Human rights activist and campaigner for the families of the disappeared Balendran Jeyakumary continues to be required to attend court, despite her not knowing why she was arrested.

Campaigners who met with her recently said there were two cases ongoing against her and, as part of her bail condition, she is required to report to the police station in Kilinochchi once a month.

Ms Jeyakumary is forced to travel long distances from her home in Kilinochchi for her cases as one is being heard in Colombo and another one in Padaviya in the North Central Province.

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The Sri Lankan military’s 221 Brigade celebrated its anniversary last month by distributing lunch to Tamil civilians at an orphanage and elderly care centre in Trincomalee.

Soldiers from the Security Force Headquarters East (SFHQ-E) handed out meals and “essential sanitary items” on March 20, according to an official army website, which also said:

“Inmates were entertained by the Calypso Group of the 2 (V) GR”.

An abandoned well near Thirukketheeswaram in Mannar is to be examined later this month for possible skeletons, reports Lankasri.

The well is located by mass grave sites which were unearthed in Mannar in 2013.

Mannar district judge, Alexraja ordered an investigation into the well, which will begin on April 29.

The mass grave was first discovered in December 2013, when construction workers found two human skeletons whilst digging in Thirukketheeswaram.

Speaking ahead of the release of the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee report, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Freedom From Torture, Sonya Sceats expressed concern at the UK government’s conduct with Sri Lanka.

Processes in Sri Lanka towards accountability and justice must keep victims at the centre, said Dharsha Jegatheeswaran in an article for the University of Toronto Faculty of Law’s Rights Review Magazine.

Commenting on the erosion of victims’ confidence since UN Resolution 30/1, alongside the government’s reneging on its commitments thereunder, Ms Jegatheeswaran said,

“Initial cautious hopes of Tamil victims and war-affected communities have turned to distrust and skepticism of the government’s intentions as a result of this mixed messaging. This distrust has been further deepened by the government’s failure to undertake any meaningful confidence-building measures and address ongoing human rights violations, including: demilitarizing the North-East; repealing the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act and releasing all political prisoners arrested thereunder; returning all illegally acquired lands; and ending a culture of impunity/condonation for sexual violence and torture.”

The Indian government will provide 150 boats and equipment to 300 fishermen in Mullaitivu, in the North-East.

The Indian high commissioner to Sri Lanka, YK Sinha signed a MoU to the effect with Sri Lanka's fisheries secretary W Adikari.

Sri Lanka's state-run water supply board has asked customers to stop the use of tap water to wash cars and water plants in order to help avoid water cuts, as hot weather and drought gripped the island.

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has urged the joint opposition to give up its struggle to topple the government and instead join the government in "rebuilding" the country.

"Some say that this government cannot go on. Their dream will never come true. I invite them to join us in rebuilding the nation instead of seeking to change the administration," the president said at an event in Eravur, in the Eastern Province.

The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe this weekend announced a military show would be held in August in Galle.

The event is hoped to be a tourist attraction, the Daily Mirror reported.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe praised the role of the navy at a ceremony on Sunday, as he looked to expand the military’s role to “protecting sea routes” across the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka’s official navy website reported the prime minister as highlighting “the importance of safeguarding the sea area from Maldives through Pacific Ocean up to the Strait of Malacca and Singapore”.

“The Sri Lanka Navy will have to play a role in protecting the sea routes across the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the sea off Banda Aceh and the Strait of Malacca,” he was quoted as saying. “We will have to prepare for that.”

Speaking at a commissioning parade in Trincomalee, situated in the Tamil North-East, Mr Wickremesinghe also praised the navy and called on the newly commissioned officers to “dedicate their service to the betterment of the Navy and motherland”.