The Northern Provincial Council has called on the Sri Lankan president, prime minister and leader of the opposition to release Pilavu land.

Writing to President Sirisena, Prime Minister Wikremesinghe and Sampanthan MP, the council members called for an intervention in order to resolve the peaceful agitations of the Pilavu protestors.

“They are fighting for their rights without any political background,” the letter stated, adding, “if their reasonable demand is neglected it will result in serious consequences in the political background.”

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has received an honorary doctorate from Deakin University in Australia for his efforts in post-war reconciliation on the island.

"Mr. Wickremesinghe has emphasized the need for reconciliation, whilst ensuring accountability, and enabled groups riven by conflict to find common ground in a more hopeful future," said a university spokesperson.

He is also set to meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to commemorate Australian-Sri Lankan diplomatic ties.

Locals around the Northern Province have reported a heightened presence of armed forces in their towns over the weekend.

With protests ongoing in Keppapulavu and Puthukudiyirippu, and several solidarity protests across the province, including in Jaffna and Vavuniya towns, towns have seen more military personnel on their streets.

A memorial event was held in Jaffna this weekend, to mark the 8^th anniversary since the killing of Tamil journalist Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy.

Witnesses and victims in Sri Lanka cannot rely on the state for protection, a report by the International Truth and Justice Project has found.

In the report ‘Putting the Wolf to Guard the Sheep’, ITJPSL underline that the Sri Lankan government has made three concerning appointments to a witness protection body, including alleged perpetrators of torture.

The Pilakudiyirippu (Pilavu) protest for land return enters its third week. With each morning that breaks at their base outside a Sri Lankan air force camp, the protestors reaffirm their resolve.

The former paramilitary leader who has been accused of war crimes, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (alias Karuna Amman) on Saturday launched a new political party in Batticaloa - 'Tamil United Freedom Party'. 

Spaking at the launch, Karuna who was previously a deputy minister under the previous government, said the party would be based in Batticaloa and would have branches across the North-East. 

Family members of disappeared Tamils rejected the government’s offer to set up a special inquiry to investigate the fate of just their missing relatives, rather than providing an acceptable solution to the 32,000 missing. 

"We came to get collective justice for thousands of our people who have gone missing, not only for our sake," said one family member.

The representatives that attended the meeting in Colombo were family members of the disappeared that ended a four-day hunger strike once given assurance by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he would meet them with the Attorney General to help find the thousands missing.

Following a recent evaluation by the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice – indicating that the Sri Lankan government has largely failed to implement Resolution 30/1, the organisation called on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) pass a robust follow-up resolution.

UNHRC Resolution 30/1 called for the implementation of a credible process towards accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

A Sri Lankan solider was arrested this week after villagers in Uttuppulam, Kilinochchi accused him of sexually abusing a young Tamil woman. 

The soldier, who has not been identified, was deployed to the village to collect family details from each household, when he is said to have met the woman who lived at home with her parent who suffered with mental health difficulties.