When Lanka’s civil war ended in May 2009 with the extermination of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) it was thought that thirty years of strife was over and military victory would usher in stability and economic progress. Events have dashed these hopes; despite victory the government has shown no inclination for reconciliation or to reach a political settlement with the Tamils; barefaced attempts to consolidate an authoritarian regime and have run into determined opposition; the economy which showed a three year post-war spurt, has followed

The misty mountain village of Kuragala, just off Balangoda, came alive on Monday when a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter landed in the area carrying Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and a full retinue of military, Police and intelligence officers onboard.

Accompanied by dozens of Buddhist monks including Jathika Hela Urumaya Leader Ellawela Medhananda Thero, Moulavis, Chief of National Intelligence Major General (Retd) Kapila Hendawitharana and officials from the Department of Archaeology, the Defence Secretary undertook a s

Admiral Samuel Locklear, Commander of the US Pacific Command (PACOM), told US lawmakers during a Congressional hearing yesterday that Sri Lanka must reconcile with the end of the war.

He said that Sri Lanka needs to work to move past its recent history and reconcile a nation divided by many years of civil war.

The government postponed, for the second time, answering a question on the disappearance of journalist Pradeep Ekneligoda and the subsequent statement by present Chief Justice Mohan Peiris that he (Mr. Ekneligoda) was alive.

UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekara placed the question on the order paper in this regard, and asked for the date of disappearance of this journalist. Also, he asked whether Mr. Peiris, the then legal consultant to the Cabinet, made a statement to the International Committee Against Torture that he was alive

The U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka expressed alarm at rising hate speech and attacks against Muslims in the island nation and warned that such sentiments should not be allowed to fester.

Hate speeches, vilification and even attacks on Muslim-owned businesses and places of worship by Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist groups have occurred in recent months, and inaction by the government and police has spurred allegations that the government supports the campaign, which it denies.

The West won the world not by superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organised violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non Westerners never do.’ Samuel. P. Huntington as quoted by J.B. Muller in his dissertation Anglophiles, Eurocentric Arrogance and Reality –The Island November 5, 2010.

The United States would consider all mechanisms available to pursue Sri Lanka for post-war reconciliation and investigate into alleged human rights violations in the final stage of a three-decade war, its envoy for the island nation said

 

Michele Sison, the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, speaking to foreign correspondents said concerns over human rights and other democratic values have deteriorated in Sri Lanka and that prompted her country to sponsor a second resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Counc

President appoints commission to seek answers to grisly find

The bodies date back to a Marxist uprising in the 1980s Presidential commission will run alongside ongoing police investigation

The Sri Lankan government has launched an investigation into a recently uncovered mass grave containing more than 150 skeletons.

Reporters Without Borders and its partner organization, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), are very concerned about Rathimohan Lokini (also spelled Lohini), a Sri Lankan journalist of Tamil origin who could be expelled from the United Arab Emirates despite having United Nations refugee status.

She is one of a group of 19 Sri Lankan refugees who are under threat of being deported from the UAE by 11 April.

The Ceylon Teacher Services Union charges that several issues have arisen with the annulling of the 2010/38 circular issued to resolve irregularities in granting promotions to teachers.

General Secretary of the Union, Mahinda Jayasinghe made this observation at a media briefing held in Colombo.