Speaking at the Canadian parliament's question period on Wednesday, the MP for Toronto Centre, and former Leader of the Liberal Party, Bob Rae said that it was "preposterous" for the Rajapaksa regime to be chairing the Commonwealth for two years following CHOGM in Sri Lanka, and questioned "why would Canada not invite the Commonwealth countries to come to Canada, for Canada to host the conference".

Responding to the MP Rae's comments, the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he spoke for many in saying that he was "deeply troubled" by the prospect of CHOGM 2013 in Sri Lanka, and reiterated that "it would be very difficult for this government to fully participate."

In a joint submission to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, rights groups called on the CMAG to 'lay down clear benchmarks' to Sri Lanka in order for it to be allowed to host CHOGM 2013.

The groups included: Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA),  CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination (IMADR) and Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice.

Adding to a list of benchmarks outlined last year, the groups called for the following:

• Reinstate the Chief Justice;
• Release or charge all political prisoners and provide full public access to a data-base of
names/locations of those still held; and
• Ensure an enabling environment for civil society with full protection of the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

Writing on the blog on the 'No Fire Zone' documentary, director Callum Macrae called on the Commonwealth to listen to growing calls worldwide and ensure that Sri Lanka not be allowed to host the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November.

He writes:

Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa held a secret meeting on the Northern Provincial Council elections with 24 other individuals in Jaffna, according to reports.

The meeting comes as government sources announce that Velayutham Dayanithy, or Daya master - a former LTTE media coordinator, will be standing for election at the NPC polls under the ruling UPFA banner.

Members of the UNP held a candlelight protest, calling on the government to scrap the recent electricity tariff increases, forcing the sitting to be adjourned.

TNA MPs MA Sumanthiran and S Yogeshwaran also supported the opposition in their protest.

While UNP and other opposition members shouted slogans, members of the ruling coalition threw water bottles at them, reported The Island:

The Bharain Council of Representatives Speaker, Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Dhahrani, outlined the importance of fortifying parliamentary cooperation between the Bharaini and Sri Lankan parliaments, in a visit to Sri Lankan parliament Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.

Whilst presenting an open invitation to the Sri Lankan parliament Speaker to visit Bahrain and discuss bilateral parliamentary cooperation, Al Dhahrani stressed the need of the two nations to coordinate stances at international and Asian gatherings,

Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times has reported increased incidents of sexual harassment and other attacks on tourists.

The paper reported that police sources said local politicians are behind the attacks.

See excerpts below:

Bangladesh will stand by Sri Lanka on the issue of human rights, reported the Sri Lankan president's office on Tuesday.

Following a visit to Sri Lanka this week by the Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary, Shahidul Haque, he was quoted by Rajapaksa's office as saying to the president: 

In an asylum appeal case last month, a UK judge deemed that the asylum seeker - a Tamil man who had taken part in numerous protests in the UK - was at risk on deportation purely due to his participation in anti-Sri Lankan government protests, and was granted asylum one this alone, not due to any association with the LTTE.

The First Tier Tribunal Judge Mailer in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber considered:

“The evidence relating to Sri Lanka is clear. Those who seek to appose the government by way of demonstrations, contending that the leaders should be implicated and charged for war crimes, would be treated harshly”.

“Having considered the background material produced as well as the evidence from the report of TAG, we find that the submissions relating to the potentially hostile treatment meted out by the Sri Lankan authorities in respect of a person perceived to have been involved in anti government protests in the diaspora, to be made out.”

See here for a report by Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) on the case. Extract reproduced below:

"The ruling is especially perspicacious in recognizing that risk is related not to facts alone but to perceptions. It was put to the appellant that his being part of protests did not amount to his being a member of the LTTE. The appellant concurred, “He said that it was not he who was saying that. The government might think that.” It is the question of perception that matters and that needs to be considered when assessing risk.
 
There are several sources for unearthing the Sri Lankan State perception with regards to protesters. In her evidence before the Tribunal, TAG Director, Janani Jananayagam enumerated many of these sources. She was quoted in the determination, speaking of a “history of hostility to and demonisation of diaspora organisations supporting a secession of the Tamil homelands in Sri Lanka” – indeed the GoSL attitude and actions today against those who call for accountability for crimes is not without precedent.