"The government is using development to conceal the wounds of those affected by the war. The government's development in the North-East does not work towards peace or solve the problems faced by the people. The motive behind the current form of development in the Tamil Areas is to steal our resources and people's hard work."

The presidential secretary has said to journalists in Colombo that there cannot be reconciliation in the country if moves for accountability are made.

“My argument (to the international community) was that, yes, you can have an international inquiry,” Lalith Weeratunga said.

A Sri Lankan minister has said that the government would not accept any ‘country-specific’ resolution.

Minister for Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Dilan Perera said to media in Namibia that they are being targeted for “narrow political reasons”.

A protest was held outside the United Nations office in Chennai earlier this week, demanding an international investigation into genocide and a referendum as part of a political solution.

The protest comes ahead of the United Nations Human Right Council session in March, where a resolution on Sri Lanka is expected to be submitted.

The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, John Rankin, reiterated on Sri Lankan television that the British government will call for an international investigation at the United Nations Human Rights Council, in the absence of an independent domestic process in Sri Lanka.

The Bishop of Jaffna has reiterated that the Tamil people are hoping for an international investigation to take place, in a meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador, reported the Uthayan.

Whilst meeting a Norwegian delegation that included Ambassador Grete Løchen, the Bishop said that an investigation must be undertaken by the international community and not Sri Lanka, noting that the Tamil people were hoping that a resolution in Geneva, where the UNHRC is set to meet in March, would call for this.

Stating that complaints regarding disappeared persons have been ignored, he added that the Tamil people need justice and went on to tell the delegation that since the end of the armed conflict, drug use and sexual assaults have increased.

Pictures: Sankathi24

The Bishop of Mannar held a special mass service with family members of the disappeared on Thursday, near the Mannar grave were 61 bodies have been unearthed so far.

Ringing the bell for all those that went missing in Mannar, the Bishop recited prayers for all those that had disappeared or been kidnapped.

Addressing the crowd, he went on to state that, from September 2007 until May 2009 166 people had disappeared from Mannar alone, adding that he had collected all their details and submitted it to the LLRC. Yet, the Bishop lamented, their whereabouts are still unknown, and he went on to call for an independent and accountable investigation.

Father Jeyaraj Rasiah has filed a case in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court, in an attempt to force the Sri Lankan Air Force to cancel their seizure of land that belongs to a Catholic Church in Trincomalee.

Two years ago, the Sri Lankan Air Force came and seized the land, that has belonged to the Church for over 50 years, and stopped all persons from entering the area stated the Father.

He went on to add that despite complaints being submitted to the Air Force, there has been no response and no explanation given as to why the land was seized.

Sri Lanka’s Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has hit out at the international community for criticising his country on the issue of investigations into war crimes, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.