The Sri Lankan military oversaw a Hindu festival inside the Palali High Security Zone this week, with devotees still requiring a military escort to attend the temple festival.

The Sri Lankan government says it faces no pressure from the UN Human Rights Council.

Speaking at an event in Kandy, Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella said the government had been able to implement most of the recommendations of the resolution passed in Geneva last October.

Sri Lanka’s commander of the Security Forces in Jaffna met with the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues this week, where the military delegation spoke of how it was “evolving to uplift the livelihood of Jaffna people,” reports an

A former Sri Lankan intelligence officer has been found dead in his home, with note by his body allegedly claiming responsibility for the murder of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge.

The officer, identified as Indirage Jayamanth, was found in his home in Kegalle. Reports indicate that he had hung himself in his kitchen.

The Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena this week condemned the prosecutions against former military figures in the country, stating "military commanders who led the successful campaign to crush separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 should not be humiliated in such a way." 

Speaking at a meeting in Colombo he criticised the government commissions investigating former military figures on charges of corruption as political. 

The Sri Lankan army is failing to cooperate with the police over the investigation of the disappearance of the Sinhala journalist, Prageeth Ekneligoda, the Attorney General told the Supreme Court on Friday, reported Colombo Page. 

The Solicitor General was also reportedly told the Court, the brigadier leading on military intelligence  had failed to produce information requested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). 

Students at the University of Jaffna were on Friday the latest group to come out in support of plantation workers who have launched a campaign demanding fairer wages. 

An officer in Kodikamam was arrested on Friday in relation to the death of a suspect in custody of Chunnakam police. 

The suspect was found dead in a police cell in November 2011, reported Daily Mirror. 

A United States judge has reduced the sentence handed down to three Tamils for allegedly conspiring to buy weapons for the LTTE due to the “injustice” of the case, reports the New York Daily News.

The UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues Rita Izsák-Ndiaye met with ministers from the Northern Provincial Council on Thursday, where she discussed issues faced by the Tamil people of the North-East.

Ms Izsák-Ndiaye met with the NPC’s Minister of Education T Kurukularajah and the Minister of Health P Sathiyalingam, as part of her 10 day visit to the island.

Sri Lanka’s Terr

Sri Lanka’s prime minister announced that he would be travelling to Brussels this weekend to engage in negotiations with the European Union to restore lost trade concessions.

“I am traveling to Brussels on Saturday to begin talks on restoring GSP plus,” Ranil Wickremesinghe told the World Export Development Forum in Colombo on Wednesday.

The Sri Lankan government announced that a draft version of proposed new counter terrorism legislation has been forwarded to the “Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security” for further discussions.

Sri Lanka is to sign an agreement to lease 15,000 acres of land in Hambantota in order to creat a Special Economic Zone in the region, Colombo Page reported. 

Announcing the proposed agreement, the State Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told reporters in Colombo on Tuesday, the economic zone would create millions of jobs. 

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