60 new political parties apply for registration as deadline closes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 19:42 GMT]
The deadline to submit applications to the Elections Secretariat for the registration by new political parties closed Wesdnday June 30. Sixty political groups have submitted their applications to the Elections Commissioner for registration. Except two, details of other new political groups are not available to media immediately.
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Muslim school to function with Sinhala name in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 19:32 GMT]
Nallakuddiyaa'ru Muslim School has been given a Sinhalese name as Namalwatte Vidiyalayam without identifying it as a Muslim school. A Sinhalese woman Principal has been appointed with four Muslim teachers to Muslim students about 65. Not even a single Sinhala student is studying in the school which is located in Nallakuddiyaa'ru Muslim village in Morawewa (Muthalikku'lam) division in Trincomalee district. This school comes under the Trincomalee Zonal Education Office.
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Power of ideology sustains Tamil struggle: Gulf News

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 09:53 GMT]
Gulf News, a newspaper published from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, in an Op-Ed article on Wednesday said the idea of separate state for Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka is kept alive by the 'power of ideology' although Colombo managed to win the war on LTTE with a 'single-minded' approach. Although it is a softer doctrine, it is capable of gathering momentum over a period of time, the paper said. "Judging by the recent sequence of events, the past may, by all accounts, come back to haunt Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse," the editorial said adding that the onus is on Rajapakse's government to address the plight of the Tamils sooner rather than later.
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Indian Navy Chief visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 08:08 GMT]
Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy Admiral Nirmal Verma arrived in Colombo Sunday on a five day visit to Sri Lanka as a part of efforts to strengthen bilateral defense ties with Sri Lanka, met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Admiral Verma during was scheduled to grace Sri Lanka Navy officers' passing out parade at the Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee.
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Gotabhaya appoints new military spokesman

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 08:05 GMT]
Brigadier Ubaya Madawela has been appointed Sri Lanka's Military Media Spokesman replacing Major General Prasad Samarasinghe. Sri Lankan Defence Ministry sources said that Major General Prasad Samarasinghe had been earlier appointed as media spokesman on temporary basis.
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Australian War Crimes motion illustrates paradigm shift

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 June 2010, 19:25 GMT]
Australia is expected to back international calls for a war crimes probe in Sri Lanka after a motion urging national support was passed in parliament on Thursday. The motion, put forward by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, comes amid a significant paradigm shift in the orientation of Australia’s Tamil Diaspora, many who have looked to the Greens Party, seen as the “3rd force” in a two-party preferred political system. The formation of Australian “Tamils for Greens” (TFG), a largely voting youth initiated advocacy group, illustrates shifting alliances and growing disenchantment towards the Labor and Liberal parties, whom, despite harbouring sympathetic parliamentarians towards the plight of Eezham Tamils, have remained largely nonchalant in their orientation towards the social and political struggle of Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka.
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Jaffna GA K. Ganesh retires from service

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 June 2010, 18:44 GMT]
Mr. K. Ganesh, Government Agent (GA), Jaffna who is retiring from service Wednesday expressed his gratitude to all, particularly the media, for the cooperation offered to him in performing duties as the GA even under trying circumstances during war time, in a message to local media Tuesday. Ms. Imelda Sukumar, presently the GA of Mullaiththeevu district, will succeed Mr. K. Ganesh as the GA of Jaffna district from Thursday, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Mr. V. Velnathan, former GA of Ki'linochchi district, who had been arrested and detained under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for allegedly supplying information to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and released later is to assume duties as Mullaiththeevu district GA, the sources added.
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Basil Rajapakse fails to reply TNA allegations

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 June 2010, 14:47 GMT]
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse has failed to respond to questions raised by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians at the Batticaloa District Development Council (DDC) meeting held on Monday at Batticaloa District Secretariat over the resettlement of displaced Tamil families and settling Sinhalese from the south in traditional Tamil villages in the district under the pretext of resettlement.
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Disappeared persons issue not discussed in Batticaloa DDC meeting

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 June 2010, 14:41 GMT]
The assurance given by the Government Agent of Batticaloa that discussion on the disappeared persons’ issue would be taken up at the Batticaloa District Development Committee meeting held on Monday was not fulfilled, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians told media Tuesday. About 130 civilians have been reported disappeared in the last three years according to reports the TNA received from the relatives of missing persons. The TNA had assured the relatives of the victims that the alliance would raise the issue with the Sri Lankan Minister Basil Rajapakse when he attends the Batticaloa DDC meeting and wanted them to make written representation about those missing relatives in the offices of TNA parliamentarians.
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Amunugama appointed acting finance minister to present 2010 budget

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 June 2010, 11:08 GMT]
In a dramatic move, the Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Sarath Amunugama was sworn in as the acting Finance Minister by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday morning before the latter left for Ukraine on an official visit accompanied by External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris.
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SLA harasses resettled civilians in Vanni - TNA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 June 2010, 03:15 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarians informed visiting British Acting High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mr. Mark Gooding Monday, that the resettled civilians in Vanni are harassed by occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers according to several complaints they had received from the resettled civilians in Vanni, sources in Jaffna said. TNA parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran, Sritharan and Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy met the visiting British envoy in a hotel in Chu’ndukkuzhi. The TNA parliamentarians also explained how the resettled civilians in Vanni have been left to suffer even without basic facilities that should have been provided prior to resettlement by government authorities, the sources added.
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KP-Diaspora programme operated by SL Military Intelligence: Doctor Arudkumar

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 21:31 GMT]
Sri Lankan Director of National Intelligence, Major General Kapila Hendawitharana, the longest serving intelligence officer of the military, is in charge of the covert and overt programme of dividing and conquering the Tamil diaspora, alludes British Tamil doctor Velauthapillai Arudkumar, who visited the island recently as part of a ‘Tamil diaspora visit’ organised by Colombo through Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP. TamilNet releases an exclusive video interview with Dr. Arudkumar taken two days ago, in which he reveals the details of the trip. SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana and External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris, all spoke in a well-synchronised way. Military counterinsurgency and 'post-war development' are intertwined aiming at Tamil subjugation, the doctor infers in his interview.
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Public servants to receive only Rs.1000 salary increase

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 17:28 GMT]
State sector employees are likely to receive only one thousand rupees as salary increase with effect from July. The Budget that is to be presented in parliament Tuesday afternoon by the Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne is to reveal the salary increase, sources in Colombo said.
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JHU holds protest march against UN Experts Panel

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 17:21 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse, Monday morning held a protest march starting from the premises of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) to the United Nations office located at Buddhaloka Mawatte in Colombo against the appointment of Experts Panel by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to advise him on the alleged war crimes during the last leg of the war in Sri Lanka, sources in Colombo said.
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6 including 2 children die in road accident, 10 injured

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 11:07 GMT]
At least six persons including two children were killed and ten others were injured as they were returning from a trip to Jaffna. The accident took place Sunday early morning near Deduru Oya Bridge in Kurunagala when the van they were travelling was hit by a speeding lorry, police spokesman said to media.
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PM to present 2010 Budget in parliament as SL President leaves for Ukraine

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 10:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne is to present the 2010 Budget in parliament Tuesday as President Mahinda Rajapakse departs to Ukraine the same day accompanied by the External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris. President Mahinda Rajapakse also holds the portfolio of the Finance Ministry. Earlier it was announced Mahinda Rajapakse would table the budget in the capacity of Finance Minister.
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Indian national killed in Wellawatte; 2 including CID Inspector arrested

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 09:47 GMT]
A Chief Inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and another person were arrested Sunday afternoon by the police on receipt of information from the public of Munthal in Puththa'lam division that two unidentified men had brought a body of a person in a taxi and dumped it in the sea at Pa’livaasalpaduwa. The police promptly followed the taxi and arrested the two persons. It was gathered from the identity cards that one of them was the Chief Inspector of the C.I.D Chandana de Silva. Other suspect is said to be a resident of Wellawatte in Colombo city, police sources said.
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Sand dunes scooped at Ma'n'niththalai

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 07:56 GMT]
Similar to the plunder of limestone in the Jaffna Peninsula, agents of Colombo are now engaged in scooping the sand dunes of the Ma’n’niththalai sandbar, which is of immense natural beauty and of archaeological as well as tourist potentiality, sources in Poonakari said. The fragile ecology of the densely populated Jaffna Peninsula is deliberately destroyed by corporates in the construction industry and by their contractors, academics in Jaffna said. The plunder of resources in Jaffna and Vanni are divided among Douglas Devandanda and Namal Rajapaksa respectively. Meanwhile percentage of benefits from large-scale 'development' contracts goes to Basil Rajapaksa and the income extracted by the military goes to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, informed circles said.
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Colombo schemes Sinhalicised capital for North

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 05:52 GMT]
Similar to the Sinhalicisation of Trincomalee, the capital of the East, Colombo plans for a new, Sinhalicised capital for the North too at Ki'linochchi, administrative sources working for Colombo on the project said. Ki'linochchi is being prepared for that with an extensive military cantonment with permanent houses for military personnel, cultivation lands for them, an airstrip at Ira'naimadu, new Buddhist temples and by not allowing the local population to their lands. For every three people there is one military personnel at present. When resettled, the local Tamils will be herded into pockets and there will be a new population, considerably Sinhalicised, the sources said adding that with the completion of the plot, there won’t be even one city or administrative centre existing for Tamils in the island.
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Fasting political prisoner in Jaffna Teaching Hospital ends protest

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 June 2010, 17:03 GMT]
A Tamil political prisoner arrested by Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) in 2006 in Chaavakachcheari and detained in Jaffna prison had been continually fasting for the last 21 days requesting not to be transferred to Anuradapura or Vavuniyaa prison and to conduct his case in Jaffna courts in protest against the instruction issued by Attorney General (AG). When his condition grew critical he was transferred to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) where he continued to fast in protest against AG’s order to transfer him to Anuradapura or Vavuniyaa. The fasting political prisoner ended his fast Sunday following the cancellation of the AG’s order, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA to construct big base in Vallai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 June 2010, 16:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is to construct a big base invading the lands of the abandoned Vallai Weaving Centre and the government hospital located on Uduppiddi-Valvai road in Vadamaraadchi Vallaive’li, sources in Jaffna said. SLA is forced to vacate the private and government properties in the towns and near the big junctions in Jaffna peninsula as the owners of the properties have begun claiming them.
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Malaysian corporates jump at Mahinda-KP plot for development, says Colombo media

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 June 2010, 16:01 GMT]
Top entrepreneurs of the Ceylonese Tamil diaspora in Malaysia gathered Saturday to raise funds for Selvaraja Pathmanathan’s (KP) ‘development’ of the North and East of Sri Lanka, media circles in Colombo said, citing Sri Lankan High Commission sources in Malaysia. The tables at the gathering were priced one million rupees upwards and the Maxis Communication CEO donated 35 million rupees, Lakbimanews said, adding that the fund will be for resettlement, reconstruction as well as rehabilitation of the LTTE cadres and disabled army soldiers. Two years back, a group of Ceylonese Tamils naming them newly as ‘Sri Lankans’ organized a conference for the diaspora attended by the Sri Lankan High Commissioner. The conference failed in its results, said the New York based Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) in a report last year.
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Muslim fisherman found dead near Kaaththaankudi lagoon

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 June 2010, 22:42 GMT]
The body of a fifty seven year old Muslim fisherman, father of five children was recovered Saturday early morning from Kaaththaankudi lagoon in Batticaloa district. He has been identified as Abdul Rahuman of Kaangkeayanoadai village, police sources said.
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Colombo steps up militarisation of Paasikkudaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 June 2010, 22:32 GMT]
Special camps of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and Police have been set up in east cost covering the tourist resort to provide 'foolproof security to tourist community' to spend their holiday, Sri Lankan Police said. The move comes following Basil Rajapaksa's visit to Paasikkudaa last week.
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Tamil civilian arrested in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 June 2010, 12:35 GMT]
A team of police intelligence unit in Vavuniyaa took into custody a Tamil civilian in Aachchipuram in Vavuniyaa Wednesday night on information that he had been involved in the activities of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the past, police sources said.
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Dengue fever claims 113 lives in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 June 2010, 12:32 GMT]
The number of deaths due to dengue in the country has increased to 113 while the number of diagnosed patients has increased to 17,411. The highest number of patients, 2,354, was diagnosed from Colombo, the most developed district of the country. The districts of Jaffna and Gampaha have also shown high prevalence of the disease, 2181 diagnosed in Jaffna and 2,219 in Gampaha. In Mannaar district 45 positive cases of dengue have been detected last week, but no death has been reported so far, according to the latest statistics issued by the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry.
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Speech criminalized in US Supreme Court material support case

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 June 2010, 01:51 GMT]
In a decision announced Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to criminalize speech in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the first case to challenge the Patriot Act before the Supreme Court, and the first post-9/11 case to challenge primacy of national security claims over free speech guarantees. The plaintiffs were organizations and individuals who wanted to continue to support lawful political and humanitarian activities of two groups designated as terrorist: the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an advocate for self-determination of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
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Russia opposes UN Panel on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 19:29 GMT]
UN Secretary-General should have asked the Security Council or the General Assembly before appointing the panel to advise him on war crime investigation on the sovereign member state of Sri Lanka, says a statement of the foreign ministry of the Russian Federation Thursday. The UN should allow Sri Lanka's own investigations and the Secretary General's decision for the panel is unwarranted, is the Russian position. Russia's earlier stand against Eezham Tamils in the Human Rights Council and its present position have evoked serious concern among the traditional supporters of Russia in Tamil Nadu. The Russian stand paves way for international abetment of structural genocide of Eezham Tamils in their homeland, which the Sri Lankan state is presently carrying out, leftist circles in Tamil Nadu said.
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Colombo decides to hold next cabinet meeting in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 17:25 GMT]
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government decided to hold weekly cabinet meetings at provincial level from next month. First such meeting will be held in Kilinochchi on July 14 presided by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, Minister Maithripala Sirisena told media Thursday.
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US welcomes panel as Sri Lanka moves to block experts visa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 11:46 GMT]
While Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, welcomed the panel of experts saying that the "United States supports a robust accountability process that will provide a durable foundation for national reconciliation and the rule of law in the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s decades-long conflict," Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris told reporters that "[w]e [Sri Lanka] will not issue them [UN panel] with visas. We will not allow them into this country [Sri Lanka]," Colombo media reported.
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EU puts 15 conditions to extend GSP+ trade concession to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 11:11 GMT]
The abrogation of Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the release of those detained held under the Emergency Regulations (ER) and the implementation of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution are among the fifteen conditions put forward by the European Union (EU) as a pre-requisite for the further extension of the GSP+ trade concessions to Sri Lanka from August this year. However, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who addressed cabinet meeting held Wednesday is reported to have rejected these conditions stating that he would not compromise the sovereignty of the Sri Lankan state for the sake of USD 150 million.
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Sri Lanka rejects UN war crimes panel

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 10:56 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka said Thursday that it would not issue visa to members of UN Experts Panel to enter the island. Establishment of UN Experts Panel would only complicate matters of the Commission set up by the government. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris at a media briefing on Thursday said:"Our government rejects the UN experts’ panel and they would not be allowed to enter the island."
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Resettled Vanni civilians left uncared for

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 07:25 GMT]
130 families of uprooted Vanni civilians resettled four days ago in Oottuuppulam, a village along A9 road near Muruka’ndi in Ki’linochchi district had to seek shelter under trees in the pouring rain Tuesday night as they were not provided with tarpaulins to put up temporary shelter, a local NGO official in Ki’linochchi said. The resettled civilians had not been given even the dry food rations by government authorities in charge of resettlement in Vanni, he said.
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Jaffna youths overlooked in International Olympics Day celebration

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 07:22 GMT]
Young men and women athletes in Jaffna peninsula complained that they were not given due place in the International Olympics Day celebration held Wednesday in Jaffna Duraiappa Stadium presided by the Minister of Sports, C. P. Ratnayake, sources in Jaffna said. They were not invited to participate in time while hundreds of young men and women who had been brought from South were given prominence in the events, they further said.
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UNP, JVP on UN Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 07:20 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) and the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) one time an ally of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) have expressed their concern over the appointment of the Panel of Experts appointed by the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon on Sri Lanka. Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake who is also in the race to become the president of the UNP told media Wednesday that his party is opposed to the appointment of Panel of Experts by UN SecretaryGeneral.
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Computers stolen from school in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 07:15 GMT]
Unidentified persons broke into Sri Ramakrishna Maha Viththiyaalayam in Akkaraippattu police division in Ampaa’rai district Sunday night and made away with seven computers worth 0.5 million rupees, according to complaint made by school administration to police. Robberies at gun point have increased lately in the police divisions of Kalmunai and Akkaraippattu in Ampaa’rai district, sources in Kalmunai said.
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Explosion in Colombo, nine persons injured

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 07:01 GMT]
At least nine civilians were injured in a grenade explosion that took place Thursday early morning at Bodhiraja Mawatte in Pettah in Colombo. This incident took place near a stall in the busy Pettah area selling apples, police said.
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Fonseka to be indicted for military arms purchase fraud

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 June 2010, 03:52 GMT]
The State Counsel representing the Attorney General Wednesday informed Colombo Fort Magistrate that General (retired) Sarath Fonseka, the former commander of the Sri Lanka Army and currently a parliamentarian will shortly be indicted with committing financial irregularities in the military arms deal while he was serving in the army, legal sources said.
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Media circles wonder whether US senators confirm offence by welcoming pardon

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 June 2010, 12:30 GMT]
The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in a statement for immediate release, Tuesday, said “Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, Ranking Member Dick Lugar and Subcommittee Chairman on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs Senator Robert P. Casey,Jr., today welcomed Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision to pardon journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, who had been convicted last year and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor.” By welcoming Mahinda Rajapaksa ‘pardoning’ him, do the US senators imply Tissainayagam committed an offence, ask media circles in Colombo.
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Plans afoot to Sinhalicise Paasikkudaa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 June 2010, 04:23 GMT]
Sri Lankan Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa Tuesday paid an official visit to Paasikkudaa in Batticaloa district and laid the foundation stone for a tourist complex. The tourist complex is viewed as another step to settle yet more Sinhalese in the traditional Tamil areas of Batticaloa district, by the local residents.
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SLA arrests sixteen Tamil civilians in Eastern provinces

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 June 2010, 04:15 GMT]
At least sixteen persons were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from the districts of Ampaa’rai and Batticaloa until last week and held in detention on reports that they possessed cell phones with photographs of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V. Pirabakarna and video films related to LTTE, civil sources said.
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UN chief appoints Sri Lanka war crimes panel

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 June 2010, 03:37 GMT]
UN chief Ban Ki-moon Tuesday set up a panel to investigate allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka during the government’s war against the Liberation Tigers, a UN spokesman said. The three-strong panel would be chaired by Marzuki Darusman from Indonesia, the UN's special envoy for North Korea, and hoped to complete its work in four months, AFP reported. The other two members of the panel are human rights expert Yasmin Sooka from South Africa and Steven Ratner, an expert in international law of war from the United States. Mr. Ban launched the investigation "to advise him on the issue of accountability with regards to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka."
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Colombo intensifies spread of Buddhism in North

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 17:51 GMT]
Buses carrying around two thousand Buddhist priests under heavy escort carrying a sacred statue of Buddha on a pilgrimage to Jaffna had passed Vavuniyaa Monday and entered Vanni main land through A9 road, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The buses, however, have not reached Jaffna until Tuesday evening and it is assumed that the Buddhist priests, on an urgent mission to spread Buddhism in the North, are engaged in some unannounced opening ceremonies of newly erected Buddhist Viharas in Vanni by the occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) directed by Colombo government, sources in Jaffna said.
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Muslim villagers of Kalmunaikkudi complain aid misuse

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 17:12 GMT]
Residents of Kalmunaikkudi, a densely populated Muslim suburb of Kalmunai town, 40 kilometres south of Batticaloa, which suffered worst by the giant waves of Tsunami in December 2004, complain that the funds allocated for the Muslim residents under the tsunami rehabilitation scheme by the Sri Lankan government have been diverted for the benefit of the Sinhalese people who were not affected by the tsunami.
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SLA constructs big base on Pa’n’nai coast near Jaffna Fort

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 16:46 GMT]
Hundreds of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are actively engaged in constructing a big base on the coastal stretch of Meenaadchipuram between Pa’n’nai and Naavaanthu’rai near Jaffna Fort, allocated for resettlement of uprooted civilians, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Jaffna SLA Commander Mahinda Kathurusinghe recently said in a press meet that the SLA 512 Division base presently located in the occupied private properties in Jaffna town including Subas and Gnanam hotels are to be soon relocated to another place.
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JHU ousts pro-Rajapaksa Thera from leader post

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 07:52 GMT]
Power struggle ended in the extreme Sinhala nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) by ousting Venerable Ellawala Medhananda Thera from the post of party leader and electing Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera unanimously at the party’s seventh national convention held Saturday evening at Colombo Town Hall. Ellawala Thera was backing Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the idea of prolonging his presidential term through constitutional amendment. The JHU had to elect a new leader as Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera had resigned from the post as he needed more time to devote on his pet subjects of archaeological research in Mullaiththeevu, JHU sources said.
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Sinhalese with Pirapaharan photo further remanded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 06:32 GMT]
Puththa'lam Magistrate Monday ordered further remand till June 30 for a Sinhalese civilian Amarasingha Chandana when he was produced from prison on a charge that he was carrying a photograph of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan.
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130 Tamil civilians reported disappeared in Batticaloa district since 2007

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 05:04 GMT]
One hundred thirty Tamil civilians are reported disappeared during the last three years in the Batticaloa district since 2007, relatives of the disappeared told Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians at a discussion held Sunday at Batticaloa American Mission Hall. They requested the TNA parliamentarians to help trace the disappeared. Most of the disappeared were between the ages 20 and 35, they said. TNA parliamentarians P. Selvarajah, S. Yogeswaran and P. Ariyanethiran participated in the discussion.
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Paramilitary link, screening competition behind arson in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 04:49 GMT]
Batticaloa Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police arrested Sunday the owner of Chengkaladi Sellam cinema theatre on suspicion of involvement in setting fire to the screen and stage of Shanthi theatre in Kaaththaankudi police division 17 June night, sources in Batticaloa said. The persons who had set fire had left handbills that warned no theatres in the North and East should screen any South Indian Film for a week. The arrested theatre owner, Kanapathipillai Mohan, a contestant in the last parliamentary election on behalf of the paramilitary-cum-political party led by Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, Chief Minister of Eastern Provincial Council, is said to have frequent conflicts with the owner of Shanthi theatre arising out of the competition in screening South Indian films, the sources added.
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Janakaraliya inaugurates program of dramas in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 18:48 GMT]
Janakaraliya, Makkal Ka’lari of the people, with the assistance of Jaffna Education Department inaugurated Monday its program of dramas in ‘Mobile Theatre’ in Nalloor in the CMS School playground located near Jaffna Education Office scheduled to take place from 21 June to 02 July, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, V. Anandasangari of the TULF, who earlier backed Mahinda Rajapaksa during Colombo's war against the LTTE, condemned the program of Janakaraliya for being inappropriate in the context of war affected civilians suffering in Vanni and suggested that Janakaraliya could serve best by visiting Vanni and learn of the misery of Vanni people which could be portrayed realistically in their dramas.
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Champika Ranawaka visits to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 17:29 GMT]
“Identified United National Party men were responsible for the burning of Jaffna Public Library that was the foremost library in South East Asia and a valuable cultural asset of Tamils and I as a Sinhalese and a Sri Lankan cannot pardon the atrocious act,” Power and Energy Minister and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) theoretician Patali Champika Ranawaka said Monday in an event in Jaffna Public Library where he donated a batch of books to the library. Mr. Ranawaka is a key founder of Sinhala extremist National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT) in 1998 and Sinhala Urumaya (SU) in 2000. He was known for his Nazi shade of anti-Semitism, in his speeches comparing Tamils with Jews and Sinhalese with Aryans.
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Funds allocated for resettled persons remain unused in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 16:20 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa district MP, P. Selvarasa, accused that the 5792 million rupees allocated to provide basic facilities to the resettled persons uprooted from areas in Batticaloa district during the 2006 military offensive on Paduvaankarai have not been utilized by the related authorities. Selvarasa’s accusation comes when reports are issued claiming that the needs of the resettled civilians have been considerably met, following the recent official visit to Batticaloa by Minister of Resettlement, Milroy Fernando and Depurty minister, Vinayagamoorhty Murlitharan.
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Sunday Leader editor produces note book on interview by Fonseka in court

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 07:38 GMT]
The Editor of the Sunday Leader, Fredrica Janz, Monday produced her 89 page note book before Chief Magistrate Champa Janaki Rajaratne related to the interview with Gen (retd) Sarath Fonseka where he reportedly made the controversial remarks regarding orders to shoot LTTE officials coming to surrender with white flags.
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Australian Greens to call for War Crimes Probe

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 07:24 GMT]
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young is set to put forward a motion in parliament this week urging the Australian Government to lobby the U.N to investigate alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. Citing a recent report by the ICG that highlighted the complicity of Sri Lankan Government and military officials in atrocities committed during the final stages of armed conflict and Australia’s role as an “active member state of the United Nations”, the motion has been praised by Tamil circles in Australia.
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Colombo to block Fonseka attending Nairobi conference

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 03:24 GMT]
The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) led by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has decided to inform the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union (CPU) about the alleged attempt by the government to prevent General Sarath Fonseka from attending the CPU conference to be held in Kenya in September this year, according to DNA general secretary and JVP parliamentarian Vijitha Hearat.
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Indonesian, Austrian to form the Panel of Experts

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 03:19 GMT]
An Indonesian and an Austrian are to form the panel of experts to advise UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on accountability issues relating to the last stages of the separatist war in May last year, according to Sunday Times.
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Rajapaksa to visit Ukraine

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 03:18 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to make an official visit to Ukraine before the end of June, according to media reports from Colombo. Military co-operation between Sri Lanka and Ukraine will be among subjects he will discuss with Ukrainian leaders, according to these reports.
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Japan backs UN war crimes probe into Sri Lanka war

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 18:28 GMT]
Japan is backing efforts by the United Nations to investigate war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the final months of the island’s war, Tokyo’s visiting envoy, Mr. Yasushi Akashi, said Sunday. Amid Sri Lanka’s vehement rejection of any international scrutiny into the conduct of its armed forces, two days ago, Mr. Akashi had seemed to imply his government was supporting Colombo when he told reporters "It is up to the Sri Lankan government to define the precise role [of an inquiry]”. However, speaking on Sunday Mr. Akashi endorsed a UN probe and suggested Colombo was not heeding his advice towards a proper accounting of the war.
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US says Sri Lanka Commission does not meet [International] standards

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 16:51 GMT]
Stephen Rapp, Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues appointed by President Obama, said, "what's been announced to date has not met the standard. They're [Sri Lanka is] telling use it does have that capacity, to investigate these cases, to follow up and call witnesses. We're hearing it, but we're not seeing it." Rapp's statement came as a response to a question from Inner City Press which asked Rapp if "Lessons Learned" [Commission] was adequate to carry out investigations, ICP reported.
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Alston assails Sri Lanka's "Reconciliation" commission

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 16:25 GMT]
United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial Executions, Philip Alston, in an interview Colombo weekly dismisses Sri Lanka's local commission as ineffective without a mandate to probe war crimes, questions the independence of the same commission pointing to the past dismal performance of its Chairman, Chitta Ranjan de Silva, and cautions that "detailed and deeply troubling allegations won’t magically disappear." He adds, "the very idea that any Sri Lankan could acknowledge that war crimes might have been committed, despite the fact that they have been reported by a wide range of other sources, is treated as a hanging offence," means that this "approach does not bode well for the prospect of a genuine national inquiry into war crimes any time soon."
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Tissainayagam arrives in US

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 13:44 GMT]
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Saturday, jailed Senior Tamil journalist, Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam, arrived at Washington’s Dulles International Airport on Saturday morning where he was met there by friends. According to CPJ representative Kamel Labidi, who was on hand to meet Tissa, “He was all smiles, and said to thank everyone who helped him gain his freedom,” CPJ website said.
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Explosions heard from SLN base in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 07:21 GMT]
People in Jaffna peninsula were startled to hear intermittent explosions Saturday evening from the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Kaarainakar base in the islets of Jaffna for nearly half an hour, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopters were seen circling above the SLN base and unconfirmed sources said that a joint military exercise was the cause of the deafening explosions. Fishermen engaged in fishing in Kaarainakar sea had hastened to the shore on hearing the blasts.
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PAC instructs government heads to invite SLA Commander to official functions in North

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 07:07 GMT]
The Secretary of Presidential Action Committee (PAC) has issued strict instruction to the Government Agents of the five districts in North to invite Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna Commander, government parliamentarians and the key members of PAC to all official functions and ceremonies of the government departments.
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Northern Tamil building contractors forced to pay commission

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 06:26 GMT]
Northern Tamil Contractors Union (NTCU) in Jaffna complains that a man introducing himself as ‘School Engineer’ is engaged in obtaining five to ten percent commission from building contractors in Jaffna to be passed on to Northern Province Governor, Major General G. A. Chandrasiri. Meanwhile, it is alleged that the Governor has instructed the officials of the Northern Province Council to allocate contracts for building construction in the North only to Sinhalese contractors from South. While Basil Rajapaksa, the brother and senior advisor of President Mahinda Rjapaksa, is known as ‘Mr. Ten Percent’ in the matters of contracts, the Governor too is being seen as a person engaged in the same pursuit, NTCU circles said.
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WFP opens office in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 05:16 GMT]
The United Nations (UN) opened a World Food Programme (WFP) office in Kilinochchi. It would be expanded in due course including staff from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), media reports said quoting WFP sources.
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Paramilitary elements set fire to theatre in Kaaththaankudi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 June 2010, 09:32 GMT]
Unidentified persons breaking into Shanthi Theatre in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa Thursday night set fire to the screen and the stage and left handbills which said that no theatres in the North and East should show any South Indian film for a week according to the complaint made to Kaaththankudi police by Shanthi Theatre owner.
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Sri Lanka stands by its dud commission, UN interested in its progress

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 June 2010, 02:12 GMT]
When United Nation's Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe announced Thursday the imminent appointment of advisory panel to advise Ban Ki Moon on the alleged war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the last stages of the war, Colombo toned down its rhetoric with Media Minister pontificating, "it is best to allow the locally appointed commission to do its work prior to involving international actors or taking further unwarranted actions." Pascoe, while asserting that Sri Lanka's President has assured him that the local "reconciliation panel" will be "credible and accountable," said "[w]e will be interested in its progress."
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Akashi visits Ki’linochchi for the first time after war

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 June 2010, 19:06 GMT]
Yasushi Akashi, the special envoy appointed by Japan during the Norwegian facilitated negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), accompanied by Basil Rajapaksa, handed over agricultural implements to some of the resettled Vanni civilians Friday in an event held in Ki’linochchi town. Yasushi Akashi who had held talks with the LTTE in Ki’linochchi was visiting the town for the first time after Sri Lankan military occupied the entire Vanni.
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Sinhalese undergrads demanding 'victory' money assault Tamil students in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 June 2010, 16:10 GMT]
Some second year Sinhalese undergrads in Eastern University in Vanthaa’rumoolai, under the influence of liquor, assaulted first year Tamil students Wednesday night in their hostel for not contributing money to celebrate the ‘Victory Day’ that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was to Celebrate in Colombo Thursday. On learning this, third and final year Tamil undergrads had joined together and attacked the Sinhalese students. The situation, however, was brought under control by Vice-chancellor S. Premkumar who intervened.
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Sri Lanka challenges world denunciation of Holocaust: Kofi Annan

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 June 2010, 15:13 GMT]
The cry of “never again,” raised by so many in the years after the end of the Holocaust 1945, has rung increasingly hollow with the passing decades, Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations, protested in an op-ed Friday in the International Herald Tribune. “The Holocaust remains unique … but instances of genocide and large-scale brutality have continued to multiply — from Cambodia to the Congo, from Bosnia to Rwanda, from Sri Lanka to Sudan,” he said. “It is surprisingly hard to find education programs that have clearly succeeded in linking the history of the Holocaust with the prevention of ethnic conflict and genocide in today’s world.”
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Eezham Tamils in Canada to form country council

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 June 2010, 14:40 GMT]
Followed by Norway, Switzerland, Italy and France, Eezham Tamils in Canada are going to elect representatives on Sunday for their Country Council named National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT). The NCCT will be a grass-root organisation composed of democratically elected Canadian Tamils focused on strengthening the Tamil community within the Canada. The bicameral national assembly of 27 Council Members consists of 22 elected members on 3-year-term and 5 elected members by Tamil organisations on 1-year-term. In addition, 6 regional councils in areas where a high population of Tamils live, will constitute the grass-root bodies of the NCCT.
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TGTE announces 11 committees, urges focus on Genocide investigation

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 June 2010, 10:10 GMT]
The Interim Executive Committee of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) on Thursday said it did not expect a change in the world scene turning in Tamils favour in the immediate future, but added that the TGTE was determined to seize every opportunity to advance the struggle, and was formulating the tactics in accordance with that belief. "We are drawing up our plans of action on the one hand to cultivate relationships with governments, and on the other hand to garner support among the people in our new home countries. With this in mind, convenors have been appointed to the various committees and planning work has been initiated," the statement of the TGTE said, announcing 11 committees and the names of representatives coordinating the committees.
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MIA: I speak for my people

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 June 2010, 01:13 GMT]
Calling the Jaffna born music phenom, Maya Arulpragasam (popularly known as MIA), "the most provocative pop star of her age," the British Guardian, writing about the singer's popularity before the release of her third album "Born Free" in July, said that "she speaks out in support of Tamil citizens," and that "[h]er assertions that the Sri Lankan government is guilty of the genocide of local Tamils have not been going down well. She's even been accused of supporting the LTTE..." Earlier this month story of her confrontation with New York Times for misrepresenting MIA's quotes was a popular story on major news media and noted websites that cover music.
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Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 19:27 GMT]
Vinayagmoorthy Muralitharan, alias Karuna, a former Tiger commander who turned leader of a paramilitary group operated by the Sri Lanka Army in the East and later became a deputy minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet visited Jaffna Thursday for the first time after having joined United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government. Muralitharan, accompanied by the Minister of Resettlement Milroy Fernando, was primarily engaged in activities in promoting the resettlement of Muslims in Jaffna peninsula meeting Muslim Welfare Organizations (MFO) and government officials. Meanwhile, civil society circles in Jaffna pointed out that Mr. Muralitharan had been in Jaffna as a key Commander of the Liberation Tigers when the Muslims of the North were forcibly evacuated by the Tigers in 1990.
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Parvathi Amma transferred to Jaffna Hospital

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 18:49 GMT]
Ms. Parvathi Velupillai, mother of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Pirabaharan, has been transferred from Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) government hospital to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) to undergo certain medical tests not available in VVT hospital, sources in Jaffna said. Parvathi Amma who is bedridden due to paralysis is not in a critical condition of health, JTH sources said.
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Sri Lanka to sign CEPA with India

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 17:26 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka Thursday announced that it would sign the controversial Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India with some amendments. Sri Lankan Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, on Thursday announced the move at a media briefing in his capacity as cabinet spokesman.
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Ban Ki-moon to appoint Expert Panel next week - UN Political Under Secretary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 17:21 GMT]
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to appoint a panel of experts to advise him on accountability issues related to Sri Lanka next week, said UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, Lyn Pascoe said at a media briefing held Thursday evening in Colombo. He added that a report on Sri Lanka will be handed over to UN Secretary General next week. The expert panel will be appointed only to brief UN Secretary General and it would also be available as a resource that the Sri Lankans can turn to if they wish.
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'Victory Day' declared public holiday in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 17:17 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka has declared Friday as a public holiday to celebrate the Victory Day event to mark the defeat of LTTE last year, according to a press release by the Government Information Department Thursday. Government offices and schools are to be closed down on Friday enabling public servants and teachers and students to attend the event.
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Memorial monument for war victims unveiled in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 04:09 GMT]
The Catholic clergy and people of Uruththirapuram in Ki’linochchi in Vanni recently opened a monument in memory of the thousands of Vanni people killed in the war, sources in Ki’linochchi said. The monument is erected in Uruththirapuram Catholic church premise along with the memorial monument earlier erected in memory of Rev. Mariampillai Sathejus Sarath Jeevan called Jeeva who had continued to serve the people even during the war and died of heart attack while fleeing Vanni in the last stages of the war, the sources added.
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Senior White House officials visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 03:54 GMT]
Two senior foreign policy advisors to President Obama, Samantha Power, Special Assistant to the President on Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights and David Pressman, National Security Council Director for War Crimes and Atrocities, visited Jaffna Wednesday, sources in Jaffna said. The US envoys, along with US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia A Butenis, first held talks with Jaffna Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundranayagam at Bishop House and later discussed the current state of affairs with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna Commander Major Gen. Mahinda Kathurusinghe, the sources added.
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JVP leader fails to present a specific political solution for ethnic issue, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 16:23 GMT]
Somawanse Amarasinghe, leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and parliamentarian, was unable to deliver an unambiguous answer to questions raised by media persons who wanted to know the position of his party in finding a political solution for the ethnic issue, in a press meet held in Jaffna town Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, Somawanse Amarasinghe who had come to Jaffna Tuesday evening after a three-day visit to Vanni said that his group was subjected to harassment by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who did not permit them to visit the resettled Vanni residents in some parts of Vanni.
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6 new political parties apply for registration

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 14:44 GMT]
Six new political parties have applied to the Commissioner of Elections for registration. They are waiting for the return of the Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake who is on vacation overseas following the two major elections, presidential and general elections earlier this year, sources in Colombo said.
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Dengue death tolls reach 104 in five months

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 14:00 GMT]
The number of deaths related to dengue in the island has increased to 104 till the end of May and the number of dengue affected persons warded in hospitals has increased to 16,341. 120 dengue cases have been reported during the last week alone. Sri Lankan Health Department sources said the highest number of 2,118 dengue cases was reported from the Jaffna District followed by the Colombo District with 2,070 cases.
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STF, police in Eastern Province continue to harass people

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 12:55 GMT]
People travelling from Batticaloa to Paduvaankarai complain that the Special Task Force (STF) commandos and police subject them to harassment and restrictions in the check-posts located on Karuththa Paalam (Black Bridge), Vavu’natheevu and Kiraan Bridge. STF and police order the travelers to get down from their vehicles and walk to the check-posts with their baggage and children besides being made to wait for long in the hot sun, they said. STF commandos who had occupied many private shops and houses in Eastern Province during war continue to harass the public in the name of searches and checking.
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Muslim trader shot, killed in Poththuvil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 12:24 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen who broke into the house of a Muslim trader in Poththuvil in Ampaa’rai district Tuesday around 12:45 a.m opened fire on the trader who was in the bedroom, according to the victim’s wife. The seriously injured victim was rushed to Poththuvil District Hospital by the neighbors where he succumbed to his wounds, hospital sources said. Meanwhile, Ampaa’rai district Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) parliamentarian, M. H. Haris had told media few days ago about the paramilitary groups of politicians who are involved in the recent robberies operating unchecked despite complaints made to police.
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UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs visits Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 12:12 GMT]
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe, who arrived Wednesday morning Colombo on a two day visit, left to Mullaiththeevu on an inspection tour, sources in Colombo said citing Sri Lankan External Affairs ministry officials. Prior to leaving to Mullaiththeevu Mr. Pascoe met G.L. Peiris, the Sri Lankan foreign minister. The visit by Lynn Pascoe takes place after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited India and the arrival of top officials and envoys from the USA and Japan.
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JUSU condemns IUSU representatives being denied entry into Jaffna University premise

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 05:15 GMT]
Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) in a media report Tuesday expressed its deep discontent against Inter University Student Union (IUSU) representatives being denied entry into Jaffna University premises to hand over relief goods they had brought from South for the war affected Vanni undergrads. Meanwhile, Jaffna University Vice-chancellor who had denied entry to the IUCU representatives Saturday and Sunday said in a report to media Tuesday that students from other universities have to submit an authorization letter from their VC. Jaffna VC’s media report is seen as an attempt to pacify JUSU. Meanwhile, JUSU in its media report requested the VC to reveal the source of order from above directing him not to permit the IUCU representatives from meeting the war affected Vanni students, sources in Jaffna said.
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Justice for Bloody Sunday victims after 40 years

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 02:10 GMT]
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, addressing the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon after the release of Saville Report on the killing of thirteen civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland in January 1972, acknowledged that British paratroopers had fired on fleeing unarmed civilians, that British soldiers had fired the first shot, many of the soldiers lied about their actions, and that British soldiers had shot and killed already wounded civilians. The Prime Minister then apologized on behalf of the British Government, according to a BBC report.
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German Ambassador on sudden visit to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 June 2010, 17:05 GMT]
German Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Jens Ploetner, whose visit to Jaffna Monday was suddenly cancelled due to undisclosed reasons, however made a sudden visit to Jaffna Tuesday, sources in Jaffna said. The ambassador took part in an event in Chaavakachcheari Hindu College Tuesday to which he was invited as the chief guest by the alumni of the college. Meanwhile, German Embassy in Colombo had announced the ‘German Week in Jaffna – 2010’ which was to take place from 14th June to 18th June at the Centre for Performing Arts in Jaffna. This event was cancelled at the last moment, the sources added.
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Only 2000 army deserters surrendered out of 50,000 - SLA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 June 2010, 16:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has extended the amnesty deadline for army deserters till June 30. The amnesty period commenced on June 7. Till now only about two thousand deserters have surrendered. Currently about fifty thousand army deserters are at large in the country, military spokesman Major General Prasad Samarasinghe said at a media briefing Tuesday.
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Colombo's 'Victory Parade' to be held every year

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 June 2010, 16:21 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka announced Tuesday that the 'Victory Parade' commemorating the victory over Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the three decade old war will be held every year. In this year first Victory Parade that is scheduled to be held Friday at Galle Face Green about nine thousand security personnel from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) who took part in the last leg of the war against LTTE would participate, military spokesman Major General Prasad Samarasinghe said at a media briefing held Tuesday.
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Obama's Genocide Expert meets Mahinda Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 June 2010, 13:58 GMT]
Samantha Power, Director of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights of the National Security Council in the Obama administration, David Pressman, Director for war crimes atrocities and civilian protection of the US National Security Council, and Ms. Patricia A Butenis Ambassador of the US Embassy in Sri Lanka met with Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse Tuesday, reports from Colombo said. “The meeting was cordial and friendly and both sides discussed matters of mutual interest,” Daily mirror said quoting statement from Sri Lanka President’s office.
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Swiss ambassador to Sri Lanka visits Jaffna, German ambassador's visit cancelled

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 June 2010, 18:39 GMT]
Ms. Ruth Flint, Switzerland ambassador to Sri Lanka arrived in Jaffna Monday where she met Jaffna Government Agent (GA) K. Ganesh in Jaffna Secretariat and discussed development projects carried out by Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) in Jaffna peninsula. Incidentally, TamilNet had reported Friday the construction of a school by CDC in Maravanpulavu in Jaffna district at a cost of 18 million rupees where people have not resettled due to insecurity. Meanwhile, the German ambassador to Sri Lanka who was to participate in a cultural program Monday organized by German Cultural Society in Jaffna had cancelled the visit without any official information for the last minute cancellation of the visit, sources in Jaffna said.
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‘Jim Brown Memorial School’ for children opened in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 June 2010, 17:54 GMT]
The parents of Rev. Fr. Jim Brown who had disappeared without trace in August 2006 after being taken away by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) paramilitary men in Allaippiddi in the islets of Jaffna, recently opened the ‘Jim Brown Memorial School’ built in the premises of St. Peter’s Church in Ma’ndaitheevu, sources in Jaffna said. The school was built by the HUDEC – Caritas Jaffna in remembrance of Rev. Fr. Jim Brown, the parish priest of Ma’ndaitheevu St. Peters Church, who had strived to save the remaining residents of Allaippiddi massacred by Sri Lanka Armed forces in August 2006.
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Paramilitary groups of politicians involved in robberies in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 June 2010, 16:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) parliamentarian M. H. Haris said that politicians continue to use their paramilitary men in robberies and extortion in Kalmunai in the Eastern Province and that despite complaints to police with the names of the armed men no action has been taken against them. Meanwhile, the Officer-in-Charge of Kalmunai police station, Siran Perera said that the suspects in the robberies in his police jurisdiction manage to get away with the help of influential politicians.
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Don’t trade Tamils’ political aspirations for mere concessions: Tamil academics

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 June 2010, 15:30 GMT]
The Tamil parliamentarians, during this period after war, should not give up the political aspirations of Tamils merely for concessions but should act independently to win the lost rights of Tamils, said a resolution passed in a meeting held Sunday in Colpetty in Colombo, arranged by Tamil academics, sources in Colombo said. Many who participated in the discussion expressed their discontent over the current political activities of the Tamil MPs and emphasized the need for them to observe the calculated moves of the government to settle Sinhalese in the North and East and to engage themselves to counter them. It was stressed that the Tamil parliamentarians should demand a just and honorable solution for the ethnic issue.
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Japanese envoy Akashi to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 June 2010, 13:54 GMT]
Yasushi Akashi, the special envoy appointed by Japan during the Norwegian facilitated negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is to commence a five day visit to the island of Sri Lanka on Tuesday June 15. Japan was the largest donor besides Europe and the United States, before Rajapaksa government turned towards China, India and Iran in its war against Tamils. Japan, together with the USA, the EU and Norway constituted the Tokyo Co-Chairs, which formally represented the role of the 'International Community' in the disastrous peace process that altered the balance of power in favour of Colombo, enabling the Sri Lankan state to wage a genocidal war on Tamils.
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China wants to start fisheries project in Mullaiththeevu: SL Fisheries Minister

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 June 2010, 10:48 GMT]
A Chinese company has applied to the Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Ministry to start and invest in a fisheries project in Nanthikkadal lagoon in Mullaiththeevu district, according to Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne, a news report by the Daily Mirror newspaper said Monday. The report on Chinese move has come while Sinhala fishermen from South have encroached the coastal areas of Mullaiththeevu district.
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6 SLA soldiers rape young mother in Visuvamadu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 June 2010, 17:34 GMT]
A 25-year old mother of two children was raped by six Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers last Sunday night in the resettlement village of Redbarna located at the border of Mullaiththeevu district, Jaffna daily Uthayan reported. The incident occurred when the soldiers entered the house when the mother was alone. The family relocated to the village two weeks earlier as part of the resettlement program.
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Sri Lanka one country, unitary state: Namal Rajapaksa, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 June 2010, 16:38 GMT]
“Sri Lanka is one country and a unitary state,” Namal Rajapakse, MP and son of President Mahinda Rajapaksa said speaking at the event where Minister Douglas Devananda officially inaugurated a boat service Sunday around 11:00 a.m at Ma’n’niththalai jetty in Poonakarai, sources in Jaffna said. “Douglas is a model person to the Tamils of the country as he sets an example by cooperating with the government in the development of the whole country,” he added. Meanwhile, civil society circles in Jaffna said that Namal Rajapaksa had praised Douglas Devananda in an effort to pacify him as Namal Rajapaksa had brought five of his own boats to be engaged in the boat service between Kurunakar and Poonakari in the project which was initiated by minister Douglas Devananda.
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IUSU representatives threatened with death in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 June 2010, 15:14 GMT]
Unknown gunmen on motor cycles speaking fluent Sinhalese threatened Inter University Students’ Union (IUSU) representatives Sunday as they were returning after being denied entry into Jaffna University for the second time during the week-end, IUSU representatives staying in a lodge in Jaffna University surroundings said. IUSU representatives had been turned away at the main gates by Jaffna University Vice-chancellor Saturday morning when they wanted to get in to give the war affected Vanni undergrads relief materials including wheel-chairs for invalids they had collected in the South. The gunmen had warned that the IUCU representatives will be killed and their vehicle burnt threatening with revolvers if they do not leave Jaffna immediately, they further said.
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JVP delegation to visit Vanni, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 June 2010, 13:55 GMT]
The parliamentary group delegation of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna led Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is scheduled to undertake a three day-tour to Vanni and Jaffna from June 14 Monday. JVP leader Somawansa Amarasingha will be leading the delegation, according to DNA parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake to media Sunday.
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JVP vows to defeat constitutional changes by UPFA government

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 June 2010, 13:48 GMT]
The Sinhala Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Sunday declared that it would take all necessary steps to defeat the attempt by the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government to change the constitution to suit to its political agenda. The JVP would muster the support of other opposition parties to prevent a two-thirds majority in Parliament for the government to bring about constitutional changes, JVP parliamentary group leader of the JVP led Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Anura Kumara Dissanayake said at a media briefing held Sunday.
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Namal Rajapaksa’s men monopolize Jaffna-Poonakari boat service

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 June 2010, 05:40 GMT]
The new boat service between Kurunakar and Poonakari in the North which is to be inaugurated Sunday by Namal Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is to be entirely serviced by boats owned by him, sources in Jaffna said. Colombo government and the powerful men from South are exploiting all possible sources of income in Jaffna peninsula, Tamil circles in Jaffna commented.
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SLA engaged in obliterating evidence of mass killings in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 June 2010, 05:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are hastily destroying hundreds of human skeletal remains that lies in the weed overgrown bunkers where the Vanni civilians had crept into to save their lives when SLA moved into Vanni in its final offensives on Vanni, a representative of an International NGO who recently visited places not permitted for resettlement in Vanni told TamilNet. Meanwhile, a priest, an eyewitness to the massacre, recalled how the advancing SLA soldiers had thrown grenades into the bunkers and how SLA tanks had dumped them with earth even with people alive in them.
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IUSU denied access to meet counterpart of Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 June 2010, 04:39 GMT]
The Vice-chancellor of Jaffna University did not permit Saturday more than seventy representatives of Inter University Students’ Union (IUSU) from South who had come to Jaffna to give the war affected Vanni students in Jaffna University things they had collected, to enter the university premise, sources in Jaffna said. The IUSU representatives led by Uthila Premaratne were stopped at the entrance as Jaffna University VC directed the security guards to close the main gate. Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) representatives were told curtly by the VC that Jaffna University was not a place for their political activities, the sources added.
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Major earthquake in Indian Ocean, tsunami watch cancelled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 20:23 GMT]
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, which issued a tsunami watch warning following a major earthquake off the Nicobar Islands Sunday at 1:26 a.m. local time at the epicenter, has cancelled the warning later as sea level readings did not indicate any significant tsunami. Tsunami watch was initially announced for India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and for other areas of the Indian ocean following the powerful 7.5 Magnitude earthquake at a relatively shallow depth of about 22 miles in the Nicobar Islands area of the Indian Ocean. Several parts of the island of Sri Lanka experienced a tremor around 1:00 a.m. Buildings and houses in and around Colombo, Negombo, Galle, Matara experienced the tremor that lasted for less than one minute. The Sri Lankan Meteorology Department had also issued a tsunami warning around 2:00 a.m. local time.
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Sri Lanka, China sign six agreements to enhance co-operation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 19:32 GMT]
The governments of Sri Lanka and China Friday signed six agreements to enhance the co-operation in the spheres of technology, industry, information technology and construction, according to the officials of Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Colombo. Acting Ports and Aviation Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena and Chinese Transport Minister Lin Shenjin signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of maritime ports. The second phase of the Hambantota Port will commence under this agreement and the Chinese Government will provide a loan of US $600m which is payable within 20 years, the sources further said.
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Rajapaksa meets Chinese vice premier on his return from India

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 14:11 GMT]
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang Saturday morning called on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the President's House. China and Sri Lanka Friday signed six agreements at the office of the Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne at latter’s presence.
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CID conducts spurious searches in paramilitary operatives’ houses in Vaazhaichcheani

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 09:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) searched Tuesday the house of Nagalingam Thiraviyam alias Jeyam, a member of the Eastern Provincial Council and an operative of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) who had been evicted from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2004 by the then Commander Karuna and present Deputy Minister of Rehabilitation, Vinayagamoorthy Muaralitharan. Similar searches were also made in his other houses in Vaakarai police division and his relatives’ houses in Challiththeevu and Panichchangkea’ni areas, sources in Batticaloa said. The CID, however, has not confiscated any stolen goods or documents related to various criminal activities of Jeyam who possesses wealth and properties exceeding his income, the sources added.
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Mahinda Rajapaksa returns after India visit

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 04:48 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa returned Friday evening after a four day official visit to India. He arrived in Katunayake International Airport in a Sri Lankan airline flight. He was received at the airport by several ministers and deputy ministers.
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Sinhalese brought from South to settle in state lands in Vaakarai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 04:45 GMT]
State and abandoned lands in Vaaharai division in Batticaloa district in Eastern Province are being distributed to persons who have been brought down from the south. This is being done without the knowledge of the Batticaloa District Government Agent and Vaakarai Divisional Secretary. They are being kept in dark and some military officials and Buddhist monks are behind the state aided colonization, civilian sources alleged.
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Resettled people in Vanni suffer increasing SLA harassment

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 04:30 GMT]
Disappearances, sexual abuse and extortion by occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in Vanni where people have been allowed to resettle have increased and the victims are helpless as there are no authorities to complain against the violence except to the SLA in Vanni, a government officer in Vanni said. Meanwhile, SLA earmarks properties with ‘Reserved for SLA’ notice boards and the owners of the marked properties have to pay large sums of money to claim their properties back, a worker of an NGO in Vanni said.
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India treats Sri Lankans on a par with Chinese in visa extension

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 June 2010, 23:38 GMT]
Sri Lankans and Chinese either employed or in business in India require direct visit to the home ministry in New Delhi for all extensions of their visas, according to recently revised regulations of the Government of India. The other nationals may apply and get extensions from local authorities. In the case of foreigners married to Indian nationals, Sri Lankans are singled out from the others and are required approval from the home ministry for all visa extensions. What do these regulations mean in the wake of recent Indo-Sri Lanka agreements in the name of economic cooperation as well as people to people contact and the influx of the corporates of India in the island, wonder business circles in Colombo.
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Douglas Devananda says charges against him in Madras High Court will be dropped Monday

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 June 2010, 16:55 GMT]
Sri Lankan Minister Douglas Devananda, just returned after his visit to India with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, told media Friday that the charges against him filed in Tamil Nadu Courts will be dropped when they will be taken up for hearing in the Mandras High Court Monday. He said this in a press meet held through phone at Srithar theatre in Jaffna. According to The Times of India, Tamil Nadu lawyer P. Pugalenthi, the secretary of Tamil Nadu Peoples Rights Forum, a pro-Eezham Tamil body, had filed a petition that action should be taken against Mr. Devananda since the VIth Additional Sessions Judge in June 1994 had issued a proclamation warrant treating him as an 'absconding accused' in the case relating to the killing of a city resident in 1986.
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China, India, USA work to increase influence in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 June 2010, 14:17 GMT]
China, India and the United States of America are gradually strengthening their presence in Jaffna. India and China have openly sought to influence the 'post-war development’, which is unilaterally undertaken under the supervision of Basil Rajapaksa, the brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Tamil circles in Jaffna commenting on the corporate race by the powers said articulate sections of Tamils in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora should come out with appropriate responses that the powers should respect the rights of the people of the land in deciding their own development.
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Students, schools in Vanni disregarded

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 June 2010, 04:23 GMT]
The teachers and heads of schools which have begun to function in Vanni where people have been allowed to resettle are facing insurmountable difficulties as most of the school buildings and furniture have been destructed in the war on Vanni, education circles in Vanni complain. While the government does not provide even the basic facilities the humanitarian organizations in the North, both local and international, disregard the education sector in Vanni preferring to work in Jaffna and Vavuniyaa, they said. International humanitarian organizations including UNICEF and Swiss Development Corporation spend their funds in Jaffna and Vauniyaa on various projects while the students and schools in Vanni suffer even without the basic facilities, they added.
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Tamil Commemorative stamp released in US

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 June 2010, 02:08 GMT]
Tamils for Obama, a US-based Tamil activist organization, is releasing a first-class postage stamp ($0.44) for use with letters posted within the United States. "U.S. Postal Service (USPS) recently decided to allow American citizens to design and market their own postage stamps. We decided make use of this opportunity to show respect to the Tamils who have suffered destruction to life and property in Sri Lanka," spokesperson for the organization told TamilNet.
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Defence Ministry objects to resettlement in Wards 3, 5 in Allaippiddi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 June 2010, 18:06 GMT]
The civilians of Wards 3 and 5 in Allaippiddi in the islets of Jaffna who were uprooted in August 2006 when clashes erupted between Liberation Tigers and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) had sought refuge in Jaffna town. Thursday, for the second time, they were permitted to see their houses and properties occupied by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) claiming the area as High Security Zone (HSZ) and the SLN officials there had informed them that resettlement in the said HSZ is not immediately possible, sources in Jaffna said. The officials had told them that Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence objects to resettlement in their lands.
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Skeletal remains found in Ki’linochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 June 2010, 16:18 GMT]
The owners of a house in Ka’ndaava’lai in Ki’linochchi district in Vanni found a human skeletal remains lying in the backyard when they were preparing to resettle in their house, sources in Vanni said. Meanwhile, unidentified men had caused injuries Tuesday to an elderly man and his wife who were alone in their house in Nedungkea’ni in Vanni and the man succumbed to the injuries later, the sources added.
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India compels CEPA on Sri Lanka: Dr. Wickrembahu Karunaratne

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 June 2010, 08:15 GMT]
India is compelling Sri Lanka to sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) for the favour of supplying weapons in the war against the Liberation Tigers, Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne, the leader of the New Left Front (NLF), said in a press meet held in Colombo Wednesday morning. He further said that India which had been instrumental in the mass killings of Tamils in Sri Lanka is employing schemes like CEPA to bring Sri Lanka under its control. He warned that all trade ventures including small industries in Sri Lanka will become Indian if the CEPA is signed.
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CEPA will flood Sri Lanka with Indian workers: UPFA minister

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 June 2010, 05:33 GMT]
National Freedom Front (NFF), a constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government Wednesday charged that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that is likely to be signed by India and Sri Lanka is a ploy to fill the island with Indian workers. Wimal Weerawansa, leader of the NFF said at a press conference held Wednesday at the NFF headquarters at Battaramulle that CEPA if signed would adversely affect Sri Lanka. NFF is a splinter group of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
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Tamil Nadu delegation not satisfied after meeting Rajapaksa in New Delhi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 June 2010, 16:49 GMT]
A delegation of 21 MPs from Tamil Nadu led by T.R. Baalu failed to secure concrete assurances on political settlement, release of Prisoners of War or resettlement of Tamils after meeting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in New Delhi on Wednesday. In a televised comment in Sun News, Mr. T.R. Balu said that there was some progress, but added he was not satisfied with the output of the meeting. The Sri Lankan delegation headed by Mr. Rajapaksa and the Indian delegation led by Dr. Manmohan Singh inked seven agreements, which included bilateral counter-insurgency and corporate deals. In the meantime, fifteen Tamil Nadu fishermen from Rameswaram were admitted to hospital after they were stripped off their clothes, tortured with ice on their heads and were forced to eat salt and raw fish by the Sri Lanka Navy on Tuesday off Kachchatheevu in Palk Strait, media reports in Tamil Nadu said.
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Indian citizen running a BOI factory in Chilaw abducted, assaulted by local politician

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 June 2010, 16:30 GMT]
A local politician who is the Chairman of a local council in Chilaw district in the North Western province is alleged to have abducted and assaulted an Indian Businessman on June 8 Tuesday. He was admitted in a private hospital in Colombo Wednesday morning and is beign treated. The victim has been identified as M. Maniyam Hariraj, the owner of the factory approved by the Board of Investment (BOI). This incident took place following a dispute between the workforce and the management of the factory, sources in Chilaw said.
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US ambassador to Sri Lanka visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 June 2010, 15:36 GMT]
Ms. Patricia A. Butenis, Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives arrived in Jaffna Wednesday on a two-day visit where she first went to the ‘Periya Pa’l’livaasal’ (Big Mosque) of the Muslim community in Jaffna town, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, the Intelligence wing men of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were active in covering all her visits collecting particulars of the places she went, persons she met and also the subjects she discussed, the sources added.
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JVP: Gotabhaya insulted Fonseka in BBC interview

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 June 2010, 07:37 GMT]
The Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tuesday condemned the comment made by Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse to BBC Hard Talk interview where he claimed General (retired) Sarath Fonseka, former commander of the Sri Lanka Army would be treated as a traitor and hanged if he gives evidence in the war crime probe.
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Emergency needed to nab sleeping Tiger cells: Sri Lankan PM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 June 2010, 07:29 GMT]
Heated argument ensued in parliament Tuesday during the debate on extending the state of emergency for another month between the opposition and ruling party parliamentarians over the speech by the Prime Minister D.M.Jayaretna that the State of Emergency was needed to nab sleeping LTTE senior cadres in Colombo and that Sri Lankan intelligence personnel are working around the clock day and night to arrest these LTTE cadres.
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Exert pressure on Colombo to declare detained LTTE members as political prisoners: CPI politician

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 June 2010, 02:50 GMT]
Thousands of former LTTE members, who were captured by the Sri Lanka Army in May last year are still perishing in Colombo’s detention camps in unknown locations. “Many of the families of these young Tamils do not even know the whereabouts of their loved ones. The Sri Lankan state is treating them like criminals. Rajapaksa is not recognising these young Tamils as Prisoners of War. But, he should at least be pressurised by the global community to declare those detained as political prisoners,” said C. Mahendran, the deputy state secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in Tamil Nadu. Mr. Mahendran was addressing fellow activists of Ilangkai Thamizhar Paathukaappu Iyakkam, while they were held under collective custody by Tamil Nadu police, after a protest on Tuesday against Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi.
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US ambassador to SL to visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 17:21 GMT]
Ms. Patricia A. Butenis, Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, is scheduled to visit Jaffna peninsula Wednesday during which she will pay a visit to the ‘Periya Pa’l’livaasal’ (Big Mosque) of the Muslim community in Jaffna which had been opened after a period of nearly 20 years, sources in Jaffna said. The ambassador will take part in various discussions and the inspection of development projects in progress in the peninsula, US embassy circles said.
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Swimming pool project in Jaffna abandoned due to swindle

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 16:59 GMT]
The construction of a big swimming pool in Jaffna Central College premises launched by the ‘Blue Brigade’ youths of Namal Rajapakse, son of President Rajapakse and parliamentarian, has been abandoned as Blue Brigade men from South had sold the iron rods and cement collected for the construction of the pool in the open market in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The foundation laying ceremony for this swimming pool had been held with great government publicity and propaganda with the participation of Namal Rajapakse, Northern Province Governor Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri and many ministers. It was claimed in the ceremony that the swimming pool is being built for the use of the student community in Jaffna peninsula.
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Emergency extended for another month in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 16:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s parliament Tuesday evening adopted the motion tabled by the government to extend the State of Emergency by another year by a majority of sixty eight votes. 121 parliamentarians of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its constituents voted for the extension while fifty-three voted against. Kandy district parliamentarian Abdul Cader elected from the main opposition United National Party (UNP) voted with the government.
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Rajapaksa visits India amid wide-scale protests in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 11:33 GMT]
All the district capitals and major cities of Tamil Nadu state Tuesday noon reported wide-scale protests against Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to India. All the prominent leaders of political parties and movements, Vaiko, Pazha Nedumaran, Thirumavalavan, Seeman, Nallakannu, Mahendran, T. Rajendar, Thiyagu were arrested by Tamil Nadu police with thousands of other activists after they concluded their speeches and protests. The protests, including black flag demonstrations in front of Indian Central Government Institutions in Tamil Nadu, blocking railway and burning effigies of Sri Lankan President, have brought many Tamil parties and movements together in support of Eezham Tamils. All major media outlets operating from India have given coverage to the protests.
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Robberies by armed gangs escalate in Ampaa’rai, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 10:41 GMT]
Gangs of armed robbers in Kalmunai and Kalmunaikkudi areas in Ampaa’rai district in the Eastern Province are frequently robbing cash and jewellery from wealthy people during nights while the Special Task Force (STF) Commandos and Police are jointly engaged in road patrol duties in the said areas, sources in Kalmunai said. The complaints made to Kalmunai police by a well-known Muslim doctor who had been robbed of cash and jewellery worth more than 1.5 million rupees were not considered seriously by the police who are yet to arrest any suspects involved in the robbery, the sources added. Meanwhile, armed men robbed two houses in Vaazhaichcheanai last Thursday.
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SL Defence ministry wants 201 billion for remaining 5 months of 2010

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 07:34 GMT]
The Sri Lankan parliament met Tuesday morning with the Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa in the chair to debate emergency extension. Ruling Mahinda Rajapaksa government, which tabled the Appropriation Bill that outlined its expenditure for the next five months of this year, wants 201 billion rupees allocated for the SL Defence Ministry as against 60 billion rupees last year, parliamentary sources said.
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People’s Bank fails to announce remedial measures to war affected customers in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 04:31 GMT]
The customers of People’s Bank branches in Vanni who expected alternative measures to be announced in the events of opening three People’s Bank branches Monday in Vanni were greatly disappointed as the key officials, including Governor of Sri Lanka Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal who participated in the events failed to say anything about their bank documents lost due to war, sources in Vanni said.
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Court orders Sunday Leader Editor to produce note book regarding Fonseka’s interview

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 03:51 GMT]
Colombo Chief Magistrate Champa Janaki Rajaratne Monday ordered the Chief Editor of the Sunday Leader, a weekly newspaper published from Colombo. to produce her note book in court on the next date of inquiry on June 21. Her note book is said to have contained the original transcript of the controversial interview with the former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army General (retired) Sarath Fonseka.
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JVP to step up opposition against Indian involvement in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010, 18:32 GMT]
General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tilvin Silva Monday blamed India for meddling with affairs of the Sri Lankan state as if it was a federal unit of India. The JVP reaction has come as the Tamil National Alliance was scheduled to meet Rajapaksa Monday evening before his visit to India on Tuesday. Recently, the Government of India, while gazetting a declaration designating LTTE as an unlawful association in India, linked 'Tamil Eelam' as a separate homeland amounting to 'cession and secession of a part of the territory of India.'
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Two civilians dead, two injured in mine blast in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010, 17:59 GMT]
Failure to remove land mines and explosives in Thanangki’lappu in Thenmaraadchi where resettlement of uprooted civilians was permitted by government authorities was the cause for the deaths of two family men Monday evening while seriously causing injuring two elderly men, when an explosive device went off, sources in Jaffna said. The authorities had permitted resettlement in Thanangki’lappu on the assurance of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Thenmaraadchi that the de-mining of the area had been completed.
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Jaffna District Union for persons disappeared after arrest meets after 8 years

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010, 17:25 GMT]
The Jaffna District Union for persons disappeared after being arrested by Sri Lanka Armed Forces which met in Jaffna town Monday after eight years extended an appeal to all political parties to forget their differences and cooperate with dedication to trace the youths and young women disappeared after arrest by the armed forces, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, there were many participants in the meeting who said that Minister Douglas Devnananda had told them that their children are under detention by Army Intelligence Division, during his campaigns in the last parliamentary election meeting.
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Rajapaksa reschedules 'victory day' parade for June 18

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010, 08:14 GMT]
Colombo's 'victory parade' postponed due to bad weather in May is re-scheduled to be held on June 18 at Colombo Galle Face Green, according to government sources in Colombo. The three armed forces, police, and Civil Defence Force are to participate in the parade to be held by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Meanwhile, Democratic National Alliance (DNA) led by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) would mark 'Victory Day' on June 8 with Adishtana Pooja at the Viharamahadevi Open Air Theatre, said Mrs. Anoma Fonseka, wife of General (retired) Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army who led the Sri Lankan forces in the war against Tamils.
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SLA Commander's deposition provides convincing evidence of war crimes- TAG

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010, 00:21 GMT]
Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group, claimed in a press release issued Saturday, that it has obtained a 100-page long sworn affidavit from a senior commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) who has fled Sri Lanka seeking asylum for himself and his family. Noting the sensitivity of the evidence, TAG said that the affidavit was recorded by a court reporter but declined to reveal the name of the commander or the modalities used in obtaining the affidavit. The sworn testimony contains "clear and convincing evidence" that Colombo committed war crimes, and this document can be made available to "other independent organizations which can demonstrate serious intent in pursuing legal action against Colombo officials," TAG spokesperson told TamilNet.
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3 People’s Bank branches to be reopened in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 June 2010, 20:37 GMT]
People’s Bank branches of Maangku’lam, Ki’linochchi and Paranthan areas where uprooted civilians have been allowed to resettle in Vanni which had ceased to function due to war are to be officially reopened Monday, sources in Vanni said. It is hoped that the customers of these banks who had lost all their properties and documents will be offered some measures of compensation during the opening events Monday, the sources added.
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Mahinda Rajapakse to hold talks with TNA, EPDP before leaving to India

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 June 2010, 20:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse has invited the representatives of Tamil National (TNA) for talks on the eve of his visit to India Tuesday, sources in Colombo said. The president has also invited representatives of Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) led by Minister Douglas Devananda for talks to be held following his meeting with TNA representatives Monday evening, the sources added. Meanwhile, the joint statement by Sri Lanka and India to be released following the meeting with the heads of both governments in India is expected to include the various development projects that are to be launched in Jaffna peninsula, the sources added.
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Sri Lanka delegation to India named

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 June 2010, 16:53 GMT]
The delegation led by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa scheduled to leave for India on a four day official visit on Tuesday will include External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, Ministers Keheliya Rambukwella and Douglas Devananda, and Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, according to a news report carried by State run Sunday Observer.
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Sri Lanka's war, a corporate war, says Arundhati Roy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 June 2010, 02:22 GMT]
The war in Sri Lanka was not just a war of the Sri Lankans against the Tamil people, according to writer-activist Arundhati Roy. "That was a corporate war. All the large Indian companies are now heading to Sri Lanka to make more money," Roy said on Friday speaking at a Chennai convention on attacks by India against tribal resistance movements, Times of India said. Roy has previously voiced her opposition openly on Sri Lanka's war against Tamils and had condemned India's silence on the humanitarian tragedy in Sri Lanka, calling the war "a racist war on Tamils."
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Boyle: Independent Eelam will be a bulwark for India

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 June 2010, 00:02 GMT]
Professor Francis A. Boyle, an expert in international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, said that an independent state of Tamil eelam south of the Indian border will add to India's security, and therefore, India should actively intervene in the Tamil struggle and facilitate the formation of Tamil eelam. Boyle was talking to the popular Tamil Nadu Tamil biweekly magazine Junior Vikatan in an exclusive interview given to the magazine's US correspondent Prakash M Swamy early part of May.
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Student Unions observe death anniversary of Pon. Sivakumaran in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 June 2010, 21:20 GMT]
Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) and Jaffna Technical College Student Union (JTCSU) observed the death anniversary of Pon. Sivakumaran who was the pioneer in leading the Tamil youth into armed struggle to regain the robbed rights of Tamils marking this transition and setting its basic attributes such as sacrificing one's life by consuming cyanide. Only a few students participated in the event due to fear while Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP) which vie with each other to observe the death anniversary of Pon. Sivakumaran did not show any interest in commemorating the day, sources in Jaffna said.
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Journalist Roopan remembered in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 June 2010, 20:54 GMT]
Media associations in Jaffna peninsula held an event Saturday in remembrance of Selvaratnam Roopan, sub-editor of ‘Yaazh Thinakrual’ Tamil daily, also known as ’Sakthi Thasan’ who passed away due to illness in Jaffna Teaching Hospital 25 April, in Jaffna Multi Purpose Society Hall. General Manager of Yaazh Thinakural, A. S. Nadarajan presided at the event attended by Professor. V. P. Sivananthan, Dr. M. Jamunanantha and many media persons of Jaffna peninsula. 32-year-old Roopan had been in the forefront in rescuing thousands of people caught in the clashes in Ma’ndaitheevu in the islets of Jaffna in 2006 and in admitting the injured among them in the hospitals in Jaffna.
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SLA soldiers harass resettled women during nights in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 June 2010, 20:29 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier who broke into a house in Thirunakar in Ki’linochchi Friday midnight and attempted to sexually harass a woman was chased away by neighbours, according to complaints made by the resettled families to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, N. Siritharan. The soldier who tried to escape the chasing men accidentally fell into a well on the way and had to remain in the well until rescued by fellow soldiers who came that way in a tractor as the men who chased him did not pull him out.
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China Vice Premier to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 June 2010, 01:30 GMT]
Vice Prime Minister of the State Council of the People’s Republic China, Zhang Dejiang, is to pay an official visit to Sri Lanka from June 10 to 12. He will be leading a thirty member delegation, Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry said in a press release.
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Alston: Domestic inquiries into extrajudicial killings insufficient

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 June 2010, 00:08 GMT]
United Nations special envoy, Prof. Philip Alston, stressed the need for international inquiries into serious allegations of extrajudicial executions in cases where national probes have been insufficient, citing Sri Lanka, among other nations. Mr. Alston also referred to the allegations that as many as 30,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka last year in the closing months of the conflict between Government forces and Tamil rebels and that grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law were committed. “In this case also there is a need for an independent international inquiry,” UN News Center reported, quoting Alston. Professor Francis A Boyle commented after Alston's statement that "U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon no longer has any excuse to delay appointing an International War Crimes Committee on Sri Lanka, which has been within his powers to do for the past year now."
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Boat service to begin between Jaffna and Poonakari in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 June 2010, 20:49 GMT]
Government authorities in Jaffna announced that a boat service is to be inaugurated 13 June between Kurunakar jetty in Jaffna and Ma’n’niththu'rai jetty in Poonakari. This boat service is being started to enable public to travel between Jaffna and Vanni quickly, Northern Province Governor, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri said.
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Maangku’lam Maha Viththiyalayam relocated due to SLA occupation

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 June 2010, 20:36 GMT]
Maangku’lam Maha Viththiyaalayam (MMV) located along A9 road had to be shifted to another building in Maangku’lam as MMV has been transformed into Sri Lanka Army (SLA) base since 2008, education department sources said. MMV which had remained closed even after families had been allowed to resettle in the area began to function Thursday in the Technical College building constructed by NECORD in Maangku’lam.
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SLA denies permission for fishing in areas allowed for resettlement in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 June 2010, 20:18 GMT]
The residents of the coastal villages of Jaffna town evicted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in 1996, though permitted to resettle in their villages, complain that SLA does not allow them to engage in their livelihood of fishing, sources in Jaffna said. The uprooted civilians are greatly shocked to find their lands and properties destroyed while a great part of their villages is still being occupied by SLA, the sources added.
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Tamil political prisoners appeal to TNA seeking amnesty

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 June 2010, 04:25 GMT]
Tamil political prisoners held in Welikada and Magazine prisons have appealed toTamil National Alliance (TNA) to move an adjournment motion in Parliament when it is scheduled to meet next week 8 June demanding general amnesty for them. More than one hundred and twenty Tamil political prisoners are held in these prisons and most of them are yet to be produced in court.
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Navy arrests 2 Muslim civilians in Nilaave’li

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 June 2010, 04:21 GMT]
An intelligence team of the Eastern Naval Command of Sri Lanka Navy arrested two Muslim civilians aged 24 and 28 with 51 gelignite sticks and 200 detonators in two boxes in Nilaave’li area in Trincomalee district Monday on receipt of information.
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TNLA to register as political party

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 June 2010, 04:16 GMT]
The new Tamil political party, Tamil National Liberation Alliance (TNLA), is to hand over an application to be registered as a political party in Sri Lanka as Sri Lanka Elections Department has begun to entertain newly formed political parties from 1 June, according to M. K. Sivajilingam, General Secretary of TNLA and former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian of Jaffna district told media in Colombo.
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NYT corrects journalistic "error" on MIA article

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 June 2010, 03:46 GMT]
New York Times (NYT) in a correction published Thursday admitted that NYT journlalist Lynn Hirschberg used quotes from an interview with Jaffna born music phenom Maya Arulpragasam (known by popular name MIA) out of context to misrepresent her views on the Tamil conflict. Hirschberg also wrote "Maya taps into her rage at the persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka to espouse violence," pointing to Maya's lyrics "You wanna win a war?/Like P.L.O. I don’t surrender.” A media outlet commented "within the context of the song, there’s no way to interpret the lyrics this way, unless you’re coming into it with a certain agenda."
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Unintended consequences and deeper dynamic of the IIFA in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 June 2010, 00:24 GMT]
“The decision to hold this year’s International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Colombo was clearly a political, even geopolitical, calculation. Whereas the previous award ceremonies … were meant to bring India ‘to the world’, this year’s event was intended instead to bring the world to Sri Lanka – or, more precisely, to the Sinhala south. It has done that, but in ways unintended. …The clumsy rush to whitewash the regime in Colombo has thus, perversely, served to focus attention on, and further highlight, Sri Lanka’s grotesque past and present,” the Tamil Guardian newspaper said this week. “[Moreover] the hosting of IIFA event in Colombo is symbolic of a much deeper dynamic: … while the Sinhala south is showcased and touts for economic inflows, the Northeast is isolated, hidden and scorched. This is not a mere legacy of protracted war, but of a long institutionalised, racial logic.”
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Former SLA Commander to be appointed as Mullaiththeevu GA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 June 2010, 16:53 GMT]
One of the former Commanders of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Major Gen. C. R. de Silva, is to be appointed as the new Government Agent (GA) to Mullaiththeevu district in Vanni, sources in Vavuniyaa said. Colombo government and SLA had already begun changing Mullaiththeevu district into a Sinhalese area by declaring it as Weli Oya district consisting of Pathaviyaa, Ma’nalaa’ru, parts of Vavuniniyaa North and Anuradhapura. The appointment of a former Sinhalese military commander to Mullaiththeevu district as GA is another calculated step in making Mullaiththeevu district a Sinhalese area, the sources added.
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Father of victim in Channel 4 photo identifies son as LTTE member

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 June 2010, 16:15 GMT]
The father of a victim in the photos released by Channel- 4 in mid May identified one of them as his son as a member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), arrested by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Mu'l'livaaykkaal between 18 and 19 May 2009. The father told TamilNet that the LTTE combatants could not have been arrested in April 2009 as it was reported earlier as he had met his son on 11 May in 2009. A mother and her daughter have earlier identified another victim in the photo as 40-year-old Thuraichamy Harikrishanan, a native of Vavuniyaa, an ex-member of LTTE. Meanwhile, close relatives living in the diaspora of another LTTE member also claimed the same person as their relative. Efforts are under way to clarify the identity of the victim, a Tamil group working on genocide documentation told TamilNet Friday.
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Peiris to head Sri Lankan military officials in Security Summit

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 June 2010, 09:51 GMT]
Former Chief Negotiator of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the incumbent Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris, who recently left a scheduled meeting with journalists at the National Press Club without speaking, is heading a delegation to attend the 9th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia Security Summit, which is taking place in Singapore Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Peiris is scheduled to attend the Shangri-La dialogue to address defence ministers, defence secretaries, intelligence chiefs and national security and defence officials from 28 countries on Sri Lankan 'Counter-Insurgency' and the challenges of "reasserting control and governance in formerly LTTE held areas."
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Protests against controversial IIFA event draw attention on Tamil genocide

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 June 2010, 01:15 GMT]
As protests gathered momentum in Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, with the support of South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC), against holding International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards weekend in Colombo, big stars from the Indian film industry have decided to avoid participation, media reports from Mumbai said. Hindustan Times reported that the event was turning out to be IIFAs most controversial, even before it has been held. The protests in South India have also brought media attention in New Delhi. The NDTV has timed a documentary, titled ‘Blood on Water,’ accommodating Tamil perspectives and an Indian doctor who was part of an Indian paramedic team present in Vavuniyaa last year, during the final phase of the war in Vanni, has spoken out on the scale of the slaughter as "massive casualties" among the civilian population.
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Corpse washed ashore in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 June 2010, 17:36 GMT]
Oorkaavattu'rai police informed by Sri Lanka Navy recovered Wednesday a corpose in highly decomposed state washed ashore at Pungkudutheevu, Ward 2 beach, sources in Jaffna said.
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STF, Police arrest 4 Tamils in Puththalam, Pottuvil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 June 2010, 15:37 GMT]
Two Tamil civilians were taken into custody by the Special Task Force (STF) at Arugam Bay in Pottuvil Tuesday. The police said that the two are suspected to have links with the LTTE. The arrested were handed over to the Terrorist Investigations Unit (TID) and are being interrogated, according to the Police.
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Irish ship heads towards Gaza with Nobel peace winner

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 June 2010, 13:27 GMT]
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin on Wednesday urged Israel to let a new ship, MV Rachel Corrie, which is already bound for Gaza, carrying construction material, medical and educational equipments. On board the cargo ship, operated by Free Gaza Movement (FGM), is Northern Irish Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, with 14 other activists. A former United Nations diplomat, Denis Halliday, who was one of the judges of the People's Tribunal on Sri Lanka held Dublin in January 2010, is also on board the ship. Israel has responded by saying that it would intercept the vessel, offering two options: either to hand over the aid to Israel or to enter Gaza through Egypt. The activists have said neither option is viable.
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Samantar ruling portends legal danger to alleged foreign torturers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 June 2010, 11:20 GMT]
In an unanimous ruling at the United States Supreme Court, the judges said that a federal law that protects foreign government officials from law suits filed in the U.S. does not cover individuals such as Mohamed Ali Samantar, who was a prime minister in the 1980s in the now ousted government of Siad Biarre. A group of Somalis who allege torture and killings by Samantar's government may pursue legal action against Samantar now living in Fairfax, Virginia, the court ruled.
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Sri Lanka's politicization of judiciary complete, says AHRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 June 2010, 10:12 GMT]
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a Hongkong-based rights watchdog, condemned Sri Lanka's president Rajapakse's "move to bring the Attorney General's Department, which is the department with the power of prosecution of all serious crimes, as well as the power of providing legal advice to the government, under the control of the president," and added that the "direct interference with the prosecution will "politicize" the function.
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Parents appeal for daughter's release from TID detention

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 June 2010, 09:52 GMT]
Parents of Peradeniya undergraduate Rasiah Dwaraka, who is now under detention in the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID), handed over a petition Tuesday afternoon to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) requesting to take steps to obtain Dwaraka's release, sources in Colombo said. Earlier her parents visited their daughter in the TID. Inter University Students Association (IUSA) led by its organizer Udul Premaratne facilitated the visit and handing over of petition. Dwaraka was taken into custody for accepting a medal from LTTE leader Pirapaharan for her academic performance.
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Bishop's House appeals to Vatican to urge Colombo to renovate Vanni churches

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 16:49 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop House sent an appeal to the Holy See in Vatican to urge Sri Lanka government to renovate and restore the churches in Vanni destroyed or badly damaged during the war on Vanni, sources in Jaffna said. No one except Jaffna Bishop had been permitted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vanni to see the churches in Vanni after the war and Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundranayagam, had been greatly shocked and distressed to find the churches destroyed and plundered, Bishop House circles said. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka government has announced financial aid for renovating the churches in Vanni where people have been allowed to resettle.
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SLA hastens to destroy skeletal remains of victims killed in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 16:18 GMT]
Following the disclosure of five male corpses in a toilet pit in Ki’linochchi Monday Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has ordered all skeletal remains of persons assassinated or killed in war lying visibly in Mullaiththeevu district in Vanni, an officer of a humanitarian de-mining organization who had personally seen some skeletal remains along the roads in Mullaiththeevu and the frantic efforts of SLA soldiers to burn them without any trace told TamilNet Tuesday. Colombo has sent in a team of Sinhalese officers from Vavuniyaa to survey the areas and evaluate the extent of de-mining that has to be done, with the assistance of SLA, sources in Vavuniyaa said.
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Big explosions heard in the outskirts of Palaali east HSZ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 15:51 GMT]
Residents in Jaffna peninsula were shocked by the deafening explosions heard Monday evening intermittently for nearly an hour from the outskirts of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Palaali, sources in Jaffna said. An official of a de-mining organization said that the explosion could not be due to the destroying of landmines as it was generally rumoured because SLA has not permitted any de-mining in or near its HSZ in Palaali in Valikaamam.
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‘Era of impunity is over’, ICC to go beyond African cases – Ban Ki-Moon

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 08:48 GMT]
The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has said with the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), those who commit the worst human crimes will be held responsible. Speaking at the opening of the ICC review conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo Monday, Ki-moon said no government or justice system complicit in international crimes can shield criminals from justice. “Whether they are rank or military commanders, civil servants following orders, or top political leaders, they will be held to account,” he said, in comments published on Uganda’s ‘New Vision’ website. “The old era of impunity is over. In its place, slowly but surely, we are witnessing the birth of a new age of accountability.” The UN chief added that the ICC will soon be handling cases beyond Africa.
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UN Security Council calls for impartial probe in Israeli ship raid

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 06:58 GMT]
The UN Security Council has called for an impartial inquiry “conforming to international standards” into Israel's raid on a flotilla of Gaza-bound aid ships, the BBC reported Tuesday morning. A Presidential statement by the UNSC said the inquiry should be "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent". Agreement on it was reached after hours of discussion as the council deliberated through the night. It comes within a day of the Israeli military action which resulted in at least ten deaths of pro-Palestinian activists who launched a six-ship convoy to deliver aid to the Hamas-controlled region. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called for a full investigation, telling reporters in Kampala, Uganda: "It is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place. I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation."
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India wants TNA proposals submitted to Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 06:11 GMT]
Top officials of the Indian government have advised the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to consider submitting its devolution proposals to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa before he leaves to New Delhi on June 7, informed diplomatic sources in Colombo said. The move has come as the Indian Establishment, locked in a corporate race with China, has been pushing Colombo to finalise the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which New Delhi wants signed when Mahinda Rajapaksa visits India. In the meantime, the TNA leadership has invited Tamil parties, except Douglas Devananda, through Tamil channels, to join hands with the alliance before facing the provincial elections in the North. The invitation has also been extended to paramilitary-cum-political outfits aligned with India.
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SLA permits conditional worship in St. Mary’s Church in Valikaamam North HSZ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 June 2010, 04:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Palaali Military Head Quarters Sunday handed over Oddakappulam St. Mary’s Church located within Valikaamam SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) to the parish priests of the church to conduct services. The permission is given on condition that the devotees should go through the SLA check post to the church in the morning and return in the evening while no one will be allowed to live permanently in the area. There were more SLA officers in the Sunday event held in the said church than civilians, one of the Catholic priests participant said.
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