News
Kiriella warns government to prepare to face more charges at UNHRC
by Saman Indrajith
The main opposition SJB warned the government to get ready to face more charges at the next UNHRC sessions in Geneva of not doing justice to the Easter Sunday victims.
Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella, speaking during the committee stage of the budget, said on Thursday that the government has to face eight major human rights allegations against it in Geneva. The newest of these would be the allegation of not doing justice to the Easter Sunday victims.
Kiriella said Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and the Catholic Church have already declared their willingness to go before the UNHRC over the government’s deliberate delay in taking actions against those who have been identified as responsible for security failures in the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday carnage.
“This charge too would be added to the list of charges against this country,” Kiriella said.
Other charges the government would face include militarizing civil administration, erosion of judicial independence, dismantling the independent commissions, political pressure to prevent dispensing of criminal justice, interfering with freedom of religious practice, intimidation on civil society activists and curtailing media freedom.
“These are the main charges against the country at the UNHRC. It is clear that the government has chosen to delay delivering justice to the Easter Sunday victims and it is also certain that this charge too would be made against us at the next UNHRC sessions,” Kiriella said.
He said that the government should name former SIS head Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena as an accused of the case on the Easter Sunday terror attacks. SDIG Jayawardena, who had allegedly failed to prevent the terror attacks and is now a state witness in the case, should be indicted as an accused and prosecuted.
“The court has the power to name him an accused. Actually, he should be the main suspect. He received the information about the impending terror attacks more than ten days in advance. He has said he did not pass that information to the President, who was the Defence Minister.
“Suppose we accept his version, then he has committed an offence under provisions of the Penal Code. But today he has been set free. When Nilantha Jayawardena was asked to surrender his phone to the investigators he deleted all information that had been stored in it.
“Such deletion shows that there was something to be hidden. It amounts to suppression of evidence. That offence would have alone been sufficient to name him a suspect,” Kiriella said.
A specialists committee has been appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation adhering to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 29.12.2025 for submitting appropriate recommendations analyzing the provisions of the draft bill formulation in regard to Animal Welfare.
Based on the recommendations of the said Committee, the Legal Draftsman has been instructed at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 18.05.2026 to prepare the final bill on the animal welfare.
Wherefore, the Legal Draftsman has formulated the draft bill and the clearance of the Attorney General has been received in the connection.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to publish the said draft bill in the
Government Gazette Notification and subsequently forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Under the legal provisions for elections in this country since 2004, it is mandatory for voters who come to mark their votes to verify their identity through a valid identity card, and it is also mandatory for all such voters to be marked with an appropriate mark using indelible ink. The dual purpose of these two functions is to prevent a voter from voting more than once in a single election.
It has been observed that having to follow two different
methods at the same time to achieve the same objective hinders the efficiency of the duties performed at the polling stations and also incurs additional costs to the government.
Therefore, it has been deemed appropriate to remove the legal provisions regarding the use of indelible ink and marking the voter with the appropriate mark from all election acts.
Accordingly, the development activities of the province, as well as national security, will benefit. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the
President to take necessary steps to remove the legal provisions
• Section 36 of the presidential Election Act, No 15 of 1981
• Section 38 of the Parliamentary Election Act, No 01 of 1981
• Section 36 of the Provincial Council Election Act, No 02 of 1988
• Section 53 A of the Local Government Elections Ordinance (262 Authority)
• Section 21 of the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981
News
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 JUNE 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 June 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
Several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts. Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts after 2.00 p.m.
Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expectedat times over the Western slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-central, North-western and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Munoz sends Colombia into World Cup knockouts with 1-0 win over DR Congo
Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted
Legal provisions on marking voters using indelible ink during elections removed
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
Court vacancy row throws Parliament into turmoil; sittings disrupted
Climate, pollution, forest loss now hitting economy: BASL chief
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News6 days agoCreditor receives USD 2.5 mn as Lankan public bears loss from theft of Treasury funds
-
News5 days agoCreditor not yet paid
-
News5 days agoConsumers bearing 22% tax burden despite 18% VAT claim: Dr. Harsha de Silva
-
Opinion7 days agoBeyond diagnosis: A strategic design for 7% growth by 2029 (Part I)
-
Features4 days agoNanda Pethiyagoda Wanasundara as three generations of family saw her
-
Opinion6 days agoSriLankan Airbus struck by lightning
-
Features3 days agoSri Lanka developing independent hydrographic capabilities
-
Latest News3 days agoSooryavanshi thumps fastest List A fifty as India A win tri-series