Sri Lanka fails to keep its seat on the UN Human Rights Council, following strong lobbying from pressure groups.
Timeline of events under "Activism/advocacy" issue
In response to the fundamental rights application filed in connection with the mass scale eviction of Tamils from Colombo that took place on the 7 June 2007, the Supreme Court orders that future evictions should not take place unless in accordance with the law and with a judicial order.
Sri Lankan rights group University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) finds state security forces responsible for murder of 17 Action Contre La Faim (ACF) aid workers.
The Supreme Court dismisses a petition seeking postponement of elections to the local bodies in Batticaloa.
Several hundred Tamils are reported to have been arrested and detained by security forces for questioning following the bomb blasts in Colombo.
Civil rights groups accuse Sri Lanka's Jaffna Military commander of instructing the NGOs and civil society representatives not to refer to human rights issues and to "restrict themselves to issues of humanitarian assistance" before meeting the United Nations Under Secretary General, Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes.
The Sri Lankan police expel more than 400 Tamils from Colombo to the North, arguing that the order is part of security controls. The raids are condemned internationally. The Supreme Court later orders the expulsions to stop following a human rights petition.
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Natarajah Raviraj and his bodyguard are shot dead in Colombo.
Kethesh Loganathan, Deputy Secretary to the government’s Peace Secretariat, is assassinated at his home. The LTTE is blamed for the killing.
The UN Human Rights Committee gives its views in the case of Singarasa v Sri Lanka and finds that there had been a violation of Nallaratnam Singarasa's rights.
Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvam, Tamil constitutional lawyer and parliamentary member of the TULF, is assassinated by a suicide bomber in Colombo. The attack is blamed on the LTTE.
Richard de Zoysa, journalist, author and human rights activist, is abducted and murdered.
Tamil human rights activist Dr. Rajini Thiranagama is shot dead. The Tamil Tigers are blamed for the assassination.
Popular actor and political leader Vijaya Kumaratunga is shot dead by two gunmen on a motorbike. He was married to former Sri Lankan president, Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Federal Party conducts its sathyagraha protest on Galle Face Green against intended legislation to make Sinhala the official language. Protests spark communal violence in Colombo. Violence spreads to Ampara and the Gal-Oya Valley. An estimated 150 deaths, mainly Tamil, result.
