A domestic mechanism to deal with issues of accountability in Sri Lanka will not be sufficient, said a US Senator in a situational update on Sri Lanka.

US Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, stressing the importance of accountability for potential war crimes on Tuesday, said,

“For years, impunity for serious crimes has been the norm in Sri Lanka.  The government is working to establish what it describes as a “domestic mechanism” to deal with accountability for human rights violations.  A purely domestic mechanism, however, is not likely to be sufficient."

Stressing the need for a credible accountability process, which includes prosecutions, he added,

It is essential that the justice process is not only about truth telling, but is a credible, independent mechanism with authority to investigate, prosecute, and appropriately punish those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, on both sides. “

Calling for internationalised accountability mechanisms that were established by consulting families of the war victims, Mr Leahy added,

The Sri Lankan military commander heading Jaffna declared that camps in the North will remain in order to maintain “national security”.

Major General Nandana Udawatte told journalists at the Palali military base in Jaffna that currently the security forces was ensuring there was no security threat in the North, in the wake of violent protests against the rape and murder of a Tamil schoolgirl last month.

However, he went on to say that “today’s security situation can change in the future so we need to keep that in mind as well”.

“The Palaly base is not just for Palali but the entire Jaffna,” continued the commander, insisting that the removal of the army bases could result in a threat to national security. The army commander also conceded that there were still 93 military camps situated in the Jaffna peninsula alone.

He went on to state the army was “a very disciplined unit” and denied all links with the drug trade in the North-East.

An official from the US State Department is set to visit Sri Lanka to study the state of the media on the island since the new government has come in to power.

Colombo Gazette reports Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Eileen O’Connor will be meeting with government officials and media persons on the island during her trip.

The International Federation of Journalists said in its latest report on press freedom that journalists in the North-East of the island continue to face threats and harassment, whilst Tamil journalists have continued to face harassment by Sri Lankan security forces.

Two former prime ministers, who both served during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency, have been appointed as senior advisers to President Maithripala Sirisena.

The Jathika Hela Urumaya, a Sinhala-nationalist party in the ruling coalition led by the UNP, said it had forced the withdrawal of a cabinet paper, which proposed the granting of government compensation to LTTE members who were injured during the armed conflict.

“Some ministers submitted a cabinet paper proposing that the injured LTTE terrorists should be compensated by the government. I strongly objected it and it had to be withdrawn,” energy minister and JHU general secretary Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

The minister also objected to the recently proposed ‘Sri Lankan diaspora festival’, to be organised by the government, and discussions held with diaspora groups, saying it would instigate “racism and terrorism”.

“There has been no discussion within the government about this. We do not think hosting such a discussion with organisations banned by the defense ministry through a gazette notification would ensure peace in the country. It is an instigation of terrorism,” Mr. Ranawaka said, referring to the recent meeting in London between Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, and representatives of the Global Tamil Forum and the TNA.

Speaking at a meeting with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s Council for Business with Britain (CBB), James Dauris, said,

Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed it met with representatives of the Global Tamil Forum and the TNA in London last weekend, Ceylon Today.

The government under President Maithripala Sirisena is pro-separatist and is too lenient on Northern Province Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran, according to the leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaiya, Udaya Gammanpila.

Mr Gammanpila, who is also a councillor in the Western Provincial Council, said the removal of the security forces form the North would be "a green light" for the return of the LTTE.

He said "the government's continuing silence has encouraged Wigneswaran to make such a demand in the North. In 1990 the Sri Lankan troops were withdrawn from the North, and the LTTE immediately occupied the area."

"Wigneswaran's demand to remove the military from the North was anticipated. There are some who are urging the international community to ensure the successive genocide of the Tamils. When Tamil National Alliance's Sivajilingam brought the resolution calling for an international probe into alleged human rights violations, it was Wigneswaran who cautioned him. Yet, Wigneswaran has the guts to make such a statement now. Our pro-separatist government cannot do anything about it. There is a secret agenda to tolerate them," he said.

The UNP said on Tuesday that Buddhists will vote for the party, contrary to claims by the Mahinda Rajapaksa faction of the SLFP.

Speaking to media, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said the SLFP faction was campaigning around the country, saying they will win the popular Buddhist vote.

A Buddha statue is being erected on Thalladi Main Street in Mannar.

Construction work is being carried out to build the Buddha statue in front of Thalladi army camp. The soldiers were previously reported to have decorated the Main Street to celebrate the Buddhist festival of Poson.

Selvam Adaikalanathan, an MP for Vanni district, said that the sudden commencement of the construction was a means of inciting racial tensions.

Tamil asylum seekers on the boat (Photos SMH)

The Australian government is alleged to have paid thousands of dollars to people smugglers on a boat carrying asylum seekers, who were then returned to Indonesia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Wendesday.

The boat carried 65 people, including Tamils and people from Burma fleeing persecution.

Indonesian police chief Mr Hidayat, said six crew members, who were arrested when they arrived at Rote, said they had been given $US5000 each by Australian officials.

Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton denied the allegations and refused to comment further, citing the government's policy of not commenting on "on-water matters".

A letter to the New Zealand government signed by the asylum seekers says Australian officials paid the six crew members at least $A7000 each.

Anti-apartheid activist and former South African judge, Albie Sachs, attended a special discussion on truth, reconciliation and justice in Jaffna on Tuesday.

Meeting with civil society activists, Mr Sachs said that the end of the war had not given rise to humanity, self-esteem or dignity and that the crucial need for freedom in the war-affected areas had not been fulfilled.

Sharing experiences from his own country, Mr Sachs said that for reconciliation to come about in South Africa, the perpetrators themselves came forward and admitted their crimes, but no such thing had happened in Sri Lanka.

Tamil civil society activists maintained that despite a change in regime, victims were no closer to justice.