Tamils commemorate Vanni massacre at Lincoln memorial

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 May 2010, 12:20 GMT]
More than four hundred Tamils in the U.S. held a remembrance rally in Washington D.C. for the nearly 40,000 Tamil civilians massacred by the Sri Lanka State in Mu'l'livaaykkaal during the final months of 2009. "We had the event at the very heart of the Nation built on promise of freedom and justice; we demonstrated first in front of the White House, and after a one mile procession, at the reflecting pool adjoining the Lincoln memorial to symbolize and demonstrate our resolve that we will never forget this atrocity, and that until we bring the perpetrators of this dastardly crimes, we will not rest," Dr Jeyarajah, the main organizer of the event said.
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Swiss Tamils observe May Remembrance, highlight geopolitical injustice

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 May 2010, 12:03 GMT]
Twenty-six democratically elected members of the Switzerland Council of Eelam Tamils (SCET) took oath in front of the masses, who gathered at Helvetia in Zurich Saturday evening in an emotional remembrance event, paying tribute to the victims of the genocidal onslaught on Vanni last May. Switzerland representative of the Sudanese political movement voicing against the genocide in Darfur and Green Party politician Zefari Zidun, explained how his people experienced the genocide in Darfur and said there was no struggle that has been won without experiencing major political setbacks. A dance theatre presented the geopolitical injustice experienced by Tamils, depicting how the war against Tamils was abetted by the powers of the world.
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Thought crime, torture and kingly fiat

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 May 2010, 03:22 GMT]
“Tissainayagam’s pardon is clearly an act of Sri Lanka’s international diplomacy, an act made possible by the complete absence of the rule of law as an operating principle in its legal system,” writes a columnist in the Tamil Guardian newspaper. “[While] the legal system’s ability to convict Tissainayagam on the basis of a confession obtained under torture on charges that amount to accusations ‘thought crime’ reveal that Sri Lanka has fully departed from the principles of the rule of law […] the Presidential pardon echoes medieval forms of justice dispensed as royal patronage and is in keeping with Sinhala leaders’ proclivity for styling themselves as mythical Sinhala rulers.”
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Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War Crimes of Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 May 2010, 04:01 GMT]
Tamils all over the world mark 18 May as Genocidal War Crimes Day, observing one year remembrance of thousands who perished in the war, waged by the Sri Lankan state and its abettors, on the de-facto state of Tamil Eelam. Despite its repeated pledges to the International Community, the Sri Lankan state and its military machine vowing to erase 'separatism demand' from Tamils for generations, to turn heavy arms on civilian population claiming the lives of thousands of children and women in addition to depriving them of food, medicine and medical evacuation on time. The conduct of the Sri Lankan state, which disregarded all norms of humanity in the war, has posed a civilisational question, and justice remains undelivered. TamilNet releases 14 of 512 photos taken by a humanitarian worker to mark the Genocidal War Crimes Day.
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Ranil returns home after India visit

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 May 2010, 03:50 GMT]
Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader in the parliament and the leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), returned home Thursday evening after a four-day visit to India. He had held talks with several Indian leaders including External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna in New Delhi Wednesday.
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Australia must ratify Tamil referendum results: Greens MLA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 08:52 GMT]
Citing the overwhelming consensus for independence as expressed by the Australia’s Tamil Diaspora in the recent Tamil Referendum on independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam, Greens Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Ms. Amanda Bresnan, who witnessed the referendum as an observer, has urged the Australian government to ratify the results, also citing the overwhelming support in similar referendums held across Europe and Canada. The referendum is “to reaffirm the political aspirations of the Tamils in the isle of Sri Lanka, that the opinion of Tamils living overseas can be used to determine the political solution to ethnic conflict, that the results be taken to governments and international bodies and that this bring about national and global solidarity amongst Tamils and bring consensus on the national question” she said.
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Cancellation tactics make potential candidates withdraw from TGTE elections

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 May 2010, 13:14 GMT]
Four candidates, including two who had come within the first five in the poll conducted 8 days ago for the TGTE in the London South West Constituency, withdrew their candidature Monday after there were delays in announcing the results. Dr. N.Sathiyamoorthy, Mr. A.Vairavamoorthy and Mr. David Joseph, candidates sharing a common opinion said in their withdrawal letter that "even though it was hard for us to come to this decision, we feel it is necessary to make such decision to take our struggle to the next level through the TGTE, without giving any room for the Sri Lankan state or the IC to shame our Tamil Nation." The election committee delayed the announcement of the results citing ‘complaints’ and there were behind the scene manoeuvrings by certain members of the CWG that conducted the elections, in selecting candidates without a re-poll, said a journalist who did not wish to be named.
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Colombo accelerates Sinhalicisation of Madu

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 May 2010, 12:57 GMT]
Colombo has launched a large scale Sinhala colonisation at Madu Road Junction, located on Mannaar-Madawachchi Road, which branches off the main route to Madu shrine, situated in the middle of traditional Tamil area, by officially claiming to "resettle" 80 Sinhalese families after renovating a Buddhist temple into a large Vihara at the junction. Categorising the Sinhalese settlers as "Internally Displaced Persons," the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry officials said the Sinhalese "IDPs" had met Resettlement Minister Milroy Fernando and G.A. Chandrasri, the former SLA commander of Jaffna, who is serving as the Northern Province Governor, with the Chief Incumbent Buddhist Monk of the Vihara. Caritas, a Catholic agency for justice, peace and development has been pressurised to construct the houses for the Sinhalese settlers.
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TGTE member from New Zealand speaks on Vaddukkoaddai Resolution

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 May 2010, 00:13 GMT]
Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, in his last ever speech in the Sri Lankan parliament on 19 November 1976 said: “Our Party is moving with the idea of establishing a separate state. It is not an easy matter to get a separate State; it is a difficult matter. We know it is difficult. But either we get out of the power of the Sinhala masses or we perish. That is certain. Therefore, we will try and get this separation.” Citing the speech Mr. A. Theva Rajan, member of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, from New Zealand, said that the relevance of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution today is unique in historical terms as "the reign of Percival Rajapakse" fully demonstrated to the world that the Tamils are facing a genocidal onslaught. "Rajapakse brothers made the Tamil genocide open, indelible and internationally recorded,” he said.
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Trade Unions slam Australia’s treatment of refugees

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 May 2010, 15:46 GMT]
Leaders of Australia’s most powerful unions have united to voice their “concern at the growing stance of indifference towards and demonisation of asylum seekers from both sides of Australian politics” in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Rudd released on Monday.
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Colombo adopts failed Sudanese ruse to deflect war crimes charges - Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 May 2010, 14:38 GMT]
Commenting on Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse's announcement that Colombo will appoint a 7-person commission to "search for any violations of internationally accepted norms of conduct in such conflict situations, and the circumstances that may have led to such actions [in Sri Lanka], and identify any persons or groups responsible for such acts," Francis A Boyle, professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law said "after it was announced that the ICC was going after Sudan, they hired a British lawyer to advise them on setting up some type of fake internal procedure of investigation/ prosecution in order to head off the ICC, pretending to satisfy the requirement of complementarity. It miserably failed, and Sudan's Al Bashir is now under ICC's arrest warrant."
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Naaka-naadu
Naaka-theevu
Naaga-deepa

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2010, 22:01 GMT]
The country of the Naakar
The island / peninsula of the Naakar (The Jaffna Peninsula)
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Jaffna HRC summons Jaffna Prison officers alleged of attacking political prisoners

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2010, 16:37 GMT]
Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) Coordinating Officer, T. Kanagarajah has summoned the Assistant Superintendent of Jaffna Prison and the prison guards alleged of assaulting eight political prisoners on 30 April, on the basis of statements from the victims presently receiving treatment in Jaffna Teaching Hospital on the orders of Jaffna magistrate, sources in Jaffna said. Jaffna magistrate court too had directed Jaffna police to record the statements of the eight victims and to submit the report immediately. Meanwhile, the prison guards who had attacked the political prisoners are all Tamils, the sources said.
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Need of the hour is consensus and collective leadership

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 18:07 GMT]
Colombo has embarked upon a vicious campaign as though a new power centre of Eezham Tamils had already set in after the elections for the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) last Sunday. Some elements among the diaspora who have been conceiving the TGTE as a ‘high power centre’ also seem to think that it is now ready for their occupation with some manipulations here and there. Both commit serious damages to the cause of Eezham Tamils, the former overtly and the latter covertly.
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Nirupama to inaugurate conference on Sri Lankan peace

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 16:58 GMT]
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao will be inaugurating an international conference on ‘Taking the Sri Lankan Peace Process Forward’ in New Delhi, scheduled on May 10 and 11. The conference will be participated by experts from Sri Lanka and representatives of Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, media reports said.
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EU demands release of Fonseka, Colombo told

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 12:40 GMT]
Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the opposition and the United National Party (UNP) Thursday informed Sri Lanka' parliament that the European Commission has demanded the release of Sarath Fonseka from detention as a condition for granting GSP+ preferential trade status, parliamentary sources in Colombo said. Meanwhile, Fonseka has told AFP that he would "expose" any war crimes committed during the end of the country's civil war last year and said he would go "out of his way" to assist with a probe, AFP reported.
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Why Genocide is an issue in the British elections

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 05:36 GMT]
This general election sees unprecedented levels of engagement of British political parties with issues that are important to the Tamil Diaspora. With three active party-affiliated campaigning groups within the Diaspora – Tamils for Labour, British Tamil Conservatives and the Tamils for Liberals and the reciprocal active engagement of candidates from a cross section of parties in issues specific to the Tamils, the British Tamil Diaspora is no longer expected to vote primarily for a single party that was ‘sympathetic’ to their issues. Voters will ultimately need to choose based on the relationships they have built and what they feel their candidates have achieved for them. However, in policy terms the priorities of the Diaspora are clear: Tamils need to see a fundamental shift in the way the conflict has been viewed.
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Sri Lanka joins international issues in British parties’ focus

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 May 2010, 13:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis is among international issues that have drawn comment by all three main political parties in Britain ahead of the general election on Thursday. The main opposition Conservative party insisted Sri Lanka “take immediate steps to address the concerns of the Tamil people” and emphasised the importance of “meaningful political reform” for lasting peace. The Liberal Democrats, the second largest opposition party, demanded an end to Sri Lanka’s “land-grabbing” and called for the formation of “an independent body to end all fraudulent claims to land.” The ruling Labour party, which raised warcrimes probes in its manifesto, said its 13-year government “had consistently sought to help Sri Lanka achieve a lasting solution and is committed to an inclusive political process.”
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Tamils’ cause finds support amongst candidates of all main British parties - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 13:34 GMT]
Dozens of parliamentary candidates from all three major British parties responded this weekend to inquiries by the Tamil Guardian newspaper regarding their stance on the Tamil question in Sri Lanka. The responses from, or on behalf of, eighteen Labour, fifteen Liberal Democrat and twenty four Conservative candidates reflects increasing engagement in Britain’s political spaces with Sri Lanka’s protracted and entrenched ethnic crisis, the paper’s researchers said.
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Eezham Tamils in Denmark elect 3 representatives for TGTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2010, 17:41 GMT]
3102 Eezham Tamils in Denmark took part in the elections for Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, electing three representatives: Remmon Washington polling 2738 votes, Sukenthini Nimalanathan polling 2626 votes and Maheswaran Ponnampalam polling 2556 votes.
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