A spokeperson for the international human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, expressed confusion and disbelief at the Sri Lankan government's indignant opposition to the resolution tabled at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

"The Rajapaksa government's strident opposition to this is hard to understand,"

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner, Kariyawasam, to India apologised on Friday after suggesting that any Tamil Nadu MPs who spoke of accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity had been lobbied by the LTTE and should be investigated by Indian authorities.

After being summoned for a meeting by India's ministry of external affairs with the ministry's joint secretary, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Kariyawasam said,

In reports published Friday, the International Crisis Group detailed and condemned the "deepening militarisation" and "Sinhalisation" in the Tamil area of the Northen Province, that the report concludes are part of a strategy to ""change the facts of the ground", as has already happened in the east, and make it impossible to claim the north as a Tamil-majority area deserving of self-governance."

In a statement released Wednesday, the TNA condemned the Sri Lankan government's catalogue of broken promises of political settlement and human rights, urging the member states of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to act.

See here for full statement.

Extracts reproduced in full below:

"The Sri Lankan government has persistently claimed that, if provided time and space, it will evolve homegrown processes that will address the need for a political solution, improvement in human rights and accountability. This claim must be evaluated against the chronic unwillingness of the government to honour its own commitments to the people of Sri Lanka and the international community. Some of these commitments have been repeated for many years, with no progress made on the ground."

"Moreover, the trajectory of the government’s conduct indicates that, if given time and space, that time and space will be utilized to pursue the agenda that the government has brazenly undertaken despite assurances to the contrary. That agenda entails the silencing of the democratic voice of the Tamil people, the entrenching of power at the centre and the transformation of the linguistic, cultural and religious composition of the North and East so as to negate the need for a political solution."

"they really can achieve peace and security and not sow anger in their own community that could give rise to new violence."

"The entire world knows about the war crimes against Sri Lankan Tamils. The Tamil Nadu chief minister has raised this issue with the prime minister. We want an answer from the prime minister... will they support the UN resolution."

"Traditional position of India has always been, not only in respect of this case, that we normally do not support any country-specific resolution. But what view on this issue will be taken will be determined as and when the time will be finalized in respect of the meeting of the Human Rights Commission."

In a report, 'Locked away: Sri Lanka's security detainees', released Tuesday, Amnesty International (AI) highlighted the ongoing arbitrary, illegal and often incommunicado detention of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.

Sam Zarifi, AI’s Asia-Pacific Director said,

“A lack of accountability for alleged war crimes gives the green light to Sri Lankan authorities to act with impunity. Meanwhile the message coming from the Sri Lankan government is that those who dare criticise it risk harassment, or even disappearance.”

If Sri Lanka is serious about ending impunity and committed to reconciling communities torn apart by conflict, the rule of law needs to be a large part of that equation.  While governments have the right to address national security concerns, human rights abuses are never justified.

“The war crimes alleged in Sri Lanka in the final stages of the war are of such magnitude that if unchallenged risk fundamentally undermining international justice mechanisms - the UN must support an independent international investigation into these alleged crimes.”

In a statement, AI said,

"Reports of illegal detentions persist. Since October 2011, 32 people have been ‘abducted’ or subjected to abduction-style arrests."

In a statement released Monday, Reporters Sans Frontieres, detailed the "violence, threats and propaganda aimed at journalists and media defenders seen as government critics" since 2011.

Extracts reproduced below:

In a joint statement and resolution, 12 Tamil diaspora organisations, called for an independent, international investigation as the only mechanism to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as a lasting political solution that reflected the nationhood of Eelam Tamils.