Writing for Project Syndicate, former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans has labelled Sri Lanka’s ‘savagery’ in 2009 as comparable to genocide in Rwanda and Darfur, and criticised the silence of international observers at the time.

Read the full article on Project Syndicate here.

Extracts reproduced below:

“The world has paid almost no attention to war crimes and crimes against humanity comparable in their savagery to any of these [- Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur]: the killing fields of Sri Lanka in 2009.”

“The lack of outrage mainly reflects the Sri Lankan government’s success in embedding in the minds of policymakers and publics an alternative narrative that had extraordinary worldwide resonance in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.”

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Housing, Construction and Common Amenities Wimal Weerawansa met the chief prelates of the Buddhist Clergy Siyam Nikaya, to seek approval to continue the campaign to abolish the 13th Amendment.

The Sri Lankan Attorney General Palitha Fernando has claimed that several high-profile human rights violations will be investigated and concluded by the end of the year.

The Sri Lankan Army has held an education programme in Jaffna, helping pupils who are studying for their O-Levels, prepare for their upcoming exams.

The seminars and lessons were organised by the Army’s 52nd Division and consisted of revision for Science and Maths papers.

Sri Lanka will wants greater involvement in the the monitoring mechanism of Kudankulam nuclear power plant, reports the Sunday Times. 

Gotabhaya Rajapakse has spoken to Uthayan, during his trip to India, regarding his stance on the 13th Amendment, and questions of demilitarisation in the North.

Extracts translated below:

The price of bread may rise to Rs. 60, speculated the Island on Saturday, after bakers at the Association of Bakery Owners met on Friday.

On Friday, officials at Sri Lanka's two main milling companies - Prima and Serendib - said that the price of wheat flour had been raised by Rs.6 and Rs. 4 per kilo, respectively. Both companies said the price hike was due to losses during the importing of wheat flour, following the depreciation of the rupee, and increased transport costs.

Speaking to The Sunday Island, bakers said:

"We don’t want to burden the people, we feel it too. But what can we do with the flour price going up?"

"Everything is going up.. and it is the people who will suffer"

The National Freedom Front (NFF) has written to several parties across Sri Lanka, calling on them to rally together and form an alliance against the implementation of the 13th Amendment.

The Iranian government has offered Sri Lanka the opportunity to purchase crude oil without opening Letters of Credit as a means of bypassing American sanctions on Iran, reported the Island.

A church in Trincomalee was vandalised and mosque in Anuradhapura were both damaged and vandalised by unidentified persons on Friday and Satruday night respectively, reported TamilNet.

A statue at the church, located in Paazhaiyoottu in the Trincomalee district, was defaced with its hands destroyed and lights decorating the statue removed on Friday night.

Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has said that the US should "compensate" Sri Lanka, due to the adverse effects its sanctions on Iran are having on Sri Lanka, reported the Daily Mirror.

The Sri Lankan defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, met with the Indian Defence minister AK Anthony, after being invited to India by the country's National Security Advisor, Shivshankar Menon.

The US Coast Guard conducted training exercises for the Sri Lankan Coast Guard in Trincomalee recently, reports Colombo Page.

The training initiative, said to strengthen maritime security, was part of the Export Control and Related Border Security Program.