The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has released its annual human rights report and has listed Sri Lanka as a country of concern, along with countries such as North Korea, Iran, Russia and Syria.

Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke at the launch of the report in London on Monday and welcomed the many positive moves towards democracy that had occurred around the world in the past year.

Mr Hague added that Britain’s main focus will be on those countries, whose human rights have not shown any improvements or deteriorated over the past year.

“Human rights is an indivisible part of our Government’s foreign policy, running throughout all our diplomacy:

"From our support for international institutions of justice, whose importance have been re-confirmed by the conclusion of the trial of Charles Taylor last week to our active diplomacy on an International Arms Trade Treaty; from our insistence on human rights clauses in EU Free Trade Agreements to our work in the United Nations”

Mr Hague outlined a change in policy, whereas countries will from now on be reviewed on their human rights situation quarterly, rather than annually.

On Sri Lanka the report said that its human rights picture in 2011 ‘was mixed'.

While noting the ‘wide-ranging’ recommendations of the LLRC, the report criticised the lack of concrete progress in holding those alleged to be responsible for international humanitarian law violations accountable.

The report states that the UK “sees accountability for alleged war crimes, respect for human rights and a political settlement as being essential elements in post-conflict reconciliation.”

It adds that in 2012 the UK will focus on the ‘follow-up’ of the LLRC and National Human Rights Action Plan and will encourage the Government of Sri Lanka "to implement recommendations, and address outstanding questions regarding accountability for alleged war crimes".

Sri Lanka imports 90% of its oil from Iran, and with US-EU sanctions on Iran looming, needs to source oil elsewhere.

But its sole refinery, at Sapugaskanda, needs upgrading if it is to refine oil from other countries.

Yet, Sri Lanka has rejected an offer by the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to do this.

Instead, Colombo will seek expressions of interest from others to do the work, which it claims will cost $500m.

The reason, according to Petroleum Minister Susil Premjayantha, is IOC already operates a majority of fuel stations in Sri Lanka and increases fuel prices at will.

Actually, IOC controls one third of Sri Lanka's retail fuel market.

But unlike Sri Lanka’s state-owned companies, IOC won’t accede to Colombo demands and sell fuel at less than cost.

In any case, for Sri Lanka, the IOC is … well, Indian. See what we mean here.

Seven years have passed since the Tamil journalist and editor of TamilNet was found assassinated in Colombo, inside a High Security Zone.

No-one has yet been brought to justice for his murder, after a trial was postponed earlier this year.

2005 saw the deaths of Sivaram, and two other Tamil media workers, S. Suhirtharajan, Trincomalee correspondent for Sudar Oli, a Tamil daily and Mrs. Relanki Selvarajah, Tamil broadcaster.

Below is an excerpt from a speech delivered in London on Aril 29, at the fifth anniversary of the death of Sivaram.

"The Tamil Guardian has had a relation with Sivaram almost since it began. He was instructor and mentor to the longer-serving volunteers on the paper. He taught us not only how to write, but how to think through the complexities of politics; to go beyond a surface analysis of a problem and explore the underlying structural movements. For this we are grateful.
 
As long as the oppression of Tamils continues, so too must the struggle for Tamil rights. Most of us knew Sivaram through our engagement in this struggle. I think it behooves us all to continue to remain committed, in whatever field we are in, to continue his resistance."

See the full text of the speech here.

The Dambulla dispute maybe resolved by intervention from the president, reports The Sunday Times.

Representatives of Muslim political parties hope to discuss the situation directly with the president in the hope a solution maybe found.

See also: At the mercy of the King (30 Nov 2011)

The Sri Lankan army has been collecting information on young Tamil men and women who it claims are former LTTE cadres, reports Tamilwin.

Upto 500 young men and women, including 200 in Trincomalee have been targeted. All in the name of 'rehabilitation'.

See also:

Security forces to search for 'ex-LTTE' returning from abroad (24 Apr 2012)

Army collects personal details of NGO employees in Batticaloa (22 Apr 2012)

Speaking to the BBC, the senior Buddhist monk who led the protest against a mosque in Dambulla has stated that footage from the protest has been “technically manipulated”.

The footage showed a mob of 2,000 Sinhala protestors, led by the monk Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, violently attacking a long-standing mosque in the area while security forces stood by. It also showed a monk disrobing and exposing himself in front of the mosque, expressing his outrage that the mosque had been built in the area.

Screenshot from News 1st TV, showing a Buddhist monk exposing himself in front of Dambulla mosque

The monk told the BBC that,

"Videos that portrayed the protest as violent were technically manipulated."

Muslims in Ampara and Batticaloa districts demonstrated for a second day through strike action, over the desecration of a mosque in Dambulla.

According to reports in the BBC, demonstrations were halted by the Sri Lankan military.

In a separate incident the office of the Mosque Federation in Kattankudi was set on fire last night in an arson attack.

Meanwhile, Muslims by the Dambulla mosque held an a special prayer session on Friday.

One worshipper said,

"There was a special dua [prayer] which basically implored the almighty to protect us, and the country from evil influences,”

Following the prayers, worshippers held a demonstration outside the mosque.

One placard read: “Gift for Muslims in Dambulla, who helped in Geneva.”

The attack has been condemned by a number parliamentarians and politicians, who are incidentally all Muslim:

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress parliamentarian Hasen Ali said,

“The saddest part is that this incident had occurred before the presence of the security forces who are supposed to uphold law and order in this country. They have become spectators,”

“There is concrete evidence. The police are aware of the culprits. Action must be taken against them. Similar incidents have taken place in Mahiyangana and Anuradhapura, as well as smaller incidents around the country that have not been reported. These must be put to a stop,”

UNP parliamentarian Kabir Hashim said,

"The government should remember the support of Muslim countries for Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. An immediate and independent inquiry should be conducted over the Dambulla incident,”

Two Sri Lankan government ministers did eventually voice their concerns - Minister of Justice, Rauff Hakeem, and Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs, A.L.M. Hizbullah.

Despite the United Nations having released more evidence of cluster bomb use in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Army has continued to deny their use.

Noting that it was “not the first time such allegations have been hurled at us”, Brigadier Wanigasooriya said,

“We have on previous occasions as well said the Sri Lankan Army did not use cluster bombs during the civil war and we stand by it.”
 
“At the same time, we must make it clear that this is not an official accusation made by the UN. A UN official had mentioned in an email he sent, that Sri Lanka had used cluster bombs during the civil war.  This email is based on unfounded truths.”

The latest denial follows a long string of strong retorts by Sri Lankan officials who have vehemently denied the use of cluster munitions throughout the country’s war. Sri Lanka’s then Foreign Secretary Palita Kohona, and currently their top representative at the UN in New York, told CNN in 2009,

“I can say categorically that the Army does not use cluster bombs, it does not posses cluster bombs and it does not procure cluster bombs. I say this with authority, because I have… since… hearing the story, I have verified the facts with the procurement committee.”

Also in February 2009, Amnesty International accused the Sri Lankan Army of using cluster bombs, which led to Member of Parliament and Adviser to the President on reconciliation, Rajiva Wijesinha labelling them “lunatics” and their accusations as “rank idiocy”.

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against a number of political parties that use the word “Tamil” in their names, claiming that it violates the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Referring to parties such as the Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil United Liberation Front, the petition states that naming these parties using the word “Tamil”, means that establishing a separate state is within their aims.

The petition states that the parties infringe upon the 6th amendment of the constitution and calls for a ban on the use of the word “Tamil” in political parties.

The petition was filed by Jayantha Liyanage. The party he represents?

The Sinhala National Front. 

Following a UN demining expert’s discovery this week of unexploded cluster munitions used by Sri Lankan forces during the island’s war, a medical worker has told Associated Press of seeing civilians' wounds caused by the outlawed weapons.

Many of the thousands of civilians wounded in the government offensive against the Tamil Tigers also had burns consistent with those caused by incendiary white phosphorus bombs, the medical worker also told AP.

White phosphorus is not specifically banned under international law, but human rights groups say its use in heavily populated civilian areas could amount to a war crime.

Cluster bombs, an 'area weapon', are canisters containing hundreds of bomblets which scatter, killing and wounding across a wide area. See picture here.

An international campaign against the use of these indiscriminate resulted in a landmark treaty in 2010.

“These ongoing reports of cluster bombs being used in Sri Lanka are worrying, and we’re taking them seriously,” Laura Cheeseman, director of the Cluster Munition Coalition, which advocates for the elimination of the weapon, told AP.

“Experts within the CMC network are investigating further as we speak, and we encourage the Sri Lankan government to do likewise.”

The medical worker also told AP in February 2009 local UN staffers had told him that they had found shrapnel from cluster munitions around a hospital in Puthukudiyiruppu.

The facility was later moved to a makeshift hospital in the village of Putumattalan, where patients began speaking of being wounded by cluster munitions, which make an unmistakable sound, a loud explosion followed by a burst of tiny blasts, the worker said.

Then, in late March or early April 2009, a man came in with a wound in his lower leg. After the medical staff cleaned the wound, they discovered a small unexploded bomblet from cluster munitions wedged into it, the worker said.

A photograph provided to the AP showed a lateral gash in a man’s leg just below the knee with a greenish metal cylinder embedded in the tissue.

Separately, the Associated Press obtained a copy of an email written by a UN land mine expert that said unexploded cluster bomblets were discovered in the Puthukudiyiruppu area, where a boy was killed last month and his sister injured as they tried to pry apart an explosive device they had found to sell for scrap metal.

Allan Poston, the technical adviser for the UN Development Program's mine action group in Sri Lanka, wrote:

"After reviewing additional photographs from the investigation teams, I have determined that there are cluster sub-munitions in the area where the children were collecting scrap metal and in the house where the accident occurred.

"This is the first time that there has been confirmed unexploded sub-munitions found in Sri Lanka."

British High Commissioner John Rankin, speaking at the recently held Sri Lanka Apparel Sourcing Association AGM, said:

“Despite challenging times for Western economies, I believe that the prospects for bilateral trade between the UK and Sri Lanka remain bright. In 2011, Sri Lankan exports to the UK totalled over US $ 1.2 billion and imports from the UK were worth some US $ 245 million. That made the UK Sri Lanka's second largest trading partner by volume.

“And there are over 100 companies in Sri Lanka with UK affiliations including major companies in the garment sourcing sector such as Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Triumph and Next."