Lanka News Web

It was recently reported that Sri Lanka intended to deploy suspected war criminal, General Shavendra Silva, to South Africa to take up the post of deputy ambassador.

Right now at a UN meeting in Dubai, authoritarian regimes are pushing for full governmental control of the Internet in a binding global treaty -- if they succeed, the internet could become less open, more costly and much slower. We have only 2 days to stop them.

Number of major media outlets published reports on Sri Lanka raising taxes for Indian vehicles and providing favourable conditions to other countries. Some reports hints of India exerting diplomatic pressure in order to reduce the taxes and some others criticise the government inactivity over the issue.

Intellectuals for Human Rights (IfHR) in its annual Human Rights (HR) report stresses that international pressure is looked-for to arrest seriously increasing HR violation in Sri Lanka. The report was released on December 10, International HR day, and the report is a review of human rights situation of the country over the period from December 10, 2011 to December 10 2012.

Today [10-12-2012] is International Human Rights Day. I am currently in Strasbourg, France, where the European parliament, Council of Europe and other important European institutions are based. My foremost purpose in this mission is to attend a “UNITED Study Session Against Racist Propaganda and Hate Speech online”. It is organized by UNITED Against Racism and hosted by the Council of Europe.

Fact sheet

(This document contains recent developments affecting independence of judiciary Sri Lanka)

01.Threatening the Mannar Magistrate and attack on the Manner Magistrate Court and High Court

Power and Energy Ministry Secretary, M.C.M. Ferdinando has directed the heads of all institutions affiliated to the Ministry to not give any advertisements to the Lakbima Sinhala newspapers or Lakbima News English newspaper.

Next Saturday, the Bar Association will meet to discuss the resolution of non-cooperation with anyone who may be chosen to be the next Chief Justice in the event that the incumbent Chief Justice is impeached.

Today is Human Rights Day: “My voice counts”

"Where we come from does not determine who we can become. What we look like places no limits on what we can achieve. We should all have the right to express ourselves, all have the right to be heard, all have the right to be what we can be: To reach for the sky and touch the stars. No matter who we are, no matter whether we are man or woman, or rich or poor: My voice, my right. My voice counts."

—Desmond Tutu, a key figure in the defeat of apartheid in South Africa, Nobel Prize Laureate, first black Archbishop of South Africa.

The UK based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) yesterday called on leaders of Commonwealth countries to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka next year to uphold the association’s charter and values.

Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) has petitioned South African President Zuma against accepting Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva as Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa.

UNP national organizer and eastern provincial councillor Daya Gamage says the recently held 54th annual convention will go down in the history of the party as the most successful convention due to the fact that a number of steps have been taken to revive its lost glory.

TORONTO: Citing a recent piece in the local National Post about a defected Sri Lankan soldier exposing atrocities committed by Sri Lankan forces during the last stages of the ethnic war, the Toronto-based Canadian Tamil Congress has said that Colombo is not serious about addressing Tamil grievances.

The letter written by the senior and well-respected lawyer SL Gunasekara provides a very thought-provoking approach to dealing with the present impasse created by the government’s wish to proceed with the impeachment against the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, which they are doing irrespective of the request made by the Supreme Court to delay proceedings on this matter until they make a determination on the question for reference made by the Court of Appeal.