Addressing the fifth anniversary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Sri Lankan President, and accused war criminal, Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed that the country was ‘open to fair and just criticism’.

This comes as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders expressed concern over Sri Lanka's inaction to respond to threats against human rights defenders.

Today marks fourteen years since S. P. Thamilselvan, the head of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was assassinated by the Sri Lankan air force (SLAF).

On November 2, 2007 Sri Lankan air force jets carried out a strike on a residence of members of the LTTE's political division. Five other LTTE officials - Lt. Col. Anpumani (Alex), Major Mikuthan, Major Nethaaji, Lt. Aadchiveal and Lt. Maavaikkumaran - were killed alongside Brigadier Thamilselvan, in the attack.

Tamil families of the disappeared held a demonstration in Vavuniya on Saturday to demand to know the fate of their forcibly disappeared loved ones. 

Tamil families of the disappeared and Tamil activists have been calling on the international community to investigate the disappearances as domestic mechanisms have repeatedly failed to deliver any accountability or prosecute those responsible for the disappearances. 

Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara said he will be proposing legislation to expedite or dismiss human rights cases against Sri Lankan police officers, an act that will further entrench the island’s culture of impunity. 

An advert in The Herald alerted readers that Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who stands credibly accused of war crimes, was in Glasgow today for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26. 

This is the latest in a series of several adverts that have featured in Scottish national papers over the last week as part of a widespread publicity campaign by Scottish Tamils as Rajapaksa attends COP26 in his first high profile visit to the UK. 

Sri Lanka’s president said farmers on the island had “grown accustomed to overusing fertilizer as an easy means of increasing yields,” as he doubled down on a policy that has sparked protests amongst Tamil and Sinhala farmers.

“My Government took firm steps to reduce imports of chemical fertilizer, and strongly encourage organic agriculture,” Gotabaya Rajapaksa told an event in Glasgow organised by the British High Commission in Colombo in coordination with the Sri Lankan government.

Speaking at a virtual press conference the convicted extremist monk Galagodaaththe Gnanasara who heads the "Presidential Task Force for One Country, One law" has said it poses as an opportunity to implement Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) proposals and seeks to include them in the draft act.

Gnanasara said  "BBS ... talked about state-patronage, sterilisation, religious conversions and cultural invasions. We need to discuss the same matters according to the mandate of the Task Force."

British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and UN General Secretary, António Guterres, welcomed Sri Lankan President and war criminal, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as British Tamil activists continued their protest outside the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26.

Hundreds of British Tamils gathered in Glasgow today, where world leaders were attending the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, to protest against the presence of Sri Lanka's president and accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

“Go back Gotabaya!” chanted the protestors, as they lined the south side of the River Clyde directly across the from COP26 conference venue, waving Tamil Eelam flags and holding placards denouncing the Sri Lankan president.

As the sun rose over the DoubleTree Hilton hotel in Dunblane this morning, Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused president was in for a surprise awakening as dozens of protestors gathered outside, calling for his arrest over his role in war crimes and genocide.

The president, former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was visiting Scotland for the UN COP26 climate summit that is currently underway and is scheduled to deliver an address later today.