The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry organised a ceremony to mark ‘War Heroes Day’ on May 19, as Tamils across the North-East mourned the tens of thousands killed by the Sri Lankan military during the Mullivaikkal genocide.

According to the Defence Ministry  the comemoration was held as Sri Lanka  "enters into yet another year of peace, unity, and renewed hope since the terrorist war ended".

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was joined by accused war criminal and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to mark the occasion. In tow were accused war criminals Chief of Defence Staff Shavendra Silva, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Wasantha Karannagoda.

Participants laid wreaths and paid tribute to Sri Lankan soldiers who they claimed "liberated the country from the clutches of terrorism".

Over 169,000 Tamils remain unaccoutned for from the last phase of the Sri Lankan military offensive alone. The period was littered with routine abuses included the repeated bombing of hospitals, the execution of surrendering Tamils and widespread sexual violence.

Meanwhile, in the North-East, thousands of Eelam Tamils held commemorations to mourn those massacred, in a day marked globally as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.

Amnesty International's Secretary-General, Agnes Callamard who attended the Mullivaikkal commemoration event called on the international community to take decisive action by referring Sri Lanka to the United Nations Security Council with a view to an International Criminal Court investigation over the massacres.

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