The Tamil National People Front (TNPF) - stated there was an "urgent need" for an international, independent investigation, and urged international action of the continuing "genocide" of the Tamil nation, reported Tamilnet on Tuesday.

During a press briefing in Jaffna, Vice President of the TNPF, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said,

"The report places the blame on the LTTE and other tamil groups. We can no longer remain patient.

There is urgent need for the International Community to conduct an independent investigation. What happened is genocide.

While the war ended two and a half years ago, structural genocide against Tamil people is continuing, and International community should not hesitate to raise its voices."

"While Colombo regards any independent investigation into war crimes as a threat its sovereignty, we demand that all dastardly crimes and instruments of oppression carried out against the Tamil people from 1948, the year of independence, need to be presented as evidence before an independent panel, and perpetrators of the crimes should be brought to justice."

Speaking on Monday, Nuland told reporters,

Detailing the "lack of security" faced by Tamil women across the North-East, in the aftermath of the armed conflict, International Crisis Group (ICG) detailed how "the heavily militarised and centralised control of the north and east – with almost exclusively male, Sinhalese security forces" raises problems for Tamil women in terms of their "safety, sense of security and ability to access assistance", in a report published Tuesday.

See here for report - Sri Lanka: Women’s Insecurity in the North and East - in full.

Extracts reproduced below:

"Women in Sri Lanka’s predominantly Tamil-speaking north and east are facing a desperate lack of security in the aftermath of the long civil war."

"Today many still live in fear of violence from various sources. Those who fall victim to it have little means of redress. Women’s economic security is precarious, and their physical mobility is limited. The heavily militarised and centralised control of the north and east – with almost exclusively male, Sinhalese security forces – raises particular problems for women there in terms of their safety, sense of security and ability to access assistance."

"They have little control over their lives and no reliable institutions to turn to. The government has mostly dismissed women’s security issues and exacerbated fears, especially in the north and east. The international community has failed to appreciate and respond effectively to the challenges faced by women and girls in the former war zone. A concerted and immediate effort to empower and protect them is needed."

"The fact that women must rely on the military for everyday needs not only puts them at greater risk of gender-based violence, but also prevents them from building their own capacity within communities."

The Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma, said on Tuesday that he hoped the LLRC report would "advance the cause of accountability", adding, 

"It is for the government and people of Sri Lanka to chart their country''s way forward after the military defeat of the forces of terrorism,"

The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) added his voice on Monday, to the now deafening call of the Tamil nation, and human rights activists worldwide, for an independent, international investigation.

Sampanthan urged the international community to ensure a "mechanism for accountability", stating that the LLRC report “categorically fails to effectively and meaningfully deal with issues of accountability”.

Acknoweledging that “the findings of the LLRC offend the dignity of these victims”, Sampanthan added,

A former senior military official in the Sri Lankan army states that the army "assassinated surrendering Tamils" reports The Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK Sunday - Sri Lankan army commanders 'assassinated surrendering Tamils' (19/12/11).

Now that Sri Lanka's farcical attempt at accountability - the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report - has finally been published, there can be no more excuses.

The LLRC has for too long been the international community's fig leaf, used by governments across the world, including the US and the UK, to stall calls for accountability and a credible investigation into allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have slammed the LLRC report's failure to address the most serious allegations of war crimes and call upon governments to call for an international investigation.

In a statement - 'Sri Lanka: Report Fails to Advance Accountability'- HRW stated,

"The report of the Sri Lankan government’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) disregards the worst abuses by government forces, rehashes longstanding recommendations, and fails to advance accountability for victims of Sri Lanka’s civil armed conflict."

"The LLRC report provides no realistic pathway for holding accountable military and government officials implicated in serious abuses."

Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director said,

“The commission’s failure to provide a road map for investigating and prosecuting wartime perpetrators shows the dire need for an independent, international commission.”

"The commission shockingly fails to call for any criminal investigations into artillery shelling of crowded areas in which tens of thousands of civilians died."

”It is clear that justice for conflict-related abuses is not going to happen within Sri Lanka’s domestic institutions,” 

“The government has been playing for time by appointing the LLRC. That time has now run out.”