Colombo to issue finger print ID to Vanni civilians in custody

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 June 2009, 11:23 GMT]
All members of IDP families including children of over ten years of age who were forced to flee Vanni and detained by the Colombo government in Vavuniyaa internment camps are to be issued with special identity cards with their finger prints. Police with officials of the Presidential Secretariat are currently engaged in implementing the scheme.
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Potent Tamil voice for European Parliament

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 May 2009, 01:44 GMT]
June 4th elections will determine if Tamils in the London electoral region have the political muscle, organizational acumen and seasoned campaigning skills to attract broader British voters to elect Ms Janani (Jan) Jananayagam, a British, French educated young professional, who is contesting as an Independent candidate to the European Parliament. Ms. Jananayagam’s educational credentials, demonstrated communications skills, and a deftly constructed election platform centered on civil rights, financial transparency, and equality and diversity, will appeal to a broad section of British public and other immigrant groups besides the Tamil community, political observers in London say.
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SLA officials accused of taking bribes from Vanni detainees

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 23:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) high officials in charge of the internment camps in Jaffna, where Vanni civilians are held, are alleged to be taking bribes ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 rupees to free the youths among the detainees, according to complaints made by the detainees to Human Rights Organizations (HRC) in Jaffna. SLA authorities in Jaffna, however, continue to refute such allegations.
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The Times demands action over ‘monstrous collusion’ in slaughter of Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 15:59 GMT]
Pointing out that not only the United Nations but several Western governments knew of the ongoing slaughter of 20,000 Tamil civilians by the Sri Lanka Army, but kept silent for fear of upsetting the Colombo Government, The Times newspaper Saturday demanded international action to prevent further atrocities. “Such a monstrous collusion in covering up an atrocity must not go unchallenged. If the UN Human Rights Council refuses to investigate what has happened, the West must do so forthwith,” the paper said. “The silence of those who were warned of civilian deaths in Sri Lanka is shameful. They must speak out now to prevent future atrocities,” the editorial’s subtitle charged.
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Evidence points to Colombo culpability to Tamil massacre - Washington Post

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 13:24 GMT]
Adding to the increasing international media coverage of Government of Sri Lanka's culpability to the massacre of more than 20,000 Tamil civilians in Mullaitheevu, Emily Wax of Washington Post in a Saturday story said, the beach "shows clear signs of heavy artillery shelling, according to a helicopter inspection of the site by independent journalists, interviews with eyewitnesses, and specialists who have studied high-resolution satellite imagery from the war zone." The paper notes Rights advocates view that "any government could defeat terrorism if it ignored the 1949 Geneva convention that aims to protect civilians caught in war zones," and adds that U.S. Justice Department is considering whether to seek criminal charges against Colombo officials based on information filed by Attorney Bruce Fein.
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UN Officials complicit in aiding, abetting GoSL's Nazi-type crimes - Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 11:14 GMT]
Pointing to a report in the French paper Le Monde, which quoted Vijay Nambiar, chief of Staff of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, as telling UN representatives in Sri Lanka that the UN should “keep a low profile” and play a “sustaining role" that was "compatible with the government," Francis Boyle, professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law said Saturday that both the United Nations Organization itself and its highest level officials are guilty of aiding and abetting Nazi-type crimes against the Tamils by the Government of Sri Lanka, in violation of international law. "Unless this Momentum is reversed and all these U.N. Officials fired, the United Nations Organization shall follow the League of Nations into the "ashcan" of History," Boyle said.
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Sri Lanka hunting media’s Tamil sources - RSF

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 2009, 23:47 GMT]
Apart from threatening to prosecute journalists who attempt to visit the northern areas captured from the Liberation Tigers, Sri Lanka’s military is trying to identify Tamil civilians who provided information to the foreign press by infiltrating paramilitaries into their military-run refugee camps, RSF (Reporters Without Borders) said Friday. While the Army general appointed in charge of resettling refugees says “all foreign journalists are working against his homeland,” the country’s police chief claims that several journalists, “mostly Sinhalese”, were on the payroll of the LTTE and were involved in the insurgency.
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‘Still no access’ - UN, aid agencies

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 2009, 19:09 GMT]
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and international aid groups Friday protested Sri Lanka’s denial of access to hundreds of thousands of Tamils concentrated in militarized camps in the north and the homes from which the displaced had fled. Sri Lanka is still refusing to provide aid workers with full access despite an appeal by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the UN said separately.
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Sinhala thugs destroy Tamil shops in Badulla

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 2009, 12:46 GMT]
Sinhala thugs broke open three shops owned by Tamils in Palakaduwa, a suburb in Badulla police division, and robbed the premises of valueables Wednesday night. The intruders attempted to break open two other shops but failed in their attempt and fled when neighbors rushed to the site, media reports said. Tension prevails among Tamil business community in Badulla town about their future.
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Sinhala thugs harass Tamil women in Ratnapura

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 2009, 11:18 GMT]
Sinhala hoodlums in Rakwana town in Ratnapura district are targeting Tamil women who return home after work in garment factories, and rob them of their gold jewelry and other valuable articles. Ten such incidents have taken place in the last three days, and ll victims are from the upcountry Tamils, media reports said.
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Unprincipled, shameless, "Orwellian" UN resolution ever - Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 May 2009, 23:31 GMT]
"This is one of the most unprincipled and shameless resolutions ever adopted by any body of the United Nations in the history of that now benighted Organization. It would be as if the U.N. Human Rights Council had congratulated the Nazi government for the "liberation" of the Jews in Poland after its illegal and genocidal invasion of that country in 1939," said Francis Boyle, professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, referring to the resolution passed at the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Sri Lanka war.
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NYT calls for investigation of war crimes in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 May 2009, 02:09 GMT]
Supporting UN High Commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay's, call for the investigation of war-crimes of both sides to the conflict, the Sri Lanka Government and the Liberation Tigers, the New York Times, in its Wednesday editorial said, "[T]he government claims it must screen out rebels hiding in the camps. But aid workers suspect other motives, including a desire to deny access to witnesses who may have seen abuses by government forces." The editorial pointed out that the Tamils were "long oppressed by the Sinhalese majority, and added, "[m]ost [Tamils] were driven to the guerrillas as a desperation move after decades of abuse. Until the government treats all of its citizens fairly, there is no chance for the peace that President Rajapaksa has promised his country."
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Access to Sri Lanka detention camps ‘not satisfactory’ - ICRC chief

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 May 2009, 00:47 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross has been barred from visiting internment camps in Sri Lanka to check on people held by the Colombo government, the head of the organisation has said. Jakob Kellenberger has asked the Sri Lankan government for access to all its camps, which are ringed by barbed wire and soldiers, to check on conditions of hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians. He pointed out the present situation is "not satisfactory," Swissinfo reported. The ICRC, which usually refrains from publicly criticizing governments, is mandated under the Geneva Conventions to aid victims of war, Canadian Press reported.
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Sinhalese's extremists demonstrate against Canada

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 14:56 GMT]
Hundreds of Sinhalese extremists from political parties and other organizations including Buddhist monks staged a protest demonstration Wednesday in front of the Canadian Embassy in Colombo, accusing the Canadian government of supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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“Glaring hypocrisy, blatant sophistry” Boyle slams Swiss UN Resolution

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 17:35 GMT]
Pointing out the twelfth operative paragraph of the Draft Resolution sponsored by Switzerland, that is currently pending before the U.N. Human Rights Council, Professor Boyle, expert in International Law and Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, says this would be the same “as if the U.N. Human Rights Council had invited the Nazi government to investigate and prosecute itself for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Jews instead of supporting the Nuremberg Charter and Tribunal."
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Sri Lanka accused of 'ethnic cleansing' of Tamil areas - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 12:43 GMT]
"Aid officials, human rights campaigners and politicians claim Tamils have been driven out of areas in the north-east of the country by killings and kidnappings carried out by pro-government militias. They say the government has simultaneously encouraged members of the Sinhalese majority in the south to relocate to the vacated villages," Telegraph, UK, said, adding that according to an aid worker the recent killings in Trincomalee "were part of a strategy to drive out Tamils."
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UN becomes battleground for maritime Great Game - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 00:26 GMT]
"The strange line-up of the member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for or against Sri Lanka at the special session of the body scheduled to take place in Geneva on Tuesday underscores the maritime Great Game unfolding in the Indian Ocean," says former Pakistani diplomat in the Tuesday edition of Deccan Herald, referring to the support by India, China, Russia, and Pakistan among others to a self-congratulatory resolution put forward by the Sri Lanka Government, and the competing resolution advanced by the Swiss Government.
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SLA bars upcountry Tamils from viewing Tamilnadu TV programmes

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 May 2009, 14:12 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Police have ordered Tamil residents in Hatton police division to dismantle dish antennas from their residences as a part of security measure, effectively barring them from viewing TV channels aired by several TV stations operated in Tamilnadu in India, sources in Hatton said.
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Demonstrate the politics of war

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 May 2009, 20:32 GMT]
The Tamil national cause cannot afford to be deviated and exploited by others through questions such as whether the LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan is alive or not or whether the armed struggle has to be continued or not. The Tamil diaspora, the only section of the Eezham Tamil community that has the freedom and means to come out with authentic voice, has a historic responsibility in telling the world what they aspire for in no uncertain terms, and in seeing their righteous cause not hijacked by their enemies.
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US Justice Dept. files "Motion to Dismiss" in IMF case

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 May 2009, 11:45 GMT]
Responding to the law suit filed in the District Court of District of Columbia requesting to obtain a declaratory judgment to force the United States to oppose Sri Lanka’s pending IMF loan application, the lawyers representing the defendants, Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, and Meg Lundsager, Executive Director of the IMF, filed a motion in the Court to dismiss the case on the grounds that the plaintiff has no standing, the court lacks jurisdiction, there is no private right of action to enforce "policy goals," and under federal law both defendants are immune from legal prosecution, Bruce Fein, counsel for the plaintiff said.
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