India’s National Human Rights Commission ordered an investigation into the killing of 20 alleged sandalwood smugglers after hearing two testimonials on Monday.

The testimonies countered police claims that the alleged loggers were shot in an exchange last week, claiming instead that they were executed.

The police say that the killings took place when they challenged a group of 100 sandalwood smugglers who attacked them with axes and stones, reports the BBC.

The killings of the alleged smugglers, who were mostly Tamil, sparked mass protests in Tamil Nadu.

Sri Lanka will not start a domestic war crimes probe before September, said Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith Perera to Ceylon Today, despite President Maithripala Sirisena’s pledge last week to launch an inquiry in June.

The deputy minister said Sri Lanka would only present a report on the modalities on how such a domestic inquiry would be conducted at the UNHRC in September.

Mr Perera said the government achieved a “great diplomatic victory” in March this year, referring to the deferral of the OISL report until September.

"We made it clear to the UN that there was no need for an international inquiry and told that we have an independent judiciary and independent public service,” he said.

The leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband has pledged to continue to push for a "full and independent international investigation" into war crimes in Sri Lanka, in a video message to the British Tamil community marking the Tamil New Year.

Thanking the British Tamil community for the "incredible contribution" it has made to the UK, the opposition leader said the Labour Party has always been "a friend of the Tamil community".

The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF), a network of civil society groups in the North-East, welcomed the statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, released on Saturday, following his visit to the island.

"We are pleased that Mr de Grieff has addressed many issues that was raised by TCSF in his meeting with him," the group said on its social media page on Monday.

Responding to a letter by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warning Sri Lanka that it risked its international status over its decision to hold elections under a contentious sports law introduced by the new government, Sri Lanka's sports minister, Navin Dissanayake, denied that the ministry was exerting any pressure on sporting bodies.

“We categorically deny that any pressure had been exerted to any sports body or federation by our Ministry,” Mr Dissanayake wrote in a letter dated April 7, reports the Daily Mirror.