Journalists in the Eastern Province staged a demonstration in Batticaloa on Saturday, demanding that the Sri Lankan state halt the intimidation of journalists, after a newspaper photographer was manhandled and threated by a police officer outside a Colombo courthouse last week.

Sri Lankan police Inspector Neomal Rangajeewa, who is on trial with regards to a prison massacre, grabbed and threatened Akila Jayawardane in Colombo last week, drawing widespread condemnation.

The British government said it will “keep all evidence and potential listings under close review” when questioned on whether Sri Lankan officials involved in rights abuses would be added to a newly announce sanctions regime, but refused to speculate on names that may be added.

The response had come after, parliamentarian Theresa Villiers asked whether there had been discussions on “the imposition of Magnitsky sanctions for people involved in war crimes and human rights abuses during the Sri Lankan civil war”.

Sri Lanka has slammed plans by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank in a statement delivered to the UN Human Rights Council this week, even as Colombo continues with its own Sinhalisation of the Tamil North-East.

India is currently in discussions with Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, over the topic of a debt moratorium, despite concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.

The United National Party launched its manifesto today, pledging to ensure that the Sri Lankan state “takes the responsibility of safeguarding and nourishing Buddhism”.

“We, in the United National Party, are bound through life to safeguard the Sri Lankan identity,” declared the manifesto.

“With this foundation in place, a United National Party government will ensure that based on Lord Buddha’s teaching that all beings will be treated equally and justly ensuring equality before the law,” it added.

The manifesto went on to state that “the foremost position in the country will be granted to Buddhism,” as it already is under Sri Lanka’s current constitution.

The editor of Eethalaya, Srilal Priyantha, has been interrogated for over four hours by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for his 2017 article on the 2009 murder of the Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka’s former Prime Minister and leader of the United National Party (UNP), has called on the government to “reveal the true impact of the coronavirus spread” as he maintains that there is “serious doubt” on the “accuracy of the COVID-19 figures given by the authorities”.

The Sri Lankan government have claimed that there has been zero community transmission of the virus.

The human rights situation in Sri Lanka has seen a “deterioration” said a report from the British government today, including “controversial senior appointments” that “called into question Sri Lanka’s commitment to human rights and reconciliation”.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) are "appalled by the way a Sri Lankan police inspector reputedly close to the president was allowed to manhandle and threaten a newspaper outside a courthouse" they said in a press release. 

On July 10, Inspector Neomal Rangajeewa grabbed and threatened Ceylon Today journalist, Akila Jayawardane, outside Colombo High Court for reportedly taking a photograph of the inspector.

The Human Rights Commission Of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) announced the establishment of a new unit “to investigate allegations of Human Rights violations by government officials in the context of the 2020 Parliamentary Election”.

The announcement was made this week, as Sri Lanka gears up for parliamentary elections next month.

The commission was initially set up in 1996 with the aim of fostering a culture of human rights in Sri Lanka.