Two people have been admitted to the Vavuniya hospital after being shot by the Sri Lankan Army in Omanthai. The incident took place at around 4am on Wednesday.

According to the army, armed troops intercepted a vehicle carrying illegal timber from the forest area in Omanthai Semadu. They claim that the gun was fired while trying to prevent the vehicle from escaping from Paranattankal.

Prasad, 39, and Saivan, 29, from Semamadu were admitted to the Vavuniya hospital with injuries.

Following a landmark judgement from Britain’s Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission last year, the Home Office now has 90 days to “reconsider” an application to de-proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom.

The Commission held a hearing on relief last month, ruling that a referral to Britain’s parliament was not necessary, and instead referred the decision to the Home Office.

Germany has granted Sri Lanka €1 million through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), despite concerns of Sri Lanka’s human rights record. 

According to a tweet from the Permanent Mission of Germany to the Office of the UN and to the other International Organisations, “Germany UN Vienna”, the funds are aimed to build capacity to prevent and counter-terrorism and transnational organised crimes on the island. 

Tamil residents of Iranaitivu staged a protest today morning in opposition to the Sri Lankan government’s decision to bury the victims of COVID-19 on the island. A letter has also been sent to the government urging them to reconsider their decision.

The Sri Lankan government has designated Iranaitivu, the island reclaimed by Tamils in 2018 after more than 25 years of military occupation, as the burial site of COVID-19 victims.

‘Home to Bilo’, a campaign group dedicated to fighting for the release of the Tamil asylum-seeking Biloela family, has raised funds to erected three billboards urging Australia's Prime Minister to permit the family’s release from the immigration detention on Christmas Island. 

The billboards to be placed in Sydney and Brisbane.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran emphasised the need for all Tamil political parties to work together at a joint discussion in Vavuniya last Friday.

The meeting involved Tamil politicians, Christian bishops and archbishops in the North-East and civil society organisations.

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) submitted a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council on February 24, mirroring a letter from the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF), expressing their disappointment with the UN Zero Draft of the Resolution on Sri Lanka for its failure to meet even "basic" demands held by Tamil Victims. 

The UK government remains concerned about the marginalisation of Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka, and about threats received by demonstrators during the Pottuvil to Polikandy march last month, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Minister said. The remarks were submitted in response to written questions put forward by Scottish National Party Chief Whip Patrick Grady MP.

Writing in Just Security, former Senior Lecturer in Law at University of Jaffna, Dr Kumaravadivel Guruparan, highlights the failure of the international community to hold Sri Lanka’s war criminals to accounts and calls for “an honest debate on the inherent limits of the human rights system in preventing ongoing violations and dealing with historical atrocities”.