Police arrested an army soldier for the possession of cannabis in Kanakarayankulam, Vavuniya on Tuesday (Feb 18).

Police authorities stated he was caught with 500 milligrams of ‘Kerala Ganja’ at the military checkpoint set up at the Kanakarayankulam border. The 38-year-old army soldier, who is stationed at the Jaffna army camp, was caught whilst he was travelling towards his hometown district of Anuradhapuram from Jaffna. 

Sri Lankan police have repeatedly targeted the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) over its initiatives to provide financial assistance to deprived communities in Mullaitivu.

The home of a student suspended for offences of 'ragging' other students was vandalised and his belongings were trashed by four men, last week. 

A protest was staged by students, teachers and staff at Jaffna College of Technology in relation to a sword-wielding incident and called for the necessary precautions to secure their safety to be taken. The demonstration took place yesterday morning (Feb 18) and condemned the actions of the mob whilst demanding that appropriate sanctions be taken against them.   
 

A protest was staged to condemn the ragging offences that took place against students and sexual harassment that was conducted via mobile phones, last Tuesday (Feb 11). 

The Sri Lankan government’s inability to “deal comprehensively with impunity and to reform institutions may cause the recurrence of human rights violations” the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in its report on Sri Lanka's efforts towards implementing Resolution 30/1, which called for accountability and transitional justice through a hybrid mechanism.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa sent out a scathing warning to “born traitors who are waiting for the first opportunity to betray the country” as he confirmed his government was withdrawing from co-sponsoring a UN resolution on accountability for war crimes.

In a statement released this morning Rajapaksa slammed the US sanctions on Shavendra Silva, announced on Friday over his involvement in war crimes during a military offensive a decade ago, stating it was a “collective punishment reminiscent of the practice in medieval Europe”.

Amnesty International (AI) voiced their solidarity with the families of the disappeared who marched in Colombo on Friday (Feb 14) and insisted the government “must deliver justice, truth and reparation to the families of the forcibly disappeared.” 

Following the United States’ announcement that the head of Sri Lanka’s army was subject to a travel ban over his involvement in mass atrocities, there have been markedly contrasting responses from Sinhala and Tamil actors on the island and beyond.

A statement released by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Shavendra Silva and his immediate family are now “are ineligible for entry into the United States… due to credible information of his involvement, through command responsibility, in gross violations of human rights”.

Sri Lankan response

The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) welcomed the travel ban imposed Sri Lanka’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva and his family, in a statement released yesterday.