Female teachers in Jaffna are being forced to pay for and wear blue sarees, to represent the colours of the President's political party, during Mahinda Rajapaksa's Jaffna visit.

The teachers are having the cost deducted from their salaries, without any prior consultation.

Uthayan reports teachers as saying that at 2500 Rupees, the sarees cost far more than what they would usually pay for their work clothes and that the cost was too steep for something worn for one day.

The International Association of Tamil Journalists (IATAJ) is holding a conference in London, looking at the role of the media on October 11 in London.

The conference, entitled “The media in post war Sri Lanka: supporting democratisation in the era of the ‘War on Terrorism’”, aims to “to generate an exchange of ideas and insights between academics and professionals on the role of media for counteracting the delegitimisation of democratic process in post- war Sri Lanka”, a media communiqué said.

Journalists, academics and activists from around the world will participate in the conference, including award-winning journalist JS Tissanayagam, Jaffna university lecturer Guruparan Kumaravadivel, Vino Kanapathipillai, lecturer in international relations at SOAS, independent journalist Nirmanusan Balasundaram, Tamil Guardian co-editor Mario Arulthas, Dr.Ibrahim Sega Shaw, a lecturer in media, human rights and politics at Northumbria University, Prof. Rune Ottosen, professor in journalism at Oslo university, Dr Jude Lal Fernando of Trinity University, Dublin, and the head of the Centre for Policy Analysis Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu.

A group of conservationists have written to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa calling on him to destroy a stockpile of seized African ivory tusks worth about $2.6 million, which he was to gift to a Buddhist temple.

The Federation of Environmental Organisations of Sri Lanka and the Clinton Global Initiative wrote to Rajapaksa, stating Sri Lanka should demonstrate its “sincere commitment” to opposing the ivory trade by destroying the stockpile of 359 Tanzanian elephant tusks.

Rajapaksa’s chief of staff had earlier written to the director general of Sri Lanka’s Customs department, saying, “I shall be thankful if you could kindly get the tusks ­released to the Presidential Secretariat as early as possible.”

Photograph Tamil Guardian

The Human Rights Committee on Wednesday concluded its review of Sri Lanka’s adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), with many key questions left unanswered by the Sri Lankan delegation.

On day two of the review, the committee questioned Sri Lanka further on its response to the list of issues raised by the experts.

“Pakistan and Sri Lanka enjoy excellent relations which are being strengthened by exchange of high level visits and strong support extended by both sides to each other in matters of mutual interests at the regional and international forums. The High Commissioner assured that Pakistan would continue to extend all possible support to Sri Lanka in future, as well.”