A Sri Lankan war commission has cleared the military of deliberately targeting civilians in the final stages of the country’s civil war. The government-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission said it was “satisfied” security forces had taken precautions to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. The 440-page report was presented to parliament Friday. The commission […]
Sri Lanka Panel Clears Military of Civilian Deaths
Posted December 16th, 2011 at 5:55 am (UTC-5)
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Sri Lanka Tallying Civilian Deaths From Civil War
Posted November 24th, 2011 at 7:50 am (UTC-5)
Sri Lanka’s defense secretary says the government is counting how many civilians were killed in the final months of the country’s civil war, but that the number of dead will be far too small to constitute war crimes by the Sri Lankan military. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa made the announcement Thursday, after the government acknowledged for the […]
Sri Lanka Ex-Army Chief Gets 3-Year Sentence
Posted November 18th, 2011 at 4:15 am (UTC-5)
A Sri Lanka court has sentenced the country’s former army chief and opposition leader to three years in prison, after finding him guilty of making false allegations about the defense secretary. The Sri Lankan High Court ruled Friday that the comments Sarath Fonseka made in a newspaper interview had violated the country’s emergency law at […]
Rights Group: Sri Lanka Not Investigating Torture
Posted November 7th, 2011 at 1:05 pm (UTC-5)
Amnesty International says Sri Lanka is not credibly investigating torture allegations leveled against security forces. The London-based rights group said Monday that despite having anti-torture legislation in place, a special police investigation unit reportedly carried out only three prosecutions in 14 years. It says most cases involving torture never go to trial, with such abuse […]
UN Chief Stresses Importance of Sri Lanka’s Reconciliation Process
Posted October 26th, 2011 at 8:05 pm (UTC-5)
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Wednesday with Sri Lanka’s special envoy on human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, to discuss the reconciliation process following the country’s 26-year civil war that ended in May 2009. The meeting was part of the U.N. ongoing dialogue with the Colombo government. The U.N. chief stressed the importance of dealing with […]
Jurists Accuse Sri Lanka Diplomat of War Crimes
Posted October 17th, 2011 at 12:35 am (UTC-5)
Australia’s Federal Police say they are examining a brief filed by a rights group accusing a top Sri Lankan diplomat of war crimes. The legal paper, filed Friday by the International Commission of Jurists, calls for authorities to investigate Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Australia, Thisara Samarasinghe. The former admiral was commander of the Sri […]
Sri Lanka Ruling Party Sweeps Local Councils Except in Capital
Posted October 9th, 2011 at 9:50 am (UTC-5)
Sri Lanka’s ruling party has won a landslide victory in Saturday’s local elections but failed to secure control of the capital’s municipal council in one of its few defeats. Officials results released Sunday show Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance won majorities in 21 of the 23 municipal councils that were contested […]
Three Killed In Political Violence in Sri Lanka
Posted October 8th, 2011 at 4:25 pm (UTC-5)
At least three people have been killed and dozens others wounded in an outbreak of election-related violence in Sri Lanka. Police said presidential aide Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and his bodyguard were among those killed Saturday in clashes between opposing factions of the governing party, the United People’s Freedom Alliance. Ruling party lawmaker Duminda Silva was […]
US Presses Sri Lanka for Credible War Crimes Probe
Posted September 14th, 2011 at 1:07 pm (UTC-5)
The United States is again pressing Sri Lanka to carry out a credible and independent probe into alleged war crimes committed during the country’s civil war. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka’s government to address a recent United Nations report citing evidence that Sri Lanka forces killed thousands of […]
US Presses Sri Lanka for Credible War Crimes Probe
Posted September 14th, 2011 at 11:21 am (UTC-5)
The United States is again pressing Sri Lanka to carry out a credible and independent probe into alleged war crimes committed during the country’s civil war. U.S. Secretary of State Robert Blake on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka’s government to address a recent United Nations report citing evidence that Sri Lanka forces killed thousands of civilians […]
