The Sri Lankan Supreme Court, announced in a ruling today, that land powers in Sri Lanka were vested with the Central Government and not with the Provincial Councils.

Sri Lanka’ s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ravintha Aryasinaha, rejected the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s March 2014 deadline for Sri Lanka to address concerns regarding the investigation of rights violations.

Speaking at the United Nations Human Rights council, Arayasinha said,

Human Rights watch urged Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, to press Sri Lanka on human rights abuses and make it a priority during the meeting due to take place tomorrow.

HRW's Asia Director, Brad Adams said:

“The UN rights chief decried a worsening situation in Sri Lanka and listed past and present problems that contradict official ‘Commonwealth values,’”

“The Commonwealth should not bury its head in the sand and ignore Sri Lanka’s serious human rights problems.”

In a statement delivered at the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada condemned the military's interference at the Northern Provincial Council this weekend, drawing particular attention to the attack against the TNA candidate, Ananthi Sasitharan.

Calling on the Sri Lankan government to "fully withdraw its military from the North and East of Sri Lanka", the group demanded that the "withdrawal of the military  should be immediate, unconditional, and complete and should take place
by December 31, 2013".

Delivering the statement, Vani Selvarajah of LRWC said:

Sri Lanka faced intense scrutiny at the 24^th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council , as Navi Pillay’s oral update on Sri Lanka was delivered by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, today.

Download full statement here.

Noting the heavy militarisation of the North-East 4 years after the end of the war, the update expressed concern about reports of actions undertaken by the Sri Lankan government to deceive the Human rights commissioner, stating,

“The High Commissioner has identified, however, a number of factors impeding normalization, which – if not quickly rectified – may sow the seeds of future discord. Four years since the end of the war, the military presence in the north remains considerable. The High Commissioner received information that a number of military checkpoints and barriers were removed just before her arrival and reinstated after her departure.”

Disappointed at Sri Lanka’s attempts to credibly investigate allegations which had been of concern to the Human Rights council, the statement read,

“The High Commissioner stressed that appointing the armed forces to investigate itself does not inspire confidence in a country where so many past investigations and commissions of inquiry have foundered.”

The British authorities plan to deport a three year old autistic child born in the UK, along with his Tamil parents and siblings who are all suffering mental health problems on the 26^th of September 2013.

Lawyers have stressed that the parents are too mentally distressed to support their children who have already been traumatised by earlier attempts to deport them.

Commenting on the recent Northern Provincial elections, the United States Embassy in Colombo reiterated the need for the abolishment of violence and intimidation to ensure effective administration.

Issuing a statement today, the US embassy called for accountability and justice stating,

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In a statement released today, the British Tamils Forum (BTF), outlined the need of the international community to work with the Tamil People in the North-East to safeguard their human, political and cultural rights.

Commenting on the resolve of the Tamil people the statement read,

“The Tamil people’s overwhelming support for Tamil rule in the election is made all the more remarkable by the widespread violence, intimidation and misinformation they faced in the run-up to and on the day of the election. The fact that Sri Lanka’s ruling alliance received such a drubbing in the election – despite the threats and bribes it offered the Tamil people – is testament to the courage and overwhelming conviction of the Tamil people. Furthermore, the shocking reports of intimidation during this election – often in full view of election monitors and the media – should serve as a reminder to the global Tamil community that it is their duty to speak up and tell the world about the injustices and persecution faced by their kin in the island of Sri Lanka.”

“Given the increasingly perilous position of the Tamil people in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka, it is more important than ever that the international community works with the Tamil people, and the Tamil- mandated TNA, to safeguard their human, political and cultural rights – including their right to self- determination – and to protect them from the genocide perpetrated by the Sri Lankan state. British Tamils Forum stands shoulder to shoulder with any individual or organisation that works towards these aims.”