A protest in Jaffna called for the release of Tamil political prisoners who have been jailed in prisons across the island, following the death of one Tamil man after 26 years of imprisonment.

The killing of eleven Tamils by Sri Lankan police officers at the 1974 World Tamil Research Conference in Jaffna was remembered today.

Tamil politicians were joined by members of the public at the monument in Jaffna town erected in memory of the victims of the massacre.

Sri Lanka should replace the abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) with legislation that respects international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

The call comes after the Sri Lankan president announced last week that his government would scrap plans to replace the law.

The previous government’s promise to repeal the PTA playing a significant part in the granting of the European Union trade concession GSP plus in 2015, however the reforms were never implemented.

TNA parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran warned that the island may step “into naked majoritarianism” unless the equal status of all peoples on the island was respected, pointing out that repeated assurances had been made to India to the Tamil people that a political solution would be found to the ethnic conflict.

“President Rajapaksa’s government repeatedly assured India and the rest of the international community that the Tamil National Question would be politically resolved after the war by means of greater devolution,” Sumathiran told Sri Lanka’s parliament last week. 

Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan has praised Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused president, calling him someone “who is prepared to speak the truth and to do the right thing” in a speech to parliament earlier this week, where he outlined the international community’s role in a military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians.

“The international community played a major role in the military defeat of the LTTE,” Sampanthan told parliament. “India played a major role.”

Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) have summoned the head of Vavuniya’s families of the disappeared association and her husband for questioning this week, as activists continue to report harassment from state authorities.

Sri Lankan intelligence officers have erased a mural after they threatened local Tamil artists in Jaffna this week, following a youth street art initiative included a painting of a tiger on a wall in Valvettithurai.

Street art initiatives have taken place across the island with many in the North-East using it as an opportunity to express various aspects of Tamil culture. In Jaffna, images of the famous Jaffna Library and other landmarks were painted on walls.

However, as young artists began to paint a mural in Valvettithurai, part of which included the image of a wild tiger, Sri Lankan intelligence and police officials began to threaten them.

A large Buddhist vihara and multiple residences for Buddhist monks are currently being hurriedly constructed at the Killinochchi Ariviyal Nagar campus of Jaffna University, as Sinhalisation efforts continue across the North-East.

The head of the International Press Institute (IPI) has slammed the Sri Lankan government for failing to investigate the murder of Sinhala journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge and called for his killers to be brought to justice on the 11^th anniversary of his death.

"It has been 11 years since Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated, yet virtually no progress has been made in securing justice", IPI Director of Advocacy Ravi R. Prasad said.

Tamil Guardian's Batticaloa-based correspondent Selvakumar Nilanthan, who appeared in court on Wednesday after reporting on alleged corruption against a local government official, was released on bail.

S Nilanthan appeared at Eravur Circuit Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where he was summoned to answer charges of reporting about protests and disclosing the opinions of local residents on Tamil-language news platforms against the divisional secretary (DS), N Vilvarathnam.