The Sri Lankan government has announced that they are considering purchasing crude oil from Iraq, after US-imposed sanctions on Iran, the island’s main supplier of crude oil.

The announcement follows the US Senate passing another wave of sanctions aimed at Iran’s energy sector. The country was estimated to have provided up to 92% of Sri Lanka’s crude oil prior to the sanctions being put in place.

The head of the Jaffna Security Forces, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe, dismissed the widespread news at the Sri Lankan military, along with the police, were responsible for attacks at Jaffna university over Maaveerar Naal commemoration events, and on the editor of the Tamil newspaper, the Uthayan.

Four students from Jaffna University have been transferred to Colombo after being arrested by the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) on Friday.

The arrested students are:

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has incurred losses of over Rs 100bn, reported The Sunday Times.

A senior official at the Ministry of Petroleum Industries said that the losses are due to arrears from state institutions and providing fuel at concessionary rates.

In a statement published on Friday, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) urged all foreign donors to demand the "immediate release of all students taken into custody following Tamil Remembrance Day", as well as the "witholding of further economic assistance and military cooperation until the government allows Remembrance Day to be marked by the families of the dead."

See here for full statement, extracts reproduced below:

"Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) condemns the violent repression of Tamil freedom of expression by the Sri Lankan military and police forces and the accompanying destruction of collective history.
 
It is critical that these latest instances of State perpetrated violence be seen not in isolation but in the context of the systemic and structural persecution by the Sri Lankan State. 
 
These acts of violently destroying national memory may be viewed as one of the ‘different coordinated actions’ referred to in Raphael Lemkin’s definition of genocide. Lemkin defines genocide as a ‘a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of the essential foundations of the life of national groups.,. (where) The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups’

Updated 01:00 BST 03/12/2012

Tamil university students from across the United Kingdom have released a joint statement criticising the intimidation which Jaffna University students faced in the days leading up to Maaveerar Naal and condemning the attacks on the student demonstration which followed.

In a statement released on Friday, Tamil Societies from 16 British universities joined with Tamil Youth Organisation UK to call for the international community to demand the release of the arrested students, condemning the "brazen attempts by Sri Lanka to deny the Tamil nation of this basic right, through intimidation, aggression and sheer violence."

See here for full press release.

Extracts reproduced below:

“It is unacceptable and reprehensible that any people or nation could be prevented by a government and its security forces from mourning and remembering its war dead. The recent events highlight more brazen attempts by Sri Lanka to deny the Tamil nation of this basic right, through intimidation, aggression and sheer violence.”

“The United Nations and the international community must recognise that Sri Lanka is showing no progress or even intention of respecting its democratic obligations. Instead Sri Lanka is further demonstrating utter disregard for the rights of Tamils on the island, as well as its intent to silence and punish any voice of dissent from the Tamil nation.”

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.