Sri Lanka’s military Chief of Staff has told the army to be aware of the activities of ‘LTTE supporters’ and ‘overseas activists’ reports Colombo Gazette.

Addressing Sri Lanka’s army on emerging threats, Major General Milinda Peiris called on the army to be alert to the possible re-assembling or resurgence of Liberation Tamil Tiger of Tamil Eelam supporters and overseas activists.

The major general, went on to criticise calls to repeal legislation that allowed for arbitrary detention, adding,

 

The 33rd anniversary the Black July pogrom that claimed thousands of Tamil lives was commemorated in Jaffna this week.

 

Tamil fishermen have returned to setting up business in Kokkilai in Mullaitivu, over the weekend, braving threats from Sinhala Buddhist monks and police officers.

The fishermen were threated last week and had their equipment destroyed, forcing them to flee from Kokkilai, astensions rose in the area.

Following a complaint to the Sri Lankan government divisional secretary by Northern Provincial Council member T Ravikaran, a ‘Kottu’ permission deed was issued to the Tamil fishermen, reaffirming their right to conduct business in the area.

The International Committee of the Red Cross in a report released on Tuesday called on Sir Lankan authorities to “consolidate a national list of missing persons.”

“Living With uncertainty: Needs of The Families of Missing Persons in Sri Lanka,” outlined the findings of a Families’ Needs Assessments over the course of a year, and consisted of 395 semi structured interviews, 17 focus-group discussions in 11 different districts and meetings with stakeholders including government agencies.

The report found that 38% of the disappearances recorded happened between 2007 and 2009.

The events of Black July in 1983, where thousands of Tamils were killed by Sri Lankan government backed mobs, must be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice, said Together Against Genocide (TAG).

In a statement released to mark thirty-three years since the pogrom, TAG drew on comments by the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and reiterated “the need to investigate criminal liability for genocide arising from the Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict in the wake of evidence relating to the use of cluster munitions in the No Fire Zones”.