Sarath Fonseka, the war winning former army commander and the former presidential contender says President Mahinda Rajapaksa is robbing the sovereignty of his people, ‘just like an 18th century sea pirate who looted ships’. “ Such actions are not condoned in any civilized country. If this happens in a country like England — which introduced […]

Photos from a Sri Lankan soldier’s cellphone, show prisoners at the end of the civil war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels.
They are the faces of the vanquished. The captured Tamil rebels are young and barefoot. They are handcuffed to bus seats. Some are bandaged. All have the downcast faces […]

The UN should not be taking the side of the bullies, nor should they be adding to the confusion and speculation by failing to renew Lee’s accreditation. As for the UNCA; their role is to stand up for its members, not to expel them and we can see no justification for the continuation of this […]

 
COLOMBO, 6 June 2012 (IRIN) – Three years after conflict ended in northern Sri Lanka, many thousands of civilians remain separated from their ID cards and other official documents lost in the heat of battle and are consequently unable to access a range of essential government services.
RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE
From 2008 until the war was […]

Ill feeling towards President Rajapakse
The inability of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to deliver his speech at the opening session of the Commonwealth Business Council
in London last week was a replay of the scuttling of the President’s intention to address the Oxford Union last year. On that occasion there was strong manifestation of ill feeling and even […]

Black mark
When assessing the government’s post-war performance it is the issues of accountability on human rights issues and a political
solution to the ethnic conflict that take the international centre stage. On both of these counts the Government of Sri Lanka would fare poorly in international estimation. The governmental decision to reject a request by the […]

Dispute
The dispute over the presence of a Muslim mosque on Buddhist temple land in Dambulla points
to an underlying tension in Sri Lanka’s multi religious society that is capable of being exploited by extremist forces. It is reassuring that the violence that suddenly manifested itself over the location of the mosque was not permitted to escalate […]

As the west’s influence wanes, China’s influence in some of the world’s most turbulent countries is on the rise – and having a significant impact
Saferworld’s Ivan Campbell kicked off a panel discussion on Thursday about China’s role in conflict-affected countries with a quote from a government official in South Sudan. “If a man is thirsty, […]

It is almost a crime to lie to the people and mislead them on a matter of vital national interest. When it is committed by politicians it is an act of unconscionable opportunism. When it is perpetrated by so-called intellectuals belonging to civil society, it is a
counterfeiting of the currency of the intellect and the […]

In a statement from Geneva , Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha , Presidential Adviser on Reconciliation, responded to claims in the latest Channel 4 film on Sri Lanka . Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha is currently Chair of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats and was re-elected
leader of the Liberal Party of Sri Lanka .
Responding to Channel 4’s […]