The Sri Lankan military has been destroying the last few remaining houses located inside the High Security Zone in Valikaamam North earlier this week.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to bar foreign judges from participating in an accountability mechanism is “final”, according to a government minister who went on to dismiss concerns raised by Tamil politicians.

Colombo Gazette reports minister Mahinda Samarasinghe as saying “the President has made clear foreign judges will not be invited to be part of the domestic accountability process”.

Mr Samarasinghe, who represented the previous Sri Lankan government in Geneva as the president’s special envoy on human rights, reportedly went on to add, “when the President takes a stand and the Prime Minister also expresses a similar view that is the final decision and the matter is closed”.

Speaking to The Island, Mr Samarasinghe went on to state that conditions for the inclusion of international judges by TNA MP MA Sumanthiran "shouldn’t be taken seriously against the backdrop of both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe ruling out the participation of foreign judges".

He went on to claim that TNA leader R. Sampanthan had said that "there was no requirement for foreign judges".

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) on Tuesday warned its coalition partners in the Sri Lankan government against introducing constitutional reforms.

The Buddhist nationalist party's national organiser, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe, said the government should not reform the constitution as it could divide society, the Daily Mirror reported.

He said the JHU would only agree to electoral reforms and would oppose changes to devolution, the unitary nature of the state and religion. Sri Lanka's constitution gives primacy to Buddhism.

The son of former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa was arrested on Monday on fraud charges,

Namal Rajapaksa, MP for Hambantota, was arrested on money laundering charges, in another sign of Mahinda Rajapaksa's waning power.

Since former president Rajapaksa was defeated in elections last year, several of his confidantes and family members have been arrested on fraud charges, as the current government seeks to distinguish itself from the former regime by cracking down on corruption.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour Tom Malinowski will visit Sri Lanka from July 12 to 20, where he will engage with government officials and local civil society representatives.

Assistant Secretary Malinowski will focus on Sri Lanka’s continued progress in meeting the commitments made during last September’s UN Human Rights Council session. He will also discuss the work that remains in the areas of justice and reconciliation, and confirm that the United States continues to support Sri Lankan efforts to tackle these issues, according to a State Department press release.