Tag: sri lanka

Concern over rising HIV infections among youth

Colombo (IRIN) – Sri Lankan health officials have called for a greater focus on youth in the battle against HIV as they become more sexually active and the percentage of young people contracting the virus rises. “Youth and the risk of infection are two particular areas that we are paying greater attention to now,” Sisira… Read more »

Sri Lanka gays forced underground as world leaders gather for summit

Commonwealth leaders have refused to discuss LGBTI issues at their summit in Colombo and now the Sri Lankan government is cracking down on dissent Sri Lankan gay activists have been threatened and ordered to keep silent as Commonwealth leaders gather in the country. The LGBTI campaigners say they have been forced underground, reflecting a wider… Read more »

Shadow Foreign Secretary: Sri Lanka is ‘heading in the wrong direction’ on LGBT rights

Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander has criticised Sri Lanka’s record on LGBT rights ahead of a Commonwealth summit. Commenting on a report by the Kaleidoscope Trust, the senior Labour MP told the Press Association that the country is “heading in the wrong direction”. “Today’s report from the Kaleidoscope Trust highlights the ongoing concern about human… Read more »

Sri Lanka begins ‘systematic targeting’ of gays

Buddhist monk arrested for alleged gay pedophilia, transgender schoolboy entrapped in smear campaign After state-supported homophobic campaigns in Russia, Zimbabwe and several other African countries, the Buddhist island state of Sri Lanka has also begun a systematic crackdown on its gay community, rights activists say. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government, which controls the army, law enforcement… Read more »