Senior HRW, ICG staff slam US Senate report

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 December 2009, 03:37 GMT]
The 18-page report released Monday by US Senate Foreign Relations Committee advocating the need to focus on economy and security of Sri Lanka instead of humanitarian considerations to initiate warming of relationship with Sri Lanka was slammed by Rights organizations as "incredibly shoddy" and drew comments that authors of the report appear to be people who "don’t know anything about Sri Lanka." The report comes amid growing concern among many activists that President Obama’s policy of diplomatic engagement with abusive or authoritarian governments, such as China, Burma, Iran, Sudan, and Syria, is being pursued at the expense of human rights, Inter Press Service (IPS) News Agency said.
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NCET urges Obama to explore policy reciprocal to US-Tamil interests

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 December 2009, 01:49 GMT]
US president Barak Obama visiting Oslo to receive Nobel Peace Prize Thursday was urged by the Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET) that the USA should explore possibilities of recharting a policy pragmatic to both the national question of Tamils and the US interests in the island of Sri Lanka. In a letter addressed to the President and made open to media, NCET expressed its deep concern about Monday’s recommendations of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs seeking to strengthen Colombo and sidelining political solution to Tamils. Hundreds of Eezham Tamils in Oslo, joining many other organisations of international politics making demands to Obama, also took part in a vigil Thursday evening, marching from the city centre towards the Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament.
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Parents of Tamil detainees hold protest march in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 December 2009, 14:19 GMT]
Parents and relatives of Tamil prisoners held in Sri Lanka prisons in Vavuniyaa, Anuradhapura, and Jaffna held a peaceful demonstration Thursday in Vavuniyaa demanding the release of hundreds of Tamil civilians. The march commenced from the Vavuniyaa regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and concluded at Vavuniyaa District Secretariat building, according to sources in Vavuniyaa.
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Colombo court remands 2 Tamil civilians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 2009, 15:38 GMT]
Two Tamil civilians were ordered remand by the Colombo Magistrate Tuesday till December 16 on a report submitted by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) that they were cadres of the LTTE air-wing involved in sentry duties at the Visuvavamadu air strip.
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“Trinco district turned into military garrison”- Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 2009, 15:30 GMT]
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian brought to the notice of the parliament that Trincomalee district is being turned into military garrison day by day by the Sri Lanka Army and historic Hindu Koayils there are being desecrated and destroyed to settle Buddhist Sinhalese in traditional Tamil villages. He cited the recent incident where unidentified gangs had desecrated the several centuries’- old Sivan Koayil called as Agasthiyar Thaapanam and located in Kanguveali. He added the said temple was founded by Hindu sage Agasthiyar. He said the government agent of the district is a retired Major General in the Sri Lanka Army and the governor of the eastern province is a retired naval commander.
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EP Hindu Association condemns destruction of Hindu temples in the East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 2009, 12:42 GMT]
Eastern Province Hindu Association (EPHA) has expressed its deep grief and strong condemnation against the theft of the Sivalingam of Akaththiyar Thaapanam at Kangu-veali in Moothoor and the destruction of a Murukan koayil on Kunchithapaatha Malai and the construction of a Buddhist Vihara at its location, in Trincomalee district, in a report released by EPHA president Thiyageswaran. The report called on the Tamil ministers in the Sri Lanka government, the Eastern Province Chief Minister and members of Eastern Provincial Council members to eliminate the current threat to Hindu Religion and to safeguard same.
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US Senate Committee evaluation pushes aside political solution to Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 2009, 07:32 GMT]
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recommending Monday on ‘recharting’ US strategy on Sri Lanka, said the US should focus on economy and security of the island instead of humanitarian considerations, IDPs and civil society; should also invest in Sinhalese parts of the country instead of just focussing on North and East; should resume training of Sri Lankan military officials to ensure human rights in future operations as well as to build critical relationships and implied that US should not emphasise on political reform as a condition to assistance, bringing rift in US- Sri Lanka relations making the latter to align with countries of alternative model of development. While the report based on evaluation by two staffers, one of whom a US Sinhalese, is viewed by Tamil circles as an open insult to their struggle, it is also seen as an election ‘manifesto’ to woo Sinhalese votes.
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Emergency extended for another month in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 December 2009, 11:39 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s parliament Tuesday evening adopted a motion moved by the Prime Minister Ratnasri Wickremanayake seeking the approval to extend the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of seventy four votes. Ninety five parliamentarians from the ruling party United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its allies voted for the motion. Twenty one parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the main opposition United National Party (UNP), present in the House voted against.
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Hindu temple of ritual significance destroyed in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 December 2009, 09:22 GMT]
A Siva temple located at an ancient Hindu site called Akaththiyar Thaapanam, at Kangku-veali in the Moothoor division of the Trincomalee district, where Hindus gather especially to perform the Aadi Amaavaasai ritual for ancestors, was destroyed without any traces coinciding the Heroes’ Day on 27 November. The location of the temple is under the control of Sri Lanka Army stationed at a nearby Sinhala village, Neelaappola. The Sinhala villagers of Neelaappola protected the Tamil villagers of Kangku-veali from displacement in 2006. The Tamil villagers who were shocked and wept to see the temple razed to the ground now, suspect ‘outsiders’ and are scared whether this is a prelude to wipe out their traditional village as well.
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Death threats to journalists in Jaffna, a 'defence matter' – NP Governor

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 December 2009, 02:49 GMT]
The Governor of Northern Province, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, said that the issue of death threats being issued to journalists at a time when the government claims that normalcy reigns in Jaffna is a matter of defence and hence out of his area of power, in response to questions raised by journalists, in a special press meet held by the governor Monday in Jaffna Secretariat.
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Indian parliament expunges remarks on genocide in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 December 2009, 08:13 GMT]
When Communist Party of India (CPI) member D. Raja in his speech Friday in Rajya Sabha pointed out what happened in the island of Sri Lanka was full-scale war and genocide against Tamils with the assistance of Government of India, the Chair ordered to expunge the word genocide from parliamentary records. The verbatim but lengthy debate Friday questioned the government on IDPs, Kachchatheevu, Tamil Nadu fishermen, and about sending a parliamentary delegation to meet Tamil IDPs. But when it came to the core issue of political solution, the debate had nothing new to offer as from Indian foreign minister S M Krishna to main opposition BJP’s Vekaiah Naidu were still harping on treating the Eezham Tamils not as a nation but as a ‘minority’ and perceiving solutions based on obsolete 13th Amendment. Even Raja was using the word ‘national linguistic minority’.
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IC should accept reality of genocide in Sri Lanka - Canadian student

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 December 2009, 02:25 GMT]
Kannan Sreekantha, one of three Canadian Tamil students, who started a 1000-mile walk from Chicago to Washington D.C., an awareness campaign titled 'Break the Silence' calling attention to the plight of Eezham Tamils, on Monday while returning to Canada, in a message to his contacts in the United States said: "Having done this project, while also being exposed to the emerging realities at point blank range, I now more than ever believe that the international community will one day fully come to accept that there has been a genocide committed in Tamil Eelam. All that we need to do is, act as catalyst in order to expedite this process."
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Colombo's claims of free access a lie, says media, ICRC

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 December 2009, 03:30 GMT]
Reporters and aid workers said they are still being barred from visiting Government internment camps housing thousands of Tamil refugees, days after Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama proclaimed on British television that the areas were "totally open."
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Tamils flee from East by sea, SL Police says

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 December 2009, 03:12 GMT]
The killing of a youth and injury to another in a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shooting Friday evening at Kiraan beach in Vaazhaichcheanai, Batticaloa, happened when a group of Tamil youth tried to flee the country by sea, Sri Lankan Police said Saturday. Food, medical items, gas cylinders and life jackets were recovered from the spot, according to the police, who alleged that a group of people were trying to flee the country by boat.
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Holding transnational government above collaboration politics

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 December 2009, 23:35 GMT]
For the first time in the history of Eezham Tamils they have moved to evolve an international polity for themselves, independent of armed struggle, through the concept of transnational governance. The space available today, especially in the diaspora, has to be made the best use of in forging an innovatively democratic structure that should be contributing not only to the cause of Eezham Tamils, but also challenging and shaping a global system that is inadequate in handling a crisis like that of Eezham Tamils. Conceiving the transnational government as a 'post-defeat' organ for collaboration will be the greatest ever tragedy in the polity of Eezham Tamils.
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Attempts to split TNA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 December 2009, 06:35 GMT]
A faction led by Mavai Senathirajah and some by Srikantha, both Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians for Jaffna, are said to be engaged in activities aimed at splitting TNA, sources in Jaffna said. Srikantha and Selvam Adaikalanathan, another TNA parliamentarian, met Monday Basil Rajapakse, the brother and senior advisor of President Mahinda Rajapakse, in Colombo after which Srikantha told press that Basil Rajapakse had consented to allow resettlement of 4,500 IDPs from Valikaamam North in the first stage. Meanwhile, Mavai Senathirajah said in a press release to the media that Thamizh Arasukk Kadchi (TAK) had sent a letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse requesting the resettlement of IDPs in Valikaamam North.
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Global meet urged to discuss environmental genocide by Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 December 2009, 13:18 GMT]
Decades-long massive military operations and occupation of Tamil Eelam by Sri Lankan forces have caused grave environmental destruction to the north and east of the island. Recovery is difficult as the Tamil homeland is in the dry and arid part of the island, depending on scanty and truant northeast monsoon, writes environmentalist and freelance journalist T. Thipaakaran. It may take more than 150 years for the plundered timber trees to grow again, he says. Tamil academic circles viewing the situation as 'ethnically motivated environmental rape taking place with international abetment,' urge the Denmark meet to discuss the challenge of curbing such crimes of ‘state sovereignty’ and to explore ways of entrusting in such situations the control of land to the sons and daughters of the soil, who only could take a genuine interest in the recovery and protection of their environment.
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Australian reveals “deplorable” conditions onboard Indonesian boat

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 December 2009, 11:21 GMT]
Cramped conditions, illness, poor sanitation and a lack of food are some of the many hardships being endured by 254 Tamil refugees onboard an Indonesian vessel stated Australian Socialist Party member Anthony Main on his recent visit to the port of Merak. Able to gain access as part of a delegation of Indonesian and Australian unions, Main spoke to several of those on board, including women and children, and revealed an atmosphere of fear and confusion almost 8 weeks since they were intercepted by the Indonesian Navy at the request of the Australian Government.
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Indonesian commandos attempt raid on refugee boat

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 December 2009, 11:19 GMT]
Politicians and human rights groups have slammed Indonesia after claims that several high speed navy ships surrounded a boat carrying 250 Tamils docked at the Indonesian port of Merak and tried to storm the boat in an attempt to end a tense standoff that has lasted almost 8 weeks.
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Mano Ganesan backs Fonseksa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 December 2009, 11:17 GMT]
Democratic People's Front leader Mano Ganesan Thursday announced that his party would support General (retd) Sarath Fonseka, the joint opposition candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections in Sri Lanka. The DPF leader also said that he was presently negotiating with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to win their support to General Fonseka.
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