Sri Lanka's president Maithripala Sirisena said he wishes the country could withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council resolution that it co-sponsored, in an interview to the Sunday Times.
A former Sri Lankan navy chief, Wasantha Karannagoda, the 14th suspect named in the abduction and murder of 11 primarily Tamil youths between 2008 - 2009 had his passport impounded on Friday by Colombo Fort Magistrate.
Sri Lanka’s opposition has objected to police investigating into the brawls which took place in the country’s parliament during its political crisis, claiming violations of parliamentary privilege and taking issue with ‘outsider’ intervention into the incidents.
Locals in Batticaloa yesterday held a demonstration condemning Sri Lanka's current anti-terror legislation, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the proposed Counter Terrorism Act (CTA).
Demilitarisation is crucial for economic development in the Northern Province, a senior Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP has said.
Speaking at a Sri Lankan finance ministry forum on economic development in the North, TNA MP and ITAK leader Mavai Senathirajah called for releasing military-occupied land to help revive agriculture and create jobs.
Amnesty International have urged the Sri Lankan president to halt plans to execute at least 13 people for drug-related crimes.
In an open letter published on Friday, Amnesty’s Secretary General Kumi Naidoo warned President Maithripala Sirisena against pursuing a path similar to that in the Philippines stating that there has been “a horrific wave of extrajudicial executions of suspected drug offenders over the past three years [in the Philippines]”.
A group of former Sri Lankan commanders denied that the military committed war crimes and slammed the government for reportedly arresting soldiers whenever the island is discussed at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Sri Lankan government ministers paid a trip to a prison in Colombo this week, where they called on the jailed leader of the extremist Sinhala hate group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).
A report by the London-based charity Freedom From Torture has found Tamils continue to be tortured by Sri Lankan security forces despite assurances from Colombo that the practice would be halted, stating that the government “continues to flout its own promises”.