‘Nazi-style registration of civilians in Jaffna’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 February 2011, 12:08 GMT]
The occupying SL military in Jaffna is directly engaged in registration of individuals and families in the Jaffna peninsula in recent times. Everyday, covering area by area, the SL military is distributing forms to collect information and is insisting of family photographs along with children to be given to them. The activity of the SL military, reminding the Nazi practice before the Holocaust, creates terror in the minds of the people in Jaffna, said a human rights activist in Jaffna. Meanwhile, undeclared curfew is imposed in Jaffna by the SL military and police, who have brought the street movement of people almost to an end after 6:00 p.m. by harassing them through numerous checkpoints after dusk.
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Hague's WikiLeaks admission spells legal danger to Sri Lanka war-criminals

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 February 2011, 12:11 GMT]
The Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal in The Hague has granted Charles G. Taylor, 62, the former Liberian president, who has been on trial charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the right to use two leaked American diplomatic cables as evidence to challenge the court’s impartiality. While the leaked information in the Taylor case was used by Taylor's lawyer to raise doubts on the courts independence and suggested the prosecution was political, Sri Lanka's leaked cables from the US Embassy contain incriminating information on the complicity of Rajapakse family, Ex-SLA Commander Sarath Fonseka, and Tamil paramilitaries in war-crimes and crimes against humanity on Tamil civilians, legal sources in Washington said.
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100,000 displaced, 7 die in second wave of floods, Ampaa'rai worst hit

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 February 2011, 09:01 GMT]
Seven persons have died and over 100,000 civilians are displaced due to second wave of heavy rains in the Eastern, North Central and Central provinces of the island according to District Disaster Management Centre Friday. Four persons have died in Ampaa'rai district alone. While tens of thousands were hit by the disaster, the participation of even Sinhalese was poor at Mahinda Rajapksa government's celebration of Sri Lanka's Independence Day at Vihara Mahadevi Poongaa in the bordering district of Tissmaharagama at Kathirkaamam, sources in Ampaa'rai told TamilNet. People who lost their properties, houses and belongings have been left in the lurch due to failure of the Colombo government to provide any relief to restart their day to day life.
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‘Archaeology’ unearths skeletons in Jaffna fort

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 14:06 GMT]
As a trench excavated for archaeological research near the main entrance of the Jaffna fort brought out a group of skeletons, the SL Archaeology Department has requested the police to pursue investigation in the locality. On an earlier occasion many skeletons, including the ones of women and children were found in an adjacent locality where now a stadium building stands. At that time, they were suspected to be the skeletons of the ‘missing’ people of IPKF times. Investigation on them was sabotaged and the burial pits were sealed by ‘development’ work of the Municipality of Jaffna. As finding many more skeletons are expected now in the other side of the road to the stadium and the fort entrance, the SL Archaeology Department has stopped its excavation in the locality.
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Colombo ignores uprooted Tamils of Champoor in IDP camps

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 13:17 GMT]
Uprooted Tamil families from Champoor village in Moothoor East in Trincomalee district during military offensive launched by the Sri Lanka Army in April 2006 and sheltered in welfare centres at Ki'liveddi, Ma'natcheanai and Paddiththidal have not been supplied with dry ration relief for the last two months by government. On Thursday activists of the Canada-Moothoor Development Association distributed some relief to them that could enough for their one day need.
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Batticaloa, Ampaa'rai heading for second flood disaster

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 09:39 GMT]
The districts of Batticaloa and Ampaarai have been affected by second natural disaster within two months, with lashing torrential rains and floods since last week. The overflowing water from irrigation tanks has entered villages in the two districts and normalcy has been badly affected. The body of a woman washed away by flood was recovered Wednesday afternoon at Lahugala in Ampaa'rai district. Her father was also reported disappeared in the flood. Fifteen others were rescued, sources said. Flood affected people are forced to undergo tremendous hardships due to lack of food and other facilities as the civil authority had failed to provide relief promised for the previous natural calamity that took place last month.
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US State Department plays ‘ultimate saviour of genocidal Colombo’

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 08:34 GMT]
Those who are guilty of war crimes naturally would try to blame others and would do everything to save their skins. If at all the LTTE was responsible of any war crimes, it is not there now. But the others responsible are roaming free. The US Asst Secretary of State Robert Blake often calls for ‘some’ accountability. Some accountability comes only when some of those internationally responsible for the crimes bow down first taking responsibility, and desist from further contribution to genocide and denial of independence to Eezham Tamils, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo, responding to Mr. Blake passing “large part of the responsibility” for the civilian casualty in the Vanni war on the LTTE. In a way Blake in his recent interview concedes that he and his government were a party to the war and thus a party to the war crimes, the writer points out.
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Canadian professor exposes cosiness of Clinton with Colombo, Cairo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 February 2011, 03:55 GMT]
“I observe Hillary Rodham Clinton careening about in response to events in Sri Lanka and now Egypt – bouncing from (realpolitik) wall to (humanitarian) wall to (pragmatism) wall, in a kind of foreign policy funhouse of mirrors,” writes Canadian Professor of Law, Craig Scott, exposing the hoodwink game played by the US State Department having close personal relationship with the oppressive regimes in Colombo and Cairo. In an article appeared in Open Democracy Monday, Prof. Scott exposes how the protection of Rajapaksa regime is smoothly carried out by the family connections of SL foreign minister G L Peiris with Hillary Clinton.
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Village Officers association condemns attacks in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 February 2011, 03:20 GMT]
Batticaloa District Branch of the United Village Officers Association has expressed concern over the failure of the Colombo government to take action against intimidation and assault on its members involved in relief work following the recent floods. The association has organized a demonstration Wednesday to condemn such attacks in Batticaloa.
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TNA MP protests against ethnic subjugation of Eastern University

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 February 2011, 00:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently appointed a Sinhala officer with powers above the rank of Vice Chancellor in the Eastern University under the pretext of eliminating irregularities and corruption. “The real agenda of the move is subjecting the overwhelmingly Tamil-speaking Eastern University to the insinuations of Mahinda Chintana based ethnic subjugation,” blamed Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Batticaloa District C. Yogeswaran, talking to Tamil journalists.
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Family man from Jaffna reported missing on way to Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2011, 21:12 GMT]
A 25-year-old male from Katkoava'lam in Point Pedro, who was on his way to Colombo last Wednesday, has been reported missing, according to complaints registered with the Jaffna branch of Human Rights Commission and the Sri Lankan Police at Point Pedro.
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Hasty Sinhala colonisation wedges north and east at Kokku’laay

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2011, 12:40 GMT]
Within the last three weeks, 240 Sinhala families were hastily settled at Kokku’laay, a narrow strip of land, which is the only link of contiguity between the northern and eastern flanks of the country of Eezham Tamils in the island. This pivotal conspiracy of Colombo to demographically de-link the contiguity of the two Tamil provinces is being implemented by SL colonial governor in the north, Maj. Gen. Chandrasri and by SL ‘Rehabilitation’ minister Rishard Baddiudeen. Colombo lies that it is only ‘resettlement’ of Sinhalese, but except one or two families others are outsiders and the 43 original Tamil families resettled among Sinhalese now live in fear. The demographic wedging takes place at a time when New Delhi, advocating ‘home grown’ solution, is allegedly engaged in pressurizing Tamil politicians to commit to the de-link through their own mouth.
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Fire destroys offices of website critical of Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2011, 03:59 GMT]
The office of news website LankaeNews located in Rajagiriya, a suburb of Colombo, has reportedly been set on fire by a group of unknown persons who broke into the premises Monday at 2:00 a.m., according to reports from Colombo. The fire has caused extensive damages to the computer and communications equipment in the facililty. Talangama police are investigating into the incident.
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Flood victims express anger on public servants for lack of relief in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 January 2011, 20:07 GMT]
Civilians in Batticaloa district have started to show their anger on government servants for the failure to provide relief as promised by Colombo authority. The latest attack on a Village Officer of Makizhadith-theevu in Paddipazhai DS division in Batticaloa district took place Friday while he was in the act of distributing relief items donated by a non-governmental organization. Over five hundred thousand flood affected people in Poaratheevup-pattu, Paddippazhai, Vavu'na-theevu, Ea'raavoor-pattu, and Chengkaladi in Paduvaankarai DS division have not been provided with relief materials properly. Meanwhile, the district has started to experience another round heavy torrential rain since last week. Hence the spill gates of Unnichchai and U'rukaamam irrigation tanks have been opened to allow excess water.
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US legal effort to seek justice for son's killing - Dr Manoharan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 January 2011, 00:17 GMT]
In an interview with the BBC Tamil service, Dr Kasippillai Manoharan, father of Ragihar, one of the five students extra-judicially executed by Sri Lanka's military at the Trincomalee beach on January 2nd, 2006, said that Sri Lanka's judicial system is not capable and unwilling to provide justice and bring closure to his son's death, hence his initiating a civil suit in the U.S. He further told the BBC, five years have passed since his son's brutal killing, and he will use all judicial instruments now available to him outside Sri Lanka to bring his son's killers to justice. Dr Manoharan said he is convinced that Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has information on the killers but the President is unwilling to allow prosecution of military officers. Both Mr and Mrs Manoharan are prominent physicians who earlier practiced in Trincomalee.
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Ambassador, an honest man sent to lie for Sri Lanka, responds Fein

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 January 2011, 16:49 GMT]
Noting Sri Lanka's Ambassador's response to the law suit filed in US by three Tamil plaintiffs as initiated by LTTE-front organizations involved in "publicity stunts like this baseless law suits," Bruce Fein, the attorney for the plaintiffs said that the Ambassador Wickramasuriya was an honest man but was apparently instructed that if both the facts and the law demonstrated President Rajapaksa’s criminal culpability, then he should bugle “Tamil Tigers” to confuse the issue. Further, the group that sponsored the law suit cautioned the Ambassador and Colombo's Presidential spokesperson that libel is a serious offense in U.S. law and that any malicious labeling of legitimate US organizations as terrorist may have serious legal consequences.
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Rajapaksa sued in US Courts over war-crimes, plaintiffs seek $30m in damages

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 January 2011, 20:05 GMT]
Three Tamil plaintiffs whose relatives were killed in three different incidents, all considered to be war-crimes, filed a civil case in the District Court of District of Columbia against Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa Friday at around 4:00 p.m, the attorney for the plaintiffs and former Assistant Deputy Attorney General of the US, Mr Bruce Fein, said in a release sent to the media in the U.S. The legal action was sponsored by Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group. The plaintiffs seek $30m as damages through six counts of violations of the Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA).
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Military in Jaffna district to stay, says SLA Commander

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 January 2011, 01:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander, Maj. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya, while addressing a news conference at the army headquarters in Colombo, said that the Sri Lanka's defence ministry will not move out the security forces stationed in the Jaffna peninsula, the state-run Dinamina newspaper said in a front page article Friday.
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Solheim without ‘appetite’ envisages further involvement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 January 2011, 12:19 GMT]
How could the Norwegian ‘peace’ broker Erik Solheim claim that he was not biased towards one party in the national conflict in the island of Sri Lanka, when he had approached the issue with a preconception that there had been no appetite in the world for separations, asked Stephen Pushparajah, a well-recognized Eezham Tamil in Norway, responding to Mr. Solheim’s reiteration Wednesday that there is “no international support for a separate Tamil state” and his envisagement on behalf of Norway to play a further “role as a dialogue partner both with the government and peoples of Sri Lanka, including exile communities.” It was this closed mind of the peace facilitators and the powers behind them that encouraged Rajapaksa to end the war with genocide and to continue the genocide even after the war, he further said.
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EUSL becomes playground for Karuna politics

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 January 2011, 21:25 GMT]
Paramilitary leader and a Deputy Minister of Colombo, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, has been blamed by the students and the administration of the EUSL for intervening into the affairs of the EUSL by entering the premises escorted by Ea'raavoor Police and claiming to resolve a dispute between the students and the administration of the Arts Faculty for pursuing his politics, sources at the EUSL said. Mr. Muralitharan entered the premises on Tuesday when Art Faculty students were in discussions with the Vice Chancellor and the Faculty Dean following a protest by students over 6 months delay in announcing their examination results
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