Sri Lanka ‘counting civilian war deaths’

[BBC] Sri Lanka is close to completing a census of the number of civilians who died in the final phase of the civil war, the defence secretary has said. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the count proves the number of people killed as a result of government action was “far too small” to constitute war crimes. [Full…

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Will New Evidence of War Crimes Tip the Scales Against the Sri Lankan Government

[Time] On June 14, the British television network Channel 4 broadcast a stunning hour-long documentary presenting footage of horrific abuses allegedly committed by Sri Lankan troops during the last months of the country’s war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The images are graphic and profoundly disturbing. They include the execution of naked, bound prisoners;…

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Sri Lanka Tamil MPs ‘beaten up by troops’

[AFP] Sri Lanka’s main minority Tamil political group on Friday accused army troops of assaulting its lawmakers and breaking up a party meeting on the northern peninsula of Jaffna. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said troops stormed their venue on Thursday evening and attacked members of parliament and party supporters who were discussing local elections…

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Sri Lanka troops take strategic pass from Tiger rebels: army

[AFP] Sri Lankan troops battling Tamil rebels on Monday captured a part of the highly strategic Elephant Pass, a causeway linking the northern Jaffna peninsula to the mainland, the military said. Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the southern part of the causeway fell to government troops advancing northwards from Kilinochchi, the political headquarters of the…

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