Philippines awards peace prize to SLA, joins Colombo boycotting Nobel ceremony

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2010, 15:40 GMT]
Philippines on Thursday decided to boycott the Nobel peace prize award ceremony in Oslo Friday. Sri Lanka will also boycott the ceremony that awards the peace prize to Liu Xiaobo, who in his struggle for political reforms in China was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment last year. Meanwhile, during the Heroes Day week of Eezham Tamils, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe of the war crimes accused military of Sri Lanka was awarded Gusi International Peace Prize in a ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Centre, Manila, on 24 November. Colombo’s military website run in Jaffna said on 27 November that the award given to Hathurusinghe was the “Asian equivalent to the Nobel Prize”.
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Refreshing investigation in Assam on national question in India

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2010, 13:42 GMT]
Recent upsurges in tensions and violence in ongoing conflicts over borders in the Northeast of India, attempts by the Indian state to gain control of territory by settling villages in camps in parts of Chhattisgarh and other states of central India, and the pursuit of autonomy in Telangana and Gorkhaland demonstrate the multiple ways territoriality is politicised in contemporary India, says the concept paper of a seminar on Shared History and Contested Spaces, convened by Dibrugarh University of Assam. The participants to this seminar in Northeast India were refreshingly different from the usual names coming from New Delhi or from certain social groups. The Northeast states of India share many commonalities with the nation of Eezham Tamils in facing unresolved national questions and military oppression of state with a colonial mindset, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo.
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Opposition's War Crimes charge triggers inter-party squabble

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2010, 04:15 GMT]
Leader of the House and a Minister in Sri Lanka's parliament, Nimal Siripala de Silva, challenged opposition Parliamentarian Karu Jayasuriya to submit evidence to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on the alleged human rights violations and war crimes committed by Sri Lanka soldiers, Sinhala daily Lankadeepa said.
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Sri Lanka Supreme Court to decide on legality of Court Martial

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 2010, 02:52 GMT]
The Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Monday put off its determination for Thursday about the legality of the Court Martial under the Article 89D (d) of the Constitution on the Writ Application filed by the former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Sarath Fonseka filed in the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal sought a determination from the Supreme Court in this regard sequel to a Writ Application filed by the petitioner Fonseka seeking it to issue an interim order enabling him to sit and vote in the parliament and to exercise his powers and privileges and immunities as a member of parliament, legal sources in Colombo said.
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NLF leader Karunaratna's supporters assaulted at airport

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 2010, 01:51 GMT]
Supporters of Dr.Wickremabahu Karunaretna, leader of the New Left Front (NLF), Tuesday, who went to receive him at the Katunayake International Airport (KIA) on his return after a visit to London, were assaulted by aviation authority officials and a gang said to be sent by a deputy minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, according to complaint lodged by Dr.Wickremabahu Karunaretna, NLF sources in Colombo said.
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Colombo says making inquiries on WikiLeaks reports

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 December 2010, 06:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka's foreign ministry, in the wake of the revelations by WikiLeaks of the U.S. diplomats accusing Sri Lanka's President and brothers of war-crimes, and of conducting an investigation that fails to meet international standards, said in the State run Dinamina Tuesday that the Ministry has launched its own "independent inquiries into the reports." Deputy Foreign Minister, Neomal Perera, did not elaborate on what additional details the Ministry was attempting to obtain beyond what's available in WikiLeaks website.
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Time for Eezham Tamils to think afresh

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 December 2010, 02:23 GMT]
Despite two nasty wars India got involved against Eezham Tamils in crushing their national aspirations, and despite constant demonstration that whatever genocide may take place or whatever counter-Indian alliances Sri Lanka may make India would continue to hang on to any devil that is sitting in Colombo, Eezham Tamils are so far not stirred up to evolve an integrated foreign policy to meet the equation. Just as Mahinda Rajapaksa told N. Ram of The Hindu that “What we refused to give Prabakaran we won’t give to others”, what India refused to act on so far, it is not going to act, whatever exclusive dependency Tamils may continue to show. The relentless may try and everyone should be happy if there are any yields, but it is time for the mainstream to think and seriously act on other avenues that are complimentary to Eezham Tamil interests.
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Colombo plans to close UN offices in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 December 2010, 13:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government has directed the United Nations officials to close the UNICEF, UNHCR offices in Ki'linochchi district in the North, and Trincomalee in the East before the end of this year, and to move the administrative functions to offices located outside NorthEast, civil society sources in Jaffna said. The sources fear that Colombo's action is part of its longer term strategy to rid of all NGO offices in the NorthEast.
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New evidence emerges on war crimes committed on Isaippiriyaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 19:26 GMT]
The gruesome killing of 27-year-old LTTE journalist Shoba (Isaippiriyaa) is a clear case of war crime committed by Sri Lanka Army, as evidences come forth indicate. Isaippriyaa never went for any kind of military training. She was exempted by the LTTE from such training, as she was a patient of Rheumatic Heart Valvular Disease, says a medical practitioner who was working in Vanni and who has personally seen her taking Echo Cardiogram test conducted by visiting US and Australian cardiologists. Until 8 May 2009 she was working as a volunteer in the Mu’l’livaaykkaal makeshift hospital. She was taken by SLA on 23rd or 24th of May 2009, while staying in D8/ Zone 4 of the Cheddiku'lam internment camp, according to the wife of the medical practitioner, a media worker who was also interned in the camp at that time.
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Defending WikiLeaks

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 14:22 GMT]
U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, has asserted that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating to bring charges against WikiLeaks' Julian Assange for disclosing classified information. Survival of WikiLeaks from brewing legal challenges in the U.S. Courts is essential for bringing charges of war-crimes and crimes against humanity against Sri Lanka officials. A recently released cable from US Embassy in Colombo has revealed U.S. diplomats believed "responsibility for many alleged [war] crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka." The remaining 3324 cables from Colombo are likely to contain information of interest to Tamils on the evolution of US policy towards Sri Lanka conflict.
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Sri Lanka’s police stations get own buildings in Ki'linochchi, Maangku'lam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 12:34 GMT]
Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne on Friday opened two new buildings for two key police stations in Vanni, which have been functioning the buildings of LTTE-run administration, at Maangku'lam and Ki'linochchi.
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Sinhala settlers in Jaffna rob rain-affected Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 09:57 GMT]
Tamil families who had to temporarily leave their houses in low lying resettlement lands in Naavatkuzhi and returned back have found their properties robbed by settlers of a newly established Sinhala colony. According to latest reports, the number of families in the Sinhala colony in Naavatkuzhi has increased to 186 as Colombo was scheming ways to set up more Sinhala settlements in the peninsula. Resettled Tamil families also complain of theft during nights.
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UK Minister's visit to Sri Lanka postponed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 09:44 GMT]
A scheduled three day visit of British Secretary of State of Foreign and Commonwealth Office of South Asia, Mr. Alistar Burt, to Sri Lanka has been postponed amid reports of a diplomatic row between Sri Lanka and Britain, political sources in Colombo said. Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse was scheduled to speak on December 2nd at the Oxford Union and the event was cancelled for security reasons after Rajapakse and his entourage arrived in London.
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Repercusssions from Oxford debacle spills over to Sri Lanka's parliament

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 03:17 GMT]
A parliamentary Select Committee is to be appointed to inquire if the opposition United National party (UNP) MP, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, had acted in contravention against the Sri Lanka's Constitution, State run daily Dinamina said. Ruling party alleged that the MP instigated the protests by Tamil activists in UK that resulted in the cancellation of Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse's speaking engagement at the Oxford Union. Both the government and even the main opposition, United National Party (UNP) agreed for the setting up of the committee.
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Musali lawyer to fill vacancy in parliament

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 00:09 GMT]
The name of Attorney-at-Law U.L. Muthaliph Farook is to be gazetted by the Commissioner of Elections to fill the vacancy created in the parliament with the demise of Noordeen Mashoor, political sources in Colombo said. The new parliamentarian is a resident of Musali in the Mannaar district and polled second highest preferential votes in the United National Party (UNP) list at the last general election held in April this year.
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"Sovereign Immunity question is a matter for U.S. Supreme Court"

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2010, 23:01 GMT]
The U.S. Justice Department responding to a query by Tamils for Obama, a US-based activist organization, in August of this year, on the immunity against arrest of heads of state accused of war crimes visiting the U.S., said, "as a matter of general policy, the Office of the Solicitor General does not state or provide opinions on such matters unless such questions arise in the context of Supreme Court or other appellate litigation." The response was received during the week of controversy of the attempted arrest of suspect war criminal Major General Chagi Gallage, a member of Mahinda Rajapaksa's entourage to London.
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Two persons per week contract AIDS in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2010, 20:22 GMT]
At least two persons are diagnosed with HIV per week in the island, media reports in Colombo said citing Dr. Ms. Sujatha Samarakoon, the AIDS Control Programme Deputy Director on the occasion of World AIDS Day.
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Rajapaksa vengeance orchestrates political shield of captive Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2010, 11:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa, crest fallen in London, tried to simulate support for him Saturday, by intimidating Eezham Tamils living in captive conditions under his military in Vanni. On Saturday early morning, amidst heavy rains, Sri Lanka army rounded up ‘re-settled’ Tamil civilians in Vanni, including pregnant mothers, elderly and children, and brought them to Ki’linochchi forcing them to carry placards in a ‘demonstration’ that Rajapaksa was doing good to them and it was wrong for the diaspora Tamils in London to reject him. About 500 civilians were caught in the military harassment and those who resisted were attacked by the military. Rajapaksa is determined in demonstrating that the genocidal conditions set by him is the reality to comprehend with, as opposed to diaspora articulations, and he is backed in it by the position taken by India, observers said.
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Leaked documents reveal UK lacking practical approach and India unwilling

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2010, 09:38 GMT]
Though there was recognition for the need of a political solution and intention to stop human tragedy, lack of insight on the nature of the Sri Lankan state, lack of a serious and practical policy in handling a state like Sri Lanka long known for its chauvinism and lack of perspectives in addressing a national question as a national question, paved way for the failure of the Miliband-led British foreign policy on the war in the island, reveals leaked classified documents of British Foreign Office by Wikileaks. The documents also reveal that the British saw India “ambivalent and unwilling to undertake any heavy lifting on Sri Lanka” during the last days of the war. In this regard, a British diplomat confessed that he had trouble in getting meetings with India’s political level.
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A’luth punchi ku’lama, Kugnchukku’lam

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 December 2010, 01:29 GMT]
The new small tank
The small tank
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