The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) welcomed the sanctions on Sri Lankan military officials for human rights violations which were announced by the US State Department earlier today. 

The United States has announced bans on two more Sri Lankan military officials for human rights violations, as the State Department expand sanctions on those accused of war crimes.

The United States is “not satisfied” with progress in Sri Lanka and is eyeing up a broader involvement in the island’s ethnic turmoil, said Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran, who held a series of high-level meetings in Washington DC, New York, Toronto and London last month.

Speaking to the Tamil Guardian in London, the lawmaker said that there had been discussions regarding “greater involvement by the US, broadly speaking, in the Tamil affairs in Sri Lanka”.

A mob which included the Sri Lankan police Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of a local station in Kilinochchi attacked diners at a restaurant last month, allegedly for not wearing face masks.

British MP for Harrow West, Gareth Thomas, has continued his calls for Magntisky style sanctions on Sri Lankan army commander and accused war criminal, Shavendra Silva.

On Twitter Thomas asked:

A Chinese fertiliser company, Seawin Biotech, has launched a legal case against Sri Lanka for turning away scheduled exports of fertilisers worth 49.7 million US dollars, the Global Times reported.  

Sondra Anton, student attorney at the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, addressed the United States House of Representatives Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights yesterday, as it held a hearing on 'Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka'.

See the full text of her address and video footage of the event below.

Former Sri Lankan Navy Commander, Wasantha Karannagoda who has been investigated as a suspect in the case of the disappearance of 11 victims, has been appointed as the new Governor of the North-Western province today. 

Pakistan's Defence Minister Pervez Khattak is facing a backlash after he claimed “murders take place” when young people get emotional following the lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Pakistan by a mob last week.

The mob reportedly accused the Sri Lankan of blasphemy for tearing down a poster with Islamic holy verses. 

_{Image Credit: Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs}

Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikalai Barysevich met with Sri Lankan Ambassador J. A. Liyanage on Tuesday during a meeting in which she expressed a desire to enhance the bilateral relations despite ongoing concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.

Police have launched investigations after six unidentified bodies had washed ashore in Jaffna within six days, last week.

Two bodies had washed ashore on the Point Pedro and Chundikkulam coast while the others were discovered on beaches in, Vadamarachchi, Valvettithurai, Neduntheevu and Maruthankerny.

The incident has raised doubts if there was a fishing accident or a boat carrying migrants attempting to enter Jaffna may have capsized at sea.
 

_{Image Credit: @TomObokata on Twitter}

A 25-year-old Tamil youth has been killed and a 13-year-old injured after a disused mortar shell reportedly exploded in Kilinochchi on Sunday.

The explosion, in the town of Umayalpuram, reportedly was due to an old, unexploded mortar shell that had been accidentally triggered.

John Sifton, the Asia Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch, addressed the United States House of Representatives Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights today, which is currently holding a hearing on 'Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka'.

See the full text of his address and video footage of the event below.