A public awareness campaign demanding justice for the Tamil journalists killed, disappeared and attacked in Sri Lanka was initiated by Jaffna journalists to mark International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on Saturday.

The Jaffna Press Club inaugurated the campaign with a vigil to their fallen colleagues at the monument to murdered journalists in Jaffna Town.

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Controversial British politician Lord Naseby continued to push widely debunked casualty figures relating to the final stages of the Sri Lanka military’s offensive in 2009, claiming that less than 6,000 civilians were killed.

Naseby, who has been courted by Colombo, and in the past been labelled an “apologist” for the Rajapaksa regime, continued to table questions in Britain’s House of Lords calling for the release of the diplomatic despatches from UK Military Attaché Colonel Anton Gash, from 2009.

US-based advocacy group PEARL (People for Equality and Relief in Lanka) launched the second in their series on Sinhalisation of the North-East last month, examining the state-sponsored demographic changes in the Kokkilai region of Mullaitivu.

Despite over a decade since the end of the armed conflict, Tamils in the North must wait another two years for their land to be returned from military occupation if New Democratic Front (NDF) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa is elected, claimed a current Sri Lankan government minister.

Failing to fulfil previous promises, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne gave these assurances during their recent visit to the North, where thousands of acres of land remains occupied by the Sri Lankan military.

A Batticaloa based journalist for Vasantham TV was admitted into hospital on Friday, after being attacked by a group of unknown persons.

Mohamed Saji of Kattankudy was reportedly on his way to his office on Friday, when he was assaulted.

Saji told police that the attackers also warned that Irfan Mohamed, the manager of Vasantham TV, “will also be dealt with” reports Daily News.

As Sri Lanka gears up for a presidential election in just a few weeks time, Tamils on the island find themselves faced with a familiar decision. Almost five years after an election that was hailed as the dawn of a new era for Sri Lanka, the island has instead seen pledges of reforms broken and the failure to address key issues towards accountability, justice and a lasting peace. With leading candidates choosing to boast their Sinhala nationalist credentials, for Tamils in particular, the future seems bleak.

<p>Two administrators of a historic Tamil temple in a Vavuniya village were arrested on Friday and have been detained at Vavuniya prison following a complaint lodged at the Omanthai Police Station by the Department of Archaeology, claiming they had dug up underground bricks while cleaning the temple.</p> <p>Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Sivasakthy Ananthan slammed the arrest on Saturday following a visit to the prisoners Subramaniam and Akilan, two administrators of the Kaatu Vinayagar temple in the village of Maligai.</p>

Outrage has erupted over social media after images of recently issued stamps in Sri Lanka with a racist depiction of Tamils surfaced.

Tamil families of the disappeared demonstrated outside the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) central executive committee meeting on Sunday, as the party’s leadership decided unanimously to endorse Sajith Premadasa in the upcoming presidential election.

Although the protestors were blocked from going near the meeting’s venue, they continued their rally on the main road nearby.

 

Ali Sabry, a member of the legal team of Gotabaya’s presidential counsel, has reportedly claimed that Muslims will need to vote for Gotabaya or may face reprisals, according to a report in the Colombo Telegraph.

In a video that has been circulated on Facebook and Twitter, Sabry is seen speaking to a Muslim crowd and asking the audience;  “If we don’t support him, what will happen?”