The Washington-based advocacy group PEARL has criticised premature international praise and engagement of Sri Lanka, in a statement condemning the current government’s torture of Tamils revealed in a report by the Associated Press.

“Despite evidence of ongoing torture and continued impunity for atrocity crimes, Western nations are pursuing friendlier relations with the Sri Lankan state,” the organisation said.

The Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday once again reassured troops that he would not allow them to be tried before a war crimes tribunal, Colombo Gazette reported. 

“As long as I remain the head of the country, I assure you that none of you would be allowed to testify before any war tribunals. Instead, such errant Army personnel, if any, can be produced before Courts and tried according to the existing law of the country," Mr Sirisena said. 

The spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric said staff would be "taking into account" a report published by the Associated Press yesterday of recent rape and torture of Tamils by Sri Lankan security forces when assessing troops to serve as UN peacekeepers. 

Asked by the Inner City Press what the UN's reaction was to the AP report and how the UN ensures that troops who have engaged in torture are not deployed as peacekeepers, Mr Dujarric said, 

The Sri Lankan government has blocked access to a news site that has been critical of it previously, AFP reported.

Access to the London based site, Lanka-e-news, from Sri Lanka was blocked on Thursday. 

The move comes just a day after the website published a story alleging corruption within the president's office regarding the purchase of state vehicles. 

"We do not expect this type of behaviour from a government which came to power in January 2015 promising media freedom," the Working Journalists Association of Sri Lanka was quoted by AFP as saying in a statement.

The Sri Lankan government has defended its 'zero tolerance policy' on torture, following an article by the Associated Press, detailing ongoing torture and rape by Sri Lankan security forces.

In a letter to the New York Times, Sri Lanka's Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prasad Kariyawasam, said,

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has highlighted the need for a "much closer inspection" on the part of the UN into reports of rape and torture of Tamil men by Sri Lankan security services since 2016, under the current national unity government. 

Responding to reports published on Wednesday by the Associated Press detailing rape and torture by security forces from 2016 until July 2017, Mr Zeid said, "while the UN is unable to confirm this until we mount an investigation, clearly the reports are horrifying and merit a much closer inspection from our part, especially if they occurred in 2016 and 2017." 

The news wire, which based its feature on interviews with 20 Tamil men and a review of 32 medical and psychological reports, noted that the UN Human Rights chief was "aghast at AP's accounts of the 52 tortured men." 

The Indian High Commission in Colombo said New Delhi agreed to provide further fuel to resolve Sri Lanka’s fuel shortage.

The announcement came following a teleconference between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lanka counterpart Maithripala Sirisena.

“In response to Sri Lanka’s request for emergency petrol shipments, PM assured that India will extend all possible assistance,” said the Indian High Commission.

The Under Secretary of Political Affairs Thomas A Shannon Jr, praised Sri Lanka’s progress on “post-war justice, reconciliation and accountability" and announced plans to provide Sri Lanka’s navy with a second ‘high endurance’ coast guard ship as part of “a tangible symbol” of a “growing partnership” to ensure “regional stability.”

Mr Thomas was speaking during a visit to Colombo as part of the second meeting of the US Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue.

The United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) this week announced funds of $493,827 to promote religious freedom in Sri Lanka, as well as a further $493,827 for projects in India. 

On Sri Lanka, the DRL said it was seeking "to ensure that authorities at all levels of government in Sri Lanka effectively implement national laws and policies protecting religious freedom."

In an article published on Wednesday, the Associated Press detailed ongoing allegations of rape and torture of Tamil men by Sri Lankan security forces that are said to have taken place between 2016 and July this year. 

Based on the interviews with 20 men and a review of 32 medical and psychological reports, AP noted, "Raped, branded or beaten repeatedly, more than 50 men from the Tamil ethnic minority seeking political asylum in Europe say they were abducted and tortured under Sri Lanka’s current government."

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