Political parties across Tamil Nadu staged protests and held rallies on Monday, demanding that an international probe and process of accountability take place in order to punish the perpetrators of mass atrocities committed during the final stages of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. 

Hundreds of activists from the Tamilaga Valvurimai Katchi (TVK) were arrested by Indian police as they attempted to picket railway stations in the southern Indian state.  Some 350 people were arrested at Salem Railway Junction with another 330 people detained at Omalur and a further 332 people at Magudanchavadi, states The Hindu. Another 150 were also arrested at Erode.

In Namakkal, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhatgam (MDMK) activists held a protest demanding an international probe into the killing of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan security forces.

Meanwhile, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol. Tirumavalavan addressed a rally in Madurai on the same day stating “it was important that the accused in the killing of Tamils should be booked and punished by the International Court”.

The Sri Lankan military ceremoniously declared open the newly constructed headquarters for troops of the 5 (V) Gajaba Regiment in Kilinochchi earlier this month.

An official military website stated that on 18 September,  Maj General A P De Z Wickramarathne, commander of the 66 division, alongside commanders of 661, 662 and 663 Brigades, attended the ceremony.

The Sri Lankan military held an 'awareness program' last week for Tamil pregnant mothers in Kilinochchi.

The OISL report on mass atrocities in Sri Lanka makes clear that Sri Lanka “cannot tackle decades of entrenched impunity on its own” said former BBC correspondent Frances Harrison.

The report, which is “filled with legal language and clinical descriptions of extreme brutality... is also a graveyard of dead politicians, journalists, priests and combatants whom many of us knew personally,” said Ms Harrison. “For some victims, this is the only memorial they have had in six long years.”

Sri Lanka’s envoy in Geneva has returned to its old tricks said the Human Rights Watch Geneva Director John Fisher, in a comment on negotiations around a draft United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on the findings of the UN investigation into Sri Lanka’s atrocities.

"Against a decades long backdrop of politically motivated interference and inaction on justice issues, there is simply no basis – whatever the sincerity of top officials – to be condiment of Sri Lanka’s ability to deliver justice without a significant international role," he added.

Protestors in Jaffna took part in a hunger strike on Tuesday outside the Valikamam North High Security Zone, demanding to be resettled in their native land.

The protestors stated that they had been displaced for almost three decades by the Sri Lankan military, which had taken over their village. They said that if they were not displaced, the protestors would continue their hunger strike.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe denied discussing the CEPA trade agreement during his visit to India.

Briefing Sri Lanka’s parliament on his visit to India, Mr Wickremesinghe said,

“No discussions were held on CEPA. The Indians didn’t even bring up the topic. Certain media institutions are trying to create public opinion which is harmful to both countries. The Ada newspaper has reported on constructing a bridge joining the two countries, but we haven’t discussed anything in New Delhi.”

“We will take action to improve economic cooperation between the two countries and to enter into an agreement. We expect this economic cooperation program to help create one million employment opportunities in Sri Lanka," he added.

Residents of a town in Vavuniya held a demonstration on Sunday calling for the removal of an army camp, following the death of a local woman caused by the camp's electrified fence.

55 year old Kanthasamy Rajeswari who lived in the property neighbouring the army camp in Adappankulam was fatally electrocuted while gathering vegetables close to the fence.

Photograph: Tamil Guardian

As the United Nations Human Rights Council discusses a resolution to take forward the recommendations of the damming UN report into Sri Lanka’s atrocities, the chief minister of the Northern Provincial Council and former supreme court justice of Sri Lanka CV Wigneswaran called on the council to work for a resolution that fully adopted the recommendations of the High Commissioner for Human rights and allowed a victim centred transnational approach to the accountability and reconciliation  process.

In a guidance note addressed to drafters of the upcoming consensus resolution on Sri Lanka and to member states of the UN Human Rights Council, Mr Wigneswaran spoke on 5 themes that would need to be sufficiently addressed in any resolution adopted by the council to see a lasting peace, accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Extracts reproduced below:

Scope and Breadth of violations

As such, this Council strongly believes that Sri Lanka’s breach of the international obligations through the committing of international wrongful acts warrants the establishment of a mechanism, which draws the involvement of international judges and processes of high international standards to tackle ‘international crimes.'

The diverse nature of affected parties & offending individuals

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier with Tamil youths in Kilinochchi, at the opening of a German-funded training institute (Photo: Photothek.net)

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed the need for international involvement in Sri Lanka’s process for accountability, during his visit to Colombo.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Sri Lanka’s Foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera, Mr Steinmeier said Germany was ready to share its experiences in the matter of reconciliation and justice, if it was desired by Sri Lanka.

“Unfortunately a global model [for justice and reconciliation] which fits all circumstances does not exist. Dealing with the past is necessary, reconciliation difficult and in many cases quite painful,” the foreign minister said.

“Elements that belong to it include, truth finding, justice, reparations and of course, guarantee of non-recurrence.”

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has rejected a call from the UN and other countries to involve the international community in the proposed accountability mechanism to address mass atrocities during the armed conflict, reports AFP.