Australia's Immigration and Citizenship Minister Brendan O'Connor said he had made it "very, very clear" during talks with Sri Lankan leaders of the need to pursue reconciliation after the crushing of a Tamil rebellion in May 2009.

"The Sri Lankan government is serious about responding to these concerns in a practical way," O'Connor told reporters in Colombo after meeting Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris.

He said Australia wanted Sri Lanka to fully deliver on promises to

Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canada is accusing the Canadian government of strengthening “evil forces” through its threat to boycott an upcoming Commonwealth summit in Colombo.

But Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird dismissed the criticism Thursday, saying Canada would continue to find ways to “increase pressure” on Sri Lanka’s government to protect human rights.

David Cameron is facing mounting calls to boycott an important Commonwealth meeting in Colombo amid continuing allegations that the Sri Lankan government is failing to end human rights abuses.

Mr Cameron is scheduled to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka in November. At the start of the three-day meeting, the presidency of the group is to he handed to Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Queen, or else another member of the royal family, is also due to take part in

As Sri Lanka gears up to host a meeting of Commonwealth leaders in November, testimony from torture survivors, and the absence of justice in their cases, challenge government claims to making human rights progress.

“I was burnt all over my body with cigarettes,” said Kumar. “I was also kicked all over the body. They kept me in a dark cell with no windows, where I had to sleep on the floor.”

World Press Freedom Day or World Press Day is marked today.

World Press Freedom Day is celebrated this year around under the theme Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media.

The UN General Assembly officially proclaimed May 3 as World Press Freedom Day in 1993 taking the many threats journalists face globally into consideration.

Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma met with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, retired Justice Priyantha Perera and his delegation on Wednesday.

Speaking at the occasion Sharma noted that the Commonwealth supports Sri Lanka's efforts to provide a life of dignity and opportunity to all Sri Lankan citizens.

In short it calls for the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to implement a policy framework (constructive recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission, LLRC) that will ensure justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans. The Human Rights High Commissioner is entrusted to report back to the Council on the progress of the implementation of the resolution at the 24th (Sep 2013) and 25th (March 2014) sessions of the Council.

The United States on Tuesday lambasted the Sri Lankan government for its assault on freedom of the press and for serious human rights violations, after a spate of attacks on the country’s media organizations.

In one of the toughest statements in recent years to any country, the Acting Deputy Spokesperson at the US State Department, Patrick Ventrell, said, "The United States calls on Sri Lankan authorities to demonstrate their commitment to the rule of law and freedom of expression by conducting thorough investigatio

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) welcomes the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom’s recent public statement that IBAHRI representatives will be granted visas to enter Sri Lanka.

Made during a live interview, broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on 30 April 2013, the comment follows the Sri Lankan authorities’ refusals on two occasions to accord individuals of high-level IBAHRI delegations entry to Sri Lanka to investigate the independence of the legal

It is all pretty confusing. Are Sri Lankan boat arrivals – like the month – actually refugees?

Are they fleeing from a country where the police and the army torture and rape citizens, where the media is not permitted to report about what is going on, and where there is no chance of getting redress for any of this, because the judges are biased, and the lawyers are in jail?