srilanka timeline 2013

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Sri Lanka Timeline - Year 2013

January 2 Sri Lanka Police Department has removed the Police personnel who weredeployed in and around the Jaffna University premises following the clashbetween the university students and SFs on November 27, 2012 when theuniversity students tried to commemorate the LTTE Heroes' Day.

January 6 Higher Education Minister of Sri Lanka S.B. Dissanayake said that the JaffnaUniversity would be closed if academic activities are not resumed this week.Jaffna University students and academic staff started to boycott classesdemanding the release of four university students who were arrested on chargesof supporting terrorist activities following the clash between university studentsand the SFs on November 27, 2012 when the students tried to commemoratethe LTTE Heroes' Day.

January 8 The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran saidthat the party would vote against the amended Divi Neguma Bill (Enhancementof Life) when it is taken up for a vote in Parliament.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), an ally of the Government, also saidthat it is yet to reach a final decision on the party's stance on the Bill as someSLMC members have expressed concerns over the bill since it interfered withsubjects vested with the provincial councils under the 13th Amendment.

Parliament passed the amended Divi Neguma (Enhancement of Life) Bill aimedat poverty alleviation in the country with a majority of 107 votes. 159 voted infavor while 42 voted against.

January 9 The Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms has made arrangement torelease another batch of former combatants of the defeated terror organization,Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to the society. The Ministry will releaseanother 313 rehabilitated cadres in Vavuniya District on January 13 to coincidewith the upcoming Hindu harvest festival of Thai Pongal.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka's Security Forces (SFs) fought theseparatist terrorists and liberated the country not for their personal gain but for the yet unborn future generation. He told that the Government is not prepared toreverse the massive development programme being implemented as a free and

sovereign nation.

January 13 The Sri Lankan Government has increased the allocations for rehabilitating theformer of LTTE cadres from SLR 300 million to SLR 500 million. Sri LankaMinister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Chandrasiri Gajadeera revealedthis while releasing a batch of former cadres of LTTE. A group of 313 former LTTE rebels were reintegrated into the society to mark the Hindu cultural festival"Thai Pongal" that falls on January 14.

January 16 The official website of Sri Lanka's MCNS has been hacked and defaced by ahacker, known as Game Over . The hacker has not only defaced the site atnationalsecurity.lk , but redirected it to another site and gained access to theserver, taking away and leaking hundreds of login information of the site users.

January 17 Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said Sri Lanka will focus

on the need to amend the Constitution to add a 19thAmendment due to therecent conflict raised between the judiciary and legislature. He said there isdiscussion in several Government circles on the need to amend the Constitutionand the Government will have to make a decision. However, the country will beinformed before such a decision is taken, the Minister told.

January 18 Construction, Engineering Services Housing and Common Amenities Minister and NFF Leader Wimal Weerawansa said the eradication of LTTE terrorism isthe only reason for all foreign interferences in Sri Lanka's internal matters. TheMinister said "Though the LTTE was defeated, we still have external and internalenemies. All Sri Lankans should recognize these enemies and support thegovernment to defeat these enemies."

January 21 TNA leader R. Sampanthan said that the Government has failed to honor thepledges given to the UN on post war reconciliation. Sampanthan observed that


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the Government had made several pledges to the UN and the internationalcommunity on reconciliation in the country, and one was the demilitarization of the Northern Province. He pointed out that there were concerns on theresettlement of the war displaced in their original homes. He also added that thedelay in releasing or taking legal action against the Tamil political prisoners wasalso an issue that the Government has failed to address.

January 22 Sri Lanka Parliament passed the Code of Criminal Procedure (SpecialProvisions) Bill to extend the detention time for suspects arrested by the Policefor 48 hours. The Bill received 110 votes in favor and 33 against and passed bythe House with amendments. The main opposition UNP and the Marxist party

JVP decided to vote against the bill.January 23 Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya said that the Army will hand over its first

report on January 24 in response to observations and recommendations madeby the LLRC with regards to the Sri Lanka Army.

January 24 Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said no LTTEcadre that surrendered to the Security Forces during the final stage of thehumanitarian mission went missing. The Defence Secretary said all allegationsare baseless and ever since, LTTE cadres who have surrendered wererehabilitated and reintegrated to society.

A Board appointed by the Army Commander Lieutenant General JagathJayasuriya to study the recommendations made by the LLRC asserted the SriLankan Government's "absolute "right to maintain its armed forces anywhere in

the country. The Board recommended appointing special boards covering thefive security forces headquarters in the North and East regions, namely Jaffna,Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Wanni and East Districts, to evaluate the land needs bythose units in the region.

January 27 TNA requested the three US Assistant Secretaries of State - Deputy AssistantSecretary of State James Moore, Deputy Assistant Secretary of DefenseVikram Singh, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jane Zimmerman -arrived in Sri Lanka on January 26 on a mission to mainly assess the progresson implementing measures recommended by the country's own LLRC. The TNAdelegation led by R. Sampanthan and including parliamentarians M.A.Sumanthiran and S. Sridharan met the US officials at the residence of US

Ambassador, Michele Siss on.

External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilaka Amunugama said that he has

briefed India about the progress it has achieved in the areas of post-war reconciliation and the implementation of the recommendations of the LLRCreport during the eighth meeting of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission, whichwas held in Delihi last week.

January 28 US Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department James R. Moore said,"As a measure to force Sri Lanka to expedite the implementation of the pledgesgiven on reconciliation, the United States will sponsor a new resolution againstSri Lanka at the upcoming UNHRC Sessions in Geneva in March. It is astraightforward resolution that will build on the resolution brought in March 2012."He added that the resolution will be to expedite reconciliation and implementationof the LLRC Report.

January 29 Two US Senators called for an independent investigation into the potential war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE during the civil

war in Sri Lanka. In a letter addressed to the outgoing Secretary of State HilaryClinton, Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania Bob Casey and DemocraticSenator from Vermont Patrick Leahy said an independent investigation isneeded because the Sri Lankan Government has not answered the legitimateconcerns of the people. "During the years following the end of the war, the SriLankan people have waited for the Government to address these concerns, yetno tangible or substantial progress has been made," the Senators wrote.

February 1 HRW in its World Report 2013 said the Sri Lankan Government continued itsassault on civil society and failed to take meaningful steps towardsaccountability for war crimes during the country's armed conflict that ended in2009. There was no fundamental progress on key human rights issues in SriLanka over the past year, HRW said. Overly broad detention powers remained inplace under various laws and regulations, leaving several thousand people


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detained without charge. State SFs committed arbitrary arrests and torture,including sexual assault, against ethnic minority Tamils. Repatriated Tamilsallegedly linked to the defeated LTTE were at particular risk, HRW researchfound.

Sri Lanka Army facilitated a group of IDP of Sampur town in the TrincomaleeDistrict of the Eastern Province to revisit their village. The 224 brigade of SriLanka Army provided facilities to the villagers to revisit their homes in the HighSecurity Zone and 138 families of the Navarathnapuram village visited their oldhouses which were in dilapidated conditions. Sampur town, located in closevicinity to the Trincomalee harbor was under the control of the LTTE until the

Army recaptured the area in September 2006.

February 3 TNA called for further action by the UNHRC against the Sri Lanka Government.The party in a statement said that appropriate action at the UNHRC is absolutelynecessary to persuade the Sri Lankan Government to adhere to the UNresolution adapted by the UNHRC and to discontinue with what it called 'harmfulagenda' against the Tamil People of Sri Lanka. TNA accused the Government of refusing to consider the proposals offered by the TNA while the Government hasrepeatedly asked the TNA to join the PCS appointed to work out a solution for the ethnic issue.

TNA parliamentarian, S. Sritharan said that thousands of civilians in Sri Lanka'sNorth will launch a hunger strike to protest against the lack of access to their lands. Over 20,000 civilians in the North are to participate in the hunger strikescheduled to be held at the Tellippalali Durga Devi temple premises on February15. The protestors will demand the withdrawal of the SFs from lands owned bythe civilians prior to the end of the war and will continue until the authoritiesaddress the civilians' demands.

February 4 Ruling out granting minority Tamils of the North any political autonomy as asolution to the three-decades-long ethnic conflict, Sri Lankan President MahindaRajapaksa said "It is not practical for this country to have differentadministrations based on ethnicity. The solution is to live together in this countrywith equal rights for all communities." The President said this in his address tothe nation on the occasion of the Sri Lankan Independence Day from the easternport town of Trincomalee the administrative capital of Eastern Province. Mr.Rajapaksa claimed that though nearly four years had passed since the LTTEwere routed, Sri Lanka "had to face continued challenges to protect the freedomand independence of our motherland. For this very reason we have now come to

a very strong situation. Similarly, facing up to these challenges have increasedour desire to be committed to our freedom".

February 5 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for South Asia Alistair Burtconfirmed that the British Government will support a United Nations resolution onSri Lanka sponsored by the United States at the upcoming 22nd UNHRCsession in Geneva later this month. Burt said UK will continue to urge the SriLankan Government and the major Tamil party, TNA to make serious progresstowards a political settlement in the country.

February 6 Sri Lanka Parliament moved a draft revision bill to revise legislation on terroristfinancing as the country needs a complete legal framework in order to suppressthe financing of terrorism. The draft bill to amend the Convention on Suppressionof Terrorist Financing Act No 25 of 2005 was presented to Parliament by Minister Nimal Siripala de Silval. The Sri Lankan Government, as a response to the

threat from the LTTE, which is still active overseas, has launched legislativeefforts focused on limiting financial support for the remnants of LTTE.

February 8 Parliament approved the draft bill to amend the Convention on Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act No 25 of 2005 without a vote after its Third Reading inParliament.

February 11 Secretary of Defence and Urban Development Gotabhaya Rajapaksa whiledelivering a keynote address in Colombo said "The international pressurebrought to bear on Sri Lanka especially by the Western nations misled by LTTEsympathizers can cause international investors and even tourists to stay awayfrom the country." He further said the Government will not compromise when itcomes to providing security to the nation as a part of LTTE remains activeoutside the country.


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The report by human rights experts, which was submitted to the UNHRC, saidthat Sri Lanka has failed to honor promises to investigate serious rights abusesand allegations that thousands of civilians were killed in the final stages of itsethnic war. The document said grave human rights violations, including thekilling of 17 aid workers of a French charity in August 2006 had not been probeddespite Government promises swiftly to bring perpetrators to justice.

February 12 Speaking at the Special Development Committee meeting at Tilco City Hotel inJaffna District, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said all countrymen have aresponsibility to ensure no room is left for the re-emergence of terrorism whichbrought suffering to the people of all communities for over three decades.

February 13 Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister DouglasDevananda said TNA leaders are following in the footsteps of the LTTE inspreading falsehoods about the country. The minister said LTTE leaders werealso in the habit of traveling in many countries and cities including Oslo andpropagating falsehoods.

February 15 The Court of Inquiry appointed by Sri Lanka Army Commander LieutenantGeneral Jagath Jayasuriya investigating into the controversial instances of shelling referred to the LLRC Report said that instances of shelling mentioned inthe LLRC report were not caused by the Sri Lanka Army and the civiliancasualties might have occurred due to unlawful acts by the LTTE.

February 17 The Government has decided to acquire the land that is now being used as HighSecurity Zones permanently. The acquisition is to be done under the Land

Acquisit ion Act and the Ministry of Defense had already made a request in thisregard from the Ministry of Lands and Land Development. The Government is toacquire an extent of over 2000 acres of land.

A TNA spokesman said that they had received complaints from the familymembers of three rehabilitated cadres of the former rebel group LTTE inBatticaloa District of Eastern Province that they have been arrested by thePolice again.

February 18 Sri Lanka Ministry of Land and Land Development said that it will resolve thedispute arisen due to the occupation of civilian lands for military establishmentsimmediately. The Ministry has started a study on the land in the HSZ of Northernand Eastern Provinces. The civilians who resided in the lands now taken under HSZ have been asked to submit their proof to the ownership of lands to theDivisional Secretaries of the area. The Ministry said that the land that is needed

to be retained will be acquired and the owners will be compensated.

International terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said that all three pro-LTTEfactions have started lobbying ahead of the UNHCR sessions in Geneva inMarch. Gunaratna said the three factions are the Tamil Eelam People's

Ass embly led by Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyawan in Norway, theGlobal Tamil Forum led by Father S J Emmanuel in London and theTransnational Government of Tamil Eelam led by V Rudrakumaran in New York.

The EU decided to support the US sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at theforthcoming UNHCR in Geneva. The document reads that, "the EU will alsosupport efforts aimed at keeping the issues of accountability and reconciliationas well as the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka on the agenda of theHuman Rights Council."

February 19 Fresh questions have been raised over Sri Lanka's armed forces conduct duringthe final stages of the operation against the LTTE rebels after new photographsemerged claiming that the 12-year-old Balachandran Prabhakaran son of theLTTE's leader Villupillai Prabhakaran was summarily executed.

Sri Lanka flatly rejected the latest documentary by a British channel that isfeaturing a new set of images of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's 12-year-oldson in the final battle.

February 20 HRW in a letter to the UNHRC members said that at its March 2013 session, theUNHRC should authorize an independent, international investigation into war crimes committed during the final months of Sri Lanka's armed conflict.

Land and Land Development Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon said inColombo that measures will be taken within the next two years to resolve


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disputes of the conflict in the Northern and Eastern Provinces arising from therequisition of civilian lands for military establishments.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Rodney Perera said the Sri LankanGovernment will seek the support of several countries including China to fend off a resolution to be brought against the country by the United States at theupcoming 22nd session of the UNHRC next month.

February 24 The ALRC, an independent regional NGO in a written statement suggested theUN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances to study the situation andconduct inquiries into to the remains of the 200 or more persons found in the

grave in Matale town of Jaffna District.

February 25 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay making the openingstatement at the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva said that'massive' human rights violations have occurred in Sri Lanka during the war thatended in 2009.

Sri Lankan Information Department said that the Government under its NAP toimplement the recommendations of LLRC prepares to conduct an island widecensus on deaths and injuries to people and on damages to the properties duringthe three decades of ethnic conflict. The census, to be conducted jointly by theMinistry of Public Administration and Home Affairs and the Department of Census and Statistics, will cover the conflict period from 1983 up to the end of war in May 2009.

February 26 HRW in a report reveals that Sri Lankan SFs are accused of continuing to userape and sexual assault nearly four years after the end of the war to torture Tamildetainees suspected of having links with the vanquished terrorist outfit LTTE.

Acc ording to the HRW report, the military, military intelligence and the police,including specialized units such as the CID and TID took part in the allegedcrimes.

Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya dismissed the HRW reportthat alleged the country's SFs continued to use sexual violence on suspectedLTTEs in detention. Wanigasooriya said that the Army is ready to investigate if there are proper complaints filed.

February 27 Plantations Minister and President's Special Envoy on Human Rights MahindaSamarasinghe addressing the 22nd UNHRC sessions in Geneva said "Unduepressure exerted by external parties on the issue of 'retributive justice and

accountability', is not helpful in the resolution of these issues."

Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka's former Army Commander and the leader of unregistered Democratic Party said in a press conference in Colombo that hewas ready to answer any alleged war crime charges brought by internationalinvestigators.

February 28 Patrick Ventrell, acting deputy spokesperson of U.S. Department of State saidat the daily press briefing that the Government of Sri Lanka to date has notinitiated any kind of investigation into the alleged rights violations yet.

March 1 Voice Against Corruption called on the Government to reveal details of thewealth and assets that were seized from the LTTE during the war. Co-convener of Voice Against Corruption Wasantha Samarasinghe said that the Governmenthad taken into custody large stocks of gold, vast amounts of money and ships

belonging to the LTTE during the war.

March 2 President Mahinda Rajapaksa denied that the Army killed LTTE chief Prabakaran's 12-year-old son Balachandran. He SAID "Had it happened, I wouldhave known it. It is obvious that if somebody from the armed forces had donethat, I must take responsibility. We completely deny it. It can't be."

March 4 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Navi Pillay,addressing the UNHRC general debate on thematic reports by Secretary-Generaland High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva at the 22nd session of UNHRC, said she remained concerned about the lack of meaningful progress interms of accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, and welcomed theCouncil's engagement in monitoring domestic processes regardingaccountability.

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press briefing said "I recognised the important steps taken by the government of Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict."

March 6 A group of about 1,500 representatives of the organization called 'Dead andMissing Persons Front' representing the family members killed by the LTTEhanded over a petition to the UN over their loved ones killed in LTTE attacks.The organization holds TNA, the proxy party of LTTE before the end of the war,as equally responsible as the LTTE for the deaths of their family members andinjustices claimed to have been committed to them.

March 9 The Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration in Colombo said that Sri

Lanka will conduct a census on people died and injured during the civil war withthe LTTE and the Marxist insurrection in the 80's. The census will cover theperiod of the terrorist war since 1983 including the unrest prevailed in the countryin 1983 and the insurrection of the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna inthe years of 1988 and 89.

March 11 Minister of Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena addressing apublic meeting in Colombo said the groups supporting LTTE who could notdefeat Sri Lanka through war are now trying to attack the country by creatingconflicts using international forces. The Minister alleged that international forcesenvious of Sri Lanka's rapid development process are exerting pressure on SriLanka and hatching conspiracies to make a regime change in the country.

March 12 Canada reiterated its call for an independent investigation into Sri Lanka's humanright violations at the UNHRC sessions at Geneva and urged the Sri LankanGovernment to implement without delay the recommendations of the LLRCthrough its NAP.

March 13 Land and Land Development Minister Janaka Bandara Thennakoon said that theGovernment will vest around 21,000 acres of land in the Jaffna Peninsula, takenover for military purposes during the war, among their original owners. He said allproblems related to lands in those areas are to be solved within next two years.

Addressing a media briefing in Colombo, the convener of the 'Dead and MissingPersons Front' Ananda Perera questioned why the UNHRC is silent about theatrocities committed by the LTTE during the three decades of terror. He further said the UNHRC should also focus its attention on TNA, which was the proxyparty of the LTTE during the war and assisted the terrorist organization.

Vavuniya prison authorities said that no LTTE suspects were located in theVavuniya prison due to security reasons. The Vavuniya prison was opened onMarch 12 after being refurbished and the relocating of prisoners would be carriedout gradually.

March 15 Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Dr. PalithaKohona said that Sri Lanka undertook a task never undertaken by any countrythat faced terrorism, by even rehabilitating suicide bombers of the LTTE andreleasing them to the Sri Lankan community. He said, "LTTE suicide bombersstruck over 230 times, killing thousands of civilians. They targeted men, womenand children indiscriminately and left thousands dead and maimed. They createda massive wave of terror in the country."

The UNHRC adopted the outcome of the UPR on Sri Lanka in Geneva. SriLanka's Special Envoy of the President on Human Rights and Minister of

Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasinghe briefed the Council that theGovernment is actively engaged in removing military involvement in civiladministration, demining, and rehabilitation, and had launched nationalreconciliation and peace-building initiatives. Sri Lanka had accepted 113 out of 204 recommendations received, and had also made 19 voluntary commitments.Sri Lanka was currently evaluating the implementation of the NAP for thePromotion and Protection of Human Rights.

Mahinda Samarasinghe answering a question during the sessions at the 22ndSession of the UNHRC also asked the International Community as to why "itkeeps silent on the atrocities committed by the LTTE."

March 16 US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said theU.S. is disappointed that Sri Lankan Government rejected all UPRrecommendations from States that called upon it to implement the LLRC


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recommendations and called on the government to expeditiously implement boththe UPR and LLRC recommendations.

March 17 TNA leader R. Sampanthan accused the Government of changing demographicsin north east. He said, "Most regrettably, the time and space that theGovernment seeks is not to fulfill its commitments and obligations but rather tofulfill its own agenda, which is to change the demographic composition of theNorth and East Provinces further and dilute and alter the cultural and linguisticidentity of those areas."

March 18 Tamil activists in Tamil Nadu supporting Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil Tiger terroristoutfit LTTE have assaulted Sri Lankan Buddhist monk identified as Bandara,

who was part of a group of Sri Lankan pilgrims at the Central Railway Station inChennai.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasada Kariyawasam said, "Resolutionon Sri Lanka in UN is uncalled for. We don't think there is a need for internationalcommunity to get involved in Sri Lanka at this point."

United States presented the revised version of its resolution 'Promotingreconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka' at the 22nd session of the UNHRCin Geneva co-sponsored by 32 countries. The final draft welcomes andacknowledges the progress made by the Government of Sri Lanka in rebuildinginfrastructure, demining, resettling the majority of internally displaced persons,while noting that considerable work need to be done in the areas of justice,reconciliation and resumption of livelihoods. It welcomed the announcement by

the Sri Lankan government to hold elections to the Provincial Council in theNorthern Province in September 2013.

March 19 In letters addressed to Foreign Ministers of Council member countries, SriLanka's External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris rejecting the new resolutionwrote "Just as the Government of Sri Lanka did not recognize the last HRCresolution, it rejects the new resolution. Sri Lanka intends to request a vote whenthe draft resolution is taken up at the Human Rights Council on 21st March2013."

March 20 Sri Lanka expressed 'strongest' reservations on the content of the reportprepared by the United Nations High Commissioner of Human RightsNavanetham Pillay on Sri Lanka following a technical mission to the country atthe 22nd session of the UNHRC in Geneva.

Tens of thousands of Tamils from the North joined a rally in Jaffna city of theNorthern Province to condemn a US sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka atthe UNHRC in Geneva.

March 21 UNHRC adopted the resolution sponsored by the United States with 25 votes infavor, 13 against and 8 abstentions. Adopting the resolution, the 47-member UNHRC reiterated its call made in the resolution adopted last year for Sri Lankato effectively implement the constructive recommendations made in the report of the LLRC and to take all necessary measures to initiate credible andindependent actions to ensure justice, equity, accountability and reconciliationfor all Sri Lankans.

March 22 In a rejection of the resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC, President's SpecialEnvoy on Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said that the resolutionwas clearly unacceptable due to its inherent flaws. The minister pointed out that

preambular part of the text is 'intrusive, bears misinterpretations and focusesdisproportionately on the negative and eliminates or is dismissive of thepositive.'

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the presentation of Presidential Colours to theVijayabahu Infantry Regiment in Boyagane town of Kurunegala District in theNorth Western Province said that the Government has made the LTTE aspirationof an Eelam state a dream.

Minister for Youth Affairs Dallas Alahapperuma while addressing a media briefingheld in at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo said "The UNHRC hasbecome an institution that implements a new 'colonial policy' of ruling by creatingdivisions in international community.

March 24 Environment Minister Susil Premajayantha said that preparations are being


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made to hold the Northern Provincial Council elections in 2013. He explainedthat holding elections to the Northern Provincial Council was delayed until thecompletion of the de-mining and resettlement programs. Elections could now beheld in the North since the de-mining of most of the areas has been completed.

Human Rights Commissioner, Prathibha Mahanamahewa said that the resolutionpassed by the UNHRC could be described as a soft but dangerous one. He saidwhen the text was analysed it was very 'soft' as terms such as "urge", "note","welcome" and "request" were used, which implied that they were not a must. Adangerous fact is that it urges Sri Lanka to allow an opportunity to the UNrapporteur to make observations in the following areas - the freedom of

expression and the independence of the judiciary, the independence of the judges, the independence of the lawyers, abductions, disappearances andwomen's rights.

Secretary of the External Affairs Ministry Karunatilaka Amunugama said that SriLankan Government expects to meet the deadline set by the United Nationsresolution to implement the remaining recommendations made by the LLRC. Hetold that most of the recommendations have already been implemented and therest will be implemented by March 2014.

March 25 Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said that elections in the NorthernProvince could not be held as the Northern Provincial Council was yet to beconstituted by the President.

Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said that the resolutionsadopted at the UNHRC in Geneva in 2012 and 2013 are not indicative of anagenda to promote and protect Human Rights.

Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa whiledelivering a talk in Galle District said "Certain politicians who are slavishlydevoted to the service of LTTE terrorists are engaged in a dirty game of creatingproblems among the Tamil population to cling to power."

March 28 Brad Adams, the Asia director at HRW said that Sri Lanka should act on the callby the Deputy Minister V Muralitharan, known as Colonel Karuna, to investigatewar crimes by examining his own role in serious abuses. He said " LTTE forcesunder Karuna''s command was directly involved in some of the worst crimes of Sri Lanka's 26-year-long armed conflict, which ended in May 2009."

March 31 Minister of National Language and Social Integration Vasudeva Nanayakkara

said that the Government is seeking a ban on nationalist and religious extremistgroups disrupting the ethnic harmony in the country. The Minister said hisministry is preparing to submit a Cabinet paper seeking a ban on extremistgroups that are creating rifts between the ethnic and religious communities in theisland. According to the Minister, the Cabinet paper will seek to bring new lawsto crack down on such groups.

TNA Spokesperson and parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran told that theparty would continue to push for a UN mechanism to investigate alleged humanrights abuses in the island nation. He said "We need an independentinternational probe to find out what happened. The Government has proved thatit cannot handle the matter properly as there is no faith in their owninvestigations. We cannot expect justice from the Government."

April 1 Ahead of the NPC elect ion likely to be held in September 2013, the rift within theTNA has widened, opening up avenues for a possible split in the party in thenear future. The TNA is an amalgam of five parties - ITAK, EPRLF, TELO, TULFand PLOTE.

April 2 S.B. Divaratne, who heads the Presidential Task Force overseeing resettlement,said that the LTTE is known to have taken over more than 2,000 acres of residential properties belonging to Muslims in the North and given them to itssupporters during the war. He said this has resulted in the Government having tofind alternative land to resettle the displaced Muslims.

April 3 An unidentified gang attack ed the office of the Jaffna-based Tamil languagenewspaper The Uthayan in Kilinochchi District in northern Sri Lanka. At leastthree people including two paper distributors and the Kilinochchi office manager have received injuries in the attack while the building and a vehicle were


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damaged.

April 5 Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero, the secretary of Sri Lanka's ill famousBuddhist extremist organization BBS said that the country's fate would bechanged within two months. He further said that BBS will not allow the casinosand other betting businesses to surge in the guise of developing tourism.

April 7 Executive director of the PAFFREL Rohana Hettiarachchi said election monitorsin Sri Lanka have begun their operations in the Northern Province in preparationfor the provincial council elections. He said public awareness campaigns havebeen commenced in the North and programs have been started from Mannar District. The election monitor in collaboration with the Registrations of PersonsDepartment has organized a mobile service for the voters in the North to obtainnational identity cards.

April 8 A man engaged in de-mining in Muhamalai of Jaffna District was injuredaccidentally by a land mine and succumbed to the injuries on admission to thehospital. The deceased, identified as K. Murugesu, was an employee of the HaloTrust, a NGO involved in de-mining operations in Muhamalai.

External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris reaffirmed in Parliament that it did notconcur with the US-sponsored resolution adopted at the UNHRC sessions onMarch 22. He said the resolution seeks to incorporate both the report of thepanel of experts, dubbed by Sri Lanka as the Dharusman report and the reportby United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay.

April 10 Tamil representatives who met the Indian MPs in Jaffna District demanding aninterim administration told the Indian delegation that the Provincial Councilsystem under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution are inadequate to solvetheir problems.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said "Had the then Indian Governmentacted with responsibility, Sri Lanka wouldn't have experienced a 30-year protracted war with LTTE. He said former Indian Permanent Representative tothe UN Hardeep Singh Puri had been directly involved in the Indian operationagainst the then J. R. Jayawardene Government in the run-up to the July 1987Indo-Lanka Accord.

The first part of the Army's CoI report which was handed over to DefenceSecretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa by Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya stated"The instances of shellings referred to in the LLRC report were not caused by the

Sri Lanka Army and civilian casualties might have occurred due to unlawful actsby LTTE."

April 11 TNA dismiss ed the report by an Army's Col that absolved the Army troops of any civilian deaths during the final phase of the three-decade long war with theLTTE rebels. TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran rejecting the reportsaid that it is a "joke" for the Army Court to conclude that Army had not killed asingle civilian during the war. The TNA parliamentarian rejected the factscontained in the report as completely untrue.

April 13 An unidentified group set fire to the printing press of The Uthayan Newspaper office of Jaffna District in the Northern Province. The Uthayan is a Jaffna-basedTamil newspaper which has survived for a long time amidst repeated attacks byunidentified groups in the past.

April 15 UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the human rights situation in Sri Lankain 2012 remained of serious concern, with a number of negative developments,including with regard to freedom of expression and media and judicialindependence.

April 16 A group of BGHH, called Ablaze Ever, hacked and defaced three Sri LankanGovernment websites in protest of "disrespect of Islam". The sites are Ministryof Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms (reprimin.gov.lk), the Chief GovernmentWhip of Parliament (govtwhip.gov.lk), and the Deyata Kirula Exhibition(deyatakirula.gov.lk).

April 17 A LTTE cadre who was arrested by the CID in November 2011 and imprisonedafter being found guilty of killing 10 persons escaped from Pottuvil Courtpremises at Pottuvil town of Ampara District in Eastern Province. The escapeeis identified as Mahendra Rajah Shashidharan alias Cristy.


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April 18 Secretary Defence and Urban Development Gotabhaya Rajapaksa openedToppigala Heritage Park Complex, the former hideout of the LTTE in theBatticaloa District of Eastern Province. The Complex comprises an exhibitioncenter, hiking trails, obstacle course to the rock, souvenir shop, cafeteria andother common amenities for the visitors.

April 20 President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the Government is planning to holdelections to the NPC most likely in September. This will be the first time,provincial council elections will be held in the Northern Province, since the PCsystem came into existence under the 13th amendment to the Constitution in1987.

National Mine Action Center established in the Ministry of EconomicDevelopment announced that only 96 square kilometers of the land whichamounts to only 5 percent of the land remain to be demined in the war-batteredNorthern Province.

April 21 Former spokesman of LTTE Velayutham Dayanithi alias Daya Master said thathe would announce his decision to contest the NPC election within the next twoweeks. Daya Master is slated to contest under the ruling party United People'sFreedom Alliance.

April 22 President Mahinda Rajapaksa vehemently rejected the allegations made againstthe country by the US in its human rights report released on April 19. The 2012Human Rights Report said although the overall number of extrajudicial killingsappeared to have decreased from previous years, killings and assaults on

civilians by Government officials continued in 2012.

SFs in Sri Lanka have resumed security checks in Elephant Pass in the Northsince last week. Military Spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya saidthese were random security checks that were being carried out for the safety of the civilians.

April 23 President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that "the only way to eliminate the scourgeof terrorism from the world is to understand its true nature and fight it for what itis, instead of giving terrorism various definitions and tags." However, helamented that when fighting against the LTTE, Sri Lanka had to seek foreignhelp largely to get weapons.

Tamil People's National Front announced that the party would not contest theNPC election which is scheduled to be held in September. The leader of the

party Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said in a press conference that the partywould not contest the NPC election since it does not accept the 13thamendment to the constitution as a viable solution for the Tamil's problems.

April 25 TNA threatened a continuous protest campaign against the military's acquisitionof private lands in the North. TNA says the military has acquired over 6,400acres of private lands in the North.TNA will commence a protest campaign inJaffna from April 29 against the military acquisition of lands.

April 26 SLFP, the largest ally of the ruling coalition, officials said they will call for applications from prospective candidates soon to contest the elections for theNPC in September. The SLFP-led alliance will handpick 19 candidates for theJaffna District, eight for the Mannar District, and eight for the Mullaitivu District,nine for the Vavuniya District and seven for the Kilinochchi District.

April 27 Sri Lankan Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Major General Shavendra Silva speaking to the national radio said bombs used in theBoston attack of US are similar to the bombs used by the LTTE in Sri Lanka.Highlighting that still arms and ammunitions are being recovered from the former battle fields in the North and East, the UN envoy said placing SFs in those areasis not a matter to be considered in a different perspective.

April 28 Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said he will table a documentcomprising the names of 472 people who are known to have disappeared inMannar District during the war. The document will be tabled in Parliament at therequest made by Mannar Bishop the Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph and the

Ass ociation of Families Searching for Disappeared Relations.

April 29 National Mine Act ion Centre said that 95 percent of the Confirmed Hazardous Area has been cleared of mines and an area of 96 kilometers remains to be


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cleared at the end of March 2013. A total of 1,968,369,553 square kilometershave been completely cleared of mines in the North, Eastern and North CentralProvinces during the last four years.

April 30 Police arrested three Police officers for allegedly killing three civilians inGomarankadawala village in Trincomalee District in 2008. The Police officersincluded an Inspector, a Sergeant and a Constable. They were arrested fromThambalagamuwa, Serunuwara and Udamaluwa Police Stations of TrincomaleeDistrict. Earlier, the Police believed the killings were committed by LTTEmilitants who were active in the area at the time.

May 1 Sri Lanka's Marxist party, JVP Propaganda Secretary and Parliamentarian Vijitha

Herath said the party has plans to present affidavits to court from familymembers of individuals who had disappeared from the Matale District during the1988-1989 period. The Matale mass grave was uncovered last November and154 skeletal remains have been unearthed from the grave.

May 2 TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran said that TNA is planning to file at least 5,000cases in various courts demanding the lands taken over by the military for security purposes from Northern Province. TNA and other Tamil groups say that6,000 acres of land are taken over by military for the High Security Zones.

May 5 The Sri Lankan Government has allocated Rs. 400 million to pay ascompensation to owners of the land in the HSZs in the North. The Governmenthas decided to acquire 6,381 hectares of the land in Jaffna District that is nowbeing used as HSZs permanently and the owners of the land will be paidcompensation.

TNA has requested the Elections Commissioner to invite foreign poll observersfor the Northern Provincial Council elections. TNA representatives have madethis request during a meeting with Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriyaon an invitation extended by him.

May 6 Marxist party JVP says the Government should take steps to repeal the PTA.JVP Propaganda Secretary and parliamentarian Vijitha Herath said that the PTAis a draconian piece of law that needs to be repealed.

May 7 At least six Army personnel sustained injuries following an accidental explosionin Oddusuddan town of Mullaitivu District. According to the Army spokesman,preliminary investigations have revealed that a stock of detonators hidden by theLTTE had exploded when a soldier dug the ground for the construction work.

The Government ruled out the possibility of repealing the PTA despite requestsby opposition political parties. In response to a question by opposition UNPLeader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne told Parliamentthat though the LTTE was militarily defeated, there were attempts to revamp theorganisation in different parts of the world. The Prime Minister said theprovisions of the PTA were required to deal with the discovery of weapon haulshidden by the LTTE. He said the PTA was needed to take action with regard toLTTE suspects who did not surrender after the war ended in 2009.

May 8 Tamil political sources said that several parties in the TNA are planning toregister the TNA without the support of the major Tamil party ITAK. ITAK alsoknown as Federal Party says the TNA could not be registered due to legalbarriers. However, the other parties in the alliance are mounting pressure on theITAK to formally establish the alliance.

May 9 Rehabilitation and Prisons Reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera said thatseveral rehabilitated former LTTE cadres have expressed interest to enter politics. He noted that measures would be taken for them to contest in futurelocal Government elections in a democratic manner.

May 10 Matale Magistrate and Additional District Judge Chaturika de Silva, after studying 13 affidavits filed by the relatives of missing in the area, ordered theCID of Police to investigate the mass grave discovered in the Matale town of Matale District in Central Province and submit a full report to court by the end of this month. Skeletal remains of 154 people were found during excavationscarried out from November 26, 2012 until March 12, 2013.

Gunasundaram Jeyasundaram, a childhood friend and close mate of LTTEleader Velupillai Prabhakaran, while making a statement before the Colombo


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Supreme Court deplored the acts of his one time leader and expressed hisdesire to undergo a rehabilitation programme conducted by the Sri Lanka Army.Jeyasundaram said he was profoundly disturbed by the role of the LTTE andcondemned its aggressive and violent methods, urging his onetime fellowsympathisers of the outfit to follow suit. Gunasundaram also asserts thatfactions of the LTTE scattered across the globe should immediately cease their actions as they continue to inflict more harm on the Tamil community in SriLanka.

May 11 In the wake of the NPC elections likely to be held in September, the Cabinetapproval was granted to enact 'Registration of Electors (Special Provision) Bill to

enable those who were displaced from the North between May 1, 1983 and May18, 2009 to vote at the election. The bill, if enacted, will enable 15,000 peoplewho are known to have been displaced between May 1, 1983 and May 18, 2009to be registered as voters in the North.

May 12 Government sources said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has scheduled twocrucial meetings with the coalition parties of the ruling UPFA and the TNA tomainly discuss the NPC election. According to sources, the discussion will befocused on the ideological division in the coalition regarding the NPC elections,which is scheduled to be held in September.

Former LTTE arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan also known as KP said thatreducing the army presence in the war-hit areas in the country and introducingcivil administration would help improve the living conditions of the people there.He also said that in the 1970s, Tamil politicians brainwashed youngsters like him

into joining the Tamil cause.

May 13 Tamil political parties, both within the fold of the TNA and outside decided toagree to a common policy on the political solution to the national question. Thedecision was arrived at a meeting convened by northern civil society movementswith TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran, Tamil People's Liberation Front leader GajendraKumar Ponnambalam and civil society activist K. Gurubaran.

Vanni Security Forces Commander and Officer-in-Charge of Displaced Personsin the Northern Province Major General Boniface Perera said, "Not a singlecivilian had gone missing in the Vanni District after the end of the war. If anyonesays someone has gone missing after the end of terrorism and if they are readyto give information on who had gone missing etc, and when and where, I amready to debate with any person at any international forum on behalf of theGovernment."

May 15 TNA provided legal assistance to 1,474 land owners in Jaffna District to file thecases in court challenging the Government's occupation of land for securitypurposes. The TNA has appealed to people to file at least 5,000 cases invarious courts.

Opposing the NPC election, JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said, "Theprovincial council system in the 13th Amendment is not devolution of power itwill only extend the power of councils pressuring the people especially in thenorth if the Provincial Council election was held. Therefore it is essential toestablish a new constitution that would treat all ethnic groups equally,safeguarding their rights and culture."

May 16 Former LTTE leader Gunasundaram Jeyasundaram who pleaded guilty to thecharge of not disclosing the LTTE's international arms deals was sentenced to15 months rigorous imprisonment by the Colombo High Court. Gunasundaramwas arrested on September 5, 2007, on charges of helping the LTTE, has sincebeen arbitrarily detained without charge.

May 18 Vanni Commander Major General Boniface Perera while celebrating Victory Dayin Vavuniya District said "Any organisation or individual will not be allowed tovenerate a terrorist organisation. Anyone participating in a commemorationceremony for LTTE cadres will be arrested. There is only one military in acountry. Any citizen has the right to commemorate their loved ones but no onecan commemorate terrorists who were disloyal to the Government."

May 20 Commenting on an article in Udayan newspaper, Dharmapuram CitizenCommittee Chairman Wanni Murugesu claimed that the newspaper never spokeof conditions during the LTTE.


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The Udayan newspaper recently commenting on conditions related to theNorthern Provincial Councils election in its editorial states that holding theNorthern Provincial Council Election is not conducive.

US said in a report that Sri Lankan Government generally respected religiousfreedom in 2012 although in some instances, local authorities were not effectivein responding to attacks on members of minority religious groups.

May 22 Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa stated that theGovernment has not taken any decision to amend the 13th Amendment to theConstitution.

Minister Yapa said the elections to the NPC would be held in September 2013 asdecided by the government earlier, and this would not change.

UNP parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella said that the party believes that thedevolution of power would address the ethnic issue and it was the best methodto solve the ethnic issue in the country.

May 23 The CID of Sri Lanka Police has commenced a probe on the German NGOFriedrich Naumann Foundation, which is operating in Sri Lanka since 1974, toascertain whether the NGO has acted within the country beyond its given legalmandate.

The investigation commenced after the organization held a workshop for theopposition UNP parliamentarians. Pro-government media reported that the

workshop was a ploy to overthrow the government.

TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran has said that the US is looking into theprogress made by the Sri Lanka government following the resolution adopted atthe UNHRC in March 2013.

Thero's call to abolish the 13th Amendment came in response to the statementby Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa that theGovernment would not abolish the 13th Amendment.

Technology Research and Atomic Energy Minister and JHU leader PataliChampika Ranawaka called on the government to initiate a comprehensiveprogramme to wipe out the idea of Eelam from Sri Lanka’s social, economic,intellectual and cultural life. Ranawaka said members of TNA still espouse thenotion of Tamil Eelam.

May 24 Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has said that Police powers cannot bevested with the provincial councils.

The JHU, a coalition party of ruling UPFA, said it will take measures to mobilizethe public to urge the government to abolish the 13th Amendment to theConstitution.

Government stressed that the US embassy as any other foreign mission basedin Colombo should get prior approval to engage with local governmentauthorities.

TNA insisted on complete power devolution to the provinces through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution since problems over the provincial councils aredue to the incomplete devolution of power by successive governments. TNA

parliamentarian, Premachandran said the TNA expects nothing less thancomplete devolution of financial, Police and land powers to the provincesthrough the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

May 25 Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya told that only threecamps would be kept in the Jaffna peninsula and the rest of the camps would bewithdrawn. The lands where the camps are presently established would bereturned to the legal owners, the Army Commander said.

May 27 TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran observed that the three ministers -Leader of the LSSP and Minister of Technology and Research, Prof. Vitarana,General Secretary of the CP and Minister of Human Resources, D.E.W.Gunasekera, and Leader of the DLF and Minister of National Languages andSocial Integration, Vasudeva Nanayakkara - had said the 13th Amendmentshould not be weakened and the Northern Provincial Council polls should be


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conducted in a manner without destabilizing the amendment. The ministers hadalso said that land and Police powers should not be stripped off the 13th

Amendment.

Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and Leader of theSri Lanka Delegation to the 23rd session of the UNHRC Ravinatha Aryasinhasaid that the Government has established a mechanism to ensure the right of information to the relatives of LTTE suspects.

May 29 Tissa Attanayake, General Secretary of main opposition UNP, criticized DefenceSecretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's statement on the holding of provincial councilelections in Northern Province. Attanayake observed that Rajapaksa hasbreached the role of a public servant by stating that holding the NorthernProvincial Council election would pose a threat to national security.

May 30 Vanni Security Forces Commander and Officer-in-Charge of Displaced PersonsMajor General Boniface Perera said that civilians living in the Northern Provincedo not want the Army to be removed from the Northern Province.

Two ex-cadres of LTTE were indicted before the Anuradhapura Provincial HighCourt over charges of shooting down a military aircraft on March 30, 2000. Thetwo LTTE cadres are accused of shooting down an Antanov-32 plane firingmissiles from Wilpattu Wildlife Park killing 32 military personnel.

TNA said that the Government was covertly backing the move to abolish the

13th Amendment to the Constitution. TNA parliamentarian, M. A. Sumanthiransaid the move by the JHU to propose the abolition of the provincial councilsystem under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution is backed by theGovernment since the JHU is a constituent member of the Governing party witha member in the Cabinet.

SLMC said the party would not support the abolition of the 13th Amendment tothe Constitution. SLMC Leader and Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem said that theSLMC would not take any action to support the abolition of the 13th Amendment.

A court in Bangalore city acquitted 10 LTTE suspects who were being tried for allegedly possessing explosives and substances used for making bombs. Theten were arrested by Police in the city in 2002. They were in judicial custody andwere subsequently granted bail by Supreme Court and Karnataka High Court.

May 31 US Country Reports on Terrorism 2012 released by the US State Departmentsaid that LTTE's financial network of support continued to operate throughout2012 and there were multiple reports of increased LTTE involvement in humansmuggling out of refugee camps.

TNA parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah said that a power sharing arrangementunder a unitary State would not solve national question. He said that power sharing under a unitary system is questionable in today's context of dominationby Buddhist extremists and the party is yet to discuss and decide its stance onthe draft Constitution presented by the UNP.

June 2 Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Colombo commemorated the massacre of 33Buddhist monks in Aranthalawa area of Ampara District of Eastern Province bythe LTTE on June 2, 1987. LTTE brutally hacked to death and shot 33 Buddhistmonks, most of them novice monks as young as 8 years old when they were in

a bus heading to Kandy city of Central Province.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Badulla District of Uva Province said thatrecalling atrocities perpetrated by LTTE terrorists in the past was not intended tosow seeds of hatred in society, but to ensure that such a gruesome period willnot be repeated in the future. He said "We should tell the younger generation thatthe country faced such a gruesome period in the past in order to avert suchsituations in the future through forging closer and amicable ties betweencommunities."

June 4 Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to the UK, Dr. Chris Nonis, in an interview withBBCs Mishal Husain in London said that the country has made tremendousprogress towards reconciliation since the end of conflict in 2009. The HighCommissioner said 297,000 people have been rehabilitated and there is a billion


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dollar programme going into the North and East of the country for the rebuilding.

Colombo High Court sentenced three LTTE cadres suspected of blowing up atrain 17 years ago killing 66 people. Colombo High Court Judge KumudiniWickremasinghe sentenced two of the suspects - Saverimuttu Loganathan andRobert Maxillan to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment while the female suspect,Siththirasenam Thirumagal to five years of rigorous imprisonment. The suspectswere accused of placing two bombs in two carriages of a highly crowded trainand detonating it while stopped at the Dehiwala station in Colombo on July 24,1996. The attack killed 66 people and injured over 400 people.

The Government decided to appoint the PSC proposed some time ago to workout political proposals for the resolution of the national question. The decisionwas taken at a meeting with the leaders of the ruling party's allies.

Minister of Water Supply and Drainage and Chief Government Whip of Sri LankaDinesh Gunawardena announced that an urgent bill will be tabled in Parliamentfor approval on June 5 regarding the NPC election.

Addressing the Foreign Correspondents' Ass ociation, TNA leader R.Sampanthan said that in regard to the people of the north and east, affected bythe war, the Alliance had endeavoured to avoid an attitude of confrontation withthe Government and had offered to cooperate. M.A. Sumanthiran, TNA MP, alsosaid that the TNA has offered to work with the Government.

June 5 TNA spokesman Suresh Premachandran said the 'majoritarian principle' would

augur well for the Government and the Sinhalese majority since the other provinces except the Eastern province is governed by the Sinhalese.

June 6 The Government will submit a proposal to the cabinet of ministers today seekingapproval to re-amend the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The proposedamendment reportedly aims to remove the provisions provided for a merger of the adjoining provincial councils which allows bills and acts to get passed by allprovincial councils before they are passed in Parliament. The draft bill in thisregard has been approved by the party leaders of the ruling UPFA on June 4.

TNA has opposed the Government's move to amend the 13th Amendment to theConstitution. TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said the 13th

Amendment which was aimed at solving the national issue and the Governmentmust consult the TNA as a representative of the Tamil people prior to any moveto amend the 13th Amendment since it would affect the people of the North and

East. However, Premachandran noted that the Government has not yet madeany official comment on its stance on the 13th Amendment.

June 7 Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said that the Elections Departmenthad begun preparations to hold the NPC elections in September although it wasyet to receive an official confirmation regarding the holding of the election. Hefurther said as of now the status quo regarding the registered voters wouldremain unless there is legislation to effect change to include a new voter list.

June 9 TNA said that it would be useless to hold elections to the NPC after amendingthe 13th Amendment and reducing powers vested with the provinces. TNAparliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said, "The current President and theGovernment are going against this (implementing the 13th Amendment andgoing beyond)."

June 10 Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga said that the then Government wasso much under pressure that it accepted the 13th Amendment to theConstitution without calling for a referendum in the face of a threat of invasion.He said many countries including the United Kingdom, United States, France,and neighboring India exerted pressure to stop the humanitarian operationlaunched by the Government to free the country from terrorism.

The Parliamentary Group of SLMC unanimously resolved to express oppositionto any moves to make changes to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. TheSLMC parliamentary group met at the Colombo residence of party leader andJustice Minister Rauf Hakeem and all eight MPs of the party came to thedecision unanimously to oppose any moves that curtail the powers allocated tothe Provincial councils.


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The Catholic Bishops of Sri Lanka in a statement at Catholic Bishops'Conference in Colombo requested the Government not to proceed with amendingthe 13th Amendment or totally repeal it but to discuss with all relevant parties ondrawing up a totally new Constitution which is fair by all communities. Thebishops advised the Government to discuss the 13th Amendment through aPSC and consider a totally new Constitution which would guarantee "justice,peace and prosperity for all citizens of the country regardless of their ethnic,religious or social differences."

June 11 Deputy Minister of Investment Promotion Faiszer Musthapha and SLFPBatticaloa District organiser Arun Thamabimutthu said that the Provincial

Council system was a 'white elephant' and called for the repealing of the landand police powers enshrined in the Constitution if the Government were toproceed with the NPC elections.

June 12 Faizer Mustapha, the Deputy Minister of Investment Promotion said that it isdangerous to hold election to the NPC with land and Police powers since TNAstill harbors a separatist line. According to Mustapha, if Police powers weregranted to the provincial councils it would interfere with the independence of thePolice.

Leader of LSSP and Senior Cabinet Minister Tissa Vitarana said that 13th Amendment to the Constitution needs to be changed. The Minister said theshortcomings in the Amendment should not be a reason to postpone the NPCelection to be held in September. He maintained, although the 13th Amendmentneeds change, any modification to it is not a prerequisite to hold elections in the

North.

In a letter addressed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Opposition Leader andleader of the UNP Ranil Wickremasinghe requested the Government to takemeasures to ensure a free and fair of the NPC scheduled to be held inSeptember this year. Further, the Opposition leader requested the President toschedule a meeting for a delegation headed by him to discuss the measures hesuggested.

June 13 Sri Lanka's Cabinet approved the revisions to the 13th Amendment to theConstitution and asked the Parliament Speaker to appoint a PSC to study theissues regarding the legislation.

An organization called the National Group announced that it would campaign for the abolition of the Provincial Council system and has called on the Government

to remove Police and land powers vested on the Provinces by the 13th Amendment.

The Central Committee of SLFP decided to hold the elections in September for three provincial councils - Northern Provincial Council, Northwestern ProvincialCouncil and the Central Provincial Council. The Central Committee appointedthree committees to handle the party organizational work in the three provincialcouncils. The committee for the Northern Provincial Council is headed by thesecretary of the ruling UPFA Minister Susil Prema Jayantha while UPFA ViceSecretary Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva will head the committee for the CentralProvincial Council. The committee for the Northwestern Provincial Council isheaded by General Secretary of SLFP Minister Maithripala Sirisena.

June 14 External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, during his bilateral discussions in

Berlin with Dr. Guido Westerwelle, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FederalRepublic of Germany urged Germany to keep a close watch on the several LTTEfront organisations in Germany, breaching the European Union proscription.

Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Rajitha Senaratne addressing apress briefing held in Colombo said that he was ready to sacrifice his cabinetportfolio to stop further reducing the powers devolved to the provinces throughthe 13th Amendment to the Constitution. He further said that the Governmentwould be defeated before the international forces unless it fails to stop themoves to further curtail the powers of the provincial councils.

June 16 UNP Assistant Leader Joseph Michael Perera said that the confrontation over the scrapping of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in particular wouldultimately create a situation where the separatists would achieve their objectiveovernight.


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JVP announced that it would bring a political package to replace the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. JVP proposes solutions to the problems of theTamil people in their package while proposing to abolish the 13th Amendmentcompletely. JVP package is based on constitutional recognition of state as amultinational state and acceptance of freedom of all nationalities. The packagewill be launched within two weeks.

SLMC said the party will take legal action if the PSC that will be appointed torevise the 13th Amendment to the Constitution approves the proposals to curtailthe powers devolved to the Provincial Councils. National organizer of the SLMC,Rafeek Rajabdeen said the party was against the amendments brought to take

away police and land powers from Provincial Councils.

June 17 Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne at a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office inColombo said giving Police and Land powers to Provincial Councils will createneedless issues in a small country like Sri Lanka. He said the 13th Amendmentto the Constitution has opened up a dialogue in the media and the public space.It is a characteristic of democracy. He further said "Equity is the main feature of a society. When creating an equal society, the differences among nationalities,races, castes and religions should be eliminated."

June 18 Leader of JHU and Minister of Technology, Research and Atomic Energy PataliChampika Ranawaka warned of a possible outcome detrimental to the country'sunity from the NPC election if the NPC election is held without amending theConstitution. He said that the Tamil separatists might use this election as areferendum for their cause.

A Bill was presented to Parliament by the JHU to abolish the 13th Amendmentto the Constitution. The Bill was presented by JHU Member of Parliament (MP)Ven. Aturaliye Ratana and is titled the 'Twenty First Amendment to theConstitution'. The Bill was seconded by UNP Puttalam District MP PalithaRange Bandara.

The Parliament passed a bill to ensure the voting rights of the displaced peoplein the North. The Bill tabled by the Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem will allow theIDPs displaced from the North between May 1, 1983 and May 18, 2009 toregister to vote if they have not been registered as voters in any other electoralDistrict. The Supreme Court ruled that the special bill is consistent with theConstitution.

June 19 SLFP invited all political parties to forward their suggestions to the PSC on the

13th Amendment, and to be parties to the forthcoming NPC election. SLFPGeneral Secretary Minister Maithripala Sirisena said the Government iscommitted to conduct a transparent, free and fair election in the three Provincesincluding the North.

John Amaratunga, Chief Opposition Whip of UNP, told that UNP is consideringboycotting the proposed PSC to discuss amendment to the 13th Amendment tothe Constitution. Amaratunga told that the UNP will take part in the process onlyif some conditions are met. Among the conditions for the UNP to be part of thePSC process is the full implementation of the recommendations of the LLRC.

Amaratunga added that the UNP also wanted the 17th Amendment to beimplemented and the media, police and state institutions to be given the freedomto operate independently.

Stating that there are continuing activities by LTTE front organizations in Australia, the Sri Lankan Government pressed for their proscription in Australiaunder the Australian Criminal Code Act. Visiting External Affairs Minister Prof.G.L. Peiris made this request when he held talks with Brendan O'Connor, the

Australian Minister for Immigration and Citiz enship in Australia.

June 20 Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella explained thereasons behind the Government's initiative to revise the 13th Amendment to theConstitution. He said the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and the Indo-Lanka Agreement were imposed on the country without the consent of thepeople. "However, the sovereignty of the people is supreme. Therefore, theGovernment has focused the attention on bringing in certain amendments to the13th Amendment as it suits to the country in the present situation," he said.

Leader of the House, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the main


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opposition UNP and TNA have requested more time to decide on the proposedPSC to decide on constitutional amendments. According to de Silva, someopposition parties use wasting time as a strategy. The Minister added that theNPC election would not be postponed until conclusion of the PSC proceedings.

June 21 PSC on constitutional changes for the 13th Amendment was appointed. Itcomprises 19 members and is headed by Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva as itsChairman. The other members are External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, HealthMinister Maithripala Sirisena, Petroleum Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa,Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardane, Traditional Industries and SmallEnterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda, Environment Minister

Susil Premajayantha, Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister A.L.M. Athaullah, Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, Senor Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara, Science and Technlogy Minister Patali ChampikaRanawaka, Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa, Economic DevelopmentMinister Basil Rajapaksa, Sugar Industries Development Minister LakshmanSeneviratne, National Languages and Social Integration Minister VasudevaNanayakkara, Deputy Minister Muttu Sivalingam, Government MP Mrs.Sudarshani Fernandopulle and Government MP Janaka Bandara.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing his views on 13th Amendment to theConstitution said the Government has appointed a PSC for the political parties todiscuss the issue and take a decision not because of the upcoming NPCelection. "These amendments are not solely for the North and East. It is the restof the Provincial Councils in the country that has to be changed and it is theview of the general public," the President said.

Chief Opposition Whip of UNP MP John Amaratunga said in Parliament that theparty will nominate its members to the proposed PSC to study the revisions tothe 13th Amendment to the Constitution only if the Government agrees toconditions set by the party on June 19.

June 22 Former spokesman of LTTE Velayutham Dayanithi alias Daya Master receivedthe membership of the SLFP, the main coalition party of ruling UPFA alliance.Daya Master received the SLFP membership following an extensive interviewwith a ministerial panel consisting of Ministers Susil Premajayantha,Mahindananda Aluthgamage and C.B. Ratnayake at the SLFP Headquarters inColombo. Daya Master expressed interest in contesting the upcoming NPC pollsin September.

Foreign Minister Professor G. L. Peiris during a long interview in Sydney claimedthat remnants of the defeated LTTE are involved in the people-smugglingbusiness of bringing Sri Lankan boat people to Australia. He stated, although thewar between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE is over, Tamil Tiger networks still intimidate Tamil families in the diasporas and extort money fromthem, while also engaging in a range of other criminal activities. He alsorequested Australia to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, making anysupport to the terrorist organisation from Australia illegal.

June 23 National organizer of the SLMC Rafeek Rajabdeen said that the party willnominate its representative for the PSC on June 29. He said there will be aspecial meeting of the party on that day and at that meeting the ExecutiveCouncil will discuss the SLMC proposals regarding the constitutional issue andmake decision on the party representative to the PSC.

June 24 Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said that the elections for the threeprovincial councils will be held in late September. The Election Commissioner told "Most likely it will be either on September 21 or 28." He further said that theactual date of election will depend on the number of political parties and groupsthat will submit the nominations to the North Central, Northern and CentralProvincial councils that are up for polls.

Chief Government Whip and Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said theconstitutional amendments proposed to amend the powers granted to theProvincial Councils under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution would be sentto the Supreme Court for advice.

Former leading arms procurer and international wing leader of the LTTE KumaranPathmanathan alias KP told that he has no ambition to contest for the Northern


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Provincial Council. Pathmanathan rejected the rumors that he would contest theelection as the Chief Minister candidate of the ruling UPFA.

Former spokesman of LTTE Velayutham Dayanithi alias Daya Master said thathe was invited to contest the election for the Northern Provincial Council byhigher authorities of the Government. He said that the Tamil people areconcerned of the efforts to curtail the powers of the Provincial Councils andurged the "Sinhala extremist parties" to join hands with the Tamil people.

June 25 Two Provincial Councils - the Sabaragamuwa and Southern - passed resolutionsin support of the Government's initial move to repeal two provisions of the 13th

Amendment, enabling Parliament to legislate on subjects allocated to theprovincial councils and preventing the scope for merger of two or more provincialcouncils.

SLMC vowed not to allow the Government to get two-third majority to amend thepower devolution mechanism of the Constitution. SLMC national organizer Rafeek Rajabdeen pointed out that the Government would need the support of the Tamil, Muslim parties and the opposition UNP for amending the Constitution.He further said that the party would not support any moves to take back thepowers granted to the Provincial Councils through the 13th Amendment of theConstitution.

Prisons and Prison reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera said that there are810 former LTTE cadres in remand custody and they are not political prisonersbut hardcore LTTE cadres who ordered the killings and other heinous terrorist

activities. He further said most of the arrested LTTE cadres have beenrehabilitated and released to the society but these hardcore LTTE cadres remaindetained because there is evidence against them.

Main party in opposition UNP said that it opposes the dilution of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution as proposed by the Government. Addressing amedia briefing in Colombo, the UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, saidthat the 13th Amendment was a result of an accord between two sovereignnations and not a private agreement between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhiand the former Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene, as claimed by their critics.

June 26 Sri Lankan authorities released the former female political wing leader of theLTTE Subramaniam Sivathai alias Thamalini after undergoing a one-year rehabilitation program. The Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Brigadier Dharshana Hettiarachchi said that Thamalini was handed over to her parents atthe Poonthottam Rehabilitation Centre in Vavuniya District.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa during a meeting with the leaders of the leftistparties said the basis of the PSC process would be the recommendations of the

APRC headed by Prof. Tissa Vitharana. The APRC headed by Prof. TissaWitharana formed on July 11, 2006, was boycotted by UNP and JVP. The finalreport of the committee was presented to the President on August 16, 2009 withnone of the proposals being implemented thus far.

External Affairs Professor G.L. Peiris met the foreign diplomats at his Ministryand explained the provincial council system in the country and the 13th

Amendment to the Constitution which introduced the provincial council systemunder the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord. The Minister noted that a complete study

needs to be conducted before the Constitutional Amendment is moved inParliament.

Marxist party JVP decided not to participate in the PSC appointed to discussconstitutional amendments. JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva told a pressconference that the JVP would not name representatives from the party to thePSC.

June 27 NMAPC said thousands of Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka will hold a rally inColombo on July 2nd calling for the abolition of the 13th Amendment to theConstitution. The NMAPC stated that 3,000-4,000 monks from all over thecountry would participate in the rally.

Main opposition UNP held discussions with the Government ally SLMC on theconstitutional reforms that are to be reviewed by a committee of the Sri Lankan


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Parliament next month. During the meeting, the UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake handed over a copy of its draft for a new constitution to SLMCleader, Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem.

June 28 UNP parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera said "I do not think the Presidentwould act against the 13th Amendment, if he is to take a decision on his own.He has been taken hostage by extremist groups led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa.What we should do is not to abolish the 13th Amendment but to carry it forward.It should be 13++ not 13-."

June 29 TNA decided not to participate in the PSC appointed to find solutions to the

national issue. The TNA took the decision when the representatives of the partymet in Colombo to discuss their participation in the PSC proposed by theGovernment.

June 30 Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa announced that he will leavefor India on July 4 to appraise the Indian leaders of proposed revisions to the13th Amendment to the Constitution.

July 1 Minister of State Languages and National Integration Vasudeva Nanayakkaraannounced that he would leave the Government if it takes steps to abolish thepowers of the provincial council system.

July 2 Former LTTE Spokesperson Velayutham Dayanithi alias Daya Master willprepare governing party UPFA's manifesto for the NPC election. He told thatcandidates who are to contest under the UPFA including him have identified theissues faced by the Tamil people and the solutions to these issues would beincluded in the party's election manifesto.

Former Women's Political Wing leader of LTTE Subramaniam Shivathavi aliasThamalini is to get the membership in the SLFP. Thamalini will contest as acandidate of the SLFP to the upcoming NPC election.

A Canadian LTTE operative extradited to the US to face charges of supportingthe LTTE pleaded guilty in Brooklyn in New York to the charges against him. Thesuspect, Suresh Sriskandarajah (32), could face up to 25 years in prison after admitting that he provided material support including sophisticated militarytechnology to the LTTE. He has used students as couriers to smuggle prohibiteditems into LTTE-controlled Wanni region in Sri Lanka and also helped the LTTElaunder its proceeds in the US and elsewhere.

JHU General Secretary, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said that the Indo-Lanka Accord and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution are invalid. TheMinister noted that India had failed to disarm the LTTE as agreed in the Indo-Lanka Accord. He explained that India had pledged to disarm the LTTE in 72hours after entering into the agreement but had failed to do.

July 3 Former Army Commander of Sri Lanka and Leader of the Democratic Party,Sarath Fonseka said that amending the 13th Amendment to the Constitution atthis juncture would disrupt the ethnic harmony in the country.

July 4 Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Chandrasiri Gajadeera requestedapproval from the cabinet to provide loan facilities to over 4,700 rehabilitated andre-integrated persons in the North for self-employment. According to theGovernment, 11,573 people have been rehabilitated and re-integrated into thesociety after the conflict in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Government decided to add 53 more recommendations made by the LLRC to theNational NAP established to implement the LLRC recommendations. Those 53recommendations were not included in the initial stage NAP prepared in July2012 to implement the LLRC recommendations since a majority of therecommendations overlap with other recommendations or form part of therecommendations contained in the National Human Rights Action Plan.

July 5 The official website of the NAP for the implementation of the LLRCrecommendations was launched. The website www.llrcaction.gov.lk will provide dinformation relating to the progress of implementing recommendations of theLLRC.

Former leading arms procurer and international wing leader of the LTTE KumaranPathmanathan alias KP criticized theTNA for deciding not to participate in the


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PSC to discuss constitutional amendments. He said "If the TNA believes thereshould not be any changes to the 13th Amendment, it could very well articulatesuch concerns at the PSC, instead of shouting from the sidelines."

July 7 Leader of EPDP, Minster Douglas Devananda said that at least 38 ministers aresupportive of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. He told that he hascollected the signatures of 38 Government ministers expressing their support tothe 13th Amendment in its current form and observed that the Governmentwould not be able to get the required two-thirds majority in parliament to passany amendments to the 13th Amendment.

TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran called for independent internationalmonitors to observe the NPC election. He said that foreign observers at the NPCpolls would ensure the holding of a free and fair poll.

July 8 Buddhist extremist group Sinhala Ravaya announced that it will organize aprotest march against the attack on Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya in India.The activists plan to march to the Indian High Commission to protest the IndianGovernment in regard of the incident.

July 9 President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during a discussion with India's National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, in Colombo said the PSC is the best forum toreach a consensus on the implementation of the 13th Amendment.

External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris told Parliament the Indiangovernment has informed Sri Lanka that according to revelations so far into thebomb attack in Bodhgaya (Bihar, India), the incident had no connection with SriLanka.

DPF Leader Mano Ganeshan said that his party would contest the CentralProvincial Council election under the UNP. The DPF will field candidates fromthe UNP in the Kandy and Matale Districts for the election.

GCB released by TI shows that 64% of Sri Lankans believe that corruption hasincreased in the past two years in the country and Police were corrupt or extremely corrupt institution in the country.

The PSC met for the first time in the Parliament complex under leadership of itsChairman, the Leader of the House Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. TheOpposition parties, including the main opposition party UNP, JVP and TNA,however, have decided not to participate in the Committee despite the

Government's request.

July 11 Implementing the recommendations made by the LLRC, a program to paycompensation to the residents of Northern Province affected by violence duringthe war has initiated. Under the first phase of the program, President MahindaRajapaksa symbolically handed over compensation to the families of people wholost loved ones and property and sustained inj

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