Activists in India, carrying black flags and shouting slogans against the Sri Lankan government and the president, protested against Senthil Thondaman - Sri Lanka's sports and youth affairs minister and the provincial council member of Uva - during his visit to Tamil Nadu. The incident occurred by the Thirunallar Temple in Pondicherry. The group of around twenty activists are believed to be members of the the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. According to reports, the police tried to stop the protest, however eventuallyresorted to escorting Thondaman away from the temple under heavy security...

A coalition of human rights groups have condemned the appointment of Sri Lanka's former military general, Shavendra Silva, to the Special Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations, as " outrageous on many levels ". In a joint statement from Washington, released just before the appointment was announced, SPEAK Human Rights and Environmental Initiative, the UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic at American University Washington College of Law, the Center for Justice and Accountability and the Center for Constitutional Rights, said that such an appointment " would send an appalling message to the world: accused war criminals are legitimate authorities on peace ." Highlighting the Sri Lankan military's shocking record of abuses and sexual violence whilst being UN peace-keeping forces in Haiti , the rights groups called on the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, "to reject or rescind" any such proposal " in the interest of human rights, justice and accountability ". The appointment was made despite overwhelming calls for an independent investigation into Silva's role in the conflict. In November of last year, ten international human rights organisations, including those mentioned above, urged the UN to suspend the diplomatic credentials of Silva as Sri Lanka's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN. The groups included: SPEAK Human Rights and Environmental Initiative, UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic at American University Washington College of Law, Center for Constitutional Rights, Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School, Human Rights USA, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, TRIAL, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities, Society for Threatened Peoples. Shavendra Silva is also facing a lawsuit filed against him by the American University College of Law's UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic, for allegedly perpetrating and orchestrating war crimes during the final stages for the conflict. The full text of the statement, dated 27 Jan 2012, is reproduced below: Sri Lankan and international news outlets have reported that Shavendra Silva—a former military general in the Sri Lankan army who stands accused of war crimes and torture—has been selected for a position in U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations. This appointment is outrageous on many levels , according to a coalition of human rights groups including SPEAK Human Rights and Environmental Initiative, the UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic at American University Washington College of Law, the Center for Justice and Accountability and the Center for Constitutional Rights. Silva played a central role in the Sri Lankan Army’s brutal military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which caused up to 40,000 civilian deaths and incalculable suffering, and violated fundamental principles of international humanitarian and human rights law .

A group of EU parliamentarians have highlighted the need for Europe to support Sri Lanka’s reconciliation and reconstruction efforts. The lawmakers’ stance ignores the criticisms of the LLRC by various governments , human rights organisations and Tamil groups on the island and in the Diaspora . The group, led by Geoffrey Van Orden, said international organisation which dismissed the LLRC as a whitewash, “had been proved dramatically wrong". "Rather than constant harassment" on human rights issues, the EU should be more supportive of Sri Lanka’s steps towards reconciliation, said the group...

The suspected war criminal, Major General Shavendra Silva of the Sri Lankan Army, has been selected to the UN Special Advisory Group on Peace Keeping Operations on Thursday, representing the Asia-Pacific states. The body will mainly examine issues of reimbursing countries who donate troops to UN Peace Keeping Operations, such as Sri Lanka has done in Haiti. The General, who is Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations has had a lawsuit filed against him in the United States, as well as ten different human rights organisations call to suspend his diplomatic credentials...