59 Reports

Destructive trend of Sinhalicisation harmful for future harmony in East: Thurairatnam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 January 2012, 23:57 GMT]
Archaeological traces of heritage, preserved in 25 acres of land in Chuvaami-malai and Kevu'liya-madu villages in Paddippazhai DS division of Batticaloa district, are being destroyed by Sinhala encroachers, who are attempting to construct a Buddhist vihara at the occupied lands, civil sources Paddippazhai said. Condemning the move, Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) member R. Thurairatnam, said the destructive trend is opposed to any future ethnic harmony in the East. The historical evidences in the area were well preserved even during the times of war, Mr. Thurairatnam observed.
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Colombo steps up Sinhalicisation of Batticaloa, Ampaa'rai border village

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 January 2012, 19:20 GMT]
Depriving the livelihood of resettled Tamils at 35th Colony, the Sri Lankan government authorities in Colombo have taken charge of the Tamil area, which comes under the Batticaloa district and the Eastern Provincial Council, aiming Sinhalicisation of the border village between the Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai district. The Tamil fishermen, who have been fishing in Navakkiri tank have now been denied access to the tank and only Sinhalese are allowed by the SL authorities to engage in fishing in the tank situated in the 35th Colony. The provincial minister responsible for fisheries affairs, Mr. Navaratnam, has also confirmed that the civil affairs at 35th Colony are being directly controlled from Colombo.
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Boyle: US should publicly accuse Colombo of committing war crimes

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 January 2012, 00:40 GMT]
Pointing to the recent investigative reports in media outlets noting US may possess crucial supporting material to incriminating evidence from senior military commanders of Colombo committing war-crimes, to exposures on Wikileaks of Colombo-based US Ambassadors' reported knowledge of high level Sri Lanka officials' complicity to war crimes, and to incriminating reports from the UN and NGOs on alleged war-crimes, Professor Boyle of University of Illinois, College of Law, said, in similar circumstances Secretary of State Eagleburger accused Radovan Karadzic of committing war-crimes during the Bosnian genocide, and the Obama administration can, and should, do the same thing to political and military leaders in Colombo.
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Sinhala gang attacks Tamil residents in Trinco suburb

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 January 2012, 16:56 GMT]
Four Tamil residents of Vinaayagapuram, a suburb in Trincomalee town, were injured, including one with severe injuries, when a gang of Sinhalese attacked them on Saturday evening around 6 p.m, sources in Trincomalee said. Thurainayagam Sanjeevan, 32, an employee of the Trincomalee office of a leading Tamil daily Virakesari, is in critical condition and has been admitted to the Trincomalee General Hospital. Other injured Tamils were discharged from the hospital after treatment, hospital sources said. The attackers had threatened the Tamil residents to vacate the village, according to the injured residents.
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STF killed Trinco students, Basil Rajapakse told Blake

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 January 2012, 01:26 GMT]
In a classified memo written by US's Sri Lanka Ambassador Robert Blake in October 2006 to Washington, ten months after the extra-judicial execution of five students at a Trincomalee beach, Basil Rajapakse, advisor to Sri Lanka's President and brother Rajapakse, had told Ambassador Blake that Special Task Force (STF) was responsible for the killings, according a Wikileaks document. The father of Ragihar, one of the students killed, is one of the three plaintiffs who have filed a civil case against Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse for Command Responsibility in the killings.
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Silva's proposed UN appointment elicits condemnation from Rights Groups

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 January 2012, 01:34 GMT]
New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), California-based Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), and Washington-based SPEAK, three premier Rights organizations which routinely use litigation in US Courts to resolve constitutional issues and to indict violators of rights, in a press release issued Thursday, condemned the proposed appointment of Shavendra Silva - an ex-General of the Sri Lanka Army who is being charged for war-crimes in US Court - to the Special Advisory Group to advise UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Peacekeeping Operations.
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Sri Lanka genocide story draws 22m visitors, says Argentine paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 January 2012, 03:33 GMT]
The Spanish Language Diario La Tarde, an evening journal published by independent journalists in West Argentina said the recent web publication of the story "Genocidio: (Primera entrega) - La masacre de los Tamils en Sri Lanka," [Genocide: (First Delivery) The Slaughter of Tamils in Sri Lanka] drew 22 million visits in two days. The story appearing in Spanish covers history to the conflict, the slaughter at Mu'l'livaaykkaal, and asserts the post-conflict miliary aggression in Tamil areas as a form of structural genocide.
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Human skeletons found in SLA abandoned locality in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 January 2012, 00:45 GMT]
Skeletons of two persons, allegedly slain by the Sri Lankan military in recent times, have been recovered from an abandoned well near a bund constructed by the occupying Sri Lanka Army in I'lavaalai, Pa'ndaththeruppu situated in Valikaamam in the Jaffna district on Wednesday. Brain parts found inside one of the two skulls indicate that the victims have been slain in recent times, eyewitnesses told TamilNet. The skeletons were located when the villagers were clearing the well at a locality known as Thennanthoappu (cocount palm grove), a place recently vacated by the Sri Lanka Army.
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Resettled Tamil woman's body recovered near SLA bund in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2012, 23:55 GMT]
The skeleton of a recently slain 28-year-old unmarried Tamil woman has been recovered near an abandoned military bund used by the Sri Lanka Army in A'rukuve'li, located along Kearatheevu Road (Jaffna - Mannaar Road) in Thenmaraadchi on Wednesday. The victim, Atputhamalar Subramaniyam, who had resettled in Thanangki'lappu near Ma'ravanpulavu of Thenmaraadchi last year, has been missing since November 13. But, her family was receiving SMS messages for some time from her cell phone. The abductors have been sending the messages with the intention of making the family to believe that she was not abducted, relatives of the victim who came for the funeral on Thursday told media. Tension prevailed in the recently resettled area where the occupying SLA is still on random patrol.
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NZ Tamils felicitate Queen's Award couple

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 January 2012, 17:33 GMT]
Queen’s Service award-winning Eezham Tamil couple in New Zealand, Mr. George Arulanantham and Ms. Anne Umadevi George, were felicitated by New Zealand Tamils at the Tamil Harvest Festival celebrated at Auckland on Saturday. NZ parliamentarian Ms. Denise Roche was Chief Guest to the function. This year’s Queen’s Service Medal was awarded to the couple honouring their long community service to refugees in New Zealand. While George Arulanantham’s contribution was related to social organisation and integration of Tamil refugees, Anne Umadevi George largely concentrated on the Tamil education of the refugee children. Both are engaged in community service since 1990s.
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Colombo backed Muslim group threatens Tamils to leave their lands in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 January 2012, 17:11 GMT]
A gang of Tamil-speaking Muslim persons with the backing of government politicians has been engaged in a campaign of threat against Tamil families of Upcountry origin residing in U'rukaamam in Kiththu'l area in the Ea'raavoor Chengkaladi DS division to leave their place and seek residence elsewhere. U'rukaamam-Kiththu'l area is located along Chengkaladi-Badulla highway (A-15). The villagers are of upcountry Tamil origin who fled from their area in the SL state-sponsored anti Tamil pogrom of 1957 and had settled in U'rukaamam-Kiththu'l area after clearing the forest. The villagers were also affected in 1983 anti Tamil ‘Black-July’ pogrom.
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Award winning filmmaker presents documentary on exiled Sinhala, Tamil journalists

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2012, 22:45 GMT]
‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’, a new documentary by Norwegian filmmaker Beate Arnestad, who directed and produced the award winning documentary ‘My Daughter the Terrorist’ in 2007, is to be pre-premiered in Oslo, Norway, on 09 February. The screening of ‘Silenced Voices’, which is about journalists, who contributed to international exposure of the internationally abetted genocidal war without witnesses, will be followed by a debate featuring journalists Bashana Abeywardane, the former chief editor of Hiru weekly, Frances Harrison, the former BBC foreign correspondent to Sri Lanka and Sverre Tom Radøy, a Norwegian journalist. The film features Mr. Bashana Abeywardene, his wife Sharmila Logeswaram, Sonali Wickrematunge and A. Lokeesan, TamilNet wartime correspondent, who was reporting from 2005 to April 2009 from Vanni.
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Chaos inside Welikade prison, Tamil prisoners shifted, Fonseka safe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2012, 12:18 GMT]
Tamil political prisoners detained in the Magazine prison in Welikada have been removed to the main prison complex for safe custody following tense situation created by suspects who are involved in drug trafficking offences, prison sources said.
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Unidentified gang ransacks Tamil NGO office in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2012, 12:14 GMT]
The Colombo office of "Vi'luthu," a non-governmental organization that has been implementing development projects for the welfare of the underprivileged people in the North and East by providing free legal advice and conducting courses in journalism, was ransacked by an unidentified group of persons in the late hours of Monday or early hours of Tuesday, according to an official of the NGO.
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Colombo-backed gang threatens resettled Tamil families in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2012, 02:59 GMT]
A gang of more than one hundred fifty Sinhalese who were brought to Channaar village in Mannaar district on Sunday by a government minister had threatened resettled Tamil families to leave the village immediately to give room for the majority community. The intimidation of Tamil families who have suffered in the conflict and relatives of the killed LTTE cadres had been engineered by Minister Rischard Bathiudeen and Maanthai West Divisional Secretary with the blessing of the Colombo government, according to reports emerging from the area.
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Kalam unaware of Tamil fishermen's plight

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2012, 23:56 GMT]
Jaffna District fisheries societies representatives on Monday urged the visiting former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who was in Jaffna as part of his visit to the island, to impress upon the Indian government to facilitate the Eezham Tamil fishermen to resume their livelihood by containing the Indian poachers who destroy the nets of the local fishermen and cause serious destruction to the environment necessary for sustaining the fisheries industry. Dr. Kalam was listening to the plight of the fishermen in the peninsula as if he was totally unaware of the decades long dispute in the sea and the destruction caused to the Eezham Tamil fishermen by the intruding Indian trawlers that engage in poaching close to the coast of Jaffna peninsula. The visiting former president of India, later visited the University of Jaffna and gave a speech at a fully packed Kailasapathy auditorium.
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SL Navy militarises Jaffna lagoon

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2012, 21:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy and Army have denied resettled fishermen along a major part of Jaffna lagoon from accessing their sea from Sunday, citing training purposes of the military at a major cantonment of the occupying SL military at Allaarai on Chaavakachcheari - Kachchaay Road. The SL military has blocked the fishing boats from Koayilkudiyiruppu on Sunday giving instructions to the fishermen that the entire stretch from Chavakachcheari to Kachchaay will remain blocked until further notice, representatives of fishermen from Koayilkudiyiruppu in Chavakachcheari told TamilNet Monday. The SL military has also said that access to sea will be blocked five to ten days every month in future.
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Buddhist viharas grab Tamil lands for Sinhalicisation in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 January 2012, 21:28 GMT]
Hundreds of acres of lands are being alienated to Buddhist Viharas in Trincomalee district on the instruction of the Colombo government and at the request of the heads of such Viharas, civil sources in Trincomalee told TamilNet. After the war, the SL military-led administration in the district had allocated initially 2 acres per new Buddhist stupa in Tamil areas at Pulmoaddai, Ilaththik-ku'lam, Thiriyaay, Chempiyan-malai in Kuchchave'li DS division. Later, more lands are being allocated at the request of the heads of these Viharas, who aim Sinhalicisation of the Tamil areas. Informed sources said upto 400 acres have been alienated for this purpose.
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TNA should use its Tamil national mandate: Bishop of Mannaar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 January 2012, 15:32 GMT]
The aim of the Tamil civil groups’ memorandum dated 13 December 2011 and addressed to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was in fact to strengthen the Tamil national polity and its democratically mandated representatives. It was not meant to weaken the TNA. There is a mandate given by the people to the TNA about continuing talks with the SL government and that the TNA in its course of action should stick to its mandate is the thrust of the memorandum, clarified the Bishop of Mannaar, Most Reverend Rayappu Joseph, in a press release issued on last Monday on behalf of the civil society signatories of the memorandum.
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Missing ITAK representative in Jaffna under ‘investigation’ in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 January 2012, 15:22 GMT]
The organizer of Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) in Jaffna city and a former representative of Jaffna University Student Union, Mr. Arnold, has been reported missing after being invited to Colombo by a person yet to be identified. Arnold has been allegedly abducted and subjected to investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Sri Lankan Police in Colombo, informed circles in Jaffna said.
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Tamil couple knifed to death in Vavuniyaa resettled village

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 January 2012, 12:27 GMT]
A husband and his wife were knifed to death on Thursday at a resettled village, Pan'rikkeitha-ku'lam in Vavuniyaa district. Kanthaiah Muthiah, 67, and his wife were living in a temporary hut with tin sheets, and have been doing paddy cultivation in the resettled village when the murder occurred.
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Tamil plaintiffs oppose US Government's stand on Rajapakse immunity

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 January 2012, 01:41 GMT]
Judge Kotelly of District Court of District of Columbia, after considering the Tamil plaintiffs' motion asking the court to allow the plaintiffs to file a response to the United States suggestion of immunity to Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse, issued an order Tuesday granting permission to plaintiffs' attorney Bruce Fein to file the response on or before 3rd February, and to the United States Government to file a reply on a before 13th February. In the process, Judge Kotelly rejected defendant Rajapakse's opposition to plaintiffs request to be permitted to respond to the U.S. Government's suggestion of immunity.
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Rejected asylum seeker kills herself and her child in Norway

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 January 2012, 23:14 GMT]
A 24-year-old Eezham Tamil asylum seeker has set fire to herself and her 20-month-old baby child Tuesday at an asylum camp in western Norway. The Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende reported Thursday that the mother succumbed to her injuries the same day and the son on Wednesday after doctors fought to save their lives. The future was very bleak for the victim, who was living in Norway since 2006 undergoing a lot of suffering. One week before her death, her 18-year-old sister was found dead in Jaffna.
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Uprooted fisherman drowns in Thirukkoayil, wife commits suicide

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 January 2012, 23:57 GMT]
55-year-old Alagesvari Nadesan, mother of four committed suicide on Tuesday after hearing that her husband who gone for fishing in a tank in Kagnchi-kudichcha-aa'ru had drowned. The uprooted family, deprived of livelihood since displacement, was dependent on the fishing income generated by the 62-year-old father Sellaththurai Nadesan. Several deaths in recent times, categorized as accidents and suicides, are reported in places where families stricken by poverty are still denied of their lands and access to resume their livelihoods, sources in Ampaa'rai said.
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Fishermen from South deployed in recent attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 January 2012, 22:34 GMT]
Five Sinhalese fishermen from South engaging in trawler fishing in the seas off Neduntheevu (Delf) in Jaffna arrested last week for attacking fishermen from Tamil Nadu, have been released together with the two Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Oorkaavattu'rai (Kayts) court. The latest episode has revealed the involvement of Sinhalese fishermen engaging in deep sea fishing in the Northern seas behind violent attacks on intruding fishermen from Tamil Nadu, legal sources in Kayts said. The two fishermen from Tamil Nadu narrated the courts how they were attacked by the Sri Lankan fishermen. In the meantime, informed sources in Jaffna said the latest episode was a diversion maneuver to hide the involvement of Sri Lanka Navy operated gangs in the attacks against Indian fishermen.
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Toronto declares January 2012 Tamil Heritage Month

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 January 2012, 04:11 GMT]
City Council of Toronto, Canada's largest city issued a proclamation declaring January 2012 "Tamil Heritage Month," providing the opportunity "to showcase and share the community's vibrant culture and traditions and longstanding history with Toronto residents and visitors." Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford signed the proclamation on behalf of the City Council.
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Indian Foreign Minister Krishna visits Colombo, holds talks with TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 January 2012, 23:02 GMT]
India’s External Affairs Minister Mr. S.M. Krishna arrived in Colombo Monday evening on a four-day official visit. He was scheduled to meet the parliamentary delegation of the Tamil National Alliance the same day evening around 6:30 p.m. at Taj Hotel in Colombo, according to TNA leader Mr.R.Sampanthan.
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SL Police releases statue desecration suspect following political influence

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 January 2012, 07:03 GMT]
A suspect arrested by the Sri Lankan police in connection with the desecration of Swami Vivekananda in Batticaloa was released on bail due to the intervention of MLAM Hisbullah, a deputy minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa led government. The statue of 19th century Vedantic spiritual leader of Hinduism, situated in the border of Tamil dominated Aaraiyampathi and Muslim dominated Kaaththaankudi, was desecrated by a motorbike squad Tuesday last week. The SL Police arrested a man, an eyewitness, following the incident and released him. Later, Vahawan alias Vadi, a Muslim person who owns a hardware store in Kaaththaankudi, was arrested by the SL Police in Kaaththaankudi.
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Executive overreach to provide immunity to Universal crimes questioned

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 January 2012, 03:34 GMT]
Bruce Fein, attorney for the three Tamil plaintiffs who have charged Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse of war-crimes in the District Court of District of Columbia, in response to the "suggestion" of immunity for Rajapakse by the US Justice Department, told TamilNet, that he has asked the court to allow the plaintiffs to file a Memorandum in Opposition, and added "among other deficiencies in the US Government's legal analysis, we underscored the counter-constitutional proposition asserted by the Executive Branch that it was crowned with judicial power to order the dismissal of lawsuits based on its understanding of the law which federal judges were precluded from second-guessing. Such a putative power in the Executive Branch would blatantly flout the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution."
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Four US Government officials to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 January 2012, 19:00 GMT]
Four US Government officials from US Department of Defense, US Department of Commerce, US Department of State will undertake partially over-lapping visits to Sri Lanka and Maldives between 15th and 26th of January, a press release from the Embassy of the United States to Sri Lanka and Maldives said. Two officials are visiting only Sri Lanka. according to the itinerary. The US officials are expected to meet Government officials, civil society leaders, business leaders and political leaders, the release further said.
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EPC needs land powers to preserve traditional Tamil homeland: R. Thurairatnam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 January 2012, 13:06 GMT]
Land powers should be provided to Eastern Provincial Council in order to safeguard the traditional homeland of Tamil speaking people from being plundered by the Colombo government under the pretext of setting up army cantonments and implementing tourist and various corporate projects, councilor of the EPC from Batticaloa district R.Thurairatnam, has said. Two third of the so-called state lands in the eastern province come under the centralized authority of the Colombo. The existing powers on lands are not enough no stop plundering lands in the Eastern province by the central authority, Mr. Thurairatnam, said bringing a motion introduced by him in the council meeting on the land issue.
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US "suggests" immunity to Rajapakse from suit

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 January 2012, 02:28 GMT]
In a clear articulation of US State Department's continuing support of Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse, the US Justice Department, based on a directive from legal adviser Harold Koh, has suggested to the District Court of District of Columbia that Rajapakse has immunity from the suit filed by three Tamil plaintiffs for alleged complicity in war-crimes. The US State department asserts that "the Executive Branch retains the authority to refrain from making a similar immunity determination in future cases, considering, for example, international norms and the implications of the litigation for the Nation's foreign relations," indicating that US would positively exercise its discretion in this case to intervene to prevent continuation of the suit.
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UK disappointed with LLRC’s recommendations on accountability

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 January 2012, 10:35 GMT]
In an official response to the LLRC report, the Foreign Office Minister of Britain with responsibility for Sri Lanka, Alistair Burt, on Thursday criticized the report for not addressing or only partially answering “many credible allegations of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, including from the UN Panel of Experts report” . Meanwhile Lee Scott, MP for Ilford North and Chairman of the All Party Group for Tamils, welcomed the statement “which recognised the important factor - that is justice for the innocent victims” and stated that he would pursue this until justice is delivered. In the meantime, Tamil political circles in Vanni and Jaffna said they were disappointed by the alleged pro-Sri Lankan line taken by a British Conservative MP, James Wharton, who visited Jaffna and Vanni with Sri Lankan High Commissioner recently.
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Unemployed graduates in East ignored in employment opportunity

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 January 2012, 06:19 GMT]
Unemployed Graduates and Diploma Holders Association in the Eastern Province has in a memorandum to the Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse accused the Colombo government that they are being deceived after promising employment for 10,000 in 2010 and under the guise of Development Officers Project in 2011. The deprivation of employment opportunities and discrimination shown in providing such opportunities has fuelled the conflict in the past. Such discriminations should not be allowed in the province, said Mr. Hussein Mubarak, the general secretary of the UGDHA in his memorandum to the SL government.
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TNA parliamentarian condemns desecration of Vivekananda statue in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 January 2012, 06:06 GMT]
Politically motivated mischievous elements should not be allowed to create disharmony between Tamils and Muslims in the East, said Batticaloa District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian P.Ariyanethran in a statement condemning the desecration of the state of a Hindu Swami Vivekananda in Aaraiyampathi - Kaaththaankudi border recently. “Those who want to pursue their political ambition currently in the scene are suspected to be behind such crimes and violence between communities,” the TNA MP said.
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Canada says LLRC inadequate, calls for independent investigations

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 January 2012, 06:26 GMT]
Adding to the increasing number of calls, ahead of the March meeting of UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva, for Independent International Investigations into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka committed during the final phases of war, Canadas Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Wednesday, "Canada remains concerned that the report does not fully address the grave accusations of serious human rights violations that occurred toward the end of the conflict. Many of the allegations outlined by the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka have not been adequately addressed by this report. We continue to call for an independent investigation into the credible and serious allegations raised by the UN Secretary-General’s Panel that international humanitarian law and human rights were violated by both sides in the conflict."
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Sustained Sri Lanka boycott campaign draws attention of GAP, WP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 January 2012, 05:26 GMT]
"They were holding up signs that read, “Victoria’s Dirty Little Secret” and “Big GAP in ethics” in front of Banana Republic and the Gap, warning shoppers to check labels, lest they buy clothing made in Sri Lanka, where they say human rights violations are continuing and Tamils are being forced off their land by the government," said an article appearing in Washington Post (WP) Thursday on the boycott Sri Lanka campaign a group of Eezham and Tamil Nadu expatriates have been conducting regularly in Washington suburbs for the last two years. The wind was piercing, but under a banner that read "Stop Tamil Genocide" they had their cause to keep them warm, the paper added.
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JVP student faction seeks Tamil youth for military inspiration: SL Minister

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 January 2012, 02:31 GMT]
Calling themselves as a student group, a group of the factionalised JVP is seeking to exploit former LTTE cadres in its search for military inspiration and the group is targeting to exploit the Tamil students for a military cause, claimed S.B. Dissanayake, the SL minister of Education, who has been visiting the islets of Jaffna and the University of Jaffna with the backing of EPDP paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda, who is also a minister in the cabinet of SL president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Commenting on the statement by the SL minister, who met some students at the University of Jaffna, student circles in Jaffna said the comment has exposed the level of paranoia prevailing in the Colombo establishment that has used its military to abduct two JVPers who are still missing.
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Jaffna GA wants SL police to investigate bloggers in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 January 2012, 23:16 GMT]
SL Police in Jaffna have filed cases, on behalf of Sri Lankan Government Agent in Jaffna against persons whom she alleges as engaging in a systematic campaign against her. The Judge at the District court of Jaffna, M. Ganesarajah, on Monday instructed the SL Police to investigate the background of two Tamil blogging sites that were mentioned by the SL Police. The write-ups and photos that appeared in the websites characterising Imelda Sugumar as being subjected to pressure from the SL military governor of North have no substance, she claims. Independent civil officials said public persons such as Ms. Sugumar should be prepared for facing such criticism in a civic manner and not engage in exercises threatening even the ‘non-existing’ freedom of speech in the peninsula.
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SLN arrests 13 Tamil Nadu fishermen in Trincomalee sea

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 January 2012, 21:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy Wednesday morning arrested thirteen Tamil Nadu fishermen with their two trawlers in Trincomalee sea, fourteen nautical miles off Pulmoaddai, north of Trincomalee district.
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Motorbike squad destroys Swami Vivekananda statue in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 January 2012, 23:39 GMT]
A group of men who came in motorbikes Tuesday around 00:30 a.m. destroyed the statue of Swami Vivekananda, a well known Vedantic spiritual leader of Hinduism from the 19th century. The statue, located in front of a fuel filling station on Batticaloa Kalmunai Road (A4) and is regarded locally as a border mark of Tamil dominated Aaraiyampathi and Muslim dominated Kaaththaankudi in Batticaloa district. The destruction is viewed as an attempt to create further divisions between Tamils and Muslims in the district. The SL police is allegedly involved in activities creating dissension between Tamils and Muslims by engineering such attacks, informed sources in Kaaththaankudi told TamilNet Tuesday.
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SL paramilitary in Jaffna monopolises cable TV market at gunpoint

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 January 2012, 06:10 GMT]
Hundreds of private cable operators, who have been supplying cable Television covering the villages of Jaffna for years have been harassed and coerced into working under a paramilitary operated cable operator, MBL Cable Network, in Jaffna. Independent operators who were operating their own dishes and distributing television channels to private consumers were told that their business was illegal and they have to buy the channels and lease the network being established by the paramilitary company that had exclusive ‘government permission’. However, those who were in the competing business and argued that there was no such ‘exclusive permission’ obtained by the MBL continued to operate on their own. But, now they are being threatened. Alexkumar Balasundaram, a cable provider who operates from Kokkuvil with 10-year-experience, says he was threatened Saturday at gunpoint.
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Ampaa'rai Tamil driver found dead with cut injuries in Nuwara Eliya

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 January 2012, 12:02 GMT]
30 year old Kamalaraj, a resident of Thambiluvil in Thirukoail division in Ampaarai district, was found dead blindfolded and with cut injuries in his neck along a main road Nuwaraeliya area in the central province. He had been a driver by profession in Wellawatte in Colombo district and went on a hire to Kathirkaamam with persons arrived from abroad on January 3 in a van owned by another person.
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Durham apparel company moves manufacturing out of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 January 2012, 16:43 GMT]
School House, a collegiate apparel company in based in Durham, North Carolina, moved its manufacturing from Sri Lanka to North Carolina earlier this year to make its items for the 2012 line at a local Durham-based manufacturer, local papers said. The company which supplies apparel to more than 100 campus bookstores, including Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, Harvard University and Yale University, said the expenses incurred with manufacturing abroad, the shipping costs and the time lag between design and production, convinced School House to move manufacturing back to the United States.
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TNA, GTF join ANC centenary celebration, Sri Lanka boycotts

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 January 2012, 09:48 GMT]
Delegations from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) are amongst international attendees of the centenary celebrations of the African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday. Sri Lanka has refused to participate at the event in Bloemfontein because of the ANC’s invitation to the GTF, the Sunday Times reports. Dozens of heads of state and representatives of other governments, as well as large numbers of dignitaries from across Africa are joining over 100,000 politicians, members and supporters of the ANC in the historic celebration. In the meantime, a Tamil academic based in Colombo cautioned Eezham Tamils to be aware of the duality of South Africa. While the ruling party has been engaged in a show of solidarity with struggling forces across the world, the South African State has joined hands with anti-people regimes as it did during the 2009 voting at the UNHRC.
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No amnesty for war-criminals, says UN's Navi Pillay

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 January 2012, 04:01 GMT]
Granting amnesty to perpetrators of war crimes and human rights abuses under Yemen's presidential power transition deal would be against international law, the United Nations human rights chief said on Friday, undermining the peace agreement, Reuters reported. The implications of this to pending litigation of sitting and ex-Presidents in courts around the world are significant according to legal sources in Washington. Professor Francis Boyle commented that while the UN pronouncements were directed towards Yemen, for bringing the culpable Sri Lanka leaders to justice for crimes committed during the Mu'l'livaaykkaal massacre, continued action outside Sri Lanka by Tamil expatriates was crucial.
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SL military-led administration in North harasses Tamil journalists

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 January 2012, 09:48 GMT]
After two years of war and claims that Colombo has resettled civilians in Vanni, remote areas of the mainland still remain prohibited for Tamil journalists. Sri Lankan military intelligence officers and operatives systematically harass the journalists who visit the areas beyond the ‘A9 comfort zone’ of the occupying SL military. Meanwhile, harassment by SL military-led administration has increased in the Jaffna peninsula. On Friday, a 28-year-old reporter in Jaffna, A. Daniel, was taken to SL police station in Jaffna and questioned for 3 hours by the SL police, allegedly for exposing SL military governor not allowing the Jaffna GA for a separate meeting as scheduled with the British Conservative MP James Wharton, who was taken on a guided tour to Jaffna with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London.
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Hearing in Sivaram assassination case put off for April 25

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 January 2012, 18:44 GMT]
The Colombo High Court on Thursday put off further hearing in the assassination case of TamilNet senior editor Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki) for April 25, 2012. SL State Counsel appearing for the prosecution requested the court to postpone further hearing as he found difficult to proceed with the case in the ‘absence of vital witnesses’. The Sri Lankan high court has postponed the case also on earlier occasions citing the same excuse.
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Rajapaksa to visit Pakistan

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 January 2012, 15:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse is scheduled to visit Pakistan from 8 to 10 February. His visit is expected to be in return for Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari visit to Sri Lanka in 2010, Colombo media quoted SL foreign ministry sources. Rajapaksa's visit is in relation to the US dollars 200 million credit facility offered by Pakistan during Zadari’s visit last year, informed sources in Colombo said.
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SLA, Police launch cordon, search in Trincomalee city

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 January 2012, 20:48 GMT]
Tension prevailed in Trincomalee city Thursday morning when Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Police cordoned off Vihara Road, Chivapuri, Maariyamman and Puthukkudiyiruppu and conducted house to house search operation in Trincomalee city.
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TNA MPs urge Ampaa'rai GA to allow resettlement of war-displaced Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 January 2012, 20:43 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians Maavai Senathairaja, P. Ariyanethran and P Selvarasa, who visited Naavithan-ve'li, Kaarai-theevu, Aalaiyadi-vempu and Thirukkoayil Piratheasa Chapai (PS) in Ampaa'rai this week have urged the newly appointed Sri Lankan Government Agent of Ampaa'rai district Neil de Alwis to allow speedy resettlement of uprooted Tamil civilians in the district. Hundreds of civilians, uprooted from Kagnchi-kudichchaa'ru, Thangka-vealauthapuram, Chaakaamam, Kanakar-kiraamam and Oo'ra'ni following Sri Lankan military operations are yet to resettle in their own villages and are still living with their relatives and friends elsewhere.
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SL Military governor sabotages Jaffna GA meeting British Conservative MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 January 2012, 09:14 GMT]
Sri Lankan colonial governor of North, Major General (retd) G.A. Chandrasiri, on Wednesday instructed the SL Government Agent of Jaffna district, Ms. Imelda Sugumar, to come to his official residence and have meetings with the visiting British Conservative MP James Wharton, canceling her meeting at Jaffna District Secretariat with the British parliamentarian of UK - Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group. Colombo's Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs has recently ‘reminded’ the officials of the administrative sector in North and East that the foreign diplomats need to secure permission through the ministry in Colombo before meeting the officials. Ms. Imelda Sugumar had to receive Mr. Wharton at Alfred Duraiappah Stadium and join the delegation to governors residence, civil sources in Jaffna said.
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Colombo targets Tamil officials who defy instruction in land alienation in East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 January 2012, 16:09 GMT]
Tamil divisional secretaries who are in charge of the administration of border Tamil villages in Batticaloa district are transferred out to other areas as they are strict in allocating lands according to law and without yielding to Colombo pressure. Villagers have been holding protests against such transfers. Transfers of divisional secretaries are being carried out targeting officers who are not yielding to the pressure of the structural genocide program of Colombo and not allowing Sinhala colonisation in border Tamil villages.
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EP councilor opposes transfer of divisional secretaries from Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 January 2012, 16:04 GMT]
The transfer of divisional secretaries in the Batticaloa district at the instance of SL administration in Colombo has created a stir among the public in the Batticaloa district. Eastern Provincial Councilor R.Thurairatnam has called for the immediate suspension of transfers of the divisional secretaries.
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Kalmunai tsunami affected demand permanent housing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 January 2012, 02:41 GMT]
Kalmunai residents who lost their homes and livelihood in the tsunami of 24th December 2004, held a protest Monday morning in front of the Kalmunai District Secretariat demanding permanent housing, sources in Kalmunai said. The protesters were from the 178 families of Maruthamunai in Ampaa'rai district.
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Teacher trade unions protest annual transfer in east

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 January 2012, 04:13 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Association, Ceylon Democratic Teachers Union and Ceylon Islamic Teachers Association, leading three teacher trade unions, have jointly requested the Eastern Provincial Minister of Education to postpone the transfer scheme for another month as transfers are not completed according to schedule.
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Extra-judicial execution of Trincomalee students, Sixth anniversary

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 January 2012, 00:05 GMT]
Two Tamil organizations in the U.S. jointly issued a commemorative stamp to mark the 6th anniversary of the extra-judicial execution by Sri Lanka security forces of five Trincomalee high school students on the 2nd January 2006, when the highly accomplished students were spending an afternoon at a seafront in Trincomalee. The stamp, the issuing organizations said, is a mark of respect to the families that are fighting for justice, and to celebrate the indomitable spirit of Dr Manoharan, the father of one of the students, Ragihar, who had made the fight to bring the killers of his son to justice his life's mission. Meanwhile, Amnesty International conducted a "Write-for-Rights" campaign seeking justice for Dr Manoharan's family during the first week of December 2011.
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EPDP accused of post-2006 killings as SLFP-EPDP feud escalates in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 January 2012, 23:58 GMT]
Pandemonium prevailed and Police was called to manage the altercation during a Jaffna Municipal Council meeting Friday when Nishanthan, an ex-member of the Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP), and currently functioning under ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) label, accused EPDP of carrying out abductions, extortions, and gruesome killings that occurred in Jaffna after the breakdown of the peace process in 2006 under Sri Lanka military occupation, sources in Jaffna said. Nishanthan was a key activist within EPDP when EPDP was functioning as an armed-paramilitary unit under the command of Sri Lanka military intelligence. The exposé of EPDP complicity in killings was a manifestation of brewing infighting between the members of the EPDP and SLFP within the Jaffna Municipal Council, political observers in Jaffna said.
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Russian tourist raped after attack in Sri Lanka: paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 January 2012, 21:41 GMT]
While the tourism industry in Sri Lanka struggled to contain the negative fall-out from the murder of a 32-year old British tourist, Shaikah Zaman, and attack on his Russian girl friend, Victoria Alexandrovna, in Tangalle, Sri Lanka, a local bar owner and eye-witness told Sunday Leader that the attackers "stripped and raped her [Alexandronova] mercilessly although she was bleeding from her head. Later I saw Zaman [British tourist] lying on the lawn next to the restaurant but did not know whether he was dead or alive.” Earlier, Sri Lanka's deputy economic development minister, Lakshman Abeywardene, summarily dismissed the rape reports as false.
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