The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) warned that it had been “monitoring closely the situation of Muslims in Sri Lanka” and that it was concerned over “the rise in incidents of intimidation, anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate speech” on the island.

Muslims shops in Kandy will remain closed this weekend as extremist Sinhala Buddhist monks from the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) announced it will meet in the town tomorrow.

“All Muslim-owned shops are likely to be closed on Sunday to avoid any possible confrontation, as thousands of monks are expected in the town for the conference,” Niyaz Muheeth, president of the Kandy Muslim Traders Association, told Reuters.

Tensions were high in Batticaloa on Friday as the Sri Lankan military and police carried out a round-up making over twenty arrests, following the theft of a handgun from a police officer.

Black Tigers Day was marked at the Tamil National Alliance office in Kilinochchi on Friday.

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has granted interim relief in a petition filed by a death row prisoner who was due to be executed by the state, delaying the death penalty until at least October of this year.

The Sri Lankan military claimed that it did not receive any surrendering Tamil fighters during the closing stages of the armed conflict in 2009, in an extraordinary denial of its role in the disappearances of hundreds of LTTE cadres.

Responding to a Right To Information (RTI) Act request, the Information Officer of the Sri Lanka Military, Brigadier Sumith Atapattu, who was part of the Mechanised Infantry regiment claimed “LTTE members have not surrendered themselves to the Sri Lanka military during the last stages of the war and they have handed themselves over to the Sri Lankan government”.

Sri Lanka’s human rights commission has criticised police for arbitrary and illegal arrests in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks.

Hundreds have been arrested in the months following the attacks, with Sri Lankan police receiving high profile criticism for cases such as that of a Muslim woman arrested for wearing a dress which supposedly insulted Buddhism, and a Muslim doctor arrested following a smear campaign by a Sinhala newspaper.

Muslims in Sri Lanka continue to face the threat of mob violence and arbitrary arrests amongst other abuses warned Human Rights Watch (HRW) today, as it called on the government to do more to protect the Muslim community.

Sri Lanka’s newly hired hangmen are “ready for the job,” said a prison official this week, as president Maithripala Sirisena vowed to press ahead with executions despite widespread international outcry.

Bandula Jayasinghe, an official at the Justice and Prison Reforms Ministry, told Arab News that the two executioners “have been fully trained”.

Sri Lanka’s tourist industry is still struggling to recover from the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks, with arrival numbers dropping by more than half from last year.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said there were just 63,072 tourist visits to Sri Lanka last month, a drop of 57% from June 2018, when the number was 146,828. Tourist numbers in May had fallen 70.8% to 37,802 compared with 129,466 a year ago

Trincomalee Chief Magistrate, M.Hansa, delivered the verdict today acquitting 13 Special Task Force members who were suspected of executing five Tamil youth whilst they spent an afternoon at Trincomalee beach on 2 January 2006.

Fifteen charges were filed against suspects and they were released due to the lack of evidence.

Sri Lankan police arrested the country’s police chief and its former defence minister on Tuesday, for alleged negligence over the Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed over 250 people.

Tamils protested in Jaffna on Tuesday demanding the release of political prisoners, following the death of a detainee last month.