At the 59th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Sri Lanka Core Group, comprising of Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and the United Kingdom, expressed continued concern over Sri Lanka’s lack of progress on human rights and accountability commitments.
The Sri Lankan Navy is accused of assaulting and chasing away a group of fishermen from Rameshwaram while at sea, shortly after they resumed fishing following the end of Tamil Nadu’s seasonal fishing ban.
Former Sri Lankan Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, along with his wife Kusum Priyadarshini Epa and daughter Chandula Ramali Rambukwella, was briefly remanded last week after failing to fulfil bail conditions in connection with a high-profile money laundering and pharmaceutical procurement scandal that has rocked the island’s healthcare sector.
A Tamil fisherman from the Thirthakari area in the Mullaitivu District has gone missing after setting out to sea on the night of June 18, prompting growing fears among local residents and the fishing community that he may have been killed by individuals involved in illegal fishing operations.
A sustained three-day vigil titled the “Unextinguished Flame” commenced this morning in Chemmani, Jaffna, as Tamil families and activists gathered to demand international justice for the victims buried in the Chemmani mass grave.
Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched a wide-ranging investigation into the wealth and property holdings of 28 prominent political figures, including current and former ministers, as well as a former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army accused of war crimes.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, is set to visit Sri Lanka this week on a four-day official tour, with a scheduled stop at the Chemmani mass gravesite in Jaffna, where at least 19 human skeletons, including the remains of three children, were recently exhumed.
