The signing of a gazette to operationalise the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) has been welcomed by the US, EU and Canada on Wednesday, with calls for “credible commissioners” to be swiftly appointed.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap said the move was an “important step forward” for advancing reconciliation. “A well-funded and robust OMP with independent & well qualified commissioners will give hope to families from all communities who seek answers,” he tweeted.

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A team of senior European Union (EU) officials praised Sri Lanka for making progress in advancing human rights but warned that there was a “lack of concrete progress in key areas” which was needed for continued preferential market access under the GSP Plus.

The United States Senate Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific stated that there was a need to prosecute perpetrators of mass atrocities and DNA analysis of remains in several countries, including Sri Lanka, in a report released last week.

The report, which opposed a 92% cut in US aid to Sri Lanka, said that the committee “recognizes that there is an ongoing need for DNA analysis and identification of exhumed remains”.

The United Kingdom called on the Sri Lankan government to deliver on its commitments laid out in a UN resolution, at the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

Speaking at the 36^th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Britain said that it welcomed the “recent step towards operationalising the Office of Missing Persons”.

However, it added that “we continue to urge the government to deliver on Resolution 34/1”.

Sri Lanka's newly established National Economic Council held its first meeting on Tuesday with a view to "strengthening the rural economy and ending poverty", the presidential media unit said.

Economic policies, state financial affairs, management of state loans and activities related to finance were also discussed. 

In a special gazette notificiation Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena declared 81 members of the 1818 Uva rebellion against British colonial rule as "patriotic national heroes". 

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) on Wednesday expressed "serious concerns" on the process of operationalising the Office on Missing Persons, after the gazette was signed by the Sri Lankan president yesterday. 

The Sri Lankan President has signed the Gazette Notification to operationalise the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation has announced.

According to the announcement, the OMP will be established and its functions, duties and mandate will come into operation on the 15th September.

The United States Senate Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific opposed a 92% cut in US aid to Sri Lanka.

The cut, proposed by President Trump’s office, was opposed by the Committee’s report, which said,

“Given the geostrategic importance of the country, the Committee does not support the President’s budget request for Sri Lanka, which proposed a 92 percent reduction in assistance from the prior fiscal year.”

The Sri Lankan navy on Tuesday arrested 12 fishermen from Tamil Nadu in India for allegedly fishing in Sri Lankan waters. 

Two fishing trawlers were also seized. 

"The arrested fishermen were brought to the naval base SLNS Uththara in Kankesanthurai and the trawler and the fishing gear were taken to SLNS Elara in Kareinagar," the navy's media unit said.

The detained men have been handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries in Jaffna. 

A Tamil man, who himself claimed asylum was sentenced in Canada for four years for smuggling Tamil refugees fleeing from Sri Lanka on the MV Sun Sea in August 2010. 

Delivering the sentence, British Columbia's Supreme Court said Kunarobinson Christhurajah would not be serving any more time as he had already been detained for the past 7 years awaiting trial. 

The body of Tamil man was found in the Kukulavaththai field area of Batticaloa on Monday morning. 

The body was retrieved by police officers attached to the Kaluvanchikudi station, Batti News reported. 

The body has been identified as Kanaganayaham Navan, a 31 year old man who left his hom on Sunday evening on his bicycle. 

The General Secretary of Sri Lanka’s Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) rejected calls to remove the Sri Lankan military from the Tamil North-East, in response to a request made to leading members of the Buddhist clergy by Northern Province Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran.

“I don’t fathom on account of which grounds the Chief Minister has made such a formidable statement which might even affect the security of the country,” said parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila.

Franciscans International said Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has not kept promises made to Tamil families of the disappeared or to the UN Human Rights Council and called on the global body to continue monitoring the situation on the island.

Speaking at the 36^th UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Monday, the NGO said that “promises made to this Council and people of Sri Lanka two years ago, have not been fulfilled”.