Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister Professor G.L Peiris, speaking in parliament today, reiterated that police powers would not be devolved to the provinces, reports Colomob Page.

“We made it crystal clear that devolution of police power is not acceptable",

Diaspora organisations and the public will be involved in discussion before an action plan is formulated to solve the Tamil ethnic issue, said the Tamil National Alliance spokesperson, Suresh Premachandran.

“It has been 5 years since the war ended and people are facing difficulties that are greater than the difficulties the faced before the end of the war,” said Premachandran during a press conference at his office.

Photograph HRW

Next week, the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict is due to take place in London, co-hosted by the UK's Foreign Secretary, William Hague and the Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie.

In the run up to the ESVC summit, we revisit the mounting evidence which documents the widespread, systematic and on-going use of sexual violence by Sri Lanka's military against Tamils, that occurs with absolute impunity.

See our full feature: 'Sexual Violence in Conflict: Sri Lanka'
 
Despite the end of the armed conflict, the use of sexual violence by Sri Lanka's military against Tamil women and men continued, with Tamils routinely arrested and detained indefinitely using the country's draconian anti-terror laws.

There are on-going reports of sexual violence against Tamils in detention to the present day, with many victims recounting sexual violence used as a means of torture to extract confessions.

In 2012, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), examined witness testimonies of Tamils deported back to Sri Lanka. In its report 'Returnees at Risk: Detention And Torture in Sri Lanka', TAG noted:

“The majority of the cases that reported abuse reported similar forms of physical torture, with 6 verified as having experienced additional forms of sexual torture. In all of the cases reviewed, judges found legitimate claims of severe torture to be “supported by photographic evidence and the medical reports” as well as through “psychological assessment”. Several of the applicants suffer from continued physical pain as well as forms of mental illness caused by severe trauma.”

The Australian government had frozen the application of a Tamil asylum seeker, who tragically self immolated and died this week, stated refugee advocates.

29-year-old Leorsin Seemanpillai had been living in Geelong waiting for his protection visa application to be processed by the Australian government. He had arrived in Australia by boat in January 2013. He passed away on Saturday night, after suffering burns to 90 percent of his body.

Australia's Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has denied that the government's asylum policy was the reason behind why a Tamil asylum seeker committed suicide earlier this week.

Leorsin Seemanpillai, a Tami asylum seeker who fled Sri Lanka self immolated and died from his injuries on Saturday night. He had spent 18 months in Australia, but was yet to be granted refugee status.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, called on the Indian government to table a resolution at the UN that condemned the genocide in Sri Lanka and looked to hold those responsible accountable for their actions whilst facilitating a referendum for Tamils to decide on the formation of a separate state in Sri Lanka, reports the Times of India.

The Sri Lankan government will not assist the United Nations investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, reports the Daily FT.

A government spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, speaking at a press conference over the weekend, said that the Sri Lankan government rejected the UN resolution that mandated such an investigation and would not cooperate with any proceedings related to the resolution.