Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan government reactivates tripartite labour council to impose mass sackings
By W.A. Sunil, July 11, 2009
With thousands of Sri Lankan workers losing their jobs, the government has re-established the National Labour Advisory Council, giving the trade unions a major role in imposing mass layoffs.
Sri Lankan Tamil parties participate in sham local elections
By M. Vasanthan, July 9, 2009
Sri Lanka’s Tamil parties are participating in the Rajapakse government’s sham local government elections in the war-ravaged north.
Sri Lankan all-party forum joins hands with Rajapakse regime
By K. Ratnayake, July 8, 2009
All the Sri Lankan parliamentary parties attended a meeting called by President Mahinda Rajapakse to form an “All Party Committee on Development and Reconciliation”.
Sri Lanka: Presidential Secretary calls for spy units throughout public sector
By Wije Dias, July 6, 2009
Lalith Weeratunga, who heads Sri Lanka’s civil service, has called for undercover intelligence units to be installed in every public sector workplace.
Sri Lankan ministers accuse US of delaying IMF loan
By Saman Gunadasa, July 4, 2009
After more than three months of delay by the IMF in considering Sri Lanka’s urgent request for a $US1.9 billion loan, Colombo has publicly accused the US of obstructing the loan.
Sri Lanka: LTTE exile group announces “transnational government”
By Athiyan Silva and K. Ratnayake, July 3, 2009
In the aftermath of its military defeat in May, an exile faction of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam announced a grandiose plan to form “a provisional transnational government of Tami...
Sri Lanka revives draconian law to gag media
By Sampath Perera, July 1, 2009
The Sri Lankan government has revived legislation with broad powers to restrict the media and punish journalists and publishers.
Sri Lanka: Dengue epidemic claims scores of lives
By Vilani Peiris, June 30, 2009
With deadly dengue fever spreading in Sri Lanka, the government has blamed ordinary people and adopted punitive and militaristic measures.
Sri Lankan military maintains fishing restrictions in the north
By Subash Somachandran, June 29, 2009
As an election gimmick, the Colombo government declared it had removed restrictions on fishing in the north. Nevertheless, the navy commander has refused to lift the controls.
The tragic journey of a displaced Tamil family in Sri Lanka
By Nanda Wickremasinghe, June 27, 2009
This interview with the sister of a detained Tamil grandmother, who is challenging the Sri Lankan government’s unconstitutional internment of nearly 300,000 war refugees, describes the experiences o...
Sri Lankan government stages sham local elections
By S. Jayanth, June 26, 2009
President Mahinda Rajapakse has called local council elections to provide a democratic façade for a permanent military occupation of the North and deflect criticism at home and internationally of his...
Sri Lankan Tamil detainees give eye-witness accounts
By our correspondents, June 24, 2009
Despite claims by the Sri Lankan government that Tamil detainees would be resettled within six months, permanent internment facilities are being constructed. Eye-witnesses have given the WSWS accounts...
