South Africa calls for permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 12:56 GMT]
Expressing deep concern for the safety and well-being of the 250, 000 civilians, including humanitarian aid workers, reportedly caught up in the conflict in the North-East region of Sri-Lanka, South African government Friday called for a permanent ceasefire. South Africa also urged the parties to the conflict, as a priority, respect existing safe zones and protect civilians, and to allow the delivery of relief supplies, including medicine, food, water and temporary shelters.
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Nadesan regrets misinformation of Colombo UN office

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 12:54 GMT]
A 'security officer' of UN Colombo office, who was only pressing for the transfer of the families of local UN staff, didn't cooperate with the ICRC causing the delay in the transfer of wounded civilians from Vanni. The altercation led to the misinformation by the UN staff of Colombo office that the LTTE initially refused permission for the transfer of civilian patients, LTTE Poltical Head B. Nadesan told TamilNet Friday when he was contacted on the allegation appeared in a section of international media to the extent that LTTE committed a war crime.
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‘Allow food, medicine, international mercy mission to Vanni’ – civil society groups

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 12:17 GMT]
A groups of Sri Lankan civil society organizations Thursday expressed alarm over the fast deepening humanitarian crisis in the Vanni and in a joint statement called on the Sri Lankan government to allow the “urgent delivery of food and medicine to the Mullaitivu area, …. the passage of medical convoys … and the [Sri Lankan] security forces respect areas which are demarcated as safe zones.” They also called for an “international mission of mercy immediate access to the Vanni to enable an accurate assessment of the humanitarian and protection needs of the people”. The They also protested reports of violence and abuse in the detention camps where people who fled the warzones are being held by the Sri Lankan military.
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UN spokesperson ducks, Ban Ki Moon meets Basil

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 11:49 GMT]
When press over reports the Sri Lanka Army had shelled UN staff in the government-declared ‘safe zone’ in Vanni this week, Marie Okabe, the Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon refused to answer journalists Thursday. Ban Ki-Moon met with Basil Rajapakse, brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, the Inner City Press also reported.
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Only international-sponsored ceasefire can lead to the end of conflict - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 09:14 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan Friday blamed Colombo for stepped up genocidal artillery attacks on civilian targets Friday after committing a war crime of issuing ultimatum to civilians to move against their will into the hands of the genocidal military. Most of the civilians are continuously forced to live inside the bunkers and civilian casualties were mounting in Udaiyaarkaddu, Thearaavil and other areas, Mr. Nadesan charged. Only a permanent ceasefire mooted by the International Community and negotiations followed by it would resolve the conflict as envisaged by the Tamil people and the LTTE, Mr. Nadesan said.
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Batticaloa district Tamils condemn killing of Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 07:47 GMT]
The Association of Tamil People (ATP) in Batticaloa district vehemently condemns the systematic killings of the Tamils in Vanni by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) while urging the International Community to come forward to stop the genocide and exert pressure on GoSL for an immediate ceasefire, according to an appeal made by the Association Thursday.
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India's devastating 'play with fire' in the island of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 07:11 GMT]
The Indian game that doesn't enjoy any popular support from any quarter concerned, can only be autocratic and will prove to be devastative to the entire island. The present Indian Establishment is incapable of doing anything constructively new, other than destroying Tamil safeguards. India is not only heading for maintaining perpetual trouble in Sri Lanka, but also is inviting turmoil to a part of its own country. The Co-chair countries need to immediately neutralize the disastrous Indian adventure that is totally bereft of public support, by stopping the war, by not insisting on a solution based on a united Sri Lanka and by de-proscribing the LTTE, which is looked upon as the vanguard by most of the Eezham Tamils, writes a political analyst in Vanni.
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ANC urges immediate ceasefire between GoSL, LTTE, citing genocide

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 18:11 GMT]
The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday called on the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to halt the war and immediately institute a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to be brought to civilians caught in the conflict who are in dire need of assistance. "The continued conflict in Sri Lanka has been cited on the human rights watch international monitoring mechanisms as a conflict now reaching genocidal proportions," the statement said.
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British Foreign Office calls for 'Humanitarian Ceasefire'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 17:24 GMT]
The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday urged the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to agree on immediate 'Humanitarian Ceasefire'. Mr. Miliband said in his statement that "military advances by the Sri Lankan Government against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have come at a severe humanitarian cost." Humanitarian corridors must now be set up and respected by both sides so that civilians have the opportunity to move away from the conflict area and humanitarian assistance can be safely delivered, he said.
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Artillery barrage kills 44 civilians, 178 wounded in 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 15:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stepped up indiscriminate artillery barrage towards the heart of 'safety zone' since Thursday noon killing at least 44 civilians and causing injuries to 178, initial reports from Vanni said. The shelling has targeted Chuthanthirapuram 100-housing scheme, where at least 7 civilians were reported killed. 16 civilians were reportedly killed and scores wounded near St. Antony's Church in Chuthanthirapuram.
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UN Rights Chief expresses concern at rapidly deteriorating conditions in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 12:48 GMT]
Expressing concern at the "rapidly deteriorating conditions facing quarter of a million civilians" and of "alleged human rights abuses, significant number of casualties, as well as huge displacement," Ms Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a press release issued Thursday said that "[t]he lack of access for independent monitors, humanitarian workers and the media only adds to concerns that the situation may be even worse than we realize." She adds: "a strenuous effort needs to be made to tackle the core problems that have fuelled this conflict for a quarter of a century, in order to bring peace and prosperity and restore fundamental rights and freedoms for all Sri Lankans in all parts of the country."
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LTTE not opposed to individual right of a civilian to flee combat zone - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 11:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan said Thursday that the Tigers have been urging the UN, ICRC and other international actors through all available offices to facilitate transportation for the wounded civilians in need of medical treatment to the Vavuniyaa Hospital. Blaming that there were elements seeking to feed false reports to tarnish the image of the Tigers, Mr. Nadesan revealed that, a UN 'security officer' who accompanied the WFP humanitarian convoy, had attemptd to pressure the Tigers on "completely wrong moral grounds," to organise an "exodus of the family members of the local staff of the UN," leaving behind the remaining civilians in the 'safety zone' to be subjected to "genocidal attack" by the Sri Lankan military.
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10,000 French Tamils demonstrate in Paris

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 03:48 GMT]
More than 10,000 French Tamils participated in a demonstration protesting against the killing of several hundred civilians by Sri Lanka military in the past week, and urging Pakistan to stop military and other assistance to the Sri Lanka Government to prosecute war against Tamils, sources in Paris said. The protest was organized by the World Tamil Coordnating Committee (WTCC), in the historic Etuval area of France in front of Embassy of Pakistan Wednesday between 2:00 p.m and 5:00 p.m. The demonstration follows a spontaneously organized protest by an activist segment of French Tamils in the La Chappelle area Tuesday.
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Police recover anti-aircraft gun bullets in Rajagiriya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 20:31 GMT]
Colombo police Tuesday recovered live bullets for anti-aircraft guns and a parcel of live bullets for T15 rifles from a drainage in the Rajagiriya area in Colombo district on a tip-off from a civilian in the area, sources in Colombo said.
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LTTE denies reports of preventing patients leaving combat zone

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 19:08 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE)'s Political Office on Wednesday categorically denied a news originated in Colombo government's media, the Daily News, and was highlighted in the International media that LTTE prevented UN convoy transporting injured patients from Mullaiththeevu district to Vavuniyaa hospital. Director of LTTE's Peace Secretariat S. Puleedevan described the news as mischievous.
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Students 'gherao' Indian Army headquarters at Chennai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 17:44 GMT]
Members of the Confederation of All Students were arrested by the Tamil Nadu State Police when they attempted to surround the South Zone Regiment Headquarters ATNKNK of the Indian Army at Chennai Wednesday morning to mark their protest against "Indian terrorism that supplies weaponry for the genocide of Tamils." Wearing black shirts to mark their anger and mourn their dying Tamil brethren, the students raised slogans condemning the Indian Government and Army for extending military help to Sri Lanka which had resulted in the ruthless killing of innocent civilians.
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SLA instructs Jaffna GA to open more detention camps

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 17:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and high government officials have instructed Jaffna Government Agent (GA), K. Ganesh, to open new detention camps in Jaffna peninsula for people brought from Vanni where an intensive war is being unleashed on the people in Vanni, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) had been held in a state of readiness Tuesday and Wednesday to treat the injured among the civilians brought to Jaffna peninsula by the SLA, the sources added.
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200 Journalists stage protest demo in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 16:25 GMT]
More than 200 journalists and media persons staged a protest demonstration at the Chennai Press Club premises Wednesday condemning the killing of journalists in Sri Lanka, particularly the assassination of Sunday Leader's editor Lasanta Wicremtunge. They condemned the fact that reporters who expose the killing of innocent Tamil civilians and children, or who document the human rights abuses in the island are being systematically eliminated by the government.
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Brutal attack on civilians, assurance to Mukherjee gone with the wind in no time

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 15:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army has launched another brutal attack on civilians inside the 'safety zone,' killing 23 civilians since Wednesday noon within not less than 12 hours after giving assurance to the visiting Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. At least 121 civilians have been wounded in the artillery barrage, according to medical sources. The dead included a child residing in an orphanage in Paarathi puram and one of the wounded is the Chuthanthirapuram parish priest of the Church of South India (American Mission). The artillery barrage continues to the time of this reporting.
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Jaffna Catholic community appeals to stop killing of Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 14:03 GMT]
“We are deeply grieved of the silence of the International Community and the world humanitarian agencies disregarding the great human tragedy that continues in Vanni in Sri Lanka. Will this silence be broken only after the total annihilation of the Tamils in Vanni?”, said the memorandum sent by the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) at the end of the first day of the protest fast launched Wednesday morning in front of St. Mary’s Church, Jaffna led by Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Jaffna Bishop, sources in Jaffna said.
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