Tamil lawyers in Jaffna reportedly boycotted the Court of Law, on Thursday, in protest against the arrest and brutal assault of a Tamil civilian by the Sri Lankan police.

Describing the conduct of the seven policemen involved as an "affront to the authority, dignity and the sanctity of the Courts of Law", they added that such conduct "constitutes a brazen and blatant violation of all norms of behaviour that are expected of the guardians of the law."

India's External Affairs Ministry reportedly informed the Madras High Court that Douglas Devananda, as a cabinet minister of Sri Lanka, could not be arrested as he enjoys diplomatic immunity, warning that any attempt to arrest Devananda would sour relations between Sri Lanka and India.

Devanda, leader of the pro-government paramilitary group-cum-political party, EPDP, is wanted in a 1986 shootout and murder case in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

He was also been accused of kidnapping a boy in 1988. In 1989, he was arrested and later let out on bail.

Under Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Kaghal Matha Praphullachandra Sharma, also stated that India did not have an extradition treaty with Sri Lanka.

However, according to a report in the The Hindu, under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Extradition Act, there was an extradition arrangement between the governments with effect from September 1, 1978.

Leaked US embassy cables, sent in June 2009, describe Devananda to have a "violent and even criminal history", showing "few signs of reforming".  

A group of Australian academics, politicians and human rights campaigners is calling for Sri Lanka's suspension from the Councils of the Commonwealth until the government agrees to cooperate with an international investigation into war crimes.

“Commonwealth nations have to take [their institution] seriously or otherwise it just becomes another gentleman's club where everyone slaps everyone on the back and says nice things.

The Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has suffered a major split and a new party has been formed according to reports in The Island.

The dissidents led by Dimuthu Atygala, Pugbudu Jagoda and Waruna Rajapakse are said to have walked out a Committee meeting on Monday after announcing the breakaway.

The breakaway faction, who claim to have the support of more than half of the JVP’s 24-member committee, are expected to register a new political party soon.

Sri Lanka’s trade, currency and debt quandary

The International Monetary Fund suspended its programme of supplying Colombo with credit in exchange for reform on Monday after Sri Lanka refused to follow advice and abandon a policy of actively intervening in foreign exchange markets to support the value of the Rupee.

Earlier this month Brian Aitken, the IMF’s head of mission in Colombo, warned that Sri Lanka’s policy of selling dollars to maintain the value of the rupee “does not seem to be in line with the fundamentals in the economy”’ and that the policy was rapidly depleting foreign currency reserves.

He pointed out that Colombo’s “non-borrowed reserves.. have steadily declined, reflecting foreign exchange sales by the central bank.”

Speaking at an event held to mark International Day of Peace, John Rankin, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, stressed that the absence of war does not necessarily equate to peace and that peace "means different things to different people.

Sixteen Human Rights organisations, including Amnesty International, FORUM-ASIA, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group and International Commission of Jurists undersigned a letter addressed  to the High Commissioner of the Human Rights Council, Navi Pillai, appealing for

Sri Lanka’s ambassador has urged the US to pass the GSP programme in a joint letter sent to the Senate on Monday.

Sri Lanka was joined by the 9 other members of the Coalition of Generalized System of Preferences in advocating for the renewal of the GSP program, which will be discussed in the Senate later this week.

The letter details the adverse effect the suspension of the program has had on the members’ respective economies.

''It is likely these asylum seekers will be treated harshly when all they have done is exercise a legal right.

People who are desperate to get away from Sri Lanka know that it is a dangerous enterprise coming by sea. We Australians praise ourselves as great humanitarians - this is hardly an example of compassion.''

Australia's Greens launched a campaign to call for the suspension of Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth until a credible independent invesigation into alleged war crimes takes place, reported The Australian.

Greens senator, Lee Rhiannon, reportedly expressed hope of 'building bipartisan political support' for the suspension of Sri Lanka.

The Greens have the backing of several human rights activists and jurists.

John Dowd QC, a member of the International Commission of Jurists and former New South Wales attorney-general explained,

"If Sri Lanka is used as a host, it ignores the fact that war crimes have been committed. The Commonwealth has to realise it can't keep being polite when one of its members is guilty of (such) crimes."

Senator Rhiannon added,

"We will be looking at whether delegates of the Sri Lankan government may be refused a visa to visit Australia for CHOGM if it can be proved they do not meet the 'character test' and 'public criteria test'."