The head of Amnesty International has reiterated calls for an international independent inquiry into human rights violations committed during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka.

Secretary General Salil Shetty told IANS news agency that the investigations ordered by the Sri Lankan government were not adequate and abuses on the island are ongoing.

"We need a full and independent international inquiry to bring (guilty) people into account,” he said.

"And it is not just about 2009. The human rights violations are ongoing (in Sri Lanka),

"There is a current problem too" he added.

Shetty also noted that India has been mostly silent on the situation and needed a new approach.

"The time has come for India to take a fresh look,” he said.

British Tamils in London marched in protest on Saturday against the attacks, intimidation and arrests of Jaffna University students.

Carrying placards and shouting out, "Sri Lankan army - get out of Tamil Eelam", "self-determination - for the Tamil nation", and "Let us remember - our heroes", over 100 British Tamils marched from Temple to Downing St, on a very wet winter's day in London.

 Organised, the Tamil Youth Organisation UK (TYO UK), the protest is the latest in a string of protests led by Tamil youth in the North-East and across the world, condemning the attacks and arrests of students marking Maaveerar Naal.

A doctor working at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital was attacked with a sword as he left work on Thursday night.

The doctor is currently admitted in a critical condition at the hospital.

According to reports, the attack took place at around 9.45pm, by an unknown individual.

Updated 14:45 GMT

British Tamil university students handed over a statement to the British Prime Minister’s residence on Thursday afternoon, condemning the attacks by Sri Lankan state forces on Jaffna university students and call for the immediate release of detained students.

The statement, which was initially drafted by the Tamil Youth Organisation UK, has grown to include 18 university Tamil societies from across the United Kingdom.

Representatives from University College London, Imperial College London, King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London and the Tamil Youth Organisation UK delivered the statement as the British Parliament prepared to take recess for the Christmas period.

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The deeds to shops in a newly built shopping complex were handed over to prominent Sri Lankan ‘war heroes’ at an event organised by the Ministry of Defence on Thursday. Secretary of Defence and Urban Development, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, bestowed the legal documents to the new owners of the Ranajayapura shopping centre.

The Ranajayapura housing project, coined by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the city of heroes, is a state of the art housing project, currently under construction in the North, for the Sri Lankan army.  The housing scheme looks to provide modern schooling, healthcare, family care, educational and sport facilities for the soldiers and their families.

Whilst Sri Lanka strives to provide the best housing and amenities for its ‘war heroes’, see here and here, for an indication of the effort made to resettle its war victims.

Condemning the on-going detention of Jaffna University students, the US based human rights organisation, HRW, called on the Sri Lankan government to "immediately release" or "credibly charge" the detained students.

HRW's Asia director, Brad Adams said:

“Arresting four students without charge and sending them off for ‘rehabilitation’ sends a dangerous message that any Tamil can be detained arbitrarily and indefinitely.”

“The Sri Lankan authorities should realize that such actions generate legitimate grievances, not reconciliation.”

“The Sri Lankan government needs to recognize that engaging in peaceful activities that conflict with the government’s views is an exercise of basic rights, not a criminal offense,”

“The four students should be promptly released unless the government has evidence they violated the law and charges them.”

See here for full statement, extracts reproduced below:

The students’ parents were initially denied access to their children, but were allowed to visit them at Welikanda on December 12. The parents said publicly that the students were being interrogated intensely, with efforts to intimidate them into providing information about other students.

The government has neither accounted for the arrests by specifying what terrorist activities the students have allegedly been involved in nor brought charges against the students. The students were told that they will be detained until they have completed a 3-month lecture series on the theme of “reconciliation,” the parents said.

The recently released testimonial account of May 2009 - 'Still Counting the Dead' -  by Frances Harrison was launched in Tamil on Saturday.
 
Published by 'Kalachuvadu Publications', the Tamil translation was launched in Chennai, where the acclaimed art critic and writer, Sadanand Menon received the first copy from the Tamil poet R. Cheran.

The chief of the Indian army, General Bikram Singh, commences his four day tour of Sri Lanka today.

In a press statement released on Tuesday, the Indian army said that the visit was in light of ongoing defence cooperation between the two armies.

General Singh's wife, Bubbles Singh will also be present on the tour and will focus on war widows. The statement said, "This will facilitate in mutual understanding and benefit from each others' experiences on the issue,"

On Saturday, the army chief is due to attend the Passing Out Parade of the Sri Lankan military Training Academy.

Sri Lanka’s GDP has grown by 4.8% in the third quarter of 2012, compared to 8.5% during the same period last year.

The growth is the slowest since the end of the armed conflict in 2009.

The industry sector grew by 7.3%, a decrease from last year’s 10.8%, while agriculture contracted by 0.5%, compared to 6.5% growth last year.

The manufacturing sector grew 3.3%, slowing from 7.7 percent last year, with textiles and apparel expanding by 2.9%, a large drop from the 10.2% recorded a year earlier.

Growth Trend – LBO (19 Dec 2012)

British Member of Parliament Simon Danczuk has stated that the Sri Lankan government may be covering up the case of a British tourist who was murdered in Sri Lanka on Christmas Eve last year, and called on Prime Minister David Cameron to boycott the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Speaking as the anniversary of Khuram Shaikh's murder, Danczuk said,

“The deputy high commissioner has told me he fears that ‘political interference’ is stopping justice taking its course where Khuram’s killing is concerned.”

“Despite assurances from the Government that there would be a swift and straight forward trial this is going nowhere and ministers and police are sitting on their hands.”

“Every year thousands of British tourists visit Sri Lanka… and what happened to Khuram could happen to anyone. It’s not enough to keep building tourist resorts if there is no rule of law and tourists can be brutally killed for no reason.”

Khuram’s Russian girlfriend was allegedly raped in the same incident, which involved chairman of the local council  Sampath Vidanapathirana, a close associate of the Rajapaksa clan. Vidanapathirana has since been released on bail.

Danczuk went on to say,

“David Cameron should think twice about attending this meeting while British nationals are being brutally murdered in Sri Lanka with local politicians implicated and their Government is not even prepared to investigate properly.”

British Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka wrote on his blog,

"But given the quick arrests and early assurances it is disappointing that one year on the case has yet to make it to trial. And while it may be legal, it must also be difficult for Mr Shaikh’s family to learn that the suspects have recently been released on bail."