UN High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet called on member states to "pursue alternate strategies to advance accountability at the international level" as successive Sri Lankan governments have demonstrated their "unwillingness to pursue accountability." 

Residents of Jaffna gathered in the Jaffna-Kandy highway earlier this week carrying torch and candle lights, expressing their opposition to recurrent power outages in their district. 

They congregated in the Semmani area at around 8.30 PM local time on Thursday, drawing attention to the frequent power cuts in the island. 

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has agreed to supply gas oil, gasoline and jet fuel to Sri Lanka amidst the deteriorating economic crisis.

Due to a lack of funds, Sri Lankans are currently facing up to seven hours of unexpected power cuts and lengthy queues for over-priced fuel.

The Sri Lankan government has enforced a more than 7-hour power cut across parts of the island today, amidst soaring prices and an economic crisis that continues to worsen.

Last week, an EPDP MP, Thileepan attacked a student in Vavuniya. The youth was attacked by the EPDP members during a confrontation between two student groups in Vairavapuliyankulam, Vavuniya.

There have been a series of clashes between youth groups in the Vairapuliyankulam area in Vavuniya for the past two days.

After almost two years of the coronavirus pandemic and amidst widespread protests, the Sri Lankan government announced it would end the widely condemned practice of requiring Muslim Covid-19 victims to be buried at a government-designated site in the North-East this week

In a special announcement from Sri Lanka’s ministry of health, the government said that “dead bodies can be disposed of adhering to normal procedure adopted before the COVID-19 pandemic”.

The former British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka slammed states that abstained in this week’s United Nations vote on Russia’s “aggression” into Ukraine – including the country that he was formerly posted in.

In a tweet sent out earlier today, James Dauris said the vote at the UN General Assembly was “historic”.

In a statement released earlier today, the international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) called out the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for “pursuing policies that are hostile to the Tamil and Muslim communities” and using the military to “intimidate and suppress human rights activists and the families of victims of enforced disappearance.” 

As Sri Lanka’s economic crisis continues to worsen amidst staggeringly low tourist numbers, visitors from Russia remain the islands highest source of tourists.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, an estimated 200,000 visitors would visit Sri Lanka in February. This year, the number was just 96,507. Leading the way, however were Russian tourists, who made up 15,340 arrivals followed by India with 12,744, UK 10,642, Germany 7,740 and Ukraine 5,620.

However, at least one of those Russian arrivals has caught international attention.

#SriLanka: UN experts call for an immediate moratorium on the use of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of #Terrorism Act, and urge the Government to substantively review and revise the legislation to comply with international human rights law: https://t.co/TsNYNKZbsZ pic.twitter.com/Lq2EwZFJlE

— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) March 2, 2022

UN human rights experts have called on the Sri Lankan government to issue an immediate moratorium on the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) amidst increasing scrutiny over the draconian legislation.