The Sri Lankan government's failure to hold accountable those responsible for the execution-style slaying of 17 aid workers six years ago is indicative of its deeper unwillingness to prosecute soldiers and police for atrocities, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite compelling evidence of participation by state security forces in the killings, government inquiries have not progressed and no one has been charged with the crime.

On August 4, 2006, gunmen executed the 17 Sri Lankan aid workers � 16 ethnic Tamils and one Muslim � with the Paris-based international humanitarian agency Action Contre La Faim (Action Against Hunger, ACF) in their office compound in the town of Mutur, Trincomalee district in northeast Sri Lanka. The killings followed a battle between Sri Lankan government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for control of the town.

"The sixth anniversary of the summary executions of 17 aid workers has brought the Sri Lankan government no closer to obtaining justice for the victims," said James Ross, legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch. "President Rajapaksa�s callous indifference to the suffering of the aid workers� families will be a sad hallmark of his administration."

The bodies of 15 of the aid workers, both men and women, were discovered on August 6 lying face-down with bullet wounds to the head and neck fired at point-blank range. Two bodies of ACF workers who apparently had tried to escape were found in a vehicle nearby. The group had been providing assistance for survivors of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

The nongovernmental organization University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) in April 2008 published detailed findingson the ACF killings, including accounts from witnesses, weapons analysis, and compelling information about the government security forces believed responsible. Those allegedly directly involved include two police constables and Naval Special Forces commandos. Senior police and justice officials were linked to an alleged cover-up.

In July 2009 the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, created in November 2006 to investigate 16 major cases of human rights abuse, exonerated the army and navy in the ACF killings, instead blaming the LTTE or Muslim militia. The commission made it difficult for witnesses to testify and made no effort to remedy a botched police investigation. Its full report to President Mahinda Rajapaksa has never been published.

In response to a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution in March 2012 calling on Sri Lanka to provide a comprehensive action plan to implement the recommendations of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), established by the Rajapaksa government to analyze the failure of the 2002 ceasefire agreement, the government on July 26 published a National Plan of Action to Implement the Recommendations of the LLRC.

The plan of action vaguely calls for the government to "[a]scertain more fully the circumstances under which specific instances of death or injury to civilians could have occurred, and if such investigations disclose wrongful conduct, prosecute and punish the wrongdoers." Itsets out a 12-month timeframe to conclude disciplinary inquiries and 24 months for prosecutions.

The government proposal merely leaves responsibility for investigations with the military and police, the entities responsible for the abuses, using processes lacking in transparency, Human Rights Watch said.

The Sri Lankan government has a poor record of investigating serious human rights abuses, and impunity has been a persistent problem. Despite a backlog of cases of enforced disappearance and unlawful killings going back two decades that run to the tens of thousands, there have been only a small number of prosecutions. Past efforts to address violations by creating ad hoc mechanisms in Sri Lanka have produced few results, either in providing information or leading to prosecutions.

On May 23, 2009, shortly after the LTTE's defeat, Rajapaksa and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a joint statement from Sri Lanka in which the government said it "will take measures to address" the need for an accountability process for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

The eight-member Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission held public hearings on human rights abuses during the last years of fighting. But the commission did not have an investigatory mandate, nor did it demonstrate independence or impartiality in its proceedings.

In April 2011 a panel of experts authorized by the UN secretary-general issued a comprehensive report on violations of international law by both sides during the final months of the conflict with the Tamil Tigers. It called on the Sri Lankan government to carry out genuine investigations and recommended that the UN create an independent international mechanism to monitor the government's implementation of the panel recommendations, conduct an independent investigation, and collect and safeguard evidence.

Human Rights Watch repeated its call for the secretary-general or other UN body to create an independent international investigation into violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by all parties to the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. This investigation should make recommendations for the prosecution of those responsible for serious abuses during the armed conflict, including the ACF case.

Governments concerned about impunity for serious human rights abuses in Sri Lanka should publicly support an independent international mechanism, Human Rights Watch said. Sri Lanka's history of inaction on even prominent cases with strong evidence demonstrates the need to avoid further delay.

"Governments that demanded action at the UN Human Rights Council shouldn't be mollified by the Sri Lankan government's tepid proposal to pursue criminal inquiries," Ross said. "Regarding investigations into wartime abuses, the government's 'action plan' reads more like an 'inaction plan.'"

-HRW-

A part of the 50,000 housing aid promised by New Delhi for the war-affected people in the North and East is planned to be used for demographic genocide in the East at the village of Kachchat-kodi in the Paddip-pazhai division of Batticaloa district, according to Eastern Provincial council member R. Thurairatnam. The village, which was predominantly Tamil a few years ago and was affected by displacement during the war, now has 2 new Sinhala Buddhist Viharas constructed and a number of Sinhala families brought from outside settled with the assistance of Buddhist priests.

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe charged in Parliament today that there was an attempt by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to take in a few UNP MPs for questioning over their participation in a workshop organised by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, a German organisation promoting liberal politics in the world. Mr. Wickremesinghe said the UNP as a party, engaged in electoral politics and undertook training on election campaign management under a workshop conducted by this organisation. He said this Foundation had brought down a resource person to conduct the workshop, ahead of the Northern Provincial Council Election planned to be held in the near future.

External Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka Prof. G.L. Peiris has questioned why Canada is relentlessly trying to stop the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from being held in Colombo this year. The Minister has told parliament that Canada's stance was due to the influence of LTTE sympathizers in that country. "Why is Sri Lanka pursued relentlessly and castigated by some representatives of the government of Canada. Even though the LTTE is not presented physically their influence is still there," Prof. Peiris has asked. Minister Peiris noted that since October 2011, Canada has attempted to stop the CHOGM from being held in Sri Lanka but all such attempts by Canada had failed as most countries had supported Sri Lanka.

'Misconceptions regarding Buddhists in Sri Lanka are spread worldwide through websites. Now is the time to change those misconceptions which were being spread for the last 30 years, Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa states. The Defence Secretary made these comments addressing a function after opening a student hostel and a Dana Sala, as well as laying the foundation stone for a new hostel and library at the Pravachamodaya Maha Pirivena in Molligoda. The ceremony was held under the auspices of Ven. Ittapane Dhammalankara Anunayake Thera .

Sri Lanka Army has said that it would reduce the number of military camps in former rebel stronghold of northern Jaffna and hand over lands back to their original owners. "We will reduce the existing 17 military camps in Jaffna to just three," Army chief Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya said. The fourteen camps pulled out from different parts in Jaffna would be relocated in the main Palaly cantonment, he said yesterday. Lands which located the camps would be handed back to their original owners and lands that would be difficult to be handed back due to national security considerations would be subject to compensation, he said.

Tamara Kunanayakam, Sri Lanka's former Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, was re-elected as Chairperson-Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council's Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development, which held its 14th session from 13 to 17 May, in Geneva. This is the third time that Ms. Kunanayakam has been nominated by the Non-Aligned Movement for the post, which is an honorary non-remunerated position, and has received the unanimous support of all members of the United Nations for her expertise on the right to development and her remarkable leadership. This, despite attempts last year by Sri Lankan government to prevent her from presenting the report of the Working Group to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and to the UN General Assembly in New York, through a letter addressed to Navi Pillay and in violation of UN rules and procedures, well informed sources told The Island.

The Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra is set to address parliament on May 31, Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Chandima Weerakkody stated today (May 22). Addressing the parliament today, Weerakkody said that the Prime Minister of Thailand will address the Sri Lankan parliament on May 31 at 2.45pm.

Vanni District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian, Siva Shakthi Anandan, was interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sleuths at the fourth floor, over his alleged mobile phone conversations with Tamil detainees at the Vavuniya Prison. Anandan was grilled for more than two hours from 10 a.m. to 12.15 p.m. yesterday. Informed sources said, the CID sleuths had questioned the parliamentarian as to how he developed mobile phone contacts with the Tamil prisoners, who staged a hunger strike, which finally ended in a prison riot at the Vavuniya Prison last year.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said yesterday it was considering a change in its stance on power devolution and instead opt for a new system of devolution depending on the will of the people. However, it said as of now it would stick to its policy on power devolution based on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told a news conference that his party would listen to the views expressed by the people and propose a system of devolution accordingly. "We will leave this matter to the people," he said.

The TNA yesterday requested the government to take action to "genuinely implement" the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution on "Promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka and to reverse the latter's current actions pertaining to the land issues in the North and East. TNA Leader R. Sampanthan, moving an adjournment motion in Parliament, said that the government's actions had resulted in deterioration of the human rights situation in the North and East. "Two statements were made on the floor of the House on April 09, 2013 by the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister of External Affairs, pertaining to the resolution No: A/HRC/22/L.1 on 'Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka' adopted by the Human Rights Council.

About 1,473 petitioners, from Achchuveli, Palali, Jaffna yesterday applied to the Court of Appeal seeking permission to add to their writ application that the proposed acquisition of their land, in Palali was to be acquired by the State speedily. The petition said the State had decided to take over 6,813 acres, to construct a Defence Headquarters building in Palali.The petitioners requested the Court to restrain the respondent Minister of Lands and Land Development from going ahead with the proposed mala-fide acquisition.

India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is all set to ink an agreement for the execution of the proposed 2 x 250 MW Sampur power project in Trincomalee in Sri Lanka by early next month, as the differences over operation and maintenance charges and issues relating to gross heat rate in the power purchase agreement have been sorted out. "NPTC is all set to take up the project in right earnest. We have deputed a senior official to be posted in Sri Lanka for the project. All issues have been resolved and we are hopeful that a formal agreement will be signed in the first or second week of June," a senior official, who refused to be identified, told The Hindu .

UNP MP Sajith Premadasa says his father gave one group in the LTTE weapons in order to try and create a split in the LTTE. Speaking to the BBC Sandeshiya, Sajith Premadas said that former President Ranasinghe Premadasa had given weapons to an LTTE click led by Mahattaya. "There were allegations my father gave weapons to the LTTE. What my father did was give weapons to an LTTE click he could trust. The LTTE click led by Mahattaya was given weapons to strengthen them and create an uprising against Prabhakaran within the LTTE," he said. Gopalaswamy Mahendraraja also known as Mahattaya was eventually reportedly killed for leaking secrets to India's RAW.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake today claimed that a ship carrying fuel designated for Sri Lanka is reportedly lost at sea and that he doesn't believe Petroleum Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa will be able to locate it. He stated that despite having a total of 9 oil storage tanks in Orugodawatta and Sapugaskanda, the CPC waits till all 9 tanks run dry to import crude oil again. Attanayake further said that the Sapugaskanda oil refinery solely depends on Iranian crude oil and the fact that crude oil for the country was only ordered from a ship which was in international waters is "startling." He stated that as a responsible government food and oil sufficient for the next 3 months should be kept in stocks, however due to the ruling government's "Eda Wela Tours" policy the people are facing grave hardship.

The strike against the increase of electricity tariff hike was launched today (21) with the participation of government and private sector trade unions. Several protests were conducted extending support for the strike. The protest organized by the university lecturers were held at Nugegoda Junction, while the employees of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital staged a protest in front of the hospital.

Crime branch officers in India on Sunday arrested a 35-year-old Sri Lankan, who was an operative of banned outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), when he was attempting to catch a flight to Nairobi. Interestingly, the accused, an electronics engineer, initially told cops that he entered India by air, but after sustained interrogation, revealed that he took a boat from Sri Lanka and got off at the coast of Tamil Nadu. He ran out of luck as the Sri Lankan government issued an Interpol notice against him, due to which he was nabbed at Mumbai airport. The arrested person, identified as Theva Satesh Kumar, was born and brought up in Jafna in Sri Lanka, which has been an LTTE-dominated area.

Indian Minister V Narayanasamy today said that only the Congress party is "genuinely" interested in ensuring welfare of the Tamils in Sri Lanka while other political parties in Tamil Nadu were shedding "crocodile tears" on the issue. "It is indeed shocking that the political parties who have not done anything for welfare of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees staying in Tamil Nadu are feigning to be their champions and making criticisms against Congress and the party-led UPA government at the Centre on the Tamils issue," he said. Both ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and former Congress ally DMK have frequently expressed concern over attacks on fishermen from the state, allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy, besides flaying Centre for failing to put pressure on Colombo on the issue.

It is reported that BBS is planing to build a huge public opinion against the 13th Amendment. BBS did not make any official comment on their opinion on the 13th Amendment so far and is said to be making it officially at the tomorrow's media briefing. However, since the beginning, the group ironically opposed a devolution of power. BBC program coordinator Mr.Dilantha Withanage has expressed his views to the Asian Tribune web site recently by saying that the BBS is not supporting the 13th Amendment.

The US State Department says intolerance of, and discrimination against, Muslims by some Buddhists saw an increase in Sri Lanka last year. The International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 released by the US State Department on Monday, also said that last year, U.S. embassy officials conveyed U.S. government concerns about religious freedom, particularly attacks on churches, to government leaders and urged them to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators. The report which looks at religious freedom, or the lack of it in all countries for 2012, noted that in certain instances, local authorities in Si Lanka failed to respond effectively to communal attacks, including attacks on members of minority religious groups.

Voicing concern over attacks on Indian fishermen, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today asked the Centre to take urgent steps for the retrieval of Katchatheevu islet, ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, besides redrawing the International Maritime Boundary Line. The 1974 Agreement signed between India and Sri Lanka had determined Katchatheevu as a part of Sri Lanka, and it was ceded by the Indian Government unilaterally without obtaining the approval of both Houses of Parliament for a constitutional amendment, she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "The stand of the Tamil Nadu Government is that Katchatheevu has always been a part of India, geographically, culturally and historically and needs to be retrieved, keeping in view the livelihood interests and security of thousands of Indian fishermen," she said.