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Sri Lanka to open airport in wildlife paradise

March 5, 2013 08:01
Sri Lanka is set to open later this month a Chinese-built international airport surrounded by wildlife sanctuaries with the aim of boosting tourism, an official said. Authorities want to leverage the exotic flora and fauna in the $209-million airport's neighbourhood to attract holidaymakers. Travellers will be offered the "experience of being able to get up close and feed wild baby elephants," the state-run airport chairman Prasanna Wickremasuriya said.

UPDATE 1-Sri Lanka security rape, torture Tamil detainees - HRW

February 26, 2013 17:00
* Sri Lankan envoy dismisses report * Rapes punishments, to extract confessions - report * UK urged to review asylum for Sri Lankans at risk (Adds call for UK to review asylum policy) By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's security forces have used rape to torture and extract confessions from suspected Tamil separatists almost four years after the country's civil war ended, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday.

Sri Lankan forces raping Tamil detainees: rights group

February 26, 2013 13:00
Sri Lankan security forces continue to use rape and other forms of sexual violence to torture suspected Tamil rebels nearly four years after the end of the island's civil war, a rights group alleged Tuesday. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed widespread rape of detainees during the separatist conflict that ended in May 2009, and said politically motivated sexual violence by the military and police has continued.

Hackers air Sri Lanka war crimes video on govt website

February 25, 2013 07:30
Hackers have attacked Sri Lanka's media ministry by placing a documentary about alleged war crimes during the island's ethnic conflict on its website, an official said Monday. The hackers identifying themselves as "H4x0r HuSsY" uploaded a link to an Australian Broadcasting Corp report on atrocities during the final stages of Sri Lanka's battle against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009. "Stop Killing Innocent Tamil Ppl! Or Get prepared 4 Attacks From Us!" read a message left on the website, media.gov.lk.

Sri Lanka bans land sales to foreigners

February 21, 2013 11:00
COLOMBO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka has decided to ban land sales to foreigners after finding that some offshore investors did not use land and property purchases to benefit the nation's economy, the government spokesman said on Thursday. The decision comes as the $59 billion economy is struggling to boost foreign direct investment despite gradually stabilising macroeconomic economic conditions since the end of a three-decade war.

Britain shocked by shooting of journalist in Sri Lanka

February 16, 2013 19:00
The Foreign Office voiced its shock and serious concern Saturday over the shooting of a British-Sri Lankan journalist in a Colombo suburb. Britain's South Asia minister Alistair Burt urged the Sri Lankan authorities to identify those behind the attack, which the United Nations' human rights chief called an assassination attempt. Faraz Shauketaly, 54 -- a reporter with the privately owned Sunday Leader, whose editor was shot dead in 2009 -- was rushed to hospital for surgery on Saturday following the midnight assault at his home, according to colleagues.

UPDATE 1-Sri Lanka war investigation lags, abuses persist -U.N.

February 13, 2013 16:45
* U.N. rights chief decries slow progress in investigations * Pillay says killings and abductions continue in Sri Lanka * U.S. set to pressure Sri Lanka at U.N. rights session (Adds Amnesty International, final two paragraphs) By Stephanie Nebehay

Sri Lanka slams foreign lawyers over impeachment probe

February 3, 2013 10:15
Sri Lanka on Sunday accused a London-based group of lawyers of undermining Colombo's sovereignty and said a four-member team probing judicial independence was barred from entering the island. The external affairs ministry said it revoked visas issued to members of the International Bar Association (IBA) because they "misrepresented" the objective of their visit to Sri Lanka. The ministry in a statement said the four-member mission was going to undertake "activity surreptitiously which is of an intrusive nature to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka".

World judges condemn Sri Lanka on chief justice sacking

January 23, 2013 12:00
GENEVA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Leading judges and jurists from around the world, many from developing countries, on Wednesday condemned the Sri Lankan government's sacking of the country's chief justice, arguing it violated international law. The 44-strong group, all members of the Geneva Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (CIJL), called for the immediate reinstatement of Shirani Bandaranayake.

Sri Lanka extends police detention of suspects amid protests

January 22, 2013 17:15
COLOMBO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka approved legislation on Tuesday allowing police to hold suspects for up to 48 hours without a warrant amid street protests accusing the government of acting to suppress dissent. Rights groups assert that Sri Lanka, which has a long history of police impunity, of continuing to violate human rights despite the end of a three-decade-long war with Tamil Tiger separatists in May 2009. Police in the South Asian nation previously could detain suspects without charge for 24 hours.
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