Investigations into the Sri Lankan Army’s killing of Tamil civilians in the run up to and during May 2009 could take up to 5 years according to Sri Lanka.

The Associated Press reports that the government recommended for inquiries into alleged killings to be concluded within a year and for court proceedings to start up to four years after that.

Although Presidential spokesman Lalith Weeratunga has claimed that the plan is part of the government’s keen intention to move forward, TNA lawmaker Suresh Premachandran dismissed the plan as one designed for “international consumption”.

Premachandran said that the timeframe would drag the process on until the issue had been forgotten by the international community and Sri Lanka was no longer under the international spotlight.

 The leading Tamil political party has called for international monitors to be deployed to monitor polls during the Eastern Provincial Council elections, after threats of violence and concerns over electoral fraud.

The Tamil National Alliance filed the request with the Election Commissioner and have stated that the matter would be discussed on August the 3rd. The request comes after former MP M.K. Sivajilingam told the Daily Mirror recently that two candidates withdrew after receiving threats from groups linked to the ruling UPFA.

Candidates K Thurairajasingham and Indrakumar Prasanna were both recently threatened by paramilitary groups, with reports that harassment of Tamil politicians has increased  since the dissolution of the eastern provincial council.

See the report from TamilNet here.

Australian officials have deported a Tamil refugee, suffering from mental illness.

Amidst outrage by human rights organisations, the man was the first of around 150 Tamils who are expected to be deported to Sri Lanka, where they are facing torture on their return.

Australian media, like The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have refused to identify the man for his own safety.

''If he goes there, they kill him,'' his tearful sister said to media after hearing he was taken to the airport. ''What sort of country do we live [in]? Please give him to me, I will look after him.''

According to The Age, a request to see the man for a final visit by his sister and her husband was rejected by authorities.

Sri Lankan Army officers from the operational camp of the occupying military in Vanni, have been enforcing the acceptance of death certificates on to families of missing persons in the Mullaitheevu district.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, TNA MP Suresh Premachandran noted that some of the families say that they personally handed over their living family members at a military check post during the final hours of the 2009 war and are now being forced to sign death certificates.

Mr Premachandran went on to say “If these members were handed over to the SLA, then the Sri Lankan military is answerable for their death”

Sources have told TamilNet that members of families of the missing persons were being summoned to the police stations and forced to sign on plain papers.

The SLA reportedly told families that if a person was reported missing for more than 3 years they would be considered dead.

The Sri Lankan electricity board has announced it will cut the electricity supply across the country for three hours a day, after the Chinese-built Norocholai coal power plant failed for the 5th time in 16 months.

"We are facing difficulties in balancing the supply and demand," the ministry said in a statement. "The only alternative is to carry out power cuts across the country until further notice."

The drought on the island has compunded the problem in electricity supply from hydro-power plants.

During the Norocholai power plant's last failure in February, the Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka said that each day the plant wasn't in operation, cost the Ceylon Electricity Board Rs109 million in losses every day.

The power plant was built by the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMEC) who were paid by Sri Lanka using a US$450 million loan from China’s EXIM Bank.

Australia's handling of Tamil asylum seekers arriving boat, has been criticised by human rights organisations base in the country, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The executive director of Human Rights Law Centre in Australia, Phil Lynch, criticised the country's close liaison with Sri Lanka, including security and military cooperation.

Lynch said,

''At best, this undermines the spirit of the Refugee Convention, which gives people the right to flee persecution and seek protection. At worst, it involves Australia, at least indirectly, in exposing people to torture, cruel treatment and other serious human rights violations.''

Meanwhile, following a meeting with the Australian High Commissioner, Robyn Mudie, Sri Lankan Navy Commander Vice Admiral Somathilake Dissanayake appeared disgruntled at Australia for not supporting efforts to "thwart smugglers' plans".

Dissanayake said,

"The Sri Lankan Navy intelligence as well as other sister services and police are working overtime to thwart smugglers' plans. But, unfortunately, Australia is not supporting our efforts."

Photographs Tamilwin

Sri Lankan military, intelligence and police officers descended upon the funeral proceedings of Nimalaroopan - the Tamil political prisoner who was murdered whilst in custody - on Tuesday, reports Tamilwin.

Mourners were unable to pay their respects freely as security personnel surrounded the event.

The body of Nimalaroopan, obtained after much restrictions and prohibitions (see here and here), was brought to his family home in Nelukkulam, Vavuniya on Monday night. He was buried at Nelukkulam Hindu Cemetery at 4pm on Tuesday. 

The Sri Lankan government has ordered 14 more Mi-171 helicopters, according to Russian company Rosoboronexport.

The purchase is part of a $300million loan 10 year loan signed with Russia to buy equipment for the Sri Lankan armed forces.

The government has previously armed the transport helicopters and used them during the war, according to Defense Industry Daily.

The Sri Lankan air force spokes person Captain Andrew Wijesuriya has claimed previously that the helicopters will be used for tourism purposes.

Amongst the London2012 Olympics tourists by Whitehall in Central London, Tamils came together to remember the massacre of Black July.

Holding a silent vigil, Tamils held a minutes silence and lit candles in remembrance.

Addressing those present, R. Jeyaraja of the British Tamil Forum, recounted the horrors of 1983 including the Welikada riots where Tamil political prisoners were allowed to be slaughtered by Sinhala inmates.

Jeyaraja pointed out that the pogrom of Black July was not an isolated event, but a continuum of genocide that reached a peak in 2009 but is on-going.

Echoing his thoughts, Jan Jananayagam of Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) said,

"It's crucial to acknowledge that Black July was not a one off aberration."

"Increasingly, it is accepted that this particular horrific destruction of the Tamil community on the island, forms part of the annihilatory trajectory that continues to this day."

"In the slow burning crisis caused by increasing militarisation in Sri Lanka, the UN mechanism is already hugely dysfunctional. It is hard to imagine this weak mechanism coping with crises such as Black July. Yet the factors that lead to such crises are very much alive. It with this in mind that the Tamil diaspora must demand immediate solutions to the asylum crises in their countries and in the wider international communities."

"We must demand that Europe, Canada and Australia live upto their international obligations and accept a fair quota of UN recognised refugees."

"We must seek viable alternatives to people dying at sea in their desperation to reach a safe haven. Tamil civil society organisations are prepared to assist these countries in their integration efforts and if needed, economically."

See here for full address.