On the day 26 years ago, over half a million Tamil men, women and children fled their homes in Jaffna as the Sri Lankan military launched a military offensive to capture the peninsula, under the leadership of then president Chandrika Kumaratunga.

On October 30, 1995, the entire town of Jaffna, the largest Tamil population centre on the island, streamed out in a mass exodus for the safety of the Vanni, which was then controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa departed for Scotland on Saturday, heading a high level delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, where protests are planned to greet him.

Rajapaksa was accompanied by Sri Lanka’s environment minister Mahinda Amaraweera and several other senior officials, including Foreign Secretary and fellow accused war criminal, Jayanath Colombage.

As Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa prepares to visit Glasgow tomorrow, a campaign by Scottish Tamil activists went digital this week, protesting against his visit to the country.

Alongside newspaper adverts and projections on landmarks across Scotland, a set of online advertisements were placed in The Herald and other websites this week.

Over 50,000 adverts were reportedly based strategically targeting postcodes in Glasgow, where Rajapaksa is set to speak at a side event on nitrogen use.

Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is set to speak at a side event tomorrow during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, as Tamils from across the UK are gathering in Scotland to protest his appearance.

Canadian politicians from both the Liberal and Conservative parties slammed Instagram and Facebook, which has been rebranded to Meta, last night, after the social media platform removed the Tamil Guardian Instagram account for more than 48 hours this week.

World-leading expert in international rights and humanitarian law Wayne Jordash QC is calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UK to investigate crimes perpetrated against Sri Lankan Tamils.

Tamil families of the disappeared held a protest outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office this morning in Jaffna as they demand answers regarding the fates and locations of their forcibly disappeared loved ones. 

The families have been holding roadside protests since 2017 under horrible weather conditions calling for justice and accountability. 

"Where are they? Where are our loved ones?" the families chanted. 

Sri Lanka's Counter-Terrorism Investigation Department (CTID) summoned Tamil community activist Kanagasabai Vimalathas, over his social media posts relating to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 

The Mullaitivu based activist, was interrogated for over four hours in Vavuniya in relation to his posts on social networking sites such as Facebook, Whatsapp and Viber and was also questioned over his social activism organisation. 

Writing in The Herald  this week, Wayne Jordash QC and Uzay Yasar Aysev of Global Rights Compliance LLP, called for Police Scotland to end their training programme with Sri Lanka following heaps of evidence highlighting human rights abuses. 

The advert forms part of a campaign led by Scottish Tamils ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. 

Earlier this week, a landmark legal submission was filed by Global Rights Compliance LLP with the International Criminal Court (ICC) calling on the Chief Prosecutor to “investigate and in due course arrest” several senior Sri Lankan officials for crimes against humanity.

A full page advert on page 7 of The Herald called for Police Scotland to “not train human rights abusers but investigate them.” 

The advert which forms part of a campaign led by Scottish Tamils with the support of other Eelam Tamil activists, highlights human rights abuses committed by Sri Lanka’s security forces who are trained by Police Scotland.