The UNP has said that the violence in Welikada prison ended with security forces committing a massacre.
Mangala Samaraweera of the party said that most of the dead were gunned down by police and the army.

"It's a massacre that has to be condemned. It shows the breakdown of the rule of law in the country," he said, according to Reuters.

"[The] information I have is that most of the prisoners were cold-bloodedly gunned down" he added.

The Sri Lankan government indicated plans to introduce a 19th Amendment to the Constitution aimed at addressing the current issue of power devolution to the north-east, reported Colombo Page.

The government is preparing the draft of the 19th amendment as an alternative to the 13th Amendment, which has been facing calls of abolishment. 

The draft amendment, which claims to offer a solution to the current ethnic issue, will be shown to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC).

Photograph TamilNet

Tamil diaspora organisations have been voicing shock at the death of French TCC (Tamil Coordination Committee) co-ordinator and ex-LTTE commander, Colonel Parithi, who was shot dead in Paris on Thursday night.

50-year-old Nadarajah Mathinthiran, more commonly known by his noms de guerre Reagan and later Parithi, left the LTTE in the early 90s and took responsibility for mobilising the French Tamil diaspora in the early 2000s. Mathinthiran had been targeted in police crackdowns on LTTE fundraising activities in 2007 and had served a three year prison term until 2010.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for changes to the country’s 13th Amendment, calling for a mechanism that will unify the country further.

Delivering his budget speech in Parliament, Rajapaksa stated the devolution should not lead to separation, saying,

"Instead it should be a one that unifies all of us".

As key Tamil figures from the North-East came to London this Wednesday and Thursday to engage in the international World Tamil Conference to discuss ways of pushing the call for an international, independent investigation into the crimes of genocide against the Tamil nation, where was the leader of the TNA - Sampanthan?

Having tea with the president of course...

The riots in Welikada prison ended in a bloodbath, with 27 people dead and dozens injured.

Most of the dead were prisoners who were killed by armed police and army soldiers.

At least three prisoners were killed when they attempted to flee in an auto-rickshaw, which was shot at by security forces.

Clashes between prisoners and police erupted on Friday after a search operation was mounted. At least one prison guard was killed and several policemen and soldiers were injured during the violence.

 14:57 GMT

In breaking news, riots have broken out between inmates at the Welikada prison and the Sri Lankan security forces. 

Reports coming through state that on Friday afternoon, Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF) and prison intelligence unit conducted a search operation on inmates in the L and Chappell units of the prison, citing authorisation by the minister of prisons and reforms.

As inmates protested, STF personnel fired tear gas at the protesters. The situation continued to escalate, with several inmates climbing onto the roof of the prison in protest, and news coming through of serious injuries and fatalities.

15:02 GMT

The STF personnel have withdrawn from the Welikada prison riot, allowing troops and snipers from the Sri Lankan military to move in, reports Sunday Times. Armoured vehicles have been situated at the gates of the prison, preventing inmates from leaving.

23:58 GMT

The director of the hospital dealing with casualties from the Welikada prison violence has told AFP that 13 people, of whom at least 11 were inmates, had died. Anil Jasinghe said that a further 32 injured were also brought to the hospital.

The BBC reported that it isn’t yet clear how many may have died inside the jail.

The army moved in when police lost control of parts of the prison after an attempted search operation.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed concern at Australia’s new policy of that allows for immediate deportation of Sri Lankan refugees seeking asylum.

Speaking at a Democracy forum in Indonesia, Pillay outlined why so many Tamil were leaving Sri Lanka and voiced her concerns about the Australian deportation policy.

She said that Sri Lanka was still volatile, despite the end of the armed conflict.