Sri Lankan opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa, announced his interest in reintroducing the death penalty for terrorists and drug traffickers at a meeting with reporters outside the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Colombo on Wednesday.

Tamil families of the disappeared held demonstrations across the North-East on Friday, calling for the international community and United Nations to step in to find their disappeared relatives.

Families in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya protested, emphasising their years-long struggles for justice and answers.

The Sri Lankan government has released a statement, revealing that it had complained to American sportswear corporation Nike, after a video clip of a pair of customised trainers drew the ire of officials in Colombo.

“Video of Counterfeit “NIKE” shoes with LTTE insignia circulating on social media,” said the statement from Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry.

A young Tamil man who was assaulted and threatened with weapons by drunk off-duty police officers in Kopay, submitted a complaint to Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in Jaffna on Friday 30^th July.

Despite persistent questioning on whether the British government would impose sanctions on Shavendra Silva, and other Sri Lankan officials accused of grievous human rights abuses, Minister for Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development, Nigel Adams maintained silence.

On the 27 July, The Wire reported that the phone numbers of a number of Tamil Nationalists and Periyarist activists had been found among a leaked database of over 50,000 numbers listed as potential targets for surveillance by a client of the Israel-based NSO group. Speaking to The Caravan, May 17 movement's Thirumurugan Gandhi and Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam's Kovai Ramakrishnan, who were targeted by the malware, spoke of how the Modi led union government had viewed their politics as a threat. 

As Sri Lanka continues to grapple with its third wave, with a total 4,258 covid-related deaths confirmed on Wednesday, the country’s tourism and airlines have launched its largest joint-industry promotion to stave off financial collapse.

New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Michael Appleton, met with Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Regional Cooperation, Tharaka Balasuriya, to discuss strengthening economic ties between the two countries and attracting investment in Sri Lanka’s economic zones and the Colombo Port City.

Eleven international rights organisations have jointly called on the Sri Lankan government to "immediately and unconditionally" release prominent Muslim human rights lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah, from his arbitrary 15-month detention under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) legislation.