Following pressure from an ultra-nationalist Buddhist group, police have arrested award-winning Sinhala novelist Shakthika Sathkumara under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) for insulting Buddhism.

Britain’s minister for Asia and the Pacific said “much faster progress is needed” in Sri Lanka, as he responded to questions regarding accountability for mass atrocities committed almost a decade ago.

Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, asked whether “Ministers share my grave disappointment that, 10 years after the horrors of Mullivaikkal, no one has been brought to justice for war crimes in the Sri Lankan conflict?”.

In response, Mark Field said “as a penholder, the UK has played a leading role in trying to bring the parties together, but while we accept that positive steps have been taken, much faster progress is needed”.

The British Foreign Secretary has said that there will never be lasting peace in Sri Lanka without justice and accountability.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt made the remarks in response to a question about Sri Lanka in parliament on Tuesday.

Gareth Thomas MP had asked:

“The rules-based international order would be strengthened if countries were seen to be held accountable for adhering to the conclusions of the United Nations Human Rights Council. What steps are Ministers taking to hold Sri Lanka to account for its failure to bring to justice those who are guilty of perpetuating major human rights abuses?”

Arguing the UN Human Rights Council process has failed to provide justice to Tamil victims of mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) announced yesterday it would be seeking data and information from the UN investigations in order to push for private prosecutions of war criminals. 

Human Rights Watch yesterday urged the Sri Lankan government not to end the country's unofficial moratorium on the death penalty, as pledged by the president, Maithripala Sirisena. 

Responding to Sirisena's statement this week that a date had been set for the death penalty to came back into force. 

Imposing the death penalty for drug offenses would violate Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. 

The group's South Asia director, Meenakshi Ganguly, said, “There is no reason to bring the death penalty back to Sri Lanka after a four-decade moratorium."

The Assistant Superindentent of Police in Mannar, Upul Alawatta was arrested last night by the Criminal Investigation Department over the abduction and disappearance of a man in 2008. 

A new British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Sarah Hulton, has been appointed to follow on from James Dauris in August. 

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena says he has set a date for the implementation of the death penalty for those already convicted of drug related sentences. 

The deputy leader of the United National Party received an honorary title from the Sangha Council “in recognition of his service to the nation and the Buddha Sasana”.

The Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch of the UN Office at the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Sri Lanka’s current justice system is “slow and it’s not delivering” in an interview earlier this week.