A court in Muthur has authorised the excavation of a potential mass grave site in Sampur where human skeletal remains were discovered last month, ordering that the work be carried out by the Sri Lankan Army’s Eastern Province Engineering Division with the approval of the Eastern Province Security Force Commander.
Sri Lanka hosted its first-ever international conference on child protection last month, with the government pledging to reform systems to better safeguard children from abuse, despite Colombo’s continued failure to address long-standing crimes committed against Tamil children during and after the armed conflict.
Former parliamentarian, state minister, and staunch Rajapaksa ally Lohan Ratwatte has died at the age of 57. His political career was marked not only by close ties to Sri Lanka’s ruling elite but also by a litany of violent incidents, criminal convictions, and unabashed threats against political opponents - particularly Tamils.
Tamils gathered in Amparai this week to mark 35 years since at least 55 Tamils were killed by the Sri Lankan military and Muslim home guards, part of a series of killings that left hundreds dead in just weeks.
Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader and Jaffna District parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has condemned the killing of 32-year-old Ethirmanasingham Kapilraj in Mullaitivu, describing it as a “planned murder by the Sri Lankan Army” and a stark example of the military’s ongoing hostility towards Tamils in the North-East.
As Israel faces global outrage for imposing its siege on Gaza by cutting off food, water, and supplies to 2.3 million Palestinians, observers of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict hear chilling echoes.
Commemorations were held across the North-East today to mark the 19th anniversary of the Sencholai massacre, when a Sri Lankan Air Force airstrike on 14 August 2006 killed 53 Tamil schoolgirls and four staff members at the Sencholai children’s home in Vallipunam, Mullaitivu.
Sri Lankan opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has condemned Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues in Gaza, calling it “an absolute crime against humanity and press freedom.”
