“It’s bad enough that the Commonwealth has allowed a government accused of massive rights abuses and war crimes to host its summit,”

Britain’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka John Rankin said on Wednesday that Prime Miinster David Cameron will use his visit to Sri lanka next month to pressure the government to make “concrete progress” on human rights issues and accountability for war crimes.

"The British government will come with a clear message that Sri Lanka needs to make concrete progress on human rights, reconciliation and a political settlement," Rankin told the Foreign Correspondents' Association in Colombo.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written to the President of the DMK, M Karunanidhi, calling on hunger striker Thiagu to call off his fast, stating a decision to attend the upcoming CHOGM has yet to be decided.

Thiagu, General Secretary of the Tamil National Liberation Movement, has been on hunger strike since the 1st of October.

Writing to the DMK Chief, Singh stated,

"I wish to inform you that a decision on the issue of my participation in the CHOGM conference will be taken only after considering all relevant factors, including the sentiments of your party and the Tamil people."

Speaking at a Sri Lankan military gathering in the Northern Provincial area of Vanni, Sri Lanka’s Army Commander, Daya Ratnayake, issued a stern warning to individuals or parties that attempted to divide the country.

Outlining that underground members of terrorist organisations and intelligence operatives were still actively trying to destabilise the Sri Lankan state, Ratnayake, said,

A case brought by the parents of Ganesan Nimalaruban, who died last year in a Vavuniya prison, has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Nimalaruban died along with another inmate after riots by Tamil detainees, during which several prison guards were taken hostage.

Prison officials say Nimalaruban died of heart disease, however his family and lawyers say that his body had physical injuries.

Speaking at a Jaffna press conference at the Jaffna Press Club on Monday, Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam praised the people of the North for demand for self-determination expressed by their votes at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections last month.

Listen to press conference in Tamil here:

Standing by the TNPF’s decision to boycott the election, Gajendrakumar said that the Tamil people of the North were to be praised for rejecting Sri Lankan rule in the Tamil homeland, and for expressing their enduring desire for the right to self-determination, despite all the obstacles and hardships they have faced in the four years since the end of the armed conflict.

"We also view this [election result] as something special. As you well know, our party boycotted this election completely."

"But despite that, we did not ask the Tamil people to boycott the election or to act in a way that we instructed. As you well know we did released a written statement, that only a few media outlets covered. In that way, we left the election to the conscience of the people."

"As far as we are concerned, even today, the [Tamil] people have clearly expressed their aspirations, namely, firstly, they have categorically rejected the Sri Lankan state's conduct and rule within the Tamil homeland. Secondly, with regards to Tamil political aspirations, even today, they have once again, resolutely voted for the right to self-determination, seeking the reaffirmation of our nationhood, and unanimously, for the freedom of a nation; in a vote that has no historic precedence."

"We bow our heads to their [Tamil people's] act"

Gajendrakumar said that his party would work to keep the people actively engaged in politics, outside of election time.

The Sri Lankan military has continued the land grab and colonisation of the North-East reports Tamilnet.

Resettled Tamil farmers have had their agricultural land taken by the Sri Lankan military, who have been involved in resettling people form the South to form a new village in the North-Eastern region of Kokkuth-thoduvaay.

The Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has said that Sri lanka will follow the same guidelines as employed by the Australian government during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth 2 years ago.

Rambukwella said background checks are currently being performed on foreign journalists who have applied to enter the country to cover CHOGM.

The CHOGM 2013 Task Force Secretariat in Colombo will be making the final decisions in this regard, he said.

The Indian Minister of Naval affairs G K Vasan, suggested today that 2 aspects would be taken into consideration before the final decision is taken regarding India’s participation at CHOGM.