Forced starvation constitutes an act of Genocide - Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 March 2009, 04:53 GMT]
Commenting on recent reports that Colombo is withholding food supplies forcing into starvation the more than 300,000 Tamil civilians trapped in the war-zone, Prof. Boyle, an expert in international law and a professor at University of Illinois College of Law, in a note sent to TamilNet said, "[I]n the context of longstanding Sri Lankan genocide against the Tamils, this recent GOSL atrocity also constitutes an act of genocide as defined, prohibited and criminalized by Genocide Convention Article II (c):"Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."
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Media activists in Colombo fear reprisals, keep away from protest

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 March 2009, 01:12 GMT]
Around 25 media persons, mostly leftist oriented, took part in a demonstration Thursday noon at Colpetty junction in Colombo, protesting against the manner in which Vithyatharan, the editor of ‘Sudaroli’ Tamil newspaper was 'arrested' by the Sri Lankan Police. Many media activists and journalists kept away from demonstration fearing reprisals by the Colombo government, concerned activists told TamilNet. Colombo Crime Division police personnel, disguised as media men, took photographs of the protesters, according to the participants in the protest.
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Woman killed in Vellave’li not the mother of raped girl

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 March 2009, 12:40 GMT]
Ka’luvaangchchikkudi Base hospital Medical Officer said Wednesday that it was Viveakaananthapuram Women’s Deveolpment Society treasurer who was found killed with her neck wrung and dumped in a well Monday night in Vellaave’li police division in Batticaloa district and not the mother of the raped 14-year-old girl, Y. Punithavathy, as Ka’luvaangnchchikudi hospital sources had earlier reported. The mother of Punithavathy is alive and being treated now in Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, said the MO Dr. P. Vaseekaran.
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ICRC worker killed in SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 March 2009, 17:15 GMT]
A staff worker of the ICRC in Vanni was killed Wednesday around 5:00 p.m. while he was returning after sending some of the seriously wounded patients from Maaththa'lan hospital in ICRC ship, reported TamilNet correspondent from Vanni. The victim was identified as Vadivel Vijayakumar, 36.
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Vanni IDPs starving due to acute shortage of food

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 March 2009, 05:04 GMT]
The plight of people herded into the narrow strip of ‘safe zone’ assigned by the Sri Lanka government is growing worse with each day as vegetables, food items, milk powder for babies have become so scarce that they are starving, TamilNet correspondent reported Tuesday from Vanni. Liquid cash is not available as many are unable to withdraw from their savings in the banks, most of them gone out of function due to continuing indiscriminate attacks by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery barrage and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombings.
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Hunger claims lives in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 March 2009, 15:43 GMT]
Four children below the age of 15 and their parents were admitted to Maaththa'lan makeshift-hospital Monday in serious condition after consuming Adampan leaves (Beach Morning Glory) as nothing else was available for them to eat, according to medical sources. Meanwhile, at least six people have already died due to hunger inside the 'safe zone' in recent days, the sources further said adding that many more are feared dead due to starvation but not accounted for. "What prevents the world powers to set aside their diplomatic maneuvering and arrange enough food and medicine to reach us immediately," ask the people of Vanni reports TamilNet correspondent.
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Britain trying to dodge obligations to prevent Genocide of Tamils - Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 March 2009, 04:05 GMT]
Commenting on British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's statement in the British Parliament that "a failed [UN] resolution- one that faces a veto- is worse than no resolution at all," Prof Boyle, an expert in international law and a professor at University of Illinois College of Law, said that "Uniting for Peace Resolution of 1950" allows a vetoed resolution to be turned over to United Nations General Assembly for action. "The General Assembly can and must do the same with respect to the genocidal plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka [...] Britain is simply trying to dodge its own obligation under Article I of the Genocide Convention "to prevent" the genocide against the Tamils by Sri Lanka," Prof Boyle added.
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Newborn babies bereft of milk, humanitarian situation worsens in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 02:13 GMT]
Due to acute malnutrition and continued blockade of food thousands of mothers of newborn babies have gone barren to feed babies in besieged Mullaiththeevu. The substitute of powdered milk is also not available, seriously affecting thousands of babies reports TamilNet correspondent from Vanni.
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Slave camp suspected in Ki'linochchi hospital building

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 17:34 GMT]
A slave camp consisting male and female members 'chosen' from the fleeing civilians by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is reportedly setup in the abandoned Ki'lnochchi hospital building, reported TamilNet correspondent in Vanni, citing unverified information reaching Mullaiththeevu from males who escaped from the camp. According to the sources, men are kept at the downstairs for forced labour and women kept in the upstairs for abuse by the SLA soldiers who are on temporary leave.
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SLAF jet exploded over Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 10:41 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bomber was shot down in Mullaiththeevu on Friday at 11:25 a.m., civilians sources in Ira'naippaalai told TamilNet. Several civilians saw the jet explode in mid-air as it was beginning an attack run towards an unidentified locality. A huge plume of smoke followed after the flaming debris fell to earth, they said. The LTTE is yet to comment on the attack. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) spokesman Wing commander Janaka Nanayakara has denied the report that one of their aircraft was shot down in Vanni.
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Britain legally obliged to prevent Genocide in Sri Lanka: Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 20:27 GMT]
Since the British Foreign Minister has now publicly admitted on behalf of his Government that Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is "quite prepared to go ahead with acts of genocide," then under Article I of the Genocide Convention, the British government has a legal obligation "to prevent" this expected genocide of the Tamils by GoSL, said Professor Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, in a note sent to TamilNet.
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Lankan-ness Vs the Tamilness: thoughts of A.J. Canagaratne

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 16:48 GMT]
Is it possible in today's context to be both a Tamil and a Sri Lankan? I think it is, provided our leaders are statesmen enough to treat all communities as equal and guarantee this equality both in practice and constitutionally. Only time will tell whether the Sinhala political leadership can stop playing games of one-upmanship and indulging in political manoeuvring. It's high time they stop being fixated on a unitary state and think along the lines of a fully federal set-up to preserve the unity of this country, wrote AJ in 2005, a year before his demise, reviewing a publication ‘ Being a Tamil and Sri Lankan by Professor K. Sivathamby.
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Prominent Tamil Editor abducted in Colombo, later claimed 'arrested'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 05:08 GMT]
Armed persons and men in police uniform who arrived in three white vans Thursday morning abducted Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, 51, the prominent editor of Jaffna-based Uthayan daily and Colombo-based Chudaroli, eyewitnesses told TamilNet. The abduction comes six days after Mr. Vithyatharan was grilled by the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). The TID had questioned him Sunday for six hours on news and views that appeared in his papers on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) attacks on civilians in Vanni and about his interactions with the officials of the Tigers in the past. Police spokesman Gunasekara, who first said that the editor was abducted by unidentified men, hours later claimed that he had been arrested.
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Children vulnerable to SLA shelling in new 'safe zone'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 06:14 GMT]
Every shell being fired by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) into the 'safe zone' inflicts civilian casualties as the entire area is tightly populated, reported TamilNet correspondent on Tuesday. A single artillery shell fired around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday claimed the lives of 6 civilians, including two teenage boys. The attack has taken place near the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan. Many of the wounded were children among the 98 injured civilians admitted Sunday and Monday, according to medical authorities.
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Tamil Murasu comes out with corrigendum

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 11:42 GMT]
The Tamil daily of Singapore, Tamil Murasu, on Thursday published a corrigendum in its front page for a headline that appeared in the newspaper on 05 February. The headline cited a TamilNet article of 30 January as the source. The corrigendum consents that TamilNet is not a website of the LTTE and provides a Tamil translation of the concerned lines of the article, conceding that the Tamil Murasu headline did not accurately capture the thrust of the article.
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30 families wiped out in massive attack Wednesday, shelling continues

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 18:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fired 32 bombs, both cluster and bunker busters and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired more than 200 artillery shells, wiping out more than 30 families along the Iranaippaalai Ananthanpuram Road where humanitarian institutions including orphanages, houses of displaced and elders were located, TamilNet correspondent in Vanni reported on Thursday. More than 180 huts were destroyed in the massive bombardment. Meanwhile, 24 civilians were killed in Puthukkudiyiruppu in SLA artillery barrage in the early hours of Thursday. 10 more civilians were killed in Ira'naippaalai, Aananthapuram and Valaignarmadam villages.
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Eyewitness account on Vavuniyaa internment camps

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 11:14 GMT]
"Now, what is happening here is genocide in many forms. Needless to say scattering people all over to unknown and unfamiliar places will ultimately lead to a weak population and result in damages done to our culture, education, and relationships. I can foresee a maimed Tamil generation with no hope in the future. The international community can make statements. But none will pay heed. For me the future looks dark and gloomy," reveals a letter written by a professional eyewitness, who visited the barbed-wired internment camps and hospital in Vavuniyaa couple of days ago.
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India offers ‘final thrust’ for ‘subjugation’ of Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 16:40 GMT]
Accusing the Tigers for committing damages to the Tamil community and calling them for laying down arms and releasing the civilians, the Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Indian Parliament on Wednesday offered India’s facilitation to evacuate civilians, working along with the Colombo government and the ICRC, who would be responsible for the security, screening and rehabilitation of them, BBC reported. This offer without taking responsibility, neither to the future plight of the civilians nor to the political consequences that would follow, is the 'best of its abetment' India is rendering to Colombo in the subjugation of Tamils, according to Tamil political observers.
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Massive air attack on civilian targets, scores killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 09:10 GMT]
At least 50 civilians were killed Wednesday around 12:50 p.m. when four Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers dropped cluster bombs on Internally Displaced Civilians at Aananthapuram in Ira'naippaalai, according to initial reports from medical sources. More than 70 wounded were rushed to hospital so far and 10 of the victims have died on the way to Maaththa'lan hospital. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an artillery barrage blocking transportation of wounded to hospitals. Doctors in the makeshift hospital told TamilNet that unless the seriously wounded were not evacuated by the ICRC to Trincomalee or elsewhere, many would die at the hospital. There is no medicine at the hospital as Colombo has refused to allow medical supplies to Vanni since December 2008.
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We are deeply sad, puzzled: LTTE Political Head

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 16:16 GMT]
"We are deeply sad and puzzled at the attitude of the apex institution of humanity, the United Nations, in not taking effective measures to protect the life, security and interests of innocent Tamil civilians," said LTTE's Political Head B. Nadesan on Tuesday. "Instead, the UN is engaged in fruitless exercises of accusing the wrong side, without coming and seeing what is happening by themselves," he said. When stopping the war is the need of the hour, allowing it and lamenting civilian sufferings is a faulty policy, Mr. Nadesan said, adding that indicting the defensive LTTE and exploiting the plight of civilians for the agenda of those who are waging the war will not bring in any positive results.
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