The newly appointed State Minister of Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, vowed to fulfil his duties by safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and security.

Mr Wijewardene said he would focus on enhancing the welfare of Sri Lanka’s security forces, “whose valiant efforts had helped eradicate LTTE terrorism and thus protect Sri Lanka and its people”, the Daily Mirror reported.

Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, will address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on the opening day of the 30th session on Monday.

Mr Samaraweera will be accompanied by Wijayadasa Rajapakshe, who the minister for justice and the Buddha Sasana.

Mr Rajapakshe told The Island, the government has obtained an opportunity to "brief key stakeholders" at the council, adding that the government felt the need for consultations in Geneva in the wake of the US recent statements in regards to a domestic mechanism.

The makers of the Emmy-nominated documentary “No Fire Zone” have released a new film on Sri Lanka urging the international community to listen to Tamil voices calling for an international accountability mechanism, ahead of the release of a United Nations report into mass atrocities on the island.

“Sri Lanka: The Search For Justice” was released on Thursday in English and Spanish and is addressed to members of the UN Human Rights Council.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena pledged that his government “would never bow down to any foreign power” in a speech in Colombo on Wednesday.

Speaking at the swearing in ceremony of State and Deputy Ministers at the Presidential Secretariat, Mr Sirisena said his government had faced “criticism, insults, bitter abuse and brickbats… from its very inception”.

“They said a patriotic government has been replaced in a conspiracy hatched by the Western and Imperial powers with a government that danced to the tune of the West,” he added, before declaring,

“Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and I are ready to answer to those allegations in the future. I must tell them that this government would never bow down to any foreign power or succumb to any pressure as we have a tradition, culture and civilization we can look up to”.

“We would never intend to put a black mark on that great history to the day we breathe our last,” the president emphasised.

He also stated that "ours is a stable and a strong government. No one will be able to overthrow or weaken it".

Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe stated his government was confident the international community would support a government led domestic inquiry into war crimes and mass atrocities committed on the island.

Speaking to reporters at Kandy, Colombo Gazette quoted the minister as saying the international community had placed faith in the new Sri Lankan government following elections earlier this year.

He went on to add that at the upcoming UN Human Rights Council session, the United States will co-sponsor a resolution with Sri Lankan “which will also seek to cushion the impact” of a United nations report into the mass atrocities.

A new report states that at least 21 people were detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act since the new government came into power in January this year.

The report, by the Watchdog SL organisation, said the act has continued to result in arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention without charges, long drawn out court cases, multiple cases against one suspect, inhumane detention conditions, torture, forced confessions, long years to release those who are innocent, post-release harassment and restrictions, including re-arrests.

Five people are said to have been on remand for the past 18-19 years without a resolution to their case and at least one person’s case has been ongoing since 1998, the year the person was charged.

The signature campaign calling for an international accountability mechanism, which has been conducted across the North-East, today reached Mannar.

The local campaign was launched by the Mannar Citizen’s Committee along with the Disappeared Parents Association.

Head of the organisation Father Emmanuel Sepamalai, Northern Province transport minister P Deneeswaran and TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, took part, alongside religious leaders, civil society representatives and dozens of passersby.

Several politicians from the TNA are walking from Kilinochchi to Jaffna to raise awareness for the call on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international justice mechanism for mass atrocities committed during the armed conflict.

Northern Provincial Councillor MK Sivajilingam, along with some of his supporters commenced the walk from Kilinochchi earlier this morning.

He was later joined by TNA parliamentarian S. Sritharan and fellow NPC councillor Ms Ananthy Sasitharan.