SriLanka Police arrests Lanka-e-News editor

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 March 2011, 12:34 GMT]
News editor of a popoular web-news site Lanka-e-News, Mr Benett Rupasinghe was arrested by Sri Lanka police and remanded till 7th April on the order of Kaduvela Magistrate Jayaki De Alwis on Thursday for allegedly threatening a relative of a suspect of an attack on the premises of the news site earlier.
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Thousands of SL troops round up resettled villages in Jaffna, Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 March 2011, 06:50 GMT]
Thousands of occupying troops of Sri Lanka Army rounded up the village Uduththu’rai in Vadamaraadchi East and are engaged in search operation since Thursday early morning. A similar operation is simultaneously being undertaken in Mullaiththeevu also. Vanni IDPs were recently resettled in both the places. The operation is said to be following an alleged incident in which some SL troops who went on a boat are missing in the sea and only their boat came ashore.
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Eastern University closed down indefinitely

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 March 2011, 03:17 GMT]
While the Tamil Youth Organisation in UK was engaged in an awareness campaign for boycotting genocidal Sri Lanka in international sports, a cricket-related euphoria of the Sinhala students in the Eastern University of Sri Lanka in Batticaloa resulted in attack on Tamil students and indefinite closure of the university. Inebriated by euphoria of Sri Lanka’s victory in the cricket semi finals that took place in Colombo, the Sinhala students of the Batticaloa University entered into the hostel of the Tamil students and attacked them on Tuesday midnight. Following the incident, the SL police at the university check post that entered into the campus without permission from the Vice Chancellor also started attacking the Tamil students. As Tamil students started boycotting classes on Wednesday the university is closed down indefinitely.
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97 hospitals non-operative - Lankadeepa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 March 2011, 02:08 GMT]
Nearly 97 hospitals located across various parts of the island have been shut due to the shortage of doctors, the pro-Government Sinhala daily Lankadeepa said in a front page lead article quoting health ministry sources. Majority of the affected hospitals are located in the NorthEast while hospitals in Kandy, Hambantota and several other districts have also been affected with hospital closures due to the doctor shortage, the paper said.
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Vasanthi Arasaratnam becomes Vice Chancellor, Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 March 2011, 01:24 GMT]
Senior Professor of the Medical Faculty of the University of Jaffna, Ms.Vasanthi Arasaratnam has been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna with effect from 28th March. She gets the rare distinction of being the first woman Vice Chancellor of the university. Prof. Arasaratnam earlier served as the Dean of the Medical Faculty. She secured the highest number of preferential votes of the university council among the three nominated to the post a few months ago.
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Mentally ill person incarcerated for 8 years in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 March 2011, 23:24 GMT]
50-year-old V. Jeyarajah, a mentally ill person in Jaffna Prison from 2003 onwards, arrested by Sri Lankan Police on alleged suspicion of loitering about without stated purpose was released by the Chavakachcheari Magistrates Courts Monday 29 March. Legal sources in Jaffna stated that there are a large number of Tamil youths detained in prisons mainly in the South for almost four decades even in violation of the draconian Emergency Regulations and Prevention of Terrorism Acts which gives them enormous powers over and above the normal laws.
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Local officials accused of swindling relief provided to war-widows

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 March 2011, 12:39 GMT]
Relief materials allocated for widows who lost their husbands in military operation of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are being forced by a Grama Niladhari (Village Level Officer) to pay for such assistance. The affected widows are unable to make complaints to higher authority against this illegal activity fearing reprisal, civil society sources said.
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TYO extends ‘Boycott Sri Lanka’ campaign to sports

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 March 2011, 11:26 GMT]
Using as context the quarter final of the Cricket World Cup between co-hosts Sri Lanka and England, the TYO-UK (Tamil Youth Organisation) on Saturday conducted an awareness campaign on Sri Lanka in London, on a day marked by huge protest by the TUC (Trade Union Congress) against public spending cuts. As up to a reported 500,000 demonstrators marched through central London, TYO members on the periphery handed out leaflets and gathered signatures for a postcard campaign calling on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to boycott Sri Lanka as a sporting partner. The effort is part of a wider campaign to encourage international boycott of Sri Lanka as a tourist destination and as a producer of goods, TYO said. The Sri Lankan cricket team is due to tour England this summer.
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NCCT demands apology over Canadian ad labelling refugees as criminals

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 March 2011, 03:19 GMT]
The National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT) called on Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, to withdraw a Conservative party election advertisement that calls Tamil refugees as "criminals", demanded an apology to Tamil Canadians, media in Toronto reported. The ad features a photo of the MV Sun Sea which arrived off the shores of British Colombia in August last year with 491 Tamil refugees fleeing war and persecution from Sri Lanka-a country where the President, his brothers, and several Army Commanders have allegedly committed war crimes. The ad calls the Tamils aboard "criminals" who trying to abuse Canadian generosity.
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UK Premier reaches out to Tamil Diaspora ahead of electoral reform referendum

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 March 2011, 02:01 GMT]
Ahead of a referendum on Britain’s biggest electoral reform in decades, the leader of the ruling Conservative Party, Prime Minister David Cameron, has reaching out to the country’s Tamil community amongst others to oppose the changes. “Every vote from the Tamil community is vital,” Mr. Cameron wrote this week to the British Tamil Conservatives (BTC), which is supporting the ‘no’ campaign. The Premier hailed the Tamil Diaspora’s contribution to British society and noted their concerns about events in Sri Lanka. “I am also fully aware that a lasting peace in Sri Lanka still needs to be won,” he wrote. The referendum on May 5 asks voters to choose between the current "first-past-the-post" system and an "alternative vote" (AV) model, similar to Australia’s. The main opposition Labour Party and the Conservatives’ ruling partner, the Liberal Democrats have declared their support for the AV.
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TB affected on the increase among uprooted people of Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 March 2011, 06:10 GMT]
Several uprooted Tamil civilians from Vanni following Colombo's genocidal onslaught in Vanni and still kept in detention centres in Vavuniyaa have been diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis (TB), according to Dr.C.Jamunananda who is in charge of the TB control unit in Jaffna district.
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Saiva temples desecrated in East: Yogeswaran MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 March 2011, 05:53 GMT]
The desecration of Saiva temples in the eastern province cannot be allowed to go unchecked, said Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian C.Yogeswaran on Monday. He made this comment after viewing the destruction of statues and other temple articles at Periyakallaa'ru a coastal village located 30 km south of Batticaloa city in the Ka'luvaagnchik-kudi division of Batticaloa district by unidentified group of persons recently.
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War ends but ethnic problem continues, witness tells LLRC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 March 2011, 02:58 GMT]
"The stand taken by extremist Sinhala elements that there is no ethnic problem in the country cannot be accepted any more, said a senior Attorney-at-Law F.M. Ammerul Anzar Mowlana, the additional national propaganda secretary of the National Congress, while giving evidence at the hearings of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) held at the auditorium of the in Kalmunai Tamil Division DS Secretariat Sunday, sources attending the hearing said. LLRC Chairman Chitta Ranjan de Silva presided over the sittings.
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SLA-tortured teacher dies in Jaffna hospital

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2011, 11:25 GMT]
28-year-old Sampanthan Sakthitharan a male teacher at Chaavakachcheari Hindu College, who was severely tortured by the occupying Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna at Thirunelveali on 15 March and dumped on the side of the road three hours later fought for his life at Jafna Teaching Hospital for 10 days with serious injuries in his head and finally succumbed to his injuries Saturday at Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
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Partners jump ship in Sri Lanka's US lobby firm

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2011, 00:37 GMT]
More than 30% of the partners at Qorvis, one of Washington's best-known lobby firm, have left the firm in the last two months because of the firm's representation of "despotic dictators" and clients that are listed as human rights violators in US State Department's list, Huffington Post said in an article Friday. Qorvis receives a significant amount business from Bell Potinger, UK, the public relations firm that represents Sri Lanka, and Patton Boggs, LLP, Sri Lanka's PR firm in the US, is an investor in Qorvis, according to Qorvis's website.
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300 Tamils, Muslims appeal to LLRC to locate missing relatives

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 March 2011, 15:16 GMT]
The Lessons and Learnt Reconciliation Commissioner (LLRC) Sunday morning commenced its sittings at the auditorium of the Kalmunai (Tamil) Divisional Secretariat and recorded statements from over three hundred persons including Tamils and Muslims who have lost their children and spouses due to the arrest, abduction and killing by the Intelligence Unit of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and cadres of para military groups led by Karuna and Pilliayan, sources in Ampaa'rai said.
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Court orders Buddhist chief priest to return encroached land

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 March 2011, 03:40 GMT]
The Vaazhaichcheanai District Court Friday ordered the Chief Priest of Sri Buddha Jayanthi Vihare to hand over the encroached playground of the Piraanthu'raich-cheanai Askar School back to the school authorities. The Chief Priest had illegally constructed an eighty meter long fence annexing the school's playground four months ago with the security protection of the Vaazhaichcheanai Police.
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Rudra faction ‘expels’ democrats of TGTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 March 2011, 02:43 GMT]
The ‘speaker’ of the TGTE Assembly, Pon Balarajan, belonging to Rudrakumaran faction of the TGTE, sent letters on Saturday to elected members of the TGTE who identified themselves as Democrats that they were ‘expelled’ from the TGTE Assembly. This has happened despite Democrats members on Friday publicly reiterated an oath of allegiance to the concept of the TGTE and the Assembly. With pretext or without pretext, the Rudra faction in the TGTE has decided to ‘get rid of’ Democrats in order to move in a hurried way to materialize a pre-conceived agenda, sources close to Democrats alleged.
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Ampaa'rai mother appeals to LLRC to locate son abducted by Karuna men

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 March 2011, 11:08 GMT]
A widowed Tamil mother, Kasipillai Marakathamani, of Vinaayagapuram in Thirukoail Friday appealed to the Lessons and Learnt Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to locate her only son who was forcibly taken over from her house three years ago by cadres of Karuna Para military Group. Since then the son has been missing and his whereabouts are not known. Marakathamani was giving evidence before the LLRC sittings Friday morning in the Ampaa'rai District Secretariat.
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BBC correspondent blocked from attending Jaffna Festival

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 March 2011, 03:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defense has refused permission to BBC Colombo correspondent Charles Haviland from attending cultural festival in Jaffna, sources in Colombo said. The "Jaffna Music Festival” organized to celebrate the diverse traditional folk arts for three days from 25th – 27th March 2011, is being organized by the Norwegian Embassy, USAID and implemented by Sevalanka Foundation, according to reports from Jaffna.
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ITAK local councilors in North, East to take oath in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 March 2011, 12:36 GMT]
76 councilors elected to fifteen local bodies including two Urban Councils and ten Predesiya Sabas in the last local elections held in Northern and Eastern provinces on the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) ticket, and Chairmen and Vice Chairmen appointed to twelve local bodies captured by the ITAK would be taking oaths on March 31 Thursday morning at Trincomalee Town Hall, political sources in the East said.
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LLRC to hold sittings in Ampaa'rai, Moneragala

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 March 2011, 11:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), appointed by the Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse is to hold its sitting in Ampaa'rai and Moneragala from March 25 to March 27, LLRC sources said.
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New Elections Commissioner appointed

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 March 2011, 11:30 GMT]
Mahinda Deshapriya has been appointed as Sri Lanka’s new Commissioner of Elections consequent to the retirement of the incumbent Dayananda Dissanayake from March 24 Thursday. Dehspriya is to assume duties on Friday, according to a media release by the Presidential Secretariat Thursday evening. Currently Deshapriya is the Deputy Commissioner of Elections.
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"Tamil propagandists" part cause of anti-trade US legislation, says SL Ambassador

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 March 2011, 00:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Ambassador to US, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, said that Leahy Amendment, a U.S. law barring support to foreign military units believed to have committed gross rights violations, and recently passed US Senate resolution, S. Res. 84, which calls for "independent international accountability mechanism to look into reports of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other human rights violations," in Sri Lanka are obstacles to US investment and US businesses engaging with local partners in Sri Lanka, Associated Press reported Thursday. Wickramasuriya played down the impact of the Senate resolution, which he saw driven by ethnic Tamil propagandists based overseas and rights groups, AP added.
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Sections in TGTE plan 'expelling' Democrats

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 March 2011, 00:44 GMT]
International Association of Tamil Journalists based in London in a news release on Sunday said that it had taken an initiative to sort out contradictory news appearing on the affairs of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) and to bring out a dialogue among the members of TGTE. Accordingly, it was agreed upon in a meeting held on 12 March for three committees to discuss the matter, the news release said. In the meantime, a press release signed by Mr. V. Rudrakumaran on Thursday said that if any member declared elected fails to sworn in before Friday, accepting a constitution he claims ratified by the assembly, then it would be considered that such member relieves himself or herself and the TGTE have to move on for the ‘next step’.
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Batticaloa development not transparent, benefits no residents, says Council member

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2011, 11:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka government has been planning development projects in the Batticaloa district to boost the image of Mahinda Chinthanaya and also to help its financial resources, but not to benefit the district residents, according to Mr.R. Thurairatnam, Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) member. Mr.Thurairatnam is also the leader of the Padmanaba wing of the EPRLF and representd Batticaloa district in the EPC.
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Wickremasinghe retains UNP leadership

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2011, 11:31 GMT]
Ranil Wickremasinghe has retained his leadership in the main opposition United National Party (UNP) and his contender Sajith Premadasa accepted a post of Co- Deputy Leader. Both agreed to amicably settle the dispute over the leadership that had been dragging for over several months at the party’s working committee that met on Wednesday evening at Sri Kotha, party headquarters.
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Appeal Court reserves order on Jaffna local poll nomination rejection

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2011, 11:28 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal Wednesday reserved its order for May 5 in regard to nineteen Writ Applications by the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) against rejection of its nomination lists by the Returning Officers of the districts of Jaffna and Killinochchi to the elections to the nineteen local bodies. Elections to the 19 local bodies in the two districts were postponed by the Commissioner of Elections till the determination of the writ applications.
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Poverty driving children to work in hotels, houses in East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2011, 11:21 GMT]
Due to extreme poverty, over 3,250 children are working in houses and eating houses in the eastern province without attending schools. These children come from families affected by military conflict and natural disaster, according Provincial Education Minister Mr.Wimalaweera Dissanayake.
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Two ex-LTTE cadres die in SL army detention centres

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 March 2011, 01:46 GMT]
Two former cadres of the LTTE have died in two separate incidents while under detention in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) supervised 'rehabilitation' centres. The first death was reported from Vavuniyaa-Ne'lukku'lam rehabilitation centre Monday and the second from Welikanda-Thirukoa'namadu detention camp in the Polonnaruwa district Tuesday morning. The deaths have created tension among parents of ex-LTTE detainees, civil sources said.
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TNA MP accuses Pillaiyaan of issueing death threats

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 March 2011, 01:41 GMT]
Batticaloa District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian C. Yogeswaran has lodged a complaint with the Kaththangkudy Police that he had repeatedly received death threats from the Chief Minister of Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilliayan, according to electronic media reports in Colombo Tuesday.
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Sri Lanka's CID to probe funding sources of local Rights Group

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 March 2011, 10:54 GMT]
National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo-based "advocacy and education organization" in media release issued Tuesday said its Executive Director was called to the Head Quarters of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka Police and was informed that the CID will carry out "an investigation regarding the organization's [NPC's] sources of funding, its partners and the activities it was carrying out." The media release added that NPC's "Governing Council is distressed that the current CID investigation would intimidate our staff members and their families, and also gives a negative message to the wider society of official intolerance towards liberal and democratic values."
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China urged to play constructive role in the island: Prof Sitrampalam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 March 2011, 05:21 GMT]
As a super power having influence on the Sri Lankan state, Eezham Tamils urge China to play a constructive role in the island of Sri Lanka, says Dr. S.K. Sitrampalam, the vice president of Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Katchi (ITAK), the main constituent of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The retired senior professor of Archaeology of the University of Jaffna recently visited China following an official invitation to the ITAK to take part in an organised trip extended to delegations from selected political parties from South Asia to have an exposure of how the Chinese government deals with its internal and external affairs.
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Elections to 98 local bodies expected in May: SL Elections Secretariat

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 March 2011, 02:50 GMT]
Elections to 64 local bodies postponed due to legal issues and 34 local bodies postponed due to the ongoing Cricket World Cup are expected to be held in May this year, Sri Lanka’s Elections Secretariat sources said without specifying a date. Preliminary steps are being taken to hold elections to local bodies in Jaffna and Ki'linochchi district which were postponed following the rejection of nomination papers submitted by the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) by the Jaffna District Returning Officer.
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SL Minister Hisbullah's men lead post election violence in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 March 2011, 23:57 GMT]
1.5 million rupees worth fishing equipments belonging to the supporters of the Peoples’ Movement for Good Governance (PMGG) that contested the election to the Kaaththaankudi Urban Council held last Thursday against the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by Deputy Minister M.L.A.M.Hisbullah. Armed gang deployed allegedly by Mr. Hisbulla had set fire to fishing huts of PMGG supporters, according to complaints lodged with the police by the victims.
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UPFA expects cabinet reshuffle

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 March 2011, 23:54 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to replace the incumbent SL Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne with a new face in a new cabinet reshuffle expected at any time, UPFA sources in Colombo said.
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Dry rations to uprooted civilians in Jaffna stopped

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 March 2011, 23:51 GMT]
Sri Lankan government has stopped giving dry rations that has been issued to uprooted civilians in Jaffna peninsula until the end of 2010. Almost 30% of the people who were depending on these ration items, which were given to the Sri Lanka government under the World Food Programme to assist the affected people have been put into immense hardship by this action, civil organizations in Jaffna said.
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US based sources gave hope on evacuation: Nadesan told a journalist

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 March 2011, 02:08 GMT]
According to a senior journalist, the late LTTE political head, Mr. B Nadesan, consulted him over some messages Nadesan had been receiving from a US based former LTTE member that assurances had been given by the US State Department about evacuation of the LTTE cadres during the final stages of the war. The journalist, who cautioned Nadesan to be sceptical, says that he is prepared to give affidavit to any international investigation if the investigative body could arrange his safe appearance. The US based former LTTE member cited by Nadesan was known for claiming that he was associated with a ‘think tank’ of Prof. James Clad, who between 2007 and 2009 served as the US Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.
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Expo Pavilion manager in Jaffna reported missing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 March 2011, 23:50 GMT]
Unknown men who came in motorbikes on Friday night around 11:00 p.m. have abducted 32-year-old Kulasingam Vaseeharan, the manager of Expo Pavilion, a newly established motel run by Expo Aviation and is located near Jaffna District Secretariat in Jaffna. The abduction has taken place at a location that is heavily guarded by the Sri Lankan military that checks the identity of every person riding motorbikes, sources in the area said. Mr. Vaseeharan was earlier the Jaffna manager of Expo Lanka's subsidiary Expo Aviation that was operating an airline between Colombo and Jaffna.
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JHU Buddhist monk accused of sexually abusing child monks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 March 2011, 14:04 GMT]
Buddhist monk and former parliamentarian representing Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party of Sri Lanka, Aparekke Punnananda Thero, is accused of sexual abusing five underage novice monks, reported BBC Sinhala Service Friday. The Child Protection Authority (CPA) of the island produced two novice monks allegedly abused before the Colombo Magistrates Court and the court ordered the SL police to produce the other three child monks also, after the magistrate hearing the secret statements of the two child monks in her chambers. The CPA earlier informed the court that the suspect has admitted sexually abusing child monks under his custody.
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Amid Sinhala colonization, Dinamina claims SLA vacates Jaffna Town HSZ

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 March 2011, 12:50 GMT]
State run daily Dinamina claimed Friday that Sri Lanka military has vacated high security zones in Jaffna town after nearly twenty years of occupation. The announcement came after handing over of Subash Hotel, and the reopening of Jaffna's Victoria Road which links Jaffna-Palaly main road and the Clock Tower road, according to the daily. Large parts of Jaffna Peninsula still remains as prohibited zone for resettlement of evicted Tamil civilians, with Colombo selling large parcels of land to Sinhala businessmen for economic profiteering, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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ITAK wins 12 local body elections in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 March 2011, 12:22 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), contesting under the symbol of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK), captured the administration of twelve local authorities including two Urban Councils (UC) and Predesiya Sabas (PS) in the North and East in the elections held Thursday. The TNA failed to capture power of the Moothoor PS in Trincomalee district but was able secure three seats out of 11. Elections to local bodies in Jaffna district and to some in the districts of Trincomalee, Ampaarai and Mullaithivu were not held Thursday.
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5,653 cases of ‘disappeared’ pending in Sri Lanka: Forum-Asia at 16th session of UNHRC

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2011, 10:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka government is yet to provide clarification on 5,653 outstanding cases of disappeared persons and it has not responded positively to requests to visit the country in this regard by UN Rapporteurs, said Pooja Patel, while delivering her oral statement on behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM –ASIA) in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Tuesday. Increased militarization in the Northeast has created an environment of intense insecurity for resettled communities especially for female-headed families who are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse, Ms. Patel pointed out.
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SL colonial governor hands over 200 acres in Vaddakkachchi to Sinhala trader

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2011, 09:23 GMT]
Colonial governor of Sri Lanka Maj. Gen. Chandrasri, occupying the country of Eezham Tamils, ordered this week for the appropriation of 200 acres of land at Vaddakkachchi in the Ki’linochchi district for the benefit of a Sinhala trader from the South. This land is a part of a 1000-acre farm that was given to the displaced people in 1995. Occupying Sri Lanka now refuses to resettle people in the farm. The Sinhala trader personally went to the site to choose the part he needed and Chandrasri ordered officials that whatever was chosen by the trader should be given to him.
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SL Army appropriates heritage institution in Jaffna for ‘cadet’ training

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2011, 09:13 GMT]
The building of Arya-Dravida Bhasha Abhivrtti Sangam, a heritage institution that was started in Jaffna in the early 20th century was appropriated a few days ago by the occupying SL military to conduct ‘cadet’ training for school students of Jaffna. T. Sadasiva Aiyar, an education officer of the colonial times, started this heritage institution that was conducting Pandit and Bala Pandit courses and examinations. The institution later became a constituent body of the Ceylon government’s education office in the north and thus was inherited by colonial Sri Lanka occupying the country of Eezham Tamils. The occupying SL military now pressed the SL education officials in Jaffna to hand over the building located at Koddadi in the heart of Jaffna city to the military.
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UK MP group calls for international inquiry into Sri Lanka's war-crimes

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2011, 01:01 GMT]
Lee Scott MP, Ilford North, Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), in a statement issued today, said "[n]othing but an independent international enquiry to alleged war crimes will satisfy the international community; Sri Lanka must be ready to face economic sanctions if it fails to meet internationally accepted standards," and added "the Tamil people have been waiting far too long for justice. The situation has worsened not only for Tamil people, but also Sinhala academics, journalists, and human rights activists under President Rajapaksa’s rule in Sri Lanka...it is important that Britain act now...."
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SL Policeman, claiming EPDP, threatens Tamil daily in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 March 2011, 07:17 GMT]
A Sri Lankan police constable, claiming to be a EPDP man, entered the building of Uthayan daily in Jaffna Wednesday afternoon and warned the daily over an item it had carried in its Tidbits column involving a school principal recently. The SL Police constable, Ratnathas Pradeepan from Achchuveali, intimidated the press workers threatening to set fire with a cigarette lighter he was holding, the paper said. Publishing a photograph of PC Pradeepn, the paper also said that he was “selected” for SL Police when the police recruited 500 personnel for training.
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Tight security at SL local elections

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 March 2011, 02:19 GMT]
More than 50,000 police officers and 30,000 military personal have been deployed to maintain security at the 7402 polling centers and 52 counting centers in the Thursday's local council elections. 333 special teams have been setup for election duty, Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya was quoted saying in the Lakbima newspaper.
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Tamil poet, Irish violinist marry music

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 March 2011, 01:37 GMT]
"Colm O'Riain is an Irish violinist. Pireeni Sundaralingam is a Sri Lankan Tamil poet. They’re married and have created a unique music that sounds out their common experience of exile and immigration," writes VoA news, adding shared history from British colonialism, and experiences surrounding living in islands surrounded by large oceans allows the couple to mesh the two art forms.
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UPFA lead candidate attacked in Ea'raavoor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 11:40 GMT]
Ali Zahir Mowlana, former parliamentarian of the Batticaloa district and currently the lead candidate of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance contesting the Ea'raavoor Urban Council that is scheduled to held on Thursday, was critically injured in an attack that took place Wednesday afternoon at Ea'raavoor, sources in the East said.
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Elections to 231 local authorities to be held Thursday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 11:34 GMT]
Elections are scheduled to be held Thursday March 17 to Municipal Councils in Akkaraipaththu, Bandarawela and Dambulla, 30 Urban Councils and 201 Predesiya Sabhas. 9.4 million persons are eligible to vote for 29,098 candidates at 7,396 polling stations in the 23 administrative districts, excluding Jaffna and Killinochchi, to elect 3,022 candidates, Election Department sources said.
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Political rivalry behind Police arrest of Batticaloa journalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 11:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police Tuesday morning arrested Puvi Rahumathulla, Chief Editor of “Vaara Uraikal”, a weekly magazine published from Kaathankudy in Batticaloa district, at the instigation of a Deputy Minister in the Sri Lanka government who charged that Rahumathulla was carrying out election propaganda after the deadline on Monday midnight violating the instruction of the Commissioner of Elections. Rahumathulla is currently being detained in the Kaathankudy Police station and is expected to be produced before the Batticaloa Magistrate, sources said.
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In eastern Tamil areas 80% public servants Sinhalese, says rights group

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 05:27 GMT]
Problems faced by Tamil people cannot be solved by deploying 80% of public servants from Sinhala community in government departments located in areas where one hundred percent of the population is Tamils, said Mr.M.M. Zarook, Kalmunai Regional Coordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) while addressing a public awareness discussion on Human Rights (HR) held at Vellaave'li DS division.
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Lead candidate's house attacked in Akkaraippattu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 00:50 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons Monday early morning lobbed grenades at the house of A.L.Thavam, lead candidate of the National Congress Party (NCP) contesting the forthcoming election to the Akkaraippattu Municipal Council, sources in the East said. Thavam was unhurt but his brother-in-law, A.H. Rathees, sustained injuries . The house sustained extensive damages, according to a complaint lodged with the Akkaraippattu Police.
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Sri Lanka police arrest 52 Jaffna Tamils in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 March 2011, 23:27 GMT]
Colombo Chief Magistrate, Rashmi Singapuli, Tuesday ordered remand for 48 Tamils, all residents of Jaffna, till March 27, legal sources in Colombo said. Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID) of Sri Lanka Police last week arrested fifty two persons, including four children less than 10 years of age, while they were staying in lodges in Colombo and Negombo.
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Sri Lanka has sinister plans in confiscating lands of Mu’l’livaaykkaal

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 March 2011, 05:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka has sinister plans to confiscate the three large coastal villages, Mu’l’livaaykkaal East, Mu’l’livaaykkaal West and Ampalavan Pokka’nai, where the last stages of the Vanni war took place. Original inhabitants of 18 hamlets of the villages are not allowed to resettle and there are secret plans to relocate them to confiscate the stretch of rich marine wealth, said a press release of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF). Mines are still the pretext, but even after 22 months the SL military has not even permitted de-mining the land where thousands of Eezham Tamils and their fighters sacrificed their lives. Meanwhile, with Chinese assistance, colonial SL occupying the country of Eezham Tamils has recently built a fortress-like military base over a cemetery of the LTTE heroes at Koappaay in Jaffna.
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Harvard lays bare Sri Lanka newspaper's distorted reporting

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 March 2011, 00:48 GMT]
Professor Nicholas Burns of Belfar Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, in a letter to Colombo-based Nations news paper, pointed out several inaccuracies in the reporting of the March 1 Harvard event on Sri Lanka, and said, the article neglected to mention the substance of the discussions where the wartime conduct of Sri Lanka Government was criticised. Prof. Burns added that "the LTTE had no role whatsoever in the event" whereas the paper had alleged that LTTE was occupying most of the seats.
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India jeopardizes Commonwealth human rights

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 March 2011, 15:51 GMT]
The report of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) for 2010 titled Easier Said Than Done, raises disturbing questions on India’s track record in human rights, particularly in an examination of India’s voting pattern at the UN Human Rights Council, said leading Indian media The Statesman on Sunday. The report lambastes India for making pre-election pledges to the Human Rights Council in order to get elected and then not keeping those promises. India has strongly opposed the efforts by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to call for independent inquiry on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and secondly to provide assistance to countries for transitional justice, The Statesman said citing the CHRI report. The Commonwealth Day is celebrated on Monday.
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HRW calls for boycott of Colombo Defence Seminar

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 March 2011, 01:31 GMT]
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based rights organization, called on countries worldwide to boycott a conference to be held in Colombo between 31 May to 02 June labelled "Defeating Terrorism Sri Lankan Experience” aimed at sharing Sri Lanka's war experience, BBC reported. “What we are telling the militaries around the world is that they should not attend a meeting to celebrate a military policy that involves killing so many civilians,” HRW Executive Director Brad Adams told BBC.
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US State Department official resigns over Wikileaks gaffe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 March 2011, 23:58 GMT]
US state department spokesman PJ Crowley has resigned after calling the treatment of the man accused of leaking secret cables to Wikileaks "stupid," BBC reported. "It is with regret that I have accepted the resignation of Philip J. Crowley as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. PJ has served our nation with distinction for more than three decades, in uniform and as a civilian. His service to country is motivated by a deep devotion to public policy and public diplomacy, and I wish him the very best," Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said after accepting Mr Crawley's resignation.
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SLA-operated paramilitary responsible for Thenmaraadchi woman's killing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 March 2011, 10:23 GMT]
A paramilitary group that works with the Sri Lanka Armed forces in Vavuniyaa has been identified as the group behind the abduction and brutal murder of a Tamil woman from Meesaalai In Thenmarachchi last week. In an inquiry statement as part of the inquest proceedings held by the Magistrates Court, the husband of the murdered woman, has revealed that he had hired the Vavuniyaa-based group to abduct and murder his wife.
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Resettled families in Valikaamam North lack infrastructure facilities

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 March 2011, 10:23 GMT]
Unless infrastructure facilities are made available to the people, the resettlement could take place only at snail’s pace in Jaffna peninsula, Thellippazhai Divisional Secretary S.Muralitharan responded to reporters who questioned him on the restrictions prevailing there. Currently, the occupying Sri Lankan military is limiting the freedom of movement of civilians to their native villages by keeping the access roads to resettlement areas closed most of the time and is only allowing them to use the roads for few days in a week.
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Trinco under heavy security for Rajapakse election visit

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 March 2011, 14:45 GMT]
Trincomalee town has been put on red alert from Friday for the forthcoming visit of Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse who is scheduled to address an election rally on Sunday morning in the Trincomalee McHeyzer Stadium in support of the ruling United peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) contesting the Trincomalee urban Council. Roads leading to the McHeyzer Stadium are under heavy checking by army and police personnel. Vehicles and other mode of transports are stopped and checked by security personnel, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Karuna alleges Pillaiyan TMVP corrupt

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 March 2011, 14:38 GMT]
"The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) party led by the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan is a political party full of corruption and deceit. Pilliayan has no support from the government," said Resettlement Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralidharan alias Karuna. "Pilliayan became the Chief Minister due to votes of Tamils. He is now hanging on the government to show Tamils that he has the support of the government. He cannot act alone," said Karuna who has been spreading Mahinda Chinthanaya in Ampaarai district. Both are leaders of two Para military groups in the east.
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SLA soldier killed in accident in Minneriya

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 March 2011, 08:40 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army lieutenant was killed and five soldiers were injured in an accident in Minneriya Friday morning 3:00 am, Sri Lankan Police said. At the time of the accident the group of soldiers and officer were heading to Habarana from Kandaketiya army camp in Welikanda.
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Australian Prime Minister questioned on Kohona at UN

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 March 2011, 01:06 GMT]
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard when asked by Inner City Press at the UN press conference to comment on the filing to the International Criminal Court (ICC) against UN Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dr. Palitha Kohona, for war-crimes, the Prime Minister replied, "I'm not personally aware of all details of that case. We are a supporter of the ICC and a supporter of proper legal procedure and practice, one rule... is that political leaders should not comment on legal matters that are underway.”
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Uprooted Tamils from Puthukkudiyiruppu still strive for resettlement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 19:41 GMT]
Large number of Tamil families from Mullaiththeevu district of Vanni, forcibly displaced and still held behind barbed wire camps in Menik Farm and other places, are yet to be allowed into their native villages in Puthukkudiyiruppu. The occupying Sri Lankan military has only allowed civilians to enter 6 of 19 Village Officer (GS) divisions in Puthukkudiyiruppu. So far, Only 68,846 persons from 23,050 families have been resettled in 65 out of 92 Village Officer divisions in Mullaiththeevu district. Thirty percent of the civilians are not allowed to resettle in the entire district of Mullaiththeevu, according to the data from the Mullaiththeevu District Secretariat.
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Indian High Commission rejects Jeyaratne's LTTE camp statement as "baseless"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 12:40 GMT]
The Indian High Commission in Colombo Thursday denied the claims made by Sri Lanka's Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne that there were three LTTE training camps in Tamil Nadu, according to a news report carried this evening by Times Online. Spokesman for the Indian High Commission in Colombo Birender Singh Yadav said that the statement was ‘baseless’ and a detailed response will follow.
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Tamil youth murdered in Aalaiyadivempu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 12:35 GMT]
The body of Tamil youth Jeyaraj Vijayan, 29, of Vachchikuda in Aalaiyadivempu area was recovered Wednesday near a culvert located at Karunkoditheivu in Aalaiyadivempu area in Akkaraippattu police division in Ampaa'rai district. On receipt of information from the public the Magistrate went to the site with Akkaraippattu police and held preliminary inquiry and directed the police to hand over the body to the hospital mortuary.
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Resettled Muslims in Jaffna fast against SL negligence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 08:12 GMT]
Muslims resettled in Jaffna city entered into a fasting protest in rotation on Tuesday, against SL negligence in providing basic facilities for their living. Around 100 Muslims of Puthiya Choanaka Theru sat fasting for the second day and they were joined with the Muslims of Pommai Ve’li, an adjacent suburb in low-lying land. Sometimes back, resettled Muslims of Mannaar too, facing similar difficulties, made protests.
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No security guarantee for Tamil parliamentarians: TNA MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 07:58 GMT]
Over the attack on his vehicle at Nochchiyagama on Monday, Tamil National Alliance Ki'linochchi district parlimentarian S. Sreetharan said in Parliament on Wednesday, “It is clear that there is no security guarantee for MPs in this country. How can a Tamil here expect security from the state?” He further stated that while he was passing Medawachchiya on Monday at 5:30 p.m., a white colored van without a number plate overtook their vehicle. When they approached Ullukku'lam the said vehicle was parked on the side of the road and three men got off from the vehicle and fired at them using small weapons. In return, his security guards fired back before the assassins threw a grenade at his vehicle and fled the scene.
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Australia Foreign Affairs Committee discusses ICC war-crimes filing

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 03:02 GMT]
Deputy Chair of Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (FAD&T) Legislation Committee, Russell Trood (Liberal, Queensland) during deliberations last week of February raised with David Stuart, First Assistant Secretary, South and West Asia and Middle East Division and Peter Rowe, First Assistant Secretary, North Asia Division, the potential International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations on war-crimes against Australian-Sri Lankan dual national Palitha Kohona and the appointment of ex-Navy commander Admiral Samarasinghe, who has been accused of war crimes, as the next High Commissioner for Sri Lanka to Australia, the official publication Hansard said.
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Three opposition MPs to give evidence in “white flag” case

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 02:41 GMT]
Two parliamentarians of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) and a parliamentarian from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) are among ten witnesses who will be giving evidence in the white flag case in which former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sarath Fonseka is charged for causing disrepute to the Sri Lanka government by making allegedly false statements to The Sunday leader, an English weekly published in Colombo.
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State run daily plays down assassination attempt on TNA MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 March 2011, 12:10 GMT]
Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Sritharan’s shooting incident in Nochchiyagama on March 7th, received minimal coverage in the state run leading Sinhala newspaper Dinamina, sources in Colombo said. Dinamina carried the report in page-4 with minimal details of the incident.
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Executives of TGTE-Democrats speak on Transnational Polity

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 March 2011, 07:45 GMT]
“Our aim is to strengthen the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam and to take it to the next stage of the global struggle of Eezham Tamils,” said Sasi Mahesawaran, one of the three executives of the TGTE-Democrats, adding that Tamils believe in unity to win the struggle. The frequent questions that are asked whether the TGTE Democrats are part of the TGTE or whether they are an opposition party or whether they are an alternative TGTE, were answered in a panel address they gave on Saturday in Tamil.
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Release prisoners held without charge under PTA, demands Amnesty

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 March 2011, 00:05 GMT]
Amnesty International, in a press release issued today, called upon the "Sri Lankan government to immediately release thousands of people currently being held in detention without charge or trial and to amend its repressive anti-terrorism laws to conform to international standards." Amnesty International said the organization "will again be raising its concerns about Sri Lanka’s emergency laws at a 9 March session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, including at a seminar about the laws and their application that will include lawyers from Sri Lanka."
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Eastern teachers denied flood distress loans

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 March 2011, 13:37 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Democratic Teachers Union (SLDTU) has accused Colombo Public Administration Ministry of not disbursing distress loans to public servants affected by recent floods in east as previously announced with a circular issued by the Ministry. SLDTU President, A.P. Kamaldeen, said, according to the circular three months salary will be given as interest free loan and would be recovered in a period of ten months. But the loan has not been released to teachers even after two months.
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Canadian Tamil husband suspected in hiring southerners to kill wife in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 March 2011, 06:44 GMT]
38-year-old Kukathasan Shanthini of Meesaalai in Thenmaraadchi, Jaffna, was abducted Sunday and her body with signs of torture and defacement was found Monday in a remote neighbourhood of Kiraampuvil temple. Sri Lanka Police in Chaavakachcheari suspects that her husband, who has recently come from Canada has hired assassins from Colombo. Shanthini and the 8-year-old child of the couple also have recently returned from India after disappointment in waiting for her Canadian visa to join with her husband.
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World will not forget Sri Lanka's human rights victims, says HRW

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 March 2011, 04:15 GMT]
"Recent US, British, and Australian statements are a reminder that the world will not forget the victims of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka’s long and bloody conflict," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a press release issued Monday following the unanimous passage of a US Senate resolution that called for an independent international accountability mechanism to investigate reports of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
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British Tamil businesses continue networking effort

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 March 2011, 03:50 GMT]
The Tamil Chamber of Commerce in UK held another introductory dinner on March 2 in Northwest London, attended by scores of local Tamil entrepreneurs. The aim of the event in Ruislip, which was addressed by Deputy Mayor of London Richard Barnes, Mayor of Ealing Rajinder Mann and Mayor of Hounslow Colin Ellar, as well as local politicians and representatives from Britain’s main political parties, was to explain the TCC’s goals and potential for growing Tamil enterprise and to expand its membership, organisers said.
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Veteran journalist Sabaratnam passes away

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 March 2011, 17:47 GMT]
Veteran journalist T. Sabaratnam passed away after a brief illness on Saturday in Colombo at the age of 79. Mr. Sabaratnam, who held the post of senior deputy editor of the SL State run Daily News at the time of retirement in 1997, was contributing to the English weekly, the Nation and other English and Tamil newspapers after retirement from the Lake House newspapers. He worked as a lecturer in the College of Journalism since its inception till his demise.
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TNA MP Sritharan narrowly escapes assassination in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 March 2011, 14:54 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian from Vanni, S. Sritharan, narrowly escaped from a group of attackers who lobbed two hand grenade targeting his vehicle and fired at the vehicle using pistols from behind Monday evening around 6:00 p.m. at Nochchiyaagama in Anuradhapura, TNA parliamentarians told media. The parliamentarian was on his way from Vavuniyaa to Colombo to attend the Tuesday sittings in SL parliament. No one was hurt in the attack, SL Police in Anuradhapura said.
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Indian SC rules against criminalising membership of banned organisations

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 March 2011, 09:09 GMT]
“Mere membership of a banned organisation will not make a person a criminal unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence or creates public disorder by violence or incitement to violence,” ruled the Supreme Court of India in an appeal case of an activist of ULFA, a banned organisation in India. The apex court also said that confession recorded by a police officer is not an admissible piece of evidence unless corroborated by material evidence, The Hindu reported Friday. The judgment will have significant bearing on many cases and convictions against activists and supporters of various banned organisations in India, observers said.
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"Mere association" insufficient to prove membership, says Canada Refugee board

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 March 2011, 01:49 GMT]
In ruling on a Tamil migrant who arrived in Canada last August onboard the MV Sun Sea, Refugee board member, Marc Tessler ruled Sunday that mere association with banned terrorist group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is not enough to prove membership in that group, a conclusion that may make it more difficult for the federal government [of Canada] to send the migrants back, CTV News reported. "Having a definition of membership that would encompass such low-range activities [such as working as a mechanic to repair LTTE run buses] was too broad to encompass membership in a terrorist group," said lawyer Eric Purtzki, who represented one of the migrants at the hearing.
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Opponents cannot topple government before 2016, says SL President Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 March 2011, 15:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has declared that if anyone wanted to topple his leadership and government, they will have to wait till the years 2016 and 2017 for either the general election and or the presidential election, the state run Dinamina newspaper said in the lead article on Sunday.
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Permanent settlement eludes Batticaloa displaced

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 March 2011, 15:00 GMT]
Displaced families in Batticaloa district find very difficult to obtain lands to build their dwellings due to reckless attitude and inaction shown by respective Divisional Secretaries, civil sources say. The people of Pullumalai, Koppaave'li villages which come under Ea'raavoor-Chengkaladi DS division of Batticaloa, had been displaced at least six times due to atrocities committed by the armed forces since 1983 and sought accommodation in refugee camps and in places of relatives and friends and still are not permanently settled.
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Free meals to students in Batticaloa suspended

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 March 2011, 14:06 GMT]
School principals and education department officials have expressed serious concern over the suspension of issue of free meals to students in schools in four educational zones in the Batticaloa district since December 2010 without any prior notice. They fear that this would lead to increase of malnutrition among student population.
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Two die in election related violence in south

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 March 2011, 23:23 GMT]
Two persons said to be supporters of the ruling United peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) were shot dead and four others were seriously injured Friday in Galle, down south of the country when two groups of the ruling party clashed for preferential votes in the forthcoming local election for Rathgama Predesiya Saba.
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Jayantha Ketagoda to succeed Sarath Fonseka in SL parliament

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 March 2011, 23:20 GMT]
The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Saturday decided to appoint Jayantha Ketagoda to the seat that fell vacant following the imprisonment of Sarath Fonseka by the Court Martial. DNA national list parliamentarian Tiran Alles told media that according to the unanimous decision of the party Jayantha Ketagoda is to be sworn in as new parliamentarian on March 8 before the Speaker.
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Sri Lankan state shows ‘reconciliation’ in the country of Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 March 2011, 15:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka military occupying the Tamil country opened a new fort and an extensive military base on Friday at Koappaay in Jaffna, over the graves and memorials of the heroes who laid down their lives to the cause of the liberation of Eezham Tamils. The Chinese helped the occupying SL military to raze down the Maaveerar Thuyilumidam (the resting place of the heroes) and to build the fortress at that very premises for the occupying Army to tread on it. The resident of the king of Jaffna was at Koappaay during the times of the Kingdom of Jaffna. The Portuguese destroyed it in the 17th century. The US State Department coined the word 'reconciliation' but Colombo is writing the meaning for the word, commented a Tamil politician in Jaffna.
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18,000 Cheddikku'lam refugees stripped of voting rights in local elections

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 March 2011, 03:10 GMT]
The Sri Lanka’s Commissioner of Elections has confirmed that about 18,000 people who are still held in Chettikulam camp cannot cast their votes in the forthcoming local elections as the election authority has no provision to ensure voting rights under the existing local election law, according to Executive Director of Peoples Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL). PAFFREL Director revealed this to media after a meeting with Commissioner of Elections along with secretaries of political parties held recently. About three thousand IDPs in Puththalam would also be deprived of their voting rights, PAFFREL added.
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AG suspends forced registration by SLA in North

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 March 2011, 02:50 GMT]
A three-member bench of the Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Thursday terminated the proceedings in the Fundamental Rights application filed by five Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians against the forced registration of resident in the Jaffna district and Killinochchi district by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) after Sri Lanka's Attorney General (AG) informed the Court that SLA will stop forced registration, legal sources in Colombo said. The Deputy Solicitor General, Buvaneka Aluvihare, on behalf of the AG gave the undertaking said that the forced registration would be suspended until a procedure that passes constitutional muster is developed to collect information pertaining to the two districts.
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Occupying SL military stops re-installing MGR statue in VVT

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 March 2011, 00:05 GMT]
Efforts by the people of Valveddiththu’rai in Jaffna to re-install a statue for Mr. M G Ramachandran (MGR), the Tamil film icon since 1950s and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu was stopped by the Sri Lanka Army occupying the Tamil country. A statue of MGR that existed earlier at Valveddiththu’rai was desecrated and the arms were broken by the occupying military a few months back. Eezham Tamils, especially the coastal community people, are strong admirers of the films of MGR for well over six decades. MGR was born in Kandy in the island.
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SL Attorney General delays response to Tamil political prisoners

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 March 2011, 23:45 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Attorney General’s Department has been inordinately delaying to process the requests made by Tamil political detainees being held in prisons in the South to transfer them to prisons in Jaffna as they fear attacks on them following the recent ethnic attacks in Anuradhapura.
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US Senate Resolution calls for accountability for Sri Lanka war crimes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 March 2011, 03:37 GMT]
United States Senate unanimously passed resolution S. Res. 84 introduced by Senator Casey which commended UN Secretary General for appointing a panel to advise UNSG on Sri Lanka's human rights accountability and called "on the Government of Sri Lanka, the international community, and the United Nations to establish an independent international accountability mechanism to look into reports of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other human rights violations committed by both sides during and after the war in Sri Lanka and to make recommendations regarding accountability," as one of the four elements of the resolution.
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SL Military Intelligence behind abduction of priests in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 March 2011, 12:16 GMT]
Intelligence officials of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was behind the abduction of three Christian priests ten days ago in Batticaloa town, sources close to the priests said. The Priests were released February 25 after interrogation held in Fourth Floor of the SLA headquarters. The Priests while admitting that the abduction occurred, declined to reveal anything that took place while in custody due to security reasons.
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Officials opposing Sinhala encroachment threatened with transfer

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 March 2011, 12:10 GMT]
Tamil Divisional Secretaries in the eastern province are facing transfer threats due to the non-co-operation to implement Mahinda Chinthanaya in the Eastern Province in allowing encroachment by Sinhalese in Tamil villages. Already, Divisional Secretaries of the two DS divisions Koa'ra'laip-pattu South and Koa'ra'laip-pattu North in Batticaloa district are said to be informed of their transfer, sources in Eastern province said.
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Sri Lanka's rights violations compel investigations, says Australian MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 March 2011, 02:45 GMT]
Laurie Ferguson, Member of Australian Parliament for Werriwa and Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services, in his statement following submitting a private members bill for debate on "Humanitarian Issues During the War in Sri Lanka," Monday detailed the egregious violations of human rights in Sri Lanka and said he supported eminent personalities, Governments, and premier Rights organizations around the world in demanding an independent, international investigations into Sri Lanka's rights violations.
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Kohona, Samarasinghe issues raised in Australia Parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 March 2011, 02:28 GMT]
John Murphy, Australia's Labor pary member of parliament for Reid, during a house debate on Thursday expressed grave concern at the "foreshadowed appointment" of Sri Lanka's ex-Navy commander Admiral Samarasinghe as the next high commissioner, and called upon the Australian Government to "independently investigate" the involvement of Dr Palitha Kohona, an Australian National, in the killing of surrendees during the last phase of Sri Lanka's civil war.
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Occupying military orders VVT people to register before 10:00 a.m. Wednesday

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 March 2011, 20:40 GMT]
In a draconian order, the SL military occupying the country of Eezham Tamils has asked the people of Valveddiththu’rai, a densely populated town in the northern coast of Jaffna, to register themselves with the military, along with family photos, before 10:00 a.m. Wednesday. The shocked Eezham Tamils wonder whether their country is fast turning into an open concentration camp for them. The order comes even as there is a case against such registrations filed by TNA is pending in the court. The notice to the public to register within 24 hours and forms for that are distributed by the SL Army to local shops. On the order of the Army, the local village officials were seen carrying out the work even during the night. People feel that the show of terror is a revenge for the participation of the people of VVT in the funeral of Parvathi Amma, despite military harassment.
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7 arrested in Tamil youth killing in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 March 2011, 14:01 GMT]
The body of a young male person recovered from an empty fertilizer bag hidden under a culvert located in Panichchaiyadi area in Saththurukko'ndaan village in the Batticaloa police division Sunday evening was identified on Monday by his relatives as that of Rasiah Kanthithas, 29, of Thimilaa-theevu. The owner of a hotel in front of the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital where the deceased had been working was arrested Tuesday by the Batticaloa Police in connection with the alleged murder. Six others were also taken into custody by the Police in this connection, sources in Batticaloa said.
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After Libya referral to ICC, US warns Sri Lanka on war crimes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 March 2011, 13:12 GMT]
The United States warned this week that Sri Lanka could be hauled before a war crimes tribunal over the killing of “many thousands of civilians” in the final months of its armed conflict, if it is not willing hold to meet international standards in its own investigations into the mass killings, AFP reported. The warning, described by AFP as “the toughest yet” came in comments by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert Blake, in an interview with the agency. Blake also cited the UN Security Council referring Libya to the International Criminal Court last week as a signal of global concern over human rights.
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Two SLAF Kfir fighter jets crash in mid-air

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 March 2011, 06:19 GMT]
Two Israeli-built Kfir bomber jets of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) crashed in a mid-air collision during a rehearsal Tuesday morning killing one pilot at Yakkala in Gampaha. The other pilot sustained injuries. Both the Kfir bombers that killed several civilians in Vanni War were completely destroyed. The rehearsal was for the 60th anniversary of the SLAF which is being marked on Wednesday with fly-past aerobatics and a skydiving display. Five years ago, on 14 August 2006, 55 schoolchildren and staffers were massacred in Mullaiththeevu in a genocidal air strike carried out by the SLAF. The crime against humanity is yet to be subjected to international investigations.
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