Mariranjini Nirmalanathan, the secretary of the Association for Enforced Disappearances in Jaffna, has called on the UN High Commissioner to take steps to advance accountability at the International Criminal Court and meet with families of the disappeared during his visit to the island.

In recent weeks, Tamil families of the disappeared have been calling on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, to meet with them during his four day visit to the island to hear directly from victim survivors. 

The UN High Commissioner will be visiting from June 23 to June 26 and is expected to go to Jaffna, Trincomalee, Colombo and Kandy.

Upon the release of its teaser trailer, Abishan Jeevinth seemed to have chosen a prickly topic for his directorial debut. ‘Tourist Family’ stars Sasikumar, Simran, Mithun Jai Sankar and Kamalesh Jagan as the titular Eelam Tamil collective, all of whom attempt their version of a regional accent. 

Five leading international human rights organizations have called on United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, to use his upcoming visit to Sri Lanka to reinforce international scrutiny and demand accountability for human rights violations, as well as meet with Tamil families of the disappeared and visit the site of the 2009 genocide.

Sri Lanka is facing a critical shortage of essential medicines, with life-saving drugs for cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, psychiatric illnesses, and infectious diseases either unavailable or unaffordable in both state-run hospitals and private pharmacies.