Sri Lankan police have arranged security to guard an illegally-built Buddha statue while a court injunction on its construction remains in place.

Submissions on the legality of the statue encroaching a Hindu temple in Neeraviyadi, Semmalai were heard by the Mullaitivu magistrates court last week. The case was adjourned to February 12, until which time an injunction was placed on any construction work on the premises.

Employees of Vavuniya urban council held a strike on Friday, protesting the unnecessary and aggressive intrusion of United National Party (UNP) supporters into their duties.

Council workers had been instructed by the council chair to clear unauthorised and outdated posters, including political ones, from public spaces.

As concerns over military involvement in civilian activity in the North-East continue, the Sri Lankan military handed out accessories to Tamil schoolchildren in Poonakari last week, taking charge of an initiative that was begun by Jaffna University students.

The Sri Lankan air force announced that it had held a golf tournament earlier this month, at a luxury gulf resort in Trincomalee which is run entirely by the military.

The announcement of the tournament comes as Tamils across the North-East continue their calls for the military to vacate land in the region and cease involvement in civilian activities.

<p>Civil society groups working on issues in the North-East have written to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressing concern over the Sri Lankan government’s pledges to implement a UN resolution and called for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on the issue.</p> <p>Noting that the Sri Lankan government had pledged to implement a UN resolution that “supported the establishment of a special court with international participation,” the organisations said that it has since “been proactively and deliberately abandoned by the Sri Lankan State”.</p>

Families of the disappeared in Vavuniya today urged the United Nations to ensure Sri Lanka was referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its genocide of Tamils. 

Holding a demonstration in Vavuniya calling for justice and for answers over the tens of thousands of Tamils who were disappeared, families expressed anger and a feeling of betrayal over the current government's failure to fulfil its pledges. 

 

Families of the disappeared in Amparai yesterday held a demonstration and signature campaign, demanding answers over the unearthing of hundreds of skeletons at a mass grave in Mannar. 

"Tell us the truth about the skeletons excavated in Mannar and who those people are," demanded protesters as they marched from the 'Office for the Families of the Disappeared in Thirukkovil' to Amparai clock tower. 

A US military delegation held another meeting with the Sri Lankan army in Jaffna, where they discussed the prospects of more training programs between the two militaries this week.

The PACOM Augmentation Team of the Embassy of the United States of America met with the head of the Sri Lankan military in Jaffna, Major General Dharshana Hettiarrachchi.

The Sri Lankan military continued to consolidate its presence in the Tamil homeland, announcing that yet another building had been constructed at its headquarters in Jaffna.

The Tamil Nadu activist who self-immolated in protest at the Indian government's failure to stop the massacre of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka was remembered yesterday in Jaffna. 

Muthukumar, from Thooththukkudi, wrote for Pennea Nee feminist magazine. On January 29, 2009 he doused himself with petrol and set himself afire in front of the Shastri Bhavan, the Indian Central Government's Chennai Head office, condemning the futile visit by Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who failed to stop the war in Sri Lanka and save Eelam Tamils.