The Commanding Officer of a US navy ship stated the team were “proud to be serving alongside the Sri Lankan Navy” at the completion of another set of military exercises between the two, despite the presence of Sri Lanka's Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, who had been accused of helping the main suspect in the abduction and murder case of 11 Tamil youths evade arrest.

On Wednesday, the day after the military exercises finished, a Colombo court ordered his arrest. 

Disappeared Tamils in Sri Lanka and the missing Indigenous women of Canada have both faced the horrors of “marginalization, discrimination and even genocide” said the Solidarity Campaign for Protesting Tamil Families of the Disappeared in the North-East of Sri Lanka, in a statement released on Thursday.

Highlighting the fact that “approximately 100,000 predominantly Tamil individuals have been disappeared in Sri Lanka since 1983, during and after a long armed conflict, while well over 4000 Indigenous women and girls have been missing or murdered in Canada over roughly the same time period,” the statement said that the horrors of genocide “are familiar to both”.

The European Union in Sri Lanka marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances by calling for “further action towards truth, justice, & reparations” on the issue of disappearances on the island.

In a tweet sent to mark the day, the EU also said that it recognises steps taken by the Sri Lankan government to set up the Office of Missing Persons (OMP).

Tamil disappearances activists in the North-East have been facing increased surveillance, harassment and intimidation by Sri Lankan security forces said the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR), as it called for the accountability of Sri Lankan intelligence structures as part of a larger security sector reform.

In a brief issued on Thursday, the Jaffna-based organisation said that Tamil families who began roadside protests calling for action on the issue of disappearances have “been under constant surveillance from Sri Lankan security forces and individuals suspected to be working alongside them”.

“In some instances it is blatantly apparent with uniformed police officers and military officers who take photographs and try to interrogate protestors,” said the brief. “The surveillance doesn’t stop with monitoring the protests from afar either but also extends to questioning women who participate in the protests. Every woman participating in the protest that ACPR has interviewed over the last two years has received at least one phone call from an intelligence officer in relation to their participation at the protests, though usually more, sometimes on a weekly basis.”

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appeared at a defence conference alongside Sri Lanka's chief of defence staff Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne on Thursday, just a day after a Colombo court had ordered his arrest for allegedly helping the main suspect in the abduction and murder case of 11 Tamil youths evade arrest last year. 

Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne is alleged to have provided the former navy commander, Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi alias 'Navy Sampath' Rs 500,000, in order for him to skip bail and escape arrest, over the case of eleven Tamil youth who were abducted from 2008 to 2009 and held in navy bases at Trincomalee and Colombo before being murdered.

Despite this, Admiral Wijegunaratne was seen alongside Sri Lanka’s prime minister as he entered the 'Colombo Defence Seminar - 2018' as it kicked off in Colombo on Thursday.

Human rights organisations from three different continents have released a statement to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances expressing solidarity with victims of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka and condemning threats and intimidation against relatives of the disappeared.

Ram Kumar Bhandari, Founder and President of the National Network of the Families of the Disappeared and Missing Nepal (NEFAD), People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) in the USA and the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice in the UK said this day “is felt in few places as acutely as Sri Lanka, where it is estimated that there are currently 60,000 to 100,000 unresolved cases of enforced disappearances – most of which were perpetrated by the state”.

The leaders of Sri Lanka and Myanmar have agreed to strengthen trade and economic relations between the two countries, the Sri Lankan President’s media division (PMD News) reports.

Sri Lankan intelligence officers have removed a banner that was erected at the Thileepan memorial in Jaffna, following a decision by the Jaffna Municipal Council to declare it a “holy site”.

The site, located in Nallur, Jaffna, had been destroyed by the Sri Lankan military. Earlier this year, the Jaffna Municipal Council decided that they would renovate it, with plans that the monument will be rebuilt to its former design, which originally included a 23-foot pillar.

Residents of Orrani-Kanagar in Pottuvil in Amparai continued their protest for the 15th day on Wednesday, calling for their land to be released from military occupation. 

Some of the villagers from Orrani-Kanagar in Pottuvil had been displaced as far back as 1990, as the Sri Lankan military took control of the area.

The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena and the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi held discussions on the sidelines of a summit currently taking place in Nepal. 

Mr Modi reportedly stated his appreciation of the commitment made by Mr Sirisena towards reconciliation and sustainable peace whilst ensuring democracy and freedom in Sri Lanka. 

Both leaders are participating at the 4th Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in Kathmandu. 

Chairmanship of BIMSTEC will be transferred to Sri Lanka by the current chair, Nepal, at the end of the summit