The Sri Lankan Navy has confirmed that they will be providing pilgrims with 'assistance' for the upcoming St Anthony's Church annual feast in Kachchativu.

Apart from providing 'security', the Navy will be providing jetties for boats, deploying medical teams, building roads and painting the Church, all 'under the instruction of Northern Naval Area Commander Rear Admiral Shirantha Udawatte ', reported ColomboPage.

Amongst the many thousands of pilgraims expected to attend is High Commissioner of India, Ashok K. Kantha.

Protests in India against UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya have forced him to return to Sri Lanka, cutting his trip in India short.

Protestors from various organisations, including DMK, BJP, MDMK, PMK, VCK, Naam ThamizharIyakkam gathered outside the hotel where Jayasuriya was staying and chanted slogans demanding that he leave India immediately.

The MP, who was staying in Thirukkadaiyur in  Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, was forced to return to Sri Lanka earlier today.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee claimed that India was 'making progress in our engagement with Sri Lanka' on the issue of equality for Tamils, when addressing the Indian Parliament on Thursday.

Speaking to Parliament, Mukherjee said,

"We are making progress in our engagement with Sri Lanka, including in our efforts to resettle and rehabilitate the internally displaced persons there and to ensure a life of peace, dignity and equality for the Tamil people".

Mukherjee did not comment on the upcoming resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council, but added that India had played a crucial role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council to promote international peace and security.

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalitha has said that the state will not host the Asian Athletics Championships, due to be held in July, because of the participation of Sri Lankan athletes.

"Sri Lanka's participation would hurt people's sentiments in Tamil Nadu," she said, adding that Delhi had ignored her request to ban Sri Lanka from the Championships.

India hasn’t hosted the championships since 1989, when the capital New Delhi played host.

The government is to announce that elections in the North will be held on 7th September, reports Uthayan.

The move is seen as a pre-emptive attempt to diffuse the criticism Sri Lanka is expected to receive at the upcoming UNHRC session, as well as controversy surrounding the Commonwealth summit due to be held in November in Colombo.

Speaking at a function in Chennai, The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalilitha broke her silence over the killing of 12 year old Balachandran, calling it an “inhuman act of extreme cruelty,” urging for those accountable to face international trial.

The evidence of the killing of Balachandran and systematic killing of other Tamils “reveals the mindset of the present government in Sri Lanka” she said.

Labelling the killing as a “ war crime of the gravest nature and an unforgivable act,” Jayalalithaa urged the Indian government and other nations to hold discussions with the other nations to prepare a resolution to be passed at the upcoming human rights session at the United Nations.

Recalling a Tamil Nadu resolution unanimously adopted in 2011, Jayalalithaa reiterated demands for an economic embargo on Sri Lanka until the Tamils in the country were fully rehabilitated with rights on par with the Sinhalese.

The Tamil Nadu opposition party chief, M Karunanidhi, also spoke out against the atrocities and criticised India’s stance on Sri Lanka, stating,

“While Western nations are supporting the US resolution, it is painful that India has not explained its stand. Its silence pains us. People in Tamil Nadu expect India to take forward the resolution”

The Chairperson of the Defence Ministry, Ioma Rajapaksa, handed over the keys of a newly constructed house to its owner, a ’war hero’, at a function today.

New housing for ‘war heroes’ , a part of the Seva Vanitha initiative, have been constructed under the direction of Secretary of Defence and Urban Development, Gotabaya Rajapasa. The ministry of Defence and Urban Development published on their site that the initiative looks to “uplift the living standards of war heroes and their families,” including educational scholarships, interest free loans and life skill assistance programmes.

The latest rewarding of military ‘war heroes’ comes in the midst of further evidence of war crimes  committed by the Sri Lankan military.

In its latest report, the International Crisis Group (ICG), reiterated the call for international action, arguing that the Sri Lanka government has "crossed a threshold into new and dangerous terrain".

Alan Keenan, ICG's Sri Lanka project director said:

“The Rajapaksa government’s politically motivated impeachment of the chief justice last month reveals both its intolerance of dissent and power sharing and the weakness of the political opposition”

“By incapacitating the last institutional check on executive power, the government has crossed a threshold into new and dangerous terrain. It is threatening prospects for the eventual peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections”

See full report, executive summary and press statement. Extracts of executive summary reproduced below:

The consolidation of power paves the way for moves that could further set back chances of sustainable peace. The president and his two most powerful brothers – Defence Secretary Gotabaya and Economic Development Minister Basil – have signalled their intention to weaken or repeal the provinces’ already minimal powers. As the government makes explicit its hostility to meaningful power sharing between the centre and the Tamil-speaking north and east, Tamil identity and political power are being systematically undermined by the military-led political and economic transformation of the northern province.

Recent months have also seen an upsurge in attacks by militant Buddhists on Muslim religious sites and businesses. The government has done little to discourage these. Should such provocations continue, the remarkable moderation of Sri Lanka’s Muslims could face serious tests. Given the country’s history of violent resistance to state power perceived as unjust, the authoritarian drift can only increase the risk of an eventual outbreak of political violence.

 

Commenting on the evidence of the execution of Vellupillai Prabhakaran's son Balachandran, the former commander of the army has said that the army had "no information" as to the whereabouts of Prabhakaran's family.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Fonseka said:

"After the final battle which went on from 2009 May 17 night, 18 and 19th till about 10 o clock, we only recovered Prabakharans body together with about 400 other terrorist dead bodies, and his elder son’s body, his elder son Charles Anthony. These two bodies were personally identified by the present member, I think, of the cabinet Karuna Amman, who was the LTTE military wing leader at the time before he joined the government. He himself went and identified these two bodies”

“Other than that the Army had no information, never had any positions of Prabhakrans wife, daughter and the youngest son. We did not have clue about their presence or the whereabouts, whether they were in the country or they died during the war, we didn’t have any information about them”

See also:

Army dismisses new evidence of crimes (19 Feb 2013)

It wasn't the army, says the army (15 Feb 2013)

In an escalating diplomatic row following the execution of a Sri Lankan maid in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabi has recalled its ambassador from Colombo.

The official news agency SPA said:

"Based on the decision by the Sri Lankan government to withdraw its ambassador from the kingdom, the [Saudi] foreign ministry has recalled its ambassador in Sri Lanka for consultations."

The International Press Institute has called for an inquiry into the shooting of a Sunday Leader journalist, reported the Guardian.

The organisation, dedicated to press freedom called for an "swift and comprehensive investigation".

Meanwhile, Sri lankan police have "run into a blank wall", regarding the attempted murder.

See our earlier post: Surprise, surprise... (16 February 2013)

Speaking on a visit of the country last week, Estonia's Foreign Minister has called on Sri Lanka to be open to an international investigation on alleged human rights abuses.

Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Paet spoke to the Sunday Leader, and commented,

“Estonia, an EU member country, opened itself up for international investigations in 1991 after it gained independence from Russia (former Soviet Union), despite the fact how painful such investigations were”.

Estonia is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council and will vote on the upcoming resolution on Sri Lanka at the next session.

See our earlier post: Sri Lanka to build links with Estonia (18 February 2013)

The Sri Lankan Army has dismissed newly presented evidence of the murder of Balachandran Prabhakaran, which shows him alive and in Sri Lankan Army custody, stating they expect the furore over war crimes to "die down".

Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya confidently rejected any allegations of human rights abuses, stating,  

“This is not the first time such unsubstantiated allegations are leveled against the Sri Lankan forces. Interestingly, these come up as we near UNHRC meeting and die down thereafter.”

“Unfortunately, it appears that the parties who float such baseless allegations never want these to be investigated or solved.  They want to keep them as mysteries to tarnish the country's good image as and when it suits their agendas”.

See our earlier post: It wasn't the army, says the army (15 February 2013) 

The European Union has stated they will support efforts to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council session.

In a statement released by the Council of the European Union, it was stated that, 

"The EU will also support efforts aimed at keeping the issues of accountability and reconciliation as well as the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka on the agenda of the Human Rights Council."

Apart from Sri Lanka, the report stated the EU would also examine the human rights situations in Syria, North Korea, Iran, Mali, Burma, Belarus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan.