Sri Lanka massacre, 5 times Srebrenica, 80 times My Lai, says German paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 November 2011, 11:55 GMT]
Referring to the Channel-4 documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, journalists, Dirk Maxeiner and Michael Miersch, in an opinion column that appeared in German newspaper Die Welt said that the massacre of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka by the State military is five times the killings from Srebrenica genocide, and 80 times the numbers killed in the Mai Lai massacre. "Colombo successfully covered up the killings by sending away the UN observers on the grounds that the State will not be able to ensure their safety, and then began the mass murder," Die Welt said on 03 November.
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Tamil man from Batticaloa reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 November 2011, 09:40 GMT]
32-year-old Tamil man Rasalingam Sangarapillai, resident of Periyapoa'ratheevu village in Batticaloa district has been reported missing since he left on October 5 this year with fifteen sovereign of gold from a jewellery shop in Panadura to Fort in Colombo, according to complaints by his relatives with the police in Colombo and Ka'luvaagnchik-kudi.
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Remember that powers need Tamils too: Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 November 2011, 12:58 GMT]
Just as Eezham Tamils need international recognition for their cause, the powers that make moves in the island for a world order also need Tamils. What the Tamil politicians should keep in mind is that there is no reason for them to compromise on the fundamentals of the cause upheld by the people, said Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam of the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) in writing to Colombo-based Tamil Daily, Thinakkural, Sunday. In the changing current context, even if one of the competing powers take up the national question of Eezham Tamils as means for its leverage, the others can’t refuse it but have to follow suit. Tamil leadership shouldn’t miss the opportunity by abandoning the cause to pre-emptive tactics of any single power and thus excluding other international possibilities, he further said.
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TNA relays US-India paradigm for ‘nondescript’ model of solutions

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 November 2011, 07:21 GMT]
Addressing a diaspora gathering in London on Sunday, The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) politicians elucidated on trying a ‘nondescript’ model of solution for the national question of Eezham Tamils. The TNA relay on the paradigm comes after conditioned for long by New Delhi and after conferring with ‘creative thinking’ in the US State Department on the models for solutions. The TNA leaders didn’t hide the fact, but said it is worth trying, as the UN, EU, India and the USA are watching and any failures could be suitably addressed. Commenting on the nondescript nature of the model, Tamil political observers said that it is ideal for imperialism to get leverage and time for ‘development’ inroads and would provide more legitimacy, time and bartering power for genocidal Colombo to complete the annihilation of Eezham Tamils as a nation, while engaging them in a prolonged day-to-day struggle.
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Sinhalese forcibly take over paddy lands of Tamils in Thennaimaravadi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 November 2011, 03:38 GMT]
Some resettled Tamil farmers in Thennaimaravadi village were taken aback in the weekend to see their paddy lands they prepared for sowing for the forthcoming Maha cultivation had been sown by Sinhalese encroachers at the instance of the Sri Lanka Army stationed in the area. They fear this is a part of a covert plan by Colombo government to forcibly take over paddy lands in the traditional Tamil village Thennaimaravadi, located at the narrow boundary between Mullaiththeevu and Trincomalee districts that links the Northern and Eastern territories of the country of Eezham Tamils.
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Obama’s GSP benefit to genocidal Sri Lanka effective from Saturday

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 November 2011, 20:42 GMT]
Two weeks back the US President reauthorized GSP trade benefits to Sri Lanka that will come to effect from 5 November 2011. The reauthorisation provides even retroactive benefits from 1 January 2011 so that genocidal Sri Lanka will not suffer any loses by the gap in the absence of GSP benefits this year. Last year, Sri Lanka enjoyed the benefit of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for 147 million dollars worth of goods. The US patronage is assured at a time when the diaspora Eezham Tamils in the US campaign to boycott products from genocidal Sri Lanka and the Tamils of Tamil Nadu have passed a unanimous resolution in their State assembly for war crimes investigations and economic sanctions against Sri Lanka. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha after the Assembly passed the resolution.
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US Congressman’s ‘Sri Lanka interest’ surpasses care for own constituency

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 November 2011, 20:13 GMT]
US Congressman of the Democratic Party, Heath Shuler, ‘sacrificed’ the interests of his own constituency in order to visit Sri Lanka last month and give a clean chit to the genocidal regime of Rajapaksa. He was absent at his own city Asheville in North Carolina, when Obama visited the city on October 17. He stands for re-election in the constituency next year. This was Shuler’s second visit to Sri Lanka since the end of war in 2009 and both his visits were paid by the Colombo regime. According to the US media reports, Shuler believes that the US could learn a lot from the diligence and triumph of Sri Lanka and he was cited saying “Sri Lanka is a long-time ally of ours and is accomplishing some incredible things right now.” Shuler, a businessman by profession, finds progress “tremendous” in the island. “I didn’t see any current evidence of human rights issues,” Shuler has told media.
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Shavendra raises immunity defense to escape torture charges

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 November 2011, 01:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and ex-Major General in Sri Lankan Army (SLA), Shavendra Silva, has invoked Article-31 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Immunity as his defense to war-crimes charges leveled against him by two Tamil plaintiffs in the District Court of Southern District of New York (Case 11 Civ. 6645), court records show. With no declared formal intervention by the U.S. State Department, and despite earlier pronouncements that Silva will defend his actions in the Court of law, the ex-General appears to have thought it prudent to hide behind "absolute" immunity defense his counsel claims the General is legally entitled to.
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Britain echoes Canada’s warning to Sri Lanka on CHOGM 2013

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 October 2011, 16:40 GMT]
British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Sri Lanka on Sunday to make progress on human rights before it hosts the next Commonwealth leaders meeting in 2013 to prevent the likelihood of boycotts, AFP reports. Mr. Cameron also said he pressed President Mahinda Rajapaske during this year's summit in Australia to show that Colombo did not "have things to hide" following the end of the island’s civil war. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared last month he would not attend the CHOGM meeting in Sri Lanka “if we do not see progress in Sri Lanka in terms of human rights and … political reconciliation, democratic values and accountability.”
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Colombo pushes for 40,000 acres land grab for Sinhalese in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 October 2011, 15:48 GMT]
More than 40,000 acres of fertile lands that are located in border villages that come under the DS division of Koa'ralaippattu North, Vavu'natheevu, Ea'raavoorpattu, Chengkaladi, Koa'ralaippattu South and Paddippazhai in the Batticaloa district belonging to Tamil speaking people are under alienation to Sinhalese without the permission of the District Land Alienation Committee, the District Government Agent and Divisional Secretary and is undermining the Provincial Land Ordinance, says Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) member R. Thurairatnam. The EPC has not taken any action against the illegal encroachments Mr. Thurairatnam says in a memorandum to the Chief Minister of the EPC, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan.
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SLA constructs cantonment in Mannaar causing fear among residents

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 October 2011, 16:37 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Army in Maanaar is constructing a cantonment at Chelveari area situated along Mannaar - Thalai Mannaar Road. For the last four days heavy vehicles such as armoured cars and tanks had been seen transporting materials for the construction, thus creating fear and tension among residents. This area is under the control of the Sri Lanka Navy for the last several years. The Sri Lanka Army has now moved into the area for the construction of a big new camp and repairing existing small camps.
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New Delhi’s anti-Tamil manoeuvrings challenged in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 October 2011, 21:19 GMT]
New Delhi’s Congress parliamentarian Dr. Sudharshana Natchiappan who was leading a team of ‘international parliamentarians’ visiting Jaffna on Thursday, was asked by news reporters, whether the visit was planned by India to bail out Colombo from war crimes accusations when a momentum is building up for international investigations of the crimes. The visit of the team brought by Natchiappan was timed for the Commonwealth Meet in Perth where war crimes of Sri Lanka and even its expulsion is a topic of discussion and was also timed for the US visit of the Tamil National alliance (TNA). The Indian Foreign Secretary on Thursday supported Colombo to be the venue for the next Commonwealth Meet and rejected the idea of Commonwealth monitoring human rights and rule of law in the member countries. After being covert for sometime, India once again openly props up genocidal Sri Lanka.
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Ban reminds Sri Lanka -again- about accountability

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 October 2011, 01:29 GMT]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed to the Sri Lankan government importance of dealing with accountability issues in themeeting on Wednesday at United Nations Headquarters in New York with Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Special Envoy of the President of Sri Lanka on Human Rights, the UN news agency said.
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Australia’s detention frustrates Eezham Tamil to kill himself

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 October 2011, 13:44 GMT]
An Eezham Tamil asylum seeker, already accepted as a refugee in Australia, but waiting for long to get ‘security clearance’ from the Australian intelligence to come out of his ‘detention,’ killed himself Tuesday night. Earlier on that day, which was also the Deepaavali festival day, his request to go out to visit a friend for the festival was turned down by the authorities. When asked by the media, whether the government takes any responsibility, the Australian Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen said “We take responsibility for ensuring that people have the chance to make their claims and for ensuring that national security is taken into account. We cannot and will not compromise on matters of national security.” Twice, Australia readily accepted Sri Lanka’s military commanders accused in the genocide of Eezham Tamils as ‘Ambassadors’.
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Australia facilitates timed diplomatic advantage for genocidal Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 14:59 GMT]
After creating much sensation by the Australian Prime Minister herself confirming on a federal police investigation of a war crimes case against SL president and envoy, the Attorney General of Australia on Tuesday quashed the case as it would be in “breach of domestic law and Australia’s obligations under international law,” bestowing genocidal Sri Lanka with a well-timed diplomatic victory on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet in Perth, Australia. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan delegation in Australia on Tuesday went to the extent of even denying the occurrence of any war at all in the island. “Number one, there was no war in Sri Lanka. There was brutal terrorism in Sri Lanka led by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka,” said Bandula Jayasekara of the Sri Lankan delegation to ABC.
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Channel-4 complied with broadcasting code, UK regulator rules

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 03:28 GMT]
The independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, the OfCom (Office of Communications) ruled that the Channel-4 video, "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields," that the documentary did not breach any broadcasting code, The Guardian said. As part of the campaign orchestrated by Colombo to discredit the documentary, OfCom received 118 complaints about issues including impartiality, offensiveness and the broadcast of misleading material, but concluded it had not breached the broadcasting code on any of these counts.
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TNA goes to courts against land registration

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 October 2011, 15:05 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance on Monday filed a case against the re-registration of lands in North and East. TNA MP for Jaffna Mr. Suresh Premachandran said the re-registration, taking place in North and East, was illegal and the recent protest and political appeals have failed to give any result forcing the TNA to file Fundamental Right Case at the Supreme Court of Colombo.
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No bartering of war-crimes accountability for political concessions: TNPF

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 October 2011, 16:02 GMT]
Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF), a post-war Tamil political formation in the island of Sri Lanka, in a press conference held Sunday morning 11:00 am at a Colombo residence, congratulated TNA leadership on the forthcoming visit to the USA, and said that the visit is a significant historic first where the US-State Department has extended invitation to a non-State Tamil political party, adding that the visit has potential for improving the political status of the Tamil people who have suffered within a majoritarian democracy for several decades. While pointing out that the TNA is carrying a tremendous burden on its shoulders to articulate clearly the aspirations of Tamils, TNPF cautioned that TNA, under no circumstance, should barter away Sri Lanka's accountability for war crimes for ‘political concessions.’
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‘Liam Fox was Sri Lanka’s influential friend in British cabinet’ – SL paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 October 2011, 07:37 GMT]
While the British government was quick in the wake of former Defence Secretary Liam Fox’s resignation to assert – somewhat unconvincingly, given a plethora of UK press reports about his activities - that he had “not” been running a shadow foreign policy in relation to Sri Lanka and other countries, one at variance from his government’s, the Sri Lankan Sunday Times made clear he had been. “Sri Lanka has lost probably the only influential friend it had in the British Cabinet,” the paper said in its editorial this week. In a separate editorial, the paper also mourned the loss of another friend of Sri Lanka – Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.
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Consequences of Tamil genocide engulf entire island: Bahu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 October 2011, 12:44 GMT]
The regime of state terror, which started in the Tamil homeland has now become a menace everywhere in the island. The state terrorism, created on the basis of Sinhala chauvinism, is for a purpose; that is to assist certain neo liberal forces involved in plunder of resources, said Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne, the general secretary of the NSSP, who took oath as the newly elected Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) member for the Dehiwala Mount Lavinia municipal council on Friday. “So-called development of the government is based on displacement of people and plunder of resources. While people are pushed out of their traditional habitat land, marine resources, minerals and earth resources, forest, water resources etc., are taken over by the neo liberal developers. World powers that supported the genocidal war are happy and satisfied about the situation,” Dr. Karunaratne further said.
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