A series of Sri Lankan government websites have been hacked today, with messages commemorating the Mullivaikkal genocide that was carried out by the state in May 2009. 

The websites hit by the hackers include Sri Lanka's Ministry of Health, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in People's Republic of China and the Rajarata University website. 

Tamils in Australia rallied in Melbourne and Sydney on Sunday to commemorate the 12th anniversary of Mullivaikkal genocide which saw the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils in May 2009. 

The protests, which were organised by the Tamil Refugee Council, had four key demands: 

• End the military occupation of the traditional Tamil homelands in the North and East;

Former Northern Provincial Council member, M.K Shivajilingham marked the sixth day of Mullivaikkal remembrance week despite facing intimidation by Sri Lanka's security forces.

Shivajilingham lit a flame at the Mullivaikkal memorial monument which was destroyed by the Sri Lankan army last week. The monument pays tribute to the tens of thousands of Tamils that were killed in the final days of the armed conflict by the Sri Lankan goverment. 

Rights groups and activists have long complained that social media platforms are taking down content that is integral for human rights activism around the world. This has ranged from deleting evidence of chemical weapons attacks in Syria, to suspending some accounts linked to the farmer’s protest in India, and, just this week, removing content highlighting the violence in Sheikh Jarrah. Some of these removals seem to be happening by accident and are reinstated shortly after, while others are driven by mass reporting by digital activists working for various authoritarian governments. 

^{File photograph: Abbas meets Rajapaksa in 2014}

Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa released a statement in support of Palestine’s “legitimate right to statehood” and called for a ceasefire this morning, as Israel’s assault on Gaza continued.

13 rights groups have called on Sri Lanka to immediately release Ahnaf Jazeem, who has been in detention for a year without charge "or promptly charge him with internationally recognisable criminal offences and try him in accordance with international fair trial standards." 

Former Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member, Thurairasa Ravikaran  questioned why Mullaitivu police issued an order against him carrying out Mullivaikkal commemorations, despite them ignoring a Sinhala festival that violated COVID-19 guidelines earlier this week.

Watch live as Tamil Youth Organisation UK (TYOUK) and UK Tamil societies come together to remember those killed in the genocide of Tamils by the Sri Lankan state in 2009.

German Tamils protested in one of Berlin’s busiest train stations, Hermannplatz, to raise awareness of the Tamil genocide ahead of the Tamil Genocide Day.

Every May 12^th to 18^th, also known as the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week, Eelam Tamils across the globe mourn the deaths of tens of thousands of people who were killed by the Sri Lankan armed forces during the final phase of the armed struggle in May 2009. 

German Tamils joined mass protests in Berlin to express their condemnation of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and occupation of Palestine.

Tamil Eelam flags were seen being carried by Tamil protesters, for whom the struggles against illegal state occupation and the fight for self-determination are not unfamiliar.