Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Sri Lanka
Newsline: Sri Lankan monks march to Indian embassy
A large number of Buddhist monks marched to the Indian embassy in Colombo today demanding that India not support a proposed UN resolution. The monks were carrying a banner saying that India’s latest decision to support the resolution would damage the close ties between the two friendly countries. The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday sought India’s support in the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/17562-monks-march-to-indian-embassy.html
Newsline: UK Embassy Says It Monitored Return Of Deportees
The British Embassy in Colombo said it monitored the return of a group of failed asylum seekers who had been deported from Britain. According to the Embassy, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Robbie Bulloch monitored the return of 52 failed asylum seekers at the Katunayake airport. Earlier Human Rights Watch and Freedom from Torture said that the flights should be suspended because some ethnic Tamils been subjected to cruel treatment after arriving. The British Foreign Office however told the BBC that the government only sends people back to Sri Lanka when it and the courts are satisfied that an individual has no protection needs. It cited a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that not all Tamil asylum-seekers require protection and said there had been no substantiated allegations of mistreatment of those returned from the UK.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/03/04/uk-embassy-says-it-monitored-return-of-deportees/
Newsline: Lankans march to US embassy over ‘war crimes’
Thousands of paramilitary troops led by ruling party activists marched to the US embassy in Sri Lanka’s capital to protest Washington’s moves to censure Colombo over alleged war crimes. Members of the Civil Defence Force, dressed in civilian clothes, assembled outside their headquarters in Colombo and headed to the nearby embassy to hand over a petition against US moves at the UN Human Rights Council. “USA, don’t support terrorism,” said a placard carried by a protester. They and other activists carried photographs of President Mahinda Rajapakse and his defence secretary brother, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is credited with the strategy that crushed Tamil rebels in May 2009 after nearly 37 years of fighting. There was no immediate comment from the US embassy, but diplomatic sources said they had warned US nationals about the protests.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=95074&Cat=1
Newsline: Russian Embassy At The Centre Of Sri Lanka Multi Billion Land Grab
The heiress of a murdered turfing contractor has instituted legal action against the Russian Federation, the Ministry of External Affairs in Sri Lanka and a host of others in an attempt to regain control of a prime block of land in Colombo, valued at between Rs. 2 Billion and Rs. 4 Billion. Nazeera Sali Begum, whose husband Mohamed Thahir was shot dead in Borella in February 2007 – on the day that he received his copy of the Interim Order from a Colombo court returning the land to his control, says she is virtually ‘destitute’ and that she is in hiding as she fears for her life and that of her family. Currently, this is the area in which The Russian Embassy is now constructing a new complex. Quite how the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Sri Lanka became involved is far from clear.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/02/05/russian-embassy-at-the-centre-of-a-multi-billion-rupee-land-grab/
Newsline:Sri Lankare calls diplomat accused of war crimes
The Sri Lankan government has recalled its second most senior diplomat to Switzerland and Germany in response to accusations he was involved in war crimes. Former general Jaghat Dias led the 57th division of the Sri Lankan army. He is accused of ordering his troops to fire upon civilian and hospital targets during the army’s final offensive against the rebel Tamil Tigers in 2009. A report by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights also accuses Dias of participating in acts of torture and the execution of rebel fighters. Last month, the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed it had contacted Sri Lankan authorities about the case, which it said was of “great significance”. Diplomatic sources had confirmed Dias had been recalled toSri Lanka. The Sri Lankan embassy inBerlinalso has diplomatic responsibility for Switzerland and the Vatican. Dias was accredited inSwitzerlandin January 2010.
Newsline: Groups ask Swiss to prosecute Sri Lankan diplomat
Two advocacy groups asked Swiss authorities to pursue war crime charges against a former Sri Lankan army commander now serving as a European diplomat, reflecting still-simmering Western concerns about the South Asian island nations’ human rights record. The Swiss-based groups Society for Threatened Peoples and TRIAL said they filed a confidential complaint with Switzerland’s attorney general against Jagath Dias, a former major general inSri Lanka’s final offensive that smashed a 26-year rebellion by ethnic minority Tamils in May 2009. The United Nations estimates between 80,000 and 100,000 people were killed during the civil war. Dias, whose Sri Lankan forces captured some of the rebel Tamil Tigers’ last strongholds, became Sri Lanka’s deputy ambassador to Germany, Switzerland and the Vaticanin September 2009. Dias, reached at his embassy in Berlin, said it’s easy to make accusations, but he denied being a war criminal. “Anybody can accuse anyone of anything. I don’t see that any of these allegations are well founded,” he told The Associated Press. “We did our best to complete the military operation with zero casualties. How could we have released or rescued 300,000 people if we really wanted to destroy them?” About 300,000 Tamil civilians were caught in the climactic battle. The government then carved camps out of the jungles of northernSri Lankato hold them and screen out former rebels who could stir up trouble. The Swiss groups’ complaint – based largely on the findings of the United Nations and other international organizations – says Dias’ army division was responsible for massive bombing of civilians and hospitals. The groups said in a statement that “it is high time thatSwitzerlandgives a clear signal against impunity” by pressing criminal charges against him. The office of Switzerland’s federal prosecutors said it was examining the complaint. The Swiss Foreign Ministry said it takes the matter seriously, and has been in touch with Sri Lankan authorities. Dias also was one of a number of Sri Lankan war leaders given diplomatic status after the war, but Benedict De Moerloose, TRIAL’s legal counsel, said that won’t insulate him against potential legal action in Switzerland for wartime actions. “We’ve made a case based on the credible and serious accusations of international organizations and human rights organizations, and we consider that Jagath Dias may be arrested inSwitzerlandeven if he has diplomatic status,” he said. U.N.-appointed officials concluded both sides committed atrocities. A recent U.N. report said Sri Lankan government forces deliberately targeted civilians and hospitals, blocking food and medicine for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone, while the Tamil Tigers recruited child soldiers and used civilians as human shields.Sri Lankavehemently rejected calls for an independent international probe in favor of setting up a national panel to investigate, while continuing to celebrate its battlefield victory.
Newsline: New Indian consulate in Sri Lanka
Indian External Affairs S.M. Krishna today inaugurated the new Indian consulate in the coastal city of Hambantota in Sri Lanka. Speaking on the occasion, Krishna expressed confidence that India will take advantage of the industrial and commercial potential in the region. He asked Indian investors to explore the possibility of investing in Sri Lanka for the benefit of the two countries. The External Minister further said New Delhi has also taken up the reconstruction of the damaged southern railway corridor from Galle to Matara. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris took note of the growing relations between the two countries and thanked India for the assistance. Earlier on Saturday, Krishna opened a new Indian consulate in Jaffna and inaugurated the Northern Railway lines for which New Delhi has pledged a 800-million dollars credit that will spur the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Sri Lanka.
Consular affairs: India to open Consulate-General offices in Jaffna, Hambantota
Sri Lanka and India on Friday exchanged notes to establish Indian Consulate-General offices in Jaffna and Hambantota. Sri Lanka is to add a fourth Consulate-General office in an Indian city. It already has the High Commission in New Delhi, the Deputy High Commissioner’s office in Chennai and a Consulate in Mumbai. The proposed office in Jaffna will cover the five districts of the war-ravaged northern province — Jaffna, Killinochchi, Mullaithivu, Vavuniya and Mannar. Pending the formal opening, India has already established a visa office in Jaffna town. The consulate office in Hambantota, where the Chinese are developing a strategically important harbour, will cover the districts of Galle, Matara, Hambantota and Moneragala. Hambantota is the home constituency of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It has been agreed that any expansion of the consular districts of the proposed Consulates-General could be considered subsequently through mutual consent.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/21/stories/2010082163741600.htm
Consular affairs: Indian consulate in Jaffna likely
India is planning to set up a consulate at Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. The setting up of a consulate in Jaffna would be a significant step in the domestic context as it would allay apprehensions in Tamil Nadu that the Centre is not doing enough for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. The consulate plan has been reported with great excitement in the Lankan media. Lanka’s news agency Lankapuvath quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying that Colombo would have no objection to New Delhi setting up a consulate in Jaffna. At present, India has a high commission in Colombo and an assistant high commission in Kandy. On the other side, Sri Lanka has a high commission in New Delhi, a deputy high commission in Chennai, a consulate general in Mumbai and an honorary consul in Kolkata.
