HRW calls for international investigations into war crimes

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 2010, 04:57 GMT]
Noting that the "verbal acrobatics" of Sri Lankan officials in an attempt to "dismiss the shocking mobile phone video...showing Sri Lanka soldiers summarily executing naked and bound [Tamil] captives" evokes memories of Orwell's 1984, Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch's emergencies director and an expert in humanitarian crises, in the Thursday edition of Guardian, warns that Sri Lankan officials cannot hide the reality of what happened during this brutal conflict and its continuing impact on Sri Lankan society, and that Sri Lanka's aggressive denial of its crimes only results in escalation of lost credibililty. HRW urges Ban Ki-moon to establish "an independent international investigation to establish the truth of what happened in Sri Lanka, an essential step toward accountability for the serious crimes committed there."
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Muslim presidential candidate supports TNA, SLMC decision

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 2010, 04:50 GMT]
M. S. Iliyas, former Jaffna parliamentarian and one of the presidential candidates, said that he welcomed Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) decision to defeat Mahinda Rajapaksa by supporting Sarath Fonseka in the presidential election, in a press meet held Thursday in Jaffna Veerasingham Hall. Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims and various political parties of the country have decided to bring in a change of government despite their differences, he added.
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Tamils of Switzerland, Germany, Holland vote on independence this weekend

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 2010, 04:04 GMT]
Eezham Tamil diaspora in Switzerland goes for referendum on independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam this Saturday and Sunday. A similar ballot will take place in Germany and Holland on Sunday. The democratic exercise on the eve of the presidential elections in Sri Lanka gains significance as it demonstrates the mainstream diaspora is unaffected by the highly publicised political prospects of the elections of ‘united Sri Lanka,’ Tamil observers in Europe said. The enthusiasm seen in the younger generation of the diaspora is particularly a challenge to politics of deviation harping on strengthening Colombo-centric system to find solutions to the crisis, they further said.
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Rajapaksa, Fonseka fail in articulating political proposals: Friday Forum

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 2010, 14:01 GMT]
Friday Forum, a Colombo-based gathering which includes religious dignitaries, senior academics and others on Wednesday expressed concern that the two main presidential candidates Mahinda Rajapaksa and General (retd) Sarath Fonseka have failed to address the crucial issue of peace. "The failure to address this issue of great historical and national importance does not bode well for the future of our country. We may be condemned to the scourge of community tensions and a divided society for many more years to come unless sincere and meaningful political guarantees are made at this moment," the statement signed by Jayantha Dhanapala said.
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Colombo court releases 16 Tamil youths

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 January 2010, 18:15 GMT]
Sixteen Tamil youths were released Wednesday by the Colombo Additional Magistrate Mr. Mohamed Mackie on a no objection application made by Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police. The court ordered another eighteen Tamil youths to be sent for rehabilitation at Welikanda camp.
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Mahinda inciting racial hatred between Sinhalese and Tamils - Suresh Premachandran

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 2010, 14:01 GMT]
“President Mahinda Rajapakse, on learning Tamil National Alliance (TNA) intention of supporting his rival Sarath Fonseka in the presidential election, is actively engaged in whipping up racial animosity between the Sinhalese and the Tamils,” Suresh Premachandran, TNA parliamentarian said in a press briefing held Tuesday in his Jaffna office. “Mahinda, Minister Douglas Devananda and other government supporters are deceiving the Tamils with their false promises,” he further said.
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Trinco executions added to Sri Lanka's war crimes record in Dublin

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 2010, 01:17 GMT]
An affidavit containing the personal testimony of Dr Manoharan, the father of Ragihar, one of the five high school students shot dead in execution style in Trincomalee beach nearly four years ago by members of Sri Lanka security forces, and two detailed reports of evidence collected on the killings by a Rights Group whose members are in self-exile due to threat to their lives, were submitted as record of evidence to the Dublin war-crimes tribunal hearing concluded on the 16th of this month, US-based pressure group Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) said Tuesday.
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Polls predict narrow win for Fonseka

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 2010, 02:13 GMT]
"A secret poll taken by parliamentary researchers earlier this month and seen by The Sunday Telegraph forecast 5,373,751 votes for the [Sri Lanka's] president (48.3 per cent) and 5.493,809 for the general [Sarath Fonseka] (49.4 per cent)," the Telegraph said in its Sunday edition, adding that, while the ruling party insists its support is solid in village areas, Sri Lanka's voters are talking of momentum building up for General Fonseka.
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Weeratunge statement proves India's complicity in Sri Lanka's genocide, says Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 2010, 17:16 GMT]
If the statement of Lalith Weeratunga, a top aide to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, that Sri Lanka's use of heavy weapons was eventually stopped as part of a political deal with the Indian government, was true, "then it proves India’s complicity in the GOSL’s [Government of Sri Lanka's] genocide against the Tamils," says Professor Boyle, expert in International Law in a note sent to TamilNet. "The Government of India temporarily stopped the GOSL’s genocide against the Tamils, thus proving it could do so.... India therefore violated its obligation under article 1 of the Genocide Convention “to prevent” the GOSL genocide against the Tamils," asserts Prof. Boyle.
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Satellite imagery evidence of Hospital attack recorded in Dublin

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 January 2010, 12:49 GMT]
Do the facts made available to the Dublin war-crimes tribunal on the available direct and circumstantial evidence that between 9 January 2009 and 25 March 2009, in areas in or nearby Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) Hospital, legally establish that the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) committed, purposely, intentionally or knowingly, via act or omission, war crimes against Tamil civilians? - was the legal question presented to the tribunal. "The legal admissibility of evidence, currently available and to be discovered in the future, and the question of culpability of Sri Lanka of war-crimes, are likely to continue well beyond Dublin," said a spokesperson for the US-based pressure group, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), on the attack on the PTK hospital during the early months of 2009.
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TGTE: 45 degrees polity for Tamils or ramp for powers?

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 2010, 09:24 GMT]
“21st century political reality is Transnational,” aptly says the Advisory Committee report for the formation of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), released Friday for public comments. Differentiating the novel concept from a conventional government in exile and justifying its rationale, the report argues that people in Tamil Eelam are also an active part of the transnational social space for the national struggle. The high ideals in the report were noticeably slipping when it ultimately envisages not a TGTE to politically fight for the cause but a remote controlled transnational corporation for collaboration and ‘step by step’ negotiation. The 45 degrees outlook, not surprising but only anticipated should now prompt the diaspora to respond with appropriate checks and balances.
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Canada government greets Canadian Tamils on Pongal Day

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 2010, 19:46 GMT]
The Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, on Thursday greeted Canadian Tamils on the occasion of Thai Pongkal festival. The Minister's usage of the term Canadian Tamils for the greetings, avoiding any 'imposed national identity' is noted with significance by the Tamil media circles in the diaspora. Pongkal is such a unique festival uniting global Tamils and at the same time transcending them beyond the confines of the identities of India and Sri Lanka.
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NCET announces committees to spearhead democratic moves of Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 2010, 14:19 GMT]
The Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET) on the Tamil festival day of Pongkal, Thursday, announced initiation of three global committees: a Monitoring Committee to help and coordinate polls mandating Tamil Eelam as well as constitutions cum elections for people’s councils in various countries; an Exploration Committee to examine the possibilities of founding a diplomatic centre in Oslo to represent the people’s councils and a Representative Committee to discuss apex coordination or united functioning with other constructs that emerge with national thinking. The NCET statement named Mr. S Pradeep and Ms Krishanthi Sakthithasan of France as international coordinator and spokesperson respectively for the said initiatives.
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Dublin analysis complements Alston's findings on execution-video

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 2010, 11:56 GMT]
A point-by-point rebuttal to Sri Lanka experts' response on the authenticity of Channel-4 video is being presented to the War-Crimes Tribunal being held in Dublin on the 14th and 15th of this month, spokesperson for the US-based pressure group, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) said Thursday. The report complements UN Special Rapporteur, Prof. Philip Alston's, findings that the video is authentic. The rebuttals expose faulty assumptions, and erroneous conclusions made by Sri Lanka experts, whose "independence" was questioned by Alston, the report said.
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Tamils should not be deceived by Mahinda’s promise - LF Secretary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 2010, 03:57 GMT]
“How can Mahinda Rajapakse government offer a permanent political solution to the Tamils when it refuses to release the Tamil political prisoners who are on hunger strike?” Samil Jayanithi, the secretary of Leftist Front, asked. “A political solution for the Tamils is nothing but a drama staged by the government to get the votes of the Tamils,” he added.
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Patten: Sri Lanka to choose between two alleged war criminals

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 2010, 02:31 GMT]
Chris Patten, currently the co-chairman of the International Crisis Group, notes in a New York Times article that public in Sri Lanka is "faced with a choice between two candidates who openly accuse each other of war crimes," and adds, "[w]hoever wins, the outside world should use all its tools to convince the government to deal properly with those underlying issues to avoid a resurgence of mass violence....In short, this means not giving Colombo any money for reconstruction and development until we know how it will be spent. And if we see funds not being used as promised, it means not being afraid to cut them off until." Patten is a senior international figure and is the last British governor of Hong Kong.
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Thirumavalavan urges Tamils to refrain from celebrating Pongkal this year

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 2010, 14:30 GMT]
Thol Thirumavalavan, the leader of the Viduthalai Chi'ruththaika'l Kadchi (VCK) in a message appealed the Tamils in Tamil Nadu to refrain from celebrating Thai Pongkal to express distress and agony on behalf of Eelam Tamils who have been suffering in the internment camps of Sri Lanka Army after the brutal massacre of their loved ones by the Sri Lanka Army in their own soil.
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Australia urged to assess refugee claims without external influence

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 2010, 08:07 GMT]
Grave fears remain for the safety of 4 Tamils after their application for asylum in Australia was denied due to suspected links with Tamil militant groups, the Australian media has reported. The group faces the possibility of deportation despite being assessed as genuine refugees by the UNHCR, as advocacy groups and politicians urged the Rudd Government to assess asylum claims on individual merit without influence from intelligence organisations and the SL Government.
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“Tamils should vote for one who publicly recognizes their rights, aspirations” - Manickasothy

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 2010, 14:53 GMT]
“Tamil speaking people should vote for a person who publicly recognizes their rights and aspirations and openly tell the Sinhalese Nation and the world of his stand,” Mr. Manicaksothy, a prominent person in Jaffna peninsula, said in a report to media Monday, in support of Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne, a contestant in the forthcoming presidential candidate. “Then only the Tamil speaking people will be able to let their principles and stand known,” he further said in the report.
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TAK passes 25 resolutions in its 60th anniversary meeting

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 2010, 04:23 GMT]
The General Committee of Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (TAK) met Sunday in Jaffna on the 60th anniversary of its formation and passed 25 resolutions unanimously on issues related to Tamils, sources in Jaffna said. TAK said that it continues to stand firm that the Tamil ethnic issue should be resolved on the principles based on Tamil traditional homeland, Tamil Nation and self-rule based on the right to self-determination. The leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R. Sampanthan presided the meeting which was held in the I’lam Kalaignar Hall in Nalloor.
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