The Sri Lankan Army has declared it has discovered ancient Buddhist ruins in Kilinochchi, with the area now closed off as a “sacred archaeological site”. Troops from the Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI) troops of the 662 Brigade allegedly came across the site “by accident”, according to the Army website . After an inspection from Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, Commander of the Security Forces in Kilinochchi, government archaeologists were called in, who stated that the site held a Buddhist temple from the Polonnaruwa period and needed “further excavations, extensive research and...

A much criticised Sri Lankan government commission into disappearances has received over 18,000 submissions regarding missing people, in just three hearings across the North-East of the island. The probe, declared open by the government just weeks before it faced a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, has been dismissed as a farce by NPC member Ananthy Sasitharan and NPC Deputy Chairman Antony Jeganathan . Yet, in three sittings across the Tamil homeland, in Killinochchi, Jaffna and Batticaloa, thousands of desperate relatives have submitted 18,590 complaints, in hope of finding their...

Next week, the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict is due to take place in London, co-hosted by the UK's Foreign Secretary, William Hague and the Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie. In the run up to the ESVC summit, we revisit the mounting evidence which documents the widespread, systematic and on-going use of sexual violence by Sri Lanka's military against Tamils , that occurs with absolute impunity. See our full feature: 'Sexual Violence in Conflict: Sri Lanka' Krishanthy Kumaraswamy, 18y, gang raped and killed by soldiers on 7 August 1996 The use of rape and sexual violence by Sri Lankan armed forces against Tamils, far from being a feature of the last stages of the armed conflict, has been prominent through out the thirty year period of armed conflict, as well previously. Cases reported before 2009, include the rape of Tamil civilians in the North-East, paramilitary run prostitution rackets in camps and the use of sexual violence as torture in military-run detention facilities. The incidence of rape by security forces has always remained vastly under reported. In 1996, Amnesty International, in its report, ' Sri Lanka: Wavering Commitment to Human Rights ', noted: “ Amnesty International has documented several cases of rape by members of the security forces. Because many women are reluctant to give testimony about their treatment by the security forces, Amnesty International believes that these testimonies represent only a fraction of a widespread pattern of human rights violations. In those cases reported to Amnesty International, the authorities took some initial action against the alleged perpetrators. However, the organization does not know of any member of the security forces who has been brought to justice on charges of rape. ”

Photographs @GGPonnambalam Families of the disappeared protested in Mullaitivu this morning, calling for their loved ones to be returned and for those responsible to be brought to account. A cross party group of politicians including, the Tamil National Alliance's Northern Provincial Councillor, Ananthy Sasitharan, and MPs Suresh Premachandran and S. Sritharan, as well as, Gajenthrakumar Ponnambalam and Selvarajah Kajendran from the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) joined the campaigners outside the Mullaitivu District government office. Police and military intelligence officers were...