Jaffna GSs released after interrogation in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 00:02 GMT]
Eleven Grama Sevaka (GS) Village Officers, from GS divisions in Vadamaraadchi, Thenmaraadchi, Valikaamam and the islets in Jaffna peninsula, flown to Colombo on New Year Day to Police Crime Branch (PCB) Interrogation centre ‘Fourth Floor’ by PCB officials, returned to Jaffna Sunday morning after being interrogated by Crime Branch officials in Colombo, sources in Jaffna said.
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198 Tamil youths arrested in cordon, search in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 20:05 GMT]
198 Tamil youths were arrested in Colombo and suburbs during a large scale cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka armed forces Sunday, Senior Inspector General of Police M.K.Ilangakone said. The arrested included several young women.
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Vanni pays homage to Col. Charles

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 17:08 GMT]
Hundreds of Tamils paid homage Sunday at Puthukkudyrippu in Vanni to the remains of Col. Charles, Head of Liberation Tigers Military Intelligence, killed Saturday evening in a random Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit in Pa'l'lamadu in Mannaar, sources in Vanni said. Col. Soosai, Liberation Tigers special commander of the Sea Tigers paid tribute to Col Charles at the event held Sunday around 4:00 p.m in the Heroes Cemetary Hall in Puthukkudiyiruppu, presided by C. Ilamparithi, Puthukkudyiruppu region Political Head of LTTE.
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Indian PM's participation in SL independence day not fixed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 17:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogolloagama had to hastily retract on Friday his earlier claim that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will participate in the 60th Independence Day celebrations of Sri Lanka on February 4, 2008. A few weeks ago, Mr. Bogollagama told Parliament that Sri Lanka had invited Dr. Manmohan Singh to be the chief guest of the independence day function. The information that the dates of Manmohan Singh's proposed visit to Colombo have not been finalized was revealed a day after Bogollagama called the Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad to inform him about GoSL's decision to abrogate the almost six-year old CFA agreement with the LTTE, informed sources said.
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Japan concerned of escalation of violence following abrogation of CFA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 12:37 GMT]
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Masahiko Koumura, on Friday issued a statement stating that Japan was deeply concerned that the decision taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to withdraw from the Ceasefire may lead to the escalation of the conflict by way of increased level of violence and greater civilian casualties, and leave the peace process at a standstill. Japan further said it expected a devolution package, "in line" with Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa's previous commitment.
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Passenger ship service between Trincomalee-Jaffna to be suspended

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 11:42 GMT]
The passenger ship service between Trincomalee and Jaffna is to be suspended from January 7 due to repairs to be carried out in the vessel "Green Ocean." The last service from Trincomalee Harbour to Jaffna will take place on January 5 Saturday and from Jaffna to Trincomalee on January 6 Sunday, Trincomalee divisional secretariat sources said.
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Nordic countries regret Colombo's decision to abrogate CFA

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 17:58 GMT]
Foreign Ministers from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, the Nordic countries that took part in the formation of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, issued a joint statement on Friday, stating that the withdrawal of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission from Sri Lanka would mean the end of an important mechanism that protected civilians and which gave a voice to the victims and their families. "The termination of the Ceasefire Agreement will only make it more difficult to find a way back to the negotiating table," the Foreign Ministers of the Nordic countries said in their joint statement regretting the unilateral decision by the GoSL to abrogate the ceasefire.
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13 Tsunami survivors wounded in SLAF air strike in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 13:53 GMT]
13 civilians, 7 of the victims children below 15-years, were wounded Friday evening when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets bombed and fired rockets targeting a tsunami resettled civilian settlement at Uduppukku'lam in A'lampil in Mullaiththeevu at 4:30 p.m. 11 houses have sustained heavy damage in the air attack. The children were playing at Uduppukku'lam playground while adults were gathered at a Kaa'li temple for a Pongkal poojaa.
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Abrogation of CFA endangers respect for human rights - NPC

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 10:16 GMT]
The GoSL withdrawal from the Ceasefire, resulting in the removal of the role played by the truce monitors, will reduce the flow of credible information to the world outside and deprive the hapless civilians with a credible authority to lodge complaints, said National Peace Council, a Colombo based peace group, on Thursday. Colombo's rejection of a UN Human Rights field presence, the inability of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) and the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) to make meaningful progress in discharging their mandates, and the recent downgrading of the National Human Rights Commission, combine to place respect for human rights in Sri Lanka in further jeopardy.
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U.N. regrets Colombo's decision to withdraw from CFA

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 10:00 GMT]
The U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday said he regretted the decision made by the Government of Sri Lanka to terminate the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Secretary-General said he was deeply worried that the withdrawal from the Agreement comes amidst intensifying fighting in the North and increasing violence across the country, including Colombo.
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U.S 'troubled' by GoSL withdrawal from CFA

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 09:08 GMT]
The United States Department of State, in a statement issued on Thursday said, it is troubled by the Sri Lankan Government's January 2 decision to terminate the 2002 cease-fire agreement. Ending the cease-fire agreement will make it more difficult to achieve a lasting, peaceful solution to Sri Lanka's conflict.
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Canada regrets Sri Lanka terminating truce agreement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 21:08 GMT]
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Maxime Bernier, in a press release issued today, regretted Sri Lanka's decision to withdraw from the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), and expressed concern about the "escalating violence on civilians, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders," and that Sri Lanka's action will make "search for a more durable solution more difficult."
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Family man seeks protection with HRC Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 17:20 GMT]
A family man from Navaali in Valikaamam sought protection with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office Thursday as he was continuously threatened to death by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitary men. The man was placed in the protective custody of Jaffna Prison. The number of civilians seeking protection with HRC is on the increase at an alarming rate.
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2007: The year in review

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 07:34 GMT]
For the people of the NorthEast, 2007 was a grim year. Sri Lanka’s security forces and allied paramilitaries intensified their campaign of abductions (‘white van’ abductions), torture, and murder of Tamil civilians. Tamil civil society leaders bore the brunt of the counter-insurgency campaign. Jaffna remained an open prison with shortage of essential items, east falling under the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) control with thousands displaced as Colombo concocts colonization schemes to make east a Sinhala majority province.
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Norway regrets Sri Lanka's decision to terminate CFA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 03:28 GMT]
Norway's Minister of International Development Erik Solheim, in a press release issued Wednesday, Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that he regrets that Sri Lanka is taking this serious step, and added that "[T]his comes on top of the increasingly frequent and brutal acts of violence perpetrated by both parties, and I am deeply concerned that the violence and hostilities will now escalate even further."
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Colombo to annul CFA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 15:28 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces as well as the Minister of Defence, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has decided to annul the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE). Sri Lankan Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwela, has confirmed that a cabinet decision to withdraw from the CFA has been taken on Wednesday. But, he did not provide a date for the GoSL withdrawal. The February 2002 agreement, in its paragraph 4.4, specifies that the agreement shall remain in force until notice of termination is given by either Party to the Royal Norwegian Government.
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SLAF bombs Mullaiththeevu thrice, 2 civilians wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:49 GMT]
Two civilians were wounded Wednesday in A'lampil in Mullaiththeevu district when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed a civilian area there, Tamileelam police officials said. Two civilians were rushed to hospital with injuries. The SLAF bombers also attacked two other places in the district, but there were no casualties, according to the Police.
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91 civilians still held in Boosa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 12:22 GMT]
Ninety one civilians including eighty nine Tamils and two Sinhalese are still being detained in Boosa detention camp located in Galle, south of Colombo, without any charges. Eight of them are Tamil women, and most of them are residents of Nugegoda, a suburb in Colombo.
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U.S. condemns Maheswaran assassination, Slave Island attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 10:04 GMT]
The United States embassy in Colombo Wednesday issued a press statement condemning the assassination on January 1 of Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, United National Party Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament. The statement also condemned the deadly attack on Wednesday in the Slave Island area of Colombo that killed and injured numerous persons, including members of the Sri Lankan armed forces and civilians.
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Claymore attack in Colombo targets SLA bus, 5 killed, 24 wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 04:11 GMT]
Two SLA soldiers and three civilians were killed, 10 SLA soldiers and 14 civilians were wounded Wednesday around 9:30 a.m. in Colombo's High Security nerve center at Slave Island, 200 meters from Sri Lanka Army headquarters and the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) headquarters, where a Claymore mine was triggered targeting a bus carrying SLA soldiers, Police said. The attack comes a day after a leading Tamil parliamentarian of the opposition UNP, Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, was assassinated inside Ponnampala Va'neasvarar temple while attending New Year's prayers.
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