Sri Lankan police in Jaffna have been accused of torturing two Tamils in Jaffna this week, leaving them both with broken limbs. 

The two Tamil men were arrested by Kayts police and accused of theft. They allege that once taken to the police station, they both were beaten and tortured by police officers - to the point that they both had broken arms.

The official in charge of the crime division at the station was singled out as being responsible for the torture that they endured. Local Tamil civil society organisations said they have repeatedly complained about the officer in question, who has been allegedly to repeatedly been involved in unlawful activities.

The European Union (EU) tweeted that the renewal of GSP plus trade preferences for Sri Lanka was not “automatic”, warning that it was related to the “effective implementation of 27 international conventions, related to human and labour rights, environment and good governance”.

The Sri Lankan military interrogated a Tamil youth in Jaffna on Saturday, after accusing him of leading a campaign which has seen growing calls for the removal of a military base from the local area.

Soldiers reportedly raided the house of the youth in Chulipuram on Friday evening, and told his family that he was to be summoned for questioning the next day.

Though others tried to accompany him to the army camp on Saturday, soldiers only allowed the youth to enter. During his interrogation, he was reportedly asked to sign a letter stating that he did not want the military to leave the area.

Amnesty International has expressed concern about reports of attacks, harassment and intimidation of human rights organisations as well as media organisations and journalists in Sri Lanka in the period since the Easter Sunday bombings.

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the United Nations’ resident co-ordinator on the island that the thousands of forcibly disappeared and missing Tamils “are actually dead”, in a widely condemned declaration on Friday.

According to the official Sri Lankan president’s media division, Rajapaksa met with Hanaa Singer, where “he explained that these missing persons are actually dead”.

The statement will have caused widespread offence across the Tamil North-East, where families of the disappeared have been protesting on the roadside for over 1,000 days, demanding to know the fate of their loved ones.

The Indian government has pledged US $50 million for Colombo to purchase military equipment, despite the Sri Lankan security forces’ record of torture, sexual violence and mass atrocities.

The announcement came after India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Saturday met Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo.

Students and staff at the University of Jaffna came together to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the ‘Pongu Tamil’ uprising this week.

Several types of landmines were spotted in the Vattuvakal river bank near the Vattuvakal Bridge in Mullaitivu on Tuesday. 

Following the discovery, Mullaitivu police were informed and they arrived at the site to inspect and determine the types of landmines that were present.

Sri Lankan police are reportedly engaged in the process of obtaining a court order to permit them to dispose the 9 landmines that were recovered.

Sri Lanka’s Office on Missing Persons (OMP) said “wide consultations with families of the missing and disappeared” needs to take place before any amendments are made to the Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) Act No. 14 of 2016 (the Act).

The announcement comes after Sri Lankan government has announced it will “review” the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Act, which was brought in by the previous regime as part of its commitments to a UN Human Rights Council resolution on accountability.

The Russian government will continue to provide arms and ammunition to the Sri Lankan military, despite widespread concerns over rights violations, announced Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov during a visit to Colombo last week.

Addressing reporters in Colombo, Lavrov said that “Sri Lanka and Russia work together very closely, especially, the law enforcement and defense ministries”.

“We are ready to continue to provide the Sri Lankan forces with all the weapons they need for security,” he added.