Tamil families of the disappeared marked Human Rights Day with protests in Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya and Trincomalee as they continue to demand to know the fate of their loved ones who were forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan state.
Tamil families have been protesting across the North-East for years in a bid to find the truth about their loved ones, many of whom were forcibly disappeared when they surrendered to the Sri Lankan military at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009.
The United States has sanctioned two Sri Lankan officials and their immediate families over corruption, rendering them unable to enter the country in a move to mark International Human Rights Day.
Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga and the former CEO of Sri Lanka Airlines Kapila Chandrasena have both been sanctioned for their “involvement in significant corruption”.
Jaffna District MP Dr Ramanathan Archuna claimed that he was assaulted on December 3rd within the premises of the Opposition Leader’s office in the parliament by Sinhala parliamentarian Sujith Sanjaya Perera.
Speaking in Sri Lanka’s parliament last week Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) parliamentarian S Shritharan called on the Sri Lankan president to enact a political solution that respects the identity and rights of Eelam Tamils.
Bashar al-Assad has fled to Russia after opposition forces entered the capital Damascus.
The leader of the main Syrian opposition armed group that seized Syria’s capital, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, has said the Syrian people are the “rightful owners” of the country after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, and declared a “new history” has been written for the entire Middle East.
For too long, the United Kingdom has pursued a flawed and outdated policy on Sri Lanka. It has left Britain lagging behind its international allies, some of whom imposed targeted sanctions years ago. The UK must not just catch up. If it seeks to maintain its influence on the island and the region as a whole, it must go further and lead.
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