Sri Lanka’s present political predicament is already somewhat hastily being described as ‘post-conflict’ by both international and local actors, for example by both the Government of Sri Lanka and the IMF.

However, there are very good reasons for remaining sceptical about the use of this terminology, not just because of the nebulousness of definitions of conflict (and a simplistically assumed opposition with peace), and its injudicious past use in places like Afghanistan, but also due to present dynamics in Sri Lanka which are being deliberately papered over and viewed through a skewed lens.

Indeed, ‘post-conflict’ is a misnomer that flows from the predominance of a particular international common sense knowledge and the way it understands the power dynamics in the interface of the global and local that we find in Sri Lanka.

"Dear 'Shooty',

I've just watched our Prime Minister talking about shared Commonwealth values in Perth. My mind turned at once to you and your solitary, late-night death in Villawood detention centre last week.”

"The second major issue for the meeting concerned the civil war in Sri Lanka and whether both the government and the Tamils had committed war crimes in the conflict's final years. The question, however, was virtually ignored."

"Indeed, there is now sufficient evidence to justify a full international inquiry into the actions of both sides, potentially leading to indictments before the International Criminal Court."

“Last week Attorney-General Robert McClelland halted the possibility of the arrest and charging of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and in my view undermined similar ''citizens arrests'' of individuals against whom it could be said there is a prima facie case of crimes against humanity.”

Writing in the Times, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan Colonel Richard Kemp argued that while military intervention in Libyan by NATO is being hailed as a success, it should not form the basis for the same model to be applied in other conflicts.

Examining the Libya campaign and the inital NATO-lead drive in Afghanistan in 2001, Kemp commented that while they were successful, the military option may not always be the best path to follow.

"The best form of intervention in a foreign country is non-intervention. Or, at least, intervention that is so discreet as to be almost invisible to the naked eye — funding of rebel forces, covert supply of weapons, behind-the-scenes “advice” to opposition leaders.

Even this carries risk. But the greatest risk comes from deploying conventional forces in strength. As we saw with such horrific consequences in Iraq and later in Afghanistan, however benign the intention, boots on the ground will inevitably come to be seen as occupying forces and will be attacked from all quarters."

Peter Kellner, chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society, writing in the Trinidad Express on Monday.

Commonwealth conferences used to matter. Their decisions helped to end Apartheid in South Africa and white rule in Zimbabwe. Their debates, especially during the Thatcher era, made big news.

Writing in the Canberra Times, retired Australian diplomat Bruce Haigh called on Australia to reject the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe.

Haigh, who has served as the Australian Deputy High Commissioner in Colombo, wrote as Admiral Samarasinghe, along with Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN Palita Kohona and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse are being investigated by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for allegations of war crimes.

Extracts have been reproduced below.

These are extracts of The Times’ editorial on Wednesday Oct 12:

“Liam Fox has many questions to answer about the role of a personal friend at the Ministry of Defence. But one aspect of this imbroglio is already clear: in his dealings in a particular part of the world, Dr Fox exceeded the bounds of his ministerial remit.

Writing in Himal, the BBC's South Asia foreign correspondent, Charles Haviland, shares his recent experiences in the North-East.

Extracts reproduced below, see full article here.

"In Kilinochchi, right by the road, half a dozen soldiers, supervised by an officer, scrupulously tended to a huge monument (see photo) to the government’s war victory. One soldier snipped at the grass with scissors.

Edward Mortimer, director of communications to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 1998 to 2006, writes in New World magazine's 2011 Autumn edition:

Extracts reproduced below, see article in full here.