US warns of Sri Lankan violence (18.08.2009)

(Quelle:BBC / UK)

A senior US diplomat has warned that the Sri Lankan government's failure to share power with the minority Tamils could lead to renewed violence. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake told the BBC a delay in devolving powers might create new opportunities for the rebel Tamil Tigers to regroup. … The warning by the US assistant secretary of state is a clear sign that Western nations are getting increasingly frustrated with the delay in the political reconciliation process in Sri Lanka.

Ban asks Sri Lanka to heed calls for accountability, transparency (05.06.2009)

(Quelle:UN News / International)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated his appeal to the Government of Sri Lanka to heed international calls for accountability and transparency, and for an inquiry into alleged abuses committed during the recently concluded conflict with Tamil rebels. “It is crucially important that the Sri Lankan Government follow up on all the promises that they have made,” Mr. Ban told reporters following an informal discussion with Security Council members on Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Tamils voice misgivings (20.05.2009)

(Quelle:New York Times / USA)

Many Tamils, long caught between a government that distrusted them and a rebel movement that brooked no Tamil moderates, welcomed the end of the war even as they nursed doubts about the government’s promises of unity, reconciliation and equality. President Mahinda Rajapaksa reached out to the country’s Tamil minority, about 12 percent of the population, in his victory speech before Parliament on Tuesday. But his future actions — in forging a political settlement, in rebuilding the economies of war-ravaged Tamil areas, in granting equality to marginalized individuals — will determine whether a postwar Sri Lanka will be acceptable to the Tamils and the Tamil diaspora that financed the rebels.

Sri Lanka says Tamil Tiger rebels defeated, leadership killed (18.05.2009)

(Quelle:Asia-Pacific Daily Report / USA)

Sri Lankan officials said Monday that they had defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels and had killed the rebels' leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran, his top lieutenants and other senior leaders. The military also said that 250 rebels had been killed in overnight fighting, the BBC reported.

Poll pledge for Sri Lanka Tamils (18.05.2009)

(Quelle:BBC / UK)

Sri Lanka's reconciliation minister says elections will be held in areas affected by recent fighting once displaced people have been resettled. Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, a former rebel commander who was known as Col Karuna, said the polls would address the grievances of the Tamil minority. … Meanwhile two Indian envoys have arrived to discuss the Tamil situation.

EU to demand Sri Lanka war probe (17.05.2009)

(Quelle:BBC / UK)

EU foreign ministers are expected to call for an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes by Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lanka's government. At a meeting in Brussels, they are also due to demand an urgent session of the UN Human Rights Council on the issue. A draft statement said the EU is appalled by continuing reports of high numbers of civilian casualties.

Sri Lanka declares demilitarized zone for civilians (04.10.2008)

(Quelle: Reliefweb) Sri Lanka's military has announced a demilitarized zone (DMZ) in the island's northern battle front with Tamil Tiger rebels to provide safety for civilians, the government's defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said here Saturday.

EU attacks Sri Lanka over rights (18.03.2008)

(Quelle: BBC) The European Union says it has 'serious concerns' about reports of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. A six-member delegation, representing a range of EU bodies, released the statement at the end of a three-day visit to the country.

Testing times ahead of local elections in east (12.02.2008)

(Quelle: Irinnews) The length of time shops stay open in the evenings in Batticaloa city in eastern Sri Lanka is a key indicator of the level of tension. These days they stay open late. The climate might just be right for the 10 March local elections. Sri Lanka’s oldest election monitoring group, the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), said in a report on 6 February that there was general agreement the security situation had improved.

'Scores die' in Sri Lanka clashes (28.01.2008)

(Quelle: BBC) Fighting between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil Tiger rebels has killed at least 55 in the north of the country over the weekend, the army says. The dead included at least 13 rebels and two soldiers, the military said. The fighting took place in some northern districts.

Separatists reject Sri Lanka 'devolution' plan (25.01.2008)

(Quelle: Reliefweb) A Sri Lankan peace panel has put forward 'devolution proposals' that would give more regional autonomy to minority Tamils where separatists have been fighting an independence war for 25 years. But the separatists -- the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- have rejected the proposals. The panel, or All Party Representative Committee (APRC), is backed by president Mahinda Rajapakse's Sri Lanka Freedom Party and its allies. It has been considering peace options for two years.

Bombs and bullets greet end of ceasefire (18.01.2008)

(Quelle: Irinnews) An upsurge in violence, including a spate of bombings in the last few weeks of 2007, led the government on 2 January to declare it would be pulling out of the 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA) on 16 January. This it has now done, and the prospects for an improved humanitarian situation and lasting peace look gloomier than ever. … The ending of the CFA also ends the presence of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which has been staffed by Nordic nationals. This could lead to more violence, according to observers.

Nordic-led peace monitors conclude mission in Sri Lanka (16.01.2008)

(Quelle: Asia-Pacific Daily Report) Nordic peace monitors withdrew from Sri Lanka following the official end of a ceasefire on Wednesday (January 16), warning that the civil war between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels could not be won by either side.  The 31-member Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is comprised of monitors from Norway and Iceland and was charged with monitoring the Norwegian-brokered February 2002 ceasefire between the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government. 

The former Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (16.01.2008)

(Quelle: Lars J Solvberg, Head of Mission) SLMM press statement regarding the termination of its monitoring operations as of 16th January 2008.

As Sri Lanka ceasefire ends, top UN official urges respect for human rights (15.01.2008)

(Quelle: UN News) Following the Government’s decision to end the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement that halted a decades-long conflict with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the United Nations human rights chief has called on both parties to abide by their obligations under international law to protect civilians. … The five-year-old Agreement is due to effectively end tomorrow.

Peace envoy arrives in Sri Lanka (13.01.2008)

(Quelle: Al Jazeera) Japanese peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi, has arrived in Sri Lanka to discuss the country's moribund peace process. … The envoy's visit comes as the country's main financial donors voiced concern over mounting bloodshed. Japan, the United States, the European Union and Norway, have expressed deep concern over Colombo's recent move to scrap the February 2002 truce with the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), saying they feared it would lead to further bloodshed and stall peace efforts.

Tamil Tigers in ceasefire appeal (10.01.2008)

(Quelle: BBC) Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka say they are prepared to fully implement the terms of a 2002 ceasefire, although the government is pulling out of it. The government's commitment to the ceasefire formally ends on 16 January. In practice, it has fallen apart in the last two years.

Le Sri Lanka sur le qui-vive après l'assassinat d'un ministre (09.01.2008)

(Quelle: Le Monde) La mort, mardi 8 janvier, dans un attentat à la bombe, du député et ministre de la construction, D. M. Dassanayake, a accru les craintes d'une violence généralisée au Sri Lanka, alors que le gouvernement s'est officiellement retiré de l'accord de cessez-le-feu avec les Tigres de libération de l'Eelam Tamoul (LTTE) signé en 2002 sous l'égide de la Norvège.

Sri Lanka clashes toll 'over 70' (07.01.2008)

(Quelle: BBC) The Sri Lankan military says more than 70 Tamil Tiger rebels and four soldiers have been killed since Saturday in clashes in the north of the island. There is no independent confirmation of the figures. Both sides have been accused of exaggerating the casualties they have inflicted. The Tigers' intelligence chief was killed in the north on Sunday.

Sri Lanka 'needs UN monitors' (04.01.2008)

(Quelle: BBC) US-based Human Rights Watch says the United Nations should send observers to monitor the fighting in Sri Lanka. The mission of Nordic ceasefire monitors there ends on 16 January following the government's decision to withdraw from a ceasefire. On Wednesday the government said the 2002 ceasefire deal was moribund.

Sri Lanka truce end worries Norway (03.01.2008)

(Quelle: BBC) Norwegian peace mediators say they are deeply concerned by Sri Lanka's decision to withdraw from a ceasefire agreement with Tamil Tiger rebels. On Wednesday, Colombo said it was formally withdrawing from the accord because escalating violence had made the Norwegian-brokered truce redundant. … There was no immediate response from the Tigers, who want independence for Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east.

Sri Lankan rebels, breakaway faction still recruiting child soldiers – Ban Ki-moon (28.12.2007)

(Quelle: UN News) The separatist Tamil Tiger rebels and a breakaway group known as the Tamil Makkal Viduthali Pulikal (TMVP)/Karuna faction continue to abduct children to fight as soldiers in the bloody conflict in Sri Lanka, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report made public today.

President invites LTTE for talks (27.12.2007)

(Quelle: Reliefweb) President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday repeated his call to the LTTE to resume peace negotiations after abandoning arms. “A political solution is viable only after terrorism is wiped out” the President said after declaring open the Mahanama Bridge in Matara to mark the third year remembrance of the tsunami devastation.

Sri Lanka says no truce with Tamil Tiger rebels ahead of any peace talks (11.12.2007)

(Quelle: Asia-Pacific Daily Report) Sri Lanka's government said Tuesday that it is unwilling to observe a truce ahead of any future peace talks with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama made the comments at a news conference in Tokyo, Reuters news agency reported. The minister said that there would be no point in observing a truce when previous ceasefires had been breached by the LTTE.

Rights group urges foreign intervention in Sri Lanka (10.12.2007)

(Quelle: Reliefweb) A human rights group on Monday urged immediate international action in Sri Lanka to prevent abductions and killings of civilians by government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Nordic peace monitors say Sri Lanka sliding back to pre-ceasefire violence (04.12.2007)

(Quelle: Asia-Pacific Daily Report) Nordic peace monitors in Sri Lanka on Monday (December 3) said that the country is slipping back to its pre-ceasefire level of violence as casualties continue to mount in near-daily violence on the island. The peace monitors, from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), are charged with monitoring the faltering Norwegian-brokered 2002 ceasefire.

Sri Lanka, rebels ready for war: analysts (28.11.2007)

(Quelle: Reliefweb) Sri Lanka appears set to slide back into full-scale war with both the Tamil Tigers and the government washing their hands of a tattered truce, analysts and diplomats say. In an annual policy speech broadcast Tuesday from the rebel-held north of the island, Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran said trying to make peace with his ethnic rivals from the south was a waste of time.

Sri Lanka's rebels blame international community for breakdown of peace (27.11.2007)

(Quelle: Reliefweb) The leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels on Tuesday blamed the international community for the breakdown of the island country's peace process and called on Tamils to fight for an independent homeland. Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said in his annual Heroes' Day statement that the involvement of the international community to resolve the island's ethnic issue has been unhelpful.

Tamil Tiger chief says peace with Sri Lanka government impossible (27.11.2007)

(Quelle: Reliefweb) The leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels declared Tuesday that Sri Lankan peace efforts were a waste of time and vowed to strike back at the island's 'genocidal' government. In an annual policy speech delivered from a jungle hideout in the north, Velupillai Prabhakaran launched a furious attack against the island's Sinhalese majority in a signal that the island is poised to return to all-out war.

Sinhala nationalism and the elusive southern consensus - new ICG report (07.11.2007)

(Quelle: International Crisis Group (ICG)) Lasting peace will not be found in Sri Lanka until Sinhala nationalism and the grievances that give it power are understood and addressed. “Sri Lanka: Sinhala Nationalism and the Elusive Southern Consensus“, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the nationalism of the country’s largest ethnic community and its relationship to the almost 25-year conflict.