Srilanka Timeline 2015

5/3/2016
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/timeline/2015.htm
SriLankaTimelineYear2015
Date
Incidents
January5
The campaign for the upcoming presidential polls in Sri Lanka ended with
sporadic violence having marred the final day. Three opposition activists were
injuredwhenunidentifiedgunmenshotandinjuredthemwhiletheywereengaged
in putting up a dais for the opposition leader, Maithripala Sirisena, on the final
dayofcampaigninginthesoutherntownofKahawatteinRatnapuraDistrict.
The UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon called on the Sri Lankan government
againtoensureapeacefulelectionthatisinclusiveofminorities.Respondingto
amediaqueryontheelectionviolenceintherunuptotheelectionPresidential
election on January 08, Stphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary
General,saidtheSecretaryGeneral'scalltotheGovernmenttoensurethat the
electionsarepeacefulandthatthey'reinclusive,includingforminoritiesismuch
moreimportantnowonthebackdropoftheelectionviolence.
A clash between supporters of the UPFA and the NDF at Rambukkana in
Kegalle District had left four government supporters injured and one Opposition
supporter injured. The NDF supporter with cut injuries was admitted to the
Kegalle hospital while the four injured UPFA supporters have been admitted to
the Rambukkana hospital. Five persons have been taken into custody in
connection with the incident along with a firearm they had in their possession,
Policesaid.Threevehiclesandseveralshopswerealsoattacked.
January6
The CMEV said there had been a rise in major incidents of election violence
between November 20 and January 5 whereas the number of incidents of
election violence seemed to have dropped when compared to the previous
elections. The CMEV Coordinating Secretary D.M. Dissanayake said it had
documented 420 incidents of election violence with 237 categorised as major
incidents while 183 as minor incidents. He said the highest number of major
incidentswasreportedfromJaffnaDistrictwith22incidentsfollowedbyBadulla,
Kurunegala and Kandy with 19, 18 and 17 incidents respectively. Dissanayake
said CMEV had recorded 26 incidents involving firearms and 03 incidents of
petrolbombings.HesaidCMEVhadrecorded132incidentsofgrossmisuseof
StateresourcesforelectionpurposeswithexcessiveuseofStatemediabythe
incumbentandverylimitedairtimeforoppositioncandidates.
Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu from the CMEV at a media briefing, said that
concerns have been raised that voter intimidation on election day will lead to a
lowvoterturnout,especiallyintheNorth.Saravanamuttusaidthatcommunities
and political leaders have raised concerns about the vote in the north in
particular and about the deployment of security forces that could have an
adverseimpactonthevoterturnout.
January7
The victim of the shooting incident at an opposition rally in Kahawatta on

January 5, succumbed to his injuries.The victim, one of the three people, who
were shot by the supporters of the Deputy Minister Premalal Jayasekara, has
been treated in the Intensive care Unit at the Ratnapura Hospital for the past
three days. The other two persons who received gunshot injuries are still
receivingtreatmentatRatnapurahospital.
Sri Lanka's Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Deshapriya said the Police are
empoweredtousemaximumforceifanyonetriesanythingunlawfulatthepolling
stationsduringtomorrow'spresidentialelection.Addressingamediabriefing, the
Election Commissioner the Police had been given authority to use maximum
power, even shooting a violator, if any one tries to intimidate or attempts to
obstructavoterusingtheirrighttovote.
TheSriLankangovernmentsaidtheUNrecentcalltothegovernmenttoensure
that the elections are peaceful and inclusive, is "gratuitous and inappropriate."
Issuing a statement, the External Affairs Ministry said Sri Lanka notes with
concern the recent remarks by the Spokesperson of the SecretaryGeneral of
the UN recalling the SecretaryGeneral's call to the Government to ensure that
the forthcoming Presidential elections are peaceful and inclusive. "The
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Spokesperson'scommentsaregratuitousandinappropriate,"thestatementsaid.
January8
A high voter turnout was reported at the just concluded 2015 Presidential
elections, based on information provided by returning officers in the Districts.
OfficialssaidthatPollonaruwarecorded80percentvoterturnoutby4pmasthe
deadline to cast votes ended with Nuwara Eliya also recording 80 percent,
Anuradhapura recording 76 percent, Trincomalee 72 percent, Kurunegala 77
percent,Puttalam71percent,Batticaloa60percent,Badulla61percent,Matara
73percent,Kandy75percent,Hambantota70percentandPuttalam70percent.
Thelocalelectionmonitor,CMEVhasreceivedareportthatrulingUPFADeputy
MinisterSaranaGunawardenaandagroupofsupportershavehittwowomenin
Attanagalle electorate of Gampaha District. The women were assaulted by the
Deputy Minster and his supporters at around 1.00 pm near the Yatiyana Junior
School polling center. The Deputy Minster and his group of supporters have
beenroamingtheareain7vehicles,theCMEVreportsays.
Despite hospitals being alert to possible emergencies during the Presidential
polls that lasted from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., no incidents were reported. Director of
the National Hospital, Dr. Anil Jasinghe when contacted said that the hospital
hadnotreceivedanypatientswithinjuriessustainedduringvoting.TheHospital
hadfunctionednormallydespitelargenumberofitsemployeestakingtimeoffto
casttheirvote.
January9
Sri Lanka's incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa conceded defeat, said his
official media unit, following clear signs of his opponent Maithripala Sirisena's
victory in the presidential elections. Rajapaksa vacated Temple Trees, his
official residence, following a meeting with Opposition Leader Ranil
Wickramasinghe, assuring him of smooth transition. With final result yet to be
declared,Sirisenaisexpectedtobedeclaredwinnerbyaround4,00,000votes.
CMEV has received a report that North Central Chief Minister S.M. Ranjith and
hissupportershadassaultedoppositionsupportersinSenapura,Mihinthale.The
assailants have carried wooden rods and guns. The victim, Wimalasiri A.H.M.
hasbeenadmittedtotheSenapuraHospital.Nocomplainthasbeenlodged.The
CMEVsaidthreeexplosionshavesofarbeenreportedonthedayofpolls.The
first was in Point Pedro reported and a second incident involved an explosion
from Beruwala targeting a house of a Muslim businessman. No injuries were
reported.ThethirdincidentisfromVavuniyawhereagrenadeexplodednearthe
Polling Station at Nelukkulam Kalaimagal Maha Vidyalaya. No injuries were
reportedandthepoliceareinvestigating.Ithasbeen reported in Jaffna that the
membersofthegovernmentally,EPDPwereintimidatingTNApartymembers.
The winner of the 2015 Presidential Election Maithripala Sirisena was sworn in,
as the 6th Executive President of Sri Lanka. Sirisena took oaths as the new
President before Supreme Court Justice K. Sripavan at the Independence
Square in Colombo. In his address to the nation following the swearingin, the
new President said he has no intention to seek a second term and said Sri
Lanka will have friendly relations with every country. Opposition leader Ranil
WickramasinghetookoathsasthePrimeMinisterofSriLankabeforeExecutive
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenaatthesamevenue.
January11
In Kandy District, after the swearingin ceremony, the seventh President of Sri
Lanka Maithripala Sirisena expressed his gratitude to those who voted for him
and he was thankful to everyone who assisted to hold a peaceful election. He
saiditistimeforatransformationsocietytobringaboutahumanesocietywith
good governance and respect to law. He also said that this would be the only
timethathewouldcontestthePresidency.
TheformerLTTEleaderKumaranPathmanathanaliasKP,whowasinSriLanka
under protective custody, rejected the reports that he fled the country after the
defeat of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at last week's elections.
Speakingoverphone,fromhisorphanageatKilinochchiintheNorth, the former
armsprocurerfortheLTTEsaidheisstillthereandhavenoplanstoleavethe
country.
January19
Marxist party JVP filed a petition in court seeking the arrest of a former top
leaderoftheLTTEKumaranPathmanathanalias KP.The JVP filed the petition
in the Court of Appeals seeking to arrest KP, who was in protective custody
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under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Government. JVP parliamentarian

Vijitha Herath said KP has to answer many questions and he needs to be
arrestedforhisactivities.KPwasan international arms smuggler who procured
massive loads of weapons worth billions of dollars for the terrorist organization
that ravaged a deadly war for 30 years. He was involved in arms smuggling
operationsacrossAsia,Canada,USandEurope.
January21
FormerArmyCommanderofSriLanka SarathFonsekahasbeenfullypardoned
by the President Maithripala Sirisena. The former Army general who led the
decisivewaragainsttheLTTEtoendtheterrorisminSriLankawasstrippedoff
ofhis ranks and rights by the previous Government. President's Media Division
saidthat"Fonsekahasbeenacquittedofallchargesfiledagainsthimunderthe
previous Government and has been granted complete amnesty by President
MaithripalaSirisena."ItalsosaidthatthePresidentSirisenapardonedtheformer
General by the powers vested in him under Article 34 of the Constitution.
Accordingly, Fonseka's rank will be restored and will be entitled to all military
and social privileges without any legal barrier. He will be awarded back his
medalsandhonors.
January23
TheChairmanofthePCICMP,MaxwellParanagamahassoughtatimewiththe
President Maithripala Sirisena to discuss the future proceedings of the
Commission.ParanagamasaidthattheCommissionplansonmakinganinterim
report on the inquiries they have currently completed. According to the
Chairman, the Commission is continuing to function without break amid the
election of a new President and currently investigations into filed reports and
receivedevidenceareunderway.
ThenewSriLankanGovernmenthasdecidedtoterminateamandatorymilitary
styleleadershiptrainingprograminitiatedbythepreviousGovernmentforschool
principals and university entrants. New Education Minister Akila Viraj
Kariyawasam said the Government is ending the program that was compulsory
for the students entering the country's universities under the former President
Mahinda Rajapaksas administration. Report said that previous Government's
mandatory leadership training program for undergraduates was highly unpopular
among the students and parents, and has been seen by intellectuals as a
militarizationoftheeducationsector.
January25
The Court ofAppeal in Sri Lanka on January 27 will take up a WritApplication

filedbytheMarxistparty, JVP seeking an order to arrest and prosecute former
LTTEleaderKumaranPathmanathanaliasKP.ThepetitionwasfiledintheCourt
ofAppeal on January 19 and has sought Writs of Mandamus to arrest KP and
producehiminCourttoinvestigatetheoffencescommittedbyhimandtoinitiate
judicial proceedings against him. The petition demanded the arrest and trial of
theformer LTTE leader who is believed to be the head of the international wing
of the terrorist organization. KP is currently operating a NGO under military
protectionintheNorthernProvince.
TNA said that there is no need to appoint new commissions with regard to the
war in Sri Lanka and the national question. TNA parliamentarian Suresh
Premachandran said that rather than appointing new commissions, it is more
important to enact the recommendations made by the committees that have
beenappointedsofar.TNAhasalsosaidtheydonotexpecta new PSC to be
appointedoverthenationalissue.TNAisalsoa stakeholder of the NEC and is
engagedinimplementingthe100dayprogrammeofthenewGovernment.
January27
TheAppealCourtofSriLanka issued notice on theAttorney General to appear

beforetheCourtonFebruary5inconnectionwiththewritapplicationfiledbythe
JVPagainstformerLTTELeader,KumaranPathmanathanaliasKP.
January28
President Maithripala Sirisena said more attention would be paid to national

security and a wellstructured plan would be implemented to ensure national
security for the welfare of the country and the people. The President said that
every effort would be initiated in strengthening the national security within the
democratic framework according to the constitution. He added that precise
understandingofissuesthatposesinvariousfacesnationallyandinternationally
has to be addressed in a constructive manner while formulating appropriate
solutions.PresidentrequestedtheSecurityCounciltosubmitnewproposalsand
recommendations in addition to the programme now being implemented on
national security as it the expectation of the government to implement a
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programmetostrengthennationalsecuritylocallyandinternationally.
AGovernmentspokesman,Rajitha SenaratnesaidthatSriLankaisplanningan
investigationintoaccusationsofhumanrightsabusesinthefinalstagesofcivil
war amid international frustration at the failure to look into numerous civilian
deaths. We are thinking of having our own inquiry acceptable to them to the
internationalstandards,RajithaSenaratnesaidinColombo,referringtotheUN.
Itwillbeanewlocalinquiry.Ifweneed,wewillbringsomeforeignexperts,he
added. Rajitha Senaratne also said that the new Government was looking at
releasingpoliticalprisoners,mainlysuspectedmembersofthedefeatedLTTE.
The new Government plans to return private land seized by the military in the
civil warravaged north and release several hundred detainees in an apparent
movetowardreconciliationwithethnicminorityTamils.GovernemntSpokesman
Rajitha Senaratne said that the Government of new President Maithripala
Sirisena will ease its military presence, and that unlike the previous
administration that was defeated in the January 8 election, does not believe
military action alone can prevent a resurgence of the rebels. Rajitha Senaratne
said,"Wedon'tthinkyoucan stop an LTTE resurrection (just) with an army, so
spendingonsecuritywillbeverymoderate."
RajithaSenaratnesaidthathehassoughtaninquiryintoinformationthatformer
Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa is using two serving army officers to
train400soldierstowhipupabogeyaboutanLTTErevivalintherunuptothe
Aprilparliamentaryelections.Senaratnesaidthatthisarmyunitisbeingtrained
by two serving officers, Brig. Harendra Ranasinghe and Col. Mahinda
RanasingheoftheArmyTrainingSchool. AccordingtoSenaratne,theideaisto
get 400 Tamil speaking Sinhalese soldiers to go to the North in disguise and
provoke the army. The ensuing clashes would help show people in the
Sinhalesespeaking South, that the LTTE have become active in the Northern
ProvinceandthattheMaithripalaSirisenaRanilWickremesingheGovernmentis
unable to tackle it.The LTTErevival card could help former President Mahinda
Rajapaksawintheelections.Senaratnesaidthattoensurenationalsecurity,the
Sirisenaregimewouldrelyonpoliticalengagementwiththeminoritiesandnoton
themilitary.
January29
FollowingtherecommendationsoftheLLRC,SriLanka'snewGovernmentatthe
Independence Day celebrations this year prepares to expresses sympathy and
reachouttothevictimsofthecountry'sthreedecadelongcivilwar.Reportsaid
that the Cabinet of Ministers has approved a joint proposal made by the acting
Foreign MinisterAjith P. Perera and the Minister of HomeAffairs and Fisheries
JosephMichaelPereratomakeastatementonPeaceatthe67thIndependence
Day Celebrations to be held on February 4. The Ministers, taking into
considerationthe LLRC recommendations, have proposed to express sympathy
andcooperationwiththewaraffectedinthecountryandtopledgethat it will be
dedicated in unity to prevent recurrence of such situations in the country in the
future.
January30
Sri Lanka appointed Justice K Sripavan, an ethnicTamil, as its new Chief

Justice,daysafterhis predecessor Mohan Peiris was asked to resign following
anuproarintheparliamentoverallegationshetriedtohelptheformer President
retain power illegally. The Presidents office said in a statement that Justice
Sripavan took oath as the 44th Chief Justice before President Maithripala
Sirisena.
January31
Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith P Perera said that the new Government has no
intentionofliftingthebanimposedontheseveralTamilDiasporagroupsfortheir
alleged involvement with the LTTE and over attempts to revive terrorism in the
country. He said that the new Government hopes to maintain the ban imposed
on the organisations that were alleged to have links with the LTTE. During the
previous regime the LTTE and 15 Tamil Diaspora groups including the TGTE,
GTFandBTFwerebannedinSriLanka.
Sri LankaArmy said that it has recently enlisted 34 Tamil youth from wartorn
North as tradesman. Report said that SFHQMLT recently enlisted 34 Tamil
youth to the SLAVF from Mullaitivu area in Mullaitivu District of Northern
Province.
Sri Lanka's new Government will soon arrest LTTE leader Kumaran
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Pathmanathan alias KP and the decision will be available by the end of this
week,areliablesourceinformed.Accordingtothereportthefilewhich contains
unpublished details of secrets revealed by KP is to be presented to the
Government by the intelligence units. During his previous interrogations, it had
been revealed that it was KP who had provided weapons, aircrafts and other
equipmentfortheLTTEtoattackthestatearmedforces.Accordingtoreports,it
has also been revealed that KP had purchased "Slime" type aircrafts from a
Bangladeshi agrarian company and has brought them from Indonesia to
MullaitivuinNorthernProvince.
The JVP has filed a petition at the Court of Appeal requesting the immediate
arrest of KP as well as urging the authorities to reveal what happened to the
immense wealth of the LTTE that was controlled by KP, under the Mahinda
Rajapaksaregime
February1
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the new Government will investigate the
LTTEactivitiesoverthepastfewyearsincludingitsfundingandallegedlinksit
hadwiththepreviousGovernment.HesaidthattheGovernmentwantsto know
what happened to the funds of the LTTE. He said This is part of our probe on
corruption.The former Government always accused us of having links with the
LTTEbutitwastheywhohadlinkswiththeTigers.Hesaidthatinvestigations
will include obtaining information on the LTTE ships, gold and money yet to be
found even after the war. The Prime Minister said that the public in the North
havesaidtheyhaveevidencetoshareovertheLTTEandsothatevidencewill
alsobeobtained.Thisisalargescaleinvestigation,headded.
Wickremesinghe also said that when the European court ruled in support of the
LTTEtheformerGovernmentdidnottakestepstoassisttheEUtoreversethe
court ruling. He said We have said we will assist the EU to ensure the ban on
the LTTE in the EU remains. He also questioned the previous Governments
failure to handover Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP to India. KP is wanted in
IndiaovertheassassinationofformerIndianPrimeMinisterRajivGandhi.
MinisterofStateforPlantationandIndustryK.Velayuthamsaidthattheelection
of Maithripala Sirisena as the Sri Lankan President has offered a hope to the
Tamils in Sri Lanka and they are able to move freely without the Armys
interruption.After meeting DMK leader M Karunanidhi in Chennai, Tamil Nadu,
India, he said he had explained the situation after change in leadership and
efforts were on to withdraw the Army from the Tamil areas and camps.
VelayuthamsaidoneoftheprioritiesofthenewGovernmentwastorehabilitate
theIDPsandthosewhowereinthecamps.
February2
FamiliesofmissinganddetainedpersonsinwartornNorthernSriLankastaged
a protest in Kilinochchi in Kilinochchi District of Northern Province urging the
new Government to establish the whereabouts of their family members
disappeared during and after the war. Family members of missing Tamil youth,
carrying placards with names and photographs of the missing and detained,
stagedaprotestinfrontoftheDistrictSecretariatinKilinochchi.
February3
The Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma said in

Colombo that the Commonwealth is pleased with the measures the new
Government of Sri Lanka is considering to address the accountability and
reconciliation needs and it extended support for the vital domestic processes.
He welcomed the new Government's intent to establish a credible domestic
investigation mechanism that respects international humanitarian law and
assured the practical Commonwealth support and expertise to implement the
necessary measures including fuller implementation of the recommendations of
theLLRC.
The protesters complained that the new Government is occupied with changing
thegovernanceinthesouthandneglectingthepressingissuesofTamilpeople
in the North. They appealed to the President Maithripala Sirisena to take
measurestoaddresstheissueandcalledauthoritiestopublishthedetailsabout
the missing persons and the detainees for the families to know about them.
They also urged the new President to release all Tamil political prisoners from
theprisonsiflegalactionisnotresortedagainstthem.
TNA said it will not support a domestic investigation launched by the new
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Government over the war between the LTTE and State SFs that ended in May
2009.TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran, during discussions with US
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha
Biswal, has stressed that an international probe is the only way justice will
prevail for theTamils who have suffered the war.According to Premachandran,
the TNA had also informed Biswal that the newly elected Government of
President Maithripala Sirisena had not properly addressed the Tamil issue,
especially in areas such as resettlement as lands occupied by the army in the
northcontinuedtoremainvacant.HehasaddedthattheGovernmentis slow in
releasing the lands of the Tamil people. However, the TNA has expressed its
gratitude to the Government's effort in implementing the new Government's 100
dayprogramme.
February4
TNA officially participated in a National Independence Day celebration after

several decades. According to reports, main Tamil political parties had not
attended a National Independence Day celebration since 1972. However, senior
TNA Leader, MP R. Sampanthan and parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran
participated in the 67th Independence Day celebrations held at the Parliament
groundsinSriJayawardenepuraKotteinColombo.
February5
ASriLankanCourtissuedanorder preventingtheformerLTTEleaderKumaran
Pathmanathan alias KP from leaving the country. The Court of Appeal issued
the order barring Pathmanathan from traveling overseas. The Court granted the
motion of order as a sub decision based upon a petition filed by the Marxist
party, JVP. The Court had informed the Department of Immigration and
Emigration asking them not permit Pathmanathan to leave the country until the
endofthetrial.
Sri Lankan Government presented the regulation under the UN Act to locally
ratify the ban on al Qaeda as a global terrorist outfit. The Gazette notification
hadbeensignedbyformerExternalAffairsMinisterG.L.PeirisonDecember14,
2014.Accordingtotheregulation,thisorganisationiscontinuedtobedesignated
as a terrorist outfit. It is prohibited for any individual to aid and abet the al
Qaeda.ThefinancialintelligenceauthoritiesofSriLankaareauthorisedtoseize
fundsandassetsofthisterroristoutfit.
The Cabinet Spokesman, Minister Rajitha Senaratne said that Cabinet has
approved the setting up of a special PTFR according to a cabinet paper
presentedbyPresidentMaithripalaSirisena.TheMinistersaidthePresidenthas
decided to appoint a special Task Force to cater to the need to build a united
and integrated nation, while healing the wounds of mistrust and social and
culturalstressgeneratedfromextendedconflictsandviolencebetweendifferent
communities in Sri Lanka. The seven members Task Force will inquire into
issues related to ethnic reconciliation and suggest remedial measures to bring
aboutethnicharmony.
The PTFR aims to identify the immediate problems that required to be solved
and recommend solutions in order to achieve reconciliation and to alleviate the
hardshipscausedtocitizensasaresultoftheconflict.Itwouldstudyand make
recommendations with regard to persons under detention as a result of the
conflict, and all other matters relating to rebuilding harmony and effective
reconciliation. Senaratne also said that according to the IG of Police, there are
275 Tamil prisoners who have been in jail for long without being charged. The
PTFRwouldstudythesecasesanddeterminewhethertheycanbereleased.
TNA has welcomed the decision to set up the PTFR. TNA MP Suresh
Premachandran said that the Government should see to it that the steps
suggestedbythePTFRareimplementedandthatthePTFRdoesnotbecomea
devisetodelayimplementationofmeasuresalreadyagreedupon.
February9
Families of missing persons in Northern Province held a protest in the Jaffna

towninJaffnaDistrictcallingonthenewGovernmenttointerveneinfindingout
the whereabouts of their loved ones who had gone missing during the civil war.
Family members, carrying photographs of their missing loved ones, held a
marchbeforeholdingaprotestoutsidetheJaffnaDistrictSecretariatinNorthern
Province.Accordingtoreports,severalpoliticiansincludingrepresentativesfrom
theTNAhavetakenpartinthedemonstration.
February10
The NPC adopted a resolution calling for an international investigation into

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alleged acts of genocide committed against the Tamils during the civil war.
Northern Province CM C.V. Wigneswaran presented an amended version of the
resolution calling for an international inquiry on genocide against Tamils
committed by the successive Governments since the country's independence
from the British in 1948.The resolution notes that the obligation to prevent and
punish genocide under the Genocide Convention is not a matter of political
choice or calculation, but one of binding customary international law. In the
resolution, the NPC has urged the team appointed by the UNHCHR to
investigate the war in Sri Lanka, to comprehensively investigate and report on
thechargeofgenocideinitssubmissiontotheUNHRCinMarch2015.
MinisterofHousingandSamurdhi,SajithPremadasasaidintheParliamentthat
there are illegal armories in the Hambantota District in Southern Province. He
saidthattheillegalarmorieswithweapons,ammunitionandgrenadeshave been
foundinBeliattaandWeeraketiyainHambantotaDistrict.TheMinisterinformed
thatarequesthasbeenmadefromtheStateMinisterofDefensetoinvestigate
the illegal armories found in Hambantota. According to Premadasa, the illegal
armorieswerebeingoperatedbyaMPrepresentingtheDistrict.
February11
SriLankaisseekingadelayofseveralmonthsinthereleaseofaUNreporton
the investigation of alleged war crimes committed during the country's three
decade long war. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera during his
visittoWashingtonsaidthatthenewGovernmentisseekingadelayinreleasing
the report of the UNHRC mandated investigation by several months until the
Government had time to establish a mechanism to deal with the issue.
Samaraweera said that "Once the report is finalized, we are hoping they can
refer it to our domestic mechanism for action." "We are hoping they could hold
on to it until our mechanism is in place maybeAugust, you know, or so," he
added.
Government has decided to release lands extending to 1,000 acres in the
Northern HSZs in several stages to civilians. The Cabinet of Ministers has
approved the proposal presented by President Maithripala Sirisena as the
Minister of Defense. As a first step 220 acres of land in the Valalai Grama
NiladhariDivisionoftheValikamamEastDivisionalSecretariatDivisionistobe
released to establish a pilot village for the resettlement of 1,022 families
displacedbytheCivilWar.Eachfamilywillget20perchesoflandandfinancial
assistance to construct a house. It has also been proposed to establish a
school,apreschool,ahospital,religiousplacesofworship,communitycenters
andbuildotherinfrastructureactivities.Theremaining780acresoflandwillalso
beusedinthefuturetoresettlethepeopledisplacedbythewar.
Whilealargeextentoflandfromthe11,639acreswereunderthecontrolofthe
SFs during the period of the war, 6,152 acres in the Palaly area is being
maintained by the SLA and the SLAF as an HSZ. Cabinet has also decided to
release the lands under the control of the SLAF in the Panama area in the
Eastern Province to landless people in the area except the land in an extent of
25acresinwhichbuildingsarenowbeingconstructed.
February12
USSecretaryofStateJohnKerrytoldthevisitingForeignMinisterofSriLanka,
Mangala Samaraweera that the US is excited about the 100day plan that the
new Government of Sri Lanka has put forward to move the country in a new
direction.MangalaSamaraweerametSecretaryofStateKerryattheDepartment
of State for an hourlong discussion. "This is an exciting moment for all of us
here because Sri Lanka on January 8th had an historic election in which there
hasbeenreallyavoteforchange,avotetomoveSriLankainanewdirection,
to open up greater accountability and possibility for the preservation of human
rights, for democracy, for fighting corruption and putting together a government
thatwillspeakforandtothepeople,"SecretaryKerrysaid.
Accordingtoaleadingsurvey,SriLankadidnotshowanyimprovementinpress
freedomin2014althoughtherewerenojournalistswerekilledandrankedamong
the 20 worst countries in the world for media expression. The annual World
Press Freedom Index for 2015 compiled by Paris (France) based Reporters
WithoutBorders(RSF)rankedSriLanka165thoutof180countries.AlthoughSri
Lanka'srankdidnotchangefromthat of last year score declined from 59.13 in
2014 to 60.28 this year (2015), 100 being the worst. The RSF in its report said
SriLanka'sGovernmentattacksthefoundationsofjournalismbysystematically
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obstructingtheactivitiesofNGOsthatsupportthemedia.
February13
President Maithripala Sirisena told the diplomatic community in Colombo that if

credibleandfirmevidenceisfoundbytheproposedinquiryintoallegationsthat
Sri Lankan SFs committed human rights violations during the fight against the
LTTE, action would be taken against the guilty. The President also invited the
UNHCHRtovisitSriLanka.SirisenasaidtheGovernmentneededtimetobring
about unity and reconciliation as it had assumed office only a month ago.
ReferringtoTamilslivingintheNorthernProvince,hesaiddoubtsand mistrust
betweenethnicgroupsshouldberemoved.
Democratic Party (DP) Western Provincial Councilor Susil Kindelpitiya handed
overinformationtotheCIDregarding13allegeddisappearancesand'whitevan'
abductions that had allegedly taken place during the previous Government.
Kindelpitiya said that after Maithripala Sirisena assumed the office of the
President, several families in Colombo had visited him and expressed their
grievances over the alleged abduction of their family members. In his letter to
the Director of the CID, Kindelpitiya had also requested for investigations to be
carried out based on the recent revelation made by former Minister Mervyn
Silva, alleging that former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was the
architectofthe'whitevan'cultureinSriLanka.
February15
TNAleaderR.Sampanthansaid thattheUNHRCreportontheprobeonalleged
violations that had taken place during the war should be released during the
UNHRC sessions in March as scheduled. Sampanthan noted that the UNHRC
probewouldhavebeencompletedinanunbiasedmannerandthereport should
bepublishedinMarchasagreedin2014.
February16
UNHRCagreedtopostponethereleaseofreportofwarcrimescommittedduring
civil war by six months. The report was scheduled to present the investigative
report on the investigation mandated by the UNHRC at its 28th session in
GenevaonMarch25.TheUNHighCommissionerforHumanRightsZeid Ra'ad
alHusseinrecommendeddelayingpublicationofthereport from March until the
council's 30th session in September as Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mangala
Samaraweera during his visit to Washington on February 11 seek a delay in
releasingthereportoftheinvestigationbyseveralmonthsuntiltheGovernment
hadtimetoestablishamechanismtodealwiththeissue.
TNAexpresseddispleasureatthe UNHRCdecisiontopostponethesubmission
of war report. The TNA continuously called for the release of the report on the
scheduled date on March 25 while the Government sought support from the
internationalcommunitytopostponethereport.TNAMPSuresh Premachandran
said that the decision to postpone the report will be a setback to resolve the
Tamilissueintheisland.
February17
The PCICMP will conduct its next public sittings to hear cases of missing in
Trincomalee District in Eastern Province from February 28 to March 3.
According to report, since the establishment of the Commission onAugust 15,
2013 by the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Commission to date has
received in excess of 20,106 complaints inclusive of approximately 5000
complaintsfromrelativesofmissingSFspersonnel.
AustralianauthoritieshavereturnedfourSriLankanTamilasylumseekerstoSri
Lankan authorities in midsea. The Australian Minister for Immigration and
BorderProtectionPeterDuttonsaidtheAustralianandSriLankanGovernments
haveworkedtogetheragaintodisruptapeoplesmugglingventure.According to
the Minister, a suspected illegal entry vessel (SIEV) carrying four Sri Lankan
nationalswasinterceptedbyBPCNorthWestoftheCocos(Keeling)Islandson
February9.ThefourSriLankannationalsweretransferredatseafromavessel
assigned to BPC to Sri Lankan authorities last Tuesday (February 17), the
AustralianMinistersaid.
February18
PrimeMinisterRanilWickramasingheorderedthereleaseofcopiesoftheIndian
magazine, Frontline detained at the Colombo airport by Sri Lanka's Customs
Department in January.The copies were of the special edition of the magazine
markingits30thyear,whichrepublisheda1987interviewwithslainLTTEleader
VelupillaiPrabakaran,alongwithotherinterviewsand articles from its archives.
AnofficialstatementfromthePrimeMinister'sofficesaidthattheinterviewwith
Prabakaranwouldnotcreateanythreattonationalsecurity.
TheAttorney General's Department of Sri Lanka requested more time from the
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February19
TheAttorney General's Department of Sri Lanka requested more time from the
CourtofAppealtodecide onformerLTTELeaderKumaranPathmanathanalias
KP. Deputy Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath informed the Appeal Court that
theAttorneyGeneral'sDepartmentrequiredmoretimetodecide onthenatureof
actiontobetakenagainstKP.Hemadethissubmissionwhenapetitionfiledby
the Marxist party JVP seeking KP's arrest was taken up for hearing. The case
hasnowbeenputofftillFebruary26.
February20
TNAhasallegedthatasecret military camp, named Gota, in the naval base in

Trincomalee was in operation and held 700 Tamils and 35 Tamil families. TNA
Jaffna District Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran had told the BBC
SandeshayathattheTamilpeopleareofthebeliefthatthereweremanymoreof
suchcamps.
February21
Chief Minister of the NPC C. V. Wigneswaran has expressed concern over the
delay in releasing Tamil political prisoners by the Sri Lanka Government.
Wigneswaran said that he fears the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has
refused to release prisoners because he does not want to anger the Sinhalese
majorityaheadofparliamentaryelections."I'mtalkingofahistoryofnotlivingup
to promises in the past. The prime minister wants to play for time because the
electionsarecoming,"heclaimed.
February22
Member of NPC M. K. Sivajilingam has reportedly written to UN Human Rights

Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein saying the Tamils see the delay to release the
reportbasedontheprobeonthewarinSriLankaasafailureoftheUN system
toprotectandlistentothevictimsofmassatrocities.Sivajilingam has said the
TamilpeoplehopedthattheUNsystemwillnotvictimizetheTamilsonceagain
by delaying or denying them full and complete justice. "The Tamil people are
highly disappointed and dismayed by your announcement on February 16, to
delay the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) Report until September
2015. The Tamil people had been anxiously waiting with high hopes for the
releaseoftheReport,butthisunexpecteddelayhascausedseriousconcernsto
the victimized Tamil population, and we strongly believe justice delayed is
justicedenied,"Sivajilingamhasstatedinhisletter.
February24
Thousands of Tamils in Jaffna city in the Northern Province staged a massive

protestagainsttheUNHRC'sdecisiontodeferthereportoftheUNinvestigation
onallegedwarcrimesinSriLankaduringthewar.Thousandsofstudentsofthe
University of Jaffna along with the residents staged a protest march from the
University. At the end of the protest march, the president of Jaffna University
TeachersAssociation, A Rasakumaran handed over an appeal on behalf of the
organizers of the protest to Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph requesting him to
handitovertotherelevantUNagencies.Theappeal,addressedtotheUNHCHR
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, requested the UN official to have the findings of the
investigations published as scheduled. The appeal stressed that the Tamils in
theNorthhavenofaithinanydomesticmechanismthatthecurrentgovernment
may establish to investigate the injustices caused upon them by previous
governmentsandanotherdomesticmechanismwillonlywastetime.
A Colombo Court has ordered Balendran Jeyakumari, who has been searching
and campaigning for the release of her son, to continue to be held in detention
custodytillMarch10,aspertherequestmadebytheTID.Jeyakumari,whowas
arrestedonMarch132014onsuspicionofharbouringformerrebelcadresat her
homeinKilinochchiinNorthernProvince,wastransferredtotheWelikadaprison
only last week, where she was allowed to meet briefly her 13year old daughter
Vibushika,whoisalsointheprotectivecustodyinKilinochchi.Accordingtothe
publishedreport,herson,BalendranMahindanwasaliveandwasgoingthrough
the government's "rehabilitation program" at an unknown 'rehabilitation' centre.
Several local and international human right organisations have campaigned for
herearlyrelease.
February25
The UK based Amnesty International (AI) organization has noted that several
human rights violations have taken place in Sri Lanka last year (2014). The
organizationinitsannualreporthascalledonthenewSriLankanGovernmentto
take measures to address those violations. AI said that Sri Lanka faced a
catalogue of endemic human rights issues in 2014. "Unlawful detentions and
torturebySFswerecarriedoutwithimpunityastheauthoritiescontinuedtorely
onthePreventionofTerrorismActtoarrestanddetainsuspectswithoutcharge
or trial. Human rights defenders and family members of people subjected to
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enforced disappearance were threatened and arrested, and fatal attacks on

religious minorities went unpunished," the AI report said. Political violence and
intimidation mainly against political opposition supporters and civil society
activistswerereportedintherunuptothesnappresidentialelectioncalled for
January 2015, it noted. It also said that UNled investigation into alleged war
crimesandcrimesagainsthumanityduringtheconflictraisedhopesforvictims
waiting for truth and justice, but this will require the full cooperation of the new
SriLankanGovernment.
TheUNHRCdefendeditsmovetodefer the release of a report into alleged war
crimescommittedduringSriLanka'scivilwarsayingthatitwasa"veryrational"
decision taken in a "relatively unique" case. The new President of the UNHRC
Joachim Rcker said that the decision to defer the release of the report on the
human rights violations in Sri Lanka by six months to September was "very
rational".
February26
TheAGofSriLankarequestedsixmonthstopresentacomprehensivereportto
the Court of Appeal on former LTTE leader and arms procurer Kumaran
Pathmanathan alias KP. According to the Attorney General's Department, the
193incidentsmentionedinthepetitionagainstKPhavetobeexaminedproperly
and time was required for the matter. The Court of Appeal at the last hearing
directed theAttorney General's Department to inform of its proposed action on
KPattoday'shearing.However,theDepartmenthasnowsoughtmoretime.
February27
Newly appointed Commander of the SLA, Lieutenant General Chrishantha De

Silva, during a visit to Kandy in Central Province has assured that national
security will be given highest priority and will not be compromised at any cost.
HesaidtheArmywillmaintainsecurityeveninthenorth."I willgivethehighest
prioritytoNationalSecurity.Thearmy has a responsibility towards the National
Security of the country," De Silva said. The Army Commander said that
disciplineofthearmywillalsobegivenpriority.However,headdedthatthereis
confidence that Sri Lankan soldiers will not violate the code of conduct in the
army.
February28
TNA has expressed the party's lack of faith in a domestic probe into issues
relatedtothewarcrimes.TNAleadersmetwithUNUnderSecretaryGeneralfor
Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, who is currently in Sri Lanka, and discussed
several issues including the proposed domestic investigation on the war
promised by the new Government. TNA Spokesperson MP Suresh
Premachandran said that the TNA had informed Feltman that the party did not
have faith in a domestic probe. Feltman however had told the TNA that the
Government had given an assurance that the domestic probe will meet
international standards. He had informed theTNA that the UN is willing to work
withthenewGovernmentontheinvestigationandotherissues.
Deputy ForeignAffairs Minister of Sri Lanka,Ajith P. Perera said the domestic
investigationinto some of the allegations over the war will not be completed by
September, 2015. The Deputy Minister said that it will be difficult to complete
the legal process before the September sessions of the UNHRC as only the
structureandlawswillbeinplacebeforeSeptember.TheUNHRChasagreedto
deferareportonSriLankawhichwastobesubmittedtotheCouncilduringthis
month's(March)sessiontoSeptember.
Although there was no violence and there is an apparent reduction of threats
against journalists in Sri Lanka after the January 8, 2014 election, significant
challenges to press freedom are still remaining in Sri Lanka, an international
media organization said.The international media mission, which represents the
IFJ, the International Press Institute and International Freedom of Expression
Exchange,saidthecontinuedsurveillanceofjournalistsandmediaorganizations
in the north of Sri Lanka must cease. The mission said all journalists
acknowledged there have been no cases of over violence since the January 8
elections and that there has been an apparent reduction in threats, but
significantchallengestopressfreedomareremaining.Thesechallengesinclude
the selfcensorship due to uncertainty about the political future of the country
restrictionsonaccesstoinformationandcontinuedsurveillanceandmonitoring
ofjournalists.
March1
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the accusations that Tamil youth
were being held in secret detention camps were baseless. Wickremesinghe
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emphasised that all those who had been taken into custody were being held in
legallyrunfacilitiesand,therefore,alldetaineescouldbeaccountedfor.Hesaid
instructionshadbeengivenforpreparingafulllistofpersonsincustodyinabid
to dispel fears expressed in some quarters as regards secret detention camps.
According to the report, the Prime Minister didn't mince his words when he
declared that those missing but not listed among those in government custody
hadeitherperishedduringtheconflictorwerenowlivingoverseas.Authoritative
sources said that Sri Lanka's efforts to track down missing persons living
overseashadn'tbeensuccessfulduetoWesterncountries'refusaltocooperate.
Sources said that a joint effort was needed to establish the whereabouts of
thosewhohadassumednewidentitiesandcitizenshipinothercountries.
March2
Police have questioned several Sri Lanka Navy personnel of an investigation

unitoftheNavyondisappearancesofchildren.ThePoliceMediaSpokesperson
SSP Ajith Rohana said that statements have been recorded from seven Navy
personnel regarding the disappearance of 10 children during the 20082009
period.In2010theCIDhadcommencedinvestigationsintocomplaintsreceived
over the disappearance of some youth and their parents between the period of
2007 and 2009 in Colombo and in Trincomalee. Rohana said the CID has
interrogatedtheofficerinchargeoftheinvestigationunitoftheSriLankanNavy,
CommanderD.K.P.Dassanayake,whowasalsotheformerNavyspokesman,
inthisconnection.Ithasalsobeenrevealedthattheofficialsoftheinvestigative
unit had taken ransoms in large measure from the parents of the children. The
activities of the infamous unit were reported to have centered on Trincomalee
andFort.
PolicearrestedaformerleaderoftheLTTESeaTigerWomen'sWing,identified
as Murugesu Jayaganesh Pakeerathy alias Murugesu Bairahi alias Burugesu
Pahiradiat at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo while she was
abouttoleaveforFrance.PoliceSpokespersonSSPAjithRohanasaidthatthe
TIDofthePolicehadlaunchedinvestigationsoverreportsthatMurugesuBairahi
hadarrivedinSriLanka.The 41 year old former SeaTiger was arrested by the
TID when she was preparing to leave the country and is currently held on
detention for 72 hours. Police informed that Murugesu Bairahi headed the
women's wing of the LTTE SeaTigers from 19972000 and that she had fled to
Francein2005.Policefurthersaidtheinvestigationshadrevealedthatshehad
returnedtoSriLankalastmonthandwasstayinginParathionintheNorth.The
suspecthasbeenproducedattheColomboMagistrateCourt.
March3
Government has assured an international media delegation visiting the country

thatthelongawaitedFreedomofInformationbillwouldbetabledthismonthand
passed in parliament before the upcoming general election. The International
MediaSolidarityDelegationduringitsfivedayvisittotheislandcalledontheSri
Lankan government to ensure that critical media reform measures are made
permanent and media freedom to be an absolute priority of the new
administration.TheGovernmenthas alsoassuredthedelegationacommitment
to tackle impunity for crimes against journalists, which according to the
journalists, is a longrunning and festering blight on Sri Lanka's reputation
globally.Governmentrepresentativeshavesaidthattheyhadalreadyrequested
the IG of Police, N.K. Ilangakoon to carry out thorough investigations into
journalist killings, with priority given to the 2009 murder of Lasantha
Wickrematungaandthe2010disappearanceofPrageethEknaligoda.
SouthAfricahadtoldtheformer SriLankanGovernmentthattheLTTEwasnot
operating in South Africa as was alleged at the time,Al Jazeera said quoting a
secret cable.According to the report the previous Sri Lankan Government was
told quite plainly that, at least in the case of SouthAfrica, the LTTE posed no
threat at all, according to a secret intelligence agency cable (PDF) obtained by
AlJazeera's investigative unit. In the cable, dated June 9, 2010, SouthAfrica's
State SecurityAgency (SSA) replied to a request for information about several
cases of purported LTTE activity in South Africa, from a suspected "military
training camp" held in May 2010 to suspicions that local Tamil organizations
were raising money for the LTTE and allegations that the LTTE was in contact
withformermembersoftheSouthAfricanmilitary.Ineverycase,SouthAfrican
intelligence concluded that there was no sign of LTTE activity or support in the
country."TheLTTEdoesnothaveanyofficesorknownrepresentativesinSouth
Africa,"thecablestates.However,Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry did not respond
tomultiplerequestsforcommentfromAlJazeera,byphoneandbyemail,about
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the cable and the statements made subsequently by government officials. The
officeofForeignMinisterMangalaSamaraweerasaid that the new minister had
notbeenbriefedontheissueandcouldnotcomment.
March5
In an interview ahead of Indian PM Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka, Prime

MinisterRanilWickramasinghesaidthatIndianpoliticiansmighthavedeveloped
"amnesia" over the fact that India had assisted former President Mahinda
Rajapaksa in the LTTE war of 2009. Lankan Prime Minister said "Without the
help of India, President Rajapaksa could not have wiped out the LTTE. He got
thathelpandheagreedtogiveconcessionsevenbeyond the 13th amendment
...Buthedidnotdoso....".Asked specificallyabouttheUPA'sdenialsofhelp
toSriLanka,especiallybecauseofoppositionfromitsalliancepartnertheDMK,
hesaid,"Amnesia,youknowisverycommonamongpoliticians."
Wickramasinghe accused the TNA Government in the Northern Province and
ChiefMinisterC.V.Wigneswaranofbeing"irresponsible"inpassingaresolution
foraninternationalgenocideinvestigationtolookintoallegationsdatingbackto
the 1970s. The Prime Minister said that in that case, not only would the Sri
LankanGovernmentandtheLTTEhadtobechargedwithkillings,butsowould
theIPKFthatwentintoassistinthelate1980s.Hesaid"Casualtiestookplace
undertheSriLankanSFs,theIPKFandalsobytheLTTE...Buttosaythatit
wasonlytheGovernmentofSriLankaiswrong."
TheUNHCHRZeidRa'adAlHusseinurgedtheSriLankanGovernmenttodesign
mechanisms that will work to address the human rights issues and not repeat
thefailuresofthepast.DeliveringtheOpeningStatementatthe28thSessionof
UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland, the High Commissioner said the Member
States were due to consider his report on the implementation of UNHRC
resolution 25/1 on accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, including the
findings of the comprehensive investigation mandated by the Council at this
session. The High Commissioner said he will present the report on the UN
mandated investigation into the alleged human rights violations by Sri Lanka
duringthewaratthe30thSessionofUNHRCinSeptember.
March6
Sri Lankan authorities have extended the detention of a former Sea Tiger
Women'sWingleaderoftheLTTEarrestedearlierthisweek.PoliceonMarch2
arrested the former LTTE leader Murugesu Jayaganesh Pakeerathy at the
Bandaranaike InternationalAirport in Colombo while she was about to leave for
France with her eightyearold daughter, a French national. The authorities
initiallydetainedherfor72hourspendinginvestigationsbytheUnitTIDandthe
detentionhasbeenextendedto90daysunder the Prevention ofTerrorismAct.
SSPAjithRohanasaid"WehavenowgotadetentionorderunderthePrevention
ofTerrorismActwhichmeanswecanholdherforaperiodof90days.""Weare
hopefulofcompletinginvestigationsverysoon,"headded.
March9
TheGTFhasrequestedtheBritishGovernmenttopersuadethenewSriLankan
administrationtoliftthebanonTamilDiasporagroupsimposedbytheprevious
Government.TheGTFisamongthosegroupsincludedinthelistofproscribed
organisations. GTF President Reverend Father S. J. Emmanuel has requested
the ruling coalitions Secretary of State for Foreign and CommonwealthAffairs
PhilipHammond,MP,totakeuptheissuewiththevisitingSriLankandelegation
led by President Maithripala Sirisena. The President and Foreign Minister
Mangala Samaraweera are scheduled to meet British PM David Cameron on
March 10. GTF spokesperson Suren Surendiran confirmed their request to the
BritishGovernment.Surendiransaidthattheystronglybelievedthatthegazette
notification bearing the number 1854/41, dated March 21, 2014 should be
repealed.
Filmmaker Callum Macrae who exposed Sri Lanka's war crimes and took the
famous picture of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran's son eating a snack
just before he was shot dead will release a new Sinhala version of his award
winningdocumentary"NoFireZone"inthepremisesoftheHouseof Commons
(UK).According to report, Britain's relation with Sri Lanka may soon sour over
thefilm.ThelaunchwillbeattendedbydirectorCallumMacraeandwillhavethe
presenceofBritishMPsLabourMPSiobhainMcDonagh,ConservativeMPLee
Scott and others from Parliament. The documentary was nominated for the
prestigious Emmy award. The meeting will also be addressed by exiled
SinhalesewriterBashanaAbeywardane.Thereleaseof theversionwillcoincide
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withthevisitofthenewSriLankanPresidentMaithripalaSirisenatotheUKand
willtakeplaceadaybeforeheisduetohavedinnerwiththeQueen.
AgroupofproLTTEBritishTamils gatheredatWestminsterAbbeyinLondonto
protest the new Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's participation in the
Commonwealth Day celebrations held in London.According to the report, upon
seeing the protesters, President Sirisena, who is the current ChairInOffice of
the Commonwealth, alighted from his official motorcade and greeted the
protesters waving at them. The protest against the visiting President was
organized by the British Tamils Forum (BTF). The President was attending the
Commonwealth Day service held at Westminster Abbey. The event was
attended by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge,andrepresentativesofCommonwealthNations.
March10
A Sri Lankan court released the Tamil woman activist, Balendran Jeyakumari
whohasbeenheldindetentionfornearlyayearforallegedlyharbouringaLTTE
fugitive. Acting Police Media Spokesperson, ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said
Colombo Magistrate Court released Jeyakumari on conditional bail after
spending nearly a year in the Boossa detention camp. However, theAdditional
Magistratehasbannedherfromleavingthecountryaspartofthebailconditions
giventoherbytheCourt.Sheisalsorequiredtoreporttopolicestationclosest
to her residence every month, ASP Gunasekara said. The court also released
sixotheractivistsalongwithJeyakumari.Jeyakumarialongwithher13yearold
daughter was arrested on March 13, 2014 in Kilinochchi for allegedly sheltering
an LTTE cadre, named Gopi, who shot a Police inspector in Kilinochchi during
anarrest.
Housing and Samurdhi Minister Sajith Premadasa said that TNA
Parliamentariansdonotstandforaseparatestateandtheirpurposeistoensure
fair and equal treatment for Tamils. Minister Premadasa said some politicians
make allegations against the TNA claiming that they supported President
MaithripalaSirisenaduringthePresidentialelectiontodividethecountry.Thisis
a political lie used to mislead voters, he said. The Minister said that LTTE
activists in London protest againstTNA MPs Sampanthan and Sumanthiran by
burning their effigies. Even TNA MPs have accepted the unitary nature of the
state "If Sampanthan and Sumanthiran wished to see a separate State and
supportedMaithripalaSirisenatofulfillthispurpose,itisabigquestionforusas
towhyLTTEsupportersintheUKareprotestingagainstthem?Thecatisoutof
the bag and the truth is revealed.TheTNA MPs do not demand for a separate
state.TheyonlywantequaltreatmentforTamils,"saidtheminister.
TNAParliamentarianM.A.Sumanthiranclaimedthatthereareabout300political
prisoners in Sri Lanka. Sumanthiran was addressing the press following his
meetingwithSolicitorGeneralSuhadaGamlathontheissueofLTTEdetainees.
However,SolicitorGeneralGamlathdiscountedthisclaimstatingthatitisunfair
to claim that those who were taken into custody under the Prevention of
TerrorismAct or under the Public Security Ordinance as political prisoners. He
emphasized those arrests were made within a structured legal frame work and
hencetherearenopoliticalprisonersinthecountry.
Sumanthiransaidthatthelawhastakenadifferentcourseforthosewhohelped
the LTTE by providing them with food and water, and they are still in detention
though 11,900 detainees have already been rehabilitated. According to
Sumanthiran, the group under custody could be divided as (1) those against
whom no legal action has been instituted (2) those whose legal battle is
completedand(3)thoseagainstwhomlegalactioncontinues."TheCommitteeto
beappointedbytheSolicitorGeneralwillconductitsfirstmeetingonMarch16,"
sourcessaid.
UNUnderSecretaryGeneralforPoliticalAffairs,JeffreyFeltmanwhovisitedSri
Lanka from February 28 to March 3, expressed confidence over Sri Lanka's
efforts towards reconciliation and cooperation. UN Political chief said that
following presidential elections in January, a historic opportunity has now
presented itself for Sri Lanka to set up a domestic process that is credible,
accountableanduptoparwithinternationalnormsandstandardsforthebenefit
ofthecountry'speople,withthehelpofthewiderinternationalcommunity."The
meetingsandtalkswiththeGovernmentofSriLankaaresodifferentthan they
usedtobe,sothatleadsustogreaterexpectations.Therewassufferingacross
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all Sri Lanka, every community suffered and accountability must address the
grievances in the North, but also allow that all [people] in Sri Lanka feel like all
theirconcernsarebeingaddressed,"hesaid.
March11
TheCIDofSriLankanPolice,asdirectedbytheIGPontheorderoftheMount
Lavinia Magistrate, will soon begin investigations into the murder of journalist
LasanthaWickrematunga.PoliceSpokesmanASPRuwanGunasekarasaidthat
preliminaryinvestigationsintotheassassinationofWickrematungawere carried
outbytheMirihanaPoliceandlaterbytheTID. AsorderedbytheIGPtheCID
hasalreadysoughttheextractsrelatedtotheirinvestigationsfromtheMirihana
Police Station and theTID and CID would start its investigation after analysing
these investigations, the spokesman said. Lasantha Wickrematunga, the chief
editor of Sunday Leader, was assassinated on January 8, 2009 by four
assailantswhostoppedhimonhiswaytohisofficeonAttidiyaMt.Laviniaroad,
inasuburbofColomboandopenedfireathim.
March12
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenasaidthatSriLankadoesnotwant"anyoutsiders"
initsdomesticinquiryintoallegedatrocitiescommittedagainsttheTamilTigers
duringthelaststagesofthecountry'scivilwar."Wearereadytogetadviceand
theiropinionsfortheinquiry,butIdon'tthinkweneedanyoutsidersbecausewe
have all the sources for this," Sirisena said. This implies the UN investigators
will not be able to participate in the domestic inquiry that the new government
planstosetupwithinamonthintotheallegedwarcrimescommittedduringthe
nearlythreedecadelongmilitaryoperationsthatcrushedtheLTTEin2009.
Sirisenaalsosaidhehopestosetupaspecialinvestigativecommissionwithin
amonthtoinquireintotheallegedwarcrimescommittedduringthelastphaseof
the country's civil war. President Sirisena said an investigative commission will
beappointedlegallyanditwillbetaskedwithidentifyingwhatneedstobedone
to probe the alleged violations. If the commission found anyone guilty of
committingwarcrimestheywillbepunishedaccordingtothecountry'slaw,Mr.
Sirisenasaid.
British writerfilmmaker Callum Macrae has urged Indian PM Narendra Modi to
"show courage and commitment" in pushing Sri Lanka to address war crimes
ahead of his visit to Colombo. Macrae said "(The Sri Lankan Government
should) allow a genuinely independent international process of justice
something which can command support and trust of all communities of Sri
Lanka." The filmmaker, who took the picture showing LTTE 'chief' Velupillai
Prabhakaran's son eating a snack before he was shot dead and helped expose
war crimes, said he wants to persuade Modi to intervene. Macrae recently
releasedaSinhalaversionofhisawardwinningdocumentary,'NoFireZone'that
hasbeennominatedfortheEmmyAward.Indiahasrefused visatoMacraeand
certification for his film for screening, explaining in part it might "strain friendly
relationswithSriLanka".MacraecalledNewDelhi'sattitudeacauseofconcern.
"The refusing of a certificate on the openly political grounds...was a shameful
episodeaswas,quitefrankly,therefusaltograntmevisa,''hesaid."Nowthat
boththeGovernmentinSriLankaandtheGovernmentinIndiahavechanged,I
hope that the certification will be granted and that when I reapply for a visa, it
toowillbegranted.''
March13
ASriLankancourtreleasedaformerleaderoftheLTTESeaTigerwomen'swing
on conational bail when she was produced in court. Police spokesman, ASP
Ruwan Gunasekara said ColomboAdditional MagistrateAruniAttigala released
theformerLTTEleaderMurugesuJayaganeshPakeerathyonapersonalbailof
LKR 200,000. The suspected LTTE leader was ordered to hand over her
passporttothecourtandappearbeforeaPoliceStationonceaweek.
Indian PM Narendra Modi, who arrived in Sri Lanka, urged the Sri Lankan
Governmenttoensureearlyandfullimplementationofthe13thAmendmentand
togobeyondthatwhenfindingapoliticalsolution."Webelievethatearlyandfull
implementationofthe13thAmendmentandgoing beyond it would contribute to
this process," the Indian Prime Minister said at the Presidential Secretariat in
thepresenceoftheheadsoftheSriLankanGovernment.
Narendra Modi paid homage to the fallen soldiers of the IPKF in Colombo. He
laidawreathatthebaseofthetallcolumnonwhichwasinscribedthenamesof
all the 1,500 Indian soldiers who were killed in the operations against the LTTE
between1987and1990.
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March14
Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in an

InternationalConferenceonEducationinDubaisaidthatthewholecountrydoes
notwantaninternationalprobeintotheallegedwarcrimescommittedduringthe
26year long war with the LTTE terrorists. Kumaratunga has said that both the
Sri Lankan people and its politicians found the calls for a UNled international
investigation"insulting"byimplyingthatthecountrycouldnotcarryoutitsown.
She said that Sri Lanka is united against an international investigation into
allegedwarcrimes.
The PCICMP is to hand in an interim report regarding the missing persons'
cases to the President Maithripala Sirisena on March 18, the Secretary to the
Commission,H.W.Gunadasahassaid.Accordingtotheofficial,thereporthas
already been finalized and it will be handed to the President on March 18. The
Commission has recorded statements from witnesses regarding 303 cases of
disappearance during the first week of this month. The Commission has
received471complaints.SincetheEstablishmentoftheCommissiononAugust
15, 2013, the Commission up to date has received in excess of 20,106
complaintsinclusiveofapproximately5,000complaintsfromrelativesofmissing
SFspersonnel.
The arrest at the Colombo Airport last week of a former woman Sea Tiger,
Murugesu Jayaganesh Pakeerathy has exposed new global LTTE financing
networks with continued links in Sri Lanka. The husband of Murugesu
Jayaganesh Pakeerathy lives in France and is identified as the main financial
controller of the LTTEs Diasporabased global finance networks. The husband,
Subramaniam Jayaganesh, is suspected to be still maintaining close ties with
theformerTigerleaderandkeybankerKumaranPathmanathan alias KP who
was the LTTEs main global funds coordinator. KP currently lives in Sri Lanka
following his arrest in Malaysia and controversial rehabilitation by the previous
regimedespitemanyseriouschargesrelatingtoterrorismarraignedagainsthim.
The sources said that the TID, which is currently questioning Murugesu found
these international financial linkages. This has prompted a fresh probe into
possible international LTTE financing networks that may still be linked with
Colombo,Policesourcessaid.
The court case against former LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP,
arisingoutofapetitionfiledbytheJVP,willbetakenupbyCourtofAppeal this
week. At the last hearing, Justice Vijitha Malalagoda, asked for more
informationaboutKPsgloballinks.
March16
PMRanilWickremesinghesaidthatlivelihood development programs should be

implemented for the rehabilitated cadres of LTTE, in order to secure their
economicenvironment.FollowingaspecialdiscussionheadedbythePMheldat
the Temple Trees in Colombo, the PM appointed a committee to explore and
initiate programmes to create employment for the ex LTTE cadres. The
committeecomprisestheofficialsoftheBureauoftheCommissionerGeneralof
Rehabilitation. According to the Bureau of the Commissioner General of
RehabilitationreportSriLanka has almost completed the rehabilitation of nearly
12,000 former cadres of LTTE. Currently, 49 hardcore LTTE cadres remain in
detentioncenters.
March17
Visiting Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss

Confederation,FederalCouncilorDidierBurkhaltertoldtheSriLankanPresident
Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo that Switzerland
iswillingtoopenanewchapterinbilateralrelationswithSriLankaandreadyto
extend its full support for a national reconciliation programme. Burkhalter said
that the Swiss Government is very happy with the measures taken by Sri
Lankan Government so far to build up national reconciliation and empower
democracy in Sri Lanka. Burkhalter also met TNA seniors R. Sampathan, and
MPM.A.SumanthirananddiscussedthereconciliationprocessinSriLanka.
In a major reconciliatory move, President Maithripala Sirisena will be sending a
circular to all institutions saying that there is no bar on singing the Lankan
national anthem in Tamil language. He will thus be lifting an unofficial ban
existing since 2010, when President Mahinda Rajapaksa let it be known that
Government will frown on singing the anthem in Tamil. Schools and other
institutions, which were using the Tamil version of "Sri Lanka Matha, Apa Sri
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Lanka"since1951,stoppeddoingso.Sirisenaannouncedhisdecisiontoliftthe
language bar when the leader of the DPF, Mano Ganeshan, raised the issue at
theNECmeeting."ThePresidentsaidthathewouldsendacircularsayingthat
there is no ban on singing the national anthem in Tamil. He also said that he
wouldhavethematterclearedbytheNationalSecurityCouncil,"Ganeshansaid.
March18
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera while presenting amendments to

strengthen the laws to combat terrorist financing and money laundering combat
in the Parliament said that the Government will review the proscription of 16
Tamil Diaspora organizations and over 400 individuals by the previous
Government. Minister Samaraweera said that the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa
GovernmentbannedSriLankanTamilDiasporagroupsandindividualsunderthe
UNSC resolution 1373 for their alleged links to LTTE. He said the Government
tookthatmeasureto"buildupthehysteriaabouttheLTTEregrouping"intherun
uptothepresidentialelection.Ministersaid"However,mostoftheorganisations
listedmayhavemerelybeenvocalproponentsofTamilrights.Therewashardly
any tangible evidence to link them to the LTTE. Some of the individuals listed
had even been dead for some time." "Reviewing this list of individuals and
entities is an important exercise at this juncture when the Government of
President Maithripala Sirisena is seriously committed to expedite the
reconciliationprocess,"theMinisterpointedout.
Government has started a fresh probe in to the disappearance of journalist
Prageeth Eknaligoda. Minister of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs
GayanthaKarunathilakahasmadethisobservationinparliamentinresponseto
an oral question posed by Kurunegala District in North Western Province
Parliamentarian Shantha Bandara. Eknaligoda who supported the common
opposition presidential candidate General (Retired) Sarath Fonseka at the 2010
Presidential elections disappeared in the evening of January 24, 2010, just 36
hours before the elections. Karunathilaka added that the government has also
taken steps to formulate a welfare plan to support Eknaligoda's family and the
educationofhistwochildren.
March22
New Government conferred the country's highest military rank of Field Marshal
toformerArmyCommander GeneralSarathFonseka,whowasjailedonalleged
treason charges by the previous Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, for
"achieving the victory over terrorism". President Maithripala Sirisena promoted
the former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka to the rank of Field
Marshal at a special function held at the Defence Ministry ground in Colombo.
Fonseka, who is credited with leading the Sri Lankan Army to secure victory
against the LTTE and eliminating the terrorist group, will be the first ever Field
MarshalinSriLankanmilitaryhistory.Heledthefinalphaseofthewaragainst
terroristgroupLTTEculminatinginthetotaleliminationoftheterroristgroupand
threedecadelongterrorism.
The PCICMP has decided to indefinitely postpone the handing in its interim
report to the President Maithripala Sirisena. The report has already been
finalized and it was to be handed to the President on March 18. However, the
Chairman of the Commission Justice Maxwell Paranagama said that the
presenting of the report to the President will be postponed indefinitely. As the
Presidentisbusywithenormousamountofduties,theCommissionhas decided
topostponeitsmeetingwiththePresident.
The official said that the PCICMP report will be handed over to President
Sirisena before the publication of the report of UN OHGHR Investigation on Sri
Lanka (OISL) into alleged war crimes. It will be up to the President to decide
whether to submit the report to the UNHRC, or to act according to a domestic
legalframework,headded.
March23
The New Government started handing the thousands of acres of land in the
Northern Province taken by the SFs during the civil war back to the original
owners.PresidentMaithripalaSirisena,ataceremonyheldattheWalalaiareain
Jaffna, released 425 acres of land previously situated in Jaffna high security
zone to the original owners.At the event, the President symbolically presented
the ownership certificates to the rightful owners of the land. President said his
Government is dedicated to building peace and coexistence among all
communities eliminating fear and mistrust and will take every measure to
resolvetheirburninggrievances.
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A large number of Tamils held demonstrations in the North and Eastern

provinces, demanding an international probe into the alleged human rights
violations during the last phase of war with the LTTE. Rejecting President
Maithripala Sirisena Government's proposed domestic investigation rather than
aninternationalprobeintothehumanrightsviolations,Tamilsincluding activists
ofTNPF,heldprotestineightNorthernandEasternDistricts.
March26
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the former President Chandrika

Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has been appointed to lead a special Presidential
Task Force to identify urgent reconciliation needs of the minority Tamil
community. PM Wickremasinghe at a special meeting with the heads of
governmentand private sector media institutes at theTempleTrees said that a
SecretariatonNationalHarmonyhasbeendeclaredopenundertheleadershipof
theformerpresidentMrs.Kumaratunga."Wearefocusedinachievingcommunal
and religious harmony," Wickremesinghe said. Wickremasinghe added that the
major task entrusted to the PTFR is to preserve the diversity of all ethnic
groups.ThePTFRwouldidentifyurgentreconciliationneedsofthecommunities
thatrequireimmediatesolutionsandwouldconsiderproposalsfromthepublicon
theissues.
March27
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe embarked on a tour in theTamil dominated Northern

Province in a bid to strengthen Government's efforts to bring about the
reconciliationamongthecommunities.ThePMparticipatedinaspecialmeeting
held with the Jaffna District parliamentary members and local Government
representatives at the Jaffna District Secretariat to review the progress of the
government's100dayprogramimplementedintheNorthernProvince.PM,while
addressingthemeeting,saidtheGovernmentwillprovidelongtermsolutionsto
addresstheproblemsfacedbythepeopleintheDistrictwhohavebeenaffected
bythewarandassuredtotakemeasurestouplifttheireconomyalong with the
developmentofinfrastructurefacilities.WickremesinghealsovisitedPointPedro
andKilinochchiintheNorthernProvince,andtalkedtoformercombatantsofthe
LTTE,warwidows,civilsocietyrepresentatives,andparliamentarians.
The Kilinochchi Magistrate's Court in Kilinochchi District in Northern Province
ordered the immediate release of Balendran Vibushika, the daughter of Tamil
activistBalendranJeyakumari,whowastransferredtoprobationarycustodyin a
children'shomeinKilinochchiafterhermotherwasarrestedinMarch2014,from
probation. Balendran Jeyakumari, along with her then 13yearold daughter,
Vibushika,wasarrestedonMarch13,2014inKilinochchiforallegedlysheltering
aLTTEcadre,namedGopi,whoshotaPoliceInspectorinKilinochchiduringan
arrest. Her daughter was handed over to Child Protection Services while the
mother was sent to Boossa detention camp in Galle in Southern Province.
Jeyakumari, who was detained for nearly a year without being charged, was
releasedonconditionalbailonMarch10.FollowingJeyakumari'sreleaseonbail,
theKilinochchiMagistrate'sCourtorderedtheauthoritiestohandoverVibushika
tohermother'scustody.
March28
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the EU has responded positively to the

quest made by him to extend the ban on, LTTE. The PM made this
announcement when he met with the members of the threeArmed Forces and
Police at the Defence Headquarters at Palaly at Jaffna in Northern Province.
Accordingly, the EU will further extend the ban on LTTE, the PM said.
Wickremesinghe assured the SFs that his Government will not leave any room
to sacrifice lives of armed forces and general public due to wrong decisions
takenbythepoliticians.
Meanwhile,DeputyForeignAffairs Minister,AjithPPererasaidthattheEUhad
reimposed the ban on the LTTE due to the positive diplomatic intervention of
the Government. However, the EU has not officially announced the decision to
extendtheban.
March30
DeputyForeignMinisterAjithPPererawarnedthatthereisarealdangerthatthe
LTTE could regroup and wage another war for an independent Tamil homeland,
six years after they were militarily defeated. Perera said that "Their front
organisationsoperatebusinessesabroad,theyrunpetrolstations,supermarkets
and have shipping companies." "Even though they have been defeated on the
ground,thereisarealdangeroftheirtryingtoregroup,"hesaid.Hiscomments
came after the Sri Lankan Government pushed the EU to again blacklist the
LTTE.
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Sri Lankan Government said that a final decision has not yet been taken on
lifting the ban on some diaspora groups or individuals listed by the former
Government. Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith P Perera said that the issue is
sensitive and needs to be dealt with carefully and will also need the support of
Parliament.
The CID of Sri Lanka has arrested three former Navy personnel and detained
them in connection with the killing of TNA MP Nadarajah Raviraj and a
Policemanprovidingsecuritytohimin2006.Theparliamentarianwasshotdead
bygunmenridingamotorbikeinColomboinWesternProvinceonNovember10,
2006. His bodyguard, Police Constable Lakshman Lokuwella attached to the
Jaffna Police Station, was also killed in the shooting. The Spokesman ASP
Ruwan Gunasekara said the three security personnel including two officers are
beinginterrogatedunderthePreventionofTerrorismAct(PTA)andtheywillalso
be questioned over several disappearances during that time. The new
government of President Maithripala Sirisena has promised accountability for
wartime abuses. Raviraj was outspoken on greater selfrule for minority ethnic
Tamils and explained the Tamil perspective of the conflict in Sinhala, the
language of the majority.A former mayor of Jaffna and a lawyer by profession,
Raviraj openly spoke out against the conflict between the military and LTTE in
thecountry'snorthandeast.
Dismissing muchtouted allegations that thousands had been still held on
terrorismcharges,JusticeMinisterWijeyadasaRajapakshesaidthattherewere
only 210 persons in custody. The Minister stressed that nine held on terrorism
charges had been given bail.According to the minister, 134 persons had been
remanded had 60 were under investigation and 25 held under Prevention of
TerrorismAct(PTA).Ofthetotalnumber,ninehavebeenreleasedonbail.
March31
ThenewlyappointedCommanderoftheArmy,LieutenantGeneralKrishanthade
Silva said that Sri Lanka Army has not withdrawn the troops or camps in the
North. The Army Commander has stressed that safeguarding territorial
sovereignty was of paramount importance and assured to take all measures to
preventtheresurgenceofmilitancyintheNorth.TheCommanderaddedthatthe
President, who is CommanderInChief, and he, himself are committed to
achieving national security. He assured that no military camps have been
withdrawntoreleaselandtotheoriginalownersintheNorthandEast.Speaking
of the reports that the LTTE is trying to make a comeback, the Army
Commander said the SFs are extremely alert and watching the situation "very
carefully"."Therewillbezerotoleranceofanyactsofterror,"heemphasized.
ThreeSriLankanNavypersonnel,includingtwoofficers,havebeenarrestedby
thePoliceundertheantiterrorismActfortheallegedmurderofapopularTamil
lawmaker in 2006 that had been blamed on the LTTE. Police spokesman ASP
Ruwan Gunasekara said that the three men are suspected in the killing of
Nadaraja Raviraj, who was shot dead in his car in November 2006 during the
country'scivilwar.Aformermayor ofJaffnaandalawyerbyprofession,Raviraj
openly spoke out against the conflict between the military and LTTE in the
country's North and East. The Government of former President Mahinda
RajapaksablamedthekillingonthenowdefeatedLTTE,butRaviraj'ssupporters
suspectedaGovernmenthand.
April1
ThevisitingUNSpecialRapporteuronthepromotionoftruth,justice,reparation
andguaranteesofnonrecurrence,PablodeGreiffmetwiththeChiefMinisterof
the Northern Province C. V. Wigneswaran. Reports said that Mr. de Greiff, who
arrived in Sri Lanka on March 29, for a sixday visit on the invitation of the Sri
Lankan Government, has held closeddoor discussions with the Chief Minister
on the current situation in the region. The UN official has reportedly requested
nottodisclosethediscussionstothemedia.However,Tamilmediareports said
theChiefMinisterhashandedovertherecentlyadoptedNPCresolutiononTamil
genocide to the Special Rapporteur. The resolution adopted by the NPC in
February 2015 calls for an international investigation into alleged acts of
genocidecommittedagainsttheTamilsduringthewar.
April2
Sri Lanka did not seize the opportunities that existed in 2009 after ending the
war to bring the country together and has a chance now to achieve
reconciliation, justice and true peace, said the US official Tom Malinowski.
However,theprocesswillrequire,inpart,"lookingbackward,toacknowledgethe
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suffering of the innocent and account for the wrongdoing of the guilty, on every
side," Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human
Rights,andLaborsaidassuringthesupportoftheUSfortheprocess."TheUS
willcontinuetoencouragethatprocess,becauseexperiencehastaughtusthat
nosocietycan move forward by burying the past. But our greatest hope is that
youwillkeepmovingforward,"heremarked.
President Maithripala Sirisena chaired a special discussion on the identification
and allocation of lands to resettle the IDPs of Mannar in Mannar District of
Northern Province. The discussion, held at the President's Secretariat,
especially centered on identifying suitable land to distribute to the displaced
familiesintheMannarDistrict.ThePresident advised to use the lands that are
under the District Secretary's purview, while emphasizing to pay special
attentiontoprotectthethickforestcoverinthearea.ThePresidentpointedout
the need to distributing lands without causing any discrimination to any ethnic
group.Accordingtothelatestfigures,1,734families intheMannarDistricthave
requested for land, where 902 of them have been recommended as suitable to
receiveland.
April3
The new Government has started a comprehensive investigation to determine

whether arms and ammunition recovered from the LTTE were provided to
terrorist organizations by the previous Government. The Cabinet Spokesperson
andtheMinisterof Health and Indigenous Medicine Rajitha Senaratne said that
the Government will probe whether the recovered LTTE arms have been
provided to the Ukrainian rebels and the Islamic terrorist organization Boko
Haram in Nigeria. He said the previous Government has provided arms to a
securityinstitutionwhichwasallegedlyinvolvedinarmsdealswithanumberof
countries including Nigeria and the Government has received reports that the
organization had exchanged arms in mid sea. The Minister said that the
Government has suspicions as to whether they sold the LTTE weapons since
the relevant officials in the Government have denied ever selling any state
weapons."TheGovernmentdoesnothaveacompletereportabouttheweapons
foundfromtheLTTEduringthelastfewdayofwaronterrorism,"hesaid.
April4
ThreeArmypersonnelincluding aCaptainreceivedinjurieswhentheyattempted
to diffuse a landmine buried by the LTTE during war time in Wilasikulam forest
areainMadhuPoliceDivisioninMannarDistrictofNorthernProvince.According
tothePolice,aCaptainoftheEngineeringCorps,aCorporal and a Soldier who
receivedinjurieshavebeenadmittedtoVavuniyaHospital.Ithasbeenrevealed
thatthelandmineexplodedduetoadelaywhichoccurredduringbombdisposal.
Sri Lankan Army Headquarters said that the troops on their search and clear
operations in the general areas of Kombavil, Puthukkudiyrippu, Ampakamam,
PiramanthalaruandKalkudahinNorthernProvincerecoveredsixhandgrenades,
one 81 mm mortar bomb, oneArul bomb, one RPG bomb, one 40 mm grenade
launcherbombandoneIED.TheArmyalsosaidthatthe demining groups had
recovered one hundred antipersonnel mines from Mahamailankulam,
Kaddiadampan, 14th Mile Post and Pumalanathan in Northern Province. The
armsthathadbeenburiedtherebytheLTTE during war time were detected by
employeesofaNGOandtheyalertedtheSFs.
April5
TheGovernmentwillsetupanationalwelfarecentreinthecountry'swarravaged
NorthtoupliftTamilfamiliesheadedbywomenorthevictimsofthenearlythree
decadeslong civil war in the country, said PM Ranil Wickremesinghe's office.
ThenationalcentrewillbelocatedinKilinochchiinNorthernProvince,theformer
LTTE administrative centre, PM's office said in a statement. The decision was
taken following a request made by the Northern people to set up the centre in
Kilinochchi where most women had lost their husbands in the conflict. "It is a
well known fact that most suffered persons due to a war are women and
children. In the north alone there are nearly 50,000 families that are headed by
women. They are made destitute due to their inability to provide food,
accommodationandeducationalneedstotheirchildren,"thestatementsaid.
Based on a UN report on womenheaded households, Wickremesinghe has
appointedacommitteetolookatways to uplift social and economic conditions
of womenheaded households. Since coming into power, the new Government
hastakensignificantstepstobringnormalcyintheNorth.TheGovernmenthas
returnedsomemilitaryacquiredlandtooriginalTamilowners.Atravelrestriction
forforeignerstravellingtotheNorthimposedbythepreviousMahindaRajapaksa
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regime has also been lifted. According to UN estimates, up to 40,000 Tamil

civilianswerekilledbySFsduringformerpresidentMahindaRajapaksa'sregime
thatbroughtanendtothenearlythreedecadeslongwarinthecountrywith the
defeatoftheLTTEin2009.
April10
TheArmyreleased570acresoflandfromHighSecurityZonesinJaffnaDistrict
to the District Secretary for Jaffna for distribution among rightful owners. The
Armyinastatementsaid"Undertoday'sphase,397acresfromKankasanthurai
Southand173acresfromValaliintheValikamamsectorofJaffnaDistricthave
nowbeenreleasedtotheDistrictSecretariat,thuscompletingtheextentof1000
acresassuredbytheGovernment."
April13
The IFJ along with the FMM condemned the arrest of a Tamil journalist in the
Northern Province by the Sri Lankan Police on April 8 in Jaffna. IFJ in a
statement accused the Sri Lankan Police in Jaffna of intimidating Tamil
journalists.
April14
TheUNHRClistedcertainurgenttasksfortheSriLankanGovernmenttodo,so
that charges of human rights abuses and war crimes are meaningfully
addressed. Pablo de Greiff, UNHRC Special Rapporteur for Truth, Justice,
Reparation and Guarantees of NonRecurrence has said in his report that Sri
Lanka should take "immediate action" to clarify the fate of the disappeared
refrainfromarbitrarydetentionsaddresslandissuesandputanimmediateend
to continuing forms of harassment, violence and unjustified surveillance of civil
society and war victims, in particular women in the Eastern and Northern
Provinces."Thesecastaseriousdoubtoncurrentefforts,"hesaid.
April15
India's Central intelligence agencies have launched a major investigation into a

"specifictipoff"thatNaxalswerenowgettingsophisticatedweaponsthroughthe
searoutefromSriLanka.TopIndianintelligencesources claimedthattheyhad
received information some time back that Naxals were routing arms and
ammunition through the sea route through an arms cartel which was suspected
to be earlier providing weapons to the LTTE as well. It is suspected that the
weapons are coming through Sri Lanka using the sea route, sources added.
Report said that the intelligence officials are worried about this new "supply
route"beingusedbytheNaxalstoprocuresophisticatedweapons,includingthe
AKseries rifles, landmines, grenade launchers, communication equipment and
evenNVDs.
TNAhascalledontheGovernmenttoimmediatelyinterveneandhaltdisruptions
tojournalistsintheNorthernProvince.TNAMPS.Shritharanhaswrittenaletter
to President Maithripala Sirisena calling on him to intervene and probe the
alleged intimidation faced by journalists in the North by groups claiming to be
from the military. In one instance, three journalists were threatened by persons
reportedly from the military after they had covered a public protest in Nallur in
JaffnaDistricttodemandcleandrinkingwater.
The wife of missing Sri Lankan journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, Sandya
Eknaligodasaidthatsheisnotsatisfiedwiththefreshprobethatwaslaunched
by the new Government in to her husband's disappearance that took place in
2010.SandyahassaidthatthoughtheGovernmenthadpreviouslypromised to
handovertheinvestigationstotheCID,shehassofarnotbeeninformedofany
progress regarding the ongoing investigations. "However I still have hope that
theGovernmentwouldfindoutwhathappenedtoPrageethbeforetheendofthis
year,"Sandyahasfurthersaid.
April16
Refugees including Sri Lankan Tamils, rejected by Australia will soon fly from
thePacificatollofNaurutoberesettledinCambodia,theABCsaidquotingthe
AustralianGovernment.
April18
TNAMPMASumanthiransaidthattheTNAhasnoallegiancetotheLTTEasit
isnotinfavourofterrorism.Hesaidthat"Wedonothaveanyallegiancetothe
LTTE nor are we committed to their ideology. We stand up for the rights of the
Tamil people but we are not in favour of terrorism nor do we encourage it and
everyone knows this." He also dismissed concerns over resurgence of the
LTTE,sayingitisaneffortbypoliticalpartiestocreatefearamongthepeople.
April22
TheGovernoroftheEasternProvinceAustinFernandovehementlyrejectedthe
allegations that the lands in Sampur inTrincomalee District have been given to
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the LTTE terrorists. The Governor pointed out that handing over the lands to
theiroriginalownerswillneverharmthesecurityofthenavalbasesornavaljetty
in Trincomalee. He said there is no truth in the speculation spread by some
socialmediathatthenavalbaseinSampurhasbeenremoved.TheGovernment
has taken measures to develop the Sampur navy training camp as a fully
fledgednavytraininginstitute.
April23
President Maithripala Sirisena defended the new Government's policy of

returningprivateland,onceusedbytheSFs,tolegitimateowners,especiallyin
the Northern and Eastern Provinces, where Tamils and Muslims are present
substantially.Sirisena,whileaddressingthenationthroughtheelectronicmedia,
said "the 30 year conflict" (with the LTTE) should not raise its head again. "We
have to ensure amity among all communities." He said that a section of the
media has been spreading falsehoods such as: the military has been removed
from the North their numbers have been reduced that lands in Sampur had
been given to LTTE terrorists and that the Tamil and Muslim minorities have
been given more rights than the Sinhalese. "These stories are being spread by
extreme communalists. Please do not spread these false messages to the
world,"heurged.
April26
Sixty percent of the people who had appeared before the PCICMP, blamed the
LTTE for the disappearance of their kith and kin, PCICMP Chairman, Retired
Justice Maxwell Paranagama, said. He said that "Thirty percent of the
complaintswereagainsttheSriLankanSFs,10percentagainsttheother(non
LTTE)Tamilmilitantgroups,and5percentwereagainstunidentified elements."
A total of 2500 people from the Northern and Eastern Provinces had appeared
before the commission. There were 16,000 complaints from civilians and 5600
fromtheSFs.Paranagamaaddedthat "However, the blame figures varied from
district to district. In Kilinochchi, 85 percent of those who deposed blamed the
LTTE. In Mullaitivu, 80 percent blamed the LTTE. In Jaffna, people blamed the
LTTE and the SFs equally (50:50). In the Eastern Province most of the
complaints were against the SFs.The Karuna group (a breakaway group of the
LTTE),wasalsoblamedtoanextentintheEast."Someofthecaseshavebeen
referredforactionandsomeforfurtherinvestigations,hesaid.
The Commission has submitted its interim report to President Maithripala
Sirisena.TheGovernmenthasaskedthepaneltocontinueitsworkasitisalso
investigatingallegationsofwarcrimes.
April30
FiveDutchnationalsofSriLankanorigin have been jailed for between nineteen

months and six years three months for raising money for LTTE. The appeal
courtruledthefive,whorangeinagefrom43to60,weremembersoftheLTTE
andhadraisedmoneyfortheterrorgroupbetween2003and2010.The charges
involvedthreateningpeoplewhorefusedtomakedonationsandorganizingillegal
lotteries,thecourtsaid.
May2
TNA called for a special arrangement to ensure that Tamil speaking people
wouldretainthesamenumberofseatsregardlessofdrasticdropinthenumber
ofelectorsovertheyearsduetothemfleeingthecountryormovingtoDistricts
outside the Northern Province. TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said that their
support for the proposed 20 Amendment to the Constitution would entirely
depend on guarantee that the existing 160 electorates would remain intact.The
MP insisted that the electoral reforms couldn't be finalized at the expense of
Tamilspeakingpeople.TheMPinsistedthattheSLFP'spushforanagreement
onelectoralreformswasn'trealisticthereforethosespearheadingtalksonthe 20
Amendmentshouldbemindfuloftheirconcerns.
May4
Chairman of the PCICMP, retired High Court Judge Maxwell Paranagama said
that four teams will be appointed to the PCICMP to conduct investigations into
future deliberations. He said the appointments were in accordance with the
recommendationsmadeintheinterimreportthatwassubmittedtothePresident
MaithripalaSirisena.Thesefourteamswillinvestigateabout 16,000 complaints,
accordingtotheChairman.
May7
SriLanka'snewGovernmentsaidthatadomesticmechanismwillbeinplaceby
September to probe into the alleged human rights violations during the final
stages of decadeslong war with the LTTE. Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala
Samaraweerasaidthatthedomesticmechanismwithforeigntechnicalexpertise
to probe into the allegations of war crimes will be in place when next UNHRC
sessionwillmeetinGenevainSeptember.
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The Governor of Eastern Province, Austin Fernando has strongly refuted

criticismmadeincertainquartersabouttheColombo'sdecisiontoresettleIDPs,
mostly Tamils, in Sampur town in Trincomalee District. According to the
Governor, critics of the Government sought to portray the move as one being
carried out at the behest of Indian Government or as "sell out to the LTTE" or
"politicallymotivated."
May8
State Minister of Defence Dinendra Ruwan Wijewardene said that the language
barrier between the Sinhala and Tamil communities was one of the reasons for
the prolonged ethnic conflict that had plagued the nation for three decades and
some extremist forces within these communities took it to their advantage and
asaresultthenationlostmanyinvaluablelivesandresources.
Two proLTTE Conservative candidates, MPS in the last Parliament, Lee Scott
and Nick De Bois, were routed in May 7 British elections. According to the
political observers, their failure to win their constituencies is considered a big
blowtoLTTEpropagandaintheUK.AmalAbeyawardeneoftheCFSL saidthat
theoutcomeoftheBritishelectionisgoodnewsforSriLanka.
The IFJ in its latest report said that Sri Lanka along with India, Pakistan and
Afghanistanisamongthe 'worst offenders' in the region in protecting journalists
in 201415. The report also advocated a strong need for a campaign to end
impunitytoensurethatthosewhoabduct,attackorkilljournalists were brought
tojustice."WhileSriLankadidnotexperience any journalist deaths in the past
year, several had close shaves. Even six years after the end of the war, the
media in the Northern and Eastern Province of the island continue to face
attacksandharassment,"theIFJreportsaid.
Smaller political parties in Sri Lanka, which represents minority communities,
have expressed their opposition to the proposed 20th amendment to the
constitution which incorporates reforms to the electoral system. "We are
opposed to the move of bringing electoral reforms as an urgent bill. We are for
reformingthesystembutwewantthenextelectiontobeheldundertheexisting
systemofproportionalrepresentation,"saidManoGanesan,aleaderofaTamil
politicalparty.
May9
TNA Leader R. Sampanthan said that the Tamil people should be given a
suitable political solution soon. Sampanthan further said that They (Tamils)
should also be given equal rights andTamil people had complete confidence in
present President Maithripala Sirisena. Sampanthan said "President Sirisena
should convince his electorate that Tamils in the North should be given their
lands. We have never asked to divide the country. We have very clearly said
thatapoliticalsolutionshouldbeformulatedthroughalocalprocess.
May12
SomeTNAmembersoftheNPCannounced thattheperiodMay13to19would
bemarkedasTamilGenocideWeek and began commemorating the dead with
a function in Mullavaikkal in Mullaitivu District where the final battle was fought
in2009.ThemilitarydefeatedtheLTTEonMay19(2009)whichismarkedand
celebratedasVictoryDayinthecountry.
TNA NPC member M.K. Sivajilingam said We lit lamps and offered floral
tributes at a small function in Mullavaikkal in Mullaitivu District. This week we
will have commemorations throughout the North. We requested the party
hierarchytoholdthemainfunctiononMay19.Healsosaidthathewasbacked
by a few other members of the TNA in this exercise. However, it is learnt that
theTNA,asaparty,hasnotorganisedanysuchcommemoration.
May13
Government warned that any attempt to commemorate LTTE on the sixth

anniversary of the end of the threedecade long civil war will not be condoned.
Senior Minister Karu Jayasuriya said that "Anyone trying to commemorate the
LTTE which was a terror group will not be approved by the government. There
areelementswhowanttomisusethenewdemocraticfreedominthecountryto
showthatterrorismcouldriseitsheadagain."
According to the authorities, over 40 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from various
camps in Tamil Nadu, India voluntarily left for Sri Lanka from Chennai and
TiruchirappalliwiththeassistanceofUNHCR.
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Minister for Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs, D.M.

Swaminathan said that only 35 percent of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in
TamilNadu(India)arewillingtoreturntoSriLanka.Swaminathan,whoreceived
65 Tamil refugees on their arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport in
Colombo, said that of most of about 100,000 refugees in Tamil Nadu had got
jobs there, married had children. "Not all of them will come here. It is all
rubbish",hesaid.
Emphasizing that his Government would welcome all those refugees who were
willing to return, Minister Swaminathan noted that some of the returnees had
Indian passports and they can come back to Sri Lanka under the dual
citizenshipsystem.
May14
Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne announced that the day, May 19 which
was celebrated as Victory Day by the Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa to
mark the LTTEs defeat, will from this year onwards be observed as
Remembrance Day to recall the sacrifices of all those who had fought in the
EelamWarIVtomaintaintheunityandintegrityofSriLankairrespectiveoftheir
ethnicity. He also added that it would be a day that culminated the end of
separatism.
In a bid to take this message of unity to the interior of the island, the function
this year will be held, not in Colombo, but at Matara in the Southern Province.
However, as in the past, there will be a military parade at which President
MaithripalaSirisenawilltakethesalute.
TheTNAleaderM.A.SumanthiransaidthatTNA,evenin2010,ayearafterthe
end of the War, had called upon people to remember the dead without any
reference to the LTTE or religion. Its point was there should be no sense of
triumphalismbutafeelingofregretandsadness.
Member of the NPC and former MP M.K. Shivajilingam said that as part of the
genocidalweek,beginningonMay12,hetookpartinfunctionsinMullivaikkal,
Trincomalee and Point Pedro in the last three days to pay homage to all those
whodiedintheWarThedeadincludedthosewhobelongedtotheLTTE,said
Shivajilingam,whoisthenationalorganiseroftheTELO,nowapoliticalparty.
Sri Lankan Government reiterated that Sri Lanka has not faced pressure from
the Tamil diaspora after the January 8, 2015 Presidential elections. Cabinet
spokesmanRajithaSenaratnesaidthatearliertherewerereportsofthediaspora
stagingprotestsinforeigncountriesagainstSriLanka.However,asthecountry
prepares to commemorate six years since the end of the war, Senaratne noted
that the diaspora has gone silent since the Government is addressing the
concernsoftheTamils.
MinisteralsoinvitedNPCtoattendtheRemembranceDayfunctionswhichwill
be held next week in Southern Province. We are inviting all. Well see whether
theyarecoming,RajithaSenaratnesaid.
AccordingtoPMRanilWickremesinghe,theGovernmentisplanningtosetupa
commission to probe the killing and disappearances of media persons in the
past. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, during a recent discussion he had
withmediapersonnelandotherstakeholders,saidthatitwasdecided that such
acommissionshouldbeestablishedinconsultationandconcurrencewithmedia
groups, civil society organizations and other relevant partners. The PM noted
thattheharassmentandintimidationonmediainstitutionsandjournalistswhich
prevailed in the past have stopped under the 'good governance' established
sincePresidentMaithripalaSirisenaassumedoffice.
May16
On the request of Mullaitivu Police, the Mullaitivu Magistrate Court issued an

order banning people from holding any LTTE commemoration events or
remembrance events in the Mullaitivu Police Division in Mullaitivu District of
Northern Province for 14 days starting from May 18. Police have sought the
courtorderafterlearningthatTNPFwasplanningtoholdanLTTEremembrance
eventatMullivaikalinMullaitivuDistrictonMay18.
FormerPresidentMahindaRajapaksa,who hopes to romp back to power in the
coming parliamentary elections on a Sinhalesenationalist wave, decided to
celebrate May 18, the day on which LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was
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killed, as War Heroes Day. Rajapaksas rally to be held at Viharamahadevi

ParkinColomboissignificantinthecontextofPresidentMaithripalaSirisenas
decision to observe May 19 as Remembrance Day to honor all Lankans,
soldiers and civilians, irrespective of ethnicity, who had sacrificed their life or
limbforthesakeoftheunityandintegrityofthecountry.
May17
Despite the ban on proLTTE commemorations in Mullaitivu District, the TNA

controlled NPC intends to have a function in the North on May 18 to pay to
tribute to those who lost their lives, party officials said. TNA MP Suresh
Premachandran said that the NCP organized event was originally to be
conductedinMullivaikkal,theareawherethelastbattlewasfoughtbetweenthe
LTTEandtheSFsonMay18,2009endingthreedecadesofwar.Thevenuehad
to be changed following the court order that banned any form of LTTE
commemorationinthearea,headded.HealsocriticisedtheGovernmentfornot
allowingsuchfunctions.
The Council of Tamil Civil Society Organisations has made an open request to
Tamils to attend Remembrance Day functions in their respective areas without
keeping away and to perform poojas in all Hindu temples for the souls of their
departed loved ones. It also requested to pay floral tributes and light lamps in
schools, government departments and offices in the North and East and to get
the permission of their respective Provincial Council administrations to hold
remembranceinasimilarmanner.
A Londonbased Tamil diaspora group, GTF hailed Sri Lankan President
Maithripala Sirisena as an "emerging patriot and statesman" by "word and
example". GTF President Father S.J. Emmanuel in his message to mark May
18, the day Sri Lankan SFs ended the LTTE terrorism six years ago said that
President Maithripala Sirisena, by word and example, is appealing to all to put
the country and the people before political parties and seek a peaceful
coexistenceofallpeoples.
May18
Despite the court order banning proLTTE commemorations, Tamils including

some of the TNA leaders and civilians, for the first time since the end of the
EelamWarIVsixyearsago,openlypaidtributetothethousandsofdeadinthe
finalstagesofthewarinMullaitivuDistrict.TNAmembers oftheNPCandlocal
leaders, under heavy surveillance, lit oil lamps and offered flowers at a
makeshiftmemorialinMullivaikkalvillage.
In a function organized at the Mullivaikkal beach in Mullaitivu District, Chief
Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran urged that the Sri Lankan
Government and international community to take a decision on the Tamil
question.Hesaid,"Thisinturncouldusherinpeaceanddignityamongvarious
communities in Sri Lanka.". "The environment is now much more positive.
Without delay, we must work towards the all important goal of maximum
devolutionfortheTamilspeakingpeople,"headded.
The IFJ and its several affiliates have called for more dialogue and discussion
on improving working conditions for journalists in Sri Lanka if the country is to
rebuild a strong, robust and professional media industry in the country. In a
statement, the media organizations highlighting some of the obstacles
preventingjournalistsfromjoiningandbeingactiveinunionssaidfurthersupport
wasneededforjournalistsinexiletrying to return.The media group also asked
theGovernmenttocreateanindependentCommissionofInquirywithamandate
and adequate powers to investigate past killings and disappearances of media
workers, threats and attacks on journalists and media outlets and to ensure
prosecutionofthoseresponsibleandpaycompensationtothevictimsandtheir
families.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, while attending a commemoration
accusedtheSirisenaGovernmentofforgettingthetroopswhowereresponsible
for the crushing the LTTE's 30year campaign. "Please take revenge from me,
putmeinjail,butdonotforgettheheroicforces,"Rajapaksatoldthegathering.
The ITJP Sri Lanka, headed by South African human rights activist Yasmin
Sooka, asked the Sri Lankan Government to give information about the
whereaboutsof110LTTEleaderswhohadsurrenderedtotheSriLankanmilitary
infullpublicviewonMay18,2009."Thefailureonthepartof the authorities to
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carryoutaproperinvestigationintotheirsubsequent disappearance is a further

injusticeaswellasapersonaltragedy",anITJPpressreleasesaid.
May19
President Maithripala Sirisena, while addressing the 'War Hero's Day'

celebrations at the coastal town of Matara in Southern Province said that
achieving national reconciliation with the minority Tamil community is a priority
for the new Sri Lankan Government and winning hearts and minds is more
important than reconstructing wardevastated buildings. Attending the
celebrationsasthecountrymarkedthe6thanniversaryoftheendoftheconflict
with the LTTE that killed over 40,000 persons, Sirisena said that "National
reconciliationbuildonmutualtrust,confidenceandrespectofallcommunitiesis
mygovernment'spolicy."
Sirisena pledged the Government's support for the military. "I have the fullest
confidence in you (the troops) to safeguard the security of our motherland," he
said, accusing his rivals of spreading "false propaganda" against the
Government.HealsoassuredthathewouldnotallowtheLTTEtoraiseitshead
again.
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe praised the efforts of the country's soldiers for
defeating the armed movement, the LTTE, stating that "war heroes who
eliminated terrorism that engulfed our country for a longtime laid the basic
foundation to build national unity and harmony". While speaking at a
commemoration function, recently renamed as 'Armed Forces Day' in Matara in
Southern Province, the PM said "We should remember with gratitude and
respect our men and women who laid their lives in combating terrorism, peace
keepingandhumanitarianoperationsacrosstheworldandtheoneswhobecame
disabledwhiledoingtheirdutydiligently."
May20
State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardena strongly rejected the allegation

madebytheformerPresidentMahindaRajapaksaandoppositionMPswhohad
statedthat the LTTE flag was hoisted in parts of the Northern Province onMay
18 when Sri Lanka commemorated the sixth year of defeating LTTE terrorism.
TheMinistersaidthat"Reportreceivedfromintelligenceagenciesstatenosuch
incident being staged in the Northern or Eastern Provinces. These rumors are
spread by certain persons with vested interests, media sources and social web
sitestoachievetheirownpoliticalagendas."
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has lifted the stay on the transfer of 818 acres of
land in Sampur area in Eastern Province to the displaced Tamils after the
displaced appealed to the court to return the land. Earlier, TNA parliamentarian
MA Sumanthiran submitted an intervention to the Supreme Court demanding
return of appropriated lands to listed individuals from Sampur. The bench,
headed by Chief Justice S Sripavan accepted the plea of the counsel for the
displaced families that the Government had consistently held that the lands
seizedbythemilitaryin200607duringtheheightofwarintheEasternProvince
wouldbereturnedtothedisplacedTamilsofthearea.
May23
SriLankanPolicearrestedtwopersonsforallegedlyprintinganddealingFICNin
Sri Lanka. Police said that the two from the Colombo suburbs of JaEla and
Wattala were found to be exchanging FICNs with genuine notes. Police have
recovered25FICNsofINR1,000denominationfromthefirstpersonandanother
156fakenotesofINR1,000denominationfromthesecondperson.
May24
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenasaidthatSriLankanGovernmentplanstodevise
acomprehensivenationalsecurityplancoveringallaspectsofnecessaryareas
of security in the country. During an observation visit to the SFHQE in
WelikandainPolonnaruwaDistrictinNorthCentralProvince,the President said
that national security plan has already been taken up in the National Security
Council and will be finalized shortly with the support of triservices after
consultations.
May26
Sri Lanka's wartime Army chief, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka said that his
conscience is clear and he would welcome a war crimes investigation to prove
his innocence. While accepting that some crimes occurred during the war,
Fonsekainsiststhatthesewereactsofindividualoffenders,andnotsystematic.
"The army as a whole, I can give the assurance that we never committed war
crimes," he said. "There were no rapes, no torture during my command during
thewar.Iknowtherehavebeenacoupleofallegations.Butthereshouldnotbe
reason to try to declare war against the media or against the international
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community.Wecanclarifyit,"headded.
According to an Indonesian Police chief,Australian customs have turned back
65 people, including 54 Sri Lankan Tamils, after their boat reached Australian
waters. The 65 persons, 54 from Sri Lanka, 10 from Bangladesh and one from
Myanmar,whoreportedlyclaimedtobeasylumseekers,areindetentiononthe
Indonesian island of Rote. According to report, they had started out from
Pelabuhan Ratu in West Java on May 24 and were intercepted by Australian
customstwodayslater.
May28
Despite Maithripala Sirisena Government's repeated assertions of attaching

priority to ethnic reconciliation in the country, the regime has been found to be
"reluctant" in demilitiarising the Northern and Eastern Provinces where Tamils
liveinlargenumbers,accordingtoastudyconductedbyUSbasedpolicy think
tank, Oakland Institute. According to the Institute, the study was carried out
during the period of January 2014April 2015 "with the knowledge but not the
cooperation of the Sri Lankan government." As part of the study, the
organisation has prepared two reports. The study criticized the fourmonthold
Governmentforoperatingwiththe"oldmindset"insecurityrelatedmatters.The
report said that the Government has also not proposed a timeline or monitoring
mechanismtoensurethereleaseofTamilpoliticalprisonersorreturnoflandsto
originalownersintheNorthernandEasternProvinces.
May29
President Maithripala Sirisena said that he has already instructed the relevant
authorities to reopen files relating to the abductions and assassinations of
journalists during the past few years.The President, while handing over a cash
grant to Sandiya Ekneligoda, wife of missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda at
the Sri Lanka Bar Association Auditorium in Colombo, said that "Impartial,
methodical and justifiable investigations will be carried out in to the abductions
ofjournalists,sincethegovernmentstronglybelievesthattheruleoflawshould
be protected. Accordingly, investigations will be carried out promptly and
recommenced into all suppressed misconducts." Sirisena added that the
Governmenthasclearlyunderstoodthatitisdutyboundto establish justice for
thevictimizedjournalists.
FormerPresidentMahindaRajapaksaexpressedfearsaboutthepossibilityofa
revivalofthedefunctterroristorganization,LTTE,inthecountry.Whilespeaking
to media in Anuradhapura in North Central Province, he said that "I have a
suspicion that we may return to see terrorism. We don't want to see that
happening we want everyone to live in peace and harmony." Rajapaksa also
accusedPresidentMaithripalaSirisenaofrelaxingsecurityintheNorthtocater
to the demand of the Tamils in the Northern Province to demilitarize the former
conflictaffected areas. Report also adds that according to political observers,
raising fears of an LTTE revival could help the former President, who plans to
contest parliamentary polls to make a political comeback, to win the elections.
Rajapaksaloyalistsintheformerrulingparty,UPFAareleadingthecampaignto
gethimappointedasthePrimeMinister.
SriLankanGovernmenthasassuredthatitwillneverallowtheterroristgroupto
revive in the country and condemned those trying to raise fears for political
mileage.
May30
TNAparliamentarian,M.A.Sumanthiranhassaidthatdiscussionsareunderway
with the Sri Lankan Government authorities to get 278 Tamil political prisoners
released.According toSumanthiran,theTNAisindiscussionswiththeJustice
Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe on the procedural methods and the priority
categories of prisoners to be released. He said that many prisoners have not
beenservedanyindictmentsbutarrestedonmeresuspicion,whilemanyothers
havebeenarrestedforminoroffences.
June1
The Britain based Tamil group, BritishTamil Forum has sought India's help for
Tamils based in Northern Sri Lanka in improving their lives through a host of
measures. Representatives of the British Tamil Forum, which claims to
represent nearly 4,00,000 from the community living in the UK, met officials of
theIndianHighCommissioninLondonlastweekandsoughtpositivemeasures
for the Tamils who are "first Sri Lankan but do have an affinity to India"."The
meetingwent very well and whilst the Indian government will be keen to help in
partnershipwiththeSriLankangovernmentforallsuchpositiveefforts,thepoint
was made and unanimously applauded that peaceful and diplomatic avenues
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only remain our workethic base," saidAnil Bhanot, managing director of Hindu
CouncilUKthecharitywhichfacilitatedthemeeting.
Report said that some of the suggested measures included psychological and
psychiatric help for the Tamils in the region, particularly women, apparently
affected during the nearly three decadelong brutal war against the LTTE,
besidessettingupofIndianeducationinstitutionsbranches.Theyalso included
abridgebetweenRameswaraminTamilNaduandanorthernSriLankanportfor
easier movement of goods and services and people with the appropriate
controlsandaferryservice,whichexistedbeforethewar,shouldberesumed.
Around 2,175 internally displaced Tamil families in Jaffna and Trincomalee
Districts will receive a financial assistance of LKR 38,000 per family for
resettlement with the Cabinet of the Sri Lankan Government sanctioning LKR
160 million. According to the report, 204 families in Sampur in Trincomalee
District of the Eastern Province, and 1,971 families in Jaffna of the Northern
Province will get the assistance initially. Of the amount of assistance, LKR
25,000issetapartforresettlementallowanceandtheremainingLKR13,000for
purposessuchasclearinglandandpurchaseoftools.
Three minor Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka have decided to join hands to
formanewpoliticalfront,sayingthattheTNAonlyrepresentstheTamilsinthe
Northern and Eastern part of the country. Mano Ganesan, the leader of the
Democratic People's Front (DPF), a minority party for the Tamils in Western
Province has said two other political parties, the National Union of Workers
(NUW)andUpCountryPeople'sFront(UCPF),whichrepresentestateTamilsin
centralhillplantations,aretojoinhispartytoformthenewpoliticalfront.
June2
NorthernProvinceChiefMinisterC.V. Wigneswaran charged that narcotic drugs

hadbeenintroducedintheProvinceinasystematicmannerwiththeintentionof
preventingaTamilyouthresurgence.SpeakingatafunctioninJaffna,theChief
Ministersaidsomeofthestateofficialsandministershadtheopinionpreviously
that Tamil youths should not be get together as idea of rebelling could arise in
them. He also said that Northern youth had put pressure on previous
Governments by taking up arms and the previous Governments had to incur a
largeexpenditurewithforeignaidtoputanendtothearmedconflict.
TheUSsaidthatPresidentMaithripalaSirisenahadmovedSriLankaawayfrom
divisive politics and crony capitalism toward a new path of reconciliation. The
Principal DeputyAssistant Secretary of US Bureau of South and CentralAsian
Affairs,RichardE.HoaglandsaidthatDemocraticelectionshavebrought about
aseachangeinUSSriLankarelationship,wherethenewPresidenthasmoved
the country away from divisive politics and crony capitalism toward a new path
ofreconciliationandinclusivedevelopment.
According to a recent survey conducted by CPA, though the Sri Lankan
Government is giving emphasis on reconciliation process, the countrys four
major ethnic groups Sinhalese, Tamils, upcountry Tamils and Muslims remain
divided on issues concerning the topic. Of four questions raised during the
survey, the question that continues to see perceptible division between the
SinhaleseandtheTamilsisabouttheworkdonebytheGovernmenttoaddress
the root causes of the ethnic conflict. Thirty five per cent of Sinhalese
respondents are of the view that the Government has done a lot whereas 39.9
percentofTamils(SriLankanTamils)and33.3percentoftheupcountryTamils
(Indian Tamils) feel that nothing has been done. However, 6.3 per cent of the
MuslimsholdtheviewthatlargesectionsoftheTamilshavebenefitted,62.9per
centoftheMuslimrespondentshavesaidthegovernmenthasdonealittlebut
not enough. Among the Sinhalese respondents, 3.1 per cent have said the
Government has done nothing and 38.2 per cent feel that the government has
donealittlebutnotenough.
June3
Ahead of the forthcoming Parliamentary elections, a new political formation,

Tamil ProgressiveAlliance (TPA) was formally launched to highlight issues and
problems of Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka. The TPA comprises Democratic
PeoplesFront(DPF)ofManoGanesanUpCountryPeoplesFront(UCPF)ofV.
S. Radhakrishnan and the National Union of Workers (NUW) of Palany
Thigambaram. The three leaders asserted that the Alliance was formed not
meant for the polls but out of the realization that a unified and cohesive force
wouldensuretheaccomplishmentofmoreconcessionsandrightsfortheIndian
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Tamils.
Accordingtoreport,UKimmigrationofficialshavedetainedJanahanSivanathan,
a 22yearoldTamil asylum seeker from Sri Lanka, at the Morton Hall detention
centreinLincolnshirewhiletheGovernmenttriestodeporthim.Supporterssaid
that Janahan was horrendously tortured as a school student during the war in
SriLanka,afterhewasroundedupandheldcaptivefortendays.Theysaidthat
hismedicalcasehistoryshowshesufferedserioustortureandisathighriskof
suicide.
June4
ThenewlyformedallianceofthreeminorTamilpoliticalpartiesinSriLanka,TPA
has decided to support the government party, UNP. TPA has also decided to
contesttheelectionsundertheelephantsymboloftheUNP.
TPAhaselectedaworkingcommitteetocarryoutitspoliciesandplanofaction.
ManoGanesanwillbethePresidentoftheTPAworkingcommitteewhilePalani
DigambaramandRadhakrishnanwillbeDeputyPresidents.
AstatueresemblingslainLTTEleaderVelupillaiPrabakaraninstalledinaprivate
temple at Therkku Poigainallur village near Velankanni in Nagapattinam District
inTamil Nadu (India) has caused a flutter in the locality.The statue resembling
Prabakaranincamouflageuniformwithahorsein the background was installed
on the campus of the Periyachi Amman Temple built in the village. Police
sourcessaidthatnocasehasbeenregisteredsofarinthisconnection.
June5
Soldiers of Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) those who paid sacrifice during
theirmissioninSriLankabetweenJuly1987andMarch1990wereremembered
inaceremonyorganizedatthenewlyerectedIPKFcenotaphinPalalyin Jaffna
inNorthernProvince.TheIPKFmemorialremembers33Indiansoldierswholaid
theirlivesforsakeoftheterritorialintegrityofSriLanka.
June6
Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Mahishini Colonne said that a final

decision on an independent mechanism to address issues of missing persons
and alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law will be taken after
discussions with all concerned, including civil society and victims. All
internationalpartners,includingtheUNHCHRZeidRaadAlHussein,appreciate
that, for any mechanism to succeed, all those concerned must be consulted,
saidMahishiniColonne,whoalsoheadstheForeignMinistrysUNDivision.She
saidsuchmechanismsmustbeevolvedthroughmindfulandcarefuldeliberation
as opposed to being rushed. She added that the lack of mindful and careful
deliberationwasthereasonforthefailureofmanypastmechanisms.
Inaninterview,NPC member Ananthy Sasistharan, wife of a senior functionary
of the LTTE claimed that her husband, Sasistharan alias Elilan surrendered to
theSriLankanforcesontheadviceofIndianMP,KanimozhibelongingtoDMK.
Ananthy said that it was after his conversation with Ms. Kanimozhi in
Mullivaikkal at about 8 p.m. on May 16, 2009, my husband chose to surrender
himselftotheforces.ThisisnotthefirsttimethatIamsayingthis.Sofar,there
hasbeennoresponsefromtheotherside.ItistimeKarunanidhiAyyaandMs.
Kanimozhi break their silence and tell the world who were all behind the entire
episode.Whenaskedifherhusbandhadanyotheroption,shesaid,Hemight
havetakencyanidepillsashehadtwo.However,shesaidshewasnotaware
oftheinstructionsoftheLTTEtoitsmembersinsuchaneventuality.
According to a local media report, the current Sri Lankan Government is
reviewing the ban on some Tamil Diaspora groups and individuals. Foreign
Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Mahishini Colonne said that the former
Government gazetted the listing of the groups and individuals but the new
Governmentsaidtherewasarequirementtoreviewthebaninorderto take the
reconciliation process forward. Colonne said that under the UN obligations an
annualreviewofindividualsandentitieslistedundertheUNSCResolution1373,
isessentialandthereviewprocessisunderwaybyaCommittee.
The statue of slain LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabakaran at a private temple at
Therkku Poigainallur village near Velankanni in Nagapattinam District in Tamil
Nadu(India)wasremoved.Therewereliterallynosymptomsofthestatuebeing
installedonthepremisesofSevugarayaAyyanarandPeriyachi Amman temple,
which was consecrated on June 4. Police, Revenue and Intelligence officials
conducted an enquiry in the village and questioned a group of organisers, who
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were involved in the construction and consecration of the temple. When the
implications of installing a statue of leader of a banned organisation was
explainedtothem,theyagreedtoremoveit,Policesourcessaid.
TheVelankanniPolice(TamilNadu)hasregisteredacaseinconnectionwiththe
installation of the statue. Police sources said a case was booked under Indian
PenalCode(IPC)section188(disobediencetoorderdulypromulgatedby public
servant) on a complainant preferred by Saminathan, Village Administrative
OfficerofSouthPoigainallurinNagapattinamDistrict.
June7
DMK MP Kanimozhi dismissed as completely baseless the claim ofAnanthy

Sasistharan that her husband, who was a senior functionary of the LTTE,
surrendered to the Sri Lankan forces on her (Kanimozhi's) advice. I am not an
authoritytoasksomeonetosurrendereitheronbehalfoftheIndian Government
or the Sri Lankan Government. I do not know who is behind this story,
Kanimozhisaid.
JVP leader, K.D. Lalkantha visited the Sampur area in the Trincomalee District
in Eastern Province on a fact finding mission. Lalkantha said that the visit was
aimedatinspectingtheplightoftheIDPsyettoberesettledinSampurand the
obstruction posed by the proposed coal power plant. He explained that the
people possess the right to return to their original lands in Sampur and that
authorities should be mindful of the environment and health hazards posed by
theproposedplant.
June8
Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Vigneswaran said that the people in the
NorthwouldbehappyiftheArmedForceswerewithdrawnfromtheProvince.He
has attributed this sentiment to several allegations leveled against the Army.
According to the Chief Minister, there had not been problem about the use of
heroinintheProvincebefore2009duringthereignoftheterroristgroupLTTE.
Sri Lankan Government held talks with Tamil Diaspora groups in London,
discussingatlengthneedsofthosedisplacedduringthewaragainsttheLTTE.
Welcoming the move, TNA said in a statement that Foreign Affairs Minister
Mangala Samaraweera was also present during the dialogue. The GlobalTamil
Forum(GTF)continuedtheirinformaldialogueoverthe last two days in London
withvariousstakeholderstoenhanceconfidence building measures between all
communitieswithinandoutsideSriLanka,TNAstatementsaid.Itsaidtheneed
for constructive engagement by the Sri Lankan Diaspora was discussed,
includingtheneedsofIDPs.
June10
Sri Lankan Government welcomed the contribution of Sri Lankan Diaspora,

irrespective of ethnicity or religion, to support the country in its reconciliation
efforts as well as capacity building and welfare of the people. Referring to the
recentmeetingstheForeignAffairsMinisterMangalaSamaraweera hadwiththe
Tamil Diaspora community in London (UK), the spokesperson of the Foreign
Affairs Ministry Mahishini Colonne said that the LLRC made several
recommendations in their report pertaining to the important requirement for Sri
LankatoengagewiththeSriLankanDiasporatoachievemeaningfulandlasting
reconciliationinthecountry.
Emphasizing that the Sri Lanka Police continue to maintain security in Jaffna,
the Sri Lanka Army affirmed that there is no military administration whatsoever
in the Northern Provincial capital, Jaffna. SFs Commander in Jaffna Major
General Nandana Udawatta said that the military is not involved in civilian
administrationandtherewasnosecuritythreattotheJaffnapeninsulaafterthe
Presidential Election held on January 8, 2015. He denied the reports that extra
troops had been sent to Jaffna following the recent incident of rape and murder
ofschoolgirlSivaloganathanVithiya,whichtriggeredviolenceinthearea.
The controversial documentary on Sri Lanka's war against LTTE terrorists, 'No
Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka' has reportedly been screened in the
IrishParliament.Accordingtoforeignmediareports,Memberof Irish Parliament
Paul Murphy has hosted the event with the attendance of Irish MPs, the film's
directorCallumMacrae,exiledSriLankanjournalist BashanaAbeywardena and
investigative reporter on Sri Lanka Phil Miller. Murphy had described the film,
which has been shown in the European Parliament recently as a "powerful
indictmentofthemassacreoftheTamilsinSriLankaattheendofthewar."
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However, Sri Lanka has strongly rejected Macrae's documentary on alleged

humanitarian law violations saying that the film contained no facts but
"concocted lies, halftruths and speculations" put together to embarrass the
country.
June11
MinisterofPowerandEnergyandJHU General Secretary Champika Ranawaka

said that the cabinet paper submitted to grant Government compensation for
injuredLTTEterroristshadtobewithdrawnafterheprotestedagainstit.Minister
Ranawaka said Some ministers submitted a cabinet paper proposing that the
injured LTTE terrorists should be compensated by the government. I strongly
objecteditandithadtobewithdrawn.
Champika Ranawaka also said that JHU was strongly opposed to hosting a
festival of Diaspora as claimed by the ForeignAffairs Ministry and that hosting
such a discussion would instigate racisms and terrorism. There has been no
discussion within the government about this. We do not think hosting such a
discussionwithorganizationsbannedbythedefenseministrythroughagazette
notification would ensure peace in the country. It is an instigation of terrorism,
Ranawakasaid.
June12
Minister of ForeignAffairs, Mangala Samaraweera told the Parliament that the

once antiSri Lankan Tamil Diaspora is likely to issue a statement renouncing
violence and separatism. Samaraweera said "As a result of our discussions (in
Londonlastweekend),andourefforts,itismostlikelythatthe Diaspora groups
whichwerepreviouslyhostiletoSriLanka,wouldissueadeclarationrenouncing
violence and commit themselves to working towards a united, undivided Sri
Lanka." Samaraweera was giving a detailed answer to the Leader of the
Opposition, Nimal Siripala de Silva, who had asked a number of questions
pertaining to the meeting with the GTF and a few Western peaceniks.
Samaraweera denied that the issue of lifting the ban on the LTTE was
discussed. He also denied that there was any discussion on "war crimes" and
theproposeddomesticmechanismtoinvestigatechargesofwarcrimes.
Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers during a special meeting convened approved a
new electoral system proposed for the 20th Amendment that increased the
number of parliamentary seats to 237 from the current 225. Under the new
system, 145 Parliamentarians will be elected under the FirstPastthe Post
(FPP) system, 55 under the District Proportional Representation (PR) system
and 37 from the National List through the 20thAmendment to the Constitution.
The new proposal was presented to the Cabinet meeting by President
MaithripalaSirisena.
June13
FormerPresidentMahindaRajapaksaallegedthat59SriLankanArmycampsin
the Tamil majority Northern Province were shut down by the successor
Government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil
Wickremesinghe.Inaletteraddressedtoparticipantsina"BringBackMahinda
Rally" at Matara District in Southern Province, Rajapaksa charged that the
withdrawal had taken place at a time when Eelam flags had reappeared in the
North,indicatingarevivalofterrorism.HeaddedthatthepresentGovernmentis
compromising national security by suggesting the release of LTTE cadres in
custody,andholdingdiscussionswithpersonsliketheformerNorwegianPeace
Envoy,ErikSolheim,who,healleged,istryingtoreviveTamilseparatism.
SriLankanGovernmenthasdismissedtheclaimsmadebytheformerPresident
MahindaRajapaksathatthenewGovernmenthasclosed59Armycampsinthe
Tamil majority Northern Province. The General Secretary of the UNP, Minister
Kabir Hashim in a statement denied the former President's allegation asserting
that neither the President Sirisena nor the PM Wickramasinghe or the present
GovernmenthasremovedanyoftheArmycampsintheNorthernProvince.
June15
HRW delivering a statement at the 29th session of the UNHRC in Geneva said
thatSriLankashouldincludeamajorityofinternationaljudgesorprosecutorsin
the domestic mechanism it intends to establish to address the accountability
issue.
June16
The Army Headquarters issuing a statement denied media reports which said
that 59 Army camps in Jaffna District of Northern Province have been closed
sinceJanuary2015afterthenewGovernmentwasestablished.
Responding to the statement of HRW, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe
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June18
Responding to the statement of HRW, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

said that the International Community must keep confidence in Sri Lanka and
assuredthatthedomesticinquirywouldbeacrediblemechanismacceptablefor
theinternationalaswellasthelocalcommunity.
June19
United State Department of State in itsAnnual Country Report onTerrorism for

2014 released said that despite the military defeat of the LTTE at the hands of
theGovernment in 2009, the LTTE's financial network of support had continued
tooperatethroughout2014.
June20
Foreign Affairs Minister, Mangala Samaraweera said that Sri Lanka failed to
seize the opportunity presented by the end of the Eelam War4 in May 2009 to
achievemeaningfulreconciliationandconsolidatepeace.
June21
StateMinisterforDefenceRuwanWijewardenesaidthatthereisnotruthinthe
statements that are being made by the Opposition that the LTTE is raising its
headintheNorthbecauseofcertainactionsbythepresentregime.
June22
ForeignAffairsMinisterMangala Samaraweerastronglyrejectedallegationsthat
the Government received US$ 3.5 million from the UNHRC for a Diaspora
festivaltoreintroducetheseparatistEelamagenda.
The Council of the EU while releasing the EUAnnual Report on Human Rights
andDemocracyintheWorldin2014inLuxembourgsaidthatitwasnotpossible
to hold sessions of the established human rights dialogues with Sri Lanka in
2014.
June23
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament that the Government has
notmadeanydecisiontowithdrawmilitarycampsfromwartornnorthandeast.
June25
Colombo High Court handed over death sentence to Staff Sergeant Ratnayake
Mudiyanselage Sunil Rathnayake for murdering eight Tamil civilians in Jaffna
DistrictonDecember19,2000.
The 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices published by the United
StateDepartmentofStatesaidthattheGovernmentofSriLankaisyettohold
anyone accountable for alleged violations of international humanitarian law and
international human rights law that occurred during the conflict that ended in
2009.
June27
The PCICMP began its public sittings to hear cases of missing in Trincomalee
District of Eastern Province. The Public Sittings are being conducted in the
townsofTrincomaleeandMutturintheTrincomaleeDistrictfromJune2730.
June29
FormerTNAparliamentarianfrom BatticaloaDistrict,P.Ariyanenthiransaidthat
the Tamils cannot accept holding a festival for the Tamil diaspora before the
GovernmenttakesmeasurestoreleasetheTamilpoliticalprisonersinjail.
July3
PolonnaruwaHighCourtsentencedSivaraja Jenivan alias Mohommadu Sulthan

Cader Mohideen, a former LTTE cadre to a 10 year prison term for his
involvement in an assassination attempt on President Maithripala Sirisena in
2006.
July5
TheGovernmenthasrecentlyrecruited3,600rehabilitatedformercombatantsof
LTTE to the Civil Defence Force. They have been appointed to permanent
positionsandentitledtopensionschemesoftheGovernment.
July6
TNAbarredformermembersofLTTEfromcontestingparliamentaryelectionsfor
the August 17 polls. The party has even rejected a bid to contest by Ananthi
Sasitharan, wife of Elilan, a senior LTTE member from the eastern province in
TrincomaleeDistrict.
July11
N.VithyatharancoordinatorofCFD,anorganizationofexLTTEcadreandtheir
supporters said that CFD will be putting up ten former LTTE militants in the
JaffnaKilinochchielectoralDistrictfortheAugust17Parliamentaryelectionsas
Independents. Vithyatharan said that following the rejection of their applications
bytheTNA,CFDdecidedtoputitscandidatesupasIndependents.
July12
A 37yearold Sri Lankan national, who graduated in Sharia Law from Pakistan,
hasreportedlydiedfightingalongthedreadedIslamicState(IS)orIslamicState
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in Syria. The suspect has been identified as
Mohammed Niram alias Sharfaz Shuraih Muhsin alias Abhu Shuraih Sailani
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(namegivenafterhejoinedtheISIS).MohammedNiramwasreportedlykilledin
an airstrike in Syria.According to reports, he was a karate instructor from the
central town of Galewela. He has also worked as the Principal of a privately
ownededucationinstitutionatGalewelahavingcomeoverfromKandycity.
July13
M.K. Shivajilingam, Member of the NPC and national organiser of the Tamil
EelamLiberationOrganisation(TELO),haschosentocontestintheKurunegala
electoraldistrictinNorthWesternProvince.MKShivajilingam,arelativeofslain
LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, filed his nomination. Shivajilingam said
heisnotcontestingasTELOoraspartoftheTNA,butasanindependent.
July14
SriLankaArmycommemoratedthe24thdeathanniversaryofwarheroHasalaka
Gamini Kularatne, the Sri Lankan soldier, whose supreme sacrifice saved the
lives of hundreds of fellow soldiers when the LTTE sieged the Elephant Pass
camp in July 1991. The 24th Death Anniversary ceremony of Corporal Gamini
Kularatneof6thBattalionSLSRtookplaceattheHasalakaGaminiMemorialat
ElephantPassinJaffnainNorthernProvince.
July15
Initsupdatetothe2014HumanRightsandDemocracyReport,theUKForeign
and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that following the election of President
Maithripala Sirisena in January and the appointment of a new Government, the
human rights situation in Sri Lanka improved during the first half of 2015,
althoughsomeconcernsremain.Thereportsaidduringthefirsthalfof2015,Sri
Lankatookanumberofpositivestepstoaddresshumanrightsanddemocracy
concerns,includingestablishingnewinstitutionsandundertakinglegalreforms.
July17
Agroupofformermembersofthe LTTE,whichhasfielded10candidatesinthe
August 17 Parliamentary elections, has urged India, US and other Western
countries to commend its decision to enter the fray. The group, called
themselves as "Crusaders for Democracy", said in a statement that when the
LTTE was involved in an armed struggle, these countries and the international
community wanted it to give up arms and join the democratic mainstream. N.
Vithyatharan, coordinator of the group, said the candidates had been fielded as
independentsasthegroupcouldnotberegisteredasaparty.
July19
AccordingtoatopofficialoftheDefenceMinistry,theSriLankanGovernmentis
in the process of identifying and releasing more private land from the High
Security Zones in the Northern Province. The official said that surveyors and
other field officials are also being involved in the process to ascertain the
veracityofclaimsandspottheownersconcerned.
July20
Police arrested a former militant of the proscribed LTTE, identified as K

Krishnakumar (39) and recovered 75 cyanide capsules, 300 grams of cyanide,
four GSP sets and seven mobile phones at coastal Uchipulli in
Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu (India). Acting on a tipoff, a Special
Branch team, led by Inspector of Police Vellaiyappan arrested the Sri Lankan
Tamil along with two local Tamils R Sasikumar (25) and N Rajendran (44), who
reportedlybroughthimfromMaduraibusstandinacartoUchipulli,Policesaid.
Accordingtoreport,theseizureofthesuicidepillscarriedbytheLTTEmilitants
tiedaroundtheirneckstriggeredspeculationthattheLTTEwastrying to revive
the movement after it was defeated by the Sri Lankan forces in the civil war,
whichendedin2009.ThePolice alsoseizedsevenmobilephones,INR46,200
in Indian currency, LKR 19,300 in Sri Lankan currency, Indian and Sri Lankan
drivinglicencesfromtheLankanTamil,KKrishnakumar,whohadserved in the
LTTEinthe1990sandcametoTamilNaduin2009.
July21
FormerPresidentMahindaRajapaksadeniedallegationsthathegavemoneyto
theLTTE,sayingtherulingcoalitionleadershavebeentryingtomisleadvoters
aheadoftheparliamentelectionsnextmonth,TheformerPresidentsofficeina
statement said, Firstly, former president Rajapaksa did not give money to the
LTTE. On the contrary, it was he who defeated the LTTE. Secondly, no
Presidential Commission has recommended that Rajapaksa be deprived of his
civic rights. Thirdly a Presidential Commission of Inquiry cannot deprive
anybody of his civic rights unless parliament passes a resolution to that effect
withatwothirdsmajority.
OneofthetwoSriLankanTamilsarrestedonJuly20alongwithcommunication
gadgets and cyanide in Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu (India), has
been identified as Krishnakumar, a close associate of slain LTTE supremo
Velupillai Prabhakaran, said the Indian Police. A top Police officer said that
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sleuthsfromIB,TamilNaduQBranchPolice,andSpecial IntelligenceUnitare
now interrogating the LTTE militant, arrested along with two others during a
routine vehicle check at Uchipuli in the Ramanathapuram District. Police also
said all coastal Districts in the state had been alerted to monitor for movement
of members of LTTE and checkposts asked to be extra vigilant. It was
suspected Krishnakumar would have arrived in the country in the immediate
aftermath of the decimation of LTTE and killing of Prabhakaran by Sri Lankan
SFs in 2009, Police said. The arrested were identified as Krishnakumar,
Rajendran,alsoaSriLankannational,andSasikumar,alocalwhodrovethecar.
Tamil Nadu Police suspects that the arrested LTTE operative was possibly
smugglingmaterialslikecyanide capsules and GPS equipment to some people
in Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Police said, Krishnakumar had been staying
in Trichy and had lot of contacts at refugee camps in Chennai and Trichy.
Krishnakumarwastryingtoleavethecountryashismarriage was getting fixed
in Jaffna. But he could not go legally since he feared that his name was in the
LTTE cadre list and he may be detained as soon as he landed in Sri Lanka.
Krishnakumar was transporting these materials to some people in Jaffna and
PolicesourcesspeculatedthatthereissomeregroupingofLTTEgoingoninSri
Lanka, though they suffered a fatal defeat in the civil war of 2009. The exact
sourceswhoprovidedhimcyanideandthepeopletowhomhewastransporting
thematerialswillbeknownafterthoroughinvestigation,Policesaid.
Sri Lankan defense authorities are investigating the incident (a Sri Lankan
national has reportedly died fighting along the dreaded Islamic State [IS]
militants in Syria) with the help of the international governments. Police
Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said that Police Headquarters had directed the
Central Province SP to launch investigations into the incident after the mans
national identity card was recovered in Kandy. However, Foreign Ministry
Spokesperson Mahishini Colonne said that though there were several reports
aboutaSriLankanISISmilitantkilledinanairstrike,theministryhadnotbeen
informedofsuchanincident.
July22
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered the Police to interrogate the
family members of the Sri Lankan Islamic State (IS) militant, who died in Syria
during a battle and submit a report. The Prime Minister wanted the Police to
question the family members of Sharfaz Shuraih Muhsin, the principal of an
internationalschoolandakarateinstructor,tofindouthowtheSriLankanjoined
theISISorganizationandwhethertherewereothers.Muhsin,knownintheISIS
asAbuShureihSeylani,hadbeenkilledinanairraidinSyriaonJuly12.
July23
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that the LTTE was always an
obstacle to reach a peaceful solution to the national issue. Samaraweera said
thattheterrorismtheLTTEunleashed,evenagainsttheTamilpeople,resultedin
the Tigers being proscribed in many countries. He said the solution to the
nationalquestionisnotaseparatestateastheLTTEmistakenlybelieved,buta
solutionwhichcanaddressthegenuinegrievancesof theTamil people within a
unitedandundividedSriLanka.
Cabinet Spokesman Minister Rajitha Senaratne said that the Prime Minister at
the cabinet briefing on July 22 has instructed the security authorities to arrest
the family members of the slain IS member, and question them to find out
whether they also have any connections to the militants and whether he was a
part of a Jihadi network in Sri Lanka. The Inspector General of Police has also
instructed Central Province Police authorities to conduct investigations into the
slainISISmilitant.
Sri Lanka's Muslim clerics' organization, ACJU announced that it vehemently
denounces terrorist activities and violence unleashed by the Islamic State (IS).
ThePresidentoftheACJU,AshSheikhMufthiM.I.M.RizwiesaidWecondemn
inunequivocaltermsallformsofviolenceandextremism.The ISIS is a violent
extremistorganizationwhichactsagainstthefundamentalteachingsofIslam.
The Sri Lankan Army said that its involvement in the Northern Province is
limited only to demining, construction works and infrastructure development in
connection with the resettlement of people. Responding to a questionnaire on
the status of the Armys presence in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, it
said: We have almost totally disengaged [ourselves] from nonmilitary
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activities. On a question about the Armys plan to close down camps in the
North,itsaidsincetheendofthehumanitarianoperation[thatshowtheEelam
WarIViscalledintheArmysparlance]inMay2009,thedeploymentoftroops
had been regularly reviewed based on threat assessment, national security
concernsandstrategicimplications.
Sri Lanka's ruling party, UNP pledged justice for thousands of victims of the
island'sseparatistwarasitreleaseditsmanifestoaheadofnextmonthsgeneral
election.TheUNPpromisedtoworkwiththeUNtoensureaccountabilityfor war
crimescommittedduringtheconflictthatendedin2009,alongstandingdemand
of ethnic minority Tamils. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe urged support
for his party to strengthen gains made at January Presidential elections when
MaithripalaSirisenaoustedlongtimestrongmanMahindaRajapaksa.
July24
The Madras High Court Bench set aside an illegal conviction and sevenyear
sentence imposed by a trial court on three people, alleged to be LTTE
sympathisers, on charges of conspiring to smuggle acetone, glycerine,
formaldehyde and dicyanamide to Sri Lanka for making explosive substances
and indulging in unlawful activities in 2008. Disposing of appeals filed by them,
JusticeS.NagamuthuorderedretrialinthecasesincetheQbranchPoliceand
thelowercourthadmadegravemistakesinthetrialthatledtotheirconviction
on March 4, 2015. He pointed out that there were inconsistencies between
chargesframedagainsttheaccusedandthechargesunderwhichtheyhadbeen
convicted.
A senior intelligence official said that several more Sri Lankan nationals are
known to be fighting for the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) in Iraq and Syria while the
groupalsohadsomesympathizersinsidethecountry.Theunnamedofficialsaid
intelligence services were currently tracking the movements of the individuals
bothhereandabroad.Asforlocalsympathizers,theirlevelofinvolvement(with
ISIS) and in what capacity is something the government will have to look into,
thesourcestressed.
At least one other Sri Lankan, going by the ISIS nom de guerreAbu Dhujaana
Seylani, is also thought to be with ISIS in Syria. The intelligence official
however,notedthatISISsympathizerswithinthecountryatpresentwasavery
small element, but cautioned that if the group was allowed to develop, it could
poseaseriousnationalsecuritythreat.ThesourcealsoconfirmedthatISIShad
mainly been using social media to lure young recruits from Sri Lanka to its
cause.
July25
Sri Lanka's main Tamil party, TNA in its manifesto released reiterated its
demand for a power sharing arrangement in a unit of a remerged Northern and
Eastern Provinces under a federal structure as it existed earlier. The TNA said
the Tamil People are entitled to the right to selfdetermination and the Tamil
Speaking Northern and Eastern Provinces are the historical habitation of the
TamilPeopleandtheTamilSpeakingPeoples.
July26
TheTiruchirappalliCityPolice arrestedaformermemberoftheLTTE,identified
asA.Kumaraguru(39)attheTiruchirappalliInternationalAirportinTiruchirappalli
(Trichy) District of Tamil Nadu (India) before he could board the flight to
Malaysia. Police also arrested G. Thirumurugan (30), a native of Uppur in
Ramanathapuram District and Mubarak Ali for assisting him acquire an Indian
passport.PolicesaidKumaraguruwasamemberoftheLTTEfrom1992to1997
andhadlosthisrightlegwhilefightingtheSriLankanSFsduringthatperiod.He
was lodged in the Sri Lankan jail from 2009 to 2012. According to Police,
Kumaraguru came to Chennai in July 2014 for treatment and stayed there for
nearlyayear.HewasnativeofKodikamamvillagenearJaffna.
Sri Lanka's main Tamil party, TNA demanded that the country frame a new
Constitution to address a host of issues its grappling with, including the Tamil
question.R.Sampanthan,leaderoftheTNA,saidthateverybodywantsa new
Constitution.EventheSinhaleseleadershipwantsanewConstitution.There are
many matters that, to me, [call for] a new Constitution. Elaborating further,
SampanthansaidThereisaviewinthecountrythat the 1978 Constitution has
outlived its period. A new Constitution should address not only the Tamil
question but also other issues such as electoral reforms, human rights,
corruption,righttoinformationandpublicprocurement,headded.
July27
An unexploded bomb, believed to have fallen off from the LTTE aircraft shot
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July27
An unexploded bomb, believed to have fallen off from the LTTE aircraft shot
down in 2009 by SLAF at Katunayake in Western Province, was found in a
swamp close to the SLAF Camp. SLAF Spokesman Gehan Senaviratne said
Road Development Authority (RDA) employees had discovered the bomb while
carryingoutroadconstructionworkinthearea.SenaviratnesaidThebomb was
inside a plastic barrel in the swamp some 50 metres away from the location
where the LTTE aircraft was shot down. We have secured the area and SLAF
bombdisposalunitwillsoondefusethebomb.
Police investigations have found that the family members of the Sri Lankan
Islamic State (IS/ISIS) militant, Sharfaz Shuraih Muhsin, who died in Syria
during a battle, have left the country for Pakistan. Investigations have revealed
that the man's wife and his five children have left for Pakistan. Following the
reports of Muhsin's death, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe ordered the Police to
question the family members to find out how the Sri Lankan joined the ISIS
organizationandwhethertherewereothers.TheIGofPolicehasalsoinstructed
Central Province Police authorities to conduct investigations into the slain ISIS
militant.TheinvestigationshavenowbeenhandedovertotheCID.
July28
InvestigatorsoftheTamilNadu'Q'branchPoliceinterrogatedLTTE)operativeA
Kumaraguru, who Police arrested at Tiruchirapalli International Airport in Tamil
Nadu in India on July 26 when he attempted to flee to Switzerland with a fake
passport. Officers of the Police's special antiterror wing said they questioned
Kumaraguruabouthislinkstoanarrestedmemberoftherebels,Krishnakumar,
and his associates in Ramanathapuram (Tamil Nadu). Investigators said
KumaragurulosthisrightleginthecivilwarinSriLankaandusedaprosthetic
limb.KumaraguruandhiswifeSudharsiniarrivedinChennaiin2014andlivedin
Choolaimedu,whereamemberofaTamiloutfitgavethemshelter.
Another batch of 45 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have left the refugee camps in
the Tamil Nadu state of India for their homeland from the Tiruchirapalli
International Airport. The refugees have reportedly been housed in various
camps located in Tiruchi, Dindigul, Kanyakumari, Villupuram, Tuticorin,
Sivaganga, Pudukkottai, Madurai, Karur, Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram
Districts of Tamil Nadu. They had obtained exit clearance from the respective
District administration authorities where the camps functioned. There were no
Policecasesagainsttherefugees.
July29
MinisterforEnergyandPowerandtheleaderofJHUPataliChampikaRanawaka
called upon Sri Lankan Tamils to integrate themselves with the majority
Sinhalese community. Ranawaka said the 30yearold Ealam War has
deteriorated the socioeconomic development of the Tamil community in Sri
Lanka. Contrasting the case of the Tamils with those of plantation workers of
Indian origin and Muslims, Ranawaka said the other two communities had
progressed well because they simply integrate [themselves] with the
Sinhalese.HeaddedthatiftheTamilsfollowedsuit,theycan[also]achievea
lot.
July30
SriLankanGovernmentrefusedto comment on a document a British television

stationclaimscouldundermine international investigations into the war. Foreign
MinistryspokespersonMahishiniColonnesaidtheGovernmentwasawareofthe
British Channel 4 News report on the document but will not comment on such
mediareports.
July31
Two persons were killed and 12 others were injured when unidentified gunmen
opened fire at a United National Front election rally in Colombo. The rally was
held in support of the Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in Kotahena area of
Colomboandthepeoplekilledandinjuredwerebelievedtobesupportersofthe
Minister. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said "The gunmen travelled in
two vehicles and escaped in the same vehicles after the shooting spree. A
womanwaskilledand12woundedpersonshavebeenadmittedtotheColombo
National Hospital.Another victim died later.This incident marks the first major
violenceaheadoftheAugust17parliamentaryelections.
UN Spokesman for the SecretaryGeneral Stphane Dujarric said that it was
exploringtheprovisionofabroadpackageoftechnicalandfinancialassistance
to Sri Lanka at the request of the Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V.
Wigneswaran.Thespokesmansaid"Inthisregard,we'reexploringprovisionofa
broad package of technical and financial assistance at the request of the Chief
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Minister, also including the support of the Northern Province to bolster citizen
confidenceinthepeaceprocess,"
August1
SivanathanNavindraaliasVenthan,aformerbodyguardoftheslainLTTEleader
Velupillai Prabhakaran is among nine exLTTE militants contesting the August
17 Parliamentary elections from the JaffnaKilinochchi electoral District as
members of a new outfit, Crusaders for Democracy (CFD). Other CFD
candidatesareRasaiahTharmakulasinghamaliasGamini,KalikuttiSubramanian
alias Charles, Kumaravelu Akilan alias Iyal, Thangarasa Thevathasan alias
Gangai Athman, Vinayagasundaram Mohanasundaram alias Gangai Alagan,
Veeran Shakthivel ailas Thani Arasan, Sivaguru Murugadas alias Raviraj, and
Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, a nonLTTE cadre who is described as Oodaga
Porali(MediaWarrior).
August2
Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said that Government has taken

measurestorestoreprovisionofelectricityconnectionsfreeofchargeto20,000
resettled families in the North and East. At present, 796,342 people from
232,828familieshavebeenresettledintheNorthernandEasternProvincesafter
the end of LTTE terrorist war in 2009. The provision of access to electricity,
water,sanitationetc.toresettledfamiliesisaresponsibilityoftheGovernment.
The Government will also grant an additional allocation of SLR 105 million to
facilitate free domestic power supply connection to 5,000 resettled families this
year.
August3
Major political parties in Sri Lanka have completely rejected the TNA's demand
for federalism. The SLFPled UPFA UNPled United National Front for Good
Governance and the JVP have, in unison, said the demand, if accepted, would
lead to division of the country.Anura PriyadarshanaYapa, general secretary of
theSLFPsaid,"Certainterms"willbeinterpretedtoconvey"differentmeanings"
inSriLanka.Federalismisoneofthemand"ifyousayfederalism,peoplewould
thinkyouareforseparatism",headded.
ASriLankanTamil,Maheswaran, asupporterofthebannedLTTEhousedinthe
special camp in the Tiruchi prison campus in Tiruchirappalli District of Tamil
Nadureportedlyattemptedtoendhislifebyconsumingsleepingtablets.
August4
Sri Lanka Police have made 386 arrests in connection with election law
violations and election related complaints byAugust 3, according to the Police
MediaUnit.
The Crusaders for Democracy, a group of former members of the LTTE, urged
theSriLankanGovernmentto"honouritscommitments"madeinthepastatthe
international level on the Tamil question. The group in its election manifesto,
released in Jaffna, said that according to the 1987 IndiaSri LankaAccord and
the Oslo Communique of December 2002, the Sri Lankan Government had
agreed to the concepts of federalism and internal selfdetermination, besides
recognizingtheNorthernandEasternProvincesasareasofhistoricalhabitation
of Tamil speaking people. The manifesto wanted the creation of a mechanism
thatwouldfacilitateselfruleofTamils.
TheDeputyForeignAffairsMinisterAjithP.Pererainastatementsaiditisclear
that from the statements being made by Mahinda Rajapaksa, that the former
president has amnesia since he has forgotten the past and asked the former
leader to come up with a more intelligent slogan than racism and LTTE to
addressthepeople.AccordingtoRajapaksaiftheLTTE waseliminatedin2009,
Ajith Perera reminded that Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman
who is allegedly responsible for killing 600 Police officers and the murder of
Bhikkus at Aranthalawa was appointed as a Vice President of the SLFP by
Mahinda Rajapaksa. Perera also reminded that it was Mahinda Rajapaksa who
directly gave Velupillai Prabhakaran a grant of LKR 800 million through RADA
as a result of which Mahinda Rajapaksa with Prabhakaran's blessings won the
Presidentialelectionin2005.
August6
PM and leader of the ruling UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe assured the people of
Sri Lanka not to fear over a resurgence of the LTTE as the country would be
safeguardedwithanexcellentdefenseministerunderafutureUNPGovernment.
WickremesinghesaidthatthedefenseministerunderafutureUNP government
willbePresidentMaithripalaSirisena,whoisthecommanderinchief.
August9
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa denied allegations that he had given the
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LTTE money in 2005 in order to win the then Presidential election. In 2005 the
LTTEhad prevented the people from taking part in the elections, which allowed
RajapaksatowinwiththesupportoftheSinhalavotesin the South. Rajapaksa
said that if he had given money to the LTTE he would not have taken much
effort to try to defeat them. He said that if LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran
was alive today he would ask him if the story was really true. The former
President also said that it was no secret who gave arms to the LTTE to defeat
theIPKFandwhoreallyfundedtheLTTE.
JHU member and United National Front for Good Governance Parliamentary
candidate Champika Ranawaka said he is ready to expose former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa on some deals he had allegedly made with the LTTE
through South Africa. Ranawaka also challenged Rajapaksa to face him in an
open debate on claims Rajapaksa never gave funds to the LTTE. Ranawaka
said that Rajapaksa is already under investigation over funds diverted to the
LTTE through the RADA. "We will be taking legal action against Rajapaksa in
future in relation to this incident," he said. Ranawaka also insisted that there is
nochanceoftheLTTE regrouping in Sri Lanka and that the security forces will
ensurethesecurityofthecountry.
Sri Lanka Police arrested anArmy Sergeant Major suspected to have played a
role in the abduction of Lanka e News journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda at
Kurunegala in North Western Province. Sergeant Major's arrest was a result of
an urgent inquiry conducted by the CID of Police following information received
from two other suspects taken into custody earlier by the CID. Following the
investigations initiated by the CID in to the disappearance of the Prageeth
Eknaligoda, who was abducted at Rajagiriya (Sri Jayawardenapura) on January
24, 2010 two former LTTE cadres were arrested from Vavuniya by the CID
severaldaysago.Thesuspects,identifiedasKanapathipillaiSureshalias Satya
Master and Sumathipalan Suresh alias Nagulan, have provided the information
leadingtothearrestofthearmySergeantMajoraccordingtothePolice.
August10
SriLankaPolicesaidthereisa decline in the number of election law violations

in this election compared to the previous elections. According to the Police
Media SpokesmanASP Ruwan Gunasekara, from June 26 to till noon Monday
(August 10) 197 incidents of election law violations have been reported to the
Police and the Police had arrested 444 suspects in connection with those
incidents.
The election monitor PAFFREL said it has received 915 complaints of election
law violations and election violence incidents in the run up to the general
electionsnextweek.
JHU leader Champika Ranawaka said that the Government of former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa had allegedly given the LTTE over LKR 169 million to win
theirsupportatthe2005Presidentialelection.Ranawakasaidthathehasallthe
evidence,includingdocuments,tobacktheallegations.Ranawakarevealed the
names of LTTE members who a businessman had met on behalf of Rajapaksa
tosealthedealsintheguiseoftsunamirelief.
Ranawaka claimed that during discussions Basil Rajapaksa had with one LTTE
negotiator identified as Emil Kanthan at the businessman's office, Basil
RajapaksahadtoldEmilKanthanthat"WhatPrimeMinisterMahindaRajapaksa
wants is a boycott of voting in the North, and the PM wants to know what the
LTTEwouldliketohaveinreturn."InreplyatalaterdateEmilKanthanhadsaid
that the LTTE wants to purchase some boats and requested for a sum of LKR
180 million from Basil Rajapakse. Ranawaka claimed that Basil Rajapakse
agreed immediately to provide the said amount of money and on a later day
Basil Rajapaksa came with a number of large travelling bags to meet Emil
Kanthanatthebusinessman'sofficetosealthedeal.
August11
ThePCICMPinSriLankawillhearcasesofmissinginBatticaloaDistrictinthe
Eastern Province from August 22 25. Secretary to the Commission H.W.
Gunadasa said that evidence on the disappearances in Kalawanchikudi will be
heard onAugust 22 and 23 while oral evidence with regard to those who went
missingintheValaichchenaiareawillbeheardonAugust24and25.
August13
SriLankanGovernmentinsistedthatthereisnoroomfortheLTTEtoregroupin
SriLankaandthattheunityofthecountrywillbemaintained.PowerandEnergy
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Minister and JHU General Secretary Champika Ranawaka said that the current
Government does not have double standards on the LTTE like the previous
regime.HesaidthattheformerGovernmenthadmaintained ties with the LTTE
both during and after the war but the current Government has no ties with the
rebels."Wewillnotleaveroomfordemocracytobethreatened.Weareactually
goingthroughanewstageofdemocracyinthecountryandwewillnotallow that
processtobeharmed.WegiveafirmassuranceonNationalSecurity,"hesaid.
President Maithripala Sirisena reiterated that the former president Mahinda
Rajapaksa will not be appointed as the Prime Minister even if the SLFP wins a
majority of seats at the upcoming parliamentary elections. In a lengthy letter to
Rajapaksa, President Sirisena as the chairman of the SLFP strongly criticized
the former president's conduct at the election and asked him not to make
statementsthatraisecommunalismandallowriftsintheparty.
AUKbasedhumanrightsorganization, FreedomfromTorture,hasallegedinits
new report entitled 'Tainted Peace' that torture by Sri Lanka's state agencies of
Tamilsseento have links to the LTTE continued unabated well after the end of
thecivilwarinMay2009.Thereportclaimsthatthemedicolegalreports in the
cases of 148 survivors shows that they were subjected to a range of torture
methods that included brutal beatings (100 per cent of the 148 cases), burning
(78percent)andsexualtorture(71percent),aswellasasphyxiationtechniques
(38percent),formsofsuspension(45percent)andsolitaryconfinement(70per
cent).ThereportsaystheeradicationoftorturebythemilitaryandPoliceis"one
ofthemosturgenttasks"thattheGovernmenttobeelectedonAugust17must
address.Ofthesurvivors,93percentweretorturedbecauseofrealorperceived
links to the LTTE, and that in a majority of cases (139 out of 148) the victims
wereTamil.MorethanathirdoftheTamilswhosurvivedtorturewerethosewho
had returned to Sri Lanka from the UK, usually following a period of study or
work,oftenwhenvisitingtheirfamiliesbackhomethereportclaims.
August14
The STF of the Kolkata Police arrested five Sri Lankan nationals, allegedly
formerLTTEmembers,andtwoIndiansfromahotelinChadniChowkinKolkata
(West Bengal, India). The seven were picked up from Hotel Chandni
International,locatedinthecentralpartofthecity,bytheSTFlateonAugust14
nightinajointoperationwithpersonneloftheBowbazarPoliceStation,asenior
officer of the Kolkata Police's STF section said. "They have failed to show
proper papers about their identities and their travelling papers to India. They
have entered the country on forged documents. We suspect that they probably
have used waterways to enter Chennai," the officer said. The two Indians,
residentsofTamilNadu,hadhelpedthefiveSriLankansintravellingtoKolkata
andprobablywiththefalsedocuments,hesaid.
According to the Police, two of them Guna Sekharan and Bala Singham are
seniorleadersoftheLTTE.Policearecheckingiftheycameforanyoperations
or for any reconnaissance.The Police are interrogating them to find if they had
linkswithMaoists,astherearereportsthattheMaoistsaregraduallyregrouping
inBengalandhaveplanstostartguerillawarfareinJungalmahalareaofBengal.
Moreover, the Police are also probing if LTTE was supplying arms to the
Maoists.
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenasaidanewconstitutionwillbepresentedafterthe
upcoming Parliamentary Elections to abolish the remaining powers of the
executivepresidency.ThePresidentmadethisannouncementduringameeting
at the Presidential Secretariat with the European and Commonwealth election
observers who are in the country to observe August 17's Parliamentary
Elections.Heexplainedthatthewideexecutivepowersbroughtadisasterto the
countryduringthepasttenyearsandhecameintopowertoabolishthepowers
of the executive presidency. He stressed that he will abolish the remaining
powers of the executive presidency, which are challenging to democracy and
freedom of the people, in the new constitution which will be presented after the
ParliamentaryElections.
August17
Dismissing suggestion that the five Sri Lankans arrested from a city hotel in
Kolkata (West Bengal, India) have connection to a "terror group", the Kolkata
Police said it has started looking for those who brought them to the city
promisingfakepassportsandhelpgettingjobsinFrance.ThefiveSriLankans,
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allegedly former members of the LTTE, were arrested by Kolkata Police STF
sectionfromacityhotelwithfakedocumentsonAugust14.
FormerpresidentMahindaRajapaksahasacceptedthathispartyhaslostinthe
parliamentary elections held Monday (August 17) but has said that he would
work as an opposition member of parliament. "My dream of becoming prime
ministerhasfadedaway.Iamconceding.Wehavelostagoodfight,"Rajapaksa
said. The former President has reportedly accepted that UPFA had lost the
election even before Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya could
announcethefinalresults.However,theElectionsCommissionerisexpectedto
release the final party positions by midday Tuesday (August 18), according to
report. Preference votes secured by individual candidates would be announced
later.
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenasaidwithoutadoubtthe2015GeneralElectionon
August 17 was the most peaceful election in the recent history of the island
nation.Inaspecialstatementissuedaftertheconclusionofthepolls,President
Sirisena said he believes the changes brought in by him after his election in
January this year for the good governance was the reason for the peace
prevailedduringthepreelectionperiodandthepolls.Recallingtheattackonhim
at a meeting in Pelmadulla (Sabaragamuwa Province) during the presidential
election campaign in January and other attacks on the election meetings and
shootings,thePresidentsaidthepeoplerememberhow the former Government
abusedthepowerandmisusedstateproperties.
August18
Based on the final results released, UNP has secured 106 seats in the 225
memberParliamentatthegeneralelectionsheldonAugust17.Accordingtothe
final results, the UNP secured 106 seats, including 13 bonus seats, while the
UPFA got 95 seats, including 12 bonus seats, ITAK 16 seats, including two
bonusseats,theJVPsixseats,includingtwobonusseats,SLMConeseatand
theEPDPoneseat.TheUNPwon11ofthe22 DistrictswhiletheUPFAwon8
Districts.
Althoughfallingshortofthe113seatsexpected,theUNPleaderandincumbent
PrimeMinisterRanilWickremasingheisexpectedtoformhisGovernmentonce
alltheelectionresultsincludingpreferentialvotesarereleasedandconfirmedby
the Election Commissioner. It is speculated that several UPFA members, who
areloyaltoPresidentMaithripalaSirisenawilljointheGovernmentgivingaclear
majoritytothePrimeMinisterWickremasinghe'sGovernment.
IGP N K. Ilangakoon said the Police arrested 48 suspects and seized 18
vehiclesinconnectionwithelectionviolenceonthedayofelectionhowever,the
August 17 general election was relatively peaceful. He said that some of those
arrested were released on Police bail and some were produced before
Magistrate's Courts. "Since 2012, there have been 11 elections including nine
Provincial Council elections, one Presidential election and the one which just
concluded.The General election 2015 was the most peaceful of all," he added.
Addressing a media briefing at the Police Headquarters, Ilangakoon said there
were no serious incidents reported on election day."Only minor incidents were
reported,"hesaid.
August19
TheEUEOMthatwasinSriLankatomonitortheparliamentaryelectionsheldon
August 17 said the election was welladministered and genuine although the
campaigningwasrestrictedwithexcessiverules.ChiefObserveroftheEUEOM
Cristian Preda said during the presentation of the preliminary report at a press
conference in Colombo, that the Commissioner of Elections and his staff
administered the elections in a transparent and impartial manner, demonstrated
strongleadership,andenjoyedtheconfidenceofallstakeholders.
Incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe will be swornin as Sri Lanka's new Prime
MinisteronAugust20,returningtotheofficeforafourthtermafterhispartywon
thecloselycontestedgeneralelection.Wickremesinghe'sUNPcoalitionwon 106
seatsinAugust17parliamentaryelection,just7shortofasimplemajorityinthe
225memberassemblybutenoughtoformaGovernment."Wewillalsoformthe
Cabinetthereafter,"formerfinanceministerRaviKarunanayakesaid.
Ranil Wickremesinghe said that his Government would arrive at a consensus
and build a framework "through which we will do our politics". Addressing the
media at his official residence, Wickremesinghe said his government would not
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allow anyone to indulge in divisive politics. "Let's work together. I don't think
anyone can opt out [of the task of working together] or go back to divisive
politics.Wewillnotallowthat",hesaid.
TheTNAdecidedtosupportthe UNP, which has emerged as the single largest
partyintheParliamentelectioninSriLanka.TNAleaderR.Sampanthansaid"In
the process, we also expect resolution to the national question in a manner
acceptable to all people." The verdict of people in the Northern and Eastern
Provinces had demonstrated "beyond question" that the TNA was "the true
representativeofTamils,"headded.
UN Secretary General Ban KiMoon congratulated Sri Lankan President
Maithripala Sirisena on conducting a peaceful and successful Parliamentary
election. The Secretary, via telephone has commended the President, the
Government and the election process for conducting a free and fair election
withoutanyinterference.
August20
SLFP led by President Maithripala Sirisena agreed to form a national

Government with the UNP led by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. The SLFP has
decided to support the winner of the parliamentary election to form a stable
coalitionGovernmentatleastforaperiodoftwoyears.Thedecisionwas taken
when the President as the chairman of the party met with the SLFP central
committeemembers.
The main Tamil party, TNA with 16 seats and the Marxist party JVP with six
seats in the Parliament have indicated that they would not join a coalition
Government.
August21
UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lankan Prime Minister
for the fourth time. On the occasion, General Secretaries of the UNP and the
SLFP,KabirHashimandDumindaDissanayake,signedanagreementtoforma
nationalGovernment.However,norepresentativesoftheTNA,whichdecidedto
supporttheGovernment,werepresentatthefunction.
The UKbased Diaspora Tamil organization, GTF said the Tamil people in Sri
LankahavegiventhemainTamilparty,TNAanditsleaderastrongmandateto
negotiate a political solution. Congratulating the TNA and its leader R.
Sampanthan on their resounding election victory in the Northern and Eastern
Provinces,theGTFsaidtheTamilpeoplehavealsosentaclearmessagetothe
new Sri Lankan Government and to the international community that they are
firmlybehindtheTNAanditsleadership.
August22
A day after he assumed office, Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that
he is confident and hopeful that the political situation in Sri Lanka following the
August 17 General election, although complex, is favourable for forging an
enduring political solution to the Tamil question. Noting that the two main
national parties, his UNP and the SLFP, and the TNA were "the three key
players" in formulating the proposals for an enduring solution, he said he had
"triedtokeeptheUNPpositionflexiblesothatwecanbridgethedifferences."
President Maithripala Sirisena handed over the land that was taken by the
Government in the Eastern Province, back to the war displaced families.
President Sirisena handed over the land deeds to 234 displaced families in
Sampur in Trincomalee District of Eastern Province. He symbolically handed
overdeedsofthelandsto25personsattheceremony.
August23
SelvamAdaikkalanathan,whowaselectedtoParliamentontheTNAticket,said
thathispartyintendedtofunctionasthemainoppositioninParliament.Hesaid
thetwomainpartieshadsignedaMOUonforminganationalunityGovernment
andthereforehispartywouldbeeligibletobethemainopposition.TheTNAwon
16seatsinparliamentfromtheelectoraldistrictsintheNorthandEast.
Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena is expected to receive a copy of the
UNreportintotheinvestigationsofwarcrimesearlythisweekbeforeitsofficial
release,stateownednewspapersaidquotingdiplomaticsources.
August24
PolicearrestedfourArmypersonnelforallegedinvolvementintheabductionand
murder of Lanka e News journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda. Police Media
Spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said two Army officers and two other
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ranks who were being questioned by the CID in connection with the
disappearance of Eknaligoda were arrested today (August 24). Earlier, the CID
investigationhasalsoledtothearrestoftwoformerLTTEcadreswhohadgiven
theinformationontheArmy'sinvolvementinthedisappearance.
TNAfinaliseditsnationallist withtheappointmentofK.Thurairatnasingamfrom
Trincomalee (Eastern Province) and Shanthi Sriskantharajah from the Vanni
(NorthernProvince).
The PCICMP in Sri Lanka will hand over its second interim report to the
President this week. The Chairman of the Commission, Maxwell Paranagama
will hand over the second interim report to President Maithripala Sirisena on
August28,President'sMediaDivisionsaid.
August25
The Colombo Chief Magistrate's court summoned a Minister of the former

Government, Mervyn Silva to give evidence on abductions and disappearances
during the previous regime. Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya ordered
the former Minister to appear in court on November 11 when he hear a Habeas
Corpus petition filed by relatives of three missing people in October 2011. The
petitionersstatedintheirpetitionthattheformerMinisterhadmadeacomplaint
withtheCIDthatheknewinformationaboutthe"whitevans"whichwereusedto
abductciviliansduringthepreviousregime.
The USAssistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Tom Malinowski said the US will standby Sri Lanka and support the new
Governmenttocontinueitsforwardlookingagendafortheprogress.Addressing
a media briefing in Colombo, after a meeting with Sri Lanka's Foreign Affairs
Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Tom Malinowski said the US has seen steady
progress towards the forward looking agenda of this Government. He said the
messagesentbytheSriLankanstwicethisyearthattheysupportchangeisthe
mostimportant.
A resolution calling for international intervention to probe alleged war crimes,
movedbyaTNAmemberatameetingoftheNPC,fellthrough.
August26
Sri Lankan Commander of Army Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva said

thatalthoughSriLankaisnowapeacefulcountry,nationalsecurityisthepriority
for the Sri Lanka Army as there could be a threat to national security at any
moment.Hesaid,"SriLankaisnowoneofthemostpeaceful countries but we
all have to be alert to global threats, be it drug peddling, human trafficking,
manmade and natural disasters, terrorism or whatever it is. It could become a
threatatanymoment."
Sri Lanka's main Tamil party, TNA met with the visiting top US officials for
discussionsoncriticalissues.ThediscussionsfocusedontheUNinternational
investigation report to be submitted in Geneva next month, the resettlement of
the displaced and the release of political prisoners. The US officials have
assuredtodiscusstheissueswiththeSriLankanGovernment.Theyannounced
thattheUSwillsponsoraresolutionatnextmonth'sUNHRCsessioninGeneva
supporting the Government to conduct its own domestic probe into the alleged
warcrimescommittedduringthewarwiththeLTTE.
A leading election monitor in Sri Lanka, CaFFE urged the Sri Lankan
Government to abolish the draconian PTA. The election watchdog emphasizing
theneedtoabolishthePTA,whichis"oneofthemostdraconianlegislations"in
SriLanka,saidrevokingthePTAisthefirststeptocreateacivilizedcountry.
IamcluelessastowhytheTNA membersdonotwanttosupportit,whenthe
TNAs position favours even an international investigation mechanism into
allegedwarcrimes, M.K. Shivajilingam said. He said he had wanted the UN to
providetechnicalassistancetoSriLankatofindanegotiatedpoliticalsolution
TheUNHCHRZeidRa'adAlHussein isexpectedtovisitSriLankaaheadofthe
SeptembersessionoftheUNHRCinGeneva,politicalsourcessaidinColombo.
Al Hussein is expected to hold discussions with the new Sri Lankan
Government, before the report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka is
presentedtotheUNHRCnextmonth.
August27
Leaders of two minor Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka have expressed their
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support to the National Government formed by the two major political parties
UNP and SLFP. Leader of upcountry Tamil party CWC Arumugam Thondaman
and leader of Jaffnabased EPDP Douglas Devananda have decided to extend
theirsupporttotheNationalGovernment.
Former Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said that previous administration of Sri
Lanka did not seize the opportunity to fully implement the UN resolution
presented by the country to the UNHRC in 2009. Samarasinghe said previous
administrationfailedtoproveSriLanka'sdiligenceinimplementingtheresolution
adopted in 2009 at the UNHRC. If Sri Lanka took steps to fully implement the
2009 resolution, which supported the reconciliation, then it would have been
difficultfortheUNtoadoptthe2012and2013resolutionsagainstSriLanka,he
pointedout.
Samarasinghe added that if it is possible to launch a programme that will not
lead to the creation of an extremist organization such as the LTTE, there is a
possibilityofprovidingabettercountrytothepeople.
TheHumanRightsCommissionofSriLankahasunveiledaprogramtoaddress
human rights issues at the regional level. The Government Information
Department said that the program aims to sort out complaints through regional
committeesbeforetheyreachtheCommission.
August28
SeniorleaderoftheTNAandChairmanoftheNPC,CVKSivagnanamsaidthat
the Tamils will keep pressing for an international probe into charges of war
crimes against the Sri Lankan Government even though the US Assistant
Secretary of State for SouthAsia, Nisha Biswal, has made it clear that the US
will only seek an independent and credible Lankan domestic probe. He said,
Just as the Sri Lankan Government has an agenda which it will press, we
Tamilsalsohaveanagenda,whichwewillpress.
TamilpoliticalpartiesinTamilNadu(India)havestronglycondemnedtheUSfor
supportingSriLanka to conduct a domestic inquiry into the alleged war crimes.
DMK leader M. Karunanidhi and PMK founder S. Ramadoss have strongly
criticized the US Government's decision to support the new Sri Lankan
Government'splansforalocalinquiry.
August29
FormerLTTEEasternCommanderandformerDeputyMinisterVinayagamoorthy
Muralidharan alias Karuna Amman claimed, in an interview with an Indian TV
channel, that the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, committed suicide by
shooting himself with a firearm. Responding to a question made by a reporter
duringtheinterview,Muralitharanalsorevealedthat Prabhakarans wife and the
daughterwerekilledbyshellfireduringthefinalstageofthewar.Whilepraising
Prabhakaran for his war strategies, Muralitharan, however, asserted that the
LTTE was defeated owing to its unsuccessful war tactics. If the LTTE had
foughtaguerrillabattle,itwouldnothavelost,headded.
TNAleader,R.Sampanthansaid thathispartycantakeanofficialstandonthe
latest US policy of supporting Sri Lanka to institute a domestic mechanism to
investigate the alleged war crimes, only after reading the report of the UN
OHCHR. Indicating a major shift in policy towards Sri Lanka, the US last week
expressed support to the new Government of Sri Lanka to conduct its own
domesticprobeintotheallegedwarcrimes.
August30
SriLanka'sformerArmyCommander FieldMarshalSarathFonsekarejectedthe
claim made by the former LTTE commander turned exdeputy minister
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman that the slain LTTE chief
Velupillai Prabhakaran committed suicide. In an interview with an Indian Tamil
TV channel Karuna claimed that the LTTE leader shot himself with a firearm
whencaptureseemedimminent.Hedeniedthathisformerleaderwascaptured,
torturedandkilledbyLankantroops.
August31
SriLanka'sAGDepartmenttold theCourtofAppealthatnocrimesinvolvingthe
former LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP have been found during
their examination. The examination was carried out by the AG Department in
response to a writ petition filed by JVP Propaganda Secretary Parliamentarian
VijithaHerathcitingthatnolegalmeasureshavebeentakenagainstKP.
September1
Sri Lanka's Tamilcontrolled NPC unanimously called for an international probe

intotheallegedwarcrimescommittedtowardstheendofthewarwiththeLTTE.
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The Chief Minister of the NPC C.V. Wigneswaran passed a resolution rejecting
the domestic process being proposed by the US and other members of the
international community. While acknowledging the "long standing efforts" of the
USandIndiaalongwiththeinternationalcommunityinsecuringjustice,theNPC
dismissed a domestic mechanism backed by the US as Sri Lanka has had a
"longandblightedhistoryofhumanrightsviolations'whichaccordingtotheNPC
amountstogenocide.
The Eighth Parliament of Sri Lanka came into being with President Maithripala
Sirisenas call for promoting reconciliation and coexistence and developing the
political culture of consensus in the country. In his address to the Parliament,
thePresidentsaidthecountryhadtotake"boldpoliticaldecisions"ontheissue
of reconciliation. The new government would give importance to the task of
accomplishing expeditious economic progress in the conflicthit regions of the
NorthernandtheEasternprovinces,besidesadjoiningareas.
AddressingtheopeningsessionofSriLanka's8thParliament,Sirisenacalledon
all political parties to end politics of conflict and extend a helping hand to
strengthen the politics of consociation initiated by the government. Pointing out
that one major national party ruled the country for 35 years and the other main
party ruled for 32 years, he urged all the Members of Parliament representing
differentpoliticalpartiestocooperatewiththegovernment'sdeterminedinitiative
tousherinanewpoliticalcultureofconsociation.
Tamil women in Sri Lanka continue to face the risk of rape and harassment by
Sri Lankan SFs and have been negatively impacted by a surge of violence
against women in the North, according to a report released last week. "The
Forever Victims? Tamil Women in PostWar Sri Lanka" stated the situation
remainsparticularlygraveforTamilwomen,6yearssincetheendofthearmed
conflictontheisland.
September2
The CaFFE called upon newlyelected MPs to repeal the PTA, dubbed by
human rights activists as draconian, in two months. In a statement, Rajith
Keerthi Tennakoon, Executive Director CaFFE, termed the PTA as more
dangerous than emergency laws and said the UNFGG, which has formed the
new government, consists of parties that were victims of the law in the past.
Those who accepted good governance as a principle must agree to a repeal of
thePTA,which,accordingtotheCaFFE,leadstoattacksonpersonalfreedom
includingthefreedomofexpressionandthatofassociation.
Former minister John Amarathunga said the government will be compelled to
handoverformerchiefinternationalarmsprocurerfortheLTTEleaderKumaran
Pathmanathan alias KP, if India wanted him in connection with the killing of
former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.Amarathunga said it had now been
revealed that all evidence against KP, who provided the funds to the LTTE and
nourished it had been completely destroyed during the Mahinda Rajapaksa
regime. Under these circumstances it had become impossible for the Attorney
General to file a case against him, he said.Although evidence against KP had
been destroyed in Sri Lanka he was the only suspect living now in the case of
RajivGandhimurder,hesaid.
September3
Leader of Sri Lanka's main Tamil party, TNA and Trincomalee District
parliamentarianR.SampanthanwasdesignatedastheOppositionLeaderofthe
eighth parliament. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya named Sampanthan as the
OppositionLeaderwhentheparliamentconvened,aftertheinauguralsessionon
September 1. Earlier both UPFA and TNA were vying for the opposition leader
position. Following the decision taken by the opposition SLFP, the main
constituent party of the UPFA, to join the majority UNP to form a national
government,TNAwithits16seatsintheparliamentbecamethemajority.
September4
The main opposition TNA said, it hoped to hold talks with the government on
resolving the national question no sooner Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe
returnsfromhisupcomingvisittoIndia.TNASpokesmanM.A.Sumanthiran told
that one of the stated objectives of the national unity government was the
resolutionofthenationalquestion.
September5
PropagandaSecretaryoftheNFFMohamed Muzammil said, that by appointing

TNA parliamentarian R. Sampanthan as the Opposition leader, the government
had given undue recognition to the separatists. Muzammil, addressing a news
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conference at the party head office at Battaramulla, Colombo, said: "The

national government has removed the check point at Omanthai and the High
Security Zone as well as the Sampur army camp while releasing the LTTE
suspectswhowereinremand."Thosewhopretendtobepatriotsanddefenders
of the country on political platforms and in TV talk shows in the runup to the
election like Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Patali Champika Ranwaka were
today silent about threats to national security, he alleged. He also warned that
the government was paving the way for separatism by yielding to the demands
ofthosewhowerecampaigningforit.
September6
Sri Lanka will maintain the close relationship with China that provided strong
support to help Sri Lanka end its 30year civil war with the LTTE rebels in May
2009, Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka said. Without Chinas support we would
have not been able to finish the war, basically, Fonseka told Xinhua in an
interview.
Addressing a media briefing in Batticaloa District, former Chief Minister of
EasternProvinceandtheLeaderofTMVPSivanesathuraiChandrakanthanalias
Pillayan said that an international investigation into the alleged crimes
committed during the 30year war is not needed. Pillayan said a domestic
mechanism is appropriate as there is a change in the governance. "LTTE has
also committed serious war crimes. And the Tamil people also have allowed
them the opportunity to commit crimes," BBC Sandeshaya quoting the former
LTTEleadersaid.
September7
TheTNAwantsaninternationalcourttotrycasesofwarcrimesidentifiedbythe
investigations conducted by the OISL and not another international
"investigation",seniorTNAleader,MavaiSenathirajah,clarified.Speakingabout
the popularTamil demand for an "international investigation", the Jaffna District
MPsaidthattheinvestigationconductedby theOISLfollowingtheMarch2014
resolution of the UNHRC, was an international investigation. "As such, there is
noneedforanotherinternationalprobe,"Senathirajahsaid.
AreportonallegedHumanRights violations in Sri Lanka during the Eelam War
islikelytobepresentedonSeptember30duringthe30thsessionoftheUnited
Human Rights Council.As per the present time table, the subject on Sri Lanka
will come up during the third and final week of the Council's session, which
startsonSeptember14andconcludesonOctober2.PreparedbytheOISL,the
report is a sequel to the adoption of a resolution adopted by the UNHRC in
March 2014, requesting the Commissioner to undertake a comprehensive
investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and
related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the
LLRC [which is February 21, 2002 to May 19, 2009]." The period signifies two
events the commencement of a ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan
governmentandtheLTTE,andtheconclusionoftheEelamWar.
The LTTE launched a new Tamil Television channel Deepam targeting
European,SriLankanandSouthIndiaTamils.ThestationisrunbyNediyawan,
theLTTEleaderbasedinNorway,whocoordinatedLTTEactivitiesoverseason
behalfoftheLTTEInternationalSecretariat.PerimpanayaganSivaparamknown
widely as Nediyawan is opposed to TNA. He believes that the fight for
separatisminitiatedbyLTTEchiefVelupillaiPrabhakaranshouldcontinue.
The Central Committee of the TNA is likely to discuss the antiparty stance of
theCMoftheNorthernProvinceC.V.WigneswaranatitsmeetingonSeptember
11. Wigneswaran, according to the TNA leadership, has taken an antiparty
stanceintherunuptotheAugust17,SriLankanparliamentaryelections.Senior
leaderofTNA,MavaiSenathirajasaidthatalthoughtheformalagendadoesnot
say that the committee will discuss Wigneswaran's conduct, if the issue is
raisedthecommitteewilldiscussit.
The NAFSO movement organised a roundtable in the Sri Lankan capital of
Colombo,todiscussareport,titledLetthemcomebacktotheirplacesoforigin
in and with dignity, the study centered on the situation in 38 refugee camps in
27villages.CompletedinlateAugust,thereportindicated that about 35 camps
have existed since the 1990s, but five of them were hitherto unknown. Some
1,536familiesor5,836peopleliveinthecamps.However,about30,000people
are still internally displaced on the Jaffna Peninsula. The island nation saw a
brutal civil war between the government and Tamil Tigers, LTTE. The latter
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sought to create an independent state in the predominantly Tamil provinces of

northernandeasternSriLanka.Theseareasborethebruntof30yearsofbloody
civil war between the army and rebels, and the civil war ended with the rebels
defeat.
September8
The TELOs national organiser and the TNAs member in the NPC, M.K.
Shivajilingam, decided to take out a march from Killinochchi to Nallur in Jaffna
onSeptember10,demandinganinternationalmechanismtogointoallegedwar
crimes. He along with his supporters would undertake the march in individual
capacity, Shivajilingam said. He would be joined by another NPC member,
AnanthySasitharan.
September10
Sri Lanka'sAG, Y J W Wijayatilake clarified that the former LTTE international

wing leader, Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, has not been exonerated of
chargesofterrorism,though,investigationsinto46ofthe193casesagainst him
hadrevealedthathehadnoroletoplayinthoseactsofterrorism.
TheintensificationoftheantigovernmentconflictinSyriahashadadeleterious
effectonSriLanka'sinternalstabilityandsecuritymorethansixyearsafterthe
island nation successfully defeated the LTTE, says IHS Jane's 360 weekly
reports.AccordingtotheOSINTSummaryreport,after thefinaldefeatofLTTE
in May 2009, Sri Lanka has remained largely free of the threat of violence by
nonstate armed groups. However, as with many other countries, the
intensificationoftheantigovernmentconflictinSyria,isthreateningSriLanka's
internal stability and security, as indicated by the events over the past several
months. It has indicated that Sri Lanka is not immune to the danger posed by
theradicalizationandrecruitmenttechniquesoftheIS and has necessitated an
enhancedresponsebytheSecurityForces,thedefenseweeklynoted.
September11
TheGovernmentofSriLankahasbeenprovidedwithacopyoftheUNreporton
theinvestigationintotheallegedwarcrimescommittedduringthefinalphaseof
the war against the LTTE. The report, scheduled for public release at the 30th
session of the UNHRC will begins on Monday (September 14) in Geneva,
according to a Foreign Ministry source. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera
isexpectedtousethespeechtolayouthisGovernment'splanforreconciliation
andadomesticaccountabilitymechanismthathehopeswillbeendorsedbythe
Council.
September13
AgroupofradicalTamilsled byNPCmembersMKShivajiLingamandAnanthi
SasitharanareatthetailendoftheirfourdaymarchfromKilinochchitoJaffna,
demandinganinternationalinquiryintothechargesofwarcrimesagainsttheSri
Lankan armed forces, and an international court to try the alleged perpetrators.
SpeakingfromKaithadyinJaffna,ShivajiLingamsaidabout50peopleareinthe
rally,whichwillwindupatSangiliyanThoppuinJaffna,whichhadbeentheseat
oftheTamilkingsofyore.IaminthemarchbothasaTamilandasavictimof
war crimes, said Ananthi Sasitharan. She had seen her husband Sasitharan
aliasEzhilan,surrendertotheLankanarmyonMay16,2009,atMullaithivu.But
till date, he is untraceable, with the army and every other agency saying that
they have no information about him.Ananthi pointed out that her case is only
one among hundreds of men and women of the LTTE who had voluntarily
surrendered to the Lankan forces in the hope that they would not be killed. On
why she rejected a Lankan domestic mechanism to probe crimes charges and
render justice,Ananthi said, We have had many domestic mechanisms in the
pastandallhavefailed.
September14
ThemuchawaitedreportoftheOISLwillbemadepubliconSeptember16.The
report, concerning alleged war crimes, is a result of a resolution adopted in
March 2014, calling upon the Commissioner to undertake a comprehensive
investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and
related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the
LLRC."TheLLRCdealtwiththeperiodbetweenFebruary21,2002andMay19,
2009, signifying two events the commencement of a ceasefire agreement
between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE and the end of the Eelam
War.Announcingthisduringtheinaugurationofthe30thsession of the UNHCR
inGeneva,UNHighCommissionerforHumanRightsZeidRa'adAlHusseinsaid
thatalongwiththereport,hewouldmake his recommendations.According to a
pressreleaseissuedbytheUN,apressconferencewouldbeheldinGenevaon
September16,at10.30am(localtime).
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SriLanka'snewgovernmentsaiditwassettingupaSouthAfricastyletruthand
reconciliation commission to look into atrocities during its civil war, as it came
under renewed pressure to prosecute perpetrators. South Africa, which
confronted its own apartheidera crimes through such a body, would advise the
nationonhowtousethecommissiontoprovideremedytovictimsandtotrack
down missing people, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said. He outlined
the plan, and other proposals to set up a criminal justice mechanism and
compensate victims, to the UNHRC, hours after the world body announced it
would release a longdelayed report on September 16, calling for accountability
forSriLankanwarcrimes.
September15
SriLanka'sminorityTamils,rejectedgovernmentplansforatruthcommissionto
promote reconciliation after decades of ethnic war, insisting on an international
inquiry. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera unveiled a range of
reconciliation measures on September 14, at the UNHRC in Geneva, two days
before the release of a longawaited report on Sri Lanka's alleged war crimes.
ButTamilleaderssaidthenewunitygovernment'splansforatruthcommission
andanofficeforwarreparationswerenotenough,amidconcernsabuseswould
notbeproperlyinvestigated.
September16
TheSriLankangovernment,acknowledgingthe receipt of an advanced copy of

theUNreportoftheOHCHRinvestigationonSriLanka,assuredthatthereport
and its recommendations will receive due attention of the relevant authorities
including the new mechanisms that are envisaged to be set up. In response to
the 261page report, the ForeignAffairs Ministry in a letter to the office of the
Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the government takes note of the
"Report of the OHCHR investigation on Sri Lanka and recognizes fully that this
Reportrepresentsahumanrightsinvestigationandnotacriminalinvestigation."
The government further said that it is encouraged by the High Commissioner's
recognitionoftheeffortsofthenewgovernmentsincethepresidentialelectionof
8 January 2015 in dealing with issues of concern for the people of Sri Lanka
relating to human rights, rule of law, governance, justice, institutional and legal
reform and reconciliation.The government also appreciated the due recognition
giventotheGovernment'sconstructiveengagementwiththeHighCommissioner
and OHCHR aimed at addressing postconflict issues that impact on achieving
reconciliationandassuredthatitwilltakeeverypossiblemeasuretoensurenon
recurrence.
TheUKsaid,itwelcomesthepublicationofthereportfromtheinvestigationon
Sri Lanka by the OHCHR. The UK cosponsored the resolution in March 2014
that called for the OHCHR's investigation. In a statement, Minister of State in
theForeignandCommonwealthOfficeoftheUKHugoSwiresaidhe welcomes
the publication of this important report into allegations of serious violations and
abusesofhumanrightsinSriLanka.
DespitemanyexpectinganamingandshaminginthecontentoftheUNreport
on Sri Lanka, UN sources in Geneva state that the names of individuals
accusedofperpetratingtheallegedabusesduringthefinalphasesofthe conflict
inSriLankawereneverintendedtobepublishedinthereport.Sourcessaid,that
the names of the accused were never intended to be included as part of the
report as the OISL (OHCHR investigation on Sri Lanka) was a human rights
investigationandnotacriminalinquiry.ItwaspointedoutthatinthecaseofSri
Lankacomparativelyfewlistsweresubmittedtotheinvestigationpanelandthat
too through zonal investigation commissions as opposed to lists of names that
weresubmittedininvestigationssuchastheCommissionofInquiryonSyria.
September20
Without the cooperation and help of Pakistan by virtue of defense relations, Sri
Lanka could never get rid of terrorism it had been facing during the previous
decades, said EAS Wijayanthi Edirisinghe, Acting High Commissioner of Sri
Lanka. Edirisinghe was addressing a seminar organized by Department of
Politics and International Relations of IIU held at Faisal Masjid Campus of the
varsity, the Pakistan Observer reported. The Sri Lankan Acting High
CommissionerfurtheredthatPakistanandSriLankawereimportantpartnersnot
onlyinpromotingbilateraltradeandeconomicinteractionsbutalsoinenhancing
regionaleconomicintegration.
TheindependentBrusselsbasedICGsayspursuingcasesagainstformerLTTE
leaders who worked closely with the Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa
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government will be important to address Sinhalese perceptions that

accountability is biased against the military. Releasing a statement on the
Report of the UN Investigation on Sri Lanka, the ICG said it is important to
pursue cases against LTTE leaders such as K. Pathmanathan ("KP") and V.
Muralitharan ("Karuna"), and any other senior LTTE leaders who may be
overseastoaddresstheSinhalesecommunity'sconcernsonaninvestigationby
theUNHumanRightsChiefproposed"HybridCourt".TheGroupsaidthereport
by the UN OHCHR on its OISL is a "compelling examination" of the abuses
committedbyallsidesduringthelengthycivilconflictandthestepsrequiredto
pursuejustice,accountabilityandreconciliationaspartofdemocraticrecovery.
September21
Former Commander of Army Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who led the war
againsttheLTTE,said"ItwastheLTTEwhichfiredoncivilianstryingtofleeto
thearmycontrolledlinesandkilledthem.TheLankanarmedforcesontheother
handhadapolicyofwelcomingthemandprovidingthemsafeshelter."
A group of prominent foreign policy observers asked President Maithripala
Sirisenatoimmediatelytableallthereportsonthefinalphaseoftheconflictat
theongoingUNHRCsessionsinGeneva.
September22
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe reiterated that there will be no international

mechanismtoinvestigatetheallegedwarcrimesandatribunalshouldbecarried
out under a domestic system and not through a mechanism designed by an
outsidepersonorentity.
GermanyisreadytohelpSriLankainvestigate alleged atrocities during its civil
war, Foreign Minister FrankWalter Steinmeier said. Steinmeier made the
announcement after talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Mangala
Samaraweera,inColombo.
OHCHR defended the findings of its report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka,
which drew criticism from several quarters for its "silence" on genocide in the
islandnation.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa called upon the Government to reject the
Report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka because it was instituted
outsidetheestablishedprocedureoftheUNHRC.
CMofNorthernProvinceC.V.Wigneswaranpresenting a statement to the NPC
sessions welcomed the report of the OHCHR investigation on the alleged war
crimes during the last phase of the conflict with the LTTE and urged the
Governmenttoimplementitsrecommendations.
September23
The Government decided to invite foreign and local investors to construct

houses for the conflictaffected people in the war torn Northern and Eastern
Provinces.
September24
The draft resolution titled 'Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human

rights in Sri Lanka' submitted to the ongoing 30th session of the UNHRC in
Geneva. Along with the United States, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Montenegro, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
cosponsoredtheresolutionA/HRC/30/L.29.
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that Sri Lanka will cosponsor the US
draftresolutiononSriLankaattheUNHRC.
HRW said that Sri Lanka wants to investigate war crimes committed on both
sidesduringthecountry'slongandbloodycivilwarwithoutinternationalhelp,but
there is simply no evidence that Sri Lanka has the ability or the political will to
doso.
September26
UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon met President Maithripala Sirisena on the

sidelines of the 70th UN GeneralAssembly in New York and asked Sirisena to
advancethedialogueonapoliticalsettlementintheislandnation.
September27
AustraliacosponsoredreconciliationresolutionwiththeSriLankanGovernment.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in a statement said that the resolution, if
effectivelyimplemented,wouldprovideSriLankaaplatformtohealthewounds
ofwarcrimescommittedduringthenation'scivilconflict.
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PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka will seek the consultations of
foreign judges and lawyers for the domestic mechanism to probe the alleged
rights violations during the military conflict with the LTTE within the legal
frameworkallowedbytheConstitution.
President Maithripala Sirisena promised that his Government will take steps to
strengthen the freedom, democracy and human rights in the country by
introducinganewConstitution.
September28
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that his Government is ready to

implement internationally accepted laws in accordance with the Constitution
respectingthepublicsupremacyandsafeguardingnationalsovereignty.
MinisterofHousingandConstructionSajithPremadasaatamediabriefingathis
MinistrysaidthatSriLankaaimstocompletetheconstructionof50,000houses
initiated under the 100day program and constructions work on 38,000 houses
havecommenced.
September29
United States reiterated that it would support a credible domestic process for
justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka in cooperation with the UN and with
internationalsupport.
Leader ofTNA and Opposition Leader of the Government, R. Sampanthan said
that the United States sponsored draft resolution on Sri Lanka is the "best
possibleresolutionthatcouldhavebeenachieved".
Four minor Tamil parties EPRLF, PLOTE, TELO and TNPF and 40 CSOs &
Trade Unions in a joint statement sent to all 47 members of the UNHRC
demandedtheUNHRCtoconsiderachievingjusticeandaccountabilitythrougha
credible hybrid mechanism as domestic probe will not address the concerns of
thevictims.
September30
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenawhileaddressingthe70thUNGAinNewYorksaid
"Our new vision for the country involves achieving the twin objectives of
sustainabledevelopmentandreconciliation."
RespondingtotheOHCHRreport,Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the
UNinGeneva,AmbassadorRavinathaAryasinhasaidtheOHCHRreportandits
recommendationsincludingthenewmechanismsthatareenvisagetobesetup,
willreceivedueattentionoftherelevantauthorities.
EUsaidthatitwillcontinuetosupportSriLankaasthecountrylookstoworkin
partnershipwith the international community to implement its commitments and
moves forward on the path of reconciliation, justice, and progress on human
rights.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed hope
thatSriLankacanfinallybreakthecycleofimpunitythatforsolongstainedits
pastbutcautionedthatitwillrequireacomprehensiveapproach.
October1
UNHRCthroughconsensusadopteda resolution on Sri Lanka on accountability

fortheallegedhumanrightsviolationsduringwarinSriLanka.
Assuring its commitment to implement the provisions of the resolution, Sri
Lanka'sPermanentRepresentativetotheUNinGenevaAmbassadorRavinatha
Aryasinha said that Sri Lanka is pleased to join as a cosponsor of the
resolution.
October2
President Maithripala Sirisena said that his Government's policy is to have a

domesticmechanisminaccordancewiththecountry'sConstitutiontolookinto
humanrightsallegations.
October4
Prison Department recruited 100 Tamil youth to train as officers. Commissioner

General of Prisons Rohana Pushpakumara said that the newly trained Tamil
officers will be deployed to the prisons in the north and East to alleviate the
shortageofprisonofficersinthoseareas.
JVP urged the Government to protect the human rights of its citizens and
conductacredibledomesticinquiry into the allegations of human rights abuses
duringthewartopreventfurtherinterventionbytheinternationalcommunityinto
thecountry'sdomesticaffairs.
President Maithripala Sirisena at a ceremony held at Waddakachchi in
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October5
President Maithripala Sirisena at a ceremony held at Waddakachchi in

Kilinochchi District handed 613 acres of land to the owners. Out of the 613
acres,474acresbelongtoKilinochchiDistrictand139acresbelongtoMullaitivu
District.
October7
JSP General Secretary Somawansa Amarasinghe said that all political parties
shouldrejecttheUNHRCresolutioninordertopreventSriLankafrombecoming
acolonyagain.
October8
CID arrested two former cadres of LTTE for the assassination of TNA MP
JosephPararajasinghaminBatticaloaDistrictonDecember25,2005.
Police Department decided to recruit 1,500Tamil youths of the North as Police
ConstablestoprovideanefficientPoliceservicetotheNortherncivilians.
October9
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Parliament will debate the
UNHRCresolutiononOctober20and21.
October11
JusticeMinisterWijedasaRajapaksasaidthattheGovernmentistoabolishthe
MissingPersonsCommissionandreplaceitwithanewcommissiontocontinue
itsprocedures.
New Zealand joined as a cosponsor to the resolution on Sri Lanka adopted by
the UNHRC.The resolution on Sri Lanka submitted to the UNHRC and adopted
withoutavotenowhas39cosponsors.
October12
ExLTTEcadresdetainedattheMagazinePrisoninColombolaunchedahunger
strikeurgingtheauthoritiestoreleasethem.
CM of Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran in a letter addressed to the
President Maithripala Sirisena asked to grant amnesty to Tamil political
prisonersstilldetainedinjailssixyearafterendingthewar.
October14
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenapromisedtolookintotheissuesfacedbyagroup
of Tamil prisoners who are currently on a hunger strike at the main prison in
Colombo.
Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said there are no political prisoners
held in any of Sri Lanka's prisons. He further said that there are 225 LTTE
suspectsheldintheprisonscurrently.
October16
President Maithripala Sirisena promised to release the former LTTE cadres

imprisonedforminoroffensesbeforeNovember7.
Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils, Faizer Mustapha said
that the Government is making every effort to hold the elections to the local
governmentbyMarch2016underthefirstpastthepostsystem.
CID informed Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitya that drug kingpin
Mohamed Siddeek arrested in Pakistan on charges of engaging in international
drugtraffickinghadfundedtheLTTE.
October17
Tamil prisoners, who launched a hunger strike in jails across Sri Lanka
demanding their immediate release, have suspended their fast after President
MaithripalaSirisenaassuredtoexpeditetheprocessingoftheircases.
October18
Opposition MP Wimal Weerawansa charged that the Government was planning

to produce former LTTE members, who are to be released from prisons in the
near future, as witnesses against the armed forces for the proceedings of the
proposedHybridCourt.
October19
The Joint Opposition conducted a forum against the UNHRC report at

Viharamahedevi Park in Colombo. Politicians, including Parliamentarian Wimal
Weerawansa,UdayaGammanpila,VasudevaNanayakkarawerepresent.
October20
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tabled the resolution adopted at the

UNHRC as well as the Udalagama and Paranagama Commission Reports in
Parliament.
The Paranagama Commission said that the principal reason for the loss of
civilian life during the final phase of the war was the hostage taking and use of
humanshieldsbytheLTTE.
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The Udalagama Commission said that it is necessary to incorporate a

comprehensivecomponentonhumanrightsandinternationalhumanitarianlawin
allPoliceandarmedforcestrainingschemes.
October21
President Maithripala Sirisena during a meeting with a group of representatives

oftheWorldAllianceofReligions'PeaceSummitathisofficialresidenceseeks
assistancefromthereligiousleadersforreconciliationprogram.
October22
President Maithripala Sirisena convened an allparty meeting to discuss

measurestheGovernmentshouldtakeontheresolutionthatwasadoptedatthe
UNHRCinGeneva.
Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said that the Government has taken
steps to accelerate the judicial process regarding the suspects remanded for
theirinvolvementinterroristactivitiesduringandaftertheconflict.
TNA MP Mavai Senathirajah said that his party would be compelled to form a
separate Tamil State with the help of the international community if any party
resolvedtoformaSinhaladominatedstate.
October23
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that only the local extremists and LTTE
sympathizers are against the domestic mechanism proposed in the UN
resolutionadoptedattheUNHRCinGeneva.
October24
TheUdalagamaCommission,whichinquiredintosevencasesofgraveviolation
ofhumanrightsatthebeginningofEelamWarIV,accusedtheSTFofPolicein
thecaserelatingtothekillingofsixTamilstudentsattheTrincomalee beachin
theEasternProvinceonJanuary2,2006.
October25
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa said that his Government had built a
safety bunker under President's House to shield VIPs from potential LTTE air
strikes.
Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterating his opposition to the resolution adopted by the
UNHRC in Geneva said that the country is now faced with the most dangerous
momentsinceindependencein1948.
October26
The Government during a high level meeting in Colombo decided not to grant a
commonamnestytotheTamilprisonersbuttoexpeditethebailproceduresfora
sectionoftheTamilprisoners.
President Maithripala Sirisena while addressing the ColorsAwarding Ceremony
of Army held at Army Headquarters in Panagoda town in Western Province
vowedtoprotectsecurityforceswhilefacingallegationsofrightviolationsduring
thelastphaseofLTTE.
October27
Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing Persons chairman P.

Paranagama said that an investigation team of the Commission will be
conducting an independent, impartial inquiry into the alleged extrajudicial
executionsofsurrenderingtoplevelmembersoftheLTTEduringthelaststages
oftheconflict.
October28
Attorney General filed four reports with the Court ofAppeal on the activities of
formerLTTEleader,KumaranPathmanathanaliasKPasapetitionwasfiledby
JVPMP,VijithaHerath,intheCourtofAppealseekingtheissuance ofaWritof
Mandamus for the arrest of Pathmanathan allegedly for his role as an LTTE
armsdealerandinthekillingofRajivGandhi.
October29
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenaheldaspecialdiscussionwithreligiousleadersof
allfaithsto discuss Geneva Proposals and its challenges and agreed to set up
anAllReligiousCommitteecomprising25members.
October31
Law and Order and Prison Reforms MinisterTilak Marapana while addressing a
ceremonynearthePannailagooninJaffnaDistrictsaidthattheLTTEdetainees
putinthejailforminoroffencesorforwantoflegalaidcouldbereleased before
theDeepavalifestival.
November2
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, who was Special

Commander of the LTTE in Batticaloa and Ampara Districts, said that the rift
between him and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran took place in December
2002whentheLTTEchiefaccusedhimof"betrayal"ofthekindMahendrarajah
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aliasMahattayaintheearly1990s.
November3
V. Anandasangaree, the leader of TULF appealed to President Maithripala

Sirisenafortheimmediaterelease of over 200Tamils, who have been detained
inthecountry'sjailssincetheendofthewarin2009.
November4
21LTTEsuspectsdetainedinprisonsunderthePTArequestedtoreleasethem
without rehabilitation when they were produced in the Colombo Magistrate's
Court.Theysaidtheywillresumethefastuntodeathiftheywerenotreleased.
November8
Amnesty International called on the Government to fully cooperate with the

UNWGEIDwhichwillbearrivinginSriLankaonNovember9foritsfirstvisitto
theislandin15years.
November10
Tamil prisoners, who temporarily suspended the hunger strike launched in jails
across Sri Lanka in October demanding their immediate release, have resumed
thestrikeaftertheGovernmentdidnotreleasethemaspromised.
November11
31 former LTTE combatants who were released on bail were taken back to the
prison after no one posted their bail. The Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court
releasedthesuspectsontwosuretybailsofSLR1millioneach.
President Maithripala Sirisena at a special discussion held at the Presidential
Secretariat said that the Government gives priority to the resettlement process
for the displaced persons in the North and the East and stressed the need to
providesolutionstothemattersregardingtheresettlement.
Minister of National Dialogue, Mano Ganeshan said that that Government is
consideringaproposaltoreleasethe217Tamilscurrentlyindetentionunderthe
PTAafterputtingthemthroughaprogramofrehabilitation.
November12
UNWGEID commenced a visit to Mannar District in the Northern Province to

probethedisappearancesduringthewar.ThefivememberCommitteemetwith
thefamiliesofthemissinganddisappearedinMannarandthesurroundingarea
duringthewar.
November13
Northern Province staged a complete shutdown to protest the Government's

failuretoreleasetheTamilprisonersdetainedunderthePTA.
24 exLTTE combatants who were detained for years under the PTA were
released in Colombo on strict bail conditions after providing sureties from their
placesofresidence.
November16
EightexLTTEsuspectswhoweredetainedunderthePTAwerereleasedonbail
in Colombo. Colombo Additional Magistrate Aruni Attygalle ordered to release
thesuspectsontwosuretiesofSLRonemillioneach.Theywerealsorestricted
fromtravelingabroad.
Ananda Jayamanne, the Chairman of DMPPF submitted a report which
consisteddetailsonmorethan5,000missingpersonstothevisitingmembersof
theUNWGEIDattheUNCompoundinColombo.
EU in a statement encouraged the Government to take early steps to build the
confidenceofcommunities,includingreleasingtheidentityofthedetaineesand
acceleratingtheirprosecutionorrelease,repealingthePTA.
November17
ThefastlaunchedbyexLTTEsuspectsonOctober12callingfortheirreleasein
four prisons detained under the PTA has been called off following the
Government'sassurancetoproviderehabilitation.
Politicalpartiespresented12proposalsduringthesecondallpartymeetingheld
at the Presidential Secretariat to discuss the opinions of the leaders of political
partiesabouthowtheGovernmentshouldimplementtheUN.
PCICRMP met with the visiting UNWGEID. The full membership of the
Commission held a meeting with the delegation of the UN working group at the
office of the Commission in Colombo and held discussions on matters
concerningenforcedorinvoluntarydisappearancesduringtheconflictperiod.
November18
UNWGEID concluding its visit to Sri Lanka said that they found an 'unofficial'
detention centre operating within the confines of a Navy camp in Trincomalee
Districtwheredetaineeshadbeenheldforprolongedperiodsandlikelytortured.
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UNWGEIDsaid"Thechronicpatternofimpunitystillexistsincasesofenforced
disappearanceandsufficienteffortsnowneedtobemadetodeterminethefate
or whereabouts of persons who have disappeared, to punish those responsible
andtoguaranteetherighttothetruthandreparation.TheGovernmentwill need
toadoptboldstepstoreachouttoandcreateconfidenceinthevictims."
November19
Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka said that the Government will launch
specialprojectstoimprovethelivingconditionsofthepeopleinthewarravaged
NorthernProvince,mainlyintheisletsofftheJaffnapeninsula.
November20
GovernmentbyagazetteextraordinaryissueddelistedseveralallegedproLTTE
Tamil organizations and individuals proscribed by the previous Government in
2014.Theprevious government on March 21, 2014, listed 16 organizations and
424individualsundertheUNActNo:45of1968.
Chairman of PCICRMP Maxwell Paranagama said that the PCICRMP is
studyingtheUNWGEIDpreliminaryreportofsecretundergrounddetentioncenter
inTrincomaleeNavalBase.
MinisterofPrisonReformsD.M.SwaminathansaidthattheAttorneyGeneral's
Departmentwillcompleteformalitiestorelease20moreTamilprisonersdetained
underthePTA.
November22
Explaining the move to lift the ban on several earlier proscribed organizations
and individuals, the Foreign Ministry urged the remaining banned entities to
make public commitments condemning violence and renouncing separatism in
orderfordeproscriptionofthoseentities.
November23
UnitedStatesPermanentRepresentativetotheUnitedNationsSamanthaPower
whenshecalledonPresidentMaithripalaSirisenaatthePresidentialSecretariat
commends the Government's efforts for a sustainable reconciliation during past
tenmonths.
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said that reconciliation
willbridgeTamilSinhalesegap.
November25
National Dialogue Minister Mano Ganeshan said "Suspected LTTE members

havingmorethanonecaseagainstthemisthereasonforthedelayinqualifying
themforrehabilitation."
TNA spokesman MP M.A. Sumanthiran said that only three of the 20 LTTE
detainees who were slated to undergo rehabilitation prior to release are eligible
forrehabilitation.
November26
Police Media spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said that since LTTE is a
bannedterroristorganization,anyactivityrelatedtotheoutfitisillegalunderthe
terrorismpreventionlawsofthecountry.
November27
PostershavebeenputupwithintheJaffnaUniversitypremisesinJaffnaDistrict
requestingeveryonetocelebrateLTTE's'MahaviraDay'.
'Mahavira Day', which commemorates the slain LTTE cadres, passed without
incident in theTamilspeaking parts of Northern and Eastern Provinces. Neither
Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran nor Tamil TNA leaders
issuedanycondolencestatement.
Military spokesperson Brigadier K.J. Jayaweera said that military is ready to
assistthePoliceatanytimetomaintainlawandorderandsafeguardpeace.
December1
Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga while addressing a media briefing at

the head of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation said that the
Governmentwillsetupaspecialwarcrimescourtsoontoprobetheallegedwar
crimescommittedduringthelaststageofthethreedecadelongLTTEwar.
Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the OPCW, Adam M.J. Sadiq while
addressing the 20th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the
Chemical Weapons Convention in Hague, Netherlands urged the international
communitytostandfirmandunitedincombatingterrorism.
December2
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that there is no new secret

detention centers operating in the country now and asked to keep the
Government informed if there is information relating to new secret detention
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centerssothatanindependentinvestigationcouldbeinitiated.
TIDsaidfiveoutoftenLTTEsuspects,whohavebeenarrestedforinvolvement
in terrorist activities and in remand custody, will be indicted in the Supreme
Court.
December3
President Maithripala Sirisena in his speech to Parliament on the budget 2016

said he is committed to strengthen the national reconciliation process so that
there will be no room for any future conflict and build an independent country
utilizingitsenormouspotentialthrougheconomic,politicalandsocialreform.
December4
FourrehabilitatedLTTEcadreswerereleasedinPunthottamDistrictandhanded
overtotheirrelatives.
December8
Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Prison Reforms Minister D.M. Swaminathan

saidthattheAttorney Generalisstudyingthecasesof20moreLTTEsuspects
detainedunderthePTAtoseewhethertheycanbereleased.
State Minister for Defense, Ruwan Wijewardene defended the delisting of the
several Tamil diaspora groups and individuals earlier accused of having terror
links,sayingthatdelistingwasdoneafterathoroughstudy.
December9
Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador

RavinathaAryasinha speaking at the plenary session of the 32nd International
Conference of the Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies in Geneva said that
there is a renewed political commitment and will in Sri Lanka to strengthen the
nationalcompliancewiththeIHL.
December10
Sri Lanka signed the International Convention for the Protection ofAll Persons
fromEnforcedDisappearancesattheUNHeadquartersinNewYork.TheActwill
hold the Government accountable for enforced disappearance and expected to
bepassedinParliamentnextmonth.
MilitaryspokespersonJayanathJayaweerasaidthatfollowingtheendofthe30
yearcivilwarbetweenGovernmenttroopsandLTTErebelsin2009,2,064acres
oflandinthecountryhadtobeclearedfromlandmines.Thewar torn areas will
beclearedofminessoonasonly64acresoflandnowremainedtobecleared.
December11
PCICMPbeganitspublicsittingstohearcasesofmissinginJaffnaDistrict.The
Commission will continue its Public Sittings in various parts of the North and
East.
December13
India provided development assistance to launch several projects in Northern

Province that was ravaged by the threedecade long war after High
Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha visited Northern Province from
December1011,2015toinitiatetheIndiafundedprojects.
PCICMP Secretary HW Gunadasa said the Commission has received 1,620
complaintsincluding100newcomplaintsduringthefirsttwodaysofsessionsin
JaffnaDistricttillDecember13.
December15
USUnderSecretaryofStateforPoliticalAffairsThomas Shannon said that Sri

Lanka's success in rebuilding the country and reconciliation with people will be
anexampletotherestoftheworld.
December17
Cabinet Ministers approved to establish a Secretariat to coordinate all the

activities of the reconciliation process in order to make it more efficient and
successful.
December18
AninvestigationconductedbytheATSintheMaharashtra,Indiarevealedthata
16yearold Indian girl from a welltodo Muslim family was found to have a link
withaSriLankanISmemberthroughsocialmedianetworkFacebook.
December19
TPC,aneworganizationwasformedledbyNorthernProvinceChiefMinisterC.
V. Wigneswaran with a goal of finding solutions to the problems of the Tamil
speakingpeopleinthecountry.
December20
PresidentMaithripalaSirisenamadeavisittowelfarecampforthedisplacedin
Jaffna District. About 1500 displaced persons from Palali, Myladi and
Kankasanthurai have been living in these camps with immense difficulties.The
Presidentpledgedthemtoarrangeimmediatesolutionsfortheirproblems.
December21
SLRCSinastatementsaidthatRed Cross Post Conflict Recovery Programme

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thatbeganitsoperationsin2010soonaftera30yearoldconflictendedinMay
2009isnowcomingtoanend.
December23
Catholic community assured its full support to the measures taken by the
President, Maithripala Sirisena to build the peace and reconciliation in the
country.
December24
President Maithripala Sirisena said that the Muslim community can contribute
significantly to the efforts of Government for reconciliation among all
communities.
December27
Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswara said that TPC will
present suggestions on the aspirations of the Tamil people to the new
constitutionofSriLanka.
December29
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a 24member committee

consisting of representatives from political parties and civil societies to seek
publicopinionontheproposedconstitutionalreforms.
Army released another 700 acres of land held by Armed Forces in Valikamam
North area of Jaffna District and handed them over to the Jaffna Government
AgentNagalingamVedanayagam.
Source:Compiledfromnewsreportsandareprovisional.
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5/3/2016

The victim of the shooting incident at an opposition rally in Kahawatta on

under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Government. JVP parliamentarian

The Court ofAppeal in Sri Lanka on January 27 will take up a WritApplication

TheAppealCourtofSriLanka issued notice on theAttorney General to appear

President Maithripala Sirisena said more attention would be paid to national

Sri Lanka appointed Justice K Sripavan, an ethnicTamil, as its new Chief

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma said in

TNA officially participated in a National Independence Day celebration after

Families of missing persons in Northern Province held a protest in the Jaffna

The NPC adopted a resolution calling for an international investigation into

President Maithripala Sirisena told the diplomatic community in Colombo that if

TNAhasallegedthatasecret military camp, named Gota, in the naval base in

Member of NPC M. K. Sivajilingam has reportedly written to UN Human Rights

Thousands of Tamils in Jaffna city in the Northern Province staged a massive

enforced disappearance were threatened and arrested, and fatal attacks on

Newly appointed Commander of the SLA, Lieutenant General Chrishantha De

Police have questioned several Sri Lanka Navy personnel of an investigation

Government has assured an international media delegation visiting the country

In an interview ahead of Indian PM Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka, Prime

Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in an

PMRanilWickremesinghesaidthatlivelihood development programs should be

Visiting Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera while presenting amendments to

A large number of Tamils held demonstrations in the North and Eastern

PM Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the former President Chandrika

PM Ranil Wickremesinghe embarked on a tour in theTamil dominated Northern

PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the EU has responded positively to the

The new Government has started a comprehensive investigation to determine

regime has also been lifted. According to UN estimates, up to 40,000 Tamil

India's Central intelligence agencies have launched a major investigation into a

President Maithripala Sirisena defended the new Government's policy of

FiveDutchnationalsofSriLankanorigin have been jailed for between nineteen

The Governor of Eastern Province, Austin Fernando has strongly refuted

Government warned that any attempt to commemorate LTTE on the sixth

Minister for Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs, D.M.

On the request of Mullaitivu Police, the Mullaitivu Magistrate Court issued an

killed, as War Heroes Day. Rajapaksas rally to be held at Viharamahadevi

Despite the ban on proLTTE commemorations in Mullaitivu District, the TNA

Despite the court order banning proLTTE commemorations, Tamils including

carryoutaproperinvestigationintotheirsubsequent disappearance is a further

President Maithripala Sirisena, while addressing the 'War Hero's Day'

State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardena strongly rejected the allegation

Despite Maithripala Sirisena Government's repeated assertions of attaching

NorthernProvinceChiefMinisterC.V. Wigneswaran charged that narcotic drugs

Ahead of the forthcoming Parliamentary elections, a new political formation,

Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Mahishini Colonne said that a final

DMK MP Kanimozhi dismissed as completely baseless the claim ofAnanthy

Sri Lankan Government welcomed the contribution of Sri Lankan Diaspora,

However, Sri Lanka has strongly rejected Macrae's documentary on alleged

MinisterofPowerandEnergyandJHU General Secretary Champika Ranawaka

Minister of ForeignAffairs, Mangala Samaraweera told the Parliament that the

Responding to the statement of HRW, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

United State Department of State in itsAnnual Country Report onTerrorism for

PolonnaruwaHighCourtsentencedSivaraja Jenivan alias Mohommadu Sulthan

Police arrested a former militant of the proscribed LTTE, identified as K

SriLankanGovernmentrefusedto comment on a document a British television

Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said that Government has taken

SriLankaPolicesaidthereisa decline in the number of election law violations

SLFP led by President Maithripala Sirisena agreed to form a national

The Colombo Chief Magistrate's court summoned a Minister of the former

Sri Lankan Commander of Army Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva said

Sri Lanka's Tamilcontrolled NPC unanimously called for an international probe