Britain, Germany, Macedonia and Montenegro said that Sri Lanka’s lack of progress in important areas of reform “risks undermining reconciliation efforts” in a statement delivered to the 39^th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) today.

The joint statement by the states, which make up the Sri Lanka core group, said that in co-sponsoring a resolution that called for an accountability mechanism with international judges, “Sri Lanka recognised that national accountability mechanisms are essential to dealing with the past, and to restoring confidence among its communities”.

However, the core group went on to state “these have yet to be established”.

Sri Lanka’s state minister of defence said “arrangements are being made to strengthen security at all times," as he sought to reiterate his government’s commitment to strengthening the military this week.

"I must stress that under the advice of President Maithripala Sirisena, the guidance of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and all security chiefs of security, arrangements are being made to strengthen security at all times," Ruwan Wijewardene told a meeting in Biyagama.

The Sri Lankan navy announced that it had arrested three Tamil men, over a reported attempt to smuggle 118kg of cannabis in Jaffna on Sunday.

The Tamil men, who the navy said were residents of Jaffna and Mannar, were arrested off the coast of Point Pedro.

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday vowed to "vindicate security forces" at the UN General Assembly where he is scheduled to deliver a speech on September 24. 

Speaking at an SLFP meeting in Nivitigala, Sirisena pledged that he would "make a statement to vindicate the security forces from all allegations levelled against them," the Daily News reported. 

His comments came as Sri Lanka's poor progress on the co-sponsored UN Human Rights Council resolution was highlighted at the Council's session currently underway in Geneva. 

Sri Lanka is most at risk of an exchange rate crisis, according to a gauge published by Nomura this week, as fears over currency crunches continue to build in emerging market economics.

Nomura’s “Damocles” index, which the bank called an “early warning system”, placed Sri Lanka most at risk out a range of market economies, reports the Financial Times.

Newly appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet said Sri Lanka had “moved too slowly towards meaningful implementation of the transitional justice agenda” in her opening statement to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) earlier today.

Bachelet also stated that in Sri Lanka “recurrent incidents of racist and inter-communal violence are disturbing, as are announced plans to resume use of the death penalty” as the 39th session of the UNHRC began in Geneva.

She noted that though progress was slow, the “the Office of Missing Persons has now begun consultations and institutional capacity-building to fulfil its mandate”.

Families of the disappeared in Sri Lanka have “waited too long to know the truth” about the enforced disappearances of their relatives, said the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN WGEID) in a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council.

The report stated that “families of the disappeared in Sri Lanka have waited too long to know the truth about the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones”.

“This is an absolute right under the Declaration and an obligation that the State should meet in accordance with international law,” it added.

The slaughter of 185 Tamils by the Sri Lankan army with the assistance of the Muslim home guards in Sathurukondan, Batticaloa was remembered 28 years on at the memorial site in the village. 

Families of those massacred gathered to remember the horrific event. 

Manipay police on Saturday arrested four Tamil youths for alleged vandalism committed in Navali. 

Four houses and a van were set on fire on September 8. 

Police officers arrested the four Tamil youths on the same night. 

Investigations continue, the police said. 

The Tamil Nadu cabinet on Sunday announced it would be recommending the release of all seven people convicted over the the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi following a 2 hour meeting headed by the chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswani. 

The fisheries minister, D Jayakumar announced the cabinet would be submitting the recommendation to the governor.