The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramun (SLPP) has elected a new Mayor in the United National Party (UNP) controlled region of Negombo.

After joining forces with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) the SLPP local government members elected Dayan Lansa of the SLPP as the new mayor.

The Negombo Municipal Council was won by the United National Party at recent Local Government elections.

The chief minister of the northern province, C V Wigneswaran this week urged the Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena to release a Tamil political prisoner, whose wife died this month, leaving their children without a present parent. 

"Considering the age of the hapless children Your Excellency could use your discretion to grant pardon to the prisoner on humanitarian grounds," Mr Wigneswaran wrote in a letter. 

Families of the disappeared in Muthur staged a protest in Bharathipuram on Wednesday.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on Thursday reiterated the importance of involving international judges in an accountability mechanism in Sri Lanka, stating without this it would not be credible. 

"The ICJ reiterates that, in line with operative paragraph 6 of resolution 30/1, 1 the accountability mechanism cannot be seen as credible without involvement of international judges, prosecutors and investigators," the ICJ said in a statement. 

Two Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) officers were yesterday granted bail over the killing of a Tamil man in Ariyalai in October last year. 

The officers were arrested in November, after the murder weapon and vehicles used in the shooting were found in the Jaffna STF camp. 

The victim, 24 year old Don Bosco Rikman died from a bullet injury.  

The son of the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa said he was blocked from entering the United States this week after spending time in Moscow as an election observer. 

"I won't make my Houston Flight as #US Officials instruct them to not let me board. Sure it has nothing to do with my name, being part of #lka opposition or my travel from #Russia," he tweeted yesterday.

Human Rights Watch this week urged the UN Human Rights Council to the maintain its scrutiny on Sri Lanka until the commitments agreed on within the 30/1 resolution were implemented in full. 

"The Sri Lankan government should present a time-bound implementation plan to carry out its pledges to this body, and the Council needs to maintain scrutiny until Sri Lanka’s commitments are met in full," HRW said in its submission to the Council on Wednesday. 

A Sri Lankan soldier and two local Tamil military intelligence employees were handed death sentences by the Jaffna High Court for the murder of a Hindu priest during a burglary in 2010.

The high court judge, M. Ilancheliyan convicted the three of shooting and killing the priest in Sankanai in April 2010, as well as injuring his two sons.

Switzerland has called on the Sri Lankan government to release the list of those who surrendered to the army in 2009, a demand which has been reiterated by families of the disappeared throughout their struggle for justice.

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council session on Wednesday, the Swiss mission in Geneva expressed concern at Sri Lanka’s lack of progress in implementing the commitments the government had signed up to in previous human rights council resolutions:

The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff told the Sri Lanka and the Human Rights Council "do not wait any longer" to deliver transitional justice, as he submitted his report to the Council on Wednesday. 

Germany expressed concern over the Sri Lanka's government's failure to implement the co-sponsored UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, as well as recent attacks on Muslims in Kandy by Sinhala mobs. 

Canada urged the Sri Lankan government to ensure a time-bound plan to implement the UN Human Rights Council co-sponsored resolution 30/1. 

"While noting positive initial first steps, Canada urges the government with the technical support from the OHCHR to set a time-bound strategy for full implementation of Resolution 30/1," Canada said in a statement. 

A Tamil journalist was detained by the Sri Lankan army and subject to threatening and abusive language by an army official while reporting on the army’s plans to appropriate land in Mullaitivu.

The journalist who had been working in Alampil, were residents have reported that the Sri Lankan Army is attempting to permanently seize the land of a destroyed LTTE cemetery was stopped and questioned by soldiers.

Attempts by the Sri Lankan Army to permanently appropriate the land of a destroyed LTTE cemetery have angered locals in Mullaitivu.

Notices about the seizure by the village officer have gone up in parts of Alampil where the Thuyilum Illam, residents said.

Alampil residents have stated that they will resist any move to build permanent army structures on the site.