Category: News

Sri Lanka risked a showdown with New Delhi over the arrest of 54 Indian fishermen in what was widely seen in diplomatic circles as a retaliatory move over the censure motion against Colombo at the UN Human Rights Council.

India abstained from voting, but made a statement that supported the UK-led resolution despite Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary, Admiral Professor Jayanath Colombage, having indicated New Delhi would support Colombo at Tuesday’s vote in Geneva.

The resolution calling for the establishment of a mechanism to collect and preserve evidence of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka was adopted with 22 voting in favour, the highest number of votes against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC.

A day after the vote, Sri Lanka’s navy carried out the arrests, the largest single since June 2014, causing alarm in New Delhi because of the implications in Tamil Nadu which is heading for assembly elections in two months.

Tamil Nadu fishermen poach in Sri Lankan waters, but their arrests are seen by them as “harassment” from the island’s navy.

The latest mass arrest triggered angry protests across the Palk Straits in Tamil Nadu where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party and its allies are facing stiff opposition at the upcoming elections.

Officials of the Ministry of External Affairs had made it clear that the arrest of fishermen coming on the heels of the UNHRC resolution was seen as a hostile move. With Delhi’s displeasure made plain to Colombo, local authorities switched to damage control mode.

However, local fisheries authorities in Jaffna dealing directly with the Sri Lanka navy had resisted moves to free the fishermen. They agreed to sending back only 40 fishermen on Friday while retaining 14 others along with their trawlers and fishing gear.

Even before the release of the 40 Indians, the Indian High Commission in Colombo made their displeasure clear.

“We reiterate that issues associated with Indian fishermen are to be dealt in a humanitarian manner… Bilateral mechanisms are in place to comprehensively address all matters related to fisheries,” the High Commission said in a statement indicating its displeasure over the navy action.

It is understood that the detention of the 14 had caused more anguish in New Delhi which was keen to avoid the arrest being exploited as a campaign issue in Tamil Nadu.

With high-level intervention on Saturday, the remaining 14 fishermen and their trawlers were released by the Jaffna magistrate with the intervention of the police.

It is understood that the police argued that the fishermen should be released to avoid a possible Covid-19 cluster from Indian fishermen at a time when the virus is rapidly spreading in India.

Thanks to the Covid-19 argument, Sri Lanka may have avoided a new cold war. Prime Minister Modi had attempted to address the issue of fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters and officials from both countries have been meeting to find a mutually acceptable solution when the latest arrest took place.

Sri Lanka’s navy had argued that they carried out the arrest as Indian fishermen had strayed too close to the Sri Lankan coast.

Responding to the passage of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka, the British Tamil Conservatives welcomed the passage of the resolution but called for further legal action on Sri Lanka officials implicated in war crimes as well as trade sanctions against Sri Lanka.

Their statement is supported by a number of MPs from across the political spectrum who have raised concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record and have called for Magnitsky sanctions on senior Sri Lankan officials implicated in war crimes such as Shavendra Silva and Kamal Gunaratne. A number of human rights organisations, such as Human Rights Watch, have also called for targeted sanctions on Sri Lankan officials.

In their statement, they highlighted the resolution’s recognition of the failure of domestic mechanism in Sri Lanka to deliver accountability and justice as well as the deteriorating human rights conditions. The resolution mandates the setting up of an evidence collection mechanism under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and keeps Sri Lanka firmly on the UNHRC agenda.

Their statement concludes by maintaining:

“It is now time for the member states, including the United Kingdom to take on board the recommendations of her excellency Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and take legal action based on Universal Jurisdiction, apply travel bans against Sri Lankan officials and trade sanctions against Sri Lanka”.

The SLFP has come out with a proposal not to allow dual citizens to hold any key government posts in the future,Political sources say this is one of the proposals included in a report prepared by the SLFP on the party’s suggestions for drafting a new constitution.

The proposal seeks to prevent dual citizens holding key public posts such as president, prime minister, MPs, top posts in government corporations and presidential commissions.

The set of new proposals of the SLFP is to be submitted to president’s counsel Romesh de Silva who is heading the committee appointed to draft a new constitution.

The SLFP has also suggested that all the political parties must discuss and arrive at a decision whether the country should continue with the Executive Presidency.Other proposals of the SLFP’s include setting up two chambers in parliament, a mixed electoral system and devolution of power.

Minister NImal Siripala de Silva chaired the SLFP’s committee that drafted it’s constitutional proposals.

Russia has decided to resume commercial flights to six countries including Sri Lanka from the 1st of April, the country’s emergency response centre said on Thursday (March 25).

Accordingly, commercial flights to Germany (Frankfurt-Moscow/St Petersburg-Frankfurt/ Moscow-Berlin), Venezuela (Moscow-Caracas), Syria (Moscow-Damascus), Tajikistan (Moscow-Dushanbe), Uzbekistan (Moscow-Tashkent) and Sri Lanka (Moscow-Colombo) will recommence from the aforementioned date.

Reportedly, regular international roundtrip flights between Moscow and Colombo are scheduled to operate once a week.

The Russian government reached the decision after a discussion on the epidemiological situation in individual countries and in agreement with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Russia suspended international flights in March last year following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic but has since resumed a selected number of routes.

A section of the Jaffna town came under a lock down today after 80 COVID-19 patients were detected, health officials said.

Out of 670 individuals who were subject to PCR tests, 80 were reported as COVID-19 infected.

Northern Province Director of Health Services Dr. A.Kedeesaran told the media that the District COVID Control Committee at an emergency meeting decided to lock down the high risk areas that included a part of the Jaffna town including the Kankasanthurai highway, the Jaffna main bus stand, the hospital road, Jaffna public fair ground, Thirunelveli public fair ground and the Jaffna Fort.