Torture and rape of Tamils in Sri Lanka has continued into 2017 found the International Truth and Justice Project’s (ITJP) latest report  “Unstopped: State Torture & Sexual Violence in 2016/17."

Commenting on the continuation of torture under the Sirisena government, which came into power in January 2015, ITJP Director Yasmin Sooka said,

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province has condemned the deadly shooting of a Tamil man by Sri Lankan police.

Speaking to journalists about the killing of Yogarasa Thines in Vadamaradchi, Chief Minister Wigneswaran said:

“Even if the murdered youth had done something wrong, there would have been many ways to have stopped him. They could have shot the wheels of the vehicle he was in. Or they could have informed police officers based in the opposite direction. None of this was considered and instead a young man has been shot and killed.”

“This is the wrong approach. The police officers that carried out the shooting have abused their authority.”

The TNA leader and Opposition leader R. Sampanthan visited families of the disappeared in Kilinochchi, on the 143rd day of their protest on Wednesday.

The leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU), Udaya Gammanpila condemned the arrest of a former Sri Lankan
navy spokesperson over the disappearance of eleven Tamil youths in 2008, arguing that he was "wrongfully
accused". 

Commodore D K P Dassanayake was arrested on Wednesday over the abduction and enforced disappearance of the
Tamil youths. 

An inquiry was launched on Thursday into the 2012 prison riot in Welikada which led to the deaths of 27 inmates, mainly Sinhalese, at the hands of Sri Lankan security forces, AFP reported. 

Eye witnesses said the officers executed many of the inmates in cold blood. 

The launch comes just days before the anniversary of the worst massacre at the prison on 25th July 1983 when 54 Tamil detainees murdered by Sinhala inmates. 

Over three decades later no inquiry has been held and no one has been brought to justice. 

Prison riots in 1997 and 2000 also saw Sinhala inmates murdering Tamil inmates. 

In a statement published on Thursday, Human Rights Watch criticised the Sri Lankan governments failure to meet its promises on accountability. 

"To heal, there needs to be communication, understanding, and above all a sense of righting wrongs. In this, Sri Lanka’s Government is faltering, despite promises to its own people, as well as to the international community," the statement read. 

Sri Lanka's Joint Opposition accused the government of lying to the public when the foreign minister said that the Convention for Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances would not have a retrospective effect. 

“The convention can and will be used to take action against armed personnel who fought terrorists during the final phase of the war in 2009," the former SLFP minister, G L Peiris was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

The implementation of the Office of Missing Persons is unlikely as the idea was created simply to pacify he UN Human Rights Council, the Northern Chief Minister told the Canadian High Commissioner on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Wigneswaran spoke to journalists following the meeting with the outgoing High Commissioner, Shelley Whiting, at his official residence on Temple Road, Jaffna.

Seven Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by Sri Lanka’s Navy on Wednesday announced the fisheries ministry.

The Assistant Director of Fisheries said two boats used by the fisher men had been confiscated.

The latest series of arrests, are the third this month, amidst heightening tensions between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka over the plight of Indian fishermen.

See more here.

Ben Emmerson, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, met with Tamil political prisoners detained under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in Vavuniya today, as he embarked on an official visit of the island.

Mr Emmerson’s visit comes as Tamil prisoners remain detained under the PTA, despite repeated calls for their release.

The Sri Lankan government has also stalled on repealing the PTA, a piece of legislation that has been roundly criticised by human rights organisations as “draconian” for decades.