Speaking at the 22nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the leader of the Sri Lankan delegation to the Human Rights Council and Minister of Plantation Industries, Mahinda Samarasinghe, attempted to highlight Sri Lanka’s ‘achievements’ in working towards reconciliation.

Speaking on issues related to the appropriation of Tamil land, Samarasinghe, informed the UN of Sri Lanka's plans to produce a 'Fourth Land Commission' which will address land return and resettlement disputes. Coincidentally the idea of a commission to address the land appropriation issues was only formulated a week before the start of the UNHRC sessions.

Proclaiming the resettlement of Internally Displaces Peoples as a ' historic moment', Samarasinghe told the UN,

"resettlement is now complete and there are no more IDPs or IDP camps on the island".

Samarasinghe also stated that "the strength of the military in the North has been reduced considerably", on the same day that TNA MP Sumanthiran told the GTF conference in  London, that there was 1 member of the security forces for every 5 civilians in the Northern Province.

Download a copy of Samarasinghe's speech here.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert Blake, asserted today that Sri Lanka is moving backwards in terms of democracy.

Speaking to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Asia and the Pacific, Blake picked up on the Sri Lankan government’s failure to provide adequate devolution of power to the Tamils, stating  ,

Sri Lankan security forces continue to systematically rape, sexually abuse and torture Tamils, almost 4 years since the end of the armed conflict, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch, earlier on Tuesday.

The 141-page report, entitled ‘“We Will Teach You a Lesson” - Sexual Violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces’, inspected 75 cases of rape alleged to have occurred from 2006-2012 in both official and secret detention centres across Sri Lanka. The 75 cases were made up of 31 men, 41 women, and three boys aged under 18, all detained by Sri Lankan government of paramilitary forces and all subjected to torture and sexual abuse.

Harrowing accounts of rape and torture were recounted, with HRW stating that the report only accounts for “a tiny fraction of custodial rape”. Many of the cases followed similar patterns of detention, followed by torture and rape by security forces, whilst being interrogated about “LTTE activities”. Victims were also forced to sign confessions in Sinhalese, a language they did not understand, as well as being forced to identify and name other potential “suspects”. Some of the victims recounted that they signed ‘confessions’ and pointed out people as LTTE cadres, knowing that they were not, simply to put an end to the torture.

Tamils returning from abroad were also shown photographs of anti-government protests that took place in Paris and London, and forced to identify those in the images.

A former UN field officer told Human Rights Watch that,

“a large number of women fleeing from the conflict areas during the peak of fighting were sexually assaulted. The abuse was extensive, causing a large number of civilians to flee back to the theater of conflict to escape the abuse”.

The Sri Lankan government has accused the Tamil diaspora - whom it refers to as the 'LTTE rump' - of "cyber terrorism" by hacking into websites of the ministry of media and information.

The Minister of Media, Charitha Herath, told the state's own radio station:

“We see this as an act of cyber terrorism.”

UK based Tamil organisation, British Tamils Forum (BTF) called  the Indian government to "proactively advocate the following proposal and Co-Sponsor The U.S based resolution in the forthcoming 22nd session of United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva," in a statement published on Tuesday.

See here for statement. Reproduced in full below:

The US Assistant Secretary of Bureau of International Organisation Affairs has said that the UN Human Rights Council needs to continue to work on Sri Lanka, as long as Sri Lanka continues to fail to address the underlying causes of the ethnic conflict.

Esther Brimmer spoke during the High Level Segment on Tuesday, of the 22nd Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva and said the US will again introduce a resolution on Sri Lanka.

The Assistant Secretary praised the work done by the Council on advancing the “true universality of human rights worldwide” but added that in spite of many achievements, the work of the Human Rights Council remains unfinished and it must “devote itself” to “unfinished tasks” during the current session and beyond, highlighting Syria, North Korea, Sri Lanka and the council’s treatment of Israel.

“The Council’s work remains unfinished so long as Sri Lanka continues to fall short in implementing even the recommendations of its own Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission, or in addressing the underlying sources of its longstanding ethnic conflict.

“Last year’s HRC resolution encouraged brave civil society groups on the ground to continue their efforts, and the United States will introduce another resolution at this session to ensure that the international community continues to monitor progress, and to again offer assistance on outstanding reconciliation and accountability issues. The United States hopes this resolution will be a cooperative effort with the Sri Lankan government.”

The Sri Lankan Counsellor of the Permanent Mission in Geneva strongly criticised the US for drawing “disproportionate attention towards Sri Lanka”.

Priyanga Wicremasinghe used Sri Lanka’s “Right to Reply” to object to the US statement for being “unfair and biased”.

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.