2017 saw limited progress in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, a UK government report has said, citing particular concerns around inter-communal tensions and the slow delivery of key human rights and reconciliation commitments, including delays in replacing the Prevention of Terrorism Act and operationalising the Office of Missing Persons.

The Sri Lankan military is accused of illegally raising a wild leopard, which went on to injure several Tamil villagers in Kilinochchi last month, according to a report in the Sunday Observer.

The leopard, which injured at least seven people near a local school, was eventually killed by villagers, after Wildlife Department officers arrived and then abandoned the area after the animal had begun injuring more people. Sri Lankan police were at the scene throughout the episode.

Autopsy reports on the leopard now reveal that it may have been a domesticated animal, adding weight to the villagers’ claims that the Sri Lankan military had been illegaly raising the leopard.

The Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army addressed a United Nations conference on counter-terrorism last month, telling delegates the “Sri Lanka continues to be vigilant” against the “changing face of terrorism”.

Speaking at the first ever United Nations High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter Terrorism Agencies of Member States at the UN headquarters in New York, Major General W.B.D.P. Fernando said,

A military delegation from Nigeria was taken on a tour of Jaffna earlier this year, where they held discussion with Sri Lankan security forces stationed in the peninsula.

During their visit, the deleagation met with female soldiers serving the 7 Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps (SLAWC).

The heads of embassies of several Western states have written to Sri Lanka’s president expressing their opposition to the reported resumption of capital punishment on the island.

The Delegation of the European Union, the missions of the EU Member States in Sri Lanka as well as the diplomatic missions of the Governments of Canada and Norway in Sri Lanka all signed a joint letter to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, in which they wanted to “verify the worrying information in the public domain about the intention of the Sri Lankan government to resume implementing the death penalty after a moratorium of more than 40 years”.

Residents of Chavakachcheri confronted Sri Lankan soldiers attempting to dig up grass and soil for their camp from the banks of a lagoon, in an area designated as a public leisure space.

The incident took place yesterday in Kovitkudiyiruppu, with angered locals demanding soldiers stop digging up the grasses and soil in an area designated as a public leisure and tourism spot by the Chavakachcheri Urban Council.

The village officer (Grama sevakar) was called to the incident and requested the soldiers to not dig the soil as this would disrupt the tree roots growing around.

The soldiers are reported to have left the scene after the village officer’s request.

Sri Lanka’s United National Party has instructed the armed forces to take immediate action when information about LTTE commemorations is received, according to UNP Minister Navin Dissanayake. The Minister also claimed that the commemorations were being held as an organised campaign to attract Tamil diaspora money.

The New Star Sports Club (NSSC Montreal) hosted their 4th Annual Mega Blast and Sports Festival on Saturday July 7th, 2018 at Parc Saint Maxime in Laval, Canada.

In collaboration with Tamil One TV, the Trinco Association of Montreal and NSSC Montreal held a day full of various activities for all ages, including a volleyball tournament, inflatable game and tug of war competition amidst many more.

A Tamil asylum-seeker in Australia faces permanent separation from his wife and baby daughter after receiving a deportation notice on Friday, the Tamil Refugee Council said, adding that he could be deported as soon as Monday.

30-year-old Thileepan had fled Sri Lanka after being tortured and interrogated by Sri Lankan security forces, arriving in Australia in June 2012.

There were scenes of further demonstrations today outside the Office on Missing Persons hearing as families of the disappeared demanded an international investigation into the whereabouts of their missing loved ones. 

The OMP hearing which took place in the Kilinochchi this morning, follows a sitting in Jaffna yesterday where families of the disappeared protested outside, rejecting the process.