The Sri Lankan government has announced a significant pay hike for military personnel just weeks before the presidential polls, as it reinforces the already overwhelming militarisation on the island amidst ongoing economic hardships.

The Director General of the Interim Secretariat for Truth and Reconciliation Mechanism (ISTRM), Dr. Asanga Gunawansa, confirmed that the proposed Commission for Truth, Unity, and Reconciliation (CTUR) would not seek to hold Sri Lanka's military accountable for rights violations, despite widespread evidence of their involvement in war crimes and the genocide of Tamils.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister M.U.M. Ali Sabry assured Parliament this week that the proposed Truth, Unity, and Reconciliation Commission is only a domestic mechanism to ward off foreign interference over war crimes, amidst the continued impunity granted over the years.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake spoke in Jaffna yesterday, as he addressed a rally ahead of elections later this month.

“The decision by members of the central committee of ITAK to support Sajith Premadasa in the upcoming presidential election without any guarantee regarding a resolution to the Tamil issue is condemnable,” said S Shritharan, Member of Parliament and the leader-elect of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) to the Tamil Guardian in an interview this week, labelling the move a “betrayal”.

Sri Lanka's foreign minister Ali Sabry assured the Sri Lankan Parliament that the proposed Truth Unity and Reconciliation Commission (TURC) is merely to ward off 'foreign interference' and reiterated how it would not be used to prosecute "war heroes".

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Gopinath, a coordinator and close aide of Pillayan—a prominent paramilitary leader aligned with the Sri Lankan government—was arrested on charges of sexually abusing a schoolgirl at a leading school in Batticaloa last month.

Following his arrest last month, Gopinath allegedly sought refuge in Pillayan's office, using his connections to the Sri Lankan government to obstruct the arrest.

A Tamil mother, whose son was forcibly disappeared after surrendering to the Sri Lankan security forces during the final days of the 2009 genocide, has demanded that authorities reveal his whereabouts during a court hearing last month, after more than 15 years of searching.