Statements
Condemn the unlawful arrest and detention of Azath Salley and call for his immediate release
Statement
May 7, 2013
We the undersigned, vehemently condemn the arrest and detention of Former Deputy Mayor and General Secretary of the
National Unity Alliance (NUA), Azath Salley, by a team of officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), on Thursday, 2 May 2013 morning, and call for his immediate release in […]
Government must be even-handed in the enforcement of the criminal justice system
The arrest of former Deputy Mayor of Colombo and leader of the newly formed Muslim Tamil National Alliance Azath Salley under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) highlights the vulnerability of those who stand in opposition to the government on the question of the civil and political rights of the country’s ethnic and religious minorities. […]
Read MoreThe Government take over of large extents of people’s land must stop
The government has made moves to acquire over 6381 acres of privately owned land in the Jaffna peninsula, which it says is for a public purpose. The public purpose is presumably for the security forces. The pasting of notices on trees in Valikamam North under section 2 of the Land Acquisition Act
coincides with preparations for […]
Sri Lanka: Prominent Muslim politician and government critic arrested
A prominent Muslim politician and government critic arrested today in Sri Lanka must be immediately released or charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence, Amnesty International said.
Azad Sally, the leader of Sri Lanka’s newly formed Muslim Tamil National Alliance, was reportedly taken into custody on Thursday morning by the intelligence services for unknown reasons.
Sally has […]
Ashraf Nagar: The courageous struggle of peasants against the forcible land acquisition in Ampara District
A Statement by Women’s Action Network
Ashraf Nagar’s inhabitants can trace back their history to 1952 when it consisted of the following small villages -Aalim Nagar, Vilankadu, Kasangkeni, Muthiriyadiwattai, Pallak Kadu, Sinna Pallakkadu, Kattu Vattai, Ali Mudakadu and Aalim Chennai. Ashraf Nagar’s name was changed in the year 2006 to Oluvil first division and even though […]
“I am the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and I have been unjustly persecuted and condemned”
I am the 43rd Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. As the Chief Justice, I have an obligation and an unwavering duty towards the judges, lawyers and the citizens at large of my country.
I stand here before you today having been unjustly persecuted, vilified and condemned. The treatment meted out to […]
BASL urges the President and his cohorts to honour the Judiciary
BASL Statement (8th January 2013)
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka strongly, unequivocally and with no reservations whatsoever condemns the decision to take up for debate the impeachment motion against her Ladyship the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani A. Bandaranayake based on the findings of the Parliamentary Select Committee which was quashed by the Court of Appeal and determined to be […]
Respect the decision of the Supreme Court or face lawlessness says JSA
Statement issued by the Judicial Service Association of Sri Lanka.
The Supreme Court of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka exercising exclusive jurisdiction to interpret the Constitution vested under Article 125 of the Constitution has held that the Parliamentary Select Committee procedure which found the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake guilty was unconstitutional.
The Judicial Service […]
Validity of Parliament’s interpretation of the Constitution – re OPA response
On 26th September, 2012 at the request of the National Issues Committee of the OPA, I drafted a press statement which was issued by the then President on 27th September under his signature and was thereafter unanimously approved by the OPA Forum on 28th September 2012.
Sad to say, the only apparent result of that statement […]
Sri Lanka: Tamil Women Coerced into Joining the Military
Women’s Action Network (WAN), as a collective of 11 women’s groups from the North and the
East, is deeply concerned by the recent efforts to recruit women into the military in the districts of Killinochchi and Mullaitheevu.
Post-war development has failed to provide the most basic needs for those who live in Killinochchi and Mullaitheevu, especially the […]