People for Equality and Relief in Sri Lanka (PEARL) condemned the pardoning of convicted murderer Duminda Silva and called on the European Union (EU) to withdraw it's GSP+ trade preferences "if human rights obligations continue to be abrogated."

A young Tamil man was found hanging from a neem tree in Mullaitivu, last week.

The body was discovered by a relative from the village, after the victim’s wife reported that her husband went missing following a family dispute. 

The Mullaitivu police are currently investigating the case and have taken the body to the district hospital for an autopsy. 

Residents of Parangikamam, a village in Manthai West, Mannar have complained that swathes of forest near their area are being illegally deforested by the Sri Lankan government and that their land has become appropriated by private persons and foreigners. 

Addressing Sri Lankan Parliament, President Rajapaksa admonished the record of the previous administration claiming that they left the economic and security apparatus of Sri Lanka in ruins whilst, “the terrorism, which we ended in 2009, had re-emerged in a more dangerous form”.

The Sri Lankan navy opened fire at Tamil Nadu fishermen on Thursday whilst they were engaged in fishing near the waters of Dhanushkodi off the coast of the Pamban island. 

Despite ongoing criticism of its involvement in civilian affairs in the North-East, the Sri Lankan military launched several projects in June, normalising wider patterns of militarisation of the Tamil homeland

Leader of the United National Party, Ranil Wickremesinghe, criticised Sri Lanka’s militarised response to the COVID-19 pandemic noting that it is being led by the head of Sri Lanka’s army, Shavendra Silva.

Fitch Ratings has warned that ending the suspension on Sri Lankan bank investments in international sovereign bonds (ISBS) could lead to increased bank exposure to sovereign and foreign-currency funding and liquidity risks.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rightgs and the US ambassador for Sri Lanka have condemned the pardoning of convicted murderer, former MP, and close Rajapaksa ally, Duminda Silva.

The Sri Lankan government granted presidential pardons to 94 political prisoners convicted under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), including 16 alleged "former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)”. The pardon was issued earlier today to supposedly coincide with the Buddhist festival of Poson Poya.

A Buddhist worship service was held at the Mannar Mathota Raja Maha Viharaya on Tuesday to "exterminate COVID-19" in Sri Lanka.

The state-owned Ceylon Mineral Sands Corporation, working under the Sri Lankan Ministry of Resources and Enterprise, seized 44 acres of land owned by Tamils in Mullaitivu, for the construction of an ilmenite mine in East Kokkilai.

Police Posts in Chidambarapuram and Nelukkulam areas of Vavuniya District, have been upgraded to the rank of ‘Police Stations’ and were inaugurated earlier today.