A TOP Australian diplomat heavily criticised for her role in ''rehabilitation'' ceremonies for alleged Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka has been rewarded with a job in Prime Minister Julia Gillard's department. Kathy Klugman will become head of the international division in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, a key foreign policy job. Ms Klugman, who was high commissioner in Colombo until this month, was condemned by rights groups in October for handing out certificates to Tamils after they were held for two years in a detention camp by the Sri Lankan government.

"It is not a requirement under the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 that irregular maritime arrivals (IMAs) remain in detention during the security assessment process. The detention of IMAs is managed by the DIAC, in accordance with Australian Government policy." ASIO ANNUAL REPORT 2011

FORMER prime minister Malcolm Fraser has added his weight to a push for Commonwealth action against Sri Lanka, calling on summit members to postpone its proposed hosting rights for the 2013 CHOGM until it has answered allegations of war crimes.
Mr Fraser criticised the federal government for putting its desire to stop Sri Lankan boatpeople from reaching Australia ahead of its obligations to speak out against alleged human rights violations and war crimes.

The Australian Tamil community says it feels betrayed by the Federal Government's decision to stop a war crimes case against the Sri Lankan president proceeding in Australia.Tamil man Jegan Waran, 63, has filed charges in the Melbourne Magistrates Court against Mahinda Rajapakse, who is in Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).Attorney-General Robert McClelland's permission is required for the proceedings to go ahead, but he has ruled it out. Mr McClelland says the president is legally entitled to diplomatic immunity.

Refugee's death in detention regrettable, says former minister
THE death of a Sri Lankan refugee in Sydney's Villawood detention centre is "highly regrettable", former immigration minister Chris Evans says. The Tamil man, who had already been granted refugee status, committed suicide in the western Sydney centre early on Wednesday, the Department of Immigration has confirmed.As was report earlier in The Australian Online, it is believed he was awaiting a security clearance from ASIO.

A war crimes case filed against the Sri Lankan president in an Australian court cannot proceed without the federal government's consent, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says. Sri Lankan-born Australian citizen Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran has lodged a war crimes indictment against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.The move comes as Mr Rajapaksa is due to arrive in Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). But Ms Gillard on Tuesday made it clear no case could proceed without the government's say-so.

An Australian man who says he saw hospitals deliberately attacked by Sri Lankan forces has filed war crimes charges against Sri Lanka's president in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court.Thousands of civilians were killed in the three-decades-long civil war which came to an end when Sri Lankan forces defeated Tamil rebels in 2009.Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa arrives in Australia for CHOGM today.

John Dowd, president of the Australian chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), has named the current Sri Lankan high commissioner to Australia, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, in a submission containing allegations of war crimes. Australian Federal Police commissioner Tony Negus is treating the brief "as a matter of urgency" and his war crime investigators are evaluating it.

AS the legal battle over the Malaysia Solution for asylum-seekers drags on, opposition to the deal with Australia is stepping up inside Malaysia too. It is exposing the country to increasing fire over its human rights regime, intensifying international scrutiny as tensions grow in the run-up to an election.Fears are also starting to be aroused inside Malaysia that the arrangement will create a security hazard.