The newly appointed Jaffna army commander has said he will treat land return as a priority, the Chief Minister of the North said.

The Chief Minister of the North has said he hopes for progress with regards to the grievances of Tamil people in the new year.

In his Tamil new year wishes, the chief minister, C. V. Wigneswaran said that “although many years have come and gone, the status of the Tamil people always remains under question.”

At least 134 Sri Lankan peacekeeping forces exploited children in a sex ring in Haiti, an Associated Press report has revealed.

An internal UN report obtained by the AP said that at least 134 Sri Lankan soldiers in Haiti exploited nine children in a sex ring from 2004 to 2007.

Although 114 peacekeepers were sent home in the wake of the report, allegedly breaking up the sex ring, exploitation continued including by peacekeepers of other nationalities.

The returned Sri Lankan peacekeepers were never held to account, and some still remain in the military.

Other missions implicated in the report are Bangladesh, Brazil, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Uruguay.

Members of the European Parliament have told Sri Lanka it must deliver on its human rights commitments, and that the Prevention of Terrorism Act should be replaced before a decision on granting the trade concession, GSP plus, can be made.

A Mallakam magistrate judge has ordered an investigation into the illegal detention of a Tamil man by Sri Lankan intelligence personnel.

Last week, four people claiming to be from Vaddukoddai police station went to Thiraviyanathan Naguleswaran’s home and took him away for questioning.

Mr Naguleswaran is currently involved in an alimony case at Mallakam magistrates court.

However when Mr Naguleswaran’s wife went to Vaddukoddai police station, she was told that they had not arrested anybody.

NGOs and civil society activists should be charged with treason and sentenced to death according to former Sri Lankan MP and Rajapaksa ally, the retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara.

Weerasekara, in an extensive interview with Ceylon Today reiterated his denial of Sri Lankan war crimes and said that those making claims such as the existence of rape camps would be charged with treason.

“If we come to power these traitors should be charged with treason. That is what I would advise the government that comes to power next time. These people are traitors letting down the entire country and the armed forces.”

The Rear Admiral further said:

A former EPDP member has been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl.

As well as the death sentence for murder, Kanthasamy Jegatheeswaran was also sentenced to twenty years rigorous imprisonment for rape and sexual torture, and ordered to pay 10 lakh rupees to the victim’s parents by Jaffna High Court judge M. Ilancheliyan.

Laksini Jesuthas, aged 12 at the time, was raped and murdered in Neduntheevu (Delft Island) on the 3rd of March, 2012.

The case was noted for its extensive use of forensic and genetic evidence at trial, in the absence of eyewitness testimonies.

Families of the disappeared have been protesting for 49 days in Kilinochchi.

Sri Lanka is currently negotiating a joint venture with India to redevelop the oil tank facility in Trincomalee. 

"We are currently negotiating the specifics of the joint venture," Sri Lanka's Petroleum Minister Chandima Weerakkody was quoted by The Hindu as saying. 

An agreement is hoped to be acheived before India's prime minister Narendra Modi's second visit to Sri Lanka in May.