“…by clever and persevering use of propaganda, even heaven can be represented as  hell to the people, and conversely the most wretched life as paradise”. Hitler (Mein Kampf) By Tisaranee Gunasekara Impunity is illimitable.   If the law was allowed to take its normal course after the Kolonnawa mini-war, the Christmas Eve murder of a ...

More than 26,000 displaced people are yet to be allowed to resettle in their ancestral lands occupied by high security zones (HSZ) in Jaffna, according to Sri Lanka's main Tamil political party, the BBC reported.   The BBC reported that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has submitted a report

The BBC's Swaminathan Natarajan reports on escalating fears about a crackdown on media and political freedom in Sri Lanka.

Srilankamirror - The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said it is currently discussing with the international cricket players union to look for a solution to the non-payment of Sri Lanka player salaries. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has told the BBC Sinhala service in October that the players

Colombo is beefing up security ahead of the delivery of the verdict in the controversial white flag case against former army commander General Sarath Fonseka. While there are reports that a key witness against Fonseka has fled the country in fear on a Cathay Pacific Flight bound for Hong Kong, police have also moved in a ...

Following is the address delivered by Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the fourth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IV) Plenary Session: In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, there has been a noticeable shift in economic clout, moving from the USA and the debt-plagued countries of the Eurozone, to ...

OCTOBER 17, 2011: Status: Not Free Legal Environment: 23 Political Environment: 30 Economic Environment: 18 Total Score: 71 Despite the end of the government’s long-running war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group in May 2009, media freedom remained restricted in Sri Lanka, with journalists subject to myriad forms of legal harassment and physical intimidation. Altho...

Impunity lies at the heart of the Kolonnawa killings “A foul, dishonourable crew….” Giaccomo Leopardi (To Angelo Mai III) By Tisaranee Gunasekara In the Rajapaksa Security State, insecurity is the common condition of the rest of us… Impunity makes jungles out of civilised societies, where the big and the powerful prey on those smaller and ...

British defence secretary Liam Fox is facing renewed political pressure after emails and video footage emerged appearing to contradict his explanation of his working relationship with a close friend, Adam Werritty. BBC reports that video revealed Mr. Werritty, who has no official role

An effort made to harm the reputation of Sri Lanka using the Channel 4 documentary has failed. Sri Lanka was cleared of the allegations at a meeting held to raise awareness amongst all member countries of the UN regarding the Channel 4 documentary. The conspirators were made speechless by the answers offered by Sri Lanka. ...

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has sought financial help from the government and state banks. SLC treasurer Sujeewa Rajapakse told the BBC that the board has sought a grant from the two bodies. .

By Tisaranee Gunasekara Nazism offered….a society that had been scarred by deep divisions…a sense of lofty purpose, almost a national mission….” — Michael Burleigh (The Third Reich – A New History) Barring a last-minute judicial-intervention, the Rajapaksa plan to make ‘leadership training’ by army officers mandatory for all university-entrants will become a reality, this month. ...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The illusion of destiny extracts a remarkably heavy price”. — Amartya Sen (Identity and Violence) The mysterious leaking in Colombo of the Darusman (UN) Report was accompanied by a carefully choreographed outbreak of patriotic-hysteria. The President, in...

Extracts from report on Sri Lanka by advisory panel appointed by Ban Ki moon 2. Violations in the IDP Camps (a) Arbitrary detention of IDPs in closed camps 154. Civilians emerging from the conflicts zone were initially housed in a...

The BBC Sinhala Service, in asking for comments on the 2010 US Report on Human Rights in Sri  Lanka, gave me little notice, and suggested I could just glance through the synopsis with which the report began. As it happened, I was able to look through some of the rest, which was good, because I ...

By BBC News Hundreds of people have protested against Western-led air strikes in Libya outside the United Nations headquarters in Sri Lanka. Protesters chanted slogans against the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon - pic DailyMirror.lk...

by Tisaranee Gunasekara "When heads of state do not pay attention to the needs of their nation, the people take over”. Turkish Presiden Abdullah Gul (During the February 2011 visit to Iran) “As he launched a series of murderous attacks...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “But these were monstrous times. So, naturally Jennie turned monstrous”. Klaus Mann (The Turning Point) Neither President Mahinda Rajapaksa nor his administration can be faulted for the calamitous weather conditions afflicting Sri Lanka. Global warming is a global phenomenon, an environmental malaise to which the entire world (and each one of its people) has cont...

By Dr. S. Narapalasingam PART I The baffling moves and actions on the political front of the potent government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, since the war ended conclusively mid May 2009 have been considered discretely by many analysts, ignoring...

by Gamini Weerakoon Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the deposed Tunisian president was described as being ‘ubiquitous’ by an AP report last week. Like all Third World strongmen he had his picture plastered all over the country. As the second president of Tunisia, he ruled the country undisturbed for 23 years. But like most dictators or strong men of the Third World, the day came when he had to ...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “And appetite, an universal wolf, So doubly seconded with will and power, Must make perforce an universal prey….” — Shakespeare, Troilus And Cressida Impunity is to a country what cancer is to a body; it creeps in unnoticed and spreads with gathering-speed, inexorably annihilating everything healthy and functional in its path. Impunity never completely spares any...

Tribute to Lasantha Wickrematunge on Second Death Anniversary By Sunalie Ratnayake A recollection of facts Two elongated years have come into conclusion, precisely as of today (January 8, 2011), since the incongruously horrendous cold-blooded murder of one of the most...

By Kalana Senaratne Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, President of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM), recently leveled a serious accusation against the LLRC. In an unexpected manner, this has caused some embarrassment, I believe, to both Dr. Amarasekera and Prof. GL Peiris, Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs. The reason for this embarrassment is a peculiar one; for it is not only the n...

'Fear still prevails' in Jaffna By Charles Haviland BBC news, Colombo Reports from the main city of northern Sri Lanka, Jaffna, say people there are living in fear because of a current series of killings, abductions and robberies. Among those...

Legal limbo Tamils beg for mercy or trial By Swaminathan Natarajan BBC Tamil Hundreds of Tamils detained for years on charges of helping the Tamil Tigers have asked Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to show mercy or grant them a...

By Chakravarthy The snake is dead. This is what the authorities have been emphasizing from May 17, 2009 and we believe so without any reservation. Road check posts are removed in many places and identity card is asked for randomly...

By Dushy Ranetunge Wimal Weerawansa, who survived a fast on to death outside the UN compound in Buller’s Road, amidst voodoo style devil dancing, has accused the Sri Lankan High Commission in London of failing in their duty to warn...

By Dr. S. Narapalasingam The current moves of the powerful government in post-war Sri Lanka are mainly for sustaining the wartime military strength, preventing the resurrection of the smashed LTTE and developing the infrastructures, notably the roads and rail network,...

The UN panel of experts appointed by the Secretary General on Sri Lanka has called for written submissions. The panel was set up to inquire into the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka. The BBC has reported

By Saroj Pathirana Activists have criticised India's decision to invite Sri Lanka's president to attend the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Delhi. Sri Lanka's government said President Mahinda Rajapaksa would be the guest of honour at Thursday's event. The move...