One of the parties of Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition has called for the prosecution of the Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, and 30 other members of the clergy who have signed a letter critical of the government.

The JHU, a Buddhist nationalist party, accused the Bishop of sympathising with Tamil separatism, for his letter that criticised the LLRC and called on the UN Human Rights Commission to pass a resolution to put pressure on Sri Lanka.

The letter reveals a growing rift along ethnic lines within the Catholic clergy on the island.

Tamil NGO delegates were subject to intimidation tactics by members of the Sri Lankan delegation reported the news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP), on Thursday.

Delegates were targeted with photography and video inside the main plenary room at the UN, and during side line event hosted by Sri Lanka. A formal complaint has been lodged with security officers, AFP reported.

Médecins Sans Frontières have refuted comments made by Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa that the organisation was allowed access in the final war zone in 2009, stating that despite repeated reuqests, access was denied.

Following comments made by the Defence Secretary to the Deccan Chronicle, MSF stated that in September 2008 they were issued a government directive asking them and other international organisations to leave Kilinochchi. They went on to state,

Writing in the New York Times, the panel of experts appointed by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon to examine the final stages of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka - Marzuki Darusman, the former attorney-general of Indonesia, Steven Ratner, a professor of law at the University of Michigan, and Yasmin Sooka, the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa - urged the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council to ensure that "Sri Lanka fulfills its responsibilities to all its people and to the rest of the world".

Addressing the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), an NGO that advocates the rights of human rights activists internationally, highlighted Sri Lanka's failure to make meaningful progress on peace and reconciliation, whilst increasing its intimidation and harrassment of those campaigning for human rights.

The US Under Secretary of State, Maria Otero, warned Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the LLRC without delay.

Speaking at the 19th UN Human Rights Session on Friday, Otero said that there can be no lasting peace without reconciliaton and accountability.

The Under Secretary reiterated the need for action at this session to 'sow the seeds of lasting peace'.

Full comment on Sri Lanka by Maria Otero:

Condemning the TNA's boycott of the 19th UN Human Rights Council session currently underway in Geneva, the Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU), called on the TNA to represent the views of the people they were elected to represent.

In a statement published Thursday, the JUSU urged the TNA to bring the aspirations of the Tamils to a global forum.

See here for letter in full.

A US judge, ruled she ‘must dismiss’ a suit against the Sri Lankan President over allegations of killings by his country’s armed forces as the American administration has decided that he is immune from litigation as a foreign head of state.

"The court does not take this step lightly," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her ruling dismissing the case against President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) warned that the current ground situation in Sri Lanka could result in "future violence", and the UN Human Rights Council had a chance to do something about that.