The bombing of displaced Tamils inside Navaly's St Peter's Church on July 9th, 1995 was marked on Saturday as part of Mullivaikkal Remembrance week, which remembers the genocide of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka over several decades.

At least 120 Tamil civilians were massacred in the Navali church attack.



The Northern Provincial Councillor, M K Shivajilingham lit a flame of remembrance at the church.



Launching the remembrance week on Thursday, Mr Shivajilingham began proceedings in Chemmani, where the mass graves of Tamils are situated.

A conference on international humanitarian and human rights law violations in Sri Lanka was held in the Danish Parliament this week, with speakers from around the world discussing mass atrocities committed on the island and the current human rights situation.

The organisers of Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week have been followed and intimidated by Sri Lankan military intelligence, stated Northern Provincial Council member M K Shivajilingam.

Mr Shivajilingam said that since he and other Tamil politicians lit a flame to launch commemoration the 7th anniversary of the massacre of Tamils at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009, Sri Lankan military personnel have been following him and other organisers.

They report being followed and filmed by military intelligence personnel.

The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday raised the ongoing arrests of fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy with the country's president, Maithripala Sirisena, who is currently in New Delhi for talks.

Mr Modi stressed the need "to develop a mechanism and find a permanent solution to the issue of fishermen straying into each other waters."

Despite a number of previous discussions between figures from both countries the arrests and impounding of fishing boats have continued.

The idea of establishing a "common economic zone" was also reportedly discussed.

Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week was officially launched on May 12th in Jaffna, with the lighting of a flame, marking the 7th anniversary of the massacre of Tamils at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009.

The US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power met with former Sri Lankan President Chandrika, Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, currently Chairperson of Sri Lanka’s Office of National Unity Reconciliation (OUNUR) , and Mano Tittawella, Secretary General for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms on Wednesday.

A statement released by the US embassy to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, said they “discussed the importance of accountability. Ambassador Power emphasised the necessity of addressing human rights abuses and urged that transitional justice efforts move forward as soon as possible."

Armed Sri Lankan soldiers surrounded and photographed a group of Tamil demonstrators in Poonakari this week, as they protested against military land grabs in the area.

 

Sri Lanka's state minister of defence on Thursday warned the police has been ordered to crackdown on any activities it deemed were in remembrance of LTTE cadres, during next week's Mullivaikkal remembrance week commemorated by Tamils.

“We will not allow the LTTE flag to be raised or any event to be held in support of the LTTE leader or LTTE cadres,” he was quoted by Colombo Gazette as saying.

"If anyone violates the law by holding events in support of the LTTE, legal action will be taken against them."

The government does not have a problem with remembering dead civilians, he reportedly added.