The US State Department said on Monday two senior diplomats are due to visit Sri Lanka later this month for talks about war crimes committed during the final months of the military conflict against the LTTE.

Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake and Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, Maria Otero are visiting the island from February 12-14.

Issues to be discussed with Sri Lankan officials include "peace, accountability and reconciliation processes".

“At a time when the failure of existing UN institutions is increasingly noted in relation to safeguarding human life and preventing brutal wars, the contribution of a documentary such as ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ in bringing to light not only this failure in the context of the war, but also promoting the need for reviewing and revitalising the UN’s capacity in cases similar to the Sri Lankan war, are immense."

“By bringing to light the breaches of international conventions by the Government of Sri Lanka in a bold manner and by piecing together numerous forms of evidence in a coherent way, the value of independent journalism to the building of a peaceful global order in the century ahead has been amply demonstrated by the ITN team.”

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), widely criticised for its perpetual dithering, slammed the 13th Amendment to Sri Lanka's constitution as "full of flaws" on Saturday.

The TNA's spokesperson, MP Suresh Premachandran, said,

Dismissing Mahinda Rajapaksa's address on Sri Lanka's independence day, TNA MP Sumanthiran, said that the recommendations of the LLRC has not been implemented.

He added that the TNA believes the Sri Lankan government had received a letter from the US urging action.

The "US have warned that if the government did not take action, it will pursue on certain international actions,” said Sumanthiran.

It was just this week Mahinda Rajapaksa asserted that only the Parliamentary Select Committee would decide on devolution, dismissing India's external affairs secretary, SM Krishna's statement that 13+ changes had been promised by Sri Lanka.

On Thursday his words were:

"The PSC, in which all parties in parliament would be represented, was the best forum to discuss and take a decision on the matter.”

“I cannot reveal it. If I say anything on it, people will say, I am biased. Let parliament decide. I’ll accept its recommendations.”

Yet speaking Saturday, at celebrations for what Sri Lankans commemorate as their independence day, Rajapaksa revealed his devolutionary vision and his guiding light:

"Ethnic communities have no separate regions. The entire country belongs to all ethnic communities."

"what is required today is the formulation of policies based on a vision that is commonly applicable to the whole country."

"The words of the Buddha show the path we should take and how we should solve problems.

Akkodhena jine kodham – asadhum sadhuna jine
Jine kadariyam danena – saccena alikavadinam

"Let this thought guide all in making the freedom of our motherland meaningful!"

Gavin Barwell, Conservative MP, Croydon Central. Photographs Tamilnet

British MPs and peers endorsed the call for an international, independent investigation, at an exhibition organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) and the British Tamil Forum (BTF). Photographs Tamilnet.

A group of students from the University of Virginia’s School of Law visited Sri Lanka as part of a Human Rights Study Project (HRSP).

Eight students spent their time interviewing many people, including judges, military and government officials, NGO’s and individuals within camps, to study different areas of human rights within Sri Lanka.

Here is a description of the group’s experience by the President of the HRSP, John Akin: