The producers of the acclaimed ‘No Fire Zone’ documentary said in a statement that the horror and condemnation expressed at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, must be translated into into international action.

A short version of the film was released to coincide with the summit, to highlight evidence of sexual violence perpetrated against Tamil women in Sri Lanka.

“Both the Global Summit and the international inquiry being set up by the UN are welcome and vital events. But the appalling crimes of sexual violence which characterized the end of the war in Sri Lanka continue today against the Tamil civilians of the north and east, as well as against returned asylum seekers,” the statement on the NFZ website said.

The second day of the global End Sexual Violence in Conflict summit, 'Expert's Day' commenced with delegates being welcomed at the opening plenary by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the UK's Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Baroness Warsi in her address stressed that the summit was about achieving “practical solutions” to the mass problem of sexual violence in conflict. Recounting her work as a lawyer, she said:

“Some of the most harrowing moments, were listening to the stories of women from Bosnia and Herzegovina applying for asylum in the UK.”

“We would only be told about their experiences of rape at the eleventh hour, and even then with a caveat... they did not want those stories to be repeated, did not want it to be part of their case.”

The day's keynote address was given by Zainab Bangura, Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva repeated the state's “categorical rejection" of the resolution passed last session mandating an international inquiry into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka will not cooperate with the OHCHR-driven so called “comprehensive investigation” emanating from it,” Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, was quoted by the Island as saying during the Council’s 26th session.

He went on to say:

“[The March 2014 resolution] adopted with the support of less than half the Council’s membership which mandated this action, challenges the sovereignty and independence of a member state of the UN, violates principles of international law, is inherently contradictory, and is based on profoundly flawed premises inimical to the interests of the Sri Lankan people. The resolution’s lack of clarity sets a dangerous precedent and will destabilize the intricate balance in the homegrown process of national reconciliation. The prejudice and bias concerning Sri Lanka repeatedly displayed by the High Commissioner and the OHCHR remain of deep concern, while reports which question the credibility of the coordinator appointed for the investigation have already emerged ".

Condemning the disruption of the Tamil journalists’ media seminar last week by a Sinhala mob that included military personnel, Transparency International’s Sri Lanka branch said that the “journalists were labelled as LTTE agents because they are Tamils and since they work in the Tamil language”.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the rights group said it was “not an isolated event”. “Such acts are an obstacle to the reconciliation process and at a time when we speak of national unity, the violation of rights of the Tamil journalists cannot be approved. We firmly believe that Tamil journalists should also have the right to receive training like the Sinhala journalists did,” the rights groups said in a statement on Wednesday.

A report by Al Jazeera, saying that crime amongst members of Sri Lankan security forces has risen, has been rejected by the Sri Lankan military.

Spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that parties “with vested interest” are trying to discredit the military by making these allegations.

The Special Task Force, a feared special forces unit of the Sri Lankan police, conducted a ‘snap road block’ in the country’s Northeast, reported Ceylon Today.

Police Media Spokesman, SSP Ajith Rohana said that 200 STF personnel were deployed in Jaffna and Vavuniya to “nab criminals”.

The STF is accused of committing sever human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and disappearances.

The UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, launched the 'International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict’, at the second day of the global summit aimed at combatting the crime.

The protocol, the first of its kind, “aims to set an international standard for how to investigate and document sexual violence, as a way of increasing the number of prosecutions for these crimes worldwide”, said the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in a statement released today. “We hope it will play a vital role in shattering the culture of impunity for sexual violence in conflict,” Mr Hague said, launching the report together with Special Envoy Angelina Jolie. “Perpetrators have to know that even during conflict, evidence is being collected that will be used against them,” said Ms Jolie, stressing that amnesties were unacceptable. “They have to know that when peace agreements are made, there will be no amnesty for rape and that if they commit these crimes, they will bear the stigma and punishment - no matter how long it takes,” she added.

A collection of agricultural organisations in the North-East of Sri Lanka participated in demonstration and hunger strikes in protest of army actions to stop farmers from working in the Vaddamadu region, reports the Uthayan.

“Sri Lankan defence forces warned us against farming our lands when we tried to farm the land in the manner in which we had done in previous years,” said a farmer to the Uthayan.

Photograph Tamil Guardian

The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict opened in London today, co-hosted by the UK's Foreign Secretary, William Hague and the Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie. 

Follow our Twitter account for live updates throughout the day - @TamilGuardian

The US and UK urged Sri Lanka to cooperate with the upcoming international inquiry led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as the UN Human Rights Council's 26th session opened today.

Addressing the Council, the US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Keith Harper thanked the Office of the High Commissioner for leading on the inquiry.

“We urge the Sri Lankan government to cooperate fully with the investigation, including granting access to investigators, and preventing retaliation against those who provide information to the High Commissioner’s office,” Harper said.