“We know we can feed this country.”

Farmers in Sri Lanka told me that what they desperately need now is quality fertilizer to increase crop yields. Glad to announce new @USAID funding to help them with upcoming planting seasons. pic.twitter.com/0Zb08ABDSS

A group of US Congress members have urged the State Department to use its leverage at the United Nations Security Council to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a recent article South Asia Director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), Meenakshi Ganguly denounced President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his government for the appoinment of three alleged human rights abusers.

On 8 September, Wickremesinghe appointed 37 new ministers. Three of the 37 appointees are implicated in serious human rights violations.

Ganguly emphasizes that this appoinment is another indication that Wickremesinghe and his new administration “is not committed to protecting human rights, ending impunity, or upholding the rule of law.”

Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan

Responding to the Sri Lankan government’s brutal crackdown on press freedom, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the “constant attempts to intimidate Tamil media personal” and called “for an end to the use of illegal and abusive methods that dangerously undermine press freedom”.

“The constant harassment of Tamil journalists is unacceptable and constitutes a major encroachment on press freedom,” RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk said.  They added:

Sri Lankan authorities have fiercely clamped down on peaceful protests and antagonized protestors during the island’s worst economic crisis and hardship details Amnesty International in a new digest published today. 

The briefing, Penalized for Protesting: Sri Lanka’s crackdown on protestors, outlines Sri Lankan security state forces' failure to protect protestors, their use of excessive force, their use of the military to police protests, carrying out reprisals against protesters and targeting those who exercise their rights democratically. 

A commemoration event was held in Batticaloa today to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Saththurukondan massacre where 185 Tamils were slaughtered by the Sri Lankan army with the assistance of Muslim Home Guards.  

On September 9, 1990, the men, women and children from Saththurukondan and surrounding villages, on the outskirts of Batticaloa, were taken to an army camp by Sri Lankan soldiers, where they were massacred.

Image from last year's memorial in Batticaloa

Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the Saththurukondan massacre where 184 Tamils were killed by the Sri Lankan army.  

Manuel Uthayachandra, the Mannar head of the Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappeared (ARED) condemned the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry for dismissing international involvement in investigating human rights abuses against Tamils in the North-East. 

She says the Ministers that go from Sri Lanka claim an international investigation is not needed as a domestic investigation is sufficient. "We have no trust in the Sri Lankan government. For us, we need an international investigation, for those affected and disappeared relatives, but for these last 13 years, we have not received that".

Today Britain’s longest-ruling monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away peacefully at her Scottish estate. Across the globe, messages of condolence have poured in to mourn the passage of the British head of state whose reign spanned over 15 Prime Ministers.

The latest report from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on child malnutrition in Sri Lanka , has been rejected by Sri Lanka's health ministry. 

Speaking to the media yesterday at the Health Ministry, Health Ministry secretary Janaka Sri Chandraguptha say they are not satisfied with the data the UNICEF used to form the report. 

The Health ministry secretary also said the UNICEF report's claim that the malnutrition status of children has greatly increased according to long-term data is not valid.