^{Photograph @OmarWaraich}

Marking International Day of the Disappeared, Amnesty International held a protest in Colombo yesterday demanding answers over the tens of thousands disappeared on the island since the 1980s. 

With a large banner reading "More than 60,000 Disappeared. Still No Answers. Why, Mr. President?" behind them protestors held placards at Galle Face Green. 

A Colombo court has ordered the arrest of Sri Lanka's chief of defence staff, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne for allegedly helping the main suspect in the abduction and murder case of 11 Tamil youths evade arrest last year.  

Admiral Wijegunaratne is alleged to have provided the former navy commander, Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi alias 'Navy Sampath' Rs 500,000, in order for him to skip bail and escape arrest. 

“There is evidence against Admiral Wijegunaratne’s role in allowing the accused to evade arrest,” the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) was quoted by AFP as saying to the magistrate earlier this month. 

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) yesterday expressed concern over potential political censorship and the control of freedom of expression in Sri Lanka after a novel, a radio drama and a stage play were criticised by Buddhist groups and Sinhala Buddhist politicians for allegedly portraying anti-Buddhist sentiments. 

The UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky will be visiting Sri Lanka next week, from 3 to 11 September. 

“My visit aims at collecting first-hand information and examine questions related to debt and other financial obligations from a human rights standpoint,” Mr Bohoslavsky said. “The purpose of the mission is to identify good practices, challenges and potential gaps to be addressed."

“An important objective of my visit is to study the effects of public debt and related polices on the full enjoyment of human rights.

The chairman of Karaichchi Divisional Council (Pradesiya Sabai) has been summoned by Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). 

The chairman was previously detained for 13 months by the TID in 2013 with no reason given. 

The chairman was initially required to attend for the inquiry today, however the date was postponed to September 1st due to his poor health. 

Once again no reasons were given by the TID for the inquiry.

The body of a young Tamil woman was found in the Pannangkandi area of Kilinochchi this morning. 

Her body, lying face down, was found inside the Iranaimadu irrigation canal by locals, who alerted the police. 

A group of 15 prominent Buddhist organisations in Sri Lanka have thanked the Sri Lankan government for reportedly banning a book and radio drama for “insulting Buddhism” and called for more to be done to protect Buddhism.

“We consider it a constitutional obligation of the government to prevent the continuous insults on the Buddha, the distortion of the Dhamma and the belittling of the Buddhist cultural traditions by taking cover behind Democracy and Freedom of Expression prevailing in the country,” said the organisations in a letter to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

The United States Coast Guard has officially handed over a high endurance cutter vessel to the Sri Lankan navy, making it the largest ship in the Sri Lankan fleet, despite ongoing human rights concerns. 

A former Sri Lankan navy commander, who was wanted over the abduction and murder of 11 Tamil youths as well as the assassination of Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj, has been remanded until the September 12^th by a court in Colombo today.

Former Navy Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi aka 'Navy Sampath' had skipped bail and was wanted by Sri Lankan authorities before he was finally arrested earlier this year. Sri Lanka's navy chief, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne reportedly gave Rs 500,000 in cash to help him evade arrest.

The Sri Lankan rupee closed at an all-time low of 161.30 per dollar on Tuesday, continuing its weak run as outflows from equities continued, reports Reuters.

The rupee declined 1 percent so far this month and 5.1 percent so far this year. 

The absence of dollar conversions by exporters and outflows from equities also pushed the rupee lower, economic analysts were quoted by Reuters as saying, with the issue further exacerbated by exporters keeping hold of dollars as they expect the rupee to decline even further.