An opening ceremony which consisted entirely of Sinhalese cultural performances was held to open a new path leading to the Kanniya (or Kinniya) Hot Wells and the Buddhist temple there.

Kanniya in Trincomalee is a historically sacred site for Tamils but ongoing Sinhalisation has diminished Tamil presence in the area and militarisation has meant that the Sivan temple is disused and unavailable for worship.

Father Prabhakar, a civil society activist from Trincomalee, recently said in Geneva that Tamils in the region were increasingly fearful of Sinhalisation and the erasure of Tamil history, noting the changes to Kanniya as a particular example.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) released its 8^th official report outlining recommendations for the advancement of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Sri Lanka. Recommendations included a push for accountability over conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence.

Sri Lankan Air Force personnel in Mullaitivu have been reinforcing security around their camps and strengthening their presence, locals report.

The Tamil National Alliance said the Sri Lankan government's lack of action on a number of “critical issues” is “ steadily eroding the trust of our people”, in a statement that reiterated the need for “robust international participation” in an accountability mechanism for human rights violations.

The TNA said it “shares the concerns” of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted in a report released last week, and noted in particular “the lack of progress on the issue of accountability”.

Sri Lanka’s consistent lack of progress conveys the impression of a lack of will to investigate and prosecute serious crimes, the NGO Together Against Genocide (TAG) has said.

In a statement released alongside their new report ‘No justice, no truth’, the organisation said “we are deeply disappointed at the lack of progress on justice for crimes against humanity, including genocide, in Sri Lanka almost 8 years after the end of the war, and 2 years after Sri Lanka’s new government made commitments of reform to the UN Human Rights Council.”

The 2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released by the US Department of State, reports that “arbitrary arrest, lengthy detention, surveillance, and harassment of civil society activists, journalists, members of religious minorities, and persons viewed as sympathizers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),” are the most pressing human rights issues in Sri Lanka.

With respect to several of these concerns, the report commented on the role of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

A bill amending the Office of Missing Persons Act to be presented to parliament was gazetted today. The bill repeals section 11 (a) of the Act which grants the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) the express power "to enter into agreements, as are necessary to achieve the mandate of the OMP, with any person or organization." 

There is currently an ongoing legal debate in Sri Lanka about whether the repeal of this section prevents the OMP from being able to enter into agreements with international organizations and individuals. Families of the disappeared have repeatedly demanded international involvement in any mechanism to deal with disappearances. 

Human Rights Watch's Geneva Director called on members of the United Nations Human Rights Council to "ensure continued international scrutiny until the Sri Lankan government delivers on its commitments in full", in a statement released as the council meets this week.

Responding to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein's report John Fisher, the organisation's Geneva director, said it "paints a picture that is in stark contrast to the rosy claims of the Sri Lankan government".

Families of the missing and forcibly disappeared continued their protest in Kilinochchi for the fifteenth day on Monday.

A Sri Lankan court has deemed the 'confessions' of two LTTE cadres detained in 2012 over the shooting down of a military aircraft in 2000 are legitimate, ordering the cadres be further detained. 

The 'confessions' were made to the Terrorism Investigation Division, notorious for its routine use of torture. 

The men, Jegan (alias Kulawan) and Vallami (alias Sinnathilakan) are accused of shooting down a military aircraft that was flying from Palaly to Ratmalana killing 40, including 4 Russian citizens, Colombo Page reported.