A commemoration event was held in London this week, to mark 12 years since the passing of Anton Balasingham, the chief political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The Sri Lankan army announced that China has completed its construction of an auditorium for the military this week, in yet another Chinese-funded project on the island.
<p>Welcoming the resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom highlighted its support towards safeguarding human rights in the country, as well as other reforms. </p>
Mahinda Rajapaksa was today appointed as Sri Lanka's opposition leader following his resignation as prime minister this weekend.
Rajapaksa replaces the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader, R Sampanthan, who held the position since 2015. The TNA has questioned Rajapaksa's eligibility to continue in politics.
<p>China welcomed Sri Lanka's "peaceful and proper resolution" of the crisis in a statement this week, following the reappointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe. </p>
<p>"China, as a traditional close neighbor and a most important development partner, welcomed the peaceful and proper resolution of recent political situation in Sri Lanka by all related parties," the Chinese Embassy said in a statement.</p>
Tamil families of the disappeared filed a Right to Information (RTI) request with the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission (HRCSL), inquiring about the status of complaints they had registered with the commission in 2012.
Tamil and Muslim landowners from a Trincomalee village have been threatened with the seizure of their lands after rejecting requests to offer their land to Sinhalese settlers, according to local media reports.
<p>The United States' ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina Teplitz today said the US "welcomes this weekend's political developments, which upheld Sri Lanka's democratic and constitutional norms," following Rajapaksa's resignation as Sri Lanka's prime minister and Ranil Wickremesinghe's re-appointment to the post. </p>
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Sri Lanka’s Cabinet Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, and the current secretary of the extremist JHU party, has reiterated his opposition to federalism this week, stating that it will “never” lead to peace or prosperity.
“Federalism, or divisions along ethnic faultlines, will never bring to us the Prosperous, Peaceful Sri Lanka that we all Sri Lankans dream of,” tweeted Champika Ranawaka earlier this week.
Sri Lanka’s president met with the family member of the Sinhala police officer who was shot in Batticaloa last month, but has not yet met with the family of the Tamil officer who was killed in the same incident.
Sri Lanka’s president claimed that non-governmental organisations and opposing parliamentarians want to see him “dragged and be murdered like Gaddafi,” Libya’s ousted ruler, in an address on Sunday where he vowed not to imprison soldiers accused of war crimes.
Maithripala Sirisena lashed out against efforts to hold Sri Lankan soldiers to account for war crimes, stating that he was firmly against international efforts for justice.
The wife of a former LTTE cadre who was arrested by Sri Lankan police earlier this month and began a hunger strike in Batticaloa calling for the release of her husband, ended her hunger strike today, after police officers visited her saying he would be released on bail.
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