The Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives has expressed “deep concern” over the recent expansion of the presidential commission, which was initially found to solely investigate disappearances in the Northeast.

A recent gazette notification by the government expanded the mandate of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (COI), to include “from violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL) including the recruitment of child soldiers and suicide attacks, to the criminality of financial and other resources obtained by the LTTE”.

The leader of the British opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband has stressed the importance of not forgetting the lives lost during Black July, in a statement to commemorate the pogroms in 1983.

“This month, in remembrance of Black July, we commemorate the lives of Tamil men, women and children that were lost and those who were displaced and exiled as a result of the regrettable violence,” Mr Miliband said in his statement, released on Friday.

"We may never know exactly how many lives were lost, but it is clear that the memories of the violence that ensued still live on. And it is important that we never forget."

Sri Lanka’s president declined an invitation by Britain to take part in a Commonwealth event to commemorate the beginning of the World War I in Glasgow on August 4, due to “deplorable security lapses” around Tamil protests and Britain’s failure to rein in “LTTE groups”, referring to British Tamil diaspora organisations.

In a letter to Britain’s culture secretary Sajid Javid, External Affairs Minister GL Peiris criticised the British government for turning a blind eye to “violent protests” against Sri Lankan officials, including President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during previous visits, said The Island.

The Sri Lankan government has expressed “deep concern” at the escalating violence in Gaza and said it condemns all “deliberate attacks causing mayhem and loss of life of civilians”, in a statement read at yesterday’s special session on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in the UN Human Rights Council.

Sri Lanka welcomed the convening of the session to address the current human rights issues in the region and said it was “deeply concerned [at the] tragic loss of civilian lives, and extensive damage to property”

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa, urged the Indian Prime Minister on Wednesday, to secure the release of the 43 Indian fishermen, currently detained by the Sri Lankan navy this week, together with 55 impounded fishing boats, the Times of India reported.

In her latest letter to Prime Minister Modi on the continuing detention of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan authorities, she described the impounding of the fishing boats as a "deliberate strategy of the Sri Lankan government to destroy the primary means of livelihood of Indian fishermen."

"I request the Centre to take up this matter with the Sri Lankan government to ensure the immediate release of the impounded fishing boats and gear before they are rendered useless," Jayalalithaa wrote.

The European Union, Switzerland and Norway on Wednesday expressed concern about the recent restrictions placed on non-governmental organisations by Sri Lanka, a day after the government published a notice, banning NGOs from receiving foreign funds without prior approval from the finance ministry.

The notice, published in most national newspapers, was addressed to “All government agencies, local institutions, civil society organizations, and the general public” and demanded that “due diligence be observed on the utilisation of funds received from foreign funding agencies, INGOs and any other source”.

The joint statement by the Heads of Missions of the EU and the ambassadors of Switzerland and Norway, said that they “are very concerned about the recent efforts to restrict legitimate public activities of civil society and non-governmental organisations in Sri Lanka.”