A group of four Sri Lankan soldiers have been sentenced to 25 years in jail for the gang rape of a Tamil woman that took place in 2010.

The Jaffna High Court found the men from Sri Lanka’s 572 Brigade guilty of raping the 27-year old Tamil mother of two, in Kilinochchi in 2010.

The case is the first on the island of a Tamil rape victim identifying the perpetrators in court, and comes despite reports of repeated military intimidation. Whilst three of the soldeirs appeared in court, the fourth suspect had earlier absconded and remains at large.

The general secretary of the Janatha Sevaka Pakshaya said that the Sri Lankan government should reject a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling for accountability for mass atrocities committed on the island.

Addressing a press conference, Somawansa Amarasinghe, the former leader of the JVP who founded the JSP party earlier this year, said:

“This is a clear threat to our sovereignty and integrity as we are capable of conducting a domestic probe. The US, motivated by separatists, only wants to reap certain benefits from bringing the resolution. If this resolution was implemented, it will be a victory to the separatist elements.”

The residence of a well-known lawyer and rights activist Father Yogeswaran was visited by persons claiming to be from the “Police Media Unit” in Trincomalee on Monday.

Father Yogeswaran who is currently still abroad after speaking on panels at the United Nations Human Rights Council last month is a co-ordinator of the Trincomalee branch of the Tamil Civil Society and anti-disappearances activist.

The “Police Media unit” is thought to be a proxy surveillance unit for Sri Lanka’s intelligence service. Last month, Tamil activists organising campaigns calling for an international accountability process to deal with the findings of the OISl report were also approached by personnel from the “Police Media Unit.”

Father Yogeswaran was well received at the UNHRC and spoke on Tamil sentiment in Sri Lanka at a range of side events organised by Amnesty International and the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR).

Speaking at an Amnesty International event at the UNHRC last month Father Yogeswaran said,

“We talk about transition but there is still no transition in the North-East. There is still military presence and surveillance.”

Commenting on the Tamil vote to bring in Sirisena at January’s presidential elections Father Yogeswaran said, “The victim community suffered for years before the war through systemic discrimination, they didn’t randomly pick up arms. Despite the systemic discrimination, the minority community brought positive change for the whole island. Yet still for the minority community nothing has changed. This is why there was a rise in protests in North-East over last months.