China's help sought to stop ethnic cleansing of Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 August 2009, 05:12 GMT]
A large group of American Tamils from the New York region held a protest rally outside the Chinese Mission to the United Nations in New York Monday. The protesters appealed to China use its influence with the Sri Lankan government to end the ethnic cleansing of Tamils in Sri Lanka, and to release the nearly 300,000 Tamils detained indefinitely in the military supervised internment camps. The purpose of the protest is to keep the international community's eyes trained on Tamil concerns about abuses being committed against their relatives, neighbors and friends in Sri Lanka, protesters at the rally said.
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1000-mile trek by Canadian students reaches half way mark

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 August 2009, 01:52 GMT]
Three Canadian college students, who started a 1000-mile trek from Chicago to Washington D.C. on the 26th of June to raise awareness of the general American population to the several thousand Tamil civilians killed by the Sri Lanka military during the first two weeks of May, and the 300,000 Tamil civilians held in Sri Lanka military supervised internment camps, have now nearly reached the half-way mark. "The men arrived in Dayton Monday morning after starting their trip in Chicago. By the time the trip is done, the men will have walked more than a thousand miles," the Dayton Television station WDTN reported.
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Details emerge on Tamil media workers killed in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 August 2009, 00:52 GMT]
TamilNet recently compiled details on Tamil journalists and media workers confirmed killed during the height of war in Vanni, between March and May. The list is not exhaustive. These media persons, committed to the human cause and engaged in the noble task of bringing out information to the people inside and to the world outside, have laid down their lives in achieving what the international media shamefully couldn't accomplish. TamilNet will be serialising compilations on the losses of other humanitarian workers too in due course.
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3112 Vanni IDPs in Jaffna camps released

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 August 2009, 14:46 GMT]
3112 persons belonging to 1057 families brought from Vanni and held in the six detainment centres in Jaffna district were released and allowed to go with their relatives Wednesday in an event which the government conducted as an election campaign stunt in Duraiyappa Sports Stadium in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The IDPs, brought to the venue from 3:00 a.m from their camps, had to wait in the broiling sun until 3:30 p.m as Basil Rajapakse, the brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse and his advisor, arrived at Jaffna only after 2:30 p.m to take part in the event, the sources added.
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861 students held in SLA camps to sit for GCE A/L exam

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 August 2009, 07:55 GMT]
Eight hundred and sixty one Tamil students now being held in the internment camps of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are to sit for the forthcoming G.C.E. Advanced Level examination which is to commence on August 11 and conclude on September 5. They are among the 2,420,091 students sitting for the examination all over the country.
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SLASA appeals for the immediate release of Ki’linochchi GA, Vethanayagan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 August 2009, 19:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association (SLASA), while strongly condemning the arrest of Ki’linochchi Government Agent (GA), S. Vethanayagan, by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials on 30 July 2009, extended a public appeal to the authorities concerned to release him immediately, sources in Colombo said.
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130 IDPs in Vavuniyaa camps to be resettled in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 August 2009, 19:05 GMT]
One hundred and thirty Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) held in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) internment camps in Vavuniyaa are to brought to Jaffna Wednesday to be resettled in places in Jaffna that are out of SLA High Security Zones (HSZ) and in Vadamaraadchi East except Maruthangkea’ni Assistant Government Agent (AGA) division, Jaffna Government Agent (GA), K. Ganesh, informed in a press meet held in Jaffna Secretariat Tuesday. The GA also told the media that he has nothing to do with the forms distributed by persons in Jaffna to apply for resettlement in Jaffna.
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TNA outlines political formula

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 August 2009, 13:13 GMT]
Based on Self-Determination, distinct and comprehensive autonomy to the historical homeland of Eelam Tamils is the political solution envisaged by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to the ethnic conflict in the island of Sri Lanka, said veteran Tamil politician and TNA Parilamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan, while addressing the press in Jaffna Tuesday. Mr. Sampanthan, who said that a draft proposal of the TNA will be released soon, was optimistic of India's support. This is the first time the TNA is coming out with its own political formula to resolve the ethnic conflict.
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HRW calls for international inquiry into ACF-17 massacre

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 August 2009, 01:31 GMT]
Quoting James Ross, legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) that "[f]or three years since the ACF massacre, the Rajapaksa government has put on an elaborate song and dance to bedazzle the international community into believing justice is being done," HRW in a news release issued Monday added, "the Sri Lankan government's gross mishandling of the investigation into the execution-style slaying of 17 aid workers in the northeastern town of Mutur three years ago demonstrates the need for an international commission of inquiry."
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Reporters barred from Jaffna, Vavuniyaa during elections

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 August 2009, 01:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka will not allow reporters into Vavuniyaa and Jaffna to cover the local government elections to be held there on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. “The government did not give a reason for banning reporters, but it cites security reasons for denying entry to any outsider,” AP reported. The towns are accessible with Defence ministry permission and “even residents can't leave without permission,” AP report said. Meanwhile, an elections watchdog, PAFFREL (People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections) said there seemed to be little public interest in the polls as people were preoccupied with the plight of their relatives in government’s military-run internment camps.
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Temple robbed in Jaffna during SLA curfew

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 August 2009, 16:44 GMT]
An armed gang plundered Thursday night a Pi’l’laiyaar Temple, during Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) imposed curfew hours, in Moo’laay area in Valikaamam, and took away gold jewellery and cash worth 20 million rupees, sources in Jaffna said. Robberies of this nature carried out during curfew hours and SLA’s persistence refusal to lift the curfew in Jaffna peninsula, claiming that robberies would increase if the curfew is lifted, has raised suspicion of SLA complicity in the robberies, among the residents of the peninsula, the sources added. Meanwhile, extortion by intimidating phone calls has resumed in Jaffna targeting rich traders, lawyers and university lecturers.
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Indians need three years to clear mines

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 August 2009, 11:36 GMT]
It will take one-and-a-half to two years to do away with most land mines and another year to declare the areas safe for habitation, reported Times of India, Sunday, citing Indian Army’s retired Major General Prem K. Puri who is heading one of the Indian outfits engaged in de-mining the North and East. Meanwhile, 82 more former Indian soldiers have gone to Sri Lanka last week to join the hundreds or perhaps thousands already operating under the care of Colombo’s National Steering Committee. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s insistence on ‘de-mining first’ to free civilians from the concentration camps and India sitting on international intervention raise serious concern in Tamil circles, how long both the Establishments are going to continue the ‘human shield’ in fulfilling their agenda.
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Manhattan GAP becomes target to trade boycott dry-run

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 August 2009, 01:12 GMT]
About twenty protesters stood in front of the fashionable clothing store GAP located at 34th street and Broadway intersection in Manhattan, New York, Saturday afternoon carrying placards urging U.S. shoppers to stop buying goods made in Sri Lanka. Placards claimed that Sri Lanka is one of the worst human rights violator nations in recent history, slaughtering more than 20,000 civilians in April and May 2009, according to a reputable British broadsheet, and keeping more than 300,000 Tamil civilians in military supervised internment camps as collective punishment. Protesters said, by engaging in apparel trade with Sri Lanka, GAP is funding genocidal war against the Tamil people.
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Emotional rehabilitation should precede IMF, GSP politics

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 August 2009, 22:55 GMT]
If structural changes are what the West aims in the island of Sri Lanka through IMF and GSP+ loans, those cannot be achieved without first emotionally rehabilitating the Eezham Tamils. Emotional rehabilitation, which is fundamental to all other rehabilitation is possible only when the West openly acknowledges Eezham Tamils as a nation and their cause as a national liberation struggle, says TamilNet political commentator in Colombo. “Tamils are deeply hurt by IMF and Indian assistance to Colombo failing to take note of this fact, the commentator said, adding that the GSP+ should not make the same mistake.
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SL minister talks stopping SLA interference while civil administration militarised

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 August 2009, 17:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka Minister of Power and Energy, Aluthananda Gamage, said in Jaffna Sunday that the interference of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna civil administration will be brought to a stop when 500 Tamil policemen selected in Jaffna district are appointed. The minister said that the newly appointed policemen will be engaged in the civil administration in Jaffna. Tamil circles responded that the promise is of no meaning when the civil administration itself is militarised in the Tamil areas with the appointment of military personnel to civil service and governorship.
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Bus service via A9 route from Jaffna to begin Sunday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 August 2009, 17:27 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA), K. Ganesh informed media Saturday that 200 passengers from Jaffna will be taken to Madawachi every other day. Persons travelling should obtain the ‘travel pass’ from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and they will be allowed to return to Jaffna only by producing a copy of the travel pass to the SLA in Vavuniyaa, according to GA’s announcement.
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Monk for Sri Lanka's President?

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 August 2009, 12:22 GMT]
The Janasetha Peramuna (JP), one of the newly formed political parties recognized by the Commissioner of Election, has decided to field a Buddhist monk as its candidate to contest the Presidential Election expected to be held in January 2010. "We will be nominating Ven. Battaramulle Seelaratana Thera, the leader and general secretary of our party, to contest the elections," said Ven. Bambarawane Dhammananda Thera, the Chairman of Janasetha Peramuna, addressing a media briefing held at the party headquarters at Talangama South, Koswatte Saturday.
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Seek experts’ advice before recommencing cement production in Kaangeasanththu’rai - FNGO

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 August 2009, 09:08 GMT]
The Federation of Non-government Organizations (FNGOs) in Jaffna appealed to the government to seek the advice of experts in the field of environment pollution before embarking on opening the cement factory in Kaangeasanththu’rai in Jaffna for production. Seas erosion, excavation of lime stone and underground water are issues which should be taken into serious consideration, FNGO said. Plans are underway to hand over the cement factory to India or some other foreign country for recommencement of production, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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Commencement of bus service via A9 route from Jaffna doubtful

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 August 2009, 08:45 GMT]
Government announced that transport service for public between Jaffna and Colombo will commence from 1 August but the officials of Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) in Jaffna who have to provide the buses said that they had not received any instructions from their superiors in Colombo. The five buses which took 210 passengers from Jaffna on 22 July in an event inaugurated by Basil Rajapakse, the brother and advisor of President Mahinda Rajapakse are being held back in Jaffna by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), they further said.
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Hundreds of Tamils interrogated in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 August 2009, 08:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched Friday an intensive search mostly in Fort and Bambalapitiya stopping passenger buses and other vehicles and interrogated hundreds of Tamils, sources in Colombo said. Though the search was conducted for more than three hours no official information of anyone arrested is available, they said.
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