In light of the Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s declaration last week that the thousands of forcibly disappeared and missing Tamils “are actually dead”, People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) and 47 Roots released a video calling on government officials around the world to take action.

Shavendra Silva, the head of Sri Lanka’s army and a man accused of overseeing war time atrocities, was in Singapore this week, as he took part in an international military conference despite his chequered human rights record.

At least 13 Sri Lankan soldiers, including the former navy media spokesperson, have been granted bail, despite having been charged over the abduction and possible murder of 11 Tamil youth, after they were forcibly disappeared in 2008 and 2009.

A three member Sri Lankan Permanent High Court panel granted bail to the accused, which includes former spokesperson Commodore DKP Dassanayake.

The International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) landmark ruling that ordered  Myanmar to enact measures to halt the ongoing genocide against the Rohingya is “a ray of hope for victims and survivors of genocide around the world, including Tamils” said People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) in a statement applauding the decision.

The case hearing for the investigation into the assassination of former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham ruled that the case will be adjourned until February 25^th 2020. 

A number of journalists from the Batticaloa district were issued death threats, with leaflets of their photographs circulated warning that they will soon be executed

Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has re-issued an Extraordinary Gazette which calls on the Sri Lankan military to “maintain public order” across the island.

Rajapaksa issued the gazette notification on Monday by virtue of the powers vested in him under Section 12 of Sri Lanka’s Public Security ordinance.

The gazette has been extended every month after initially being issued by former Sri Lankan president Maithrtipala Sirisena ever since Emergency Regulations were lifted on the island.

Namal Rajapaksa has denied reports that Tamil Nadu actor and politician Rajinikanth had been denied a visa by the government, and instead claimed “there will be no hindrances”.

Last week, Rajinikanth had actually been invited by the former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran following his discussion with the film star regarding issues affecting Eelam Tamils.

Following the meeting, reports emerged that the actor had been denied a visa to travel to Sri Lanka – a claim that Rajapaksa denied.

Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was warned by a group of prominent Sinhala Buddhist monks to be “vigilant about the various form of invisible forces that can emerge in the future,” as he went to receive their blessings earlier this month.

Buddhist monks from Ravana Balaya, a Sinhala Buddhist supremacist organisation, and those reportedly who led the racist ‘Sinha Le’ campaign visited a Tamil Hindu temple in Mullaitivu that has been at the centre of a local dispute about land-grabs and Sinhalisation.