The international community must do more to hold Sri Lanka to account for its ongoing human rights abuses, says Australian senator Lee Rhiannon.

In a speech to the Australian parliament, Greens senator Lee Rhiannon recounted how Sri Lanka’s chief of national intelligence, himself accused of perpetrating torture, evaded questions from the UN’s Committee Against Torture.

Quoting reports from Together Against Genocide, PEARL, Adayaalam, Journalists from Democracy in Sri Lanka and other organisations, the senator made the case for holding Sri Lanka more strongly to account, in particular calling for the EU to remain firm when considering restoring GSP+ to the country.

The Canadian Tamil Parliamentary Friendship Group (CTPFG) held its inaugural meeting on Monday 22 November.

The cross-party parliamentary group was established with the aim of building a strong relationship between Canada and the worldwide Tamil diaspora, whilst continuing to “focus on issues important to Tamil-Canadians, including advocacy on human rights, and accountability for violations against Tamils”

Speaking at the inauguration, the Chair of the CTPFG, Liberal MP Mark Holland, said,

The Vavuniya Citizens Committee called this week for Tamils across the world to commemorate Maaveerar Naal, remembering the sacrifice of those who died for the Tamil struggle. 

"On November 27th as usual under aegis of the Citizens Committee of Vauviniya, exactly at 6.05 PM, the Vavuniya Church bell will toll three times and before a model tombstone a common lamp will be lit as a mark of respect to pay homage to the great souls who laid their lives," the committee said in a statement published earlier this week. 

Students at Aarhus University in Denmark marked Maaveerar Naal (Tamil national remembrance day) on Friday. 

Newspapers in the North-East on Saturday marked the 62nd birthday of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which falls on November 26 with a special feature published on the front page. 

The birthday of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran on November 26 was marked in secret at the University of Jaffna on Saturday. 

A cake decorated with '62' candles and red and yellow balloons were displayed in front of the Kailasapathy arts hall. 

In the run up to Maaveerar Naal, young Tamil artists took to Instagram to commemorate the thousands who gave their lives fighting in the Tamil struggle.

Posters marking Maaveerar Naal (Tamil national remembrance day) were posted anonymously around the University of Jaffna as the students and staff held remembrance events on Friday. 

The posters feature a gloriosa lily and the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), V Prabhakaran in front of the LTTE's insignia. 

Students and staff at the University of Jaffna marked Maaveerar Naal (Tamil national remembrance day) on Friday, lighting candles in memory of those who gave their lives to the Tamil struggle. 

The Northern Provincial Council has condemned the building of Buddhist viharas in the North as well as calling for legal action against Buddhist monks who incite racial and religious hatred.

In its 66th sitting on Thursday, the NPC’s chair C. V. K. Sivagnanam brought the resolution condemning the proliferation of Buddhist viharas across the North, pointing out that the region was home to very few Buddhists.

The resolution also called for legal action to be taken against Buddhist monks, particularly mentioning the recent incident in Batticaloa’s Mangalaramam, where a monk was filmed racially abusing and threatening to kill a Tamil government official.