Category: Featured Headlines

Showery condition is expected to enhance further in North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa and Northern provinces and in Galle Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts today and tomorrow (09), due to influence of the prevailing wind convergence zone in the vicinity of the island.

Issuing a ‘Red Alert’ for heavy rain, the Meteorology Department said that very heavy showers above 150 mm can be expected at some places in Northwestern, Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts.

Heavy showers about 100 mm can be expected at some places in Northern Province and in Matale, Galle and Matara districts during next 24 hours, it said.

General public is requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Police Scotland must stop training Sri Lankan officers if allegations of state-sanctioned torture are confirmed, according to the UN investigator behind an excoriating report into the country’s human rights abuses.

Professor Manfred Nowak, a former United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights, called for Holyrood to launch an inquiry into the claims of police brutality made by refugees fleeing Sri Lanka for Scotland.

If their claims are established, he said, Scotland’s national force must end its controversial training of Sri Lankan police and special units.

Police Scotland insists its international training improves world policing but critics fear the force has been naive to work with the government in Colombo while its tacit endorsement is helping whitewash the torture, abduction and murder of ethnic minority Tamils.

The long-standing police training programme – which has involved Sri Lankan officers, including some later linked to systemic torture, being trained at Police Scotland’s Tulliallan HQ and Scots officers travelling to Colombo – is currently in limbo while being reviewed by the Foreign Office.

MSP Mercedes Villalba has now written to the British High Commission in Sri Lanka voicing concern that Police Scotland’s training of Sri Lankan police has gifted the Colombo regime “an unwarranted legitimacy” and is “a smokescreen for human rights abuses”.

Nowak, a leading human rights lawyer and secretary general of the Global Campus of Human Rights, said it was alarming that torture techniques he exposed for the UN in 2007 are allegedly still being used and he urged Police Scotland to instigate a criminal investigation into the claims of refugees from Sri Lanka.

He told The Post: “The Scottish Parliament should hold an inquiry and Police Scotland must investigate these allegations of torture and participate with the police in Sri Lanka to prosecute the perpetrators.

“If Sri Lanka does not co-operate or seek to prosecute, then this matter should be brought before the international courts as cases have been in the past.”

He said the testimonies of torture victims who have fled to Scotland in fear of their lives were strikingly similar to the allegation he uncovered in Sri Lanka 14 years ago: “The use of practices such as hanging victims from their limbs, or even their fingers, was something I encountered, as was the use of plastic bags with petrol.

“If there is evidence which shows these practices are being used by the police in Sri Lanka, then Police Scotland need to step away from any future training programmes.”

MSPs have backed Nowak’s call for a parliamentary inquiry. Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton echoed his concerns and said: “Any continuation of the training arrangement Police Scotland has with Sri Lanka brings us worryingly close to a complicit relationship with people who we now know are committing torture and rape on an industrial scale. (Courtesy The Sunday Post)

Foreign exchange reserves were measured at US$ 2,267.5 million by the end of October, down from US$ 2,704.2 million in September as the Central Bank settled US$ 492.9 million worth foreign liabilities during the month. Sri Lanka is scrambling to shore up its reserves amid slowdown in inflows due to the pandemic and rating downgrades.

The October reserves touched a fresh post-war low, sufficient for only 1.8 months of imports. But, Sri Lanka has US$ 1.5 billion equivalent swap line signed with People’s Bank of China earlier in the year, which is kept as a stand by support.

The Central Bank recently tightened the foreign exchange conversion rule on both goods and service exporters to rebuild reserves from non-debt creating inflows. Exports have been on an upward momentum since June, generating over a billion dollars or close to that during last four months.

However, the remittance income, which grew constantly fell out of favour since around the same time due to the foreign exchange crunch, which gave rise to several parallel exchange rates in the unofficial channels, prompting action by the authorities to bring the situation under control and thereby re-channel remittances through the official modes.

Meanwhile, increased tourist arrivals in the months of September and October after the easing of virus related restrictions have rekindled hopes for the faster recovery in the US$ 4.5 billion tourism industry, which has the potential to alleviate much of the pressure in the country’s foreign exchange sector.

The Central Bank in early October announced a slew of short term inflows for the next six months, amounting to roughly US$ 10 billion through March next year to ride through the most challenging period of foreign exchange and economic conditions, predominantly pandemic generated. However, Moody’s Investors Service on October 28 further downgraded the country’s sovereign rating to Caa2 from Caa1 citing dwindling reserves and the expanding budget deficit as they grew skeptical over the ability realise the announced inflows.

Sri Lanka’s attempts to generate foreign income out of full or partial sale of State assets have also mired in controversy due to lack of transparency. The proposed partial sale of the coal power plant, Yugadhanawi is a case in point.

While in the first six months, Sri Lanka having received US$ 398 million worth foreign direct investments, the Board of Investment is confident of ending the year with at least US$ 900 million and over a billion dollars in direct investments in 2022.

During the three months from October through December, the country has foreign currency commitments of US$ 553.9 million. During 2022, it has foreign currency commitments of US$ 5,674.3 million, which includes two international sovereign bond settlements of US$ 500 million and US$ 1 billion falling due in January and July respectively.

Sri Lanka Monday reported 19 deaths due to COVID-19 after the figures were confirmed by the Director General of Health Services on Sunday, November 07.

Among the deaths reported today, 13 are of males and 06 of females. The majority of deaths – 11 – are of elderly people in the 60 years and above age group.

According to the data reported by the Government Information Department, the total deaths due to Covid-19 since the pandemic began last year has now risen to 13,875.

Batticaloa Municipal Councilor Thuraisingam Madan has stated that a police investigation is being carried out against those who paid homage at the Batticaloa Shathurukkondan massacre memorial on 09-09-2021.

Batticaloa Municipal Councilor Thuraisingham Madan has stated that a Sri Lankan police investigation is underway against those who paid homage at the massacre memorial that day.

He said that Batticaloa Municipal Council members T. Gauri and Thuraisingam Madan were called to the Batticaloa Sri Lankan police HQ on Wednesday (3-11-21) evening and investigations were carried out.

Madan said he had been informed about the purpose for which he had attended the tribute event and that investigations were being carried out on the instructions of the police chief.

He further added that the legal status of the country was being called into question by the fact that no action had been taken in connection with the assassination of Shathurukkondan, Batticaloa.

Meantime the United nation human right council resolution 46/1 expresses serious concern at the trends emerging over the past year, which represent a clear early warning sign of a deteriorating situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including the accelerating militarization of civilian government functions; the erosion of the independence of the judiciary and key institutions responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights; ongoing impunity and political obstruction of accountability for crimes and human rights violations in “emblematic cases”; policies that adversely affect the right to freedom of religion or belief; increased marginalization of Tamil and Muslim minorities, surveillance and intimidation of civil society, restrictions on media freedom, and shrinking democratic space; restrictions on public memorialization of victims of war including the destruction of a memorial; arbitrary detentions; alleged torture and other cruel, inhuman degrading treatment or punishment, and sexual and gender-based violence, ; and that these trends threaten to reverse the limited but important gains made in recent years, and risk the recurrence of policies and practices that gave rise to the grave violations of the past.

But the Sri Lankan government continues to ignore UNHRC resolution and supress Tamils fundamental rights which is fully enjoyed by Singala population.