Geneva, 12 February 2013 - Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on advice and technical assistance for the Government of Sri Lanka on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka has been made public prior to the UNHRC’s 22nd Session which opens on 25 February.

The High Commissioner in this report recommends that the Government of Sri Lanka:

(a) Give positive consideration to the offers of assistance made in her letter dated 26 November 2012, in particular expertise in:

(i) The establishment of a truth-seeking mechanism as an integral part of a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to transitional justice;

(ii) Criminal and forensic investigations to review relevant case files and advise on additional lines of inquiry to resolve outstanding cases in accordance with international standards;

(iii) Drafting laws dealing with witness and victim protection, the right to information, the criminalization of enforced disappearances and the revision of existing laws to bring them into line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

(iv) Strengthening and ensuring the independence of national institutions;

(v) The development of a national reparations policy in line with international standards;

(b) Invite special procedures mandate holders with outstanding requests to make country visits, particularly those who have offered assistance pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 19/2;

(c) Hold public and inclusive consultations on the national plan of action for implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission with a view to revising and expanding its scope and clarifying commitments and responsibilities;

(d) Revisit and implement the Commission’s recommendation on appointing a special commissioner of investigation into disappearances, and extend tracing programmes to include all missing persons;

(e) Open proceedings of military courts of inquiry and future trials of LTTE detainees to independent observers to increase public confidence, and allow proceedings to be evaluated in line with international standards;

(f) Publish the final report of the presidential commission of inquiry 2006 to allow the evidence gathered to be evaluated and accept international assistance to resolve outstanding cases;

(g) Take further steps in demilitarization and devolution to involve minority communities fully in decision-making processes;

(h) Engage civil society and minority community representatives in dialogue on appropriate forms of commemoration and memorialization that will advance inclusion and reconciliation.

The High Commissioner noted the views expressed by many stakeholders in Sri Lanka, including prominent community leaders, that the attention paid by the Human Rights Council to issues of accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka had helped to create space for debate, and catalyzed positive steps forward, however limited at this stage. The High Commissioner encourages the Council to continue its engagement and build on this momentum. In this regard, she reaffirms her long-standing call for an independent and credible international investigation into alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, which could also monitor any domestic accountability process.

ICJ, 12 February 2013 -- The ICJ sent today an open letter to the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma asking to change the venue of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2013. -- Dear Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, We, the International Commission of Jurists, enclose an open letter addressed to President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka, signed by fifty-six eminent jurists from around the world, condemning the unlawful removal of Chief Justice Bandaranayake and expressing grave concern for the decline of rule of law and independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka. We urge you to follow through on your earlier statements and consider changing the venue of the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as part of the commitment to advance and strengthen adherence to the Commonwealth’s oft-stated values and Principles pertaining to the rule of law.

The Commonwealth, 10 February 2013 - The Secretary-General will discuss matters of shared interest between Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which takes place in Sri Lanka in November. The Secretary-General will review organisational preparations for CHOGM and discuss possible outcomes that Sri Lanka and Commonwealth leaders will want to achieve at the summit. Mr Sharma is expected to discuss, among other issues, options for advancing Commonwealth values and principles, including the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers. “The Commonwealth approach is to highlight our shared values and to offer best-fit practical assistance that helps achieve progress,” Mr Uku concluded.

Adjournment speech (Parliament of Australia) this week By Ed Husic, Federal MP for Chifley, February, 8th, 2013 - Mr HUSIC (Chifley—Government Whip) (12:55): I rise to speak to join the thousands of Australian Tamil constituents in the Chifley electorate—joined by those who live in the electorates of Greenway and Parramatta—to express my utter disbelief at some extraordinary events that unfolded right here in Canberra this week. Earlier in the week, shadow foreign minister Julie Bishop and shadow immigration minister Scott Morrison effectively re-announced not only a short-sighted policy but one that potentially breaches international law. It was not just the re-announcement that was stunning; it was what it overlooked and how that was explained, and I will return to that later.

IBAHRI, 05/02/2013 - The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) expresses serious concern at the Sri Lankan government’s decision to deny entry to Sri Lanka to senior international figures, including a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice J S Verma. Dr Mark S Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association stated: ‘It is disappointing that the Sri Lankan authorities have missed the opportunity to cooperate on a visit by respected foreign members of the legal system. It will suggest to the international community that the Sri Lankan authorities are fearful of having independent eyes on the issues of interest to the legal profession.’

HRW, February 6, 2013 - (New York) – The Commonwealth should shift the venue of its November 2013 Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from Sri Lanka unless its government makes prompt, measurable, and meaningful progress on human rights, Human Rights Watch said today in a public letter to Commonwealth Heads of Government. Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka on February 10, 2013 to discuss the upcoming meeting. The Sri Lankan government under President Mahinda Rajapaksa has taken no meaningful steps to address serious abuses by government forces in the final months of the armed conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009, during which the United Nations has estimated that up to 40,000 civilians died. Since 2009 the government has been responsible for a worsening human rights situation that includes clampdowns on basic freedoms, attacks and threats against civil society, and actions against the judiciary and other institutions, imperiling Sri Lanka’s democracy.

Brad Adams, Asia Executive Director, Human Rights Watch, February 6, 2013 - Dear Commonwealth Heads of Government, I am writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch to express our grave concerns about the Commonwealth’s decision to press forward with the holding of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka in November 2013. Unless Sri Lanka makes prompt, measurable, and meaningful progress on human rights issues, we urge that you change the venue for the 2013 summit.

Speech in Parliament of Australia by Michelle Rowland, Labor Member for Greenway, Tuesday, 5 February 2013 - Yesterday the shadow minister for immigration and shadow minister for foreign affairs stated the coalition's policy on blocking Sri Lankan asylum seeker boats from Australian waters without first testing any refugee claims. In making this announcement the opposition has made two extremely dangerous and irresponsible conclusions: (1) that there are no legitimate reasons for any person from a specific country, namely Sri Lanka, to seek asylum, and (2) that the Australian Navy will be able to turn leaky boats around on the high seas outside of our territorial waters without consideration of an individual's need for protection. This is despite the fact that, according to a range of legal specialists, including the Human Rights Law Centre, such a policy would expose at least some asylum seekers to a real risk of torture, persecution or other flagrant human rights violations and therefore violate Australia's non-refoulement obligations under international law.

02 February 2013 - An International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) delegation has been forced to postpone a planned visit to Sri Lanka to assess the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary due to the last minute withdrawal of permission to enter the country. The International Bar Association in a statement today said that it expressed its serious concern to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London.

British High Commisssion, Colombo, 01 February 2013 - Visiting UK Minister Alistair Burt delivered a guest lecture today on “Sri Lanka: 2013 and beyond” at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies - "It is the responsibility of states to protect the rights and freedoms of every citizen, and it is the responsibility of Commonwealth members to remind each other of our declared Commonwealth values. So the Meeting will also be an opportunity for the Commonwealth and the wider world to see the situation for ourselves, and indeed, the Prime Minister made very clear it is the best way to understand any situation in any country. Four years after the war, Sri Lanka has an opportunity to demonstrate that it is doing everything possible to make peace here sustainable, and that it is upholding the rights of all its citizens. This is the time for Sri Lanka to create a peaceful, free, democratic and prosperous future. We will do all we can to help you achieve these goals. But ultimately it is, of course, up to the Sri Lankan government and people to shape the country’s future. It is a future that can and should be bright, for 2013 and beyond."