The following address was delivered by Tasha Manoranjan, a graduate from Yale Law School, and founder and director of People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), at the 'Feminisms, Structural Violence and Transitional Justice Conference' held at York University, Toronto last month.

"Tamil women have suffered disproportionately throughout Sri Lanka’s decades-long ethnic conflict. They have faced both the structural collapse of communities as well as the erosion of societal norms. In response, an increasing number of women joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) starting in the 1980s and throughout the years prior to 2009, and became an integral part of the armed resistance against the government.

The Sri Lankan army showcased held a military exhibition, showcasing its “soft capabilities” at a school playground in Mullaitivu this week, reports Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence.

According to the MoD website, the Sri Lankan military displayed its exhibition at the “Oddusuddan Maha Vidyalaya play ground” last week, noting that the Sri Lankan Security Force Commander Maj Gen N.A.J.C Dias “graced the glorious occasion as the Chief Guest”.

A Tamil man from Mannar has been arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Department, the Uthayan reported.

Thangathurai Jeyins, 38, attended a court hearing, when he was arrested and taken to Vavuniya, his wife told the paper.

She said that Sri Lankan intelligence officers in a letter told her that he was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and needed to be rehabilitated due to his membership of the LTTE 20 years ago.

Sri Lanka has been appointed to chair the Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). The country was proposed to the 118 high contracting parties by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), who selected Sri Lanka to represent the bloc.

Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN, Ravinath Ariyasinhe expressed appreciation for the faith put in Sri Lanka by the group and said their acceptance showed the government's commitment to the UN's multi-lateral system.

"I am deeply humbled by the confidence placed in Sri Lanka, and the recognition of Sri Lanka's contribution to the field of disarmament over many decades - through the the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace initiative, the Conference on Disarmament (CD), the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and particularly since the ending of the terrorist conflict by its comprehensive demining programme, a key focus area of the CCW," he said.

Sri Lanka says it is still considering ways to release the five Tamil Nadu fishermen who were sentenced to death for drug trafficking.

“The process is being discussed at the highest levels and the issue is being looked at from all angles. A decision may be taken in a day or two,” presidential spokesperson Mohan Samaranayake told The New Indian Express on Friday.

“One of the options discussed is a staggered process beginning with the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment, followed by repatriation to India under the 2010 bilateral agreement on the transfer of sentenced prisoners, and then lastly, setting them free through a presidential pardon,” Samaranayake said.