Commenting on the Internal Review Panel on the UN's conduct in Sri Lanka in 2009, Human Rights Watch's UN director, Philippe Bolopion, said on Wednesday:

“The UN internal review identifies the tragic mistakes that led the UN to fail in its most basic obligations to civilians in Sri Lanka,”

J. Stafford is a member of TAG's advocacy team (Tamils Against Genocide)

Nov 1-14. The UPR on: the Significance of Context, of Terror and lest we forget, the Tamil Question

On Thursday 1 November, Sri Lanka stood to account before the Human Rights Council. Procedures, protocols reassuringly followed, the Sri Lankan delegation exuding calm professionalism, consummate politicians with seemingly measured, reasonable responses. They interjected occasionally, as is fitting, seen to be engaging with the recommendations. The lines they were following carefully articulated in their national report. And then, of course, on the 5th November, 100 of the recommendations were rejected - a record.

But all this was anticipated. The chair at the side event on the 31 October, Nimalka Fernando - President of International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) made the point that the contents of the National Report were directly contrary to the knowledge and experiences of the side event panel.  The Sri Lankan state approach was predictable. As Alan Keenan from ICG observed, that the Government chose to impeach the chief justice on the very day of the UPR speaks volumes to the state’s arrogance and level of contempt for international institutions. 

(See video of UPR here) 

But it is a contempt masterly deployed, and, most disappointingly, one that garners support from diverse quarters. Sri Lanka attends the UPR and in so doing, in submitting to the procedures, the reports, the recommendations, the whole show, is able to firmly reinforce its message and self-representation. As a state it enjoys legitimacy at the UN. It is one among other states, part of a club.

Two men, both aged 33, were held in custody on Monday night in connection with the murder of French TCC leader Nadarajah Mathinthiran.

The two suspects, both described as of ‘Sri Lankan’ nationality, were arrested on Sunday morning in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and La Chapelle.

A source close to the case is reported to have said that searches of the suspects’ homes did not provide evidence for their involvement in the killing.

A leaked draft of an UN internal report on Sri Lanka concludes that "events in Sri Lanka mark a grave failure of the UN", reports the BBC.

The report, headed by former senior UN official Charles Petrie, points to a “systemic failure” and questions decisions such as the withdrawal of UN staff from the war zone in September 2008, after warning from the Sri Lankan government that it could no longer guarantee their safety.

One member of the UN team that left, Benjamin Dix, claimed to have disagreed with the pull-out, saying:

"I believe we should have gone further north, not evacuate south, and basically abandon the civilian population with no protection or witness. As a humanitarian worker, questions were running through my mind 'what is this all about? Isn't this what we signed up to do?'"

The report says that the situation on the ground was “catastrophic” and points out that:

"many senior UN staff did not perceive the prevention of killing of civilians as their responsibility - and agency and department heads at UNHQ were not instructing them otherwise," going on to describe "a sustained and institutionalised reluctance" among UN personnel in Sri Lanka "to stand up for the rights of people they were mandated to assist".

The Tamil National Alliance's MP V. Saravanapavan, questioned the silence of India over increasing calls to abolish the 13th Amendment, reports the Daily Mirror and the Island.

Speaking at the second reading of the budget, MP Saravanapavan is to have said,

A call by ITN Productions for graduate film students to create an original short film based on the production company's original documentary - Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, has produced a striking result.

Cristina Picchi, a 30 year old filmmaker in London, has created a moving short film, that captures the responses of five people as they watch Sri Lanka's Killing Fields.

Speaking to Channel 4 news, Picchi said,

"When asked to edit a video using the film's footage I felt overwhelmed: everything seemed so important yet, when de-contextualised from the original narrative, so horrific and unnecessarily graphic. I then decided to take a different approach.

A Sri Lankan man has been arrested by French police on suspicion of the murder of Mathinthiran Nadarajah, alias Col Parithi, reported Le Parisien on Monday.

The 33-year old man was apprehended in the 20th Arrondissemente of Paris late on Sunday.

“What many tourists do not know is that the new peace in Sri Lanka has come at a high cost to freedom of expression and the human rights of citizens. The country is now rated the fourth most dangerous place in the world for journalists, higher even than Afghanistan. More than fifteen journalists are believed to have been killed since 2006.”

“At the end of the war 300000 civilians were illegally detained in inhumane conditions likened to concentration camps. According to a United Nations panel “The Government subjected victims and survivors of the conflict to further deprivation.. some of who were separated were summarily executed and some of the women may have been raped..”