The Sri Lankan military has announced that soldiers were removed from "most" of the army check-points in Colombo on Saturday, reports Xinhua.

The army spokesperson, Ruwan Wanigasooriya, said,

"We removed most of the army checkposts in the city on Saturday and handed it over to the police. This is as a result of the continuing improvements we see in the security of the city,"

According to Xinhua, the sri Lankan army headquarters is due to be relocated outside of Colombo to make room for 5-star hotels.

Meanwhile the government has rebuked any calls to de-militarise the North-East.

See here and here for comments by Mahinda Rajapaksa and here for comments by Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

See also:

Military marks 4000 acres for construction in Mullaitheevu (02 Jun 2012)

Confirming that the UN High Commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay has been invited to Sri Lanka to "observe its post-war development and reconciliation efforts", former attorney general, Mohan Peiris, asserted that "he government has not extended any invitation to any fact finding mission".

Commenting on a bill proposed by the Ministry of Justice which seeks to extend the time that police are allowed to detain a suspect from 24 to 48 hours, the President's Counsel, MP Wijedasa Rajapaksha, asserted that “even if the amendments were not brought and the law stayed as it is the torture would not stop."

Addressing United Nations Day of Vesak celebrations in Bangkok on Saturday, Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa said:

A senior Buddhist monk from south London has been jailed for sexually assaulting an underage girl.

Sri Lankan Army has been constructing houses in Thirumurukandi, Mullaitheevu district, after seizing 4,000 acres of land reports Uthayan.

Sri Lanka is to request a further US$500 million after the completion of the Standby Arrangement (SBA) of US$2.6 billion next month, the International Monetary Cooperation Senior Minister, Sarath Amunugama, revealed on Wednesday.

Amunugama said,

A report by the Tamil rights group, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), provides primary evidence supporting the claims of torture against failed asylum seekers, and Tamils deemed to be political active.

Find report here.

See TamilNet article here.

One signed witness statement, which we should warn is extremely distressing, said:

"... about 5 CID officers beat me. And pushed me roughly and tightly. They hit my head against the wall and tore my T shirt off. Then one person untied the knots in my hand and ordered me to undress. They forced me to undress and then beat me left and right with their booted legs..."

Sri Lankan Minister Mervyn Silva has been cleared by a party ‘disciplinary hearing’, following comments made by the Minister threatening journalists and human rights activists after the 19th UN Human Rights Council session.

“In light of the UK’s obligations under universal jurisdiction provisions, we invite the Metropolitan Police to investigate these allegations and arrest Rajapaksa in order to commence criminal proceedings.”

“TAG has submitted a formal complaint with the aim of bringing justice to the victims of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Sri Lankan state.

While TAG appreciates that there are immunity issues involved, it is our understanding that this will not prevent the Metropolitan Police from opening a case file and commencing investigations.”

“the report characterizes the systematic shelling of civilians and intentional deprivation of access to food and medicine as “calculated to bring about the destruction of a significant part of the civilian population”. This characterization is identical to the definition of genocide in Article 2(c) of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.”

“The strength of these credible allegations clearly meets the threshold for an arrest to be made and charges to be brought. TAG urges the Metropolitan Police to take necessary steps in accordance with the UK’s universal jurisdiction and international law obligations to arrest Rajapaksa and bring him to justice.”

The National Freedom Front (NFF), a constituent party of the ruling coalition in Sri Lanka, has called for the deportation of the British High Commissioner John Rankin, after he criticised the disproportionate military presence in the Northeast of the island.