Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Harder than Ever

[International Crisis Group] Two years since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lanka is further from reconciliation than ever. Triumphalist in its successful “war on terror”, the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has refused to acknowledge, let alone address, the Tamil minority’s legitimate grievances against the state. The regime destroyed…

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Joint Letter to Japanese Prime Minister on Sri Lanka

[HRW] If the world continues to look away from the suffering of civilians in Sri Lanka, as it has largely done until now, it will be a failure of historic proportions. We believe that Japan, a powerful player on the humanitarian stage and the largest international donor to Sri Lanka, has an important role to…

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Japan cautious on Sri Lanka military breakthrough

[ AFP ] Japan, Sri Lanka’s top donor, was cautious on Monday after the Tamil Tiger rebels’ capital fell, with an official saying that only a political solution could resolve the island’s ethnic war. Sri Lanka’s army last week captured the de facto rebel capital Kilinochchi and said it was now closing in on the…

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