The US Tamil Political Action Council has urged the international community to judge Sri Lanka’s new government by its actions and not by its words. In a statement released on Friday, USTPAC said the dismay caused by the deferral of the report has been tempered by Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid’s commitment to a stronger outcome. "USTPAC appreciates High Commissioner Zeid's "absolute and unshakable commitment" to the OISL report's publication in September," said Dr. Karunyan Arulanantham, President of USTPAC. "We also take note of the Government of Sri Lanka's stated commitments, made in conjunction with the announcement of the delayed release, and urge the international community to vigilantly ensure that these commitments are fully honored and translated into measurable metrics."
The Sri Lankan government is engaged in talks with Pakistan to explore cooperation on nuclear energy, according to Power Minister Champika Ranawaka. Sri Lanka is said to have readied a memorandum of understanding to be signed with Pakistan to improve “technical capacities and human capacities.” “We have already signed an agreement with Russian state-owned ROSATOM,” he told reporters on Thursday, adding that the government is also exploring possible collaboration with France and the United States.
Sri Lanka's finance minister, Ravi Karunanayake discussed the country's development needs and financial assistance with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington this week. "We had a fruitful discussion about recent economic developments in Sri Lanka and the near-term outlook," a joint statement issued by Mr Karunanayake and the IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde on Wednesday. "These discussions will continue in the context of the next regularly scheduled Post-Program Monitoring mission led by Todd Schneider, which will visit Sri Lanka from February 23 through March 4. IMF Asia and Pacific Department Director Changyong Rhee will also join the mission to meet with senior officials."
The Sinhala group, Sinhala Ravaya, filed a complaint with the Terrorism Investigation Department against the prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, on Friday, over his decision to release a stock of Indian magazines stopped by customs featuring the LTTE leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran. "His order to release the magazine was a threat to national security. We want police to investigate," the Buddhist monk and general secretary of the Sinhala Ravaya, Madille Pannaloka was quoted by PTI as saying. The magazine, named 'Frontline', carried a 1987 interview with Mr Prabhakaran.
The ‘ No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka ’ documentary has completed its tour of the United States with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis . The documentary, which was updated with new evidence and commentary on the recent Presidential elections in Sri Lanka, toured the US to raise awareness about the need to keep international pressure on Sri Lanka to secure justice and address the grievances of Tamils on the island. The director of the film, Callum Macrae, whilst on tour addressed, senior policy makers from the State Department and a round table discussion organised by the Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka, to stress the importance of not taking the international pressure off Sri Lanka to ensure that there was a long standing political solutions addressing injustices against Tamils. The distribution and further screenings of the documentary can be supported using the 2015 No Fire Zone Impact Distribution Project page on Kickstarter.com .
A cross-party group of UK MPs had urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to release the findings of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka examining mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people to schedule stating that "Tamil people in the UK and around the world, and most importantly the victims and witnesses of these genocidal crimes are looking to the OISL report to be released in March 2015." "The OISL report into the systematic genocide against Tamil people in Sri Lanka should be released in March 2015 without postponement and there is no doubt that if this is not done, it would be seen to be a retrograde step for the UN if it is delayed; as well as reflecting on the opinion of the neutrality of the UN," the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) had written in a letter, sent to the UK Foreign Secretary, ahead of the UN Human Rights Council's decision on Monday to defer the publishing of the findings by six months in order to gain further information through cooperation by the new Sri Lankan government.
The Tamil Refugee Council (TRC) has condemned the Australian government for the removal of four Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka earlier this month, stating the situation remains dangerous for those who are deported despite the change in government on the island. “This is another shameful act by a callous Australian government,” said Tamil Refugee Council convenor Trevor Grant, after four Tamil asylum seekers were intercepted by Australian authorities at sea and deported. Commenting on the change of government in Sri Lanka earlier this year, Mr Grant added that Maithripala Sirisena taking office has led to “no perceptible change for these people”. “[Sirisena] has made a point of saying he will maintain the military occupation in the north and east and the draconian Prevention of Terorrism Act,” said Grant. “These are the main drivers of the terror that sends these people, who are mostly Tamil, fleeing from the island.”
The Sri Lankan army gave 15 houses in Vavuniya to Tamil people displaced from the Vanni in a ceremony on Wednesday, led by the commander of the army, Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake.
Tamils in Amparai protested on Wednesday demanding that the Tamil paramilitary leader, K Pushpakumar (alias. Iniya Bharathi) should face justice for crimes committed during his time as Amparai's UPFA district coordinator, when hundreds of Tamil youths were reported missing. "Iniya Bharathi, where are our children abducted by you?," read placards held mothers, who also held photographs of their missing children. Calling for an investigation into the arrests and abductions made by Iniya Bharathi during his time as coordinator, protesters also demanded that the bodies and the remains of missing people to be excavated from his premises and sent for investigation.
Sri Lanka Campaign stressed on Wednesday that the delay in publishing the findings of the UN inquiry into mass atrocities against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, must not become a denial of justice. On Monday the UN Human Rights Council decided to deferred the publishing of the report by the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka by six months to September, citing promises made by the new government of "broad cooperation" with the OISL and thus the hope of further information. "The news will doubtless come as a disappointment to the survivors of Sri Lanka’s civil war, who have waited patiently for justice for over six years, with little other cause for hope," Sri Lanka Campaign said.