Release East undergraduates immediately- TNA MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 February 2007, 00:27 GMT]
“Successive Sri Lanka Governments have been using education as a tool to punish the Tamil community as part of their campaign to subjugate the Tamils. The recent abductions and harassment of Northeast student community by the Sri Lankan Forces aimed at disrupting the education and instilling fear among the student population should be stopped immediately,” said S. Jeyananthamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian for Batticaloa district, Friday.
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JHU appoints militant leader as parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 January 2007, 06:29 GMT]
Sinhala Ultra Nationalist All Monks party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which is opposed to power-sharing and Norwegian facilitation, Wednesday replaced their National List parliamentarian monk Ven. Omalpe Sobhita Thero with a prominent militant leader of the National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT), Patali Champika Ranawaka, paving way for him to assume a cabinet post this week, when the party with 9 parliamentary seats, is expected to join Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's UPFA alliance.
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Canadian Memorial Stamp issued for late Navaratnam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 16:17 GMT]
A set of Canadian Memorial Stamps and First Day Cover were issued at a memorial function in Toronto Saturday, honoring the contribution by late V. Navaratnam, a doyen of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), the Federal Party, and who called upon the Tamil youth to fight for the establishment of a separate self-governing Tamils State in 1969. Mr Navaratnam urged the youth to fight, when he left the Federal Party and founded Thamil Suyadchi Kalaham, the Organisation for Tamil Self-Governance, after witnessing failed negotiations for power-sharing with Sri Lankan leaders for almost three decades.
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27 civilians arrested in Colombo north

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 11:07 GMT]
27 civilians including three women, majority of them Tamils, were arrested Tuesday in Colombo north police division in the western province during a search operation on vehicles plying to and from Kandy and Colombo, conducted by the police. They have been detained in Gampaha police station and are being interrogated, sources in Colombo said.
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TRO staffers disappearance reaches one-year anniversary

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 01:07 GMT]
Seven staffers of Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), an NGO registered with the Government of Sri Lanka, were abducted on 29th and 30th January 2006, by armed paramilitiaries inside Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled area in Polannaruwa. In a press release issued from Colombo offices, the TRO said: "To date the Sri Lanka Police have yet to conduct any meaningful investigation or inquiry into these disappearances. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka investigated this case and made a report to its head that has never been released."


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International Community's flawed approach assists Colombo- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2007, 15:07 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan, in an Interview to TamilNet Sunday, said the passive stance adopted by the International Community, which he characterized as “unconstructive engagement,” is encouraging Colombo to pursue its power-centric politics and aggressive military agenda. The International Community, while making statements that a military solution is not possible, is either unable to, or unwilling to, exert its formidable muscle to force Colombo out of the current military path, despite the patience shown by the Tigers, he said.


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18 Tamil civilians arrested in Moratuwa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2007, 09:27 GMT]
Eighteen Tamils, including 11 women were arrested by the Police during a cordon and search operation conducted in houses and lodges at Soysapuram in Moratuwa from 10:00 p.m Saturday until 5:00 a.m Sunday. They are detained in Moratuwa and Galkisse police stations and are being interrogated.
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Indian Envoy's help sought in resettling displaced civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2007, 09:25 GMT]
A delegation of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians met the Indian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Alok Prasad and his deputy Manickam in Colombo at 10:00 am Thursday morning at the official residence of the envoy and appealed to him for help in resettling the recently displaced Tamil civilians in East, TNA sources in Colombo said,
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Kinniya Urban Council Tamil member assassinated

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2007, 08:30 GMT]
The only Tamil member of the Urban Council of Kinniya, Thangarajah Ithayarajah, a Tamil National Alliance Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) member, was shot and killed Friday around 10:30 a.m. while he was on his way to Kinniya from his village, Alankerni. A friend of Mr. Ithayarajah was wounded. The assassins who shot and fled the area, came in a motorbike. The assasination comes three months after the assassination of the only Tamil TNA member of the Sinhala dominated Seruvila Pradeshaia Saba in the district. Meanwhile, 10 Tamil members who had won the Trincomalee Urban Council have received death threats, Thurairatnasingham MP said.
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11 Tamils arrested in Dehiwela

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2007, 09:23 GMT]
Eleven Tamil civilians were taken into custody by Sri Lanka Police in a cordon and search operations conducted in Dehiwela in Colombo city from Wednesday midnight till dawn Thursday. Most of those arrested are aged between 25 and 40, and have been staying in Dehiwela with their relatives and friends, and are natives of districts in North-East.
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Five Tamils arrested in Dehiwala detained under PTA

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 January 2007, 09:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police arrested five Tamil civilians in a cordon and search operation conducted in Dehiwala and its coastal areas from Saturday night till dawn of Sunday. The Tamil youths who are natives of Jaffna district have been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and being interrogated.
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"Majority Report" authors commended

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2007, 19:33 GMT]
A group of Sri Lankan academics and civil activists in a letter sent to the members of the Experts Panel on Constitutional Reform Friday, said that the "Majority Report provides a reasonably compromised and remarkably consensual road map for effecting the necessary constitutional changes towards a political resolution," and added that "the onus is now on [Sri Lanka's] President Rajapakse and the leaders of the SLFP and the UNP to take the lead and act on these recommendations."
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Court orders release of arrested refugees

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2007, 10:19 GMT]
Twenty-four Sri Lankan Tamils refugees, including men, women and children, who were arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) when they were returning from Tamilnadu were produced in Mannar magistrate's court Saturday morning. Additional Magistrate Mr.T.J.Pirapaharan ordered them to be released.
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145 persons arrested in Puttalam district

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2007, 10:06 GMT]
145 persons were arrested during a combined cordon and search operation by the Sri Lanka Army and Police in Puttalam, Anamaduwa and Vannathivillu in the North Western Province, from Thursday night till dawn of Friday. Majority of arrested are Tamils, sources said.
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Forty civilians arrested in Wattala

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2007, 18:38 GMT]
In a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police from Thursday night till early morning Friday in Wattala in Colombo city, forty civilians, majority of them Tamils, were taken in for questioning.
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Sinhala civilian slain, Tamils threatened in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 January 2007, 07:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army troopers and police personnel Thursday morning threatened Tamil civilians at Mathavadikulam, a suburb located 3 km south of Vavuniya town, after a gang shot and killed a Sinhala civilian Wednesday night. The SLA soldiers warned Tamil residents that they would be chased away from the area, residents complained. The killing follows the slaying of 6 Tamil civilians Tuesday night in Vavuniya. Tension prevails in Mathavadikulam and Moonrumurippu.
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Sri Lanka steps up offensive on Vaharai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 January 2007, 08:35 GMT]
Heavy casualties were reported in fresh fighting as Sri Lankan armed forces launched a three pronged ground offensive towards Panichchankerni, south of Vaharai, towards Eachilampattu and Uppooral in the north. 12 Tiger fighters were killed and 7 wounded according to LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan who also claimed more than 40 SLA troopers were killed. Meanwhile Sri Lankan military sources in Colombo claiming to have inflicted a heavy casualty, more than 30, on the Tigers said 4 Sri Lankan troopers were killed, inclduing an officer and 20 wounded.
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Unfolding misery

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 January 2007, 09:50 GMT]
More than 72,000 Tamil civilians internally displaced due to the military confrontations in the East, residing in 50 temporary camps in Batticaloa district's LTTE and GoSL controlled areas, are facing serious shortage of food, accommodation, drinking water, sanitation and toilet facilities, according to Batticaloa District Secretariat. Muttur east clashes, followed by battle for Sampoor, and now Vaharai clashes intensifying, the increasing numbers of Internally Displaced (IDPs) in Batticaloa face a dismal future.
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Mosque leaders urge Muslim Tamil unity, blame paramilitary for violence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 January 2007, 08:34 GMT]
Representatives of the Federation of Mosques in Kathankudy, Saturday, in a bid to calm down tension between communities in the border settlements between Kathankudy Muslim and Arayampathy Tamil areas, urged the civilians not to fall prey to the forces seeking to damage Muslim Tamil harmony, after Karuna paramilitary personnel attached to the Sri Lankan counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) camp in Arayampathy had attacked Muslim travellers Friday, causing the victims to seek refuge in Kathankudy Mosque. Paramilitary violence and threats posed by armed "Jihad" men against Tamils have ceased and normalcy was reported in the area Sunday.
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More than 250 Tamils arrested in South, taken for questioning

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 January 2007, 19:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka Security forces assisted by Police arrested 209 youths in Gampaha, 36 in Nittambuwa, 22 in Minuwangoda, and 7 in Borelesgamuwa Friday and Saturday during separate cordon and search operations, sources in Colombo said.
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