Rtd. Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara will leave for Geneva tomorrow leading a three-man delegation to meet UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein to mount an offensive against the case, now argued before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), that Sri Lankan forces committed war crimes, especially during the closing stages of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This allegation is the centrepiece of the UNHRC resolution that is widely accepted by the international community including the Tamil Diaspora.

He takes a 100-page dossier of facts to buttress his arguments against the allegations. Weerasekara, Chief Coordinator of The Federation of National Association sponsored by the Global Sri Lankan Forum, told Ceylon Today that UN Human Rights Chief Zeid has violated his own mandate by getting involved in a sovereign country's internal affairs. "I will seek a meeting with Zeid and be at the debating table when the Council takes up for discussion the Resolution on Sri Lanka, co-sponsored by the Government, on 20 March," he added. The Rear Admiral said that despite the fact the LTTE had committed serious war crimes including the recruitment of child soldiers, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera had been 'treacherous' and a 'traitor' to the country by acknowledging and expressing appreciation of the UNHRC Report, having also gone to the extent of co-sponsoring the resolution. "Things like the Truth Commission and the Office of Missing Persons ... these are 'hurting' us," he added.

He said he was going to Geneva in a bid to 'put a stop' to war crime allegations against the Army. The dossier has been prepared after a serious study by intellectuals and experts in international human rights and humanitarian laws. It also contains statistics proving how the war was won and how humanitarian aid was distributed in the war zone contrary to this being disputed by the Human Rights Council. "The UN congratulated us for defeating terrorism at the first UN Resolution tabled on 27 May 2009. Germany and 17 other UN member countries stood against it but the Non Aligned Movement rejected and contested the case in our favour. That was approved at the presentation of the first Resolution but now it has turned out to be totally against us. "Subsequently, the LTTE sympathizers and the Tamil Diaspora went against that resolution with negative inputs and gradually got it reversed," he noted. He said, "The Darusman Committee Report based on the Tamil Diaspora call, tabled the 2012 UNHRC Resolution on that same thematic position and it was tabled with the 2013 and 2014 Resolutions."

He said the Council adopted the 2014 Resolution by a vote of 23 in favour, 12 against and 12 abstentions, and the Resolution requested the Office of the High Commissioner to undertake a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties (GoSL and the LTTE) and that a Commissioner- General initiates an investigation into our national affairs. He recalled that India and Pakistan at that time said the resolution was an infringement into a sovereign country's rights and considered it was a case of double standards being adopted by the UNHRC. "Leading international jurists and experts in laws relating to international rights such as Sir Desmond de Silva QC, Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, Rodney Dixon QC. (UK/ South Africa), Major General John Holmes and many others literally dismissed the one-sided charges levelled against Sri Lanka."

He noted that a special committee comprising reputed lawyers and specialists in international affairs was appointed two weeks ago to counter the ongoing 'traitorous move' in Geneva. He said they have included statistics on how humanitarian aid was distributed in thousands of tons to the North during the final phase of the war. "The dossier has been vetted by former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva and will be handed over to former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a ceremony beginning at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Sambhuddhathwa Jayanthi Mandiraya with the support of Ven. Kirama Wimalajyoti Thera. Rear Admiral Weerasekara will leave for Geneva after the event. A copy of the dossier will also be handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena who would be urged to send it to UNJRC Chief Zeid. He said the team working on this agenda includes Generals and Admirals of the Forces who fought the war.

"I will give the dossier to Zeid and tell him it was not an international armed conflict and that what's applicable is 'international humanitarian laws' and not 'international human rights laws'. He added that no organizations can interfere in any country's internal affairs. As for responsibility for civilian safety in a war, he stressed that the protection of civilians depends upon whose controlled area they were at that specific time. "If the people were in an LTTE controlled area, then the LTTE should acknowledge responsibility for their safety. Likewise, we would have been responsible for the protection of the people when they were in government controlled areas. We cannot take responsibility of what happened in LTTE controlled areas." He stressed that the LTTE used civilians as human shields and so, the Forces cannot be blamed for that.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert as Canadian leaders may make genocide allegations next month when the country marks the war victory, according to a diplomatic source.

The respondent parties in the first application filed before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court under the newly enacted Online Safety Act, raised objections challenging the maintainability of the application.

The Court of Appeal has issued notice on former Member of Parliament Hirunika Premachandra, requiring her to appear before court on May 8 in connection with a contempt of court application.

The Catholic Church has received the remaining parts of the report submitted by the presidential commission which probed the Easter Sunday attacks, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said today. Cardinal Ranjith said the church had received it three weeks ago. “A team of lawyers are studying the report and we will come up with a statement on it once the study is completed,” he told a briefing.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) arrested two suspects, including a retired Major of the Sri Lanka Army for fraudulently obtaining money from individuals promising employment in the Russian army.

The Colombo District Court today further extended its enjoining order preventing former President Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). This order will be effective till May 9. The Colombo District Court made this order following a lawsuit filed by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

Sri Lanka is considering providing free visas to over 50 countries, it was reported. According to Tourism Ministry sources, a proposal in this regard is to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers next week.

According to the family members, the funeral service for former Deputy Minister Palitha Thewarapperuma is scheduled to take place this Friday (10).

Admissions for the GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) examinations will be issued by next week, the Examinations Department said. Accordingly, admissions will be issued to school applicants through the respective principals and to private applicants by post. The examination is scheduled to be held on May 6.

Preparations are underway to bid farewell to late Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, the founder and President Emeritus of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, with full state honours.

The Sri Lankan Rupee has depreciated further against the US Dollar today (Apr 17), compared to Tuesday, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the buying rate of the US Dollar has increased from Rs. 294.20 to Rs. 295.28, while the selling rate has also increased from Rs. 303.54 to Rs. 305.19. The Rupee has also depreciated against several foreign currencies, including Gulf currencies.

The United States (US) Government recently held preliminary talks with the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in Colombo regarding the planned transfer of a fourth US Coast Guard cutter to the SLN, as part of the ongoing security partnership between both the countries.

Amidst reports that some ex-military men from Sri Lanka have joined the Russian military operations against Ukraine, Sri Lankan Ambassador in Moscow Prof. Janita Liyanage said she asked for details about them from the Russian military if any. She said this in response to a query about media reports to that effect. “I sought such details from the Russian military if there is anyone there,” she said.

Sri Lanka cannot be pushed and bumped into a global conflict and therefore it should be diligent in its dealings with various nations, a Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP said today.

Stressing that it is time to forget party politics, the United National Party (UNP) today invited all political parties to join hands to create a stable nation.

The official vehicle of Primary Industries State Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake caught fire this morning in the Halpe area, as reported by the Ella police. They said the vehicle caught fire due to a technical failure.

The Central Bank has purchased the most amount of dollars for a single month in March, a sign that the country is currently in a very comfortable position in its foreign currency liquidity, after two years into the worst currency crisis in the country.

At least ten people were killed in eight road accidents within the past 24 hours in differenet parts of the country, Police said.

A 62-year-old woman who was receiving treatment at the Jaffna Hospital died of Covid-19, hospital sources said. The woman, a resident of Jaffna had arrived from France last week and was admitted to the Jaffna Hospital due to fever.

Sri Lanka’s state-owned enterprises incurred 744.6 billion rupees in losses in 2022, the SOE restructuring unit has said. “52 State-Owned Enterprises in Sri Lanka incurred losses of LKR 744.6 billion in 2022,” SOERU said in a social media post. “When divided by the total number of Citizen, each citizen needs bare LKR 33,949.”