[SPEAK]

Human rights groups welcome the announcement that Shavendra Silva—a former military general in the Sri Lankan army who stands accused of extrajudicial killing and torture—has been removed from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon’s Special Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations. In a press statement released on February 22, Louise Fréchette, the Chair of the Special Advisory Group, stated that Silva’s participation in the group is “not appropriate or helpful.”

[Full Story]

[Human Rights Watch]

The Sri Lankan army’s announcement that it had appointed a five-member court of inquiry to investigate allegations that its forces committed serious violations of the laws of war appears to be another government delaying tactic in the face of mounting international pressure, Human Rights Watch said today.

[Full Story]

[Human Rights Watch]

As nations such as Canada and Britain weigh in on accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka, it’s time for Australia to add its voice. After all, promoting human rights is a crucial part of foreign policy, as Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is keen to say.

[Full Story]

[Global Post]

Social networkers and good old fashioned newspapers may have the unique opportunity to serve Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa a summons to answer for his alleged role in extrajudicial killings during the civil war between government forces and Tamil insurgents.

[Full Story]

[ UPI Asia ]

“Anti-terrorism” initiatives from the world’s most powerful country were exploited to the maximum by cynical leaders in other countries, mainly to deprive their own populations of basic freedoms and democracy. In many countries the War on Terror was manipulated to portray freedom of expression, publication and organization as subversive endeavors, and to deprive people of fair trials and protections against torture, illegal arrest, illegal detention and extrajudicial killings. Through what are called “prevention of terrorism laws,” all these freedoms were sacrificed under the pretext of national security.

[Full Story]

[AP]

Sri Lanka summoned the U.S. ambassador on Friday to protest the latest U.S. State Department report on human rights, saying it presented a distorted and exaggerated view of the situation on the Indian Ocean island. The State Department’s 2007 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Sri Lanka cited government abuses including unlawful killings, abductions, arbitrary arrests and the denial of fair public trials. “The government’s respect for human rights continued to decline due in part to the escalation of the armed conflict,” the report said, referring to hostilities between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.

[Full Story]

[AFP]

The United States ranked North Korea and Myanmar Tuesday among the world’s worst violators of human rights and took other Asian countries to task for alleged abuses. In Sri Lanka, it said, “the government’s respect for human rights continued to decline due in part to the escalation of the armed conflict,” with the ethnic Tamil minority the “overwhelming majority of victims” of abuses. It cited major problems like extrajudicial killings of persons in custody, disappearances, and torture and rape by police and other security forces.

[Full Story]