The military occupied Tamil homeland, which already grapples with the highest suicide rates on the island, is facing a worsening mental health crisis as the mass migration of psychiatrists leaves vital services on the brink of collapse.
Former Navy Commander Nishantha Ulugetenne has admitted to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that “Gun Site”, an underground torture facility located within the Trincomalee naval base, was an unlawful detention centre.
The US Navy’s littoral combat ship USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) will arrive at the Port of Colombo on 16 August, in what Washington hails as a demonstration of the “strength” of US - Sri Lanka relations and their “shared commitment” to maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.
A coalition of civil society organisations have urged Sri Lanka's Counter Terrorism Investigation Department (CTID) to end their harassment and withdraw a summons against Tamil journalist and photographer Kanapathipillai Kumanan.
A series of decisions that will further entrench militarisation in the Batticaloa District were announced following a District Coordinating Committee meeting on 13 August, chaired by committee head Sunil Handunneththi.
Tamil journalist and professional photographer Kanapathipillai Kumanan revealed details of an ongoing inquiry by Sri Lanka’s Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division (CTID), which accuses him of spreading information that “discredits the military” and “creates conflict” between security forces and Tamil civilians.
A court in Muthur has authorised the excavation of a potential mass grave site in Sampur where human skeletal remains were discovered last month, ordering that the work be carried out by the Sri Lankan Army’s Eastern Province Engineering Division with the approval of the Eastern Province Security Force Commander.
Sri Lanka hosted its first-ever international conference on child protection last month, with the government pledging to reform systems to better safeguard children from abuse, despite Colombo’s continued failure to address long-standing crimes committed against Tamil children during and after the armed conflict.
Former parliamentarian, state minister, and staunch Rajapaksa ally Lohan Ratwatte has died at the age of 57. His political career was marked not only by close ties to Sri Lanka’s ruling elite but also by a litany of violent incidents, criminal convictions, and unabashed threats against political opponents - particularly Tamils.
Tamils gathered in Amparai this week to mark 35 years since at least 55 Tamils were killed by the Sri Lankan military and Muslim home guards, part of a series of killings that left hundreds dead in just weeks.
Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader and Jaffna District parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has condemned the killing of 32-year-old Ethirmanasingham Kapilraj in Mullaitivu, describing it as a “planned murder by the Sri Lankan Army” and a stark example of the military’s ongoing hostility towards Tamils in the North-East.
Commemorations were held across the North-East today to mark the 19th anniversary of the Sencholai massacre, when a Sri Lankan Air Force airstrike on 14 August 2006 killed 53 Tamil schoolgirls and four staff members at the Sencholai children’s home in Vallipunam, Mullaitivu.
Sri Lankan opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has condemned Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues in Gaza, calling it “an absolute crime against humanity and press freedom.”
