The removal from office in Sri Lanka of Chief Justice Bandaranayake was unlawful, is undermining public confidence in the rule of law, and threatening to eviscerate the country’s judiciary as an independent guarantor of constitutional rights states the Executive Summary of an International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) report released today.

Issued ahead of the full report, the Executive Summary of A Crisis of Legitimacy: The Impeachment of Chief Justice Bandaranayake and the Erosion of the Rule

The Sri Lankan government should act on the call by a government deputy minister to investigate war crimes by examining his own role in serious abuses, Human Rights Watch said today.

In early March 2013, Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, known as Col. Karuna, called for war crimes investigations into the Tamil National Alliance, an opposition coalition of ethnic Tamil political parties, presumably because some members had links to the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Karuna was effectively the

A special inquiry will be held before the Human Rights Commission on Thursday regarding the elections of the Sri Lanka Badminton Federation.

Secretary of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Attorney-at-Law Nimal Punchihewa said that all parties connected with the elections have been summoned before the commission today.

An interim order was issued by the human rights commission preventing the elections of the Badminton Federation last Tuesday.

The Press office of Buckingham Palace said they could not ‘confirm or deny’ if Her Majesty the Queen would be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in November in Sri Lanka.

An official from the Press Office told Daily Mirror when contacted that the office was not in the habit of issuing statements on matters of a sensitive nature such as visits of members of the royal family to the press unless it was close to the date of the scheduled visit. “It is the Commonwealth Secretariat th

The External Affairs Ministry yesterday said that an analysis of resolutions and voting results at the recently concluded United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva was necessary in the wake of allegations that the passage of US resolution titled ‘Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka’ was due to failure of the country’s foreign policy.

Twenty five countries voted for the resolution, whereas 13 opposed, eight abstained one absent. Those eligible to vote are divided in to

As economic and political power shifts east, western nations are responding by reinforcing trade and security alliances across Asia. With the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement, a new military base in Australia, and deepening alliances across the region, the U.S. has recommitted to the Asia Pacific. As President Obama’s foreign policy pivots to Asia and the vision of “America’s Pacific Century” unfolds, U.S. strategic relations with Sri Lanka must also be examined.
 

Alan Keenan is the Sri Lanka director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) whose recent report outlines a consolidation of power in Colombo, calling for an international response to an apparently authoritarian turn. Speaking with Sameer Arshad, Keenan discussed a growing lack of accountability, pressure on the judiciary and minority groups — and the steps he thinks the international community must take:

A hate campaign against Muslims and Muslim owned establishments in Sri Lanka continued today with a mob attacking a Fashion Bug warehouse at Pepiliyana.

The police said that at least 20 men led by some monks had initially carried out the attack damaging the building and property including a vehicle.

The group then grew into a large mob and the police were unable to control them as the attack continued for several hours with stones and other objects being used.

The National Christian Fellowship Sri Lanka (NCFSL) which represents over 200 indigenous Churches in Sri Lanka, says it views with serious concern the sudden escalation of violence directed towards Pastors, Christian Workers and religious places of Worship all over Sri Lanka during the recent months. The NCFSL, in a statement, said it can confirms that been reported for the year 2013.

“As Sri Lankans, we are also concerned about the wrongful and distorted bias reporting of some of the electronic as

British Foreign and Commonwealth Office Director for South Asia, Neil Crompton says many challenges still remain in Jaffna and the destructive force of war has made that inevitable.

In a statement released by the British High Commission in Colombo today, Crompton said that he was pleased to see the physical progress made in many areas in Jaffna since the end of the conflict, such as in demining and making large amounts of land inhabitable again.