Mass atrocities carried out during the final phase of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka compelled developers to launch a new smart phone app that allows war crimes to be documented and verified instantly.

Named “eyeWitness to Atrocities”, the app was designed after developers saw mobile phone footage of Sri Lankan soldiers executing Tamils who had surrendered in May 2009. It will allow users to instantly upload photo and video footage of potential war crimes to a secure database and to legal experts, so that evidence can be used in the prosecution of war criminals.

Iran has struggled to invest the pledged amount into the project due to ongoing sanctions against its government said the Mahaweli Development and Environment Ministry Secretary, Nihal Rupasainghe.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka discussed ways of enhancing bilateral defence ties on Saturday, reports Colombo Page.

Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Raheem Sharif, held discussions with Sri Lanka’s army commander Crishanthe De Silva, during an official visit to Sri Lanka.

Members of the Catholic clergy from the North-East say it is “too early” to return asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka, as it still is not safe.

Speaking to The Guardian, Catholic priest and lawyer Fr Veerasan Yogeswaran, who runs the Centre for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, says although the new government has brought in some positive changes, concerns remained.

“My general view of the countries holding asylum seekers: please do not send them back immediately,” he said. “There are positive developments. But at the same time these are not signs that everything is good and everything is democratic now.”

The priest from Trincomalee said the human rights situation in Sri Lanka remains unresolved and uncertain.

“The minority communities are of the opinion still that we do not feel safety and security in this island. And that is one of the reasons that they are also fleeing. There may not be abductions but there can be constant harassment and intimidations,” he said, adding that the heavy military presence continued to cause insecurity.

The Buddhist organisation Bodu Bala Sena will meet with the governor of Sri Lanka’s Central bank to object to the launch of financial services under Islamic principles by a private bank recently.

In a letter to the governor, the BBS said:

“We have got a number of complaints from bankers and citizens that CBSL is not taking any measures to ban introducing religious based banking practices which might create social division in the country. We strongly believe this leads situations against equal rights ensured in the constitution,

“Our organisation decided to send a delegation to CBSL to meet with you or any responsible officer to discuss this nationally important matter.

Members of the Sri Lankan military organised an event in cooperation with a garment producer to employ Tamils from Kilinochchi in the south of the island.

According to news.lk, troops with the 9 Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE) Regiment under the Security Force Headquarters-Killinochchi, worked with Tri Star Apparels (Pvt) Ltd conducted a series of interviews in May, and selected 58 Tamil youths from the town in the North-East.

The Tamils will be employed in the Ratmalana branch of the company, a town near Colombo.

A delegation from the British Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) visited Sri Lanka’s Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene on Monday.

The RCDS, which on an education tour in Sir Lanka, discussed matters of bilateral relevance and mutual interest reports, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence website.

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province, CV Wigneswaran noting that the prevalence of drug circulation in the North-East had only increased after the end of the conflict between Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), called for Sri Lanka’s military forces to be retracted from the area.

“Our people feel that various sections from armed forces which have deliberately introducing various aspects of theses dangerous drugs, to stop youngsters form coming up having a good education and having their sense of freedom,” said Mr Wigneswaran.

Alleging that drug trafficking within the North-East was not an issue before May 2009, he said,

“Trafficking was not allowed within the Northern Province in the early days of the Tigers. Who took over after 18 May 2009? How have we allowed things that were not taking place here (North-East) to find foothold in the area when it was only the army that was in charge.”

Speaking at a news conference at the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDCB) in Colombo, Mr Wigneswaran called for an impartial investigation to ascertain whether the continued deployment of the army after the end of the armed conflict in 2009 was a contributory factor in the introduction and distribution of narcotic drugs in the Northern Province.

Reiterating calls for the military to be withdrawn the chief minister added,

"We still have a lot of problems because of the long presence of the security forces. Our lands have been taken over by them, our cultivation, our fisheries, our businesses have been taken over by them and our women are not safe. The deployment of 100,000 army personnel is equivalent to one soldier to every four people. We will be extremely happy if the army is withdrawn.”

See full video of press brief here.

Tamils still face genocidal agendas says TNA MP (07 Jun 2015)