"The value of the steps announced by the government was always questionable, given the active efforts of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family to remove all independent checks on their power, as detailed in Crisis Group’s February report on Sri Lanka’s Authoritarian Turn: The Need for International Action. The recent events in Weliweriya and Grandpass reveal more clearly than ever that what Sri Lanka needs is not more commissions, or even arrests. The country needs legal and institutional changes to the system of policing and justice designed to reverse the militarisation and concentration of power that has deepened so dangerously under the Rajapaksas. These changes would include many of the reforms recommended by the LLRC, as well as others outlined in Sri Lanka’s Authoritarian Turn. At a minimum, the president should end his grant (renewed monthly) of police powers to the army and return soldiers to barracks in north and south, remove the police from the control of the ministry of defence and Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and restore the independence of the attorney general’s department by removing it from presidential control. The president should also agree to re-establish the independence of commissions that control the police, the judiciary, elections, and the civil service by reinstating the constitutional council.

Unfortunately, without increased international pressure, there is little chance the government will take these or any of the other necessary steps to restore the rule of law. Fed by the Rajapaksas’ attachment to centralised and militarised rule, Sri Lanka’s decades-long problem of impunity is getting worse, not better. While the government may have stepped up its public relations game in response to international pressure, the recent events at home show the risk of more serious violence, especially along religious and communal lines, is increasing.

The controversial recruitment of Tamil women into the Sri Lankan armed forces has continued, with another 45 Tamil women and 10 Tamil-speaking Singhalese women having been enlisted into the army on Monday.

Sri Lankan police have apologised after they “married” nine sniffer dog pairs in a Buddhist ceremony.

Police said the weddings were arranged to promote domestic breeding of sniffer dogs, but apologised for offending cultural sensibilities.

The Culture Ministry condemned the ceremony, with minister T B Ekananayake saying the police had "contemptibly devalued" weddings in a devoutly Buddhist country.

Members of Sudan’s military are currently in Sri Lanka to explore training opportunities.

The delegation, led by former secretary general of defence ministry Gen. (Retd) Abdel- Rahman Mohamed Zein, met with defence secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse and discussed joint military cooperation on Monday.

The defence ministry’s website says that the parties discussed areas of mutual interest and bilateral relations at the meeting.

“Some statements/reports have even attempted to portray this as an attack on the media. This is far from the truth and we refute all such allegations. The Sri Lanka Army does not approve of any crime and particularly we regret this incident in which a senior journalist has suffered at the hands of a gang of thieves"

"This soldier was arrested whilst in service in September 2009 for theft.  After a summary trial according to the Army Act he was awarded 90 days detention on October 6 and whilst being held in detention at his Regimental Centre to be handed over to the Panagoda Detention Barracks (an Army correctional facility administered by the Military Police) he escaped from detention and deserted on October 8, 2009.  On May 24, 2010 he surrendered.

After due disciplinary procedure he was awarded 90 days detention in July 2010 and was detained at Panagoda Detention Barracks.  Upon completion of the period of detention he was handed over to the Regimental Centre on September 9, 2010 and on October 6 2010 he became absent without leave and was later declared a deserter.  On June 25, 2013 Hungama Police arrested this deserting soldier and he was handed over to his Regiment on July 9, 2013.

"I am here to assess the human rights situation and I am speaking to both the government and the civil society. And I'm traveling around the country as much as I can, and when I go back, I will be reporting on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka."