The Hindu, COLOMBO, January 31, 2013 - The United States is sure that India will support a country-specific resolution sponsored by it in the coming session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The U.S. representatives revealed here that it had “decided to sponsor a procedural resolution at the March 2013 session of the U.N. Human Rights Council along with international partners”. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore told select media here that “the resolution will be straightforward; it will be a procedural resolution, and it will build on the 2012 resolution which called on Sri Lanka to do more to promote reconciliation and accountability. The resolution will ask the government of Sri Lanka to follow through on its own commitments to its people, including the implementation of the LLRC [Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission] recommendations.”

Radio Australia, 30 January 2013 - WEISS: Well, there is, of course, a divided house in the US. The US military in general have been in favour of continuing military links with Sri Lanka. But increasingly as evidence of war crimes has emerged from Sri Lanka, the Justice and State Departrments in the US have taken umbrage at cooperation, military cooperation with Sri Lanka and the refusal of the US to train a number of officers who have been linked with credible reports of human rights abuses and war crimes is, is a sign of the US changing institutionally and the administration changing its stance on Sri Lanka, towards Sri Lanka.

By Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City Press, UNITED NATIONS, January 29 2013 -- The position of freedom of the press and freedom of speech at the UN and its partners is declining daily. Thousands of miles from UN headquarters in Sri Lanka, journalists rallied to protest the killing of reporters Lasantha, Sivaram, Nimalarajan and Sugeedarajan, and the disappearance of Prageeth. Inner City Press has repeated asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokespeople about these cases, particularly that of Prageeth, since Ban went to Sri Lanka in May 2009. But the UN has said little, and done less.

Geneva, 29 January 2013 - The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is to consider and adopt the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report on Sri Lanka (A/HRC/22/16) during the 22nd session of the UNHRC which is to be held from 25 February to 22 March 2013 at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The UPR on Sri Lanka was held last November in Geneva. In its resolution 19/2, on "promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka" the Council encouraged OHCHR and relevant special procedures mandate holders to provide, in consultation with and with the concurrence of the Government of Sri Lanka, advice and technical assistance on implementing the steps mentioned in that resolution, and requested OHCHR to present a report on the provision of such assistance to the Council at its twenty-second session. The Council will also consider the report of OHCHR (A/HRC/22/38).

Colombo, Jan 27 2013 (IANS) A high-level delegation from the US State Department Sunday held talks with the Sri Lankan government and opposition members regarding post-war developments in the island nation. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Vikram Singh and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jane Zimmerman arrived in the island Saturday, Xinhua reported. The delegation met a key Tamil minority political party and discussed issues concerning Tamils in the north and east of the country. A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) official told Xinhua that issues including the resettlement of people displaced due to war and an upcoming session at the UN Human Rights Council where the Sri Lankan issue is expected to be raised were discussed.

AVVAZ. ORG Community Petitions, 25 jJanuary 2013 - International community failed to stop genocidal acts in Sri Lanka, from the time this government came to power in 2006. This encouraged the regime to move towards totalitarianism in Sri Lanka after the end of military conflict in May 2009. First step to totalitarianism was to amend the constitution to accommodate “Presidency for life”, the same path followed by other failed dictators; ignored democratic principles, suppressed media freedom and finally abandoned the independence of judiciary by sacking the Chief Justice for opposing the government proposed bill to give total power to one, in contravention of the current constitution. The pursuit of totalitarian regime in Sri Lanka is opposed by both Sinhala and Tamil Nations; only International community can stop the regime with overwhelming military and financial power going down this path. Immediate action by International community is needed.

Geneva, 18 January 2013 - Rupert Colville for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay was deeply concerned that the impeachment and removal of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice had further eroded the rule of law in the country and could also set back efforts for accountability and reconciliation. The removal of the Chief Justice through a flawed process, which had been deemed unconstitutional by the highest courts of the land, was, in the High Commissioner’s view, gross interference in the independence of the judiciary and a calamitous setback for the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

By Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City Press, UNITED NATIONS, 16 January 2013 - As jurists' groups, bar association and the Commonwealth all criticize Sri Lanka's legislature and president Mahinda Rajapaksa for what they call the politicized impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, Inner City Press on January 15 asked the UN:

14 January 2013 - Canada's Prime Minister Hon. Stephen Harper yesterday in a statement expressed deep concern regarding the dismissal of Sri Lankan Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake. "We call on the Government of Sri Lanka to respect the country's constitution and the independence of its judiciary and change course immediately. Canada continues to have serious concerns about the human rights situation, the need for reconciliation, and the democratic deficit in Sri Lanka. We will continue to raise these concerns forcefully, without equivocation both directly with the Government of Sri Lanka and through resolutions at both the United Nations and the Commonwealth. We will push for this latest troubling development to be addressed at the next meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group", the Prime Minister said.

BY Rahul Pandita, Open Magazine, 5 Jan 2012 - Interview with Frances Harrison: You cannot humiliate and intimidate people forever— even if they are militarily defeated—and expect them to be quiet. There is no physical security for Tamil civilians, no recognition of their unprecedented suffering in 2009, not even any space to mourn the dead. Nearly four years on, all those countries who supported or turned a blind eye to the elimination of the LTTE are also embarrassed by the lack of political progress and the nepotism, corruption and concentration of power in the hands of one family. There appears to be no interest among the ruling clique in addressing the root causes of the conflict. That is very shortsighted. The problem has not been resolved and will surely resurface in some shape or form in future. There was perhaps a window of opportunity in 2009 to address the root causes of decades of suffering, but it is now firmly shut.