Journalists and media workers massacred by Sri Lankan state forces were remembered today at an event organised by the Uthayan newspaper. 

The leader of the Bodu Bala Sena Galagodaaththte Gnanasara, who stands accused of hate crime, conducted rituals for the State Vesak selebratiosn on this week, reports Colombo Telegraph.

The Media Department of the Buddhasasana said Gnanasara conducted the “atavisi buddha vandanava,” for the state Vesak celebrations.

Last month the leader of the Sinhala extremist organisation was invited to an official meeting with a Sri Lankan minister, which was later widely publicised on social media.

Sri Lanka’s that failure to address past abuses contributes to ongoing torture on the island, wrote Ann Hannah, Acting Director of Policy and Advocacy at Freedom from Torture in a blog post last week.

“There is a culture of impunity that has very few structures in place to challenge it, coupled by at best ambiguous political messaging about investigations and justice for past abuses,” she said.

She noted that Sri Lanka remains the top country of origin for referrals of torture survivors for her organisation, which helps provides support for victims in the UK. Despite this the British government has been criticised over its approach with Sri Lanka.

Several Tamil diaspora organizations have written to the Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations urging a response to the issues surrounding the involvement of Sri Lanka’s paramilitary police in international peacekeeping.

The request follows the release of a report by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) that outlines the several human rights violations committed by the paramilitary police (commonly known as the Special Task Force - STF) over the course of three decades.

The South Asian Centre for Legal Studies (SACLS) released a report on the increased level of military presence in civilian life in post-war Sri Lanka.

Informed through primary research in Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya, as well as secondary data, the report outlines the military’s involvement in humanitarian relief, infrastructure development, as well as the establishment of business enterprises –such as hotels, restaurants and farms.

The Sri Lankan President ordered the suspension of the planned removal of unauthorised constructions on Mirissa’s coastal belt after coming under personal pressure from politicians.

The Coast Conservation Department was scheduled to remove unauthorised constructions on the Mirissa beach front on Tuesday, after attacks on tourists earlier in the month were blamed on groups linked to the illegal businesses.

However tourism minister John Amaratunga said that President Sirisena had ordered the suspension of the removals after some politicians had raised concerns.

Sri Lankan troops stationed in the East were lectured on social media last month, where they were advised not to post “statements propagating hatred” online.

According to a military website, troops were lectured on “maintaining their privacy in popular social networking websites including Facebook, Viber, WhatsApp”.

Sri Lanka's cabinet reshuffle today failed to end the climate of political uncertainty with the stock index ended flat. 

The reshuffle, which is the government's fourth, follows the suspension of parliament after the  no-confidence motion against the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the defection of SLFP ministers from within the coalition government. 

"The changes are very cosmetic. There is nothing to boost the market,” a stockbroker in Colombo was quoted by Reuters as saying. 

Read more here. 

The Sri Lankan government has not made progress on returning lands in Iranaitivu back to the people, the Tamil MP, S Sritharan wrote in a letter to the president. 

"People from Iranaitivu were displaced in 1992 due to the military's actions. They have been living in Mulankavil for the past 26 years without any livelihood support and without any hope for the future amid severe difficulties," Mr Sritharan wrote. 

Families of the disappeared were "very disappointed" by the Sri Lankan president's recent comments rejecting the existence of secret detention camps and missing persons, the Northern Provincial Council's minister of women's affairs, Ananthi Sasitharan said. 

"The relatives of missing persons wept while questioning me regarding a solution for their grievances. They were very disappointed at the President’s recent comment denying of the existence of secret camps, and missing persons," Ms Sasitharan told Ceylon Today.