SLA tightens security in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 December 2010, 15:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is employing new measures in the last several days to increase security in Jaffna, civil sources in Jaffna said. SLA has increased search operations during nights and has increased checking of motor vehicles including motor bikes. Passengers traveling in night buses are being subjected to delays as they searched in the proximity of four or five SLA camps. In addition, reports from Jaffna say SLA soldiers are constructing new earth bunds in the previously declared High Security Zones (HSZ) raising fears among families awaiting resettlement that return to their ancestral homes are going to be further delayed.
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More than 100,000 persons affected by rain in the North

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 December 2010, 13:39 GMT]
More than hundred thousand people were affected by rain in Jaffna, Mannaar, Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu district, according to civil society sources in the Northern province. Menik Farm camp used as an internment camp to hold Tamil civilians, is surrounded by flood. More than 20,000 remaining refugees have been struggling with toilets submerged in flood. Dengue and malaria are spreading rapidly, according to medical sources.
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SL cabinet decides to abolish Tamil version of ‘national anthem’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 December 2010, 13:32 GMT]
The first cabinet meeting convened by Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa after returning from London decided to abolish the Tamil version of Sri Lanka’s national anthem, Sunday Times reports. The ‘shortcoming’ of having two national anthems should be rectified and in no other country was the national anthem used in more than one language, Mahinda Rajapaksa told his cabinet Wednesday. The Tamil version of the national anthem of Ceylon and later Sri Lanka was adopted in 1948 at the time of the so-called independence. It was an exact translation of the Sinhala original, sung in the same tune. Supporting Rajapaksa, minister Wimal Weerawansa said that even in neighbouring India, where around 300 languages were used, the national anthem was only in Hindi. But the SL minister was ignorant of the fact that the national anthem of India is in Bengali.
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SL First Lady’s Xmas in Jaffna cancelled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 December 2010, 23:58 GMT]
As most of the local priests and Christians in Jaffna were not interested in participation, the programme of Mahinda Rajapakasa’s wife Shiranthi Rajapakasa presiding over an Xmas fete in Jaffna as its chief guest was cancelled. However, Buddhist monks, Sinhalese visitors and some Muslim religious leaders who were brought from the south for this purpose, along with military personnel in Jaffna, celebrated Christmas at the Methodist Church in Jaffna on Saturday. Since Shiranthi Rajapaksa didn't come Mrs. Imelda Sugumar, the Government Agent of Jaffna, joining religious representatives, released ‘peace doves’ on the occasion.
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Colombo’s heritage minister sees ‘multi-religious’ institutes in Trinco, Mannaar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 December 2010, 22:55 GMT]
Hindu temples like Thirukeatheesvaram in Maanthai, Mannaar and Thirukoa’neasvaram in Trincomalee were identified as multi-religious institutes and steps were being taken to name them as World Heritage sites, said Colombo’s National Heritage Minister Jagath Balasuriya, addressing officials of the five departments under him and media in his ministry Tuesday, according to Daily News. Colombo is yet to declare the Dalada Maligawa complex in Kandy where temples for Siva, Vishnu, Murukan, Ka’n’naki and also Dadi Mu’nda are found as a multi-religious institute. There are a large number of sites in the south, such as Devinuvara (Dondra Head) waiting to be declared as multi-religious institutes.
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Sri Lanka extends State of Emergency

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 December 2010, 01:15 GMT]
The Sri Lanka’s parliament Wednesday evening adopted a motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of 130 votes. 145 parliamentarians of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its constituent parties voted for the motion. Fifteen parliamentarians from the main opposition United National Party (UNP), Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Democratic National Alliance (DNA) voted against the motion.
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Philippines awards peace prize to SLA, joins Colombo boycotting Nobel ceremony

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2010, 15:40 GMT]
Philippines on Thursday decided to boycott the Nobel peace prize award ceremony in Oslo Friday. Sri Lanka will also boycott the ceremony that awards the peace prize to Liu Xiaobo, who in his struggle for political reforms in China was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment last year. Meanwhile, during the Heroes Day week of Eezham Tamils, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe of the war crimes accused military of Sri Lanka was awarded Gusi International Peace Prize in a ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Centre, Manila, on 24 November. Colombo’s military website run in Jaffna said on 27 November that the award given to Hathurusinghe was the “Asian equivalent to the Nobel Prize”.
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Refreshing investigation in Assam on national question in India

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2010, 13:42 GMT]
Recent upsurges in tensions and violence in ongoing conflicts over borders in the Northeast of India, attempts by the Indian state to gain control of territory by settling villages in camps in parts of Chhattisgarh and other states of central India, and the pursuit of autonomy in Telangana and Gorkhaland demonstrate the multiple ways territoriality is politicised in contemporary India, says the concept paper of a seminar on Shared History and Contested Spaces, convened by Dibrugarh University of Assam. The participants to this seminar in Northeast India were refreshingly different from the usual names coming from New Delhi or from certain social groups. The Northeast states of India share many commonalities with the nation of Eezham Tamils in facing unresolved national questions and military oppression of state with a colonial mindset, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo.
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Opposition's War Crimes charge triggers inter-party squabble

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2010, 04:15 GMT]
Leader of the House and a Minister in Sri Lanka's parliament, Nimal Siripala de Silva, challenged opposition Parliamentarian Karu Jayasuriya to submit evidence to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on the alleged human rights violations and war crimes committed by Sri Lanka soldiers, Sinhala daily Lankadeepa said.
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Astonishingly powerful, rare category of War Crime evidence, says Legal expert

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2010, 02:42 GMT]
"On the question of whether there should be an inquiry, this is astonishingly powerful evidence of a type I've only seen in a handful of times – there's some footage from Yugoslavia about mass killings – and this is up there. It's within a very, very rare category of evidence where killings are actually captured on tape and the idea that there can be a debate about whether there should be an investigation in the face of evidence like this is very surprising. So this evidence should lead to only one conclusion which plainly is there needs to be a full investigation and there needs to be prosecution of the people responsible," a leading war crimes lawyer Julian Knowles of Matrix Chambers told Channel-4 after watching the video obtained by Channel-4 on the extra-judicial execution of Tamils by Sri Lanka soldiers.
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NLF leader Karunaratna's supporters assaulted at airport

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 2010, 01:51 GMT]
Supporters of Dr.Wickremabahu Karunaretna, leader of the New Left Front (NLF), Tuesday, who went to receive him at the Katunayake International Airport (KIA) on his return after a visit to London, were assaulted by aviation authority officials and a gang said to be sent by a deputy minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, according to complaint lodged by Dr.Wickremabahu Karunaretna, NLF sources in Colombo said.
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Torrential rain adds to woes of Batticaloa resettled families

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 December 2010, 03:37 GMT]
Continued torrential rain in Paduvaangkarai area in Batticaloa district has badly affected the resettled Tamil families, civil sources in Batticaloa said. Several villages in Vellaave'li, Ko'raalaipaththu South, Ea'raavoorpaththu, Chengkaladi, Ko'raalaipaththu North and South E'ruvilpaththu are under water, causing closure of schools and affecting the administration of government departments. Public transport to these villages from Batticaloa has also been affected as roads are submerged in water. Batticaloa District Meteorological Department Official K. Sooriyakumar said 90.6 mm rain fall was recorded within 24 hours.
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Time for Eezham Tamils to think afresh

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 December 2010, 02:23 GMT]
Despite two nasty wars India got involved against Eezham Tamils in crushing their national aspirations, and despite constant demonstration that whatever genocide may take place or whatever counter-Indian alliances Sri Lanka may make India would continue to hang on to any devil that is sitting in Colombo, Eezham Tamils are so far not stirred up to evolve an integrated foreign policy to meet the equation. Just as Mahinda Rajapaksa told N. Ram of The Hindu that “What we refused to give Prabakaran we won’t give to others”, what India refused to act on so far, it is not going to act, whatever exclusive dependency Tamils may continue to show. The relentless may try and everyone should be happy if there are any yields, but it is time for the mainstream to think and seriously act on other avenues that are complimentary to Eezham Tamil interests.
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Suspect Sri Lanka war-criminal in UN post under US media spotlight

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 December 2010, 07:42 GMT]
“The Sri Lankan government has appointed a senior army officer accused of war crimes in the conflict with Tamil rebels as its deputy permanent representative to the United Nations,” Washington Times said in a lead article Sunday referring to ex-Major General Shavendra Silva who commanded one of the largest divisions in Sri Lanka Army, and was the front line commander during the final phases of the war, the blood bath in which more than 40,000 Tamil civilians were alleged to have been killed in indiscriminate bombardment.
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New evidence emerges on war crimes committed on Isaippiriyaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 19:26 GMT]
The gruesome killing of 27-year-old LTTE journalist Shoba (Isaippiriyaa) is a clear case of war crime committed by Sri Lanka Army, as evidences come forth indicate. Isaippriyaa never went for any kind of military training. She was exempted by the LTTE from such training, as she was a patient of Rheumatic Heart Valvular Disease, says a medical practitioner who was working in Vanni and who has personally seen her taking Echo Cardiogram test conducted by visiting US and Australian cardiologists. Until 8 May 2009 she was working as a volunteer in the Mu’l’livaaykkaal makeshift hospital. She was taken by SLA on 23rd or 24th of May 2009, while staying in D8/ Zone 4 of the Cheddiku'lam internment camp, according to the wife of the medical practitioner, a media worker who was also interned in the camp at that time.
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Defending WikiLeaks

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 14:22 GMT]
U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, has asserted that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating to bring charges against WikiLeaks' Julian Assange for disclosing classified information. Survival of WikiLeaks from brewing legal challenges in the U.S. Courts is essential for bringing charges of war-crimes and crimes against humanity against Sri Lanka officials. A recently released cable from US Embassy in Colombo has revealed U.S. diplomats believed "responsibility for many alleged [war] crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka." The remaining 3324 cables from Colombo are likely to contain information of interest to Tamils on the evolution of US policy towards Sri Lanka conflict.
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Sri Lanka’s police stations get own buildings in Ki'linochchi, Maangku'lam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 12:34 GMT]
Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne on Friday opened two new buildings for two key police stations in Vanni, which have been functioning the buildings of LTTE-run administration, at Maangku'lam and Ki'linochchi.
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Unidentified person found dead in Jaffna bus stand

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 12:28 GMT]
Jaffna Police Sunday morning removed an unidentified body of a 40 year old male person found dead under a passenger shelter in the Jaffna central bus stand on receipt of information from the public. The body was handed over to the mortuary of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for identification and inquest. This discovery, following the killing of a mentally deranged Tamil youth at Puththoor junction by the Sri Lanka Army Saturday on Friday, has fuelled tension and fear in Jaffna.
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Sinhala settlers in Jaffna rob rain-affected Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 09:57 GMT]
Tamil families who had to temporarily leave their houses in low lying resettlement lands in Naavatkuzhi and returned back have found their properties robbed by settlers of a newly established Sinhala colony. According to latest reports, the number of families in the Sinhala colony in Naavatkuzhi has increased to 186 as Colombo was scheming ways to set up more Sinhala settlements in the peninsula. Resettled Tamil families also complain of theft during nights.
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Ira'naimadu tank spills due to heavy rain

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2010, 05:55 GMT]
Ira'naimadu irrigation tank in Ki'linochchi district, currently under control of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), has reached 28.6 inches above its spill level of 28 feet following one week continuous rain, sources in Vanni said. Due to efforts taken by the agricultural sector organizations in the district to ensure the safety of the tank, sluice gates had been opened on December 3 to release the excess water.
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