"Theravada Buddhism is a form of Buddhism that takes as its authority of set of texts written in Paali, which go back many many centuries to two millennia. This is the kind of Buddhism that is followed by Buddhists in Sri Lanka, South East, Thailand, Cambodia and Lao.

Mahayana Buddhism which is the other main stream of Buddhism, to simplify things, is the kind of Buddhism followed in Tibet and China. They have scriptures that correspond in some way to the Pali cannon but they also have additional texts that they take as authoritative."

"There are texts that have been used in recent years to justify violence."

"For example there are texts, the Buddha once spoke with a mercenary. The mercenary asked the Buddha for example, 'Look I'm not an aahat [enlightened being], I'm not enlightened, what I'm doing though is my job, will I have repurcussions for it?' And the Buddha said 'yes, you'll have repurcussions for it. Not for the act of killing, but for holding debase thoughts and bad intentions whilst doing the killing'.

This text has been used sometimes, by for example by Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka right now, by Buddhist monks in Thailand, to give sermons to soldiers to cool their minds, in order for them to clear thoughts whilst doing the killing."

Addressing press in Colombo at the end of her seven day visit to Sri Lanka and the North-East, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay said,

"I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction,"

"It is important everyone realizes that, although the fighting is over, the suffering is not."

The British House of Commons held an adjournment debate on the subject of “Justice for Tamils” last week, where the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Tamils urged the British government to push for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes.

Speaking at the House of Commons last week, MP Lee Scott also called for a strengthening of the proposed UNHRC resolution, “to send a clear message to the Sri Lankan Government”.

The resolution was passed the next day with 25 member states voting in favour of the resolution, 13 against and 8 abstaining.

In response, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Alistair Burt, said,

“All international resolutions of this kind are composites, and are put together in a manner designed to create the greatest possible support for them. That sometimes means a degree of compromise on language. The United Kingdom felt that the most important thing was that the demonstration of a significant number of countries with concern about Sri Lanka was better than having a motion that some might have felt unable to support. We wanted to give a clear indication, as we gave last year, of the importance of these issues to many nations, which is why the resolution is drafted in the terms it is. We think it is still firm and meaningful.”

“The text reflects widespread concern that, in simple terms, the Sri Lankan Government, having won a brutal war, are not winning the peace.”

Burt faced serious criticism from Diaspora groups after recording a video interview on the beaches of Mullivaikkal, where tens of thousands of Tamils were massacred in the final few days of the armed conflict in 2009.

The Minister was also slammed after visiting Vanni earlier this year, accompanied by a heavy Sri Lankan security presence, who recorded Tamil civilians talking to the Minister.

Burt responded,

"When I was in Sri Lanka, in the northern area, it was noted that I was not alone. I was accompanied not only by UK officials and officials from the high commission, but by a significant military presence, some uniformed and some non-uniformed. It is not uncommon for a Minister visiting someone else’s country to be protected and supported by the military in those areas, and I raise no issue about that. I felt safe, and it was only appropriate for the Government to do that. However, the extent of military involvement was noticed by others, who were keen to pick out the non-uniformed individuals who were there, which raises a significant matter."