The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, condoned the “vague” terrorism charges under which Sri Lankan Muslim human rights lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah, has been arbitrarily detained under. 

Photo of Ambassador Teplitz meeting with families of the disappeared

Speaking to reporters, outgoing United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B Teplitz stressed that the US will remain “full engaged” with Sri Lanka on the issue of reconciliation.

On Monday, Police arrested three people distributing Rs. 20 million in cash to residents on Udupidi Wadiriyan Road in Jaffna for violating quarantine protocols.

One of the men was sent Rs. 20 million in remittance from overseas, by his son with instructions to distribute Rs. 2000 each to families in need.

When the elderly man began distributing the money along with two other members of the family, more than 2,000 Jaffna residents gathered and formed a long queue to collect money consequently disregarding the quarantine curfew. This comes amidst reports of families across the North-East not recieving promise aid.

Infectious disease expert and the first healthcare official to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Sri Lanka has resigned from the Covid Prevention Technical Committee, as he claimed  that the vaccination program in Sri Lanka is not being implemented as per the recommendations of the experts.

^{Deputy High Commissioner - Vinod K. Jacob}

The Indian High Commission in Colombo has facilitated a visit of 39 Sri Lankan military officers to New Delhi, in a visit aimed to promote India's "Neighbourhood First" policy. 

In his first speech to parliament, Sri Lankan finance minister, Basil Rajapaksa, admitted that coutry was facing a foreign exchange crisis and had lost an estimated Rs. 1.6 trillion in revenue across the pandemic, but maintained that the country would not borrow from institutions which would “attach conditions that impact the country’s sovereignty”.

A new generation of young Tamil men are being picked up and tortured by the security forces in the north and east for exercising their legitimate peaceful political rights. As Frances Harrison writes, parents, teachers, politicians and community organisers need to be more aware of the risks.

In advance of the 48^th session of the UN Human Rights Council, leading representatives of the Tamil National People’s Front and All Ceylon Tamil Congress, have written to the Core Group on Sri Lanka urging the countries to go beyond UN resolution 46/1, which they slam as “highly problematic”.

“Six months have lapsed since the passing of resolution 46/1 on Sri Lanka. In these six months, every single warning that we alluded to have been proved to be true” they wrote.

 Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, a Tamil schoolgirl who was kidnapped, gang raped and brutally murdered by Sri Lankan soldiers in 1996, was remembered yesterday in Jaffna by former Northern Provincial Councillor M K Shivajilingham. 

Krishanthi was an A Level student at Chundikili High School who was kidnapped, gang raped and viciously murdered by Sri Lankan soldiers and police officers on September 7th 1996.

The Vavuniya Tamil Journalists Association held a memorial for 26-year-old journalist Pragas Gnanapragasam, who died last week after contracting COVID-19.