The United States has refused an application for military training of Sri Lankan Army General, prompting the country's Defence Secretary to slam the decision as "wrong".

Major-General Sudantha Ranasinghe was refused entry into the US for military training, with speculation that it may be on grounds that Ranasinghe is suspected of overseeing human rights violations.

The Island reported Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as having said the deicisonw as due to "him being the war-time General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 53 Division" and that this "wasn’t an isolated case".

Gotabaya was also reported as saying,

"I want to tell them that they are wrong... every time they (US diplomats and officials) meet me, they say they want to strengthen the cooperation with our military"

"If the US stops military training (completely), then Sri Lankan officers will only go to China, India and Pakistan."

Rajapaksa reportedly snubbed the United States last week, stating that the "biggest threat" the US had was to withold military training, for which Sri Lankan had India and China for anyway.

See our earlier post: ‘We Don’t Need You, We Got China’ (20 january 2013)

The Sri Lankan Army appeared at the house of TNPF member Selvarajah Kajendran's house in Jaffna and proceeded to enquire about his wherabouts earlier this week.

Publishing from his personal Twitter account on the 24th of January, Kajendran said,

"#lanka army personnel in uniform had gone to my house in #jaffna & inquired my whereabouts around 3:00pm." 

See further incidents of state intimidation of TNPF activists in the past month alone below:

Terrorism Investigation Division summons TNPF leader (27 December 2012)

TNPF member threatened by security forces and paramilitary over protest (17 January 2013)

SL police question TNPF Jaffna office on protests (17 January 2013)

Also see our editorial:

Tamil activism and the international community’s responsibility to protect (03 January 2013)

The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has claimed that no civilians at all went missing during the final phase of the armed conflict and that ICRC records tallied with those of the army, reported the Daily Mirror.

“This is another factor that many people have forgotten. Take the large number of people who were coming by sea. Where did they go first? They went to the Indian hospital; it was manned by the Indian Army. They reported to them first and from there only did they come to the welfare camps. And the ICRC was present whenever they surrendered.

“There was a procedure followed when registering these people. Not a single person is missing from that list.”

“That’s a false allegation. Of course you have to understand that when you say missing, people should realise that in these areas there were people recruited by the LTTE and they were fighting the Army, if you take the Army alone I think even today you have about 3000 missing personnel. We couldn’t find the bodies.

"If you take the North of Sri Lanka it was dominated by the LTTE so we didn’t have the military going in and arresting people. Nobody talks about these things. These people were terrorists who died in action. For their parents they may be missing because they were taken forcibly and put to fight by the LTTE and they died and their parents didn’t know what had happened to them. So to their parents they are missing. You have to understand this.”

“The Board observes that at present, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) principles, applicable to internal war situations have not adequately addressed various complex issues and the existing rules are seemingly applied to state actors only. Further, there are no specific guidelines with regard to the role of international humanitarian agencies in internal war situations. Hence, the Board recommends to formulate new domestic rules, covering internal war situations.”

“With regard to the presence of Military bases in the North and East, the Board observes that the Government has an absolute right to maintain its armed forces anywhere in the Island, according to the country’s strategic and security needs."



"The Board also notes that military bases are located causing minimum inconvenience to the public and in the aftermath of the Humanitarian Operation, all High Security Zones and many lands previously occupied by the armed forces have been released to the public. However, the Board recommends that the Army should appoint special boards, covering the 4 Security Forces Headquarters that are located in the North and East (Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaittivu, Wanni and East) to examine in detail with regard to the lands, presently occupied by the Army and only those lands that are vitally required for security purposes to be retained and such lands be legally acquired at the market value and, in addition, owners should be given alternative lands.”

Speaking at a function at St Mary’s College in the southern district of Kalutara, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapksa said his government will take measures to uplift the schools in the southern rural areas to eliminate the disparity in education between the Colombo and the rural areas around it.

Highlighting the need for science education facilities in his home district of Hambantota, Rajapaksa starkly noted that the fact that the northern city of Jaffna once had more schools was an “error that would be rectified by the establishment.”

Outlining the importance of education in the South, Rajapksa went on to stress that investments made in the current generation would bear fruit in the future, though he failed to mention recent statistics that highlighted a huge disparity in the northern education system.

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa pledged to hold talks with the Indian government in order to resolve the fishermen arrests and the crossing of territorial waters.

Addressing the General Fisheries Federation (GFF), Rajapaksa said:

“It is heartening to see that a large number of fishermen have come from the North and East. They were the most affected at the hands of separatist terrorism. The fisher families inherited an extremely cruel living as many of their members were forcibly recruited by the Tigers and subsequently killed. As a result the fishing industry in the North-East suffered a heavy blow with their production drastically depleted. But today they have the opportunity of going out fishing without fear or restrictions and they get plenty of government assistance,”

The preparations for Sri Lanka's 65th independence day ceremony in Trincomalee are in full swing and all arrangements are in place.

This year's theme is (in Singhalese) 'Asirimath Mawubimak - Isurumath Heta Dinak', or 'A Glorious Motherland - A Flourishing Tomorrow' for the majority population of Trincomalee, who mostly speak Tamil.

President Rajapakse will be part of the celebrations, along with 2,500 other invited guests, which will include members of the Sri Lankan Army and foreign embassy staff.

Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W D J Seneviratne said over 3,000 personnel representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Civil Security Department, National Cadet Corps and National Youth Corps will take part in a parade followed by a cultural pageant comprising 860 artistes belonging to 16 cultural groups.

At a press conference in October, Prime Minister D.M. Jeyaratne was reported to have said that the decision was made “under the direction” of the president, Mahinda Rajapakse and the “celebrations” will be a unique opportunity for the people in the North-East to witness “symbolic unity” of the country.

The ancient port town of Trincomalee is one of the largest cities in the Tamil homeland and is a significant cultural and religious centre of the Eelam Tamil nation.

Legislation that allows the police to detain suspects without charge for upto 48 hours without a warrant was passed on Tuesday.

The previous limit was 24 hours.

Presenting the bill in parliament, the Environment Minister Anura Priyasharshana said:

"This is to curb organised crime. If there is a need to extend the detention by another 24 hours, it could be done by a magistrate based on a certificate produced by the police."

The Prevention of Terrorism Act - of far greater relevance to Tamils - allows indefinite detention.

The US Embassy in Colombo has released a statement, expressing concern over a "series of threats and attacks against legal defenders, civil society organizations and activists".

The statement urges the Sri Lankan government to allow freedom of expression, without fear of retribution.

See full statement below:

The United States Embassy is disturbed by the series of threats and attacks against legal defenders, civil society organizations and activists who have spoken out on recent events. The right to express opinions freely is universal and one that is protected under Sri Lankan law. We urge the Government of Sri Lanka protect this fundamental right and ensure that all citizens are able to express their opinions without fear of retribution.

The statement was also released in Tamil and Sinhala.

“We note the Committee’s recommendation on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2013. We recognise, and share, the concerns of the Committee about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, particularly in light of the recent dismissal of the Chief Justice following an impeachment process the Sri Lankan Supreme Court ruled illegal.

We look to Sri Lanka, as with any other CHOGM host, to demonstrate its commitment to upholding Commonwealth values of good governance and respect for human rights as we have stated publicly. It will also be important that delegations, civil society and media are able to travel and report freely.

The concerns of the UK and the wider international community on human rights are regularly relayed to the Government of Sri Lanka. These include issues of media freedom, the need to address longstanding issues of accountability and reconciliation after the war, and the importance of judicial independence. These messages will be reiterated by Alistair Burt, FCO Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, when he next visits Sri Lanka, and in the context of our expectations for CHOGM.

It is, however, too early to make decisions about UK attendance at CHOGM. Decisions on attendance are for each Commonwealth member government to take for itself.”

The Sri Lankan government plans to settle two thousand Sinhalese families in the Vavuniya South Divisional secretariat division situated at the border of the Northern province, reports Seithy.com.

The Sinhala families are to be resettled under the 'Humanitarian Agricultural Action Project', which purports to address the lack of agricultural activities in the North. As well as providing an acre of land for each Sinhala family, the government has also provided modern agricultural  to augment the self sustenance of the newly settled Sinhalese.

Meanwhile the Agricultural Development Minister, Mahinda Yapa Abewardena, has pledged Rs. 10 million to cater for the basic needs of the new settlers.