Lanka News Web

Asad Sally, a Sri Lankan Muslim leader who has been a critic of the Rajapaksa regime while being a votary of Tamil-Muslim unity, was arrested here on Thursday under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for “stoking the fire of ethnic and religious strife and harming national unity.”

Human rights groups react with disgust to David Cameron's decision to attend the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka this November, as our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller reports.

It's four years since Sri Lankan government troops crushed the Tamil Tiger separatist militants, ending the civil war. But 30 years of violence has left a bleak legacy. The BBC's correspondent in Sri Lanka, Charles Haviland, reports for Our World on the lasting trauma for victims of the war who feel their voices are not being heard.

Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor returns today from a visit to Sri Lanka, where he discussed the challenges of refugees and people smuggling.

David Cameron will attend the Commonwealth Summit in November despite serious divisions within the organisation over the human rights record of Sri Lanka, the host government.

Time has come to topple the failed, corrupt UPFA regime and elect a people-friendly UNP government to usher in peace and prosperity, said UNP national organizer and eastern provincial councilor Daya Gamage, urging party activists to get to work now to achieve that objective.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper won’t be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka next November, The Huffington Post Canada has learned.

Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom, today issued the following statement:

“Canada condemns the arrest of Azad Sally, leader of Sri Lanka’s newly formed Muslim Tamil National Alliance. Mr. Sally was reportedly taken into custody by Sri Lankan authorities on May 2.

Keerthi Tennakoon, at World Press Freedom Day meeting.

During the past 25 years the plight of the media in Sri Lanka is to live with fear and harassment. During the last ten years the journalists who were with us celebrating the press freedom has left the country, forced to leave or live in exile fear of lives said the Executive Director of CaFFE.

'While Sri Lanka has lost its standing as a shining democracy this regime seems determined to further tarnish our country's image as a lawless land where goons rule and injustice prevails' said by the Karu Jayasuriya M.P at his press release. See full statement below

The violence unleashed again on the media in the Northern part of Sri Lanka has questioned the level of press freedom in the island. During the first quarter of this year alone, murder attempts have taken place against two journalists, five media personnel were violently assaulted on three separate occasions and the printing machinery of a media establishment was set alight by unidentified persons. Furthermore, on at least three occasions copies of daily newspapers were intercepted during transportation and burned.

Mangala Samaraweera's Statement.

We were gravely disturbed to learn of the arrest of former Deputy mayor of Colombo and Muslim Tamil National Alliance leader Azath Salley by the CID on May 2nd 2013.

Internal conflict and communal violence displaced a further 166,000 people in Burma in 2012, bringing the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country to “at least 450,000 people,” according to a global report released by the Internal Displaced Monitoring Centre.

SUMMARY

On 21st March Human Rights Council adopted resolution A/HRC/22/L.1/Rev.13 on Sri Lanka.