Sri Lanka: ICRC evacuates over 240 wounded and sick from the Vanni by sea
[ICRC] A ferry flying the flag of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is currently evacuating about 240 patients from Putumattalan to Trincomalee. They had fled Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital in the northern Vanni region on 4 February after it sustained repeated shelling. The patients are expected to arrive in Trincomalee this evening and receive…
Read MoreTimor president offers help for Sri Lanka peace
[AP] East Timor’s president warned Monday that a military solution in Sri Lanka will not bring peace unless it is accompanied by dialogue between the government and Tamil Tiger insurgents. Jose Ramos-Horta, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with Bishop Carlos Belo for leading a nonviolent struggle against the Indonesian occupation, offered to help…
Read MoreBBC suspends Sri Lanka FM reports
[BBC] The BBC World Service is to stop providing radio news to Sri Lanka’s state broadcaster because of what it calls “deliberate interference”. A statement said FM broadcasts to the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation would be suspended from Tuesday. The BBC said many of its news reports in Sinhala, Tamil and English had been blocked…
Read MoreU.N. experts decry ‘climate of fear’ in Sri Lanka
[Reuters] Sri Lanka’s journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders are living in fear and need better protection from violence, United Nations investigators said on Monday. In a joint statement, 10 U.N. experts called on the government to act quickly to halt repressive practices. “The fear of reprisals against victims and witnesses, together with a lack…
Read MoreLasantha Wickrematunga’s Wife On A Mission to Bring Justice To Sri Lanka
[Huffington Post] There had been previous incidents, threats and warnings scrawled in red paint. And on that very morning, when they had driven before work to the chemist’s shop, two sinister-looking men on a large black motorbike raced past their car. Lasantha Wickrematunga, a newspaper editor, and his wife, Sonali Samarasinghe, were convinced they were…
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