“Tensions among ethnic and religious communities persist” the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief said in his report.

“Significant gaps exist particularly in upholding accountability and access to justice as well as ensuring non-recurrence of human rights violations,” the report added.

Ahmed Shaheed, the Special Rapporteur, conducted his country visit to Sri Lanka 15 August to 26 August 2019.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed her “regret” at the Sri Lankan government’s announcementof officially withdrawing co-sponsorship of a resolution and called on the Human Rights Council to “to remain alert to this situation in terms of prevention and to explore all possible avenues for advancing accountability”.

The Sri Lankan government’s inability to “deal comprehensively with impunity and to reform institutions may cause the recurrence of human rights violations” the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in its report on Sri Lanka's efforts towards implementing Resolution 30/1, which called for accountability and transitional justice through a hybrid mechanism.

Following the United States’ announcement that the head of Sri Lanka’s army was subject to a travel ban over his involvement in mass atrocities, there have been markedly contrasting responses from Sinhala and Tamil actors on the island and beyond.

A statement released by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Shavendra Silva and his immediate family are now “are ineligible for entry into the United States… due to credible information of his involvement, through command responsibility, in gross violations of human rights”.

Sri Lankan response

The US State Department has announced the head of Sri Lanka’s army Shavendra Silva has been barred from entering the USA “due to credible information of his involvement, through command responsibility, in gross violations of human rights”.

A statement released by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Silva and his immediate family are now “are ineligible for entry into the United States”.

“The allegations of gross human rights violations against Shavendra Silva, documented by the United Nations and other organizations, are serious and credible,” said Pompeo.

Excavation work at a hospital in Mullaitivu has uncovered bullets and the bodies of at least two people, after skeletal remains and mines were found on Wednesday.

Deminers with protective equipment carried out excavation work at the site, under the supervision of Kilinochchi district hospital medico-legal officer Dr Thanushan and Sri Lankan police officers.

This month saw the release of an explosive new book that documents how a private British company formed of former Special Air Service (SAS) veterans turned mercenaries, went on to effectively set up one of Sri Lanka’s most notorious military units – one that has been accused of committing egregious mass atrocities.

Authored by Phil Miller, ‘Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away with War Crimes', goes into meticulous detail of how a band of former British soldiers trained and even flew helicopters for the Sri Lankan military whilst massacres were reportedly underway, all under the watchful eye of the UK Foreign Office.

Tamils across the North-East held rallies and protests today demanding justice for the disappeared and for perpetrators of abuses to be held accountable, as Sri Lanka marked its 72 Independence Day.

See a selection of photographs from events in the North-East and diaspora below.

The Sri Lankan government’s proposed ambassador to Geneva is a known member of a government death squad, responsible for the murder of hundreds, including school children, said the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy Sri Lanka (JDS) in a joint press release this morning.

C. A. Chandraprema was a key member of the PRRA, the People’s Revolutionary Red Army - a group that worked with the Sri Lankan military during the late eighties to quell a Sinhala uprising, said the groups. Nicknamed “Thadi Priyantha”, Chandraprema was involved with the squad that is responsible for “the murders of hundreds of people, including human rights lawyers, journalists, university students and school children”.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) has listed Sri Lanka as one of the ten countries on it’s “early-warning Watch List” given the appointment of accused war criminals Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Prime Minister and Presidential position.