Category: News

More than 300 Sri Lankans were rescued at sea off the Spratly Islands after their fishing vessel was damaged and found adrift.

A spokesperson for the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center said Tuesday the agency received news that the Myanmar-flagged Lady R3 with 303 Sri Lankans suspected to be headed for Canada was in trouble.

On November 5, when it was around 258 nautical miles off Vung Tau in the southern coast, its engine room flooded and the vessel began to drift. There were rough seas at the time.

The center then tried to contact the ship and also broadcast emergency signals to other ships in the vicinity.

At 3 p.m. Monday it found that the Japanese-flagged Helios Leader was in the area, and requested it to make a detour and rescue the people aboard Lady R3.

The Japanese vessel was able to reach the distressed boat, whose crew members were in a state of panic.

It then rescued the passengers and provided medical assistance to whoever needed it.

The center also mobilized five other ships and told them to circle the area to provide support if needed.

The 264 men, 19 women and 20 children are safe and expected to reach Vung Tau by Tuesday.

Earlier, the Sri Lanka Navy said a Sri Lankan citizen in the boat contacted the navy on Monday and said they were in distress, and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Colombo sought help from Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Singapore authorities later notified Sri Lanka that the people on board the boat had been rescued and were heading to Vietnam, Navy spokesman Indika de Silva said .

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a short while ago, on the sidelines of COP27 in Egypt, according to the President’s Media Division.

President Wickramasinghe extended his warm greetings to the new British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, the PMD said.

The President left the island for Egypt on Monday (06) to attend the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) being held in Sharm el-Sheikh.

At COP 27, countries come together to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals as agreed under the Paris Agreement and Convention. Building on the outcomes and momentum of COP 26 in Glasgow last year, nations are expected to demonstrate at COP 27 that they are in a new era of implementation by turning their commitments under the Paris Agreement into action.

Minister of Environment Naseer Ahamed, Senior Advisor to the President on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardene, President’s International Affairs Director Dinouk Colambage and President’s Private Secretary Sandra Perera are accompanying the President.

Meanwhile, President Wickremeisnghe had also held bilateral meetings with President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate & Environment and the head of the delegation from the Republic of Korea, Na Kyung-won, on the sidelines of COP27 today.

Former MP and the national organizer of Samagi Vanitha Balavegaya (SVB), Hirunika Premachandra, lodged a complaint with the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) that several women in SVB, including her, had been abused during last Wednesday’s protest.

She said it had been mentioned in the complaint that when she participated in the protest as the national organizer of SVB, the police officers verbally abused two women who came with her.

“Usually in such protests, there is some pushing and jostling, and it doesn’t matter whether you are a man or a woman, they accidentally or unintentionally touch each other. We have our own self-control in such situations, but the policemen behaved the other way,” she alleged.

Premachandra also said that she had the video footage as well as the names and numbers of those policemen.

In footage that was released on social media soon after the protest, footage however showed it was Hirunika chasing behind some policemen in an aggressive manner, while the policemen moved away from her.

The European Union (EU) says it stands with Sri Lanka in its efforts to ensure everyone has access to justice.

The EU funded ‘Supporting Effective Dispute Resolution (SEDR)’, project amplified its support to the Mediation Boards Commission (MBC) through the provision of 70 laptops to enhance the administrative functions of the Development Officers (Mediation) across the island.

The event was graced by several dignitaries – Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Minister of Justice, Priyanath Perera, Secretary Mediation Boards Commission, Justice Yapa, Chairperson Mediation Boards Commission, Commissioners of the Mediation Boards Commission, Lars Bredal, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and Maarya Rehman, Country Director British Council Sri Lanka.

SEDR is a four-year access to justice project implemented by the British Council, in partnership with The Asia Foundation (TAF), and funded by the European Union (EU). The EUR 7 million project is part of the EU’s overarching STRIDE (Strengthening Transformation, Reconciliation and Inclusive Democratic Engagement) Programme in Sri Lanka.

SEDR’s Result Area 4 includes an activity to support the administrative functioning of mediation boards through the provision of IT equipment. This is with the objective of supporting newly appointed Development Officers collate data. Under SEDR’s Result Area 1, significant work has already been done on enhancing the MBC’s website and building a mediation database to help the MBC function more seamlessly and to be able to monitor progress. The website will help with public awareness and will increase much needed access to mediation, which is more cost efficient and sustainable when compared with litigation.

Speaking at the event, Lars Bredal, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives stated that “The EU stands with Sri Lanka in its efforts to ensure everyone has access to justice. As digitalisation plays an increasingly important role in all facets of modern society, it is relevant to the functioning of the justice system, as it allows for improved access and delivery of justice services. We hope the provision of this equipment will be instrumental in facilitating and strengthening the work of the officers of the MBC.

An ICT Needs Assessment survey of 235 MBC staff, including the new cadre of Development Officers (Dos) – Mediation – was completed in the second half of 2021, and a training needs analysis was also done prior by a consultant hired by SEDR. The scope and focus of the ICT equipment to be procured was made with agreement between the MBC, Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and SEDR joint committee being that the best option was the provision of 70 laptops.

The British Council IT team completed the task of installing software (Windows10) onto these laptops, which also all come with SEDR-branding and carrier bags. As part of the distribution process of these laptops, SEDR will work in close liaison with the MBC and MOJ to design and present an online basic orientation training session, to ensure the 70 new users are enabled to obtain maximum benefit from both the new ICT hard and software. SEDR will furthermore support an additional online training session for new users, specifically focussing on how best to use the new equipment as part of the MBC’s new online mediation database/platform.

Contrary to the statements made earlier by several parties, including the Sri Lanka Army, that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters had surrendered to the Army during the last stage of the war, Army Designated Officer under the Right to Information (RTI) Act told the Right to Information Commission of Sri Lanka (RTICSL) last week that no LTTE fighters had surrendered in this manner.

Journalist D. Nirosh Kumar had made a request under the RTI Act seeking information pertaining to the number of LTTE fighters who surrendered to the Army, officials who supervised such incidents, number of LTTE fighters who were arrested during the last period of the war, and officials who supervised such arrests.

As the Information Officer of the Army had not provided him with the information, Kumar had later filed an appeal with the RTICSL, and the relevant appeal was taken up last Thursday (3).

The Army had previously informed Kumar in writing that those who surrendered during the last period of war surrendered not to the Army, but to the Government. However, the Army’s Designated Officer under the RTI Act Brigadier N.K.N.K. Nagahawatte, when the appeal was taken up before the RTICSL, stated that LTTE fighters did not surrender to the Army, but that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) did.

He informed the RTICSL that it was the Army that transported such IDPs to IDP camps, and that such camps were under the purview of the Bureau of Commissioner General of Rehabilitation. He subsequently claimed that certain persons who were among them had told the said bureau that they were LTTE cadres.

In response to his statement, Attorney-at-Law Swastika Arulingam, who appeared for the appellant, submitted to the RTICSL three documents that contained statements made by Ministers Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan alias Karuna Amman, Douglas Devananda, and a former Army Media Spokesman that LTTE fighters had surrendered to the Army.

When the Commissioners queried Brigadier Nagahawatte regarding the relevant documents, he said that there was no change in his position on the matter.

Accordingly, the RTICSL informed journalist Kumar to make written submissions before 17 November if there exist any facts to prove that LTTE fighters surrendered to the Army, and gave the Army two weeks of time to respond to such. The appeal is to be taken up again on 4 January 2023.

The appeal was taken up before RTI Commissioners, Attorneys Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, Jagath Liyanaarachchi, and A.M. Nahiya on Thursday (3). Brigadier. Nagahawatte appeared for the Army, while Arulingam and journalist Tharindu Iranga Jayawardana appeared for Kumar.