COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
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SRI LANKA 7 MARCH <strong>2012</strong><br />
May Government declares victory over the Tamil Tigers. Military says rebel leader<br />
Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in the fighting. Tamil Tiger statement says the<br />
group will lay down its arms.<br />
August New Tamil Tiger leader Selvarasa Pathmanathan detained by Sri Lankan<br />
authorities.<br />
First post-war local elections held in the north.<br />
October Government announces early presidential and parliamentary elections.<br />
November Opposition parties form alliance to fight elections. The new alliance includes<br />
Muslim and Tamil parties.<br />
2010<br />
January President Mahinda Rajapasksa is re-elected.<br />
February Gen Fonseka is arrested. President Rajapaksa dissolves parliament, clearing<br />
way for elections in April.<br />
April President Rajapaksa's ruling coalition wins landslide victory in parliamentary<br />
elections.<br />
May Emergency regulations (ERs) are relaxed. 562<br />
August Military court finds former army chief Sarath Fonseka guilty of involvement in<br />
politics while in uniform and sentences him to a dishonourable discharge.<br />
September Parliament approves a constitutional change allowing President Rajapaksa to<br />
seek unlimited number of terms.<br />
2011<br />
<strong>March</strong> The ruling United People‘s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition secured a<br />
landslide victory in local elections. 563<br />
April UN says both sides in the Sri Lankan civil war committed atrocities against<br />
civilians and calls for an international investigation into possible war crimes. Sri<br />
Lanka says the report is biased.<br />
July Sri Lanka's largest ethnic Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance - wins twothirds<br />
of local councils in the former war zone in the north and east.<br />
August A Sri Lankan Defense Ministry report concedes for the first time that<br />
government forces caused civilian deaths in the final months of the conflict with<br />
the Tamil Tigers. 564<br />
President Rajapaksa says his government will allow the expiry of state<br />
emergency laws which have been in place for most of the past 40 years.<br />
Government introduces new legislation allowing the detention of people<br />
suspected of terror offences without charge.<br />
September Parliament approves law allowing government to take over 37 businesses.<br />
Critics say they will be seized from opponents to reward supporters.<br />
562 US State Department 2010 Human Rights <strong>Report</strong>: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,<br />
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 1d<br />
563 Economist Intelligence Unit, April 2011 Sri Lanka report<br />
http://www.eiu.com/report_dl.asp?issue_id=1297945914&mode=pdf [subscription only] date accessed 2<br />
June 2011, p10<br />
564 Human Rights Watch (HRW), Sri Lanka: Official <strong>Report</strong> Whitewashes Military Abuses, 1 August<br />
2011 http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/08/01/sri-lanka-official-report-whitewashes-military-abuses date<br />
accessed 18 January <strong>2012</strong><br />
224 The main text of this <strong>COI</strong> <strong>Report</strong> contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section<br />
to 2 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.
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