SLA alleged of forcing fleeing Tamils to strip and walk naked

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 14:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) personnel at the check posts in Jaffna, Vavuniyaa and elsewhere in Vanni subject both men and women coming from Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) held areas into SLA controlled areas to naked body checking before entering the check post, according to information given by the women held in the SLA detention centres to women representatives of Non-governmental Organizations in Jaffna. Though there are women SLA personnel at the check posts the women, irrespective of their age, have to undress at a distance from the check posts and walk naked to the check post where they are subjected to body check, the NGO representatives who visited the SLA detention centre in Jaffna said.
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'Powers have to repent for what they are doing': Vickramabhu Karunaratne

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 00:17 GMT]
It will be nonsense to think of eradicating the LTTE, writes Vickramabahu Karunaratne in a recent article highlighting the need for alternative thinking. "In the case of the LTTE, it represents the real anger of the Tamil people against discrimination, humiliation and oppression by Sinhala chauvinism. [...] It was and is wrong to the hilt in hating Tamil society for its demand for equality and self-determination. [...] All global capitalist powers including India will be forced to repent in time to come for their aggressive participation in human suffering of this order. [...] The LTTE cannot be blamed for not surrendering to the Sinhala army of the chauvinist regime," he writes.
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LTTE reiterates need for permanent ceasefire

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 April 2009, 17:52 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Division, in a statement issued in Tamil on Monday called the Sri Lankan announcement of restricting military operations for two days as an eyewash to create an impression of engagement on false premises. Condemning the move as a "political drama" aimed at "deceiving the International Community and the Tamil people", the LTTE said the Sri Lanka Army was continuing indiscriminate shelling and gunfire on civilians. The LTTE statement categorically stated that the Tigers were calling for a politically and militarily meaningful ceasefire with humanitarian considerations.
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Nalloor Religious Head appeals Tamils to abstain from New Year celebrations

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 April 2009, 16:59 GMT]
“Celebrating New Year will not be appropriate while thousands of Tamils in Vanni are subjected to immense humanitarian agony and the proper thing to do is to pray for all parties involved to pursue a path to reach a good solution,” Nalloor Aatheenam (mutt) Chief Incumbent Srilasiri Somasunthara Paramaachchaariyaar Suvaamika'l, said in his New Year message to the press Jaffna Monday.
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'Three insults to Tamils for the traditional New Year'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 19:32 GMT]
Disguised insults meant against Tamil struggle this week bring out a picture of the attitudes operating in Colombo, New Delhi and Chennai, writes a political analyst in Colombo. “It is not exactly the Sri Lankan government, but the Sri Lankan state that is the core symbol of oppression in the island. Ethnic chauvinism is the cornerstone of this state. No liberation can come to Eezham Tamils unless this symbol is deconstructed. It is important for both Tamils and Sinhalese to see that accepting this symbol as it is now, or imposing this symbol as the basis of any political discourse, will never pave way for peace of both.”
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Plight of babies born and unborn

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 09:59 GMT]
A 20-days old baby succumbed to injuries of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Sunday in the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan within the safety zone. Recently, a pregnant mother whose abdomen was torn open and in the condition of the hand of the foetus coming out was admitted to the hospital, after the SLA shelling. Meanwhile, as a result of the food shortage, children were seen standing in a long queue to receive gruel from a distribution centre run by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation on the Easter Sunday noon. The photos published here are self explanatory, but we caution readers of their strong content.
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Fast against genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka held in Zurich

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 09:39 GMT]
Four Tamil youths ended their hunger strike protest in Zurich Saturday which they had begun on 6 April in a series of protest demonstrations launched by Tamils in various parts of Switzerland against the continuing genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. More than a thousand diaspora Tamils of all ages participated in the above protest carrying banners and photographs depicting the sufferings of Tamils being killed, maimed and injured in Sri Lanka government’s shelling and bombings on Vanni which continue unabated.
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Protests in Paris against genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 07:39 GMT]
The protests against the carnage of innocent Tamil civilians in Vanni held in order to draw the attention of the International Community (IC) by French diaspora Tamils, launched in several popular places in Paris, reached its sixth day Saturday. Four Tamil youths are fasting unto death in the protest demonstration being held for the last two days near the Wall for Peace in Paris near the French Military Academy, the sources added. Members of Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) in France distributed pamphlets describing Sri Lanka government’s genocide of the Tamils to the tourists who visit the Wall for Peace monument from all over the world.
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Fein debunks Patton-Boggs "white paper" on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 21:52 GMT]
Bruce Fein, former Associate Deputy Attorney General and counsel for a Washington-based Tamil activist group, responding to a "white paper" on the current situation in Sri Lanka written and distributed to the media by Patton Boggs LLP, the Washington Law firm retained by the Government of Sri Lanka for advocacy work in the U.S., said, the "[p]aper is a collection of lies or misrepresentations calculated to conceal the ongoing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes perpetrated against Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka’s armed forces," and "fails to discredit a single one of the more than 1,000 genocidal incidents marshaled in the model genocide indictment."
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Ottawa protest continues for Fifth day

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 21:45 GMT]
Protest by Canadian Tamil expatriates continued Saturday with several thousands joining the protest, CTV news broadcast announced. "The demonstrators, who arrived largely from Toronto and Montreal, are part of worldwide Tamil protests against what they describe as a deadly military offensive by the Sri Lankan military. Shouting "Tamil Tigers, freedom fighters," the protesters called on Canada to reverse its 2006 decision to list the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a terrorist entity under the Anti-Terrorism Act. They are also calling for an immediate ceasefire," Canadian daily Globe and Mail reported.
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Halt mass murder of Tamils, South Asians appeal to UN, India

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 20:16 GMT]
In a letter addressed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Head of UNHCR, Navi Pillay, and to the Indian Priime Minister Manmohan Singh, several rights activists, journalists, and eminent citizens of India and Nepal, expressed concern about report of mass deaths of Tamil civilians in the Vanni region, and demanded that "UN and the International Community immediately intervene to ensure immediate cessation of the brutal and savage war in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka and ensure immediate humanitarian relief to the suffering thousands caught in the middle of the war." The South Asian citizens also urged all "National Governments to oppose all forms of financial aid to Sri Lanka until it ceases the war against its own citizens and ensures humanitarian aid and relief to be reached to the suffering thousands caught up in the Vanni region."
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Two-thirds of British Tamils march for Ceasefire and Tamil Eelam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 19:14 GMT]
In a historic show of solidarity, more than 200,000 British Tamils, nearly two thirds of Tamils resident in Britain, marched through the streets of London Saturday demanding immediate ceasefire and recognition of Tamil Eelam. Sparked off by the initiative of second generation diaspora Tamil youth and students four days earlier, the Saturday's march became an unprecedented rallying point for the entire community, attracting the old students associations of the educational institutions of Eezham Tamils, functioning in London. The spirited participation of teens and mothers with babies in pushchairs significantly marked the level of community involvement in the agitation.
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SLA arrests 66 Tamils in Colombo, Ampaa'rai, Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 18:21 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Police from Thursday till Friday morning conducted several cordon search operations in Colombo, Ampaarai, and Vavuniyaa. About 50 civilians, including 40 Tamils were arrested in Colombo division and detained in respective police stations for further inquiry. Police spokesman Ranjit Gunasekara told media that detained civilians had failed to prove their identity and justify their presence in the location. Most of the arrested Tamils are residents of Jaffna. 14 Tamil youths were taken into custody in Wellawatte area, he said.
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Nadesan: there will be no post-LTTE scenario

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 12:35 GMT]
Head of Liberation Tigers Political section, B. Nadesan, in an interview to India's weekly magazine Tehelka, said that, "[t]here will not be a post-LTTE scenario. Look around the world, and you will see the desire for freedom and dignity in the hearts and minds of all Tamils. The LTTE is seen as the way to achieve the political aspirations of the Tamil people," and added that the International Community should work towards "fulfilling the political aspirations of the Tamil people by recognizing their struggle for self-determination and a homeland," instead of waiting for a "post-LTTE scenario, which is never going to come."
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New York protest extends to US, Mexico, India missions of UN

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 03:16 GMT]
Three days of hunger-strike and protest against Sri Lanka's egragious rights violations and horrific killings against the more than 200,000 Tamil civilians caught up in the war held in New York from Tuesday concluded Thursday, organizers of the event said. Several hundred protesters from different states took positions in front of the Indian mission from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., protested in front of the Mexican mission from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., and assembled to protest in front of the U.S. mission between 3:00 pm and 5:00 p.m. The protesters appealed to the UN missions to take steps to facilitate a ceasefire.
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69 percent kids malnourished: Vanni health officials

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 02:52 GMT]
Four years ago, there were only 2 percent of children below 5 years of age, malnourished in Vanni. But, today, 69 percent of them are malnourished, said health officials of Mullaiththeevu working in the so-called safety zone. Mothers are unable to breastfeed due to malnutrition. Presently, only one-month-old babies are given with milk powder due to lack of supplies. No milk powder is available in the market. Older babies have to satisfy themselves with black tea. There are unattended babies whose mothers have been killed. Recently, a baby was brought to the hospital by relatives, because it was given rice to eat and the baby couldn't handle it, the health officials reported further.
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RSF repeats war-crimes complaint against Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 2009, 22:50 GMT]
Reminding Colombo to to fulfill its international obligations to let journalists into the Vanni conflict area where "a major humanitarian crisis in unfolding," Asia-Pacific Desk at Reporters sans frontiers (RSF), a Paris-based media watchdog, in a press release issued Friday said, "[t]he death of at least two journalists in the so-called "no-fire" area tends to support allegations that the Sri Lankan security forces are responsible for war crimes against civilians," and that the [Sri Lanka] government is violating UN Security Council resolution 1738 about protecting journalists in war zones."
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TNA Ex-MP on hunger-strike calls for immediate ceasefire

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 2009, 20:51 GMT]
Member of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Ex-Member of Parliament of Sri Lanka, Mr Eelaventhan, on his second day of hunger-strike in South Africa's Sri Mariamman Temple, in a press release, said that the "slight hunger pangs I feel now are nothing compared to the pain that pierces my heart when I see the needless suffering of my people," and echoed Tamil diaspora in demanding the international community to bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire. 'He [Eelaventhan] is also calling for humanitarian aid, supervised by INGO's, to be allowed to reach the Tamil people affected by the war. He asks that local and international NGO's be granted unrestricted access to the detention camps,' the press release further said.
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219 civilians arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 2009, 09:56 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Police conducted dusk-to-dawn cordon and search operations in several parts of Gampaha town and its suburbs on Tuesday through to Wednesday and arrested about 219 civilians majority of them Tamils from North East and upcountry Tamils working in business establishments and other private sector institutions.
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Tamil hunger strikers' condition deteriorates in London

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 2009, 02:36 GMT]
Two British Tamils, 21-year-old Sivatharsan Sivakumaravel and 28-year-old Parameswarn Subramaniyan, who are on a hunger strike in the Parliament Square since 10:00 p.m. Monday, have refused to consume any food or water until there is a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. The hunger strikers have also demanded that food and medical aid should be allowed to reach the civilians immediately with international monitoring committees and to allow "Mercy Mission," the diaspora organised ship carrying humanitarian supplies.
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