US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski reiterated the importance of international involvement in an accountability mechanism to prosecute for violations of international humanitarian law, in a press roundtable in Colombo on Thursday.

“An erosion in the confidence" of Sri Lanka's courts led to the call for foreign judges to become involved said Mr Malinowski. “Sri Lanka itself has contributed judicial expertise to other countries and it has perhaps benefited from that.”

"These are complicated issues and there needs to be a process of consultation with all in order to ensure these things are done in a way that earns confidence of the people," he added, speaking alongside US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Biswal.

After his meeting, he tweeted,

“In Colombo, stressed US support for #SriLanka democratization, reconciliation and fully seeing through Geneva commitments.”

A list of supposed LTTE cadres who surrendered to the Sri Lankan military has been rejected by a court in Mullaitivu, after the military only submitted names of those who had gone through a government rehabilitation process.

Mullaitivu District Magistrate S M S  Samsudeen rejected the list on Thursday, which was submitted after families of missing Tamils filed Habeas Corpus petitions, for their relatives who surrendered to the military in the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009.

During Major General Chanayaka Gunaratna, head of the Army’s 58th Division, admitted during proceedings earlier this year that the army had kept a list of all those that surrendered. Yet the military had twice failed to submit that list.

The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution criticizing the continued interference in Tamil civil administration by the Sri Lankan military.

The resolution, which was passed at the NPC’s 56th session, highlighted the large role that the military continues to play in daily life in the North-East.

T Ravikaran, who proposed the motion, noted in particular that the military had become increasingly involved with affairs of fishermen in the region.

The Sri Lankan military has been destroying the last few remaining houses located inside the High Security Zone in Valikaamam North earlier this week.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to bar foreign judges from participating in an accountability mechanism is “final”, according to a government minister who went on to dismiss concerns raised by Tamil politicians.

Colombo Gazette reports minister Mahinda Samarasinghe as saying “the President has made clear foreign judges will not be invited to be part of the domestic accountability process”.

Mr Samarasinghe, who represented the previous Sri Lankan government in Geneva as the president’s special envoy on human rights, reportedly went on to add, “when the President takes a stand and the Prime Minister also expresses a similar view that is the final decision and the matter is closed”.

Speaking to The Island, Mr Samarasinghe went on to state that conditions for the inclusion of international judges by TNA MP MA Sumanthiran "shouldn’t be taken seriously against the backdrop of both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe ruling out the participation of foreign judges".

He went on to claim that TNA leader R. Sampanthan had said that "there was no requirement for foreign judges".

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) on Tuesday warned its coalition partners in the Sri Lankan government against introducing constitutional reforms.

The Buddhist nationalist party's national organiser, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe, said the government should not reform the constitution as it could divide society, the Daily Mirror reported.

He said the JHU would only agree to electoral reforms and would oppose changes to devolution, the unitary nature of the state and religion. Sri Lanka's constitution gives primacy to Buddhism.