Confessions in Mirusuvil massacre case valid - Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 March 2004, 16:50 GMT]
The inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case is to recommence in the High Court of Colombo shortly as the Supreme Court last Tuesday dismissed an appeal made by one of the five accused soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army against the order of the Trial-at-Bar judges on the admissibility of confessions by the accused made to the military police officers, legal sources said.


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SLA soldier absconds after killing colleague

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 March 2004, 02:08 GMT]
A.K.G.P.Vijitha Bandara (24), an Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier attached to the Jaffna based 512nd Brigade was shot to death by another soldier, Sumantha Kumara from the same camp during an altercation Saturday midnight, Jaffna daily Uthayan reported. Soldier Sumantha Kumara absconded after the incident and Jaffna police assisted by the SLA are searching surrounding areas to apprehend him, according to reports.


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Sri Lanka army declines to lend a hand to EPDP

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 March 2004, 06:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka army refused to allow the paramilitary EPDP to take a group of refugees inside the Palaly military base to see their homes during the weekend. “We already had a problem in Chavakachcheri where the group claimed that it was responsible for persuading us to vacate a sector of our high security zone there. We want better relations with the public. But we don’t want politics. Our only duty is to defend our country”, a Sri Lanka army officer in Jaffna told TamilNet.
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LTTE official criticizes child rights double standards

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 February 2004, 15:51 GMT]
"More than twenty five thousand Tamil children, from a three month old infant to eighteen years old youth, were killed in massacres and murders during the two decades of war against our people. No one raised their voice against it then. But today the Sri Lankan state and representatives of some foreign organizations are accusing us of violating children’s rights. You should understand the politics behind this crass hypocrisy," said Mr. S. Elilan, the head of the LTTE’s political division in Vavuniya addressing a function Sunday to gift equipment to the school in Othiyamalai in Mullaithivu.
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SLA bans fishing in Thondamanaaru lagoon

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 19:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sunday banned fishing in the Thondamanaru lagoon in the Jaffna district, fisheries sources said. Hundreds of fisher families residing in Kerudavil, Akkarai and Thondamanaru areas in Vadamaradchchi division have been badly affected by the ban, according to a complaint lodged at the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna.


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SL soldiers charged in Chavakachcheri for traffic offence

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2004, 16:41 GMT]
The Chavakachcheri Police Friday filed plaint against two soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army in the Magistrate’s court, charging them for causing injuries to a Tamil civilian by hitting him with their field motorbike on January 9th along the Post Office road in Chavakachcheri, legal sources said.
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Cushnahan clarifies discussion with Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2004, 00:01 GMT]
Mr. John Walls Cushnahan, Member of the European Parliament, clarified to TamilNet Wednesday details regarding his discussion with Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, political leader of the Liberation Tigers, when he met him on February 6, 2004. “I said that I fully understood the dangers of their [LTTE’s] supporters becoming disillusioned with the peace process if it was not perceived to be delivering improvements to the quality of life in the North East and in this regard I appreciated the difficulties caused by the current political stalemate [in Colombo],” Mr. Cushnahan said in his clarification.
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Kumarapuram massacre victims remembered

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 16:43 GMT]
The seventh death anniversary of twenty-four Tamil civilians, including fourteen children, who were massacred by a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army in Kumarapuram, in the Muttur division of the Trincomalee district, on February 11, 1996, was held Wednesday. In the 1996 massacre, another thirty Tamil civilians were seriously wounded, human rights sources said.
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SLA soldiers assault two Jaffna youths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 14:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers assaulted two Tamil youths, Mr.N.Partheepan (22) and Mr.C.Kutty (19) of Manipay, Monday night around eight p.m. in Jaffna town inflicting severe injuries to the youths, security sources said. The youths have been admitted to the Jaffna teaching hospital.


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SLA sergeant commits suicide in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2004, 16:25 GMT]
Mr.N.P. Piyatilake, 42-year-old sergeant of the Sri Lanka Army attached to the Achchelu camp in Jaffna district, committed suicide by shooting himself on Friday afternoon in his room, police said.
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Black flag protests across Amparai irk STF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2004, 18:14 GMT]
Tension escalated in Thirukovil and Akkaraipattu areas in Amparai when the Special Task Force (STF) soldiers tried to remove black flags from the roadsides, public buildings and businesses, security sources said.


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SC confirms death sentence on Krishanthy murder accused

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2004, 18:22 GMT]
The Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Tuesday confirmed the death sentence on the five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who were convicted for the rape and murder of four Tamils including a high school student, Krishanthy Kumarasamy, in 1996 in Jaffna district, legal sources said.


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Seven SLA soldiers discharged from murder case

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2004, 15:17 GMT]
The Chavakachcheri Magistrate Mr.P.Subramaniam Friday, on the instruction of the Attorney General, discharged all seven soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) who were arrested and later released on bail in connection with the murder of a Tamil civilian, Pararajasingham Parameswaran, of Kodikamam in the year 2000. The magistrate made the order , legal sources said.


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Jaffna Police officer arrested for assaulting civilians

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2004, 17:40 GMT]
The Jaffna regional co-ordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Mr.Ruwan Chandrasekara Thursday night caught red-handed a police constable who is alleged to have been assaulting civilians in the heart of Jaffna town on a complaint made by civil representatives, HRC sources said.


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SLN soldier found dead with gunshot wounds

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2004, 19:02 GMT]
Prashanth Wijewardene from Bandarawela who was manning Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Ganjadeva Navy Brigade sentry in Karainagar, Jaffna, was found dead with gunshot wounds to his head around 5.45am Monday, local media reports in Jaffna said.
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Linganagar Tamils complain of SLA harassment

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2004, 18:41 GMT]
The People Welfare Society (PWF) of Linganagar Friday made a complaint to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC) and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee that soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers manning a check point in the area are harassing the residents of Linganagar, a crowded suburb of Trincomalee town, civil rights sources said.


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SLN arrests four Valvettithurai fishermen

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2004, 17:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy Friday arrested four Tamil fishermen of Athikoviladi, Valvettithurai in Jaffna district when they had gone to the sea in search of missing fishing gear. The Palaly Military Headquarters has informed the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission monitors in Jaffna later Friday evening that the fishermen in custody would be produced in Mallakam court Saturday, fisheries sources said.


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SLA opens new access road to Point Pedro seas

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2004, 04:18 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has opened a new access road to seashore enabling the fisher folk of Point Pedro-Thumpalai east area to get to the beach fronts easily. SLA soldiers Monday started removing a portion of the security bund using heavy equipments to open the new access road to sea, fisheries sources said.


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Batticaloa villagers live under SLA death threats

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2004, 12:51 GMT]
Residents of Vembu, Kiran, Palaiyavettai and other villages that lie close to the Kumburumoolai Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp live in constant fear amidst death threats by the soldiers of the SLA camp, residents told TamilNet. Kumburumoolai SLA camp is located about 29kilometers North of Batticaloa town.
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Chariot festival held in Trinco temple

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2004, 00:04 GMT]
The statue of Lord Nadesar was taken around the historic Visuvanathaswamy (Sivan) Temple in an improvised structure called “Kattuther" at the conclusion of the ten-day "Thiruvembavai" pooja, sources said. The temple’s chariot, built according to Hindu scriptures, was burnt down in July 1983 by a group of naval soldiers from the Sri Lanka Navy headquarters located at the Dockyard in Trincomalee, sources said
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