Editorial
Home » EditorialAlleged war crimes and legal aid
Soldiers brought before the proposed ‘war crimes tribunal’ will be defended by the State and pardoned before a council of religious leaders, the Sunday Times reported on its front page last week. The story created a buzz about how the Government will handle the ‘hot potato’ of accountability for the military campaign that liquidated the [...]
Professional diplomacy for new foreign policy
The Prime Minister’s visit to Japan this week hot on the heels of the President’s to the United Nations very clearly marked a significant shift in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy, away from what was seemingly an over-reliance on the Chinese sphere of influence. Not insignificantly, the Sri Lankan President was accommodated at the high table [...]
Battle against corruption is itself corrupt
It is ten months since the January 8 presidential election; ten months of waiting for the perpetrators of corruption from the previous administration to be brought to book. The election campaign had been rip-roaring. The battle cry of those political parties backing Maithripala Sirisena’s candidacy was eliminating corruption. They vowed to punish the perpetrators of [...]
Geneva crisis: Look at the bigger picture
“The Americans eventually get it right – after they have exhausted all other alternatives,” said Winston Churchill. The British wartime Premier was disappointed that the US did not take part in the early years of World War II. When they finally entered the fray and saw to the war’s conclusion, he would famously acknowledge that [...]
Time bomb for Govt.
One of the ironies of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passing strictures this week on the way the Government of Sri Lanka and its Armed Forces conducted a military campaign to liquidate a heavily armed, most dangerous, fascist, racist terrorist organisation and accusing the Armed Forces of being responsible for varying acts of broadly [...]