The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said the pardon of a Sri Lankan soldier after he was found guilty for massacring Tamils, is an “affront to victims” and “further undermines the limited progress the country has made towards ending impunity for mass human rights abuse,” in a statement released this morning.

Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran said that Sri Lanka’s presidential pardon for a soldier who had been convicted of massacring Tamils confirmed that the state state “will never” exercise accountability atrocities committed during the armed conflict.

Reacting to the move, which saw Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake walk free yesterday, Sumanthiran told The Hindu that “all the institutions of the state will eventually conspire together and let the offenders go free”.

<p>4,018 people have been arrested across Sri Lanka for allegedly violating curfew restrictions which were imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.</p> <p>1,033 vehicles which were in use during the curfew, have also been seized by the police, the police media spokesperson announced. The President's Media Division reported that the police and tri-forces have been instructed to strictly enforce the curfew regulations.&nbsp;</p> <p>An island-wide curfew was imposed on March 20 following the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 104 patients in Sri Lanka have been tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.&nbsp;</p>

A 35 year old Tamil man, seeking asylum to avoid persecution by the Sri Lankan government for his alleged involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was granted refugee status.

The recent tribunal concluded that he faced a risk of persecution.

Global Human Rights Group, Amnesty International, expressed their concerns and disapproval over Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to grant a presidential pardon and release Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake, who was found guilty of the ‘Mirusuvil massacre’.

“Where accountability is so rare for serious human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the government’s arbitrary decision to release Sergeant Rathnayake sends an extremely worrying message. It means that military perpetrators of horrific crimes, even if convicted through a court of law, will be pardoned and released,” said Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia, Biraj Patnaik.

The Tamil National Alliance(TNA) has denounced Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to release Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayaka, who a Sri Lankan court found guilty of the ‘Mirusuvil massacre’.

<p>Sri Lanka's Tourism Development Authority announced that they have made arrangements to repatriate 18,093 foreign tourists who are currrently stranded on the island due to the coronavirus outbreak, Adaderana <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=…">&lt

A Sri Lankan soldier who was sentenced to death over the massacre of eight Tamil civilians, including children, has received a presidential pardon and been released home.

<p>Sri Lanka's President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has requested "international donor agencies to provide a debt moratorium or debt deferment facility to all vulnerable developing nations to the COVID-19 risk," his office said in a statement.</p> <p>Gotabaya asked the Director General of the World Health Organisation to forward his request to multi-lateral and bilateral lending agencies. &nbsp;</p>

Hundreds of armed Sri Lankan soldiers were seen deployed across the North-East this morning as they carried out disinfection regimes on the streets in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.