Speaking at a press conference on their latest report which details sexual violence against 75 Tamil detainees, Human Rights Watch's UK director David Mepham stressed that the abuses documented were a "small sample of a much bigger problem" of the use of "rape and sexual violence as a form of torture".

No Tamil representatives have been selected for the Trincomalee district committee responsible for demarcating the electorates for the local government councils, stated TNA's E. Thurairathnam.

Out of the 6 members appointed to the committee, there were 4 Sinhalese members and 2 Muslims. See the report from ColomboPage here.

Replying to the editorial of the Washington Post published 19th February - 'Sri Lanka's Descent', Sri Lanka's US ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya, asserted that the newspaper should "support the people of Sri Lanka by giving the government the time and space necessary to achieve this peace."

See here, reply published in full below:

Following The Independent newspaper’s report on the British government’s approval of licences for the export to Sri Lanka of over £3m worth of arms - in just one three month period last year – the UK minister responsible for Sri Lanka, Alistair Burt has written to the paper seeking to clarify the transfer of hundreds of assault rifles and large quantities of ammunition amongst other weapons.

However, Mr. Burt’s response raises as many questions as The Independent’s article.

Sri Lanka's UN mission has written to the Human Rights Council, trying to bar an upcoming screening of a documentary in its premises.

The Channel 4 documentary "No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka" is due to be screened on Friday, at the Palais de Nations, an event organised by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and FIFDH Geneve.

The United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances has been urged to conduct a thorough inquiry into the recently unearthed mass grave in Matale.

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), an independent regional non-governmental organisation, suggested in a written statement, that the United Nations working group should conduct an independent inquiry into the remains of 200 or more persons found in Matale.

Sri Lanka has announced that it has decided to ban the sale of all state and private land to 'foreigners', according to Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

The move was approved by Sri Lanka's cabinet and will be brought to Parliament. It will also see the ban on transfer of land on a freehold basis to foreigners, including land which is already owned by foeigners.

See report from Lanka Busniess Online here.

Tamil teachers continue to face continued discrimination with documents being provided in Sinhala only, rather than in Tamil, charged the Ceylon Teachers Union.

CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin stated,

India will vote against Sri Lanka, in support of a US backed resolution at the UN Human Rights Council Session (UNHRC) in March.

The Hindu reports that Minister V Narayanasamy told reporters that PM Manmohan Singh had promised to support the resolution against Sri Lanka.

In an article published on Sunday in The Independent, former BBC journalist and author of Still Counting The Dead, Frances Harrison, details how two witnesses have come forward to state how they saw slain Tamil political leaders surrender to the Sri Lankan military during the infamous 'white flag incident'.

See here for full article, extracts have been published below: