This week, after almost 2 years in detention, Hejaaz Hizbullah was finally allowed to walk out of Sri Lankan jail. It was a welcome sight. However, the lawyer is not yet a free man. Hizbullah was only released on bail and still has an uphill battle against charges that are widely seen as trumped up. Like so many other Muslims and Tamils across the island, he remains at risk of being imprisoned again under Sri Lanka’s notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The draconian legislation has been a key weapon in furthering the state's Sinhala-Buddhist authoritarianism since its inception decades ago. It must be repealed.

According to the People’s Council of Eelam Tamils, German authorities are planning another mass deportation of Eelam Tamils to take place on 10 or 15 February despite overwhelming evidence of the systemic torture.

The British High Commission in Colombo has released a statement welcoming the recent release of detainees held under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism and committing to raise concerns over those who remain under detention.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry has described its gazetted reforms to the country’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act as the “most progressive step” towards “securing, advancing and protecting […] fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution” but human rights experts sharply disagree.

Sri Lanka’s High Commission in Canada has released a statement decrying the presentation by “certain parties in Canada” of the final phases of the armed conflict as a genocide against Tamils, claiming that it would disrupt the “social harmony” of Sri Lankan Canadians.

The Sri Lankan navy seized trawlers belonging to fishermen from Tamil Nadu and has arrested eleven of them because of an alleged crossing of the maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka. 

Ontario's recently enacted legislation titled 'Bill 104' is being challenged by two separate groups, arguing the bill is "unconstitutional" and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

Bill 104, also known as the Tamil Genocide Education week, establishes May 12-18th as a week in which Ontarians "are encouraged to educate themselves about, and to maintain their awareness of, the Tamil genocide and other genocides that have occurred in world history."

Both the "Sri Lankan Canadian Action Coalition (SLCAC)" and "Hewage" are arguing in court that the Province of Ontario acted "ultra vires," meaning that even though the government passed the bill, they acted outside of their powers in doing so.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister concluded a visit to New Delhi to meet with his Indian counterpart this week, and was full of praise for what he termed the “very special relationship” between the two countries, even as Colombo continued to obfuscate the issue of devolving powers to Tamils on the island.

Investors in Sri Lanka are bracing themselves for Colombo to default on bond repayments, reports the Financial Times today, as experts warn that the crisis on the island looks set to worsen.

The FT reports that Sri Lanka owes US$15bn in bonds out of a total of US$45bn long-term debt, with US$7bn due this year in interest and debt repayments.

Eight people who were arrested in January 2019 based on suspicions that they were in possession of Claymore bombs under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) have been released on bail. 

The released include five men and three women who were supported legally by the Centre for Human Rights and Development in Sri Lanka (CHRD).

In an unprecedented move, Sri Lankan authorities sold 135 boats belonging to Tamil Nadu fishermen to the highest bidder in an auction that took place earlier today in Jaffna. 

The sale yielded more than five million Sri Lankan rupees to the authorities with 1.6 million paid on the spot. The winner of the auction is supposed to pay the remainder in instalments. 

Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF) have shot and injured at least two men in Jaffna last night.

The shooting took place in Thenmaradchi, at approximately 19:30 on Sunday evening.

The injured have been admitted to Chavakachcheri Base Hospital.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Sri Lanka’s international trading partners to consider imposing targeted sanctions on officials accused of rights abuses and to leverage trading schemes in order to pressure Colombo to comply with human rights obligations, in a report examining the much-criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) released today.

British Tamils organised a protest against the Sri Lankan Independence Day in front of the country’s High Commission in Hyde Park Gardens, London. 

A large number of people gathered at the spot last Friday, despite the damp London weather, to mark the day as a “black day” for Tamils.