In a letter to the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in the US, as well as the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, several French MPs highlight the “repeated attacks on individual rights and freedom” of Tamils in Sri Lanka, and requested France to indicate its intended role at the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) later this month.

An excavation by Sri Lanka's archaeological department recovered ancient remains of a structure resembling a Shiva Lingam at the site of the Athi Aiyanar temple located in the Kurunthoormalai area of Mullaitivu. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) alongside Centre for Justice and Accountability (CJA) has issued a report calling calls on the United Nations Human Rights Council to hold Sri Lanka accountable for crimes committed against journalists.

Tamil journalist Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy, who was killed by a Sri Lankan artillery barrage inside the 'No Fire Zone' in February 2009, was remembered in Batticaloa and Jaffna yesterday. 

Sathiyamoorthy began contributing to 'Pulikalin Kural' (Voice of Tigers) and later wrote the military column for the 'Eezhanaatham' daily. He was reporting from inside the 'No Fire Zone' when Sri Lankan artillery shells landed in the Mullaitivu district. 

Writing in the Daily FT, Mario Arulthas, strategic advisor for People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) and PhD student at SOAS University, reflects on the legacy of the P2P marches and notes that “the fundamental spirit […] echoes that of the first significant post-independence mass-mobilisation in 1956”.

The former US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Stephen Rapp revealed that Sri Lanka’s current president Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted to killing LTTE leaders instead of arresting or putting them on trial after surrender in 2009, during an offensive that saw tens of thousands of Tamils massacred.

Footage of @Sri_Lanka_Army Officer under the influence, attached to Kilinochchi Defence Serv. HQ caught on camera while attempting to assault group of civilians at a Gampaha eatery. Army says inquiry launched #SriLanka #COVID19 #assault pic.twitter.com/sbeXpddnNu

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena, has denied that China played a role in Sri Lanka rejecting the East Container Terminal project which it had agreed upon with India and Japan.

“China did not pressure us in any way. They will not interfere in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs. Not only that, China will not interfere in Indo-Lanka relations. These are basic facts”, Gunawardena stated.

The Swiss Refugee Council (OSAR) has asked Swiss authorities to stop the deportation of refugees back to Sri Lanka, due to the country’s “deteriorating” situation.

“Since the new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office in November 2019, the situation in this country formerly affected by civil war has indeed deteriorated” stated OSAR.

In their statement released last week, OSAR called on the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) to carefully analyse the deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka and to adapt its asylum procedures accordingly; as well as to suspend the expulsion of refugees to Sri Lanka, until a migration partnership with conditions founded by “good governance” among other values is established.

The final report of Sri Lanka’s Presidential Commission of Inquiry examining the Easter Sunday bombings, which claimed the lives of over 250 people, has recommended criminal charges against key officials, including former President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who failed to prevent the attacks, despite the early warnings.