An international inquiry to investigate rights violations in Sri Lanka is needed deemed the UN High Commissioner  for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, whilst highlighting the lack of political will in Sri Lanka to work towards truth and justice.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report which was leaked by a Sri Lankan paper today, outlined that the lack of truth and justice in Sri Lanka was not question of time or capacity but rather "political will" and called for an “ international inquiry mechanism to further investigate alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and monitor any domestic accountability process.”

Along with 12 recommendations for Sri Lanka, the UN human rights commissioner, Navi Pillay, in her report concluded,

“New- evidence including witness testimony, video and photographic material – continues to emerge on what took place in the final stages of the armed conflict. Human remains also continue to be discovered, for instance in Matale in November 2012 and Mannar in December 2013.”

“As the emblematic cases highlighted above show, national mechanisms have consistently failed to establish the truth and achieve justice. The High Commissioner believes this can no longer be explained as a function of time or technical capacity, but that it is fundamentally a question of political will.”

Pillay also reiterated her concern over Sri Lanka’s failure to implement previous UNHRC recommendations and  the continuing “trend of attacks on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, particularly against human rights defenders, journalists and families of victims; the rising levels of religious intolerances; and continued militarisation which continues to undermine the environment where accountability and reconciliation can be achieved.”

British Tamils have assisted in flood relief efforts in the United Kingdom, after major storms struck the country this week.

Organised by the TCC UK, Tamils from London collected donations of blankets, clothes, food and water to distribute to those affected by the floods, with one London temple donating £1,000 towards relief efforts.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) outlined today that it would not engage in the government Parliament Select Committee (PSC) on the National issue  as the Sri Lankan government had failed to fulfill previous promises.

A Sri Lankan daily reported, today, that the Sri Lankan government had prepared a counter-proposal to combat the resolution to be tabled against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March.
 
A high-level delegation led by External Affairs Minister, G.L Peiris and Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, is expected to travel to the UNHRC with a counter-proposal whilst presenting efforts taken by the government to address accountability and reach reconciliation.

The Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, speaking at a ceremony at the Sri Lankan High Commission, reiterated the Australian government’s support for Sri Lanka’s reconciliation progress since the end of the armed conflict with the LTTE and commended Sri Lanka’s ‘political will and commitment’ to the process.

Drawing upon an Australian parliamentary delegation visit to Sri Lanka, she said,

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province CV Wigneswaran has called for assurances to be made on the “security” and “safety” of the diaspora, stating that the Tamil areas of the island wrecked by war need their participation to recover.

Lamenting the lack of progress in developing the livelihood of the Tamils war torn areas of the island, Wigneswaran called the diaspora a “competitive resource” adding,

“They have the technical know how, along with resources to contribute towards post-war rebuilding. They have the socio-cultural links with their motherland and also genuine interest, which are important ingredients to foster transfer of knowledge and technical know-how.”

He stated "the Government of Sri Lanka does not have the financial resources and professional technical input or knowledge capital to contribute towards an effective post war recovery” and said,

“For the diaspora professionals to come over and participate in the post war recovery processes we need to have pragmatic, meaningful structures and modalities in place to ensure their security, safety, motivation and participation.”

Canadian Tamil businessman Anthonypillai Mahendrarajah was murdered when he returned to Vanni in 2012, after a reported conflict with the military over occupied property.

After yet another in a long series of errors on official sign boards, the Sri Lankan government was forced to make an apology, reported the BBC on Friday.

UNP politician Gamini S Kaviratne switched allegiances to the ruling UPFA coalition this week, becoming the latest opposition member to cross over to the government.

 The National Fishermen Committee, despite government intimidation, held a protest against the appropriation of Tamil land, today, in front of Jaffna Muniyappar temple.



Hundreds of people gathered with placards and slogans, reading, ‘Resettle us back in our homeland’, ‘Do not invade our land’ ‘Where are our disappeared relatives?’ and ‘Let our fishermen live.’


Speaking at the protest, the Northern Province Agriculture Minister, Ayngaranaesan, stressed,

"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."

Crowds gathered despite intimidatory and coercive tactics used by government forces to deter protestors. Sri Lankan intelligence personnel were present at the protest taking videos and photographs of the demonstrators. Further attempts to stop the protest were taken with buses transporting demonstrators from Killinochchi and Mullaitivu  to Jaffna stopped by Sri Lankan military forces.

India is most likely to vote for a resolution against Sri Lanka at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council, a senior official, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Hindu.