10
Human rights issues—although a legitimate global concern—must not be used by the international community to interfere in the internal affairs of a country or as a tool of force, a high ranking Russian official today said, while on a visit to Sri Lanka
2
Minister Dilan Perera, special envoy to Namibia said Sri Lanka would not accept any ‘country-specific’ resolutions by the U.N., because such resolutions are aimed at targeting specific countries for narrow political reasons
1
Tamil Nadu mechanised boat fishermen, who were fishing in the Palk Bay, have decided to stay away from the sea for a month from yesterday, as decided at the bilateral talks held between representatives of State fishermen with their Sri Lankan counterparts on January 27 in Chennai
9
Amidst proposed moves by the US Congress and the US government to bring in a resolution against Sri Lanka at the upcoming UNHRC sessions, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga said ‘the most significant factor when it comes to the power of lobbying, solely depends on the choice of lobbying groups one has access to in the US’
5
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa today said that with the Geneva sessions coming up in March, the forthcoming Western and Southern Provincial Council polls was a good opportunity for the people to show that they were still with the government and President Mahinda Rajapaksa
4
UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said today that the Elections Commissioner has agreed to provide more vote counting officers for the upcoming provincial council elections to ensure transparency and credibility of the vote counting process
21
India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid today urged the Sri Lankan leadership to look at “possible ways to avoid an hostile attitude towards people and countries that matter,” in the light of a likely US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC sessions in March
3
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said today the Bribery Commission had acted in an arbitrary manner and in violation of natural justice when it dismissed the complaint against the Bribery Commissioner Jagath De Silva Balapatabendi.