Speaking at the current United Nations Human Rights Council sessions, the UN high Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed concerns about the absence of accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

An excerpt of Pillay's statement read:

"I remain concerned about the lack of meaningful progress on accountability and reconciliation. Although I support the National Plan of Action for the implementation of the LLRC recommendations I do notice that this is being done selectively. So I welcome the engagement by the Human Rights Council to monitor domestic processes especially regarding accountability and reconciliation."

A Tamil Nadu fisherman who self-immolated himself in protest at the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka has died. Mani, originally from Cuddalore, poured petrol on himself and set himself ablaze outside the District Collector's office.

Speaking to reporters, Mani drew attention to the resolution being brought on Sri Lank at the UN Human Rights Council and said:

"In Sri Lanka, President Rajapaksa has killed Tamils. Tamils should win at the United Nations. Eelam should happen. It's martyrdom for me".

According to officials, he had previously been raising awareness about government taking tsunami funds, stating it was a "huge scam in the Tsunami Housing Project".

"The government swindled all the tsunami funds," he said.

"In my hometown Cuddalore too, there is huge corruption in construction. I struggled democratically for five years but could do nothing. I protested in democratic way. I took it to court but there too officials cheated. My wife and children are nice people. It's an honour to be the first person to die fighting corruption." 

Professor Francois Gros, an eighty-year-old Tamil scholar from France was awarded the Indian President's Kural Peedam award for the year 2008-2009 in recognition of his services to Classical Tamil studies.

At an event in the French institute at Puducherry on Friday, Professor Gros was presented with the award by Gnanamoorthy, the director-in-charge of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Chennai.

Prof Gros who was a researcher at the French Institute of Pondicherry was presented the award in absentia on 21st December 2012 by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi, as he was unable to attend due to health reasons.

See here for more.

A motion on Sri Lanka, put forward by the SPD opposition parliamentary group, was rejected in parliament on Thursday, according to the Sri Lankan embassy in Berlin.

The motion called for more pressure by Germany on Sri Lanka, and encouraged it to play an active role in the current UN Human Rights Council session.

Jurgen Klimke from the ruling Christian Democratic Party (CDU) argued that the German government was already working with the international community and Sri Lanka, and there being no need for the motion as the issues were already being addressed.

Pascal Kober of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) also said that the FDP-led Federal Ministry and the Federal Government were very active in the promotion of peace and Human Rights in Sri Lanka.

“With these activities, the governing coalition supports the long-term process of reconciliation between the former conflicting parties in Sri Lanka and thus promotes the step-by-step realisation of Human Rights by the Sri Lanka government,” he said.

Sixteen Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy reports the DailyMirror.lk.

The fishermen were arrested along with their three trawlers off the coast of Kalpitiya on Sunday morning, said the Navy spokesperson, Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya. 

Speaking to The Hindu on Saturday, the Sri Lankan president commented on Sri Lanka's relationship with India, with particular reference to the arrest of fishermen, stating:

“There are many incidents to show that the relationship is good. We don’t hold… Indian fishermen who routinely fish in our waters…Thousands of fishermen are crossing and fishing…We sent so many Indian prisoners back home. Despite incidents in Tamil Nadu [where Sri Lankan pilgrims were sent back], there has not been any incident [involving] Indians in Sri Lanka. I understand that there are people who want India to have some confrontation with Sri Lanka… It is all politically motivated,”

See here for more on the interview.

The United States has expressed "really deep concerns" over human rights in Sri Lanka and noted that the government has not taken any steps to initiate an investigation into allegations of war crimes.

Speaking at the US State Department's Daily Press Briefing, Acting Deputy  Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell noted the "strong concern" over violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka. The question has been reproduced below.

QUESTION: Just a quick one on human rights. The UN Human Rights Report and also Human Rights Watch, they are accusing Sri Lanka as far as not taking steps against the minorities or for their welfare. Does U.S. agree with that? Because Sri Lanka denies all these reports and all.

MR. VENTRELL: So we’re reviewing this lengthy and extensive report. I understand we just got it a day or so ago. But we do note our strong concern about human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka. And to date, the Government of Sri Lanka has not initiated a full, credible, or independent investigation into longstanding allegations of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, including sexual assault.

So we’re reviewing this particular report, but you know where we’ve been in terms of human rights in Sri Lanka and our really deep concerns.

The very next day, a further question was posed to Ventrell regarding the upcoming UN Human Rights Council session and proposed resolution on Sri Lanka.

QUESTION: On the resolution that you are putting up at the UN, is it different than the last? How different is it from the last year’s resolution that the U.S. has put in?

MR. VENTRELL: Well, we do intend to, as I mentioned yesterday, sponsor resolution at the UN Human Rights Council current session. It will build on the 2012 resolution, which called on Sri Lanka to do more to promote reconciliation and accountability. The resolution will ask the Government of Sri Lanka to follow through on its own commitments to its people, including implementing the constructive recommendations from the report by Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. So that’s really the content of the resolution and we’re cosponsoring – we’re sponsoring it and support it.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister GL Peiris has had a busy schedule over the last week, visiting both Palestinian and Israeli Presidents in visits to Ramallah and Jerusalem.

On meeting Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas in Ramallah, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence reported,

“President Abbas, recalling with his visits to Sri Lanka in 2008 and 2012, said that he was grateful to President Mahinda Rajapaksa who, as President of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement in Sri Lanka for over 35 years, identified very closely with the aspirations of the Palestinian people.

He said that the Palestinian Foreign Relations Commission expressed solidarity with Sri Lanka during its war against terrorism and continues to support Sri Lanka strongly in all its initiatives after the achievement of peace”.

Meanwhile the Jerusalem Post reported that Peiris had been on a “private visit” in the West Bank and Ramallah, prior to his three day stay in Israel where he met President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Intelligence Affairs Minister Dan Meridor.

Photographs: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Facebook page

Peiris spoke at the University of Tel Aviv and, according to The Island, “briefed President Peres about the challenges which Sri Lanka is currently facing at the international level”.

The Jerusalem Post went on to say,

"Israel and Sri Lanka renewed diplomatic ties in 2000, and reportedly have a robust military relationship. Israeli weaponry, including Kfir planes and naval boats, have been attributed with helping the Sri Lankan government defeat the Tamil Tigers in 2009".

The Sri Lankan Army has opened a cinema at their Jaffna headquarters, and what better way to inaugurate the building than to provide free transport to Tamil primary school children and their teachers to watch a screening.

The army organised the screening of a Singhalese children’s movie at the cinema, with a soldier explaining the story in Tamil in advance.

Around 275 students from Year 1 to 11 are reported to have been transported to the screening.

Cairn Lanka has abandoned an oil exploration well in the Mannar basin, after no traces of oil or gas were found.

“The well was plugged and abandoned and the rig is being demobilised. The Petroleum Resourced Development Secretariat (PRDS) is being notified,” said Cairn India, which owns Cairn Lanka

In an interview to the Daily Mirror, Cairn India and Cairn Lanka Director Sunil Bharati said that there were several paths Cairn Lanka could take in going forward.

Graphic courtesy of DailyMirror.lk

“Depending on the results of the second phase, there could be two or three different paths available to us, as envisaged in the Petroleum Resources Agreement. Either we can choose to proceed to the third phase, which will again require drilling a commitment well and have a time period of one to two years, or not to enter the third phase but enter into an appraisal phase followed by a development phase.”

“If we opt to enter the development stage, we will have to do a detailed appraisal to establish the volume of oil or gas available in the block, which will take one to two years. Only then will we know whether the block is commercially viable,” he said.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka is preparing to auction more blocks in the Mannar and Cauvery basin.

The Sri Lankan government has again requested the TNA to engage in talks to discuss power sharing, but only through the controversial Parliamentary Select Committee.

"We invite the TNA to join the PSC as it is the only forum where we can discuss matters relating to power sharing with the participation of all stake holders. Going behind external elements is useless" said government spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

"The Parliamentary Select Committee comprised all political parties belonging to different ethnicities to discuss an inclusive power sharing mechanism but they have so far refused to do so. We are prepared for discussions so all we can do is to ask them to participate again,"

Last year the TNA said it had no faith in the PSC and has until now refused to join it.

In an interview with The Hindu, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has denied that the Sri Lankan Army killed the 12 year old son of the LTTE leader, Balachandran Prabakaran.

Rajapakse is quoted as saying:

“Had it happened, I would have known [it]. It is obvious that if somebody [from the armed forces] had done that, I must take responsibility. We completely deny it. It can’t be,”

“We must not merely look at one side. They must not merely listen to one group and the Opposition [in Sri Lanka]. So they [the Opposition] are trying to get the support of other countries to create an ‘Arab Spring’ here. That won’t happen in Sri Lanka.”

Commenting on the current UN Human Rights Council session and proposed resolution, he said:

“Sri Lanka is like a volley ball. Everyone is taking turns punching it to cover up their sins.”

“Who did this within three years? Anybody who has come and seen it has talked about it positively and has commended us.”

“India must know its duty, as a neighbour…, as a friend of Sri Lanka. I can’t dictate to India.”

On Sri Lanka's relationship with India after the March 2012 vote in favour of a resolution against Sri Lanka:

“There are many incidents to show that the relationship is good. We don’t hold… Indian fishermen who routinely fish in our waters…Thousands of fishermen are crossing and fishing…We sent so many Indian prisoners back home. Despite incidents in Tamil Nadu [where Sri Lankan pilgrims were sent back], there has not been any incident [involving] Indians in Sri Lanka. I understand that there are people who want India to have some confrontation with Sri Lanka… It is all politically motivated,”

On accountability for alleged human rights violations, he said:

“We have filed cases… We have handed down punishments. But this can be done only as per the laws of this country…I have released 14,000 [LTTE] prisoners, who had serious charges against them like murder, after a process of rehabilitation. Had I filed cases against the 14,000 people, what would have happened? I am a Buddhist. We have tolerance and compassion. There are still some more people [of the LTTE] in prison. We are examining ways…to release them.”

Asked about the achieving a political solution with the TNA, he said:

“Without TNA [on the committee], I will not be able to do anything… Earlier, all the leaders gave their solutions from the top. It has failed. The 13th Amendment has failed. Everything has failed,”

Asked about whether elections would be held in the Northern province, he said:

“Yes, we will hold [the poll] in September. That’s why we have postponed the other [provincial] elections too. I did not want to face the criticism that I was doing it only because I had no intention of holding the Northern provincial elections.”

The Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary group at the Bundestag has proposed a motion to urge the German government to act on Sri Lanka.

The motion details the accusations made by UN reports, including torture and abuse, extra-judicial killings and violence against women, singling out Tamil women as victims of the military and the police.

Tamil protests in the north-east late last year were mentioned in the motion, which called on Germany’s development project, focussed on conflict prevention and peace consolidation, to play an active role in improving cooperation between the government and Tamils.

The motion further says that the government lacks political will to neutrally address war crimes and crimes against humanity and to reconcile Tamils with the Singhalese.

It calls upon Germany to play an active role in the UN Human Rights Council and urge Sri Lanka to address issues, including the abolishment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, address human rights violations, end torture and arbitrary arrests, and to stop the culture of impunity and punish all perpetrators of crimes.

See motion in full here.

The documentary “ No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka”, illustrating war crimes and human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan government, was screened in a side-line event today at the United Nations Human Rights Council amidst strong formal opposition from the Sri Lankan delegation.

The Sri Lankan delegation strongly opposed the event, lodging a formal protest to the United Nations. Despite boycotting the event, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha, made an appearance at the end of the screening. In an attempt to discredit the documentary he said,

“By providing a platform for the screening of this film which includes footage of dubious origin, content that is distorted and without proper sourcing and making unsubstantiated allegations, the sponsors of this event seek to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka.”

Describing the purpose of the film, the director and producer, British journalist, Callum Macrae noted,

“ We see it as a film of record, but also as a call to action.”

The Sri Lankan dismissal of the documentary sparked many responses.

A member of the United Nations expert panel on Sri lanka by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Yasmin Sooka, dispelled Aryasinha’s objections, stating,

“I believe that most of the footage in the film can be corroborated. In fact in our report you find references to many of the things you see in the documentary.”

Highlighting the serious implications of the documentary content, the director of the Geneva office of Human Rights Watch, Julie de Rivero, said ,

“The Human Rights Council cannot continue to ignore the call for an independent international investigation into war crimes that were committed.”

Reacting to the Sri Lankan ambassadors outright disregard of the documentary, the director of International Service for Human Rights, Phil Lynch, tweeted,

“Sri Lankan ambassador’s complete denial of atrocities documented by #nofirezone make any hope of ‘reconciliation’ appear dim”

The World Federation of UN Associations human rights advisor, Hans Fridulund, showed his abhorrence with the Sri Lankan ambassador’s retort, tweeting,

 
“Disgusted after watching #nofirezone. #Lka government now delivering statement on disapproval of the movie. Even more disgusted at #HRC22”