[BBC]

The US will support efforts to get Sri Lanka to implement a government commission’s conclusions in relation to the civil war, officials say.

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[AFP]

Japan, a top aid giver to Sri Lanka, on Wednesday urged the island’s government to probe war crimes allegedly committed while defeating Tamil rebels and pressed Colombo to improve human rights.

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[Amnesty USA]

Sri Lanka is not credibly investigating torture, Amnesty International said on the eve of a review by the UN Committee Against Torture into the country.

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[Amnesty International]

The Commonwealth risks becoming ‘irrelevant’ if its leaders allow Sri Lanka to become its next host, Amnesty International said today ahead of the organization’s biennial summit.

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[ABC]

The primary focus of Australian diplomacy towards Sri Lanka is to prevent Tamils from getting onto boats and coming to Australia.

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[Journal of Foreign Relations]

Led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, post-war Sri Lanka is a sad place. In May of 2009, the Sri Lankan government achieved a resounding military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

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[Reuters]

A confidential experts’ report to Commonwealth heads of government, obtained by Reuters, called for wide-ranging reforms that it said are essential if the organization is to make a real difference to improving the lives of its people.

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[Huffington Post]

We failed to prevent a massacre in Sri Lanka. We must not fail to seek justice for it.

‘Never again’ is the promise that has followed the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda and Srebrenica; issued each time with outrage and contrition, and, in recent years, a report on the failure of the international community to act. Kofi Annan commissioned one such report in 1999 on the Rwandan genocide, declaring: “Of all my aims as [UN] Secretary-General, there is none to which I feel more deeply committed than that of enabling the UN never again to fail in protecting a civilian population”. Less than five years later, the UN was unable to galvanise international action in Darfur. Ten years later it failed to prevent tragedy unfolding in the final stages of Sri Lanka’s long-running civil war.

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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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[Los Angeles Times]

Echoing a global debate over the balance between human rights and the fight against militants, some suspect that paramilitary forces or others closely associated with the government may have played a role in the attacks.Critics charge that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which came to power espousing human rights and benefits for the downtrodden, appears outright hostile to journalists who don’t toe the government line, contributing to a climate of fear. Anyone who speaks out against the government is accused of demoralizing the troops, being a traitor or supporting the Tigers, said Lal Wickrematunge, chairman of the Sunday Leader, sitting at his desk beside a picture of his slain brother.

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