Voice for the Voiceless urges UN Commissioner to expedite the release of Tamil political prisoners

The Supreme Court of India has issued a stay on the deportation of Bhaskaran Kumarasamy, an Eelam Tamil refugee and former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), recognizing the credible threat to his life if returned to Sri Lanka. The ruling is being hailed as a significant intervention in a case that has drawn international concern over refugee rights and post-war accountability in Sri Lanka.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk concluded his three-day visit to on Thursday with a statement reiterating key concerns long raised by Tamil victims and civil society groups, including the need for an internationally backed accountability mechanism, the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), an end to surveillance of human rights defenders, and the release of military-occupied land.

A protest featuring artworks and images of the disappeared was held in Jaffna to highlight Tamil suffering during the UN rights chief’s visit

As United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk visited Jaffna this week, Tamil families of the disappeared and protestors at the Chemmani mass grave site handed over a series of urgent demands, underscoring their insistence on international justice.

A torch rally was held at the Ondaachchimadam Bridge in Batticaloa on Monday evening in a show of solidarity with the “Unextinguished Flame” vigil in Chemmani, Jaffna - a protest demanding international justice for the mass graves recently uncovered in the area.

Tamil Eelam Football Association (TEFA) will host the second CONIFA Asia Cup in London from July 1st to 5th. 

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk assured Tamil parliamentarians that the plight the Tamil people will not be sidelined at the upcoming UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva, despite the prominence of ongoing global conflicts.

The sixth consecutive day of protests by Tamil landowners in Valikamam North, Jaffna, drew wider political backing on Thursday, as Members of Parliament and senior Tamil leaders joined calls for the release of more than 2,400 acres of land still under Sri Lankan military occupation.

Lawyers urge UN intervention for internationally supervised exhumation at Chemmani mass grave

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reflected on his visit to the Chemmani mass grave site near Jaffna on Wednesday, reiterating the importance of ensuring “independent experts with forensic expertise” are allowed to be used to excavate such sites of mass atrocities.

A cross-section of Tamil political leaders and civil society representatives handed a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during his visit to the island, urging the United Nations to maintain a firm stance on accountability for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka and not allow the Sri Lankan government to exploit his visit to undermine international pressure.

Protesters at the ongoing Chemmani vigil in Jaffna forcibly removed Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar from the site on Wednesday, rejecting his presence and demanding that he leave immediately.

The ongoing protest demanding justice for the victims of the Chemmani mass graves entered its third consecutive day on Wednesday, with families of the disappeared maintaining a solemn vigil at the site in Jaffna.