UN post confers no absolute immunity from war crimes prosecution

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 November 2010, 00:04 GMT]
Under the terms of the United Nations Charter, UN Officials only have “functional” immunity, immunity ratione materiae which confers immunities on those performing acts of state (duties). War crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are not incidental to the duties of a UN accredited diplomat, and therefore, Shavendra Silva, Sri Lanka's official at the UN in New York, can be prosecuted under the 18 USC 2441 of US criminal code for allegedly committing war crimes outside the US. Legal sources also said that the UN Headquarters Agreement on UN officials' Privileges and Immunities concluded with respect to the UN Charter arguably confers functional immunity only as well.
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Jaffna dailies threatened not to cover Heroes’ Day

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2010, 18:26 GMT]
Two helmeted armed men arriving on motor cycles Thursday night to the offices of two Tamil dailies published in Jaffna issued letters threatening them not to publish any news about Heroes’ Day that falls on Saturday, media sources in Jaffna said. The letter warned that the offices of dailies which fail to pay heed to the warning will be burnt.
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Indian External Affairs Minister Krishna arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2010, 17:36 GMT]
Indian External Affairs Minister Mr. S. M. Krishna arrived in Sri Lanka on a three day visit Thursday evening by a special plane from New Delhi. He is accompanied by a delegation of twenty members. He was received at the Katunayake International Airport by his counterpart in Sri Lanka Mr.G.L.Peiris. Mr. Krishna is scheduled to meet a delegation of the Tamil Parties Forum on Sunday morning around 9:00 a.m and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation around 10:00 a.m the same day in Colombo.
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Missing Tamil trader found dead

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2010, 13:37 GMT]
The body of a Tamil trader Kanapathy Gunaratnam, 52, who was reported missing since Wednesday morning was recovered in Wellawatte Thursday morning, according to initial reports from the Wellawatte Police. The trader was a resident of Alwis Town in Wattala, a suburb in Colombo.
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New Secretaries appointed to ‘Mahinda Chintana’ government

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2010, 12:24 GMT]
55 Secretaries, the highest civil servants of the ministries appointed Tuesday by the President of the Colombo government Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, were advised by him to discharge their duties properly according to the ‘Mahinda Chintana’, reports Daily Mirror. Structuring the ministries in his second term of office, Mr. Rajapasksa handed over new appointment letters to the secretaries of the various ministries. The Mahinda Chintana list of Secretaries has one Tamil and one Muslim among the 55. The lone Tamil secretary is appointed to the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development for which Mr. Douglas Devananda is the minister.
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Leaflets calling people to observe Heroes’ Day distributed in Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2010, 11:52 GMT]
Unidentified men arriving on motorcycles Thursday morning entered Jaffna University premises and distributed leaflets calling the people of Jaffna peninsula to observe the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Maaveerar (Great Heroes) Day on Saturday. The men had quickly left the campus to the chagrin of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna who assume that Jaffna University and its surroundings are under their tight control, sources in Jaffna said. Wall posters calling people to observe the Heroes’ Day are found pasted on the walls in the environments of Jaffna University. The leaflets and the posters had a photograph of the LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan which shows him paying his respects to the Great Heroes who had sacrificed their lives to the cause of Tamil Eelam, the sources added.
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Tamil civilian reported missing in Wattala

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2010, 09:31 GMT]
A fifty two year-old Tamil civilian has been reported missing since Wednesday morning, according to a complaint by his relatives in the Wattala Police station. Wattala is in the suburbs of Colombo.
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Public protest against SLA interference in civil administration in Ki’linochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 November 2010, 11:44 GMT]
Welfare associations and public organizations in Karaichchi in Ki’linochchi district gathered in protest Wednesday morning in front of Ki’linochchi Government Agent’s office demanding immediate cancellation of the sudden transfer of Karaichchi Divisional Secretary, Ms. Sivakumar, issued on the request of local Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials, sources in Ki’linochchi said. Ms. Sivakumar had not cooperated with the SLA officials in their efforts to evacuate the resettled families in lands in Karaichchi which the SLA authorities want to claim for SLA and Sinhala colonization, the sources said. She had been transferred within two hours of her refusal to comply with the evacuation plans of the SLA officials, the sources added.
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Opposition Councilors accuse JMC administration of embezzlement, corruption

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 November 2010, 06:48 GMT]
Eight opposition councilors of Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) led by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) councilor, M. Remediyas have jointly released a media report Tuesday accusing the JMC administration run by ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of embezzlement and corruption. The councilors have also sent a detailed report of the misadministration of JMC by its Mayor, Ms. Yogeswary Patkunam and Deputy Mayor in collaboration with Sri Lanka minister Douglas Devananda, to the Governor of Northern Province. The councilors pointed out in their report that the JMC administrators continue to reject whatever proposals submitted by the opposition councilors.
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Indian High Commissioner visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 15:18 GMT]
The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Mr. Asok K. Kantha is on a sudden visit to Jaffna where he is engaged in preparations to receive Indian Minister of External Affairs Mr. S. M. Krishna who is expected to visit Jaffna peninsula on 27 Saturday, sources in Jaffna said. The Indian minister will be taking part in the event of resettling families in the outskirt villages of the Sri Lanka Army (SLZ) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North that is to be presided by Sri Lanka Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, the sources added. Mr. S. M. Krishna will be opening an office of the Indian High Commission to Sri Lanka in Jaffna during his visit.
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SLA active in grabbing strategic lands in North

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 14:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Ki’linochchi have threatened 18 Tamil families in Irathinapuram where they were each given 5 acres of land to live in 1994 by Sri Lanka government for which they have the documents proving ownership. SLA now claims that a Sinhala school had been located in the said area and therefore the land belongs to the government. SLA further says that it wants the land to be used as cattle grazing ground, the families said. Similarly, SLA officials in the Achchuveali camp have claimed areas in Puththoor and Vaatharavaththai in Valikaamam East saying that a Sinhala school called Panjaseeva and a Buddhist temple had been functioning in the said area. A military establishment and Sinhala colony at strategic Vaatharavaththai will check free movement of Tamils among the sectors of Valikaamam, Vadamaraadchi and Thenmaraadchi regions of the Jaffna peninsula.
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Rajapaksa’s Ampaa’rai coordinator gets suspended jail sentence

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 06:57 GMT]
Kalmunai High Court Judge Ms. Chandramani Visuvalingam Monday imposed a sentence of two years rigorous imprisonment that is suspended for a period of ten years on Kanthasamy Nishanthan alias Inniyabarathi, Ampaa’rai District coordinator for the Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he pleaded guilty to the charge of threatening with death a former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian of the Ampaarai district Chandiranehru Chandrakanthan on 11.06.2007 at Thirukkoayil.
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Kadugannawa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 06:54 GMT]
The fierce mountain pass
The mountain pass at the frontier
The mountain pass to traverse

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Genetics and etymology go contrary to myths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 06:38 GMT]
Kadugannawa, the Sinhala name of a key mountain pass in the Kandy district of the island of Sri Lanka comes from Dravidian etymology and is related to Kadu-ka’navaay in Tamil, reveals an etymological column in TamilNet. Meanwhile, genetic studies based on DNA conducted on Sinhala expatriates by a British medical institute 10 years ago showed that the Sinhalese predominantly carry M20, the Dravidian marker in them, says Subramaniyam Visahan who recently came out with an outline publication on the peopling of the island of Sri Lanka. Myths that obscure objective history about the peopling of the island could have been shattered had Colombo joined the DNA mapping programme, the Human Genome Project, said the UK-based writer, who formerly worked for the British National Archives.
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Wall Street Journal skeptical about Sri Lanka promises

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 2010, 19:58 GMT]
Commenting on Sri Lanka’s new budget unveiled Monday, the Wall Street Journal echoed international investors’ skepticism, saying “implementing reforms is more important than announcing them.” Warning that “given its recent track record Colombo should expect investors to sit on the sidelines until the government shows it's serious about reform,” the paper singled out for criticism President Mahinda Rajapakse’s approach to business, noting his bragging about the state’s renationalisation successes. The paper also expressed other concerns: “Local businesses report an increasing trend toward crony capitalism. Corruption is endemic, and hostility to the private sector rife in the bureaucracy and among elected politicians.” The concern of WSJ was rather ‘investment reforms’ and not the fuming situation arising out of an unresolved national question.
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Paintings depicting horror of war on Vanni exhibited in Bergen

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 2010, 14:50 GMT]
The Tamil students of Bergen University held an exhibition at the Bergen University Student Centre paintings by Tamil Nadu Artist Kuzhanthaivelu Pugazhenthi titled ‘The Faces of War’ Friday and Saturday, depicting the horror suffered by Eezham Tamils in its Fourth War and the heroic sacrifice and valour of Liberation Tigers, sources in Oslo said. The exhibition drew a large number of Norwegian students on the first day while the students of Bergen Tamil School viewed them on the next day.
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Jaffna district Fishermen Societies to boycott meeting with Tamil Nadu counterparts

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 2010, 10:49 GMT]
The representatives of Jaffna District Fishermen Societies said Monday that they will boycott the meeting with the representatives of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Societies that is to be chaired by Sri Lanka Minister of Fisheries in Colombo as they had not been officially invited to the above meeting. They further said that they had visited Tamil Nadu in August where they met fishermen society representatives and learnt first hand of their problems but the visiting Tamil Nadu Fishermen Society representatives are not prepared to meet the fishermen in the North. Moreover, Sri Lanka government is trying to create a picture that they are disputes prevailing between the fishermen in the North and Tamil Nadu fishermen with the motive to play down the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen being attacked by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers on the Northern seas, they said.
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Tamil Nadu fishermen society delegation to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 2010, 05:45 GMT]
A delegation of representatives of fishermen societies in Raameasvaram and Tamil Nadu are expected to visit Sri Lanka shortly to conduct talks with the related authorities in Colombo on issues affecting the fishermen of both Tamil Nadu and Northern fishermen, fisheries society representatives in Jaffna said. Many decisions taken by both fishermen society representatives in the talks held in Tamil Nadu in August remain unexecuted due to non-cooperation by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), the sources added.
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Colombo censors Tamil Nadu magazines, articles

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 November 2010, 08:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka government continues to censor articles related to the Eezham Tamil national cause or the State terrorism in Sri Lanka appearing in magazines, books and other written literature coming into the island from foreign countries, particularly the Tamil Nadu state of India. Both Tamil and English works are subjected to the censorship. An article written by the news reporter of Anantha Vikadan, a Tamil weekly magazine published in Tamil Nadu, in its last issue had been torn off from all the imported copies and the title of the article on the cover rendered illegible.
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Tamil couple in motorbike killed in head-on collision with SLA vehicle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 November 2010, 10:47 GMT]
A husband and wife, residents of Chettly Street, Nallur in Jaffna district died in a road accident that took place Friday evening on their way in a motor bicycle to Murukandy Pillayar Temple located along A9 highway fulfill a vow in a head-on crash with a vehicle of the Sri Lanka Army. The couple was identified as Pounrajah Selvaraja, 52, and his wife Naguleswary, 48. The accident took place at Inthupuram in Murukandy area.
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