The Sri Lankan state portrays those arrested for allegedly committing terror offences, to date mainly Tamils, and after the Easter attacks also Muslims, as guilty from the point of arrest, writes Ambika Satkunananthan in GroundViews.

Keheliya Rambukwella, a Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman told reporters that he does not consider the proposal to enforce military training for youth above the age in 18 in Sri Lanka as “militarisation of the nation”.

Responding to questions raised by journalists, Rambukwella instead claimed “many highly democratic countries, such as the US and England have implemented military training for their youths”.

This week public security minister Weerasekera said he would propose to parliament the introduction of mandatory military training for youths over the age of 18. The proposal follows a pattern of increased military involvement and influence within the public sphere.

The Sri Lankan president has announced the appointment of yet another Commission of Inquiry, purportedly to investigate the findings of all previous human rights commissions and committees created by the Sri Lankan government.

Britain's Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth, Lord Tariq Ahmad, has raised concerns with Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, Dinesh Gunawardena, over Sri Lanka’s continued policy of forced cremations and inability to deliver justice and accountability.

On Twitter, Lord Ahmad stated:

Religious leaders urged the Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to release all the Tamil political prisoners and grant them amnesty as the increasing threat of COVID-19 in prisons threatens their welfare.

As leaders around the world congratulate Joe Biden on assuming office as the 46^th President of The United States, the head of Sri Lanka’s army who remains barred from travel to the USA over his role in overseeing the execution of Tamils, delivered his own message to the American leader.

The destruction of the Mullivaikkal monument at the University of Jaffna on January 8 is an erasure of collective memory, writes Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan in The Diplomat.

Ananthavinayagan, a lecturer in public international law writes:

As US President Joe Biden looks to take up duties this week, Victoria Nuland is set to serve as his Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs – a figure who in her previous role as State Department spokesperson commented extensively on Sri Lanka and calls for an internationalised accountability process.

^{French President Emmanuel Macron}

Over 20 French MPs have called on President Emmanuel Macron to ensure that France "as a member of the United Nations Security Council, use all its influence" and “enable the Tamil people to finally live in safety in Sri Lanka”.

^{Accused war criminals : Shavendra Silva (Left) Kamal Gunaratne (Right)}

Tamil Nadu fishermen hoisted black flags on Wednesday in protest against Sri Lanka's move to nationalise previously seized trawlers owned by the fishermen.

In December 2020, fishermen from Rameshwaram were arrested and detained by the Sri Lankan navy who also seized their trawlers.  

Australia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sri Lanka on the Return and Readmission of Persons which includes provisions for the return of asylum seekers who continue to face threats of torture and abuse in Sri Lanka.

Patrick Brown, Mayor of Brampton, has announced that Brampton City Council will build a Mullivaikkal memorial to commemorate the estimated, 75,000 Tamil civilians murdered during the Tamil Genocide.

Ahimsa Wickrematunge the daughter of murdered journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge has filed a complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee over the alleged Sri Lankan government involvement in her father’s death 12 years ago.

The Centre for Justice and Accountability, an international human rights organisation based in San Francisco, filed the complaint on behalf of Ahimsa Wickrematunge. Her father Lasantha was allegedly killed by a military-linked hit squad while driving to work on Jan. 8, 2009.