Politicians and families of the disappeared held demonstrations in Mannar to call for the release of Tamil political prisoners on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena visited the construction site of a new International Buddhist University to inspect progress on Tuesday.

Accompanied by Buddhist Monks President Sirisena looked over future architectural models for the new construction development.

The Manelwatte Naganda International Buddhist University is expected to house lecture auditoriums that can accommodate 1500 people whilst providing residential facilities for 750 people.

Writing in the Diplomat, Taylor Dibbert said it was time for Sri Lanka’s political leadership to explain the content of the UNHRC resolution clearly to all its citizens and explain the importance of reforms.

Adding that Colombo “has been reluctant to take even small steps to reach out to the Tamil community,” Mr Dibbert questioned whether “worries over a Sinhala-Buddhist backlash would again be used to justify prevarication form those in power.”

Full piece reproduced below.

Sri Lanka’s new government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, has now made a range of assurances via an extensive reform agenda and is now faced with the trickier task of implementation. Elections in January (when Sirisena defeated the increasingly authoritarian Mahinda Rajapaksa in his quest to win an unprecedented third term) and August parliamentary polls, combined with the recently passed UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution on Sri Lanka, have presented the country with an unanticipated opening.

Amnesty International called on the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance to investigate secret detention camps and mass grave sites during its visit to Sri Lanka.

Calling on the working group to investigate secret detention centres with a view to holding state actors accountable, the briefing note said,

Tamil politicians and family members of those detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) took part in a public protest in Mullaitivvu calling for the immediate release of Tamil political prisoners.

An expansion of an army run hotel in the government declared High Security Zone in Jaffna was opened by a member of the Security Forces on Saturday.

Photographs: Tamil Guardian

The Sri Lankan navy took part in a Buddhist ceremony in Nainativu this week, where the Commander of the Navy laid the foundation stone for a new statue of the Buddha to be built.

The navy participated in the ceremony held at the Nagadeepa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya, a Buddhist temple situated in the Jaffna peninsula islet, with the military stating the “Northern Naval Command of the Sri Lanka Navy extended all the supportive measures to make the event a successful one”.

Following an all-night chanting ceremony, the Chief Incumbent of the temple “invoked blessings on the Sri Lanka Navy for their meritorious act and for all the assistances provided,” stated the Ministry of Defence.

Former army commander General Jagath Jayasuriya, who is widely thought to be responsible for mass atrocities during the last phase of the armed conflict, has taken up his new post as Sri Lanka's ambassador to Brazil.

The general presented his credentials to President Dilma Rousseff earlier this week and briefed her on the political progress seen on the island since the change in government.

The Foreign Ministry announced in June that former army commander Jagath Jayasuriya and former army chief Daya Ratnayake have been nominated as envoys to Brazil and Pakistan respectively. Both held senior positions during the last phase of the armed conflict, which saw grave violations of international humanitarian law. Mr Jayasuriya was denied a US visa earlier this year over the allegations.

The NPC passed a resolution on Thursday demanding the revocation of the change in name of the island Nainathivu to the Sinhala name, Nagapattina.

The resolution, which was unanimously approved, said the government gazette mandating the change of the name was an attempt to distort history.

The chairman of the NPC, CVK Sivagnanam, who tabled the motion, stressed that the name must be changed back to its original name in Tamil.