During a meeting between Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Modi stated the need for the government to “carry forward the process of reconciliation” and to implement the Thirteen Amendment, which relates to devolving power to provincial councils across the island.

In a statement Modi said;

Tamil diaspora groups have called on the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) to 'investigate and report' on the allegations of crimes against Tamil civilians committed by British mercenaries. 

In a joint letter to the UK's Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, the groups highlight that a private British company, Keenie Meenie Services (KMS) was "involved in inflicting death and carnage to Tamils in Sri Lanka, and worse, enjoys impunity in this country."

This month saw the release of an explosive new book that documents how a private British company formed of former Special Air Service (SAS) veterans turned mercenaries, went on to effectively set up one of Sri Lanka’s most notorious military units – one that has been accused of committing egregious mass atrocities.

Authored by Phil Miller, ‘Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away with War Crimes', goes into meticulous detail of how a band of former British soldiers trained and even flew helicopters for the Sri Lankan military whilst massacres were reportedly underway, all under the watchful eye of the UK Foreign Office.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is accused of numerous war crimes, when addressing Chairpersons and Board of Directors of several plantations and financial institutions, said he would work to “recover” the nation without pointing blame at the past.

A Sri Lankan police officer has been found dead in Batticaloa this morning, with initial reports indicating that he was beaten to death.

The man, identified as a 55-year-old Tamil police officer attached to Valaichchenai police station, was found by passers-by in Vavunathivu this morning. It is reported that his body was found dressed in civilian clothing.

The Sri Lankan government, headed by accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa, dropped the Tamil national anthem at Independence Day celebrations in Colombo yesterday, for the first time since 2016. 

The government announced that the 72nd Independence Day celebrations of Sri Lanka would be sung only in Sinhalese a reversal of a policy by the previous regime in 2015, who had included the Tamil version.

International human rights organisation Amnesty International said Sri Lanka saw “continued impunity for violations and abuses… little progress on disappearances and no accountability for other crimes,” in its 2019 report on rights in the Asia-Pacific region.

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would continue with Sri Lanka’s “Buddhist philosophy” and vowed to ensure that “extremist organizations” will not be allowed to function on the island, as he addressed a military parade in Colombo to mark Sri Lanka’s Independence Day.

Heavily armed soldiers marched before the Sri Lankan president in what has become a traditional show of force in Colombo, showcasing heavy weaponry including tanks and multi barrel rocket launchers (MBRLs) – the same types used in the shelling of hospitals and the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils a decade ago.

Tamils across the North-East held rallies and protests today demanding justice for the disappeared and for perpetrators of abuses to be held accountable, as Sri Lanka marked its 72 Independence Day.

See a selection of photographs from events in the North-East and diaspora below.

The University of Jaffna campus was closed this morning, with students refused entry after they expressed support for protests as Sri Lanka marked its Independence Day.

Tamil families of the disappeared in Trincomalee raised black flags this morning, as they continued their protest demanding international investigations into the whereabouts of their forcibly disappeared loved ones on Sri Lanka’s Independence Day.

A rally was held through Batticaloa this morning, as hundreds of Tamil families marched and demanded an international mechanism to hold those responsible for enforced disappearances and find their missing loved ones.