Tamil politicians across the political spectrum protested in Vavuniya on Monday, against the on-going settlement of Sinhala citizens into Tamil areas, whilst Tamil refugees remain homeless and face increasing obstacle to land registration.

The press release answers “Frequently Asked Questions” on Sri Lanka’s planned CHOGM and argues that allowing the meeting to be held there would infringe on the Commonwealth’s fundamental principles.

Extracts have been reproduced below:

Q: Sri Lanka has already formed a domestic inquiry into allegations; why not wait for the outcomes of that process before acting on Sri Lanka?

A: Sri Lanka’s domestic mechanism, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has been found by international and UN experts (such as the Panel of Experts) as well as civil society groups to lack both an adequate mandate and the impartiality necessary for credible investigations. The mechanism will submit its report in November 2011. CHOGM venues are usually decided at the preceding CHOGM and CHOGM 2011 in October is the last chance to decide against Sri Lanka hosting the event. By November when the LLRC report comes out, it will be too late to prevent Sri Lanka from hosting CHOGM. Pinning hopes on an internationally discredited mechanism at the risk of losing the Commonwealth’s legitimacy is dangerous.

Q: Why target Sri Lanka when all countries within the Commonwealth are not perfect. Why block a developing island state’s first chance to host CHOGM when a large and developed Western player like Australia has held CHOGM thrice?

A: Sri Lanka’s human rights situation is one of the most acute cases within the Commonwealth. The nature of entrenched impunity and a long history of unaccounted for human rights violations coupled with allegations of egregious human rights violation at the end of Sri Lanka’s long running civil war makes it a special concern. The next CHOGM could be granted to another small developing country such as Mauritius which offered in 2009 to host CHOGM in 2011 as an alternative to Sri Lanka and is to host CHOGM in 2015.

Q: What will happen if CHOGM 2013 is held in Sri Lanka?

A: Endorsement of Sri Lanka as the host of 2013 CHOGM and the visit of 54 Heads of governments to the country will potentially amount to political apathy towards the human rights allegations Sri Lanka faces and may result in the condoning of such violations. The political clout Sri Lanka derives from hosting the meeting may be used to fend off all other international calls for accountability at forums such as the UN Human Rights Council. Hosting CHOGM 2013 will also allow Sri Lanka to preside over the Commonwealth as its Chair till 2015. The risks and potential consequences of having a country that has been implicated in gross human rights violations Chair the organisation outweighs bleak possibilities of positive engagement.

See the full release here.

A report into the former defence secretary, Liam Fox's conduct has concluded that he did 'breach the ministerial code' and displayed a 'failure of judgment'.

The report was undertaken by the cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell. In it, he writes,

Extracts have been reproduced below:

A key donor to Pargav Ltd, the company run by Mr. Adam Werritty, the close friend and styled advisor to UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox who resigned on Friday, said its contribution was meant for development activities in Sri Lanka.

The resignation of British Defence Secretary Liam Fox following revelations about his unauthorised and dubious foreign policy-related activities will be welcomed by all those committed to a just and lasting peace in Sri Lanka. However the serious questions raised – once again – by last week’s media reports about Dr. Fox’s activities must also be answered.

Dr. Fox resigned because, in his own words, “I mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred.” Nowhere is this more true than in the case of Sri Lanka.

Following Monday’s attack on Mr Thavapalasingam, President of the Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU), students from the University gathered in protest against the serious assault and the continued intimidation of Tamil students in Jaffna.

The International Commission of Jurists, Australia (ICJA), urged the Australian government to ensure accountability and justice, in a statement released on Monday,

The president of the ICJA, John Dowd QC, called for the suspension of Sri Lankan from the Commonwealth and the prosecution of former navy commander, and current Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia, Thisara Samarasinghe, for alleged war crimes.

Dowd said,

“Those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the end of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009 must not be allowed to go unpunished.”

“In continuing violation of international human rights law, there are thousands of former combatants and civilians in Sri Lankan detention camps still not identified or accounted for.”

“The International Commission of Jurists, Australia has furnished the Australian Federal Police with a brief of evidence that corroborates and substantiates the findings of the UN Secretary-General’s Expert Panel. Since October 2009, such evidence has been taken from witnesses in Australia and overseas."

“It is clear that Australia has  an  obligation  to  investigate  and,  where  appropriate,  to  prosecute  those responsible."

“Australia owes this much to the Australian citizens and residents who are victims of the Sri Lankan civil war.”

"If the Commonwealth is to mean anything at all on issues like human rights, it has to look to the actions of its members. This is one of its members who's the putative next host in 2013,"

Former Sri Lankan navy admiral Samarasinghe was the North-East commander during 2009. Several eye witnesses statements state that naval ships fired on civilians as they fled the conflict.

Australia's shadow foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, has raised concerns over whether the government knew of Samarasinghe's highly questionable past before accepting him as Sri Lanka's High Commissioner.

Speaking to the Australian press, Bishop said,

"The allegations against the Sri Lankan high commissioner are extremely serious. Kevin Rudd should review whether the government was aware of the allegations prior to accepting his appointment as high commissioner, and whether the government undertook any inquiries or investigations into the appointment."

Samarasinghe has refuted all allegations: "I specifically reject, totally reject such allegations. Such allegations are baseless."

The Metropolitan police are to investigate Adam Werritty for possible fraud, following revelations that the close friend of the former defence secretary, Liam Fox, had been posing as an official advisor and sitting in on defence meetings.

The leader of the Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) K. Thavapalan has been attacked and seriously injured by suspected Sri Lankan Army personnel.

Thavapalan, who was elected as president of the JUSU in 2010, was followed by the assailants before being attacked with iron bars, causing grave injuries.

In a precedent setting case, a US court has ruled that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse can be served over TamilNet and through Sri Lankan newspapers, in a case against him for complicity in extra-judicial killings.