The British government has urged Sri Lanka to sign the UN Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Daily Mirror reported on Friday.

The UK High Commissioner in Colombo John Rankin said in a statement to mark International Women’s Day tomorrow, that Britain “strongly encouraged” Sri Lanka to sign the declaration.

The Sri Lankan Minister for Plantations Mahinda Samarasinghe called the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay a "liar" and accused her of being determined to be aggressive against Sri Lanka.

Speaking at an election rally, Samarasinghe, who is also the president’s special envoy on human rights, said the government will not “succumb to pressure from some countries or the UN Human Rights Chief to betray the soldiers who fought the war against the LTTE”, the Colombo Gazette reported.

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka is ready to face any challenge to preserve its independence and sovereignty, reported Outlook India magazine.

"Achieving a stable peace has made it possible for the government to secure Sri Lanka's sovereignty, independence and food security thus strengthening its resolve to face any challenge," the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa said at an event in Ratnapura.

"When crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity are left unpunished, and the international community lacks the will to ensure accountability, it creates an environment of impunity that makes the world more vulnerable. Accountability requires first of all fact-finding, then the identification of those responsible, punishment, reparations for victims, and restructuring of national institutions. When accountability is not a priority, prevention against future violations will also suffer."

"Canada, Britain and the US had earlier vehemently condemned the human rights violations in Sri Lanka and had also called for an international investigation into the alleged war crimes in the Island. But the US draft resolution had failed to mention anything on the International investigation into the alleged war crimes,"

Bags with human remains have been found in Nanthikadal, near Mullivaikkaal, reported the Uthayan.

The remains were found by a labourer from the area, who informed Northern Provincial Council member Mr. Ravikaran.

"If there are allegations of war crimes against the army, I have said that I am ready to answer that anytime to anybody because I don’t agree that the army had committed any war crimes. I deny that. If somebody has a specific complain and any credible evidence, then we can always conduct an inquiry like we have done in the past. But you can’t baselessly blame the army."