While the election of Maithripala Sirisena brings hope for a more humane Sri Lanka, the fact that the country's police and security forces still makes use of inhumane methods towards their prisoners paints a bleak picture for human rights advocates.
Sri Lanka's new government said on Monday it was setting up a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission to look into atrocities during its civil war, as it came under renewed pressure to prosecute perpetrators.
Sri Lanka's bid to postpone publication of a United Nations report into alleged war crimes has won the backing of U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.
China's President Xi Jinping will visit Pakistan this year in what will be the first trip by a Chinese head of state to its western neighbor in nine years, as Beijing looks to take a bigger role in South Asia.
