Students at the University of Jaffna held a memorial service to mark ten years since the death of former student union leader Sellathurai Purusothaman, who was killed along with another Tamil youth during a clash with the Sri Lankan Army.

The head of security at Jaffna Teaching Hospital was summoned by Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) this week, TamilWin reports.

Security official Rishanthan was issued the summons on Monday (October 29) to appear the following day (October 30).

At the time of the summons, Rishanthan said he did not have any idea as to the reason for his summons.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka met with Maithripala Sirisena earlier today, as she presented her credentials and took up her posting. 

Speaking at the event, Alaina Teplitz said that she was “honoured to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka at this critical moment for the country and region”. 

The Elders, in a statement released today, said that President Sirisena’s action put the “fragile reconciliation process at jeopardy and called on Sirisena to stand on his “past commitments to deliver peace, justice and reconciliation to his people.”

The acting Chair of the Elders and former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland said,

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Sri Lankan authorities to respect journalists’ safety whilst condemning the take over of Sri Lanka’s press houses in a statement released this week.

See full statement here.

After the heads of the three branches of the Sri Lankan armed forces met with Mahinda Rajapaksa this weekend, Sri Lankan military websites came out in support of the man they claim is the current prime minister.

^{2017 Theeruvil Maaveerar Naal preparations}

A Jaffna based journalist and members of a Maaveerar Naal organising committee, who organised the event last year in Theeruvil have been interrogated by Sri Lankan police and warned against organising an event this year. 

The committee members and jouranalist were summoned to the Valvettithurai police station on Tuesday, where they were interrogated for over 4 hours over the organisation of the event. 

In a damning situational update on Sri Lanka, the International Crisis Group has recommended military and economic sanctions to mitigate against tangible risks faced by Rajapaksa dissenters and ethnic communities in Sri Lanka.

Stressing the importance of concerted and decisive action, the International Crisis Group statement called for the international community to make clear that military cooperation, economic development funding and trade concessions would be “reconsidered” or “immediately suspended” in response to Rajapaksa’s rise to power.

The statement, released on Tuesday, also called for a renewed and updated UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka due its failure to adhere to commitments of providing accountability and justice for mass atrocities and war crimes.

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena reiterated his absolute refusal to allow a merger of the North-East or a federal Tamil state saying he would have to be killed before he would allow either of the two. 

Speaking to the SLFP electoral organisers at a meeting in Colombo yesterday, Sirisena said that "some groups had been adamant about the merger of the North and East and the formation of a federal state". 

The International Democrat Union demanded that Sri Lanka reconvenes parliament, calling the actions of Sirisena “disgraceful.”

In a statement released this week, IDU chairman and former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper said,

The Speaker has agreed to allocate the premier's chair to the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was appointed as prime minister on Friday after the surprise sacking of Ranil Wickremesinghe, which has left the country in a state of political crisis with parliament prorogued by the president. 

The Speaker's spokesperson said the chair allocation was part of the gazette notification regarding the appointment of Rajapaksa. 

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) joined the chorus of growing international voices concerned over the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister of Sri Lanka and called on the government to comply with a UN resolution.

“The Human Rights Council will be watching closely to assess whether Sri Lanka is in breach of its commitments,” said Frederick Rawski, the Asia Pacific Director for the ICJ.

^{Photograph: @Garikaalan}

Muslims in Jaffna town hung black flags to mark 28 years since they were expelled from the peninsula by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The LTTE remained in control of Jaffna for 5 years after the expulsion, until the Sri Lankan government captured the town in 1995.

Despite Sri Lanka's control of Jaffna for over 20 years, thousands of Muslims remain displaced today. Of the 20,000 Muslim families that were originally displaced from the district, only small fractions have managed to return. Over 14,000 Muslim families were displaced from the Northern Province in total.  

In subsequent years the LTTE expressed regret for the events of 1990.

Sri Lanka's Speaker, Karu Jayasuriya today asked foreign diplomats "not to be hast to take diplomatic measures on the current political situation", the Daily Mirror reported.