Tamil Sinhala and Muslim civil society actisits called for an immediate halt to the ongoing harassment of Rev Fr Elil Rajendram over his efforts to conduct a remembrance event on May 18.

See full statement below.

We, the undersigned individuals and organisations, strongly condemn the continued police harassment of Rev. Fr. Elil Rajendram, a Tamil Catholic Priest belonging to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), based in Mullaithivu, Northern Sri Lanka.

Two motorcycles were recovered from a well inside a recently released High Security Zone (HSZ) in Jaffna on Thursday.

A member of Thirunelvely's Kali Amman Kovil is being investigated after an image of Tamil Eelam was attached to the deity and displayed at a festival on Tuesday.

The image was displayed at the during the third day of the temple's festival.

Several Buddhist organisations staged a protest against moves to arrest Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera.

Hundreds of Sinhala nationalist protesters moved through the streets  of Colombo with banners and Sinhala nationalist flags ending their protest in front of Sri Lanka’s Police Headquarters.

The Vadamaradchchy Christian Union condemned the ban on memorialization that was issued to local activist, Reverend R. Elilrajan, who was prohibited from facilitating a memorial event.

The memorial event included stones with the name of those killed in the final stages of the war. The Sri Lankan police argued that this form of memorialization might interfere with national security, national unity and peace.

Vadamaradchchy Christian Union released a statement that highlights the benefits of memorialization for psychological wellbeing and collective grieving. Further stating that grieving is a basic human right.

The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) in statement released today, called on Sri Lanka to take concrete action against the Muslim community in various parts of the country.

“The institutional tolerance that the law order and machinery shows to Sinhala Buddhist nationalist forces is at the root cause of this lawlessness," read the statement. 

The statement came as the United Nations Resident Coordinater in Sri Lanka , Una McCauley also said that it was time for Sri Lanka to “stand strong and be bold”.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena named a new foreign minister, as he reshuffled his cabinet this week, his first such move since coming to power in 2015.

Mangala Samaraweera, who was criticised by the opposition and Sinhala nationalists, for agreeing to co-sponsor a UN Human Rights Council resolution in 2015 has now been moved to a new portfolio. He will now be the government's finance and media minister.

Ravi Karunayake, who previously held that role, will now be the government's foreign minister.

Three Tamil judges have been chosen by the Sri Lankan Chief Justice top preside over a special trial-at-bar for the rape and murder of Pungudutivu student Vithya Sivaloganathan in 2015.

The trial will be held at the Jaffna High Court, with Vavuniya High Court judge Balasingam Sasi Mahenthiran leading alongside Jaffna High Court judge Manikkavasagam Ilancheliyan and Trincomalee High Court judge Annalingam Premashankar.

A request by the defendants to transfer the case to Colombo met with fierce opposition from the victim’s family and the local community.

Sri Lanka’s Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka reiterated that the armed forces were not collectively responsible for war crimes stating,

“We don’t need to worry about human rights as we are facing allegations due to certain isolated incidents. No one can point fingers at the military as a whole and I take responsibility for the collective conduct  of the military.”

Speaking to the Sundayleader, Mr Fonseka further added,

“In fact it is my greatest pride and glory that I was able to give leadership to win the war”.

Speaking at a separate event Fonseka reiterated that the military will not be withdrawn from the north and east.

The Tamil National Alliance will pressure the Sri Lankan government against passing new anti-terrorism legislation.