Today marks the 16th anniversary of the assassination of Tamil politician Joseph Pararajasingham, who was shot dead by armed government paramilitary men in 2005.

Sri Lanka's Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara criticised the UNHRC sessions and the institution itself as being a weapon used by the Tamil diaspora and the Western world to weaken Sri Lanka, in an interview conducted by the Daily Mirror this week. 

Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan concluded a visit to Sri Lanka today, where he met with both Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister to “explore new avenues of enhancing bilateral trade and investment between the two countries”, and held a last minute meeting with Muslim lawmakers on the island.

However, the issue of Sri Lanka’s forcible cremation of Muslims – a topic that has generated international outrage and led to protests as Khan visited – was seemingly not discussed at all.

Speaking at the 46^th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Canada’s Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr Marc Garneau, expressed “deep concern” about the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka and emphasised the need to hold Sri Lanka accountable for crimes committed.

“Canada is deeply concerned at the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka, which include threats to human rights defenders and civil society organizations, suppression of memorialization, forced cremations of religious minorities and the deterioration of the rule of law” Garneau stated.

A coalition of 22 organisations have called on member states at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to pass a “strong resolution" that affirms an international commitment to protect human rights in Sri Lanka with the prioritisation of victims and their families.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka met with Tamil families of the disappeared this week, as she highlighted their struggle to find the whereabouts of their missing loves ones in a set of tweets.

“Imagine losing your son or your husband,” tweeted Ambassador Teplitz. “Now imagine never knowing what happened to him.”

“That’s the heartbreak experienced by families of the disappeared,” she continued. “A responsible govt must respect victims’ families and the recommendations of their own commissions for the sake of #healing.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on members of the UN Human Rights Council to back a resolution on addressing “the lack of accountability for past atrocities in Sri Lanka”, in an address to the council today.

“I’m here to reaffirm America’s commitment to respect and defend the human rights of all people, everywhere,” said Blinken this morning, adding that his government “is placing democracy and human rights at the center of our foreign policy”.

Bolivia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr Rogelio Mayta has condemned the deterioration of human rights globally noting that “members of ethnic minorities have been assassinated and tortured in West Sahara and Sri Lanka”.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council virtually on Tuesday, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena, called for a rejection of the UN resolution claiming it was “unsubstantiated”, politically motivated, and brought about by “hegemonic forces” colluding against Sri Lank

Sri Lankan army officers attacked a Tamil man outside an army camp in Keppapulavu, Mullaitivu on Thursday (18^th February).

The officers followed the Tamil man, who was on a motorbike with another man around 500 metres from the army, and stopped him with their patrol van. The armed officers yelled vulgar abuse in Sinhalese and then assaulted the Tamil man in an unprovoked attack.