Countering a press statement released on Monday by the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa entitled 'Constitutional and legal reforms to destroy the nation', Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera argued that his government had managed to end the country's scrutiny on an international stage and bring "shift all action to a domestic front". 

See here for full statement. 

Extracts reproduced below: 

A continuous protest by the families of the disappeared held outside the Mullaitivu District Secretariat has now reached its 8th day.

Relatives of the missing and forcibly disappeared continue to protest in Kilinochchi today, with their demonstration now lasting twenty-five days.

As Tamils protest for the release of their lands in Keppapulavu, the Sri Lankan military have been engaged in building a new Buddhist vihara on their occupied land.

Protestors in Mullaitivu have been reporting for months that as they protest, the military personnel in their lands could be seen destroying homes and infrastructure.

The European Union and Sri Lanka agreed that the full implementation of UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 remained a priority.

In talks between the EU delegation to the Working Group on Governance, Rule of Law and Human Right and Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, both sides claim to have reaffirmed their joint commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights which included the full implantation of the October 2015 resolution.

The statement also states that discussions took place on maintaining the freedoms of expression and the media, strengthening civil society, advancing the rights of women and children etc.

Ten Sri Lankan soldiers accused of the Siruppiddy murder – the abduction and murder of two Tamil youths in 1997 – are to be acquitted on the instruction of the Attorney-General. Out of fourteen soldiers remanded, ten were ordered for acquittal, and nine were released with the other having already died.

After the murder in November 1997, sixteen soldiers attached to the Siruppiddiy army camp, including a Lieutenant, were arrested in connection.

Having laid dormant for almost ten years, the case was reopened in January 2016 and murder charges filed against all sixteen soldiers. Two of these were already deceased.

A former LTTE cadre who had undergone the Sri Lankan government’s “rehabilitation” program was arrested on Monday, with no clear charges laid out against her.

The woman, reportedly a Mullaitivu resident, was arrested in Wellawaya, as Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena attended a ceremony in the region.

Three other people who were with her have also been detained by the police.

Officials have said the woman is now being questioned over the purpose of her visit to Wellawaya, but no further details on why she has been held have been released.

Sri Lanka's navy commander on Sunday rejected reports that officers had fired shots towards Tamil Nadu fisherman and their vessels over recent weeks. 

His statement came after Tamil Nadu fishermen said one of their colleagues was shot dead by the Sri Lankan navy on March 6, and many fishermen boycotted the annual Kachchativu feast in protest at the attacks by the navy.