On this day 18 years ago, five Tamil students were summarily executed by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force, whilst they spent an afternoon on the beach in Trincomalee.

To date no one has been held accountable for the murder.

Batticaloa District Court has ordered for the continued detention of 9 Eelam Tamils detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), who were arrested for commemorating Maaveerar Naal.

Responding to these arrests, Human Rights Watch issued a statement condemning the continued crackdown on Tamil memorials.

Sri Lanka's police announced the arrests of nearly 15,000 people during a week-long military-backed anti-narcotics drive, a crackdown denounced by rights activists.

Police said their operation, code-named "Yukthiya" or "Justice", led to the seizure of almost 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of narcotics, including 272 kg of cannabis, 35 kg of hashish and nine kilograms of heroin.

Former Northern Province Chief Minister and Leader of the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani (TMTK) party, C.V. Wigneswaran, has publicly announced his intention to contest the upcoming Presidential election. 

During the press conference, he emphasised that his candidacy hinged upon the unity and agreement of all Tamil political parties.

The assassinated Tamil MP Joseph Pararajasingham was remembered in Batticaloa this week, to mark the 18th anniversary of his killing.

Malayaga Tamil activist, Jeewaratnam Suresh, faces continued threats and intimidation after successful appeal to Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court to improve the housing rights of Malayaga Tamils, who have faced historic oppression.

Former Sri Lankan President, and accused war criminal, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been accused of blocking investigations into the Easter Sunday bombings, which claimed the lives of 269 people.

Thousands of applications for agricultural and construction work in Israel have been filed in Sri Lanka, as Israel struggles with labour shortages following mass deportations of Palestinians. 

Around 82,000 Palestinians worked in the country’s construction industry accounting for a third of the sector’s workforce but were subsequently deported or stripped of work permits following the beginning of the war. 

Leader of the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kootan (TMTK), CV Wigneswaran has written to the secretary of Sri Lanka’s president to explain that he would not attend the dialogue session due to the continued failure to implement the 13^th amendment, which sets out grounds for devolution to the North and East.

A collection of 18 different Tamil Canadian student and youth organisations have demanded a “public apology” from the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and Global Tamil Forum (GTF), after they sparked controversy by meeting with accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa last week.

In the wake of widespread backlash to an initiative launched by the Global Tami Forum (GTF) and Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) that saw them meet accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa last week, the organisations have defended the meetings and refused to apologise.

The Tamil Guardian spoke to a range of Tamil Canadians across the political spectrum, and the country, all of whom expressed outrage at the meeting. At least two members are known to have resigned from CTC’s advisory council, with a campaign calling on members and sponsors to “boycott, disinvest and isolate” the organisation.

Almost 70 Tamil civil society organisations and individuals based in the North-East have released a statement that “totally rejects” the ‘Himalaya Declaration’, an initiative started by the Global Tamil Forum and a group of Sinhala Buddhist monks that has come under widespread criticism.

The joint statement, signed by religious leaders, civil society activists, and organisations said the initiative was an “attempt to sustain the politics of tyranny”.