Families of the missing and forcibly disappeared continued their protest in Kilinochchi for the fifteenth day on Monday.
A Sri Lankan court has deemed the 'confessions' of two LTTE cadres detained in 2012 over the shooting down of a military aircraft in 2000 are legitimate, ordering the cadres be further detained. The 'confessions' were made to the Terrorism Investigation Division, notorious for its routine use of torture. The men, Jegan (alias Kulawan) and Vallami (alias Sinnathilakan) are accused of shooting down a military aircraft that was flying from Palaly to Ratmalana killing 40, including 4 Russian citizens, Colombo Page reported. The trial was held at the Anuradhapura Special Hight Court.
As the Keppapulavu families continued their protest for the fifth day and were joined by various supporters, they were subject to extreme surveillance from a heavy presence of police and military personnel.
Celebrating the 66th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Air Force, soldiers took part in the renovation of a Tamil school in Batticaloa. The construction work at the Sri Murugan Tamil School, which finished last month, concluded in a military ceremony on the 21st of February. Senior state officials, Air Force Officers and other rank personnel, were present according to an official military website .
A group of 24 fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan navy, after allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line on Sunday. The Assistant Director of Fisheries in Rameshwaram was quoted as saying at leat 15 fishermen were arrested and taken to Talaimannar, whilst another group of nine others fishing near Neduntheevu were also detained by the military. The latest incident comes after another 8 fishermen were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan military on Saturday.
The JHU MP Champika Ranawaka on Friday urged the government not to devolve police powers to the provincial councils arguing that such a move would like to violent groups and terrorism. “We don’t have the practicality to devolve police powers only because some NGOs and elements depending on foreign funds request to do so. The best option is to recruit Tamil speaking officers who have the knowledge of the Tamil culture to the police service. The new government has recruited such officers in abundance. The solution to the national question is not devolution of police powers but the recruitment...
The Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday said he was "not ready to govern the country on the opinions of NGOs which were operating on international relationships and file charge sheets against the security forces," the Daily Mirror reported. Mr Sirisena also pledged to protect the armed forces from any international prosecutions as well as reiterating his objection to international judges in any accountability mechanism.
Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, told military force personnel in Jaffna that he would never bring charges against them.
Two Sri Lankan navy officers were arrested over the disappearance of 11 Tamil school children in 2006 in Colombo. The arrests, which included a commodore, were made by the Criminal Investigation Department on Friday, reported the Daily Mirror .
The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena reiterated his rejection of the inclusion of international judges in any justice mechanism stating that he had the "backbone" to voice such a view. Speaking at a meeting of the SLFP executive committee, Mr Sirisena was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying, "two weeks ago the UN Human Rights High Commissioner in his report on Sri Lanka called for a probe by foreign judges. Within 24 hours, I rejected it saying I am not ready to bring foreign judges here." "There can be people without a backbone. But I am not ready to go forward with those without...