Civilian killed in DPU attack in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 June 2008, 15:38 GMT]
An Internally Displaced Person (IDP) who was residing in Mallaavi was killed in a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) operated Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) Claymore attack Sunday around 9:30 a.m. at Paalaippaa'ni near Mallaavi, Tamileelam Police officials said.
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18 SLA killed in Vavuniyaa, SLA bodies recovered - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 June 2008, 14:23 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Sunday said they put up stiff resistance to a three-pronged attempt by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to break into their territory in Paalamoaddai, Vavuniyaa. 18 SLA soldiers were killed and three dead bodies of the SLA, two of them severely damaged, were located by the Tigers. More than 31 SLA soldiers were wounded in the confrontations, according to the LTTE. Three T-56 assault rifles with kit-bags, holsters and ammunition have been seized by the LTTE.
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Prayers for peace observed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 June 2008, 08:29 GMT]
Leaders and followers of Saiva, Protestant, and Catholic religions in Jaffna peninsula participated in a joint prayer event for peace in Sri Lanka, organized by Northern Region Sathiya Seva institution at Nallur Saturday around 2:30 p.m, presided by Jaffna magistrate Vasanthasenan. “Love is God, Live in Love” was the main theme on which the devotional singing prayer programme was held, according to the attendees.
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SLA, police arrest two youths in Naavalady

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 June 2008, 00:45 GMT]
Two youths were taken into custody during a cordon and search operation jointly conducted Saturday from 9:00 a.m. till noon by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and police personnel in Naavalady area in the administrative area of Maanmunai North District Secretariat within Batticaloa police division, sources said.
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Mysterious death of 15 young SLN recruits in Delft

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 June 2008, 22:40 GMT]
More than 15 young Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) recruits between 16 to 20 years of age were found dead following a mysterious shooting incident in their camp, last Monday, in Delft (Neduntheevu), the farthest island off Jaffna. Unconfirmed reports allege collective suicide due to frustration caused by isolation and harsh training. Before the incident, the trainees had conveyed their frustrations to reliable sources. The trainees were reportedly deceived by their recruiters that they were to be trained somewhere in the South of Sri Lanka, but had been brought to Nedunththeevu in the North.
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Fein seeks action against Sri Lanka officials

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 June 2008, 05:41 GMT]
Bruce Fein, a Washington Times columnist, and a functionary in the Ronald Reagan administration, who is currently in Toronto, told a Toronto newspaper, that he is seeking support to "gathering evidence against two brothers of current Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse (one a U.S. citizen) and that nation's army chief, Sarath Fonseka," who he claims are responsible for "daily atrocities" in Sri Lanka.
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Fishermen demonstrate against SLA restriction in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 June 2008, 04:20 GMT]
More than 300 fishermen from PanangkaddukKoddadi area in Mannaar district launched a protest demonstration in front of Mannar Regional Secretariat Thursday around 10:30 a.m against the restrictions imposed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and submitted memoranda to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, S. Vino Noharathalingam and Mannaar Assistant Government Agent (AGA), requesting their help to solve their problems, sources in Mannaar said.
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'Tamils seek liberation, not just an end to human rights abuses' - paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 June 2008, 02:21 GMT]
By reducing the Sri Lankan state’s multi-faceted repression of the Tamils to simply a problem of ‘human rights abuses’, the international community is avoiding the central question of Tamil self-determination and, through the logic of ‘reform’, seeking to legitimize its efforts to strengthen the Sri Lankan state, the Tamil Guardian newspaper argued this week. “For the Tamils, the atrocities inflicted on them by the Sri Lankan security forces are a symptom, an indicator of the racist logic of the Sinhala-dominated state; for the international community, they are the problem itself i.e. end the abuses and thus solve the crisis,” the paper’s editorial said.
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385 Tamil civilians languish in SLA detention in Nanaaddaan - MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 June 2008, 19:00 GMT]
385 civilians from 177 families of Mannaar are languishing in Sri Lanka Army detention at Ka'limoaddai in Naanaaddaan for three months without any inquiries, said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivasakthy Anandan in a letter to Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday. The TNA parliamentarian for Vanni District appealed to the Sri Lankan president to order the release of the civilians detained in the SLA camp. Some of those detained include those who were born in India and had their education in the schools and Universities there.
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Seven leaders including G.G.Ponnambalam honored in SL parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 June 2008, 04:29 GMT]
Seven political leaders, C.W.W.Kannangara, A.E.Goonesinghe, Dr.S.A.Wickremasinghe, G.G.Ponnambalam, Dr.N.M.Perera, Phillip Gunawardene and Alhaj T.B.Jayah were honored for their services to Sri Lanka, Tuesday in Sri Lanka's parliament. Their photographs were unveiled Tuesday morning in the parliament as a mark of respect in an event presided by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, parliamentary sources said.
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SLA position ambushed in Mannaar city

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 June 2008, 03:05 GMT]
A group of guerrilla fighters lobbed a grenade and opened fire on a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) post located at the public playground on Mannaar - Thalaimannaar Road in Mannaar city in the early hours of Wednesday, at 2:05 a.m., killing one SLA soldier and seriously wounding another, Police said. Tension prevailed in the city as SLA soldiers opened fire from their posts throughout the city continuously for 45 minutes.
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SLA trooper shot, injured in Akkaraipattu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 June 2008, 16:35 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen opened fire Monday around 7:20 p.m. on a road patrol unit of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) near the Clock Tower on Chaakama Veethi in Akkaraipattu police division in Ampaa’rai district, seriously injuring a soldier, sources in Akkaraipattu said. SLA launched a cordon and search operation immediately after the attack.
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ACF quits, says no confidence in SL's investigations into massacre

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 June 2008, 12:33 GMT]
"It has been almost two years and we have seen nothing...We no longer have any confidence the Sri Lankan investigations will deliver justice." Executive Director, Francois Danel, of Action Contre la Faim (ACF) told Reuters saying that "it [ACF] had no confidence in the government investigation and had quit the island in protest."
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8 Tamils arrested in Polonnaruwa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 June 2008, 03:03 GMT]
Eight Tamil civilians were arrested Tuesday morning in a cordon and search operation conducted jointly by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police in Polonnaruwa town in the north western province. They are being detained in police station and are being interrogated for alleged involvement in LTTE activity, sources said.
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Couple with child seeks protection with HRC Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 June 2008, 16:22 GMT]
A trader and his wife with their four-year-old daughter sought protection due to continuous death threats from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and SLA-backed paramilitaries, with Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) office, Monday. Soldiers from SLA Achcheazhu camp in Ooreazhu, Chunnaakam in Valikaamam have been persistently demanding the trader to appear for interrogation at their camp, the trader said in his statement to the HRC Investigating Officer.
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40 Tamil civilians arrested in Polonnaruwa, Chilaw

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 June 2008, 18:48 GMT]
Forty civilians, most of them are Tamils were taken into custody in two separate cordon and search operations conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police in Polonnaruwa and Chilaw police divisions. All are being detained in police stations and being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID).
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SLAF airstrike kills 4 Tamil civilians, 10 wounded

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 June 2008, 06:45 GMT]
Three civilians were killed on the spot Sunday morning when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed a civilian settlement of Internally Displaced Persons in Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaiththteevu district. Another civilian succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. 10 civilians, including a pregnant mother, were wounded in the air attack, Tamileelam Police said. Puthukkudiyiruppu Central College, located 100 meters away from the IDP settlement, zonal office of education, and temples in the vicinity have sustained damage in the SLAF attack. Tension prevails in the town as shrapnels from the air-blasts of the bombs were spread around the area.
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SLAF fighter jets bomb preschool in Kumarapuram

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 June 2008, 05:48 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir fighter jets, in four sorties, bombed the Kaaththaan preschool area in Kumarapuram, Paranthan in Ki’linochchi Saturday around 1:10 p.m when the school children, teachers and parents were gathered for the school’s sports meet to begin, sources in Ki’linochchi said. 35 children, 2 teachers and the parents narrowly escaped death in the bombing which caused damage to the school building and ten houses, the sources added.
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Diaspora Tamils launch Pongku Thamizh 2008

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 June 2008, 13:41 GMT]
Diaspora Eezham Tamils on Saturday began rallying in support of the Eezham Tamils Right to Self-Determination in 'Pongku Thamizh,' which means 'Tamil Upsurge', an annual move aimed at Tamil awakening through cultural programmes. First country to mark the move was New Zealand, where Tamils gathered at Potters Park in Auckland for two hours on Saturday between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
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Tissainayagam in wrongful custody, Jasikaran tortured, allege counsels

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 June 2008, 19:07 GMT]
Senior Tamil journalist and Sunday Times columnist, J.S Tissainayagam, under detention since his arrest on March 6, was produced Friday before the chief magistrate N. Hettiarachchi 98 days into his detention, legal sources in Colombo said. The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) of Sri Lanka's Defense Ministry objected to Tissainayagam and other detainees from being moved to the Fiscal Custody according to regulation 21 (2) of the emergency regulations of 2005.
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