The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights welcomed the recommendations of Sri Lanka’s Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms, especially the call for international judges to be involved in an accountability mechanism.

In a tweet sent out on Thursday morning, the official United Nations Human Rights Office account said High Commissioner Zeid “welcomes CTF recs, esp clear backing of hybrid court with local & foreign judges”.

A further tweet added, “Zeid has always urged the creation of a hybrid court in #SriLanka”.

Sri Lankan Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the Palaly airport in the Northern Province will be developed to serve as a “regional airport” for Sri Lanka and South India.

There has been pressure by India to develop Palaly into an international airport to improve relations between the North of Sri Lanka and India – especially Tamil Nadu. Prior to Palaly being turned into a military base during the conflict, there had been air services between Palaly, Madras and Tiruchi.

Sri Lanka exceeded the 2 million mark in tourist arrivals, as 2,050,832 tourists visited the island by December 31st 2016 – a 14% increase from 2015. Top arrivals were from India, China and Europe.

The number of tourists increased from China (10.5%), Middle East (51.3%), Western Europe (16.4%), South Asia (12.1%) and North America (9.4%).

The Sri Lankan army has once more been ordered by a court to submit a list of LTTE cadres who surrendered during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009.

The Mullaitivu court made its demand this week, ordering the military to submit its list before January 30.

The existance of such a list was revealed by the military following Habeas Corpus petitions filed by Tamils, for their relatives who surrendered to the military in the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009.

The Sri Lankan government has rejected the recommendations of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms, the day after its report was publicly released and handed over to senior government officials.

A Sri Lankan government spokesperson was quoted by Azzam Ameen of the BBC as saying,

“There will be no foreign judges, our policy will not change”.

The CTF recommended international judges be involved in an accountability mechanism, as well as rejecting amnesties for war crimes.

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe both did not attend the report launch event.

Sri Lanka’s Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms has recommended international judges be involved in an accountability mechanism, after it released its long-awaited report on Tuesday. 

“The need for independence, capacity, competence and transparency underpins the call for international judges, prosecutors, investigators and other staff of the Judicial Mechanism,” said the executive summary of the report.

Two Sri Lankan soldiers have been arrested in Vavuniya for assaulting an auto driver while intoxicated.

The soldiers attacked the driver on Sunday evening after an argument, following their refusal to pay the agreed auto fare to Vavuniya bus station.

The driver was admitted to hospital following the attack. The soldiers were arrested and are being investigated by police.

The Sri Lankan Security Force Headquarters Kilinochchi (SFHQ-KLN) with the Thevampiddy Roman Catholic Church and Our Lady of the Rosary Church, organized Christmas Carol services on December 27th and 28th in Thevampiddy and Iranamathanagar.

During the program in Thevampiddy, school children received gifts that were coordinated by the 15 (V) Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR) troops.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s called for “the cooperation of all Sri Lankans in defeating agendas that are aimed at disrupting Sri Lanka’s success” in his New Year message this week.
“As economic activity increases under Good Governance towards making Sri Lanka a viable destination, the Government is focused on empowering the people while encouraging co-existence and harmony between all communities,” the message stated.

Professor R Sivachandran, a Central Committee member of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), told the Daily Mirror that only a system of devolutionary federalism would allow the fulfilment of Tamil aspirations in an interview this week.

A federal solution means “two tiers of government… each acting directly on their citizens,” said the professor. “Neither level of government should become dominant. One cannot dictate to the other on decision-making. One should not be legally subordinate to the other.”