Tamils in the North-East reiterated calls for self-determination, as the Sri Lankan government’s Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms launched its first meeting in Jaffna this week.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena declared his government was “determined to face” a UN Human Rights Council resolution in order to protect the “pride and dignity” of the armed forces.

Photograph: Will Baxter/Freedom From Torture

Tamil torture victims who suffered at the hands of the Sri Lankan government called on the UN Human Rights chief to ensure that an “internationalised justice process” takes place, ahead of his visit to the island this week.

In a report by UK-based charity Freedom From Torture and the survivor activist network Survivors Speak OUT, victims called on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein to “deliver a strong message to the President and Prime Minister about the need for Sri Lanka to comply with the commitments it made to the UN Human Rights Council and the consequences if it fails to do so” during his visit to the island.

The Tamil People’s Council called for the recognition that “Tamils constitute a distinct people with the inalienable right to self-determination” in a draft set of proposals, calling for a political agreement prior to a constitutional enactment in Sri Lanka.

Today marks the 23rd anniversary since the death of Sathasivam Krishnakumar alias Colonel Kittu, and nine other LTTE cadres, who committed suicide after being surrounded by Indian navy warships in 1993.

As Tamils across the world marked the annual harvest festival of Thai Pongal this week, in the Tamil homeland security the Sri Lankan government deployed soldiers in Jaffna as Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the Northern Province.