Following a damning report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, Human Rights Watch has endorsed the recommendations of the High Commissioner for targeted sanctions on Sri Lankan officials credibly accused of war crimes and for the establishment of an independent international mechanism to investigate violations of international law.

Former LTTE cadres are among 15 individuals remanded for allegedly transporting and selling weapons to 'underworld gangs' in Colombo.

According to newsfirst.lk, the weapons and ammunition uncovered in the North-East reportedly include Claymore Mines, Live Hand Grenades, and T-56 Assault Rifles.

The operation was reportedly uncovered after one former LTTE cadre was arrested in possession of firearms in Wattala, a suburb of Colombo.

.@mbachelet calls on intl community to establish dedicated capacity to collect/preserve evidence of crimes in #SriLanka + for States to pursue prosecutions in their national courts & consider targeted sanctions against perpetrators https://t.co/CCoyu9XImL
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The US state department, US Ambassador and a US Senator have urged Sri Lanka to halt its “mandatory policy of cremating deceased COVID-19 victims”, and to respect “the traditions of its diverse communities”, as cases of forced cremations of deceased Muslims persist in Sri Lanka.

The 104th birth anniversary of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Kollywood superstar M.G. Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, was celebrated in Jaffna on January 17 in front of his memorial statue in the city.

^{Demonstration by Tamil families last year,}

Tamil Families of the Disappeared (FOD) urged the UK to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a letter to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last Friday, ahead of the 46th UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva in March.

The Sri Lankan government lambasted a report from the United Nations human rights chief last week, as it sent a response which defended accused war criminals, denied reports of rights abuses and slammed accusations of ongoing discrimination.  

In an almost 20-page response sent to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a draft version of which has been seen by the Tamil Guardian, the Sri Lankan government called her report “speculative, presumptive and unsubstantiated opinions”.

Responding to the latest report on Sri Lanka by the UN High Commissioner, Human Rights Watch has raised concern over the “disturbing development under the Rajapaksa administration” and spoke out against the country’s “egregious record of complete impunity for appalling crimes”.

In their statement they maintain the need for international pressure stating:

Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary claimed that the Core Group at the UN Human Rights Council “has indicated to us that they would like to have a consensual resolution that would give us another year to implement Human Rights commitments,” despite overwhelming calls for an international accountability mechanism to be mandated.

Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused defence secretary has denied all reports of war crimes committed by the armed forces during a 2009 offensive in which he played a leading role, as he revealed he “was in this whole scenario right from the start”.