Author: TELO Admin

Sri Lanka will extend the CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd project completion date by two (2) years, cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said.

The then Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, Urban Development Authority and CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd signed a tripartite agreement in 2016 with a target completion date of June 5, 2025.

However, due to the pandemic, and the project company’s financial constraints and inability to generate sufficient revenue to meet obligations to creditors, the project will not be completed on time, the minister said.

“Therefore the period of implementation of the Colombo Port City Development Project will be extended to June 5, 2027 with the signing of a supplementary agreement between the Ministry of Investment Promotion, Colombo Port City Economic Commission and CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd company,” Gunawardena told reporters on Thursday.

Earlier this month Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board signed an agreement with CHEC Port City Colombo to attract and facilitate export-oriented businesses.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed the Cabinet of Ministers that the Presidential Election will be held first during the relevant period this year and that funds have already been allocated for the election.

The President has stated this during the Cabinet meeting held today.

War affected Tamils have told the head of a leading international human rights watchdog that justice for their loved ones who have been victims of enforced disappearances after surrendering to Sri Lankan military in the final stages of the war can only be realised through an international inquiry.

Tamil mothers have conveyed these concerns to Dr Agnès Callamard, during her first ever visit to war torn Mullaitivu as Amnesty International’s Secretary General. The discussion had been held a day before the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day commemoration in Mullivaikkal, which marks the 15th anniversary of denial of justice to Tamil people since the end of the war on 18 May 2009.

Speaking to local journalists following the discussion held on the evening of 17 May, Mullaitivu District Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappearances’ (ARED) Chairperson, Mariyasuresh Easwari, said that she informed the AI head of threats posed by state intelligence agencies throughout their ongoing struggle during the past seven years to discover the truth about their loved ones.

“Sri Lanka would not deliver justice regarding the fate of our relatives. Justice should be served to us through referring the matter to an international mechanism. We explained how we oppose the establishment of local commissions of inquiry again and again in Sri Lanka, how we handed over our relatives to them, how they conduct surveillance about us, how intelligence services intimidate us, and how our protests are suppressed.”

The talks were attended by chairpersons and secretaries of the ARED representing all eight districts of the northern and eastern provinces. Following the discussions, Ampara District ARED head Thambirasa Selvarani said that she told Callamard that in their quest to get justice for their loved ones, hybrid courts with Sri Lankan participation cannot be accepted.

A UN Human Rights Council resolution has recommended a hybrid court with commonwealth judges to investigate allegations of war crimes and human rights violations in the final stage of the war.

“We have no faith in hybrid courts. We do not accept hybrid courts. We urged that an international court is necessary. She said that foreign judges would be appointed to that. We said that even then, lawyers would be locals, and we cannot tell them our problems. We further said that what is more acceptable for us is an international mechanism, and that we are ready to give evidence in such a mechanism.”

Tamil mothers said they informed the Amnesty International chief of Tamil people’s land forcibly occupied by the army for years and is yet to be released. Moreover, they have explained to her about intimidation over the public offering of ‘Mullivaikkal Kanji’ (rice gruel). This Kanji was the only sustenance to those confined to a narrow strip of coastal land during the final stages of the war, and survived amidst shell, air and artillery attacks and denial of access to medicines and food.

According to Tamil mothers, Callamard had told her delegation that she was able to get a far better understanding of the issues faced by the war-affected Tamil people by visiting the Vanni region than the information she could obtain from abroad.

Attending the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day in Mullivaikkal a day after the meeting, Callamard described the anniversary as a grim reminder of the collective failure of the international community to deliver justice, as well.

“Today’s anniversary is a grim reminder of the collective failure of the Sri Lankan authorities and the international community to deliver justice to the many victims of Sri Lanka’s three-decade-long internal armed conflict. It is sobering to stand in the same place where, 15 years ago, countless civilian lives were lost during the last days of the war.”

She has further warned about the risk of weakening international focus on delivering justice over crimes that occurred 15 years ago in Sri Lanka due to the global attention on the ongoing conflicts elsewhere.

“Victims still await justice at Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka. We cannot allow for the mothers’ tears and cries to be swept away from international attention. What happened to the 60000, if not 100000 disappeared persons? Their families have a right to know,” Callamard said on X, earlier known as twitter.

She had emphasised that although UN investigations have found credible evidence of crimes under international law and other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by those on both sides of the conflict, there has been little in the way of an independent or impartial national inquiry into such serious crimes.

“The families of those who were forcibly disappeared during the conflict have been left to search desperately for their loved ones. It is truly heartbreaking to hear from victims how long they have been demanding justice in vain.”

Two days after the Mullivaikkal remembrance and a day after the government’s war victory celebration, Callamard had met Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister in Colombo.

The Minister said that during the discussion, he recalled that more than 26,000 members of the Sri Lankan armed forces laid their lives and thousands more sacrificed their limbs ‘to reclaim the nation’s freedom and peace’.

“I further expressed our displeasure on outside influence being brought into the internal affairs of Sri Lanka by those engaged in vote bank politics to appease a small domestic audience,” Minister Ali Sabry, PC, said on social media.

Once in Colombo, the AI chief expressed doubts about the government’s willingness to deliver justice.
“A seemingly lack of political will, along with complacency in delivering justice, prevents reconciliation, feeds grievances, and promotes instability. There should be no room for complacency.”

Nevertheless, she called upon the international community ‘to work with the national authorities’ despite the victims emphasising the futility of such an engagement.

“We urge the international community to work with the national authorities to secure truth and justice for all victims of the war and of on-going human rights violations and lay the foundations for a freer and fairer Sri Lanka,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard at the conclusion of her five day visit to Sri Lanka.

Former Army Commander, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, has decided to contest for Presidency at the upcoming Presidential election, the Daily Mirror learns.

Sources close to Fonseka said that the current Chairman of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) will make a formal announcement in June.

Fonseka is to contest as an independent candidate instead of joining forces with any political party.

Sources claimed that Fonseka has also managed to secure the support of a group of SJB MPs and back-door talks are ongoing with MPs and politicians from other political parties.

The Daily Mirror learns that Fonseka’s campaign will look at promoting a corruption free country and also give priority to national security.

The former Army Commander took to the streets during the ‘Aragalaya’ protests and will look to ride on the support he got at the time.

He is also expected to work with intellectuals and prominent personalities during his campaign.

The former Army Commander will seek to boost his Presidential bid with the launch of a book on the war, the Daily Mirror learns.

The book is expected to reveal information related to the conflict and the role he played as the Army Commander at the time.

Meanwhile, sources also said that a former diplomat has sought a meeting with Fonseka as a representative of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Fonseka has not ruled out meeting Wickremesinghe but has indicated he will not withdraw his decision to contest for Presidency.

The MP has already had discussions with the President in Parliament, sources added without divulging further details on the matters discussed.

Sources also said that Fonseka had informal discussions with a number of diplomats and briefed them on his upcoming announcement.

According to the source, Fonseka has indicated his intention to work closely with India, China and the US.

A new report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recommended targeted sanctions on officials responsible for disappearances in Sri Lanka since 1970 and has called for justice outside the country for the families of victims.

Released last week, just before the 15th anniversary of the war’s end and four months ahead of the next UN human rights session where Sri Lanka is likely to face a new resolution, the report has sparked significant attention from rights groups.

The report, titled “Accountability for Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka,” urged justice for all Sri Lankan ethnic groups, including Sinhalese and Muslims, during the war and other insurrections, rather than focusing solely on ethnic minority Tamils as in the past.

Sri Lanka ended a 26-year civil war in 2009 with the state military defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who fought for an independent state in the island nation’s North and East. The civil war was rooted in 35 years of discrimination against ethnic minority Tamils by the majority Sinhalese.

Tamil families have been waiting for justice and accountability from successive governments since 2009 to find their relatives disappeared during the final weeks of the conflict, amid failures from global rights bodies, including the UN.

On Saturday (May 18), the island nation witnessed two commemorations: Victory Day, mostly in the southern part of the country, and Remembrance Day for the Tamils in Sri Lanka’s North.

London-based rights group Amnesty International has estimated the number of disappeared victims in Sri Lanka between 60,000 and 100,000, although the Sri Lankan government has repeatedly disputed these figures. There is no credible numbers recorded by the government.

“Impunity remains entrenched,” the OHCHR said in its report, expressing dissatisfaction with the Sri Lankan government’s measures over the last 15 years.

“Notwithstanding steps such as the criminalization of enforced disappearances and the establishment of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and the Office for Reparations, these have not translated into concrete results that would satisfy victims’ rights to truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence.”

UN investigations have found credible evidence of crimes under international law and other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by both sides of the conflict.

The government has strongly and repeatedly rejected such allegations, and there has been little to no independent or impartial national inquiry into these serious crimes.

The OHCHR said the latest report was prepared with “a series of consultations with victims exploring the impacts of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka and their perspectives on accountability.”

It held bilateral interviews with 39 victims and convened focus groups involving 43 victims, with a higher ratio of women to compile the report.

TARGETED SANCTIONS

A limited number of Western nations have already imposed targeted sanctions, including travel bans for some Sri Lankan political and military leaders, after finding credible information about human rights violations, the OHCHR said.

The United States has imposed a travel ban on former Army Chief Shavendra Silva and his immediate family members, Navy intelligence officer Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi, Army Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake, army officer Prabath Bulathwatta, and former Navy chief Wasantha Karannagoda, citing human rights violations, the report said.

Canada last year imposed financial sanctions to freeze the assets of former Sri Lankan presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, along with Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi and Sunil Ratnayake, citing rights abuses.

Human rights analysts say some Sri Lankan political and military leaders are still unaware that they have been blacklisted by Western nations for rights abuses and will only become aware of such measures when they request visas from these countries.

“Consider further targeted sanctions, consistent with international law, against those who are credibly alleged to have been responsible for enforced disappearances and other gross violations and abuses of international human rights law or serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the OHCHR said.

The Rajapaksas and military leaders have denied any wrongdoing, though successive governments have rejected an independent international investigation into alleged human rights violations, citing infringement on the country’s sovereignty.

Alan Keenan, London-based International Crisis Group’s Sri Lanka Senior Analyst, said the latest report broadens the time horizon to include the disappearances of Sinhala youth during the insurrections led by Marxist group Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) as well.

“It’s an issue that all Sri Lankans have been affected by, which goes to the core of the legal system and the failure of multiple governments, basically every government since the 1970s, to deal with,” Keenan told EconomyNext.

“So I think this report is important in that it reminds everybody in the international community and in Sri Lanka of the depth of the problem that Sri Lanka faces in terms of its lack of effective institutions of the rule of law and the many decades of impunity for the most serious violations of international human rights law and, during the war, international humanitarian law.”

“What’s also positive is that the range of recommendations in the report potentially benefits all communities—Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims, men, and women, rich and poor.”

He noted that human rights issues are often presented by the government in the media as being anti-Sri Lankan and anti-Sinhala majority, favoring only Tamils, Muslims, Christians, or other minority groups.

“This report shows that acting on accountability, holding people accountable, setting up new institutions to make that possible, bringing out the truth, and reforming and strengthening the institutions of justice and the rule of law is everybody’s issue. It should benefit all communities. That’s what’s most interesting and important about this report.”

INTERNATIONAL JURISDICTION

The OHCHR has urged the international community to engage with Sri Lanka due to an “accountability gap at the domestic level,” with victims urging prosecution in a third State due to “widespread impunity in Sri Lanka.”

Citing examples of some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) filing legal actions against former Sri Lankan military leaders in Brazil, Australia, Germany, and Switzerland, the OHCHR noted that no state has yet issued an arrest warrant or prosecuted any Sri Lankans suspected of involvement in an enforced disappearance.

“A key stumbling block has been the immunities afforded to persons who remain in high office or have subsequently been appointed to diplomatic posts,” it said.

“Use all potential forms of jurisdiction, including under accepted principles of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction, to investigate and prosecute crimes under international law committed in Sri Lanka, strengthen coordination in relation to ongoing investigations, and consider support for other avenues of international justice.”

International Crisis Group’s Keenan explained that cases targeting alleged perpetrators in Sri Lanka could also be pursued in other countries.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard, who witnessed the Remembrance Day by the Tamils in the final battlefield of Mullivaikkal, said the Sri Lankan government is best placed to provide answers to the victims, though past “domestic mechanisms to establish accountability in the last 15 years have been mere window dressing.”

“UNWARRANTED, PREPOSTEROUS” REPORT

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the UN report, stating that no member country had given a mandate to the OHCHR to compile such a report at a time when Sri Lanka was commemorating the 15th anniversary of the war’s end.

“This is unwarranted,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman told EconomyNext.

“The timing of the release is politically motivated and seems to be targeting the 15th anniversary of the end of the war. The content is unsubstantiated, not credible, and unfounded. It has just interviewed a few victims and targeted our senior officials and military personnel.”

He accused the United Nations Human Rights body of deliberately targeting a small country like Sri Lanka to “draw attention away from human rights violations elsewhere in the world.”

“It has asked to probe disappearances from 1970–2009. This is almost 40 years, covering a substantial period of post-independent Sri Lanka. This is totally preposterous.”

Sri Lanka will respond to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner on the content of the report through its Geneva envoy, he said.

Sri Lanka has admitted to some human rights violations but has strongly rejected any foreign probes into the allegations. Despite the island nation’s protest, the UN rights body has passed two resolutions to conduct an independent investigation with its own officials.