“Sri Lanka is not living up to the commitments it made to respect international human rights standards when it became a beneficiary of the European Union’s General System of Preferences (GSP+) trade incentive scheme which provides for additional trade benefits. We have come to the conclusion that there are significant shortcomings in this area and that Sri Lanka is in breach of its GSP+ commitments.”

The Commission launched this investigation on 14 October 2008 to assess whether the national legislation of Sri Lanka incorporating three UN human rights conventions was effectively implemented. These three conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are among the 27 international conventions that form part of the substantive qualifying criteria for GSP+. More...Discuss this story Published: Tue Jan 5 20:32:19 EST 2010

The government motion was passed with 97 members voting in favour and 18 members voting against.

Emergency in Sri Lanka was re-imposed after the assassination of the former Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, by suspected LTTE cadres in August 2005.

Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, only Parliament has the right to proclaim emergency and it is valid only for a month. From August 2005, the Sri Lankan Parliament has been extending the emergency every month. More...Discuss this story Published: Tue Jan 5 20:15:46 EST 2010

The government's plans were outlined in court papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Prosecutors oppose a request by lawyers for Rajaratnam to reduce his bail from $100 million to $25 million. Government attorneys said a rewritten indictment will be brought. More...Discuss this story Published: Tue Jan 5 20:16:40 EST 2010