Report on Sapugaskanda oil refinery expected this month

HRW calls for end to media harassment

The Sri Lankan government should immediately end harassment of media outlets and journalists in violation of the right to freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said. In the three years since the end of the armed conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), President Mahinda Rajapaksa?s government has expanded its efforts to silence critical views. On June 29, 2012, the Criminal Investigation Department, acting on a court order, raided the offices of the Sri Lanka Mirror, a new

04 Jul, 2012

Lankan sailor complicit in war crimes

One of Sri Lanka?s top naval officers has fled to Canada but federal officials are refusing to accept his refugee claim on the grounds he was complicit in war crimes during the troubled island?s long civil war against Tamil rebels. Nadarajah Kuruparan was Commodore of the Sri Lanka Navy, third in rank behind the Admiral, when he retired in June 2009 ? just weeks after his forces helped defeat the separatist Tamil Tigers in a conflict that left untold civilians dead. On Aug. 4, 2009, he arrived

03 Jul, 2012

Refugees smuggling racket busted in Chennai

Chennai Police busted a human trafficking racket and arrested two Sri Lankan Tamils for collecting money from refugees staying in camps in the state promising to take them to Australia through illegal ferries. Police also seized a satellite phone from them. Acting on a tip-off, ‘Q’ branch police picked up Ramesh alias Ramachandran (38) and Gandhi Mohan (40) from Red Hills. Inquiries revealed that Ramesh and Mohan, who hail from Trincomalee in Sri Lanka, were planning to leave to Christmas Islan

05 Jul, 2012