Sri Lanka civil liberties ‘already under strain’ – US Ambassador

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2006, 01:09 GMT]
Asked about the salience of a Patriot Act-style law for Sri Lanka, US Ambassador to Colombo, Robert O' Blake, told the state-owned Daily News: “civil liberties, frankly, are already under strain here (in Sri Lanka). So, I wouldn't want to suggest other things that might further imperil them.” He pointed out that the US Patriot Act was operating in tandem with strong respect for civil liberties there. Mr. Blakes’s comments were published in Tuesday’s edition of the Daily News as the Colombo government says it preparing to revive the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) – breaching the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement.
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Hill country protests for wage increase continue

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 December 2006, 03:21 GMT]
Hill country Tamils employed in tea estates, as part of the on-going agitation to increase daily wages, called on the businesses to observe a hartal in the town of Talawakelle, Sunday, spokesperson of the employees said. Workers were protesting against the dead-lock in salary negotiations between the Trade Unions of the employees and the Employers Federation, and appealed for speedy resolution to their wage demand.


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Tamil Americans celebrate Heroes day in New Jersey

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 December 2006, 17:28 GMT]
More than 500 Tamil Americans attended a packed auditorium for the Heroes Day event held Saturday evening at South Brunswick Middle School in New Jersey. Tamils from York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland attended the event, the second biggest after the largest turnout in 1999, attendees said.
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Court to issue verdict on TRO funds case

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 December 2006, 12:21 GMT]
The Colombo High Court Judge, after receiving the written submissions by the Lawyers representing the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), and by the Attorney General representing the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, set 11 December 2006 as the next court date when a decision on the Court’s jurisdiction would be conveyed to the parties, legal sources in Colombo said.
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"Cool reception" in Delhi for Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 November 2006, 15:46 GMT]
President Mahinda Rajapakse’s visit to India this week was overshadowed by Tamil Tiger leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan’s Heroes’ Day address declaring a resumption of the struggle for independence. Sri Lankan and other media have made much of Delhi’s call for negotiations to end Sri Lanka’s protracted civil war, suggesting it was a rebuff for the LTTE’s ‘call for Eelam.’ But experienced political journalists saw India focusing on a different set of concerns – that of the hardline Sri Lankan government’s conduct vis-à-vis the Tamil minority.
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LTTE officials dismiss conflicting press reports

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 November 2006, 07:01 GMT]
Director of LTTE's Peace Secretariat S. Puleedevan and Military Spokesman of the LTTE, Irasaiah Ilanthirayan Thursday jointly dismissed press reports that cited SLMM officials as saying that the Tigers had conveyed a message to Colombo following the policy address by the LTTE leader. "Our National Leader, in his policy address, has clearly explained everything that was needed to be conveyed to Colombo," Mr. Ilanthirayan said. The LTTE leader, Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, in his policy address on Heroes' Day had accused Colombo for having conducted the funeral rites of the Ceasefire Agreement without tearing it apart.
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British Tamils appeal to Blair over humanitarian crisis

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 November 2006, 11:55 GMT]
A coalition of over 80 expatriate Tamil community organisations in the United Kingdom this week appealed publicly to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair to intervene diplomatically to end the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka's Northeast. The appeal was published in a full page advert placed in The Times newspaper on Monday by the British Tamils' Forum and signed by 88 expatriate Tamil welfare associations, religious societies, cultural and arts societies, sports clubs and rehabilitation organisations.
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81 lorries with supplies reach Vaharai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 November 2006, 08:00 GMT]
81 lorries of humanitarian supplies from UN aid agency, International NGOs and local NGOs, facilitated and monitored by the ICRC and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, have crossed the Mankerny Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp into Liberation Tigers controlled Vaharai region in Batticaloa district, held under siege by the SLA. However, food supplies in more than 44 lorries were blocked by the military alleging a military build up of the Tigers on Forward Defence Line (FDL) using the supply routes of humanitarian delivery. Trincomalee District Political Head of the LTTE, S. Elilan, when contacted by TamilNet, denied the SLA claim and said that the SLMM was provided access to verify such claims.
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US presses GoSL, LTTE on CFA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 November 2006, 04:28 GMT]
In the United States’ first reaction to the LTTE’s declaration Monday that successive Sinhala regimes’ intransigence in resolving Sri Lanka conflict has compelled Tamils no option but to seek an independent state, a State Department spokesman on Tuesday called on both sides to honour the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), describing it as the “foundation” for the finding peace, and also called for a return to dialogue.
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Rajapakse dismisses Pirapaharan’s comments

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 November 2006, 11:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse Tuesday dismissed Tamil Tiger leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan’s declaration Monday that Colombo’s intransigence has compelled Tamils no option but an independent state. Rajapakse, who is visiting India this week said he had not heard the speech. “But I have not taken it seriously. Because he has always been saying these things.” President Rajapakse’s comments come after belligerent and contradictory comments by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka, government defence spokesman Rumbekwella and government Peace Secretariat chief Palitha Kohana.
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Two SLA troopers injured in Puthur grenade attack

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 November 2006, 22:23 GMT]
Unidentified persons lobbed hand grenades on a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry post near Puthur junction on the Jaffna-Point Pedro road Monday around 8:30 a.m injuring two SLA troopers, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna visited the site of the attack and conducted investigations.
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Court hears TRO's case against Central Bank

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 November 2006, 11:14 GMT]
Attorneys representing the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) filed written submissions to High Court requesting that the Judge vacate the ex parte order of 4 September 2006 that froze TRO’s bank accounts as directed by the Judge, TRO said in a press release issued in Colombo Monday, detailing the status of the case against Central Bank of the Government of Sri Lanka.
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Include abducted workers in CoI's list, TRO appeals to Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 November 2006, 04:23 GMT]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) appealed to Sri Lanka's President, Mahinda Rajapakse, to include the case of the seven abducted TRO workers missing since 29 and 30 January, to be included in the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI), in a press release issued from TRO's Colombo office Friday.
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Parents honored in Heroes day celebrations

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 November 2006, 11:45 GMT]
"We owe our military and political strength to our fighters who gave up their lives in the Tamils' struggle. Today we face a critical situation where we are faced with the danger of losing more lives to achieve our final goal. It is our duty to honour the parents who have made the priceless sacrifice through their sons and daughters," said Col. Theepan of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), speaking at the first event held, to honour the parents of dead cadres of LTTE, at Kilinochchi Kanagapuram Maha Vidyalayam Monday around 10:00 a.m., sources in Kilinochchi said.
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Colombo ignoring humanitarian catastrophe - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 November 2006, 15:49 GMT]
Colombo was engaged in "last minute tactics to placate the international community," prior to a scheduled meeting of Co-Chairs in Washington, by dispatching a single lorry into Vaharai where 38,000 civilians were starving for the past fortnight. Likewise, Colombo was showcasing to the media that it would dispatch a single convoy of supplies through A9 into Jaffna where 600,000 Tamils are under military siege in an "open prison," charged S. P. Thamilchelvan, political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday.
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38,000 Tamils face starvation in Vaharai, humanitarian disaster imminent - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 November 2006, 12:00 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance Parliamentary Group leader and MP for Trincomalee District, R. Sampanthan, in an urgent letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, Sunday, requested again the SL President that food, medicine and other essentials be urgently rushed to the people of Vakarai and Kathiraveli and urged Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse to intervene personally and take every necessary step to ensure that this is done. 8,500 families from the villages of Trincomalee district, internally displaced to Vakarai and Kathiraveli in addition to 3,500 families of the area are facing malnutrition, disease and starvation. "A grave humanitarian disaster is imminent," Mr. Sampanthan said.
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Indian Premier writes to Vaiko: Colombo must meet legitimate Tamil rights through negotiations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 November 2006, 12:38 GMT]
Indian Prime Minisiter Dr. Manmohan Singh has written to Mr. Vaiko, the General Secretary of MDMK in Tamil Nadu state of India, sharing his concerns about the closure of A-9 highway and the loss of many innocent lives, mainly Tamils, including women and children, stating that it was a matter of "utmost concern and sorrow." India would reiterate to Colombo that it must find a political solution through negotiations and meet the genuine and legitimate rights of the Tamils, rather than adopt tactics that lead to the death of innocent people, Dr. Manhoman Singh said, adding that India has taken great care not to provide Sri Lanka with lethal hardware that could be used against Tamils.
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‘Everything on table, equal respect for all’ needed for peace - Murphy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 November 2006, 15:55 GMT]
Peace talks can succeed only if “everything is on the table and there is respect for all points of view,” Britain’s former Northern Ireland Minister said Thursday after meeting Tamil Tiger officials. Saying there is a “huge comparison” between the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka, Mr. Murphy said: “no one can win this kind of war. … we have the same message for the Sri Lankan government as the LTTE: keep searching for a solution, ensure the ceasefire agreement is one of integrity, renounce violence and ensure there is a proper look at everything that can bring peace.”
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"Intervene and avert major humanitarian crisis in Vaharai," TRO urges International Community

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 November 2006, 14:32 GMT]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) on Thursday appealed to the International Humanitarian Community to intervene adn avert a major humanitarian crisis in Vaharai. No food convoy has passed through the Pannichankerni Bridge to Vaharai since 5th November which has resulted in an acute food shortage. ICRC, World Food Program (WFP) and other international NGOs have not been allowed to provide emergency food provision, non food relief items (NFRI) and shelter materials. The International Community must pressure the Government of Sri Lanka to allow access for humanitarian agencies and food supplies, the TRO said.
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Operation USA: GoSL ‘blocking aid’ to Jaffna, Vaharai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 November 2006, 05:27 GMT]
Operation USA, a large American NGO, says it is “collecting funds and pushing the US Government and the UN to take firm action to help re-open humanitarian corridors” in Sri Lanka. Demanding access to internally displaced people (IDPs), the NGO said “a contributing factor to the current tension between the Sinhalese and Tamils is the inequitable distribution of tsunami relief aid by the Government of Sri Lanka.”
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