Marking ten years since the end of the armed conflict, in which Sri Lankan troops stand accused of violating international law, Sri Lanka’s leaders including the president, prime minister and leader of the opposition, paid tribute to the military this week.

Canadian parliamentarians from across the political spectrum debated a bill that would proclaim the week ending May 18th as Tamil Genocide Education Week, unanimously voting in favour of it.

The bill, put forward by MPP Vijay Thanigasalam, was voted for by 59 parliamentarians with none opposing and has been sent to the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills.

The United States ambassador said there was no plan to establish a permanent US military base in Sri Lanka. 

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with senior Buddhist clergy, Alaina Teplitz said, "We have an agreement with Sri Lanka to conduct combined security operations. We have entered into such agreements with the past government also. However, we have not decided to establish a permanent American base in Sri Lanka."

<p><a></a>The Tamil National Alliance, condemned President Sirisena’s act of using presidential powers to pardon the infamous leader of the Bodu Bala Sena Gnanasara Thero, as taking majoritarianism to ‘another level.’</p> <p>In a statement released today, TNA spokesperson, MA Sumanthrian said,</p>

The international community continues to fail the Tamil people, ten years on from the Mullivaikkal genocide, by rewarding Sri Lanka’s lack of progress with increased engagement and bilateral support, the Washington-based advocacy group PEARL has said.

“Ten years later, the Sri Lankan government has taken limited action to address Tamil grievances, including demands for accountability,” the organisation said in a statement on May 18.

As part of a series marking the atrocities of Mullivaikkal, land protestors from Keppapilavu shared their reflections on their experiences and the struggles they continue to face a decade on. 

<p>Amnesty International calls for accountability in Sri Lanka warning that a continued failure to deliver on the transitional justice process would further fuel violence.</p> <p>Amnesty’s South Asia Director, Biraj Patnaik, warned that “as long as there continues to be impunity for series crimes under international law, Sri Lanka will not be able to decisively break from that [violent] history”. He further stated, “the wounds of the past will only heal if there is justice, truth and reparation”.</p>

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena has granted a pardon to Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, the leader of the extremist Buddhist monk organisation, Bodu Bala Sena. 

Students at the University of Jaffna yesterday called for the charges against two student union leaders and a canteen owner to be dropped and said they would boycott classes until then. 

Sri Lanka today extending the state of emergency by one month, following the Easter Sunday attacks by Islamist extremists last month. 

Issuing a special gazette the Sri Lankan president said, "I am of the opinion that by the reason of a public emergency in Sri Lanka, it is expedient, so to do, in the interest of public security, the preservation of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community." 

The emergency regulations, which grant the state's security forces additional powers, have been used to carry out widespread search operations, detentions and arrests.