Along with Tamil university societies and associations in the UK and Canada, a worldwide coalition of Tamil youth - the Global Tamil Youth League (T-League), condemned the attacks on Jaffna university students in a statement released on Thursday.

"The Global Tamil Youth League (T-League) strongly condemns this act of violence against the Jaffna University student’s freedom to protest and demonstrate, as well as their right to freely commemorate Tamil Remembrance Day. As fellow students and youth, we support and stand with our brothers and sisters in Jaffna in demanding that their rights be respected and their safety is ensured and accounted for. This attack follows other similar attacks by the Sri Lankan Military including the attack on Paramalingam Tharsananth, the Student Union Secretary of Jaffna University during the May Massacre Remembrance event, and the recent Trincomalee attack against students at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka."

Canadian Tamil youth condemn Jaffna uni attacks (30 Nov)

British Tamil youth condemn attacks on Jaffna students (30 Nov)

A Sri Lanka Army officer, who fled to Canada, has revealed instances of Sri Lankan army abuse that occurred during Sri Lanka’s war against Tamils, reported the Canada's National Post.

Captain Ravindra Watundra Bandanage, left Sri Lanka in October 2009 and claimed asylum in Canada.

Bandanage indicated to Canadian immigration officials that he was aware of torture and other crimes carried out by Sri Lankan government forces against Tamils.

Speaking at a Canadian refugee hearing, Bandanage said that a colonel had ordered him to place explosives in the home of a member of parliament, who at the time was aligned with the Tamil National Alliance party.

Describing his time as an army officer involved in operations to round up ethnic Tamils, Bandanage confessed that he knew the army was torturing, beating and raping Tamil civilians.

“I admit that it is harassment of these people,” he said.

His appeal against a ruling in February, which said he was not eligible for asylum, was rejected.

“I think it’s very significant,” said John Argue, Amnesty International Canada’s co-ordinator for Sri Lanka.

“I hope it gets discussed publicly because then we get closer to what really happened in the last stages of the armed conflict and could have a serious discussion about accountability.”

Three Tamil women who were part of the 109 recently paraded recruits into the Sri Lankan military have alleged they faced regular sexual assault by the Sinhalese soldiers, reported TamilCNN.

The three escaped from the military base, and described being forced into training from 4am till 10pm at night. Many other Tamil women also tried to escape, however they were caught, and have been locked up, accordng to the three escapees.

Photograph Uthayan

Teachers at the University of Jaffna, held a protest on Friday, to exhibit their solidarity with the students of the university, who were attacked by the Sri Lankan security forces for trying to commemorate Maaveerar Naal.

Holding placards, the teachers questioned why the military was allowed to set foot within university grounds.

Photograph Tamilmirror.lk

British Tamil students marked Maaveerar Naal at the university of Leicester on Wednesday. Lighting a lamp of sacrifice, and laying Gloriosa lillies, students remembered those who had given their lives to the struggle for Tamil Eelam.

The Embassy of the United States in Colombo has released a statement, expressing concern about recent acts of violence by government officials, including the attacks on Tamil students and the beating of a reporter on November 28.

The students were attacked during a demonstration against military harassment of Tamil youths commemorating the Tamil National Remembrance Day.

The US has called upon Sri Lankan authorities to “exercise restraint and respect peaceful demonstrations”.

See full statement below. See here for statement in Tamil and Sinhala.

"The United States Embassy in Colombo is concerned about recent threats to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka.

The November 28 beating of a reporter in Jaffna, harassment by Government of Sri Lanka officials of independent media outlets, and searches without warrants of journalists all serve to stifle media freedom.

Additionally, the Embassy is greatly concerned about reports of attacks on students in Jaffna. We call upon authorities to exercise restraint and respect peaceful demonstrations."

A group of Buddhist monks and followers, from the Bodu Bala Sena organisation, held a protest outside the Department of Archeology on Thursday, demanding that the governmental authorities protect archeological sites in the Eastern province.

Responding to the venerable protesters, the National Heritage minister Mahinda Balasuriya, and the Director General of the department of Archeology, Senerath Dissanayake, said that they would do everything possible to ensure the sites outlined by the monks were 'secure' by January next year.

Speaking to the press on the Sri Lankan military's and Sri Lankan police's attacks on Tamil university students, TNA MP Saravanbhavan said that what he saw was exactly what happened 30 years ago.

Stating that the Sri Lankan security forces inherently viewed Tamil university students as the enemy, Saravanabhavan said,

"The government should realise that so long as the army and the security forces view the Tamil people and especially the Tamil students as the enemy, reconciliation will not happen."

"What happened today and what happened yesterday has pushed back reconciliation by 5 years."

See video on TamilNet here.

Speaking in the Australian senate on Tuesday, the senator for New South Wales, Lee Rhiannon, recalled her past experience of attending a remembrance event with the Tamil community on 27th November, and stressed that she stood by the Tamil people on this very important day.

See here for full address, excerpt follows:

"For Tamils all around the world, including in Sri Lanka, 27 November marks a very important and hauntingly sad day. In Tamil the day is known as Maaveerar Naal. Veerar means 'warrior' or 'hero'; Maa means 'great'; and Naal means 'day'. It is a day on which millions of Tamils will remember the hundreds and thousands of brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children and the elderly who sacrificed their life in the 26-year-long struggle for their freedom.

Last year on this day I joined around 2,000 Tamils in Sydney's west to pay respect to the courage, strength and sacrifice of the Tamil people. The overwhelming distress and pain of the Tamil community as they stood in line to lay down a flower in respect for the fallen was a piercing emotional experience for me. I am in parliament today so I will not be able to join the community, but I still stand beside them as their friend on this significant day.

I have come to know the Tamil community in Sydney intimately and I know that their grief and feeling of betrayal by the international community, world leaders, and the United Nations is still very raw. These emotions are perpetuated by the discrimination and brutality the Tamils continue to face at the hands of the Sri Lankan government, including the sexual abuse and exploitation of women, imprisonment, land grabs, torture, assassinations and kidnappings.

Australia's continuing 'friendly' relations with Sri Lanka in order to stop Tamils from fleeing their country is a matter of despair. The Australian government and opposition's discriminatory views and actions towards Tamil asylum seekers who do manage to make the dangerous journey here is shameful.

The recent assassination in France of a French Tamil community leader is an example of the ongoing challenges that the diaspora Tamils face. Over the weekend, thousands of Tamils across France and Europe gathered in Paris to pay their respects to Mr Nadarajah, also known as Parithi, who was murdered on 8 November. It is alleged that his killing was orchestrated by Sri Lankan government officials. When investigating these crimes I trust that the French authorities will be thorough and transparent with any information that may indicate it was a political assassination.

At the service, there were community representatives from Australia, Canada and New Zealand. French politicians were reportedly present. The mass attendance and the state-like ceremony that was performed reflects the commitment and resolve of the Tamils. Amidst their show of communal grief, they have once again sent a powerful message to the international community that they will not be silenced in their work to achieve a war crimes investigation and justice for Tamils in Sri Lanka."

Students from Jaffna University have been attacked by Sri Lankan police and military after protests against the military’s harassment of Tamil youths on Tuesday.

The peaceful demonstrations saw dozens of students rally outside the university, holding banners and shouting slogans.

According to TamilNet, four students were arrested and AFP reported that at least 20 sustained injuries, after SL police and military attacked the protestors.

Pictures published on TamilNet and some Sri Lankan media shows police beating students.

Tensions have been high in Jaffna as Tamils have been preparing to mark Maveerar Naal and security forces are attempting to suppress any commemoration.

On Tuesday, soldiers entered hostels in Jaffna University and attacked students, after lamps of sacrifice were lit.

Temple bells across Jaffna were tolled at 18:07, the time at which Lt Shankar died on November 27, 30 years ago.

TNA MP Saravanapavan, who rushed to the university after students complained of the assaults, was attacked by soldiers. Stones thrown at his vehicle caused extensive damage, but Mr Saravanapavan escaped unharmed.

TamilNet reports that military personnel were also stationed around the houses of TNPF politicians Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and Kajendran Selvarajah.

A parliamentary caucus in Malaysia on abuse of human rights in Sri Lanka, opposed Mahinda Rajapaksa's planned visit to the country, reports the country's Daily Star media site, quoting the Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz as source.

The minister also announced that the caucus, consisting of members from both sides of parliament, had been set up following great concerns regarding human rights abuses on the situation on the island, and would be monitoring progress on the UNHRC's resolution.

Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said,

“We will also send a letter to ask them what action has been taken thus far. We have nothing against the country (Sri Lanka) but are looking at the human rights abuse against the Tamils. The persons responsible must be brought to justice,”

Earlier this week, it was announced that Rajapaksa's visit was cancelled due to "unavoidable circumstances".

Today, the 27th November, in every corner of the world, Eelam Tamils join together in an act of remembrance. From a Gloriosa lily proudly affixed onto a coat lapel, to the collective events of remembrance held in capitals worldwide, to the daring posters reported in the North-East, today the nation remembers.

For the Eelam nation, there are of course many days of national remembrance and reflection across the year. After all, it should come as no surprise that a nation ravaged by persecution, genocide and armed conflict, is in a state of frequent grief and mourning. Yet today - Maaveerar Naal - is set apart from all other occasions. It remembers not the finality of death, but the solemnity of sacrifice.

In a world post-9/11, ‘sacrifice’ may have become a tainted word to some. However, this blanket scorn ignores the lessons of history. The honouring of sacrifice need not be one of mindless glorification or blood-thirsty terrorism. Throughout the ages the formation and consolidation of each nation is smeared with death and sanctified by sacrifice. It is the mark of any honourable person that they respect the dead, and it is the mark of any civilised nation that it does not forget those who died for it.

The Eelam nation is no different. Like other nations across the world, once a year, in a collective act, woven deep with symbolism, customs and significance, the nation remembers the sacrifices made for it, honours those whose toil served it, and resolves never to forget those whose blood forms it.

This day of remembrance is not to revere death. There can be no doubt, that the gravity of the nation’s loss is never more poignant, profound, or painful than it is on this day. This day of remembrance is instead to honour the choice made by a remarkable few. That in the face of collective annihilation, aware of the risks involved, young Tamil men and women chose to stand up and fight against it.  It is this courage, determination and selflessness that are able to humble and inspire the whole nation. This is precisely why the nation’s remembrance of its Maaveerar in the homeland is brutally quashed by the Sri Lankan state.

Every act of possible significance, from the tolling of a church bell, to a temple prayer, or the solitary act of lighting a candle is prohibited, and every possible location of significance, systematically destroyed. Yet the nation still remembers - whether it be a large-scale communal act in the diaspora, or a silent moment of thought in the North-East, on the 27th November, the nation remembers.

And so it must.

The Sri Lankan military has been increasing its brutal quashing of all remembrance acts in the North-East according to several reports.

Following on from reports of remembrance posters being taken down by the military in the North-East, the Daily Mirror reports that five people have been arrested in Akkaraipatuwa, in connection with the posters.

TamilNet reports on attempts to intimidate and suppress acts of remembrance across the North-East, including the widespread deployment of the military and navy to threaten Tamils into submission.