“Last week Attorney-General Robert McClelland halted the possibility of the arrest and charging of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and in my view undermined similar ''citizens arrests'' of individuals against whom it could be said there is a prima facie case of crimes against humanity.”

One of the suspects on death row in Tamil Nadu for his alleged role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi still dreams of an independent country for Eelam Tamils.

39 year old Perarivalan, also known as Arivu, was convicted for assisting the alleged killers of Rajiv Gandhi by providing them with batteries in 1991.

 He has been on death row for the past 20 years, but a huge campaign has been ongoing in Tamil Nadu to stop the death sentence in his case and the case of the other two individuals on death row for the killing.

Sri Lanka blocked access to the anti-government website Lanka-e-news this week, drawing criticism from the US.
 
Perhaps this is the story that prompted the move: 'doctored photographs'.

Sri Lankan foreign minister, GL Peiris, attempted to denigrate the TNA (Tamil National Alliance) as the a TNA delegation met US state department officials in Washington, as well as the UN Secretary General in New York. 

Asserting that the TNA was not the sole representative of the Tamils in the North-East, Peiris lamented Sri Lanka's inability to dictate to the UN whom they should meet.

“While the Embassy does not endorse the views of any particular media outlet, the United States believes that a free and independent media is vital to ensuring the health and continuation of any democracy. 

Slamming Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper's threat to boycott the next Commonwealth meeting, which is to be held in Sri Lanka, if there is not satisfactory progress on war crimes investigation, Sri Lankan foreign minister, G.L. Peiris, claimed that such views did not reflect Canadian foreign policy towards Sri Lanka.

A new bill, allowing the takeover of 36 private companies is due to be presented in parliament on the 9th of November, the Daily Mirror reports.

The bill, called ‘The Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Assets’, will allow the state to take over the companies and their assets.

International human rights group, Amnesty International, slammed the Commonwealth for failing a "critical moral challenge" through its inaction on Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth last week.

Amnesty's National Director, Claire Mallinson, said,

“It is an absolute disgrace that Commonwealth leaders have agreed to hold their next meeting in Sri Lanka in spite of its appalling human rights record.”

Sri Lanka has been aiming to boost its trade with Canada, with a delegation meeting with businessmen in Toronto earlier this week, despite Canada’s continued concern regarding Sri Lanka’s war-time abuses committed against the Tamil people.

The ten-member delegation visited the country after a gap of almost three years, attempting to enhance trade links between the two. The visit though comes at a time when Canada is lobbying for Sri Lanka to be held accountable for violations of international humanitarian law.