COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
seat in Parliament.‖ (Jane‘s Sentinel, Country Risk Assessments, Country Report, Sri Lanka,
accessed on 3 February 2012, Security and foreign forces, 3 January 2012) 569
See also Key recent developments (July - December 2011 and January 2012) and Sarath
Fonseka and his supporters
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) http://www.epdpnews.com/index.php?lng=eng
―Led by Douglas Devananda, the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) broke away from
the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) in approximately 1988. Since 1990
it has fought alongside the Sri Lankan Army against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE). Since 1994, the EPDP has been the most significant force in electoral politics in Jaffna,
although voter turnout has been exceptionally low. The EPDP has generally been supportive of
People's Alliance/UPFA government policy on the war and peace process. Although EPDP
armed cadres may only be a few hundred strong, they retain a reputation for human rights
abuses. Devananda has a cabinet portfolio and was currently the minister for social services
and social welfare. Previously his public profile was limited by the fact he was extremely high on
the list of LTTE targets for assassination. As of 2011, the EPDP remains part of the UPFA
coalition.‖ (Jane‘s Sentinel, Country Risk Assessments, Country Report, Sri Lanka, accessed on
3 February 2012, Internal Affairs, 17 January 2012) 570
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) See TNA
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) [National Heritage Party]
―The JHU is a Buddhist-Sinhalese political party led by Buddhist monks, formed in February
2004 with the specific intention to compete in that year's parliamentary elections. Although
initially founded by the secular Sinhalese nationalist party Sihala Urumaya, all of the JHU's
members of parliament are Buddhist monks.
―The JHU's creation and the unprecedented entry of saffron-clad monks into parliament has
caused debate over whether monks should be entering politics at all both within and outside the
party. However, the party's strong representation in the 2004 elections has encouraged the
party to continue campaigning for Buddhist and Sinhalese issues in Sri Lanka…
―The JHU's swift creation led to a factious initial period as the party lacked unity. In October
2004, one of the founders and a member of parliament, Kolonnawe Sumangala, resigned from
the party. In the same month, the JHU's general secretary Uduwe Dhammakola, failed to attend
a central committee meeting and was replaced by another JHU monk. Dhammakola eventually
left the party in January 2005 to remain an independent parliamentarian, before supporting the
UNP's Wickremasinghe in the November 2005 presidential election, in direct contradiction to the
JHU's support of Rajapakse. Since these defections, the JHU has been able to maintain a more
569 Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, Country Report, Sri Lanka,
http://sentinel.janes.com/docs/sentinel/SASS_country.jsp?Prod_Name=SASS&Sent_Country=Sri%20La
nka& [subscription only] accessed on 3 February 2012, Security and foreign forces, 3 January 2012
570 Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, Country Report, Sri Lanka,
http://sentinel.janes.com/docs/sentinel/SASS_country.jsp?Prod_Name=SASS&Sent_Country=Sri%20La
nka& [subscription only] accessed on 3 February 2012, Internal Affairs, 17 January 2012
226 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.