International human rights organisation Amnesty International said Sri Lanka saw “continued impunity for violations and abuses… little progress on disappearances and no accountability for other crimes,” in its 2019 report on rights in the Asia-Pacific region.

Biraj Patnaik, South Asia Director at Amnesty International said that in Sri Lanka, “the tragic April bombings, which devastated hundreds of lives, led to the state adopting a heavy-handed security response that trumped people’s human rights.”

“For the victims of Sri Lanka’s decades-long conflict, there was little progress on disappearances and no accountability for other crimes,” he added.

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would continue with Sri Lanka’s “Buddhist philosophy” and vowed to ensure that “extremist organizations” will not be allowed to function on the island, as he addressed a military parade in Colombo to mark Sri Lanka’s Independence Day.

Heavily armed soldiers marched before the Sri Lankan president in what has become a traditional show of force in Colombo, showcasing heavy weaponry including tanks and multi barrel rocket launchers (MBRLs) – the same types used in the shelling of hospitals and the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils a decade ago.

Tamils across the North-East held rallies and protests today demanding justice for the disappeared and for perpetrators of abuses to be held accountable, as Sri Lanka marked its 72 Independence Day.

See a selection of photographs from events in the North-East and diaspora below.

The University of Jaffna campus was closed this morning, with students refused entry after they expressed support for protests as Sri Lanka marked its Independence Day.

As students arrived at the campus this morning, they found the gates were shut and they were not allowed to enter the campus.

Tamil families of the disappeared in Trincomalee raised black flags this morning, as they continued their protest demanding international investigations into the whereabouts of their forcibly disappeared loved ones on Sri Lanka’s Independence Day.

A rally was held through Batticaloa this morning, as hundreds of Tamil families marched and demanded an international mechanism to hold those responsible for enforced disappearances and find their missing loved ones.

Tamil families of the disappeared marked Sri Lanka’s Independence Day by holding a rally in the streets of Kilinochchi this morning, as Tamils across the North-East protested today.

Russia is to offer training facilities to Sri Lanka's military despite the long standing reports of human rights abuses and massacres committed by Sri Lankan soldiers.

The Colombo Page also reported that Russia has promised to increase assistance to improve air operation capabilities of Sri Lanka Air Force. 

The Russian Federation’s Commander-in-Chief of the Land Forces, General Oleg Salyukov, who is currently on a five–day official visit, pledged the assistance when he met Defense Secretary Major General Kamal Gunaratne.

Students at the University of Jaffna raised black flags across campus this morning, as Tamils across the North-East marked Sri Lanka’s Independence Day as a day of protest.