U.S. rally commemorating Black July draws over 600

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 July 2008, 11:58 GMT]
People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), a US-based advocy group, held a rally Thursday at Russell Senate Park, commorating the 25th anniversary of Black July, and the rally was attended by over 600 participants from several U.S States. Two U.S. Congress members through letters of support read at the rally recognized the American Tamils' effort highlighting the human rights crisis in Sri Lanka. The rally also protested the financial support provided by the Chinese Government to the Governments of Sri Lanka and Burma.
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4 Boosa detainees transferred to Terrorism unit, 8 freed

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 July 2008, 10:44 GMT]
Four Tamil civilians detained in Boosa detention camp in the Galle district for several months were transferred Wednesday to the Prevention of Terrorism Unit (PTU) located in Chaitiya Street in Colombo. Meanwhile, eight other Tamil civilians detained for about six to eight months in Boosa Detention Centre had been released without any charges, sources in Colombo said.
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Development official killed in DPU Claymore attack

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 July 2008, 05:35 GMT]
Deputy Planning Director of Poonakari (Pooneryn) division and a development official at Ki'iinochchi District Secretariat, Santhalingam Vimalakumar, 33, was killed Friday morning following a Claymore attack that targeted his motorbike at Kokkaavil in Oddisuddaan. Mr. Vimalakumar was on his way to Vavuniyaa on official engagement while he was attacked, according to officials at the District Secretariat.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Thampalakaamam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 July 2008, 12:06 GMT]
A 60-year old Tamil civilian was shot dead Wednesday night when he was riding in a motor bike to his paddy field by unidentified armed persons at Potkea'ni, a suburb in the traditional Tamil village Thampalakaamam in Trincomalee district, police sources said.
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US Tamils to hold Black July rally, vigil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 July 2008, 11:23 GMT]
People For Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), an advocacy group composed of over 1,800 Americans concerned about the crisis in Sri Lanka, is organizing a protest rally and vigil in Washington DC on Thursday at 12 pm to remember the victims of Black July 1983, an ethnic pogrom, where organized mobs backed by the Sri Lankan government killed approximately 3,000 Tamil civilians, displaced several thousand Tamils and destroyed over $300 million worth of Tamils’ property. The rally will be held at the Russell Senate Park, at the intersection of Constitution Avenue and Delaware Avenue, Washington DC, according to the organizers.
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2 civilians shot dead in two separate incidents in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 13:22 GMT]
Three unidentified armed men shot and killed Tuesday around 9:00 a.m a trader in front of his shop at Karaveddi in Vadamaraadchi while in a separate shooting two unidentified gun men arriving on a motorcycle shot and killed an employee of a video rental shop in Yoakapuram area in Urumpiraay around 10:30 a.m,.
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Thousands flee SLA artillery barrage

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 04:20 GMT]
Thousands of civilians from Moon’raampiddi, Paaliyaa’ru, Ka’neasapuram, and Theavanpiddi areas are moving out of their villages due to continued artillery attack by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on their settlements, seeking temporary refuge in Vannearikkulam and Akkaraayan areas in Ki'linochchi district, sources in Vanni said.
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Corpse of male person recovered from cemetery well in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 July 2008, 15:35 GMT]
A highly decomposed corpse believed to be of a Tamil civilian beyond recognition was recovered from a well located in the general cemetery in Thedchchanakulam in Vavuniyaa Monday evening around 4:00 p.m. by the Vavuniyaa police on receipt of information from a Grama Sevaka Officer of the area, police sources said.
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2 civilians shot dead in two separate incidents in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 July 2008, 13:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers shot and killed a family man Sunday around 5:30 p.m in Poayiddi area in I’lavaalai, while unidentified armed men shot and killed another family man around 7:30 p.m in Karaveddi in Vadmaraadchi during power cut, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLAF, SLN attack Naachchikkudaa, 8 civilians wounded

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 July 2008, 15:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir fighters, helicopter gunships and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) gunboats jointly attacked a coastal village, Naachchikkudaa, 17 km north of Iluppaikkadavai Sunday evening causing injuries to 8 civilians, according to initial reports from the area. Fishing huts, residences along the coast stretch and at least 13 fishing boats were damaged in the attack.
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Tamil civilian abducted in Negombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 July 2008, 07:03 GMT]
A Tamil civilian was abducted Saturday evening by unidentified persons came in a white van at Vaikaal in Wennapuwa police division in Negombo district according to complaints lodged with the Wennapuwa police by his relatives.
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SLA hands over corpse of a civilian gone missing in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 July 2008, 04:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) handed over a male corpse in a highly decomposed state Thursday to International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) claiming it to be the body of a member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The person killed was the driver of a vehicle who had gone missing 13 July in Oddangku’lam in Thu’nukkai in Vanni.
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20 Tamil youths arrested in Sri Lanka's Central towns

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 2008, 09:11 GMT]
Twenty seven civilians including twenty Tamils were arrested in two separate cordon and search operation conducted from Wednesday evening till Thursday evening in Dambulla and Teldeniya areas, sources said. The arrested are still being detained in respective police stations, and are to be produced in courts after the investigation is completed, police sources said.
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Civilians flee SLA shelling in Northern Mannaar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 2008, 00:07 GMT]
Internally displaced families in Moon'raampiddi and Ve'l'laangku'lam villages, located in the northern part of Mannaar district, were fleeing their villages and settlements Friday after artillery and mortar barrage from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that has approached Iluppaikkadavai, north of Vidaththaltheevu. Meanwhile, IDPs from the administrative areas of Maanthai West division of Mannaar district and Thu’nukkaay division in Mullaiththeevu district are undergoing severe hardships without proper accommodation and relief supplies in Karaichchi division of Ki'linochchi district.
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Boston Globe: Sri Lanka, in danger of becoming a rogue state

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 July 2008, 11:33 GMT]
"The solution to Sri Lanka's conflict must be political, not military. Rajapakse should be encouraged to strike a deal that grants Tamils substantial autonomy in their own homeland areas. If not, the war will drag on, and Sri Lanka's government may find itself classified alongside the regimes in Burma, Zimbabwe, and Sudan as an international pariah," Boston Globe, in an editorial published Thursday said.
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Massacre grave unearthed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 07:03 GMT]
A mass grave, containing skeletons bearing gunshot wounds, has been discovered Wednesday morning at Paalameenmeadu, 6 km north of Batticaloa city, near a Tsunami resettlement. The grave was found after the IDPs, who were engaged in digging wells near their camp, unearthed body parts in one of the wells Monday. At least 32 pieces of skeletons have been recovered with cloths since 9:30 a.m., when Judge B. Ramakannan from Batticaloa visited the massacre site with Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) M.M.A. Rahman and the Police. The site, located 1.5 km from a Sri Lankan military post, manned by police and later by the Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
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UN resident representative visits Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 01:10 GMT]
Neil Buhne, United Nations (UN) resident representative and Humanitarian coordinator, on a fact finding visit to Batticaloa Tuesday morning, met the Government Agent (GA), senior government officials, and heads of local councils and representatives of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), sources in Batticaloa said.
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Sudanese President faces charges of genocide

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 July 2008, 23:55 GMT]
Three years after the United Nations Security Council requested Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), to investigate in Darfur, the Prosecutor said Monday that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Ahmad AL BASHIR, bears criminal responsibility in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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Court seeks explanation from AG for video taping Tamil residents

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 July 2008, 00:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court, in response to a complaint filed by the petitioner in a fundamental rights violation case, Monday, directed the Attorney General to appear on Tuesday and submit his explanation for video taping a group of Tamil civilians in Muhathuwaaram in Colombo on July 2 after they were taken to an open space following a cordon and search operation, legal sources said.
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Protection seeker dies at Jaffna hospital

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 July 2008, 22:11 GMT]
A 37-year-old Tamil civilian, who had sought humanitarian protection with Jaffna office of Human Rights Commission (JHRC) and placed on protective custody in Jaffna prison was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Jaffna hospital Monday and later succumbed to his illness, according to medical sources.
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