A Tamil paramilitary leader and six others including a Sri Lankan army intelligence officer have pleaded not guilty to the murder of TNA parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham.

Pillaiyan, real name Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, was the former chief minister of the Eastern province and head of the government-aligned TMVP paramilitary group.

He stands accused of carrying out the 2005 Christmas Day murder of Mr Pararajasingham, who was shot dead at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Batticaloa.

33 Tamils killed by Sri Lankan soldiers in Savukkadi in 1990 were remembered in Batticaloa on Wednesday, 27 years since the massacre took place.

On the morning of September 20 1990, Sri Lankan soldiers entered the Savukkadi village and opened fire on civilians. 26 villagers, including 10 children and an infant, were burnt to death and buried in two ditches. Soldiers also shot at fishermen in the waters off the village, killing 7.

Tamils and Muslims in Jaffna protested against the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar and called for the United Nations to intervene to end the atrocities.

The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said the Tamil National Alliance would accept the interim report by the constitutional steering committee provided the UNP and SLFP agree to it, reports The Hindu. 

“The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has taken the unprecedented position that they would agree to the content of this interim report provided the two main political parties accept it,” Mr. Wickremesinghe was quoted as saying. 

Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan called for Sri Lanka’s new constitution to accept the long standing goal of recognising the identity and dignity of the Tamil speaking people.

Speaking at the launch of the Interim Report of the Steering Committee on Sri Lanka’s constitution, Mr Sampanthan said,

Sri Lanka's recently appointmed foreign minister, Thilak Marapana today defended the former army commander Jagath Jayasuriya stating there was "no provable evidence" against him, the Daily Mirror reported. 

Mr Jayasuriya who was the ambassador to Brazil, was forced to flee Brazil after human rights organisations filed a lawsuit over allegations of war crimes. 

Tamils should not be obsessed with words such as federalism, the TNA leader and leader of the Opposition, R. Sampanthan, has said, adding that a political solution may or may not come.

At a meeting of Tamil newspaper editors held at his working residence, the party leader said that while there may not be 100% satisfaction with the new constitution, it would still be an improvement.

“We must act carefully,” he said. “Both the President Maithripala Sirisena and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe must lead their party members correctly and properly. The important junctures are still ahead.”

A new report by the United Nations names Sri Lanka as a state that continues to intimidate and harass activists who co-operate with the global body on human rights issues.

The report stated that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was “disturbed” to hear that civil society members had faced intimidation from Sri Lanka in the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva earlier this year.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena is set to meet with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein this week, according to a report in the Ceylon Today.

The Sri Lankan president is set to meet with the human rights chief in New York, where he is currently attending the UN General Assembly.

Though the armed conflict in Sri Lanka has ended, many on the island “still face discrimination and hate” said the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Una McCauley, calling for more to be done for reconciliation.

In an address to mark the International Day of Peace 2017 on Thursday, Ms Cauley said “addressing the root causes of conflict and preventing violence requires our commitment and our unity”.

“In Sri Lanka, the war is over,” she noted. “Yet many still face discrimination and hate.”

She went on to state,