http://www.thesundayleader.lk/archive/20080217/issues.htm Our Disappointment With Proposals Contained In The Two Bills 28th Oct 1987 Shri Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, New Delhi. Dear Prime Minister, We thank you once again for all your efforts on behalf of the Tamil people. We repeat our deep anguish at the tragic turn of events in Jaffna. We feel it is… Read more »
Posts Categorized: International
Can an Evil Man Change?
Unlike many other white people — perpetrators and bystanders — who have benefited since 1994 from the reconciliatory attitude of black South Africans, Mr. de Kock actually began to engage with fellow South Africans in restorative ways. Slowly, over the years, he transformed himself from a highly effective killer to somebody who genuinely engaged with those looking for answers…
The underlying goal of the T.R.C. was to build a new ethical society through change: The truth about our past should transform all of us from a people apart into a people who care for one another.
Modi Visits Tamils’ Cultural Heart in Tour of Sri Lanka
“We stand with you in your efforts to build a future that accommodates the aspiration of all sections of society, including the Sri Lankan Tamil community for a life of equality, justice and dignity in a united Sri Lanka,”
Hope for Colombia’s Peace Process
Still, an agreement is the best alternative to ending the fighting, which has ebbed as the talks have progressed, and giving Colombians in war-torn districts hope for a brighter future. The Obama administration recently signaled its strong support for the process by naming Bernard Aronson, a former senior diplomat with expertise in the region, as an envoy to the peace process.
Sri Lanka Grants Bail to Tamil Rights Activist
“But the true test will be whether her release marks the beginning of a broader reversal in a pattern of harassment by the security forces against families of the disappeared and other Tamil activists” …
Sri Lanka Must Seize This Window of Opportunity
by David Cameron, ‘Tamil Guardian,’ London, March 10, 2015 Writing in the Tamil Guardian today, British Prime Minister David Cameron reiterated his commitment to ensuring those responsible for war crimes in Sri Lanka are held accountable and said he would press the country’s new president, Maithripala Sirisena, to deliver on his commitments, during a bilateral… Read more »
Top UN Political Official Urges Sri Lanka to Seize ‘Historic Moment’ for Reconciliation
The United Nations will stand with the people and leaders of Sri Lanka as the country forges ahead along the path to reconciliation, the Organization’s top political official said today, as he voiced encouragement at the Government’s ongoing commitment to promote accountability and human rights following the nation’s three decade-long civil war. Addressing reporters in… Read more »
Hindu Party in India in Coalition for Kashmir
Negotiations between the two parties about forming a government were prolonged, chiefly because the two hold diametrically opposing views on crucial questions.
These include whether to repeal a law that gives Indian soldiers broad immunity from prosecution, even in cases involving the rape and murder of Kashmiri citizens, and whether to keep a constitutional provision, which the B.J.P. wants to scrap, that provides special privileges to Kashmir.
In a carefully worded alliance agenda, the two sides acknowledged their continuing differences.
Children of Sri Lankan Refugees Born in India Uncertain about Future
More pictures KEEZHPUDHUPATTU, India – The election of a new president in Sri Lanka in January ushered in renewed hopes for the return of thousands of ethnic Tamils displaced by war – and uncertainty for their children born abroad during decades of bloody conflict. Many of the children are in their twenties now and have… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Duty on War Crimes
It was just one month ago that Sri Lanka surprised the world by electing opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena as president, rejecting the authoritarianism, corruption and dynastic politics of the administration of the incumbent, Mahinda Rajapaksa. President Sirisena has moved swiftly to usher in a new chapter of hope for Sri Lanka. So as not to… Read more »
Statement of Sen. Leahy On A Return to Democracy
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On A Return to Democracy in Sri Lanka February 5, 2015 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, for hundreds of millions of people around the globe, including in countries whose governments are allies of the United States, democracy and human rights are aspirations that seem beyond reach. According to a recent… Read more »
An Institutional History of the LTTE
LKA-geschichte-ltte-e [PDF in English] or https://www.bfm.admin.ch/dam/data/bfm/internationales/herkunftslaender/asien-nahost/lka/LKA-geschichte-ltte-e.pdf Preface Episodes of armed violence are often followed by countering claims and divergent accounts of past experiences. The Sri Lankan civil war is no exception. After 26 years of military operations and the official defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009, controversies over the conflict and… Read more »
Is Terrorism an Existential Threat?
by Scott Stewart, ‘MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal,’ February 5, 2015 President Barack Obama has said terrorism can’t upset the world order, and he is mostly correct. In an interview aired on CNN on Feb. 1, Fareed Zakaria asked U.S. President Barack Obama to respond to charges that he is downplaying the threat of terrorism to… Read more »
US Asst Sec Biswal’s Statements in Sri Lanka
Statement by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal Colombo – Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka February 4, 2015 http://srilanka.usembassy.gov/pr-4feb15.html It was a privilege to visit Colombo to witness for myself the sense of excitement and optimism that the Sri Lankan people have ushered in through the historic… Read more »
Sri Lanka Is Ready to Take Center Stage
by Richard Armitage, Kara Bue, & Lisa Curtis, ‘The Wall Street Journal,’ January. 28, 2015 12:29 p.m. ET 3 COMMENTS Editor’s note: The following op-ed was contributed by Richard Armitage, Kara Bue and Lisa Curtis. Mr. Armitage was deputy secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. Ms. Bue was deputy assistant secretary of State for… Read more »
Is Sri Lanka Ready Yet For Postwar Reconciliation?
Sri Lanka’s January 8 presidential election shocked the world. The removal of strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa from office and peaceful transfer of power have triggered an outpouring of optimism about Sri Lanka’s democratic future. But on one key set of issues it’s not clear that regime change heralds progress: post-war reconciliation and accountability for international crimes… Read more »
Helping Sri Lanka’s New Democracy
Sri Lanka’s voters shocked themselves and the world this month by tossing out their president, who crushed the Tamil insurgency in 2009 and then led the country, along with his brother as defense secretary, to the brink of authoritarianism. The new president has promised to restore freedom of the press, independence of judges, and the… Read more »
US Foreign Assistance
http://www.foreignassistance.gov/web/OU.aspx?FromRGA=true&OUID=229&FY=2015&AgencyID=0&budTab=tab_Bud_Overview State and USAID: It has been nearly five years since the end of Sri Lankas 26 year civil war, and circumstances are more challenging than they were a year ago. Although Northern Provincial Council elections were held in September 2013, there has been little movement on reconciliation or accountability by the Government of Sri… Read more »
Can the ‘Unknown Angel’ Deliver?
by Eric Solheim, ‘The Hindu,’ Chennai, January 15, 2015 http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/can-the-unknown-angel-deliver/article6789564.ece Anyone who two months back bet on Maithripala Sirisena winning the presidential election in Sri Lanka would be a millionaire. Most international experts expected former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to win and strengthen his family rule. He controlled the resources of the state to fund his… Read more »
Democracy Wins in Sri Lanka
Most importantly, the new dispensation must waste no time in addressing the Tamil demand for a just peace, because on this hinges the future of the country itself.