Sri Lankan lawyer, Indika Gallage, has filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the draft of the 20th Amendment to the constitution and requesting a public referendum on the bill.

Threats posed by Sri Lanka’s intelligence forces prevented the remembrance of the Manmunai massacre which took place on September 21, 1990, in which 18 Tamil civilians were killed by the Sri Lankan Army and Muslim Home Guards in Puthukudiyiruppu in Manmunai North, Batticaloa.

Speaking at a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly, marking the 75^th anniversary of the UN, Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, claimed to reaffirm commitments to the organisation whilst simultaneously insisting on need importance of “the sovereign equality of States, respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in their domestic affairs”.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Nagarkovil massacre, where the Sri Lankan air force bombed a school in Jaffna killing dozens of Tamil schoolchildren.

I was 11 years old. It was just after lunch on Friday the 22nd of September 1995. That’s when we heard a large aircraft circling our village. The Sri Lankan Air Force dropped the first bomb nearby the school. At this point we were surrounded by large smoke, followed by a bang. There were several bombs dropped over the school and other parts of the village.

I heard my friends screaming and running and then all of a sudden the whole place was chaotic. All the students ran in all directions. I can still see it.

Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa called to ‘accelerate’ construction of the  Chinese-led Colombo Port City project, claiming it will become an income generator for the cash stricken island, in the future regardless of concerns over imposed US sanctions.

Tamil political party members have signed a joined letter to Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to appeal the ban on holding commemorative events for the late Lt Col Thileepan. 

Sri Lanka’s Sinhala ‘Buddhist Advisory Council’ praised war crimes accused president Gotabaya Rajapaksa for “walking the talk” when it comes to following several of their recommendations this week, as the Rajapaksa regime continued its staunchly Sinhala nationalist policies.

Reporting in Declassified UK, journalist Phil Miller, reveals attempts by one of Britain’s oldest private security companies, Saladin, to distance itself from a mercenary organisation known as Keenie Meenie Services (KMS) which is currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police for war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the 1980s.

Sri Lankan minister and cabinet spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella said his government would not “surrender” to the UN Human Rights Council, as Colombo continued to deny reports of war crimes committed by senior military officials who have been promoted to government positions.

Photograph by Gajan Bala 

An expert committee to examine the 20th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution is to be following growing public concerns that the amendment would remove parliamentary oversight and centralise power within the presidency.

The 20th amendment has also faced opposition from within the SLPP.