[U.S. Department of State]

Question: What is the U.S. view regarding accountability in Sri Lanka?

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[BBC]

A group of men allegedly beat up the 17-year-olds after they came out of an internet cafe in the mostly Muslim town of Kattankudi, near Batticaloa. The father of one of the girls says they were accused of watching pornography - a charge the girls deny. The case has fuelled concern about a rise in radical Islam in that area.

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[Channel 4 News]

The Twenty20 game takes place amid international controversy over alleged war crimes committed at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war. A UN report earlier this year suggested actions by both the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Earlier this month Prime Minister David Cameron called for further investigation into the alleged atrocities after a Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields screened new evidence.

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[Channel 4 News]

One week after broadcast, Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields has been watched by over a million viewers in the UK* and over 270,000 views worldwide on VoD. The film has been viewed on 4oD in over 30 countries. On Tuesday, the film was screened to diplomats and US media in New York. United Nations missions from the US, India, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and East Timor attended. The Sri Lankan government sent a delegation of eight with Mr Palitha T.B. Kohona, Ambassador & Permanent Representative of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the United Nations and Brigadier Shavendra de Silva both speaking after the film.

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[The Commonwealth Secretariat]

In response to queries received, the Spokesperson stated the following on 23 June 2011:

The Commonwealth membership is united in its longstanding commitment to human dignity, equality, human rights, and the rule of law – to which access to justice and an independent judiciary are fundamental. Commonwealth Heads of Government have as recently as November 2009 solemnly reiterated their commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and also to the values of tolerance, respect and understanding.

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[BBC]

Ten days ago police said they would give details about those detained in the war, which ended in May 2009. BBC Sinhala has learned of only one man out of hundreds who went to the former war zone of Vavuniya and actually found out where his relative was. Thousands of families are still seeking loved ones two years after the war. Almost all of them are Tamils, living in the former war zone in desperation because of their missing husbands, sons or daughters, correspondents say. Some have been missing for many years.

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[Global Spin Time]

Ban Ki-Moon won a second term as United Nations Secretary General yesterday,  affirmed by applause as he was the only candidate. Ban pitched himself as a mediator and bridge-builder, so it’s not surprising that he has been a less visible, less controversial and, his critics would say, less charismatic Secretary General than his predecessor, Kofi Annan. But that’s a question of style. It takes more than charm to make an organization like the UN effective. Has he succeeded?

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[AFP]

A New York-based media rights organisation Tuesday called for an international inquiry into the death of a Sri Lankan television presenter who was allegedly executed by government forces.

A documentary by Britain’s Channel 4, “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”, contained footage of what it said were prisoner executions in the final days of fighting between government troops and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.

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[Guardian UK]

Disgrace. What a tediously familiar word; stripped of significance by its overuse, shorn of force by its frequent repetition. Read it again. Roll it around your tongue. Feel its heat and taste its weight, because I am about to use it and I do not want to do so lightly. In the next seven days England are due to play two games against Sri Lanka which will be used as valedictory matches for Sanath Jayasuriya, who has been recalled to the squad at the age of 41. Jayasuriya’s selection is a disgrace and the idea of playing cricket against a team that includes him is a disgrace.

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[CPJ]

The U.K.’s Channel 4 has screened amateur footage of the body of Tamil news presenter Shoba, indicating that she was shot and killed during the government’s final military surge in the northeast. Shoba, who went by one name, also reported under the name Isaipriya or Isaippiriya for the media division of the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), according to Channel 4 and the pro-LTTE TamilNet news website. “Her role was as a journalist rather than a direct fighter,” Channel 4 reported.

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