Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture, JHU front-liner Udaya Gammanpila has said that he believes Sri Lanka was able to successfully counter human rights abuse allegations at the UN Human Rights Council.

Calling the allegations “baseless theories put forward by separatist forces” in an interview with the Sunday Observer, Gammanpila explained how the Sri Lankan delegation at the UPR was able to defy them by detailing Sri Lanka’s extensive post-2009 ‘achievements’ in rehabilitation and infrastructure. Gammanpila then went on to talk about the Tamil issue, claiming that a solution can only be formed by the Sri Lankan government.

The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was in China today, meeting his counterpart, Defence Minister Liang Guanglie.

Meeting in Beijing, the pair discussed means of boosting relations between the two countries and militaries, reported China's Xinhua news agency.

The UNP has said that the violence in Welikada prison ended with security forces committing a massacre.
Mangala Samaraweera of the party said that most of the dead were gunned down by police and the army.

"It's a massacre that has to be condemned. It shows the breakdown of the rule of law in the country," he said, according to Reuters.

Photograph TamilNet

Tamil diaspora organisations have been voicing shock at the death of French TCC (Tamil Coordination Committee) co-ordinator and ex-LTTE commander, Colonel Parithi, who was shot dead in Paris on Thursday night.

50-year-old Nadarajah Mathinthiran, more commonly known by his noms de guerre Reagan and later Parithi, left the LTTE in the early 90s and took responsibility for mobilising the French Tamil diaspora in the early 2000s. Mathinthiran had been targeted in police crackdowns on LTTE fundraising activities in 2007 and had served a three year prison term until 2010.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for changes to the country’s 13th Amendment, calling for a mechanism that will unify the country further.

Delivering his budget speech in Parliament, Rajapaksa stated the devolution should not lead to separation, saying,

As key Tamil figures from the North-East came to London this Wednesday and Thursday to engage in the international World Tamil Conference to discuss ways of pushing the call for an international, independent investigation into the crimes of genocide against the Tamil nation,

The riots in Welikada prison ended in a bloodbath, with 27 people dead and dozens injured.

Most of the dead were prisoners who were killed by armed police and army soldiers.

At least three prisoners were killed when they attempted to flee in an auto-rickshaw, which was shot at by security forces.

 14:57 GMT

In breaking news, riots have broken out between inmates at the Welikada prison and the Sri Lankan security forces. 

Reports coming through state that on Friday afternoon, Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF) and prison intelligence unit conducted a search operation on inmates in the L and Chappell units of the prison, citing authorisation by the minister of prisons and reforms.

As inmates protested, STF personnel fired tear gas at the protesters. The situation continued to escalate, with several inmates climbing onto the roof of the prison in protest, and news coming through of serious injuries and fatalities.

15:02 GMT

23:58 GMT

The director of the hospital dealing with casualties from the Welikada prison violence has told AFP that 13 people, of whom at least 11 were inmates, had died. Anil Jasinghe said that a further 32 injured were also brought to the hospital.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed concern at Australia’s new policy of that allows for immediate deportation of Sri Lankan refugees seeking asylum.

The Sri Lankan Army has announced the launch of a brand that will create resorts across the country, as they opened yet another holiday resort on the island.

Speaking to reporters, Army chief Jagath Jayasuriya proudly announced the launch of the “Laya” brand hotels, stating,

"Our vision is to make the 'Laya' brand one of the most sought-after resort hotels in Sri Lanka".

The Army chief went on to comment that the security forces had taken up this task because of necessity, explaining,

"We're not going to challenge the private sector but trying to help meet the room requirement for the anticipated tourist arrivals and maintain the best standards."

He went on to anticipate a bigger role for hotel resort industry on the island, and possibly the armed forces, telling reporters,

"This depends on the rapid build up of room capacity…The government has set a target room capacity of 30,000 by 2015".

Earlier this year the Sri Lankan Army opened their second holiday resort in the Jaffna peninsula alone. See below:

Army opens yet another holiday resort in Jaffna (11 Jan 2012)

The Leader of the French branch of TCC (Tamil Co-ordination Committee) has been killed in a shooting in Paris’s 20th arrondissement on Thursday evening.