Despite protests from Washington and Delhi, Sri Lankan officials have u-turned on their decision to defer the docking of a Chinese military ship, Yuan Wang 5, and have instead welcomed the vessel.

Whilst the ship was initially scheduled to arrive at the Chinese-owned port on 11 August, following pressure from India, Sri Lanka officials had agreed to indefinitely defer the vessel, which Indian officials accused of being a “spy ship”.

Ahead of the 51^st UN Human Rights Council session, several Tamil political leaders have written to UN Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to take decisive action to deliver justice for Tamils and stop the continued atrocities.

On 12 August the Association for Relatives of Enforced Disappearances (ARED) released a statement calling for the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to acknowledge their demands ahead of the UNHRC session scheduled for September.

The statement which was addressed to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, emphasized that accountability for enforced disappearances would not be secured with the Sri Lankan government.

The massacre of 53 school girls by the Sri Lankan air force was commemorated today across the Tamil homeland on the 16th anniversary of the attack.

On August 14 2006, four Sri Lankan air force jets flew over the Vanni and dropped sixteen bombs over the Sencholai children's home for orphans, killing 53 school girls and 3 teachers. 

Today marks the 16th anniversary of the massacre of 53 school girls by the Sri Lankan Air Force. 

Tamil families of the disappeared rallied in Kilinochchi and Vavuniya yesterday to mark 2,000 days of continuous roadside protest as the search for their forcibly disappeared loved ones continues. 

It's a terrible sign when the interval card rolls up and you let out a sign of exasperation, realising there’s another hour and fifteen minutes to sit through. The film opens with the usual cocktail for Tamil commercial ventures: the hero enters to an action block (in this instance, a wrestling match) followed by a song where his strength, bravura and good nature are praised, and soon after we are introduced to the romantic interest.

The EU delegation in Sri Lanka has met with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe who they claim to have had a “constructive meeting” on human rights and freedom of expression.

As Tamil families gather across the North-East to demand an account for their loved ones who were forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan military, US Ambassador, Julie Chung, met with Sri Lankan Minister for Tourism, Harin Fernando.

In a tweet the ambassador stated:

Tamil families of the disappeared marked 2,000 days of continuous roadside protest in Vavuniya today as their struggle to know the the fate of their forcibly disappeared loved ones goes on. 

The families have been appealing to the international community for accountability as they have no faith that domestic mechanisms will provide justice or accountability.