The government said yesterday that the basis of the US Resolution, on accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, which was adopted by the UNHRC in Geneva, was wrong and it was prepared to face any threat from the US and its allies.

Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, addressing the Cabinet press briefing in Colombo, said that the Rajapaksa government had a comprehensive plan to deal with the current situation and would not succumb to the pressure being applied by the US and its friends, both in the West and in certain ot

India’s vote against Sri Lanka on the United States-sponsored resolution for the second successive year in the interests of Sri Lankan Tamils at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has disproved the charge that Delhi had watered down the contents of the draft, said Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan here on Thursday.

Without naming any party, the Rajya Sabha member from Tamil Nadu told journalists here that India’s stand had boosted the image of the country among the Tamil diaspora. It would help in exp

Ameen Mohammad sits in a corner of his clothes shop in central Colombo, Sri Lanka, poring over the company’s accounts. The numbers do not look good; business has been bleak over the last few months. He says it is because he is Muslim.

“We have experienced a steady drop in sales since January because the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) had put up posters around the country telling people not to shop at our stores because our company is Muslim-owned. They threaten to take violent action against people who do,” says the fa

In the first major reaction to recent events, an organisation aiming to protect Muslim rights yesterday announced a peaceful protest against anti-Muslim sentiment spreading across the island and perpetuated by Sinhala hard-line groups, next Monday.

The protest will shut down parts of Colombo’s major trading hub in Pettah, organisers said.
The Muslim Rights Organisation (MRO) said the protest was being organised islandwide, with Muslim enterprises and trading centres likely to heed the call on 25 March.

So, mighty America has beaten little Lanka in Geneva! It secured Sri Lanka’s 13 with eight abstaining. The outcome of the vote came as no surprise; it had nothing to do with anyone’s concern for human rights. Some of those who voted for the resolution are the worst perpetrators of crimes against civilians. Sierra Leone is a case in point.

However, Sri Lanka has to come to terms with reality. It shouldn’t continue to drag its feet on the question of implementing LLRC (Les

The students, parents, teachers and principals in North Central Province are subjected to excessive stress and strain due to stubborn and arbitrary moves of the Minister of Education for North-Central Provincial Council Peshala Jayaratne states Lanka Teacher Services Union (LTSU) adding that teachers have decided to boycott attending schools on Saturdays.

In an announcement LTSU states due to idiotic instructions of the Minister Time tables for first term tests have been set up so that teachers and students have to attend scho

The all-party meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Wednesday evening to seek a consensus on the government’s draft resolution on Sri Lankan Tamils failed: if the text did not go far enough for the DMK and the AIADMK, the BJP, the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal-United all said they were opposed to a country-specific resolution.

The BJP had pointed out earlier that if India had objected to the resolution passed on the Afzal Guru issue, it would not be proper for it to pass one on Sri Lanka in Parliament.

Developing countries expressed their confidence for the efforts made by Sri Lanka towards achieving national reconciliation and commended its level of cooperation with the UN, the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva said in a statement.

The statement said that the developing countries clearly highlighted that the report (A/HRC/22/38) tabled today at the UN Human Rights Council under the agenda item 2 by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was unwarranted and a clear overstepping of its m

Prasad Kariyawasam is at the centre of the island nation’s diplomatic efforts as India prepares to vote on a US-sponsored resolutions.

Prasad Kariyawasam, Sri Lanka's high commissioner in India, is at the centre of the island nation's diplomatic efforts as India prepares to vote on a US-sponsored resolution on war crimes and human rights violations against the government of Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Alistair Burt says the concerns of his government on Sri Lanka’s human rights issue is no secret.

Speaking at the House of Commons yesterday (Wednesday) Burt said that the United Kingdom has a number of concerns about progress in Sri Lanka.

He said this in response to a statement made by British MP Simon Danczuk who had visited Sri Lanka recently to seek justice for the murder of a British national in Tangalle in December 2011.