visor and a protective vest over grey fatigues tucked into black military boots, former housewife S. Dishanty crawls on her hands and knees through dense bush, slowly inching forward and methodically scanning the ground.
A year ago, this 23-year-old Sri Lankan woman was looking after her elderly parents […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on September 23, 2011 at 8:30 pm

UN report declares internet access a Human Right

A United Nations report said Friday that disconnecting people from the internet is a human rights violation and against international law. The report railed against France and the United Kingdom, which have passed laws to remove accused copyright scofflaws from the internet. It also protested blocking internet access to quell political unrest.
While blocking and filtering measures deny users access to […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on September 21, 2011 at 8:14 am

Sri Lanka’s caste-based politics and the Northern problem

Wars usually settle nagging national issues. They bring to a close any on-going conflict among parties and with the victor claiming superiority over the vanquished, both parties striving to resolve their outstanding concerns amicably or otherwise. More often than not –
history bears testimony to it- what usually happens is the total domination of the losing […]

By Vishnuguptha | Published on September 21, 2011 at 7:04 am

Whither Media Freedom in Sri Lanka? Is ‘unbowed and unafraid’ the best policy?

‘If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had power, would be justified in silencing mankind.’-John Stuart Mill in his essay ‘On Liberty’
(1859) Dheeraratne J in the case of Thilak […]

By Lakshman Indranath Keerthisinghe | Published on September 21, 2011 at 5:58 am

A World of Conflict – Sri Lanka

Kevin Sites is an award winning American Journalist with a mission. To cover 20 wars in one year. This is an excerpt from his video documentary “A World of Conflict” in which he records his journey into Sri Lanka’s war zones.

By Kevin Sites | Published on September 20, 2011 at 8:13 pm

Out of hurting stalemate

Battle heats up
For the past three years the issue of war crimes and human rights violations has been hanging over Sri Lanka. Every six months or so, especially around the time for the UN Human Rights Council to meet in Geneva, the battle heats up. On this occasion, the government has
strongly criticised the UN Secretary […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on September 18, 2011 at 11:50 am