File photograph

Today marks 39 years since 36 Tamils were massacred by Sri Lankan Navy officers on board the Kumuthini boat on May 15, 1985. 

Eye witnesses reported seeing six plain clothed Navy officers boarding the Kumuthini boat and pointing a gun at passengers before ordering them to come up to the main deck one by one and shout their name and destination. 

Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) leader and MP Sivagnanam Shritharan called the actions of Sri Lankan police who arrested four Tamils earlier this week for preparing Mullivaikkal Kanji ‘despicable’ and ‘inhumane’ adding that their arrests were unwarranted and illegal. 

The US President Joe Biden’s nominee for Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Elizabeth K. Horst, says that if confirmed she will support members of "marginalized populations, accountability, truth and reconciliation, and transparency and justice in Sri Lanka".

Day 3 of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week is being marked in Jaffna today, with a blood donation drive at the University of Jaffna while a memorial float travels through the region. 

During May 12th - 18th, also known as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week, Tamils in the North-East and the diaspora hold various memorial events to commemorate the tens of thousands of Tamils who were massacred at the hands of Sri Lanka's armed forces in 2009. 

Sri Lankan police deployed the paramilitary Special Task Force in Amparai to threaten Tamil women activists with arrest if they distributed a rice porridge dish today, following a court order to clamp down on Tamil Genocide commemoration events.

I am in grade 10 now. I want to score enough to be able to enter Advance Level soon. I love the subject history. I was four years old when I lost my leg, I am 15 years old now. My studies depend on the income we get from the coconut grove.

Herlev

A special service was held in Herlev Vor Frue Church in Denmark in memory of the tens of thousands of Tamils who were massacred in the genocide in the Tamil homeland. Floral tributes were laid and candles were lit as part of the service. Tamils gathered at the church to offer prayers during this service.

Grindsted

The Mullivaikkal Commemoration Committee invited Tamils from across the homeland to gather at the Mullivaikkal Memorial site on May 18, and commemorate the tens and thousands of Tamils massacred by Sri Lankan security forces. 

Four Tamils including three women who were violently dragged away from their homes in Sampur by Sri Lankan police for distributing Mullivaikkal Kanji were produced before the Muttur Magistrate Courts today. They were ordered to be placed in remand custody until May 27. 

The second day of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week was marked in the North-East today, with civil society organisations and individuals organising various events to mark 15 years since the Mullivaikkal genocide.