Dozens of Tamils remain in custody with trials pending under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), according to a list of cases published by Ceylon Today this weekend.

A report obtained by Ceylon Today lists the names of 84 persons, mostly Tamils from the North-East, as being held for a variety of terrorism related offences, as of 12 July 2017.

British politicians and Non Governmental Organisations met last week to remember the Black July anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983, participating in a panel discussion on the current situation in Sri Lanka and state sponsored genocide.

Sri Lanka announced the re-opening of a police station in Batticaloa this week, nearly 30 years after the station had been shut down.

Two Sri Lankan policemen are injured after being attacked with swords in Kokkuvil, Jaffna, earlier today.

The two police officers of Koppay police station were reportedly attacked around 1.30pm by over ten men on four motorcycles while walking down Nanthavil Amman Kovil road.

Special Task Force troops and police were patrolling the area and questioning locals until around 5pm. CID intelligence personnel remain visible in the area.

The people of Iranaitivu have now been protesting for over three months for the return of their land from the Sri Lankan Navy.

For months relatives of the forcibly disappeared have been protesting on the streets across the North-East, demanding to know the whereabouts of their loved ones. Despite years, sometimes decades, of various government mechanisms and pledges, their search for answers continues.

In this series, Tamil Guardian goes behind the protest to the individual stories that make up this unyielding movement of Tamil families of the disappeared.

Ratheeswaran

Ratheeswaran was 27 years old when he was disappeared, last seen with the Sri Lankan military in June 2008.

Myliddy fishermen are struggling to work from the recently released Myliddy fishing harbour, having received no support or compensation from the Sri Lankan government.

The Myliddy Fishing Union said that although fishermen have shown enthusiasm to fish from their traditional jetty, they have had almost no support in resettling their livelihood there.

The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday expressed his thanks to the Indian premier, Narendra Modi for securing the release of 75 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were detained in Sri Lanka, however he urged Mr Modi to ensure release of over 107 fishing boats impounded by the Sri Lankan navy. 

The Sri Lankan navy on Saturday detained twelve local fishermen for allegedly using unauthorised nets off the coast of Viduthalaitivu. 

The men and their equipment were handed over to Viduthalaitivu fisheries inspector, Colombo Page reported. 

Sri Lanka's minister of ports and shipping, Mahinda Samarasinghe on Saturday welcomed the signing of the Hambantota deal arguing it would help to alleviate the country's considerable debt burden. 

Only a few hours after the much delayed Hambantota port city deal was signed, the JVP on Saturday threatened to block the implementation of the deal, warning of its influence on workers at Sri Lanka's Ports Authority. 

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US Prasad Kariyaswasam will become the new Secretary to the ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr Kariyawasam took over as Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United States in June 2014, at a time when Sri Lanka was facing heightening pressure from the US and the Untied Nations Human Rights Council for failure to deliver on justice and accountability for mass atrocities in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Burueau of Foreign Employment has signed a MoU to train interns from Sri Lanka in Japan, reports Adaderena.lk

The agreement signed with the Chairman of Japan’s international Manpower Development Organisation, will result in knowledge and technical expertise exchange from Japan to Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government has condemned North Korea for firing a ballistic missile earlier this week and called on the international community to “unite in words and deeds to seek solutions to this grave situation”.

Labelling the missile launch a “significant threat to international peace and security”, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it condemned the firing “and the series of recent similar hostile acts by DPRK in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions”.