Australian Tamils protested against Sri Lanka’s cricket team outside Sydney Cricket Ground today over Sri Lanka’s abysmal human rights record. 

Protesters drew attention to Sri Lanka’s ongoing abuses against the Tamil people in the North-East as well as the genocidal offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamil at the end of the armed conflict in 2009. 

This week, after almost 2 years in detention, Hejaaz Hizbullah was finally allowed to walk out of Sri Lankan jail. It was a welcome sight. However, the lawyer is not yet a free man. Hizbullah was only released on bail and still has an uphill battle against charges that are widely seen as trumped up. Like so many other Muslims and Tamils across the island, he remains at risk of being imprisoned again under Sri Lanka’s notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The draconian legislation has been a key weapon in furthering the state's Sinhala-Buddhist authoritarianism since its inception decades ago. It must be repealed.

According to the People’s Council of Eelam Tamils, German authorities are planning another mass deportation of Eelam Tamils to take place on 10 or 15 February despite overwhelming evidence of the systemic torture.

The British High Commission in Colombo has released a statement welcoming the recent release of detainees held under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism and committing to raise concerns over those who remain under detention.

We welcome the release on bail of Hejaaz, Ahnaf, and other detainees held under the PTA in recent months. The UK will continue to raise concerns of those held under the PTA - including those held in pre-trial detention for lengthy periods - and uphold their right to a fair trial.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry has described its gazetted reforms to the country’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act as the “most progressive step” towards “securing, advancing and protecting […] fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution” but human rights experts sharply disagree.

“Proposed government changes to the PTA appear aimed to assuage the concerns of the EU and other governments, without ending abuses,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Sri Lanka’s High Commission in Canada has released a statement decrying the presentation by “certain parties in Canada” of the final phases of the armed conflict as a genocide against Tamils, claiming that it would disrupt the “social harmony” of Sri Lankan Canadians.

The Sri Lankan navy seized trawlers belonging to fishermen from Tamil Nadu and has arrested eleven of them because of an alleged crossing of the maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka. 

The navy was patrolling the sea near Neduntheevu in Jaffna in the late hours of Monday when the incident took place. The navy accused the Tamil Nadu fishermen of “poaching” Sri Lankan waters and forcefully took hold of them and the trawlers they were riding. 

Ontario's recently enacted legislation titled 'Bill 104' is being challenged by two separate groups, arguing the bill is "unconstitutional" and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

Bill 104, also known as the Tamil Genocide Education week, establishes May 12-18th as a week in which Ontarians "are encouraged to educate themselves about, and to maintain their awareness of, the Tamil genocide and other genocides that have occurred in world history."

Both the "Sri Lankan Canadian Action Coalition (SLCAC)" and "Hewage" are arguing in court that the Province of Ontario acted "ultra vires," meaning that even though the government passed the bill, they acted outside of their powers in doing so.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister concluded a visit to New Delhi to meet with his Indian counterpart this week, and was full of praise for what he termed the “very special relationship” between the two countries, even as Colombo continued to obfuscate the issue of devolving powers to Tamils on the island.

G L Peiris met with S Jaishankar this week, where the two reportedly discussed “economic and investment initiatives that will strengthen Sri Lanka at this time”.

Investors in Sri Lanka are bracing themselves for Colombo to default on bond repayments, reports the Financial Times today, as experts warn that the crisis on the island looks set to worsen.

The FT reports that Sri Lanka owes US$15bn in bonds out of a total of US$45bn long-term debt, with US$7bn due this year in interest and debt repayments.

“They are demonstrating an amazing willingness to pay,” said Richard House, head of emerging market debt at Allianz Global Investors.