The Sri Lankan government’s proposed ambassador to Geneva is a known member of a government death squad, responsible for the murder of hundreds, including school children, said the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy Sri Lanka (JDS) in a joint press release this morning.

C. A. Chandraprema was a key member of the PRRA, the People’s Revolutionary Red Army - a group that worked with the Sri Lankan military during the late eighties to quell a Sinhala uprising, said the groups. Nicknamed “Thadi Priyantha”, Chandraprema was involved with the squad that is responsible for “the murders of hundreds of people, including human rights lawyers, journalists, university students and school children”.

Families of the disappeared in Mannar have submitted a list of demands to the United Nations, including the appointing of a Special Rapporteur and referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court, as it approaches a deadline at the Human Rights Council. 

“The Sri Lankan government is not going to punish itself for its crimes,” said the leaders of the protest at a press conference last week. 

A Sri Lankan police officer was arrested in possession of cannabis in Vavuniya.

The drugs were found in the officer’s car when he was stopped at a checkpoint while travelling to Polonnaruwa from Jaffna.

Kanakarayankulam police said that over 8kg of cannabis was seized and that the car was also confiscated.

The arrested officer was identified as belonging to a police station in Hambantota in the south.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is meeting with Sri Lanka’s Minister of Justice to discuss legislation which aims to curb the propagation of hate speech through social media platforms.

During this meeting consisted of the OHCHR's Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination, Mona Rishmawi, as well as Sri Lanka's Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Law Reform Nimal Siripala de Silva as well as Rory Mungoven, Francesca Marotta and Raghu Menon.

Following growing concerns over Sri Lanka's human rights record, four new ambassadors as a High Commissioner have been appointed to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's President's Media Division reports that the "ambassadors of the State of Qatar and Republic of Turkey, as well as the Pakistan High Commissioner, will be based in Colombo. The ambassadors to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg and Slovenia will be based in New Delhi".
 

<p>Gurratan Singh, Member of Provincial Parliament for Brampton East, paid tribute to the Tamil community as he marked Tamil Heritage Month.&nbsp;</p> <p>“When we talk about Brampton, we see we have a vibrant Tamil community. A community that has and continues to face injustices and a genocide at the hands of the Sri Lankan government; a community that has fled persecution, that has come to Canada to start a new life,” Singh said at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.</p> <p>“And now they’re thriving with small businesses. They’re thriving with their ability to give back. They’re thriving in Brampton.</p>

The International Crisis Group (ICG) has listed Sri Lanka as one of the ten countries on it’s “early-warning Watch List” given the appointment of accused war criminals Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Prime Minister and Presidential position.

Families of the disappeared defied military and police intimidation to hold a mass rally in Vavuniya on Thursday.

"Where! Where! Where are our children?" families from all five districts of the North chanted, marching through the town.

^{STF troops in Jaffna. Oct 2017}

Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF), a police unit accused of committing mass atrocities, has set up a round the clock “special operations unit”, as the security forces continues to expand on the island.

According to a press release from the Minsitry of Defence, the unit has been set up to “strengthen the national security and also to curb the illegal activities in the country”.

A new book examining the role of British mercenaries in Sri Lanka and other conflicts around the world was launched at Garden Court Chambers this week.

The book by Phil Miller, entitled “Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away with War Crimes”, uncovers how the mercenary company formed by ex-Special Air Service (SAS) veterans carried out highly controversial secret operations.