Third Mu'l'livaaykkaal in the name of 'development'[Wed, 10 Mar 2010, 12:50 GMT] After abetting a military defeat and subsequently blessing a political defeat, the coterie of countries propping up Sri Lankan state is now bent upon enacting a third Mu’l’livaaykkaal, by bringing in a ‘development defeat’ of Eezham Tamils through handing over development management to the Sinhalese, said a concerned group of diaspora Tamils who recently had an experience of negotiating development in a peace-facilitating European country. Funding agencies of this country, citing their present choice of a Sinhala NGO for implementation of programmes in the island, advise Diaspora Tamils seeking development funds for the North and East to work under the Sinhala NGO. Full story >>
Latest 15 Reports:
Mar 11 19:03 Mar 11 16:34 Mar 11 16:25 Mar 11 03:28 Mar 10 14:27 Mar 10 12:50 Mar 10 12:30 Mar 10 12:19 Mar 10 10:58 Mar 10 10:50 Mar 10 09:28 Mar 10 08:16 Mar 10 06:33 Mar 09 12:02 Mar 09 11:21 China lends Sri Lanka $290m for development[Wed, 10 Mar 2010, 12:30 GMT] China has completed arrangements through its funding arm, Exim Bank, to provide $290m in concessionary development loans to Sri Lanka, Reuters reported. $190m of the loan is to develop a second airport in Matara and the other $100m is to improve the railways. China was the largest foreign funding source for Sri Lanka in 2009 with $1.2 billion followed by the Asian Development Bank with $424 million, according to the same report. The 2009 funds were allocated to build roads, coal power project in the Eastern province, and a port in Sri Lanka's President's electorate in Hambantota. Full story >>Ban Ki Moon concerned over Sri Lanka's lack of progress[Tue, 09 Mar 2010, 04:09 GMT] Expressing concerns on the lack of progress on "political reconciliation, the treatment of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the setting up of an accountability process in Sri Lanka," United Nations Secretary General, confirmed that he intends to move forward on a group of experts which will advise him on setting the broad parameters and standards on the way ahead on establishing accountability concerning Sri Lanka, a UN News Center report said. "The accountability concerns possible breaches of international humanitarian law or abuses of human rights carried out during the conflict," the report said. Earlier, High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Navi Pillay, called on Sri Lanka to investigate the allegations itself, albeit with outside help. Full story >>SL Supreme Court: Voting rights of IDPs should be ensured[Thu, 11 Mar 2010, 16:25 GMT] Sri Lankan Supreme Court Thursday directed that the rules and regulation laid
down by the SL Elections Commissioner pertaining to the voting rights of
the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) during the presidential
election be implemented fully. Full story >>Government continues to deceive IDPs in resettlement in HSZs in Valikaamam – President of IDP Welfare organizations[Fri, 05 Mar 2010, 11:47 GMT] Sri Lanka government continues to deceive the people evicted from their properties in Valikaamam north and east in Jaffna, which were declared High Security Zones (HSZs) by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), without allowing to them to resettle in their homes as promised time and again by government ministers and officials, A. S. Nadarajah, the president of the Federation of Welfare Organizations in Jaffna peninsula told TamilNet Friday. Even the promises made by President Rajapakse and his brother Basil Rajapakse prior to the recent presidential election have not been fulfilled, he added. Full story >>Pilgrims to Paalaitheevu St. Antony’s church suspect presence of Chinese navy[Sun, 07 Mar 2010, 15:11 GMT] Pilgrims who returned from Paalaitheevu after attending the lent period prayers in St. Antony’s church Sunday said that they had seen many Chinese Tents and food packets with Chinese writing on them during the annual festival held Saturday and Sunday. Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) occupies many of the pilgrims’ halls behind the church and no one was allowed to enter them, the devotees said. Chinese navy presence in Kachchatheevu has been confirmed by Tamil Nadu journalists who had participated in the St. Antony’s Church festival recently, according to a Tamil daily in Tamil Nadu. Full story >>2ND LEAD (Adds photos) US Supreme Court ruling on "sovereign immunity" key to war crimes litigation[Sun, 07 Mar 2010, 01:55 GMT] The central issue discussed in the March 4th morning arguments heard by the panel of nine United States Supreme Court judges in the case Samantar v. Yousuf was not if the the former Somali defense minister Samantar was responsible for torture, war-crimes, and rape in his native land but whether Samantar has immunity under the Foreign State Immunity Act (FSIA) preventing alleged victims from bringing him to court in the United States on tort claims. The courts ruling which is expected in June, will set an important legal precedent, and will likely determine if alleged war criminals can use US as a safe-haven, legal sources in Washington D.C. said. Full story >>China, India, compete helping Colombo’s demographic onslaught of Tamils[Thu, 04 Mar 2010, 01:30 GMT] While Colombo plans allotting lands for ‘retired’ Sinhala army personnel in the so-called 'resettlement' schemes of Tamil North and East of the island of Sri Lanka, China and India compete in proving who is the best facilitator of Colombo in its demographic onslaught, Eezham Tamils circles said. China has emerged as Sri Lanka’s biggest single lender in 2009, revealed Colombo sources adding that China’s top aid to the North was spent particularly on creating conducive environment for Colombo’s occupying armed forces there. India is already helping Colombo’s communication strategies disrupting Tamil demographic contiguity. In the meantime, relieving Colombo from Western pressure, Indian envoy in Colombo said Sri Lanka could export more garments to India under Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. Full story >>3RD LEAD (Adds details, links) Ex-Somali defense minister in war-crimes trial in US[Tue, 02 Mar 2010, 12:09 GMT] U.S. Supreme Court will hear "war-crimes charges" against former Somali Defense minister and Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Samantar in a civil case this Wednesday, legal sources in Washington said. Samantar, 74, currently lives in Fairfax, Virginia, after fleeing his native country in 1991 to Rome, and then moving to the U.S. to join his wife and children in 1997. Samantar's five accusers say that Samantar bears command responsibility for a "regime of repeated rape, abduction, summary execution, and years long imprisonment in solitiary confinement" of many of their relatives. Samantar's attorneys argue that their client has immunity under Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act. Full story >>Swiss Tamils set benchmark in political organisation[Fri, 05 Mar 2010, 01:32 GMT] Eezham Tamils in Switzerland will democratically elect their representatives to form Swiss Council of Eezham Tamils on March 28, announced Tamil Election Switzerland (TES) it its official website. The constitution of the council will be based on the democratic mandate given by the diaspora Tamils of Switzerland in a referendum held in January this year, the announcement further said. The democratic moves of Swiss Tamils for their political organisation have already received widespread appreciation from the Swiss media, political parties and from the members of the National Parliament. The council will follow Switzerland's federal model of cantons for its structure, said Thayatharan Deivendran, the spokesman of the election committee. Full story >>UN investigation can serve as leverage to establish ICTSL, says Prof. Boyle[Thu, 11 Mar 2010, 03:28 GMT] Commenting on the United Nations report that UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon's appointed experts will establish standards for Sri Lanka's accountability concerning "possible breaches of international humanitarian law...," Professor Francis A. Boyle of University of Illinois College of Law said, "[t]his language of "international humanitarian law" means that the United Nations will be getting into investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the GOSL against the Tamils, which is an encouraging sign. In other words, the United Nations will be investigating international criminal responsibility by the Rajapaksas, Fonseka, the General Staff, et al," Boyle added. Full story >>Orchestrated efforts suspected in silencing war witnesses[Thu, 04 Mar 2010, 05:22 GMT] Some recent 'abductions' of Eezham Tamil refugees who have come to Tamil Nadu after the war may have connections to orchestrated efforts in silencing war crime witnesses, allege informed media circles in Chennai. Within the last one month, a special group of people, released from the detention camps of Colombo, was sent to Tamil Nadu to carry out certain specific tasks, the sources said adding that the group includes some former LTTE members of key positions and those who were employed in the former Tamil Eelam civil administration, including the police. Full story >>More than 100,000 children traumatised: Norwegian aid worker[Thu, 04 Mar 2010, 18:03 GMT] Redd Barna (Save the Children) aid worker from Norway, Vidar Strøm, has said that there are over one hundred thousand children who have been traumatised, to a greater or lesser degree, after being exposed to the war and then for the internment camps in the North. Redd Barna has gained access to the camps only after December 01 and is working to create child-friendly environment within the camps. "The goal is to make a very abnormal situation as normal as possible," Mr. Strøm told the official website of the organisation. Full story >>Chinese involvement in Jaffna peninsula gains momentum[Wed, 10 Mar 2010, 08:16 GMT] While India is said to be seriously considering opening a branch of its High Commission for Sri Lanka in Jaffna, Chinese contractors are actively engaged in planning the broadening of five major roads in the peninsula in keeping with the agreement entered with Sri Lanka President, Mahintha Rajapakse, sources in Jaffna said. A conference presided by Jaffna Government Agent was held Tuesday at Jaffna Secretariat to discuss matters related to road development projects in Jaffna peninsula with Chinese funds. Top officials from the Northern Province Street Development Commission Board (NPSDCB) explained the proposed projects to the participants in the conference. Divisional Secretaries, representatives of Traders’ Union and other civil organizations were invited to the above conference, the sources added. Full story >>GTF resolution inspires Tamil polity[Sat, 06 Mar 2010, 05:13 GMT] Whereas the Tamils democratically gave the mandate for the independence of their own country Tamil Eelam by endorsing the Vaddukoddai Resolution of 1976, in the 1977 general elections, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) calls upon the international community, governments, leaders and the UN to conduct a UN monitored referendum in the North-East region of Sri Lanka and among the displaced Tamils living in other countries, to determine if they wish independence or to be part of a united Sri Lanka, says a crucial part of the GTF resolution passed unanimously in London last week. The GTF resolution, not voluntarily surrendering the cause of Eezham Tamils but leaving it to the democratic choice of the concerned people, should inspire polity in the name of Tamil nationalism in the island and in the diaspora, Tamil circles commented. Full story >>Time for International Criminal Tribunal on Sri Lanka, says Boyle[Sun, 07 Mar 2010, 22:03 GMT] Dismissing the response by Colombo that Ban Ki Moon had not appointed panel of experts on other countries where there are "continuing armed conflicts on a large scale, involving major humanitarian catastrophes and causing the deaths of large numbers of civilians due to military action," as "simply untrue nonsense," Francis A. Boyle, professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, said that during the past year alone UN Human Rights Council had authorized Goldstone Commission investigation into Israel war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza. Noting that the "United Nations is just beginning to do the right thing for the Tamils," Prof Boyle urged that "Tamils around the world could do the same thing for establishing an International Criminal Tribunal for Sri Lanka (ICTSL)." Full story >>SLA harasses resettled IDPs in Vanni[Tue, 09 Mar 2010, 11:21 GMT] Vanni Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) allowed to resettle in some areas in Ki’linochchi and Mannaar districts are being subjected to severe restrictions and harassment by occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources close Jaffna Bishop's House said. This information was gathered from the group of Catholic Bishops of six districts who visited the said areas in Ki’linochchi and Mannaar recently, the sources said. The Bishops, however, are reluctant to officially disclose this situation in Vanni due to fear, the sources added. Full story >>SLA systematically terrorises female detainees[Tue, 02 Mar 2010, 21:45 GMT] Torture of female detainees in special camps of the Sri Lankan Army in Vavuniyaa continues to the extent of making many of the detainees insane, reports reaching from Vavuniyaa said. The torture is mainly carried out by female soldiers of the SLA, according to information provided by reliable civil society sources, which claim that they have hard evidence to prove it if there is any credible international investigation. Full story >>Unacknowledged suffering can return to haunt history, says NPR[Sat, 06 Mar 2010, 04:30 GMT] During the popular Diane Rehm show in Washington's National Public Radio (NPR) Friday, responding to a question on the muted response of Obama administration to the slaughter of civilians in Sri Lanka, NPR's commentator Gjelten said, "When people feel that their suffering is not acknowledged and recognized by the international community, they tend to develop grudges, and they remember this. And they are scarred by that experience. One sobering lesson is that, when Nations feel historic grudge, it can come back to haunt history generations later... These grudges come back to the surface, and they can re-ignite in new conflicts." Full story >>
Flashback:
2009: 2009 Mar 12 23:40 SLA shelling kills 82 civilians inside 'safe zo... 2009 Mar 12 21:43 EU Parliament passes significant resolution 2009 Mar 12 18:19 5 Tamil civilians arrested in Trincomalee 2009 Mar 12 15:23 3 more SLA detention centres for Vanni IDPs ope... 2009 Mar 12 14:28 SLTB bus burnt down in Batticaloa 2009 Mar 12 13:07 50,000 families affected by floods in 'safe zone' 2009 Mar 12 11:04 LTTE asks whether UN abets Colombo discrediting... 2009 Mar 12 02:44 US Legislators point out Sri Lanka's "Red Alert... 2008: 2008 Mar 12 18:15 US must rethink its narrow focus on terrorism -... 2008 Mar 12 16:31 Take back Kachchatheevu: Indian Parliamentarians 2008 Mar 12 15:02 Dinamani: Tamil Nadu should shape Center’s poli... 2008 Mar 12 14:23 Torrential rain floods Batticaloa, Ampaarai 2008 Mar 12 12:38 Tamil civilian abducted in Moneragala 2008 Mar 12 12:37 Body with gunshot wounds recovered in Paalaiyoothu 2008 Mar 12 12:26 SLA, LTTE clash in Pa'ndivirichchaan 2008 Mar 12 10:51 Husband, wife shot dead in Puththa'lam 2008 Mar 12 04:30 British parliamentarians call for UK to rein in... 2008 Mar 12 04:22 LTTE ending use of child soldiers - US 2008 Mar 12 02:45 Koaralaippattu North residents not issued NICs 2007: 2007 Mar 12 23:24 Textile vender shot dead in Jaffna 2007 Mar 12 23:16 751 IDPs return to Muthur Tamil villages from B... 2007 Mar 12 17:15 Elderly man killed, three injured in Amparai 2007 Mar 12 11:29 SLA conducts search operation in Muttur villages 2007 Mar 12 08:40 Body with gunshot wounds recovered in Vavuniya 2007 Mar 12 01:34 SLA forces exodus of Tamils in Batticaloa 2006: 2006 Mar 12 12:33 Sea Tigers launch Deep-Sea Ops training to Auxi... 2006 Mar 12 12:07 SLN relaxes fishing ban in Thondamannar-VVT seas 2006 Mar 12 11:51 Defunct committees cause hardships to fishermen... 2006 Mar 12 09:13 SLN takes Indian poachers to Point Pedro milita... 2006 Mar 12 03:33 Manalkadu refugee families lack basic facilities 2005: 2005 Mar 12 21:11 English language teaching project concludes in ... 2005 Mar 12 13:10 US Senator's office exposes Lanka customs clear... 2005 Mar 12 10:00 Lord Konesar procession concludes in Trincomalee 2005 Mar 12 09:16 CONCERN WORLDWIDE assists tsunami hit Trinco fi... 2005 Mar 12 06:06 Crowds block Sri Lanka army garrisons in Chavak... 2005 Mar 12 01:07 UNICEF funds refurbishment of Muttur Children's... 2004: 2004 Mar 12 15:38 Solheim to meet Sampanthan Monday 2004 Mar 12 15:26 Pocket meetings, seminars dominate TNA Trinco c... 2004 Mar 12 15:19 Negotiations with LTTE, Presidency to be abolis... 2004 Mar 12 15:12 Election verdict should legitimize ISGA demand ... 2004 Mar 12 15:04 Vavuniya protests against Eastern campus disrup... 2004 Mar 12 14:00 Batticaloa fast urges unity of Tamil military p... 2004 Mar 12 08:19 "We solidly support leader Pirapaharan"- Thilak... 2004 Mar 12 08:13 Solheim meets Thilak in Trincomalee 2004 Mar 12 00:10 LTTE ready to help facilitate voting - Thamilch... 2003: 2003 Mar 12 19:40 'Destruction of LTTE ship is a grave ceasefire ... 2003 Mar 12 17:35 SLMM head holds talks with senior LTTE leaders 2003 Mar 12 17:29 Jaffna mourns death of eleven LTTE cadres 2003 Mar 12 09:06 Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister visits Sri Lanka 2003 Mar 12 00:22 'We are committed to peace' - Balasingham 2001: 2001 Mar 12 18:31 Police arrest released Tamil political prisoner 2001 Mar 12 18:21 SLA detains three in Jaffna 2001 Mar 12 18:16 Bindunuweva commission’s mandate queried 2001 Mar 12 13:28 SLA offensive thwarted in Jaffna 2000: 2000 Mar 12 18:34 Youths say assaulted in detention 2000 Mar 12 11:05 Six Tamils arrested over Friday attack 2000 Mar 12 08:44 Four casualties in Uduthurai clashes -VoT 1999: 1999 Mar 12 22:10 Arrested youth escapes army custody 1999 Mar 12 22:07 Military registers civilian movement 1999 Mar 12 12:10 Civilians assaulted in retaliation 1999 Mar 12 10:53 Operation Rana Gosa displaces 15000 1999 Mar 12 00:01 SLA soldier killed in blast 1998:
1998 Mar 12 23:59 Child killed in SLA's retaliatory fire 1998 Mar 12 23:59 Civilians assaulted after grenade explosion 1998 Mar 12 23:59 Two SLA officers killed 1998 Mar 12 23:59 4 SLA soldiers killed - Radio 1998 Mar 12 23:59 Corrupt practices of Sudu Nelum denied 1998 Mar 12 23:59 Batticaloa vehicles barred 1998 Mar 12 23:59 Bodies washed ashore 1998 Mar 12 23:59 SLA patrol attacked in Vantharumoolai 1998 Mar 12 23:59 Batticaloa Traders stop bringing goods from Col... 1998 Mar 12 23:59 EPDP ignores its own pledge 1998 Mar 12 23:59 Protests against vehicle ban
The primacy of the word, basis of the human psyche, that has in our age been used for mind-bending persuasion and brain-washing pulp, disgraced by Gobbles and debased by advertising copy, remains a force for freedom that flies out between all bars.
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![]() [06.03.10] Sri Lanka soldiers remanded over rape of 9-year old Tamil girl: Six Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were taken into custody for allegedly molesting a nine-year-old Tamil girl at Ki'raan Vaazhaichcheani in the eastern Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said. Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reported that the soldiers of the Digiliwatiya camp had threatened the protesting villagers, and the body of one protester was recovered in a pond near the SLA camp after the protests. Related Story >> ![]() [24.02.10] Three-pronged Sinhala colonization in Mannaar: Ko’ndachchi-Chilaavaththu’rai, Thalaimannaar Pier and Madu in Mannaar district are being particularly targeted for Sinhala-Buddhist colonies by the colonial government in Colombo, news reports from Mannaar said Sunday. The long-term impact of the process is sure to be felt in coastal Tamil Nadu and in Tamil relationship across the seas, whatever equation imperial India may have with Colombo, Tamil circles said. Meanwhile, diplomats and agencies of Establishments who try to con Tamils need serious education on what is genocide – the Sri Lankan model, diaspora circles commented. Related Story >> ![]() [21.02.10] UN rights chief says lack of progress in Sri Lanka investigations: Recent statement in Dublin by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navaneetham Pillai, that national investigations in Sri Lanka "have not worked so far," and Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse's interview to the BBC, where Mr Rajapakse said that "he would not allow any war crimes investigation in Sri Lanka," are two forceful statements with enough legal weight to satisfy the basic requirement of international law mandating "complementarity," legal sources in Washington said. Related Story >> ![]() [12.02.10] Sri Lanka massacred up to 40,000 Tamil civilians - former UN Official: Sri Lanka’s military massacred as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final onslaught against the Liberation Tigers in 2009, according to a former United Nations official with detailed knowledge of events, press reports said. The former United Nations’ spokesperson in Sri Lanka, Gordon Weiss, has resigned from the UN after 14 years and returned home to Australia, where he was interviewed by ABC News. “He’s now free to speak openly about the situation in Sri Lanka, for the first time and does so candidly and unflinchingly,” the media agency said. Related Story >> ![]() [10.02.10] Proving geopolitical strength, antidote to international injustice to Tamils: Informed Tamil political circles say there is a ‘high level’ understanding among all powers of geopolitical competition to negate Tamil independence. How to achieve the goal when all are against and what is the point in claiming freedom outside when people are subjugated inside are questions of those who are disillusioned by the psychological war. If crimes against Tamil nation are committed due to geopolitics the antidote is nothing but Tamil uprising to prove geopolitical superiority and the responsibility lies with Tamil Nadu. Related Story >> ![]() [07.02.10] Sri Lanka, acid test for International Law: Given the failure of the international community's responsibility to protect the Tamil people during the slaughter and during the post-massacre collective internment in Manik Farm, new national and transnational litigation strategies must be explored by all actors supporting the cause of Tamil justice so that substantive remedy can be afforded to the thousands of Tamil victims. Related Story >> ![]() [06.02.10] A language dies in India: With the death of 85 years old Boa Sr in Andaman Islands of India last week, the Bo language of prehistoric antiquity became extinct once and for all, reports, Survival International, a movement for tribal peoples. The Andaman and Nicobar islands, home of several prehistoric tribes of Austroloid, Negroid and Mongoloid origins, is currently a Union Territory directly administered by the Central Government of India. Related Story >> ![]() [04.02.10] Ki'linochchi to Mu'rika'ndi: no human beings, ghost buildings, stray cattle: A video footage taken a few days back, while travelling between Ki'linochchi and Mu'rika'ndi, shows the real situation in the heartland of Vanni in Tamil Eelam. The tract bustling with contended people two years back is virtually a no-man zone with ghost buildings and stray cattle today. The landscape is physical evidence to the genocide committed on a nation. Related Story >> ![]() [02.02.10] Sri Lanka experts silent, Wijesinha oblivious to forensic evidence: Sri Lanka's video experts appear unable or unwilling to rebut the body of evidence presented at the Dublin tribunal, UN Rapporteur on Extra-judicial Executions Philip Alston's report, and findings from other independent forensic analysts that all ruled as flawed the analyses by the Sri Lanka experts of the video broadcast on Channel 4 showing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers summarily executing Tamil prisoners, stripped naked and hands tied behind their backs. Related Story >> ![]() [31.01.10] Mother country means Tamil Eelam for 90-year-old Sathyabhama: I love my country as I love my mother. That’s why I have come to vote in the referendum, says 90-year-old Sathyabhama Kumaraswamy who came to cast her vote in a booth in London Saturday. For her, who was a teacher for 37 years at Mangkaiyarkkarasi Viththiyaasaalai in Nalloor, Jaffna, country means the country of Tamils in the island. 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