Writing in the Asian Correspondent today on the heightened militarisation in the North-East, and the spate of recent arrests of activists, the Tamil journalist in exile J.S. Tissainayagam, warned that the international community's deletion of 'demilitarisation' from the draft UNHRC resolution text " signals to Colombo that there will be no serious opposition to it ruling northern Sri Lanka through the military ." See full article here . Extracts reproduced below: "As the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva was discussing the clauses of its resolution on Sri Lanka, the Colombo government used troops and special laws to arrest human rights defenders (HRDs) in the northern part of the country last week. It is ironic that while the Sri Lanka Government decided to beef-up militarisation in the former warzones and arrest activists, the UNHRC agreed to delete the word “demilitarisation” from its draft resolution."

Photo: Tamil Guardian A new report, to be launched on Friday in London, will reveal systematic torture and sexual violence, perpetrated by Sri Lankan security forces, the author of the report Yasmin Sooka said at an event on the sidelines of the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The report titled, “ An Unfinished War: torture and sexual violence in Sri Lanka ”, uses sworn affidavits from 40 victims, 20 men and 20 women, who testified their experience of abduction, torture, rape and sexual violence, majority of which occurred in 2013/14, and focuses on “white van” abductions, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and sexual violence in the post-war period.

Hundreds of Sri Lankan military personnel rounded up young Tamil men and women in the regions of Sithanthirapuram, Puthukudiyiruppu and Iranaimadu and interrogated them in an unknown place, reports the Uthayan . The youths were interrogated by officers from the military, police and Terrorist Investigation Division (TIC), reported the paper. Eight detainees were detained further in police custody for further interrogation, whilst the rest were released. Meanwhile former LTTE fighters in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu were also reportedly instructed to present themselves to army checkpoints. This latest incident comes amidst a state of increased fear amongst Tamils in the North-East, following the arrests of activists and house to house search operations by military personnel.

An event hosted by NGOs on the sidelines of the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council examined issues of gender based violence in an ethnocracy, in the context of Sri Lanka. The event, hosted by the Society of Threatened Peoples (STP), Tamils against Genocide (TAG), TRIAL, The Sentinel Project, CNRJ and Sri Lanka Advocacy, started with a statement by Kelebone Skelemani, read out by the moderator of the panel, Theodor Rathgeber. Others on the panel were Jan Jananayagam of TAG, Angela Mattli of STP, Anna Gall of the European Centre for Constitutional Rights, and Ananthy Sasitharan, a TNA councillor in the northern province of Sri Lanka. Ms. Skelemani, the former Deputy Permanent Secretary in the ministries of health, trade and home affairs in Botswana, said the debate “Sri Lanka: Torture, Sexual Violence in a context of Ethnicity and Failed Domestic Processes”, came at an “opportune time”, as it complemented the ongoing efforts by the UN to find a permanent solution to problems facing Sri Lanka. “The report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights […] concludes, among others, that human rights violations in Sri Lanka continue unabated,” she said. “The same report also concludes that even where the Government has launched initiatives and established mechanisms such as military courts of enquiry, the initiatives lack independence to be effective and to inspire confidence.”