The Global Tamil Forum and Australian Tamil Congress co-hosted an international conference in Sydney, reaffirming the role of the international community in pressure Sri Lanka to address human rights violations that occurred during the war on the island. 

The conference, held on the 20th October in Sydney, was entitled “Accountability in Sri Lanka: Common Justice in the Commonwealth” and saw a vast array of distinguished speakers from all over the world, including MPs from Malaysia, South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka.

Geoffery Robertson, an eminent QC, who was appointed by the UN Secretary General as one of the three distinguished jurist members of the UN’s Internal Justice Council and part-time appeal judge at the UN-backed court for war crimes in Sierra Leone was also in attendance, along with guests from Amnesty International (Graham Thorn - AI's Australia Refugee Coordinator, and Senthorun Raj - NSW president of AI Australia) and diplomats, including, Sisa Njikelana, an MP from South Africa's ANC (African National Congress).

Prof Suriyanarayanan of India, member of the National Security Advisory Board of the Government of India during 2008-2010, also spoke at the event, which recognised that “India must revisit its approach and strategy towards Sri Lanka.”

Other notable speakers included Lionel Bopage, former general secretary of the JVP in Sri Lanka who resigned from the party on principle as he disagreed with the party's approach to the Tamil issue; Professor Damien Kingsbury from the Schoool of International and Political Studies at Deakin University, and Associate Professor Jake Lynch, the director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney.

Those who have witnessed first hand alleged war crimes and human rights abuses that took place were also present, including, Meena Krishnamoorthy, who was caught up in the No-Fire Zone and two Malaysian MPs, Manogaran and Ramakrishnan, who visited Vanni shortly after the conflict unofficially.  

The conference was held ahead of the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, the conference called for Sri Lanka to be denied privileges such as hosting the 2013 CHOGM and 2018 Commonwealth Games until the issues of war crimes and crimes against humanity were effectively dealt with. Furthermore, they called on the international community to “take all necessary steps to implement the UN Panel recommendations in its entirety”.

Amongst those injured was a Tamil man, who was left with a suspected broken nose and teeth, thought to have been inflicted by a guard at the centre.

The TNA were urged under no circumstances to barter away war crimes accountability for "political concessions" by the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) during a press conference on Sunday.

The TNPF is a group of former TNA parliamentarians and civil society members, formed in early 2010 in exasperation at the TNA's reluctance to base its policies on the Tamil nation's rights.

A district court in The Hague ruled on Friday, in the case of five Tamils accused of procuring funds, that the LTTE is not a terrorist organisation.

Speaking in parliament on Thursday, UPFA member, A H M Azwar, expressed sorrow at the end of Gaddafi's rule.

Writing in the Canberra Times, retired Australian diplomat Bruce Haigh called on Australia to reject the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe.

The head of Channel 4 News and Current Affairs has told a Lords communications committee that a protest against the broadcaster earlier this year was arranged by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence.

An internal report by a panel on the Commonwealth, due to be presented at the summit in Perth next week, has slammed the ‘failure’ of the 54-member organisation to address human rights issues of its members and said only prompt action will save the Commonwealth from irrelevance and its eventual demise.

The TNA (Tamil National Alliance) called on the government to stop all registration of lands in the North-East, reverse the inclusion of the Sinhala region of Welioya into Mullaitivu District and stop the deployment of a Sinhala government agent to Mannar, during talks with government delegates on Thursday.

A group of Vedda, indigenous people on the island of Sri Lanka, have protested outside the residence of the Trincomalee governor, the BBC Sinhala service reports.

The group, hailing from a remote village in the district, claimed their ancestral land was being appropriated by a Buddhist monk, with government officials in the district ignoring their plight.

The parliamentary standards watchdog will be conducted a fresh investigation into the Fox's dealings with Werritty, the watchdog's commissioner announced today.

The watchdog was asked by the Labour MP, John Mann, to investigate allegations that Fox allowed Werritty to live rent-free in his London flat, paid for by parliamentary allowances.