"Sri Lanka to end emergency laws" August 26, 2011|Associated Press
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka’s president unveiled plans yesterday to lift wartime emergency laws that have curbed civil and political liberties for most of the past 30 years.
The country has been under intense international pressure to sweep away the draconian measures now that more than two years have passed since the government’s victory in its bitter civil war against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
The emergency laws, which Parliament had extended every month, had allowed the government to detain suspects without trial, displace residents from their land, and set up ubiquitous military checkpoints....
Authorities still can exercise similar powers under another law, the Prevention of Terrorism Act....
The move to lift the emergency comes amid widespread international pressure on the government to ease wartime conditions such as the state of emergency, investigate alleged human rights violations during the war, and share political power with ethnic minority Tamils.
The United States welcomed the move in an embassy statement saying the announcement “is a significant step towards normalizing life for the people of Sri Lanka, and reflects more than two years without terrorist activity.’’
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"Sri Lanka imposes new terrorism laws" September 02, 2011|Associated Press
The emergency laws that have curbed civil and political liberties for most of the past 30 years lapsed Tuesday after the government did not renew them. President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the laws were no longer needed, more than two years after Sri Lanka’s deadly civil war ended and under international pressure to lift the emergency.
But Rajapaksa approved four regulations under the powerful Prevention of Terrorism Act that became effective Tuesday on a temporary basis, Attorney General Mohan Peiris said. The government will take them to lawmakers to make them permanent law....
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"Sri Lanka finds growing elephant numbers" September 03, 2011|Associated Press
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The first national survey of Sri Lanka’s wild elephants found more than had been estimated - a sign the endangered species has a healthy, growing population....
About 20 wildlife groups withdrew their support of the count, accusing the government of using it as a “smoke screen’’ for capturing the endangered animals and domesticating some for use in Buddhist temples, tourism, and labor.
Their accusation came after Chandrasena was quoted as saying 300 young elephants would be captured and handed over to Buddhist temples after the census. Elephants in elaborate costumes are often used in Buddhist ceremonies where they parade through the streets carrying the sacred relics....
In the early 1900s, 10,000 to 15,000 elephants roamed the island. But poaching and the loss of habitat due to human activities such as deforestation for farming have taken their toll.
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Also see: Elections and Elephants in Sri Lanka
