Statement made by Ms. Vani Selvarajah at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday on behalf of Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, during Item 2 - Interactive Dialogue with High Commissioner:

(See here for UNHRC webcast at 00:59:50)

"Thank you Mr. President,

Madam High Commissioner, on behalf of Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada and the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), we welcome your annual report, and thank you for your continued resolve to protect human rights around the world.

The situation in Sri Lanka is deteriorating, with an increased level of militarization, suppression of free speech, the breakdown of the rule of law and the loss of any democratic space. The Tamil people are living under army occupation. Students from the University of Jaffna were illegally arrested and detained for peacefully protesting. Journalists continue to live and work in fear of reprisals. The Chief Justice, Shirane Bandaranayake, was illegally impeached this January. We are encouraged by your optimism that findings of the Secretary General's landmark internal review undertaken by Charles Petrie, would allow for increased responsibility, transparency and accountability within the UN system. To effectively promote accountability in Sri Lanka, Council itself must act to ensure acceptance of the UN Panel of Experts Report as an official document. The Panel of Experts concluded that there were credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both sides of the conflict in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government is on the lookout for people providing information to the British television broadcaster channel 4, reported a Sinhala daily paper, The Divaina.

The paper reported that the Ministry of Defence had requested the public to report any members of the public that they suspected of 'betraying the country for monetary gain' by passing on information to Channel 4.

Writing in the Nigerian national daily, ThisDay, head of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association Boma Ozobia has argued for Nigeria to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka later this year.

See extracts below:

At the beginning of last month, TNA MP S. Sritharan, accused Australian MP Julie Bishop (Shadow Miniser for Foreign Affairs and Trade) of not caring about Tamil grievances, in an interview with an Australian Tamil radio show on Melbourne Radio 3Cr. See here for his comments in full.

China has refused a loan request by Sri Lanka for $500 million, saying that it would only approve “project loans”, reported the DailyMirror.

Sri Lanka had sought the loan in order to buy petrol products. An official with the Finance Ministry said that China was only prepared to grant project loans for which interest rates were relatively high.

Speaking at the current United Nations Human Rights Council sessions, the UN high Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed concerns about the absence of accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

A Tamil Nadu fisherman who self-immolated himself in protest at the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka has died. Mani, originally from Cuddalore, poured petrol on himself and set himself ablaze outside the District Collector's office.

Speaking to reporters, Mani drew attention to the resolution being brought on Sri Lank at the UN Human Rights Council and said: