An editorial in today’s Washington Post has accused Sri Lanka of “squandering opportunities” to heal the “ethnic rift” on the island.

Detailing the “retrograde” measures Rajapakse has taken, in spite of global condemnation, the editorial argues that threats to boycott or move the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo by the UK, Canada and Australia could send a “clear message” that the country’s policies are unacceptable to other democratic nations.

See extracts below:

"Having acquired a two-thirds parliamentary majority by inducing the defection of opposition representatives, the ruling party rewrote the constitution to eliminate a two-term limit on the president. Government critics in the press, civil society organizations and the judiciary have been threatened and sometimes attacked by pro-government thugs. According to Human Rights Watch, several thousand people are detained without charge, and state security forces have continued to abuse Tamil activists, including through torture and sexual assault.

The Sri Lankan General Secretary of the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees’ Union (FTZ & GSEU), Anton Marcus, announced that the loss the European Union’s Generalised System of Preference Plus (GSP+) concessions to Sri Lanka has forced over 186 garment factories to close.

The trade union leader said that the number of factories had reduced from 835 to 500, resulting in the number of employees in the industry falling from 1 million to 283,000.

In a statement published on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch urged the UN Human Rights Council to dismiss the "tactics" of the Sri Lankan government and launch an independent, international investigation.

See here.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said:

The spokesperson of the US State Department Victoria Nuland has said the US continues to be “deeply concerned” about allegations of human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

Nuland said during the State Department's Daily Press Briefing that the US welcomes the report on Sri Lanka by the UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay and supports “a full accounting for all who are engaged in acts of violated international humanitarian law”.

Balachandran Prabhakaran (The Independent)

Pictures obtained by documentary makers have shown the 12 year old son of Velupillai Prabhakaran, Balachandran Prabhakaran, alive and apparently in army custody.

The clergy of the North-East have written to the UN Human Rights Council, calling for stronger action against Sri Lanka and also pointing out the systematic destruction of the Tamil nation by the government.

The letter, signed by 133 priests, is the first of its kind to be signed by so many of the clergy.

See here for the full letter.

Extracts reproduced below:

The Sri Lankan government has reached out to Estonia in an attempt to strengthen trade, tourism and investments between the countries, reported ColomboPage.

The announcement comes after a high-level 24-member business delegation from Estonia toured Sri Lanka last week, the first visit of its kind.

Meeting with  Sri Lankan Minister for Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, Estonia's Foreign Minister said,

Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa visited Jaffna earlier this month, to observe how new "permanent structures" were being put in place, according to the Sri Lankan Army website.

Three BBC media crew, including South Asia correspondent Charles Haviland, came under attack at a Bodu Bala Sena rally on Sunday.

Charles Haviland tweeted:

'Our 3-member BBC team + driver covering #Buddhist #BBS rally #srilanka was seriously threatened with violence by mob after filming...'