"There is no reason whatsoever for the Sri Lankan army to enter schools in the North. If they wish to help they should via the Education Department. Instead, most of the military go directly into the schools and offer help. Not only does this affect the natural state, but it affects the mental state of the students when the army enter the schools."

“Currently, there is army involvement in the education system, as there is in every other system in Sri Lanka. In line with this, university freshers are being taken to military camps and given leadership training."

"The army's leadership training is to bring in the mindset of obeying leadership instead of becoming a leader."

The Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT), an international body based in Rome, is currently underway in Bremen, Germany.

The tribunal, headed by Secretary General Gianni Tognoni, is hearing the case for genocide against the Tamil nation by the Sri Lankan state.

The International Monetary Fund has warned Sri Lanka that its move towards self-sufficiency, through import substitutions and other trade restrictions may damage the country’s economy.

Sri Lanka's 2014 budget has seen several tax rises on imports, for example, on boats, allowing local boat makers to target fishermen with impunity and earn rents, but also pharmaceutical firms who target the sick and the old, said LBO.

Export taxes were also imposed on primary goods makers such as rubber and cinnamon, in effect penalising efficient producers who are exporting at less than global market prices.

The body’s representative in Colombo Koshy Mathai told reporters that economic autarky has consistently failed elsewhere.

"It is not a matter of opinion. It is not a matter of IMF doctrine," Mathai said.

"It is simply a matter of fact. So I think we have to be very careful when it comes to import tariffs meant to protect a whole number of different industries. The increase in export and import taxes, we think will go against the direction of trade liberalisation and competitiveness,

Sri Lanka’s Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne complained that the ‘LTTE diaspora’ misled some of the country delegates in attendance at last month’s Commonwealth summit in the country.

Major General Jagath Dias of the Sri Lankan Army has been refused a visa to Australia, media reports said. He had applied to participate in an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) project being held there this month.

 

"TAG welcomes this reiteration of a commitment to an international investigation into crimes against humanity by the Shadow Foreign Secretary"

"We were happy to have the opportunity to discuss systemic issues of ethnic cleansing via forced demographic change and the impact of systematic gender-based violence in destroying Tamil communities in Sri Lanka, the militarisation of the economy in the Tamil North and East that is depriving local communities of livelihood, all of these being elements in the state sponsored destruction of the Tamil people on the island."

"We have agreed to continue our positive engagement on these issues."