25 Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy earlier today, for allegedly poaching in its maritime territory.

The men were arrested just north of Nedunthivu (Delft), an island off the coast of Jaffna.

The navy’s spokesperson Kosala Warnakulasuriya said they would be handed over to the police at Kankesanturai harbour.

Human Rights Watch has stated that “little progress” has been made towards accountability in Sri Lanka and called for an independent international investigation into war crimes abuses, in its 2014 World Report.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch stated,

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) discussed the systematic genocide that Tamils face in a meeting with a Canadian delegation, including Sarah Gills, the Senior Desk Officer for Sri Lanka, Maldives, and South Asian Relations, last week.

In a press release about the meeting, the TNPF reported that after discussing the many actions of the Sri Lankan state that constituted genocide of the Tamil nation, the organisation also laid out their expectations for the next UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva.

"Regarding: Seeking UN monitored international independent inquiry into forced disappearances and abductions.

We the committees of the disappearance from the North and East, write to you as representatives of the collective body, that still seek justice. We do not trust any mechanism created locally which in the past has not delivered justice to the survivors.