The terms of reference for the UN inquiry on mass atrocities in Sri Lanka - 'OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL)', which begins work this week, were published on Tuesday, detailing the legal and time framework to be applied and how to submit evidence.

Based on the resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in March this year, the OISL, led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is to investigate the period covered by the LLRC, looking in to "alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties to the conflict".

A second meeting for families of the disappeared from the North was cancelled over concerns of safety, after mobs led by Buddhist monks disrupted a similar meeting held earlier today in Colombo where Tamil families were meeting with international diplomats.

Picture: @Mari_deSilva

Activists and journalists who were at the meeting, reported via Twitter, that the mob charged into the meeting and shouted abuse at the Tamil relatives of the disappeared.

Members of the mob took photographs of the Tamils at the meeting.

“You are selling our motherland for dollars. You are supported by the USA to give evidence at [the] war crimes panel,” the protestors shouted, an independent journalist, Dushi Yanthini, reported.

Diplomats from the US, UK and the EU, including the Acting Deputy Chief of the US mission, Mike Honigstein, witnessed the incident.

Condemning the incidents of mob intimidation, the Deputy Chief of the US Mission consoled Tamil families and said that he would raise the issue with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, tweeted Dushi Yanthini.

The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has told NewsFirst that he is ready to enter parliamentary politics if President Mahinda Rajapaksa tells him to.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of the president, was one of the key figures behind the Sri Lankan military’s onslaught on the Vanni, and is thought to be one of the individuals holding command responsibility for atrocities committed during the armed conflict.

 

The Indian government is to summon the Sri Lankan High Commissioner over a defamatory article posted on the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence website last week, said the Indian External Affairs Minister on Monday, reports The Hindu.

“The government strongly condemned the development,” said the minister, Sushma Swaraj.

The decision came as India's Lok Sabha was disrupted by protests, with AIADMK MPs demanding stricter action against Sri Lanka, the BBC reported.

The United States Embassy in Sri Lanka expressed concern over the Sri Lankan police's apparent support of a mob lead by Buddhist monks that disrupted a private meeting for families of the disappeared from the North on Monday.

“The US embassy is concerned that the initial reaction of the local police to this disruption appeared to be in support of the mob efforts to shut down the meeting, though after discussions with diplomatic officials the police did effectively calm the situation," the embassy said in a statement issued hours after the mob violence.

“The mob shouted hateful slogans, made unfounded accusations, and behaved threateningly towards the families of the disappeared. These protesters were not exercising their right to peaceful protest, but rather were disrupting a peaceful gathering of conflict survivors, including children. The strong impression was that the protesters were seeking to intimidate and silence those in attendance," The statement added.