A joint press release published by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy Sri Lanka (JDS) reports a staggering number of retired and serving military officers being appointed to key administrative posts by President and former army officer Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Last week marked the 15th year since seven workers of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by Sri Lankan government-backed paramilitaries in Batticaloa.

The paramilitary Karuna group was allegedly responsible for the attack.

Several Sri Lankan web domains, including google.lk are currently experiencing a DNS cache spoofing attack, in which web traffic to the site is being redirected to a site which highlights corruption within the government, the lack of media freedom, the plight of tea plantation workers, the issue of forced cremations and the ongoing genocide of Tamils on the island.

 The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) tweeted that “certain .lk currently being affected by a malicious redirection”.

Jaffna police have arrested a participant of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) 'Independence Day' rally over suspected involvement in sword attacking incidents. 

The police had reportedly received intelligence that two people allegedly involved in sword attacking incidents in the city were participating in the SLFP march. 

When the police arrived at the spot to apprehend the suspected individuals, one of them had reportedly fled the scene while the other was arrested. 

For the third day, Tamils and Muslims continued their march for justice from Pottuvil to Polikandy (P2P), commencing with a special prayer at the Trincomalee Shiva Temple on Friday morning.

^{The Sri Lankan flag raised at Newham Town Hall}

The Chief Executive for Newham, Althea Loderick has apologised for flying the Sri Lankan flag yesterday at Newham Town Hall in London, following a huge backlash from the Tamil community.

In her email response to community members, she accepts failure to “recognising the history and struggle” of the Tamil people, adding,

Across the North-East, Tamils are marching from Pottuvil to Polikandi (P2P) to raise awareness of the repression of Tamils and Muslims on the island and to urge the international community to act.

At the Vavuniya bus stand, police were shown recording vehicle and motorcycle numbers of the public supporting those marching. The police also engaged in harassment and intimidation of the protesters.

India’s High Commission has reportedly rejected an extension to a $400 million currency exchange agreement, set to expire on 1 February, stating that it would be impossible unless “Sri Lanka having successfully negotiated staff-level agreement for an IMF programme”.

^{Accused war criminal and Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa} 

Across the Tamil homeland as Tamil and Muslims marched in unison and raised ‘black flags’ protesting state oppression and families of the disappeared began hunger strikes; Gotabaya Rajapaksa delivered his speech flanked by accused war criminals in the south to mark a heavily militarised independence day.

UN human rights experts have expressed their deep concern about the worsening human rights situation in Sri Lanka and have called on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the international community to keep the human rights situation in Sri Lanka under continuous scrutiny and to explore all possible options for advancing accountability in the country, including the possibility of establishing an impartial and independent international accountability mechanism, and for UN member states to emphasise human rights obligations in their engagement with Sri Lanka.