Officers from a Sri Lankan government department were injured in altercations  in Mullaitivu this week, as they attempted to raid the homes of Tamil fishermen, accompanied by rival fishermen.

On February 13, officers from the Fisheries Department and members of fisheries organisations of Hijrapuram, Vadduvakal entered the homes of fishermen of Keppapulavu and searched them stating that there were banned fishing nets inside the houses.  The party were accompanied by an armoured Special Task Force (STF) vehicle.

This caused tensions between the search party and the residents, mainly women, which quickly escalated to altercations.

Residents in Kiran demonstrated this week against the local authority's failure to stop illegal sand mining taking place in the region. 

As Tamils across the North-East and diaspora called for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure justice for the genocide of 2009, Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe renewed talk of a truth and reconciliation commission. 
 

Eight people who were returned from Reunion Island this week after fleeing Sri Lanka by boat were detained and held in remand on Thursday by Negombo Magistrate's Court. 

The skeletal remains of another child were found on Thursday at the mass grave site in Mannar. 

A woman was hospitalised after being hit by a Sri Lankan army water tanker (bowser) in Jaffna on Friday evening.

Police seized the tanker and arrested the driver.

The incident happened in Kodikamam, Mirusuvil and the victim was taken to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for emergency treatment.

Tamils campaigning for the release of their land in Amparai marked 180 days of their protest on Wednesday.

Despite a highly publicised land-release campaign by the Sri Lankan army, residents of Kanagar village in Pottuvil have been protesting for around six months for the return of their land and have not received any assurances that theirs will follow.

Families of the disappeared in Vavuniya this week urged member states at the UN Human Rights Council not to grant Sri Lanka more time to implement the co-sponsored 30/1 resolution. 

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has criticised the Sri Lankan government’s announcement that it resume carrying out executions, calling it an “egregious violation” of international human rights law.

Earlier this week the United Kingdom and European Union reiterated their opposition to Sri Lanka's proposed implementation of the death penalty. 

The European Union (EU) Commission announced that Sri Lanka has been kept on its blacklist of governments at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing this week.

Sri Lanka has been added to the list as a “high-risk” third country, which means the EU will not have to carry out additional checks on payments involving entities from the island.