Lawyers representing a driver who was beaten in public by a Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) in Ratnapura have reported that their client was "grossly assaulted, physically, and sexually tortured" by the SDIG and two other officers.

Writing in Declassified UK, Archana Ravichandradeva and Sutharshan Sukumaran warm against Sri Lanka's efforts to pave out its appalling human rights record with the language of environmental stewardship and urge the UK to "redouble its commitment to accountability, justice and a political solution that resolves the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka".

Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris visited Jesus College of the University of Cambridge on 31 October, for a discussion related to issues in Sri Lanka and a "way forward".

Among those participating were Professor Sir Ivan Lawrence QC, the Rt. Hon. Sir Rupert Jackson PC QC, Professor Mads Andenas QC, Professor Andy Haynes, Professor Barry Rider, Ms Kim Hollis QC and Dr. Dominic Thomas - James.

As Sri Lankan war criminal turned President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, continues his visit to Scotland during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, Scottish Tamils continue their protest demanding justice for genocide.

In The Herald and The National political adverts were placed highlighting Sri Lanka’s attempt to pave over their atrocities with claims of environmental stewardship.

Responding to claims of climate leadership from Sri Lanka, Alan Keenan, Senior Consultant on Sri Lanka at the International Crisis Group stated:

Addressing the fifth anniversary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Sri Lankan President, and accused war criminal, Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed that the country was ‘open to fair and just criticism’.

This comes as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders expressed concern over Sri Lanka's inaction to respond to threats against human rights defenders.

Today marks fourteen years since S. P. Thamilselvan, the head of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was assassinated by the Sri Lankan air force (SLAF).

On November 2, 2007 Sri Lankan air force jets carried out a strike on a residence of members of the LTTE's political division. Five other LTTE officials - Lt. Col. Anpumani (Alex), Major Mikuthan, Major Nethaaji, Lt. Aadchiveal and Lt. Maavaikkumaran - were killed alongside Brigadier Thamilselvan, in the attack.

Tamil families of the disappeared held a demonstration in Vavuniya on Saturday to demand to know the fate of their forcibly disappeared loved ones. 

Tamil families of the disappeared and Tamil activists have been calling on the international community to investigate the disappearances as domestic mechanisms have repeatedly failed to deliver any accountability or prosecute those responsible for the disappearances. 

Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara said he will be proposing legislation to expedite or dismiss human rights cases against Sri Lankan police officers, an act that will further entrench the island’s culture of impunity. 

An advert in The Herald alerted readers that Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who stands credibly accused of war crimes, was in Glasgow today for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26. 

This is the latest in a series of several adverts that have featured in Scottish national papers over the last week as part of a widespread publicity campaign by Scottish Tamils as Rajapaksa attends COP26 in his first high profile visit to the UK. 

Sri Lanka’s president said farmers on the island had “grown accustomed to overusing fertilizer as an easy means of increasing yields,” as he doubled down on a policy that has sparked protests amongst Tamil and Sinhala farmers.

“My Government took firm steps to reduce imports of chemical fertilizer, and strongly encourage organic agriculture,” Gotabaya Rajapaksa told an event in Glasgow organised by the British High Commission in Colombo in coordination with the Sri Lankan government.