The government, downplaying the importance of the 22nd Sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) due to start in Geneva today, decided to send a low profile delegation consisting only of officials to represent the country. This was interpreted by the Opposition UNP as accepting defeat even before the Sessions could start. Refuting the allegations, Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, said the government is moving on the UNHRC matter ‘strategically’ and that it is fully prepared, intern

“Accountability for alleged crimes committed by GSL troops and officials during the war is the most difficult issue on our bilateral agenda. (NOTE: Both the State Department Report to Congress on Incidents during the Conflict and the widely read report by the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) also detailed many incidents of alleged crimes perpetrated by the LTTE. Most of the LTTE leadership was killed at the end of the war, leaving few to be held responsible for those crimes. The Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) is h

Of course, when I say “Sinhala psychosis”, I don’t mean all Sinhalese: it’s merely an imprecise, but convenient, shorthand. Several Sinhalese individuals and groups, recognizing the Sinhala psychosis, its irrationality, hatred and what they lead to,  stand up against it, at great cost to themselves and their families. They do so on grounds of principle and ethics; on the conviction that all human beings are essentially equal and, therefore, entitled to equal treatment. Their stance compels respect. As for the

The allegation that Balachandran Prabhakaran, 12-year-old son of LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, was executed after he surrendered to the Army dates back to the final days of the war. A story that made rounds at that time, among some quarters privy to the final days of the war, made references to a 12-year-old, who appeared from the bush along with four bodyguards on the final day of the war, 19 May 2009. According to reports, he had walked up to the commandos in the area, who were involved in a mopping up operation, chewing on someth

Two eyewitnesses have come forward for the first time to support allegations that the Sri Lankan army executed two Tamil Tiger rebel leaders after they surrendered, carrying a white flag, at the close of the island’s civil war in 2009.

Their accounts cast fresh doubt on the Sri Lankan government’s claim that the rebels were killed by their own supporters and add to a growing body of evidence of war crimes allegedly committed by the Sri Lankan military during the conflict.

A 140-page report about sexual violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan security forces prepared by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global human rights organization, is expected to be released today.

The UN Human Rights Council is to open its 22nd session next week. All this is enough to embarrass Sri Lanka, under increasing international pressure to conduct a serious investigation into crimes that may have been committed by its security forces in the final months of the war against the Tamil Tigers.

KATCHATHEEVU: The shores of Katchatheevu islet on the Palk Straits, otherwise closed for Indian fishermen, were opened for the two-day St Antony Church festival that commenced on Saturday. Though the festival this year comes in the backdrop of mounting tension over the alleged execution of LTTE chief V Prabakaran's son, the islet where fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan congregated wore a festive look.
"This is my first visit to Katchatheevu. The visit to the church with my friends and relatives is a trip to cherish t

India is taking steps to secure the release of five fishermen taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy in 2011 on the charge of smuggling narcotics, a top official said here today.
"Efforts are on to get the release of five fishermen who were taken into custody by Sri Lankan navalmen on charges of smuggling narcotics in 2011," Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K Kantha said.

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India to vote against Sri Lanka on war crimes in UNHRC
India will vote in support of a US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka proposed to be moved before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva next month.


PUDUCHERRY: India will vote in support of a US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka proposed to be moved before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva next month, Union minister in the Prime Minister's Of

Tamil teachers across the country face language barriers in the administrative sector as the Education Zonal Offices provide documents to teachers only in the Sinhala Language, the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU), charged today.

Speaking to Ceylon Today Online, CTU General Secretary, Joseph Stalin, said Tamil teachers face numerous difficulties as they do not receive forms or any other document in the Tamil language although the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration has explicitly stated that all offic