Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Chris Nonis, held a launch event at the Sri Lanka High Commission, in London this week, to promote the Commonwealth Business Forum that will precede the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November this year, reported Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence.

“It’s undisputed that security forces killed three protesters, but the Sri Lankan government’s kneejerk reaction is to deny possible wrongdoing,”

“Instead of promoting the military’s version of events, the government should order an independent investigation and prosecute anyone who violated the law.”

"The government through its armed forces has taken possession of substantial extents of land owned and or possessed by the Tamil civilians, from which extents of land, the said Tamils are not permitted to return for residence or livelihood by reason of the said lands being in the possession of the armed forces."

 "The armed forces has taken the possession of lands for the purposes of construction of housing facilities for the armed forces or for the agricultural activities by the armed forces which lands in the future become the property of the members of the armed forces in violation of the legitimate claim to such lands by citizens resident in the said areas and their descendants for their residence, livelihood and other numerous civilian needs. Such a clandestine taking over of lands would be in violation of the law."

 "The government arbitrarily taking over substantial extents of lands purportedly for development activities, such as tourism and other industries disregarding the legitimate residential and livelihood needs of persons historically inhabiting such areas, and making arbitrary allocations of such lands to chosen others in a manner that is discriminatory and lacking in due process and transparency."

Sri Lanka’s national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, is holding discussions with German aviation giant Lufthansa, over the planned Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility planned in the Mattale Rajapakse International Airport.

The firms are in talks to set up a joint venture, which is expected to earn annual revenue of US $ 100 million by carrying out over 110 repairs, according to Cheif Executive Kapila Chandrasena.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister of the UK has expressed “serious concern” about the violence committed by Sri Lankan security forces at a peaceful protest in Weliweriya.

Statement in full:

"Tutsi women were often raped with objects such as sharpened sticks, destroying their internal organs so they couldn’t bear any more children. This assault on bodily and reproductive functions, on a group’s life force, reveals the perpetrators’ aim of destroying the group as a whole."

"Looking through this lens, we may recognize genocide, or the risk of it, in a number of conflicts around the world that most observers have yet to consider “genocidal.”

"Sri Lanka: Although armed conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009—a conflict that saw many instances of state security forces raping Tamil women in reprisal for rebel attacks—Human Rights Watch has reported that “politically motivated sexual violence by the military and police continues to the present.” Here, too, in addition to systematic rape of Tamil men and women in custody by members of the army, police, and pro-government paramilitary groups, life force atrocities have occurred.

The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam, to receive a formal demarche made against the large number of fishermen held in Sri Lankan custody, reported the Hindu.