Trinco executions added to Sri Lanka's war crimes record in Dublin

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 2010, 01:17 GMT]
An affidavit containing the personal testimony of Dr Manoharan, the father of Ragihar, one of the five high school students shot dead in execution style in Trincomalee beach nearly four years ago by members of Sri Lanka security forces, and two detailed reports of evidence collected on the killings by a Rights Group whose members are in self-exile due to threat to their lives, were submitted as record of evidence to the Dublin war-crimes tribunal hearing concluded on the 16th of this month, US-based pressure group Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) said Tuesday.
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IDPs not allowed to enter their places in HSZs in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 2010, 03:08 GMT]
Following the announcement made by government ministers and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials, persons who went to observe ‘Pongal’ in their houses in the SLA High Security Zones (HSZ) in Ariyaalai North and Valikaamam North Thursday were chased away by SLA soldiers and police deployed at the Front Defence Line (FDL) positions in these areas, Internally Displaced Person’s Welfare Association representatives said. All promises of resettlement in Jaffna HSZs made by government ministers and SLA officials remain unfulfilled and empty promises made with the aim to get the IDPs to vote for Mahinda Rajapakse, they openly accused.
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People displaced from HSZs in Jaffna continue to be deceived

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 2010, 02:47 GMT]
Arranged by Minister Dougals Devananda, around 300 IDPs were taken by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers to Ariyaalai Wednesday saying that they can see their houses which had been caught in the High Security Zone (HSZ) during SLA occupation in 2000, representatives of IDP Welfare Organisations in Jaffna said. The IDPs, however, were not permitted to go beyond Poompukaar junction in Ariyaalai and they had to return with disappointment, they added. Though many promises had been given to the IDPs in an effort to get their votes for President Mahinda Rajapakse, so far no definite date or information had been given to them regarding resettlement in the HSZs, the representatives said.
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Support for Mahinda in Jaffna declines

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 2010, 04:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) being reluctant to permit resettlement in its High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North, whatever support that President Mahinda Rajapakse had in Jaffna peninsula began to decline fast, sources in Jaffna said. Besides, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Sivasakthi Ananthan had told ‘Valampuri’, the Tamil daily published in Jaffna, that SLA soldiers at Thellippazhai had demanded Ministry of Defence (MOD) permission from him to enter the HSZ and this had altogether dashed the hopes of the IDPs who had been time and again promised with resettlement.
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Remains of Pirapaharan’s father cremated in VVT

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 2010, 13:20 GMT]
Late Thiruvengadam Veluppillai, father of LTTE leader Mr. V.Pirapaharan, was cremated at the central cremation grounds in Oo'ra'ni Valveddiththu’rai Sunday around 2:30 p.m with thousands of mourners participating in the last funeral rites, sources in Jaffna said. Thousands of people from all parts of the peninsula joined in the procession when the remains were taken from Pirapaharan’s home in Aaladi in Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) while black flags were flown and sombre music was played in VVT, despite the intimidating presence of a large number of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and policemen, the sources added. Thol. Thirumavalvan, the leader of Viduthalai Chi’ruththaika’l from Tamil Nadu and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivajilingam paid their last tribute at the cremation grounds.
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Video authentic, Alston calls for wider war crimes probe

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 2010, 06:56 GMT]
Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, in a press meet today called for wider investigations into allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka after three forensic experts hired by Alston and two previous independent analyses by Times On Line (UK), and a Colorado firm confirmed the authenticity of the video broadcast by Channel-4 in August.
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2 SLA soldiers commit suicide in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 2010, 02:43 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier shot himself to death in Point Pedro while another soldier took his life by taking poison in Palaali, police sources said. Incidents of suicide among SLA soldiers have increased in recent times and SLA authorities are conducting a survey to find the cause of the suicides, sources in Jaffna said.
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Plunder for business, double enterprise of Sri Lanka Army

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 2010, 16:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army deployed in Mullaiththeevu has started dismantling and destroying the houses belonging to the Tamils, an eye-witness who recently visited Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu districts told TamilNet Tuesday. The SLA soldiers were seen shifting valuable timber used in buildings, windows and doors to other Sinhalese areas through Weli-ioya.
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Families of persons gone missing in Jaffna confront Southern political leaders

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 2010, 04:39 GMT]
Family members of young men and women, who had gone missing after arrest by Sri Lanka Armed Forces in Jaffna, confronted the political leaders from South who had accompanied Sarath Fonseka when they came to attend an event in Jaffna Veerasingham Hall Saturday. Parliamentarian Mano Ganeshan had arranged a meeting with the persons whose children or relatives had gone missing and the people who had come for this meeting appealed to the Southern political leaders amidst tears to help find their children, sources in Jaffna said. The mental anguish of the people affected was palpable, and the leaders assured the relatives that they will take appropriate action, the sources added.
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"I will not accept partition of the country" - Sarath Fonseka, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 2010, 04:25 GMT]
"I am not prepared to allow partitioning the country, be it proposed by the minority or majority community," Sarath Fonseka, the common opposition presidential candidate, said in a press meet held Saturday in Jaffna town. In response to a question Sarath Fonseka took pains to explain the difference between the role he had to play as a military officer in the past and his present role as a politician. He had to give priority to the safety of soldiers as the Military Commander and now as a politician he gives priority to the benefit of people, he added.
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No likelihood of Vanni IDPs being settled east of A9 road

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 2010, 04:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka government is actively engaged in resettling Vanni IDPs along A9 road from Oamanthai to Maangku'lam in an attempt to show the outside world that it is resettling Vanni IDPs in their own places, in view of the forthcoming presidential election, sources in Jaffna said. Resettlement in areas located east of A9 road in Vanni will not be possible in the near future, according to sources in Northern Province Governor's office. The IDPs taken to areas along A9 road from Oamanthai to Maangku'lam have been only allowed to live in places close to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and sentry posts while neither the government nor NGOs provide them with any assistance, thee sources said.
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Copenhagen exhibits expose NorthEast environmental destruction

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 December 2009, 14:53 GMT]
Two environmentalists from Tamil Nadu, interrupted their world tour promoting environment preservation, to organize an exhibit in the hallways of the climate change conference in Copenhagen between 7th and 18th December, to highlight the irreversible deforestation in the Tamil homeland of North-East carried out by the Sri Lanka military. “Decades-long massive military operations and occupation of Tamil Eelam by Sri Lanka’s military 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,” the two activists said, echoing many eelam activists' sentiments.
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UN Official's involvement in LTTE leaders' killing questioned

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 December 2009, 12:29 GMT]
Following up on independent rapporteur for the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Philip Alston's, request to Colombo to provide details of the killing of LTTE leaders who surrendered the arms, Inner City Press questioned, "given not only the UN's role in the final days of what even it called the "bloodbath on the beach" in Sri Lanka, but especially UN chief of staff Vijay Nambiar's reported role in the deadly surrenders, why Rapporteur Alston has not already demanded answers from the UN itself."
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SLA constructs Buddhist temple in Jaffna without Municipality Council permission

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 December 2009, 04:07 GMT]
More than a hundred Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are engaged in building a Buddhist Vihara in Madaththadi Chanthi (Water Tank Junction) next to Jaffna holy Family Convent along A9 road, sources in Jaffna said. When the matter was brought to the notice of Minister Douglas Devananda he said that it was the SLA who is constructing the Buddhist Vihara and not the government. Civil society representatives in Jaffna, however, said that the SLA is building the Buddhist temple with the blessing of the government as it had already built several Buddhist places of worship with the statue of Buddha along A9 road in Vanni.
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Allegations of killing LTTE surrendees under UN probe

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 December 2009, 12:20 GMT]
Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary execution to Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations office at Geneva, in a letter to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, requested explanation for the allegations made by Sarath Fonseka on the extra-judicial executions of of three senior members of Liberation Tigers and their families when they tried surrender to the Sri Lanka military on the night of 17th May, Daily mirror reported. In the letter, Alston quotes Common Article 3 of Geneva Conventions of 1949 which prohibits killing of persons who have laid down their arms. These allegations, if proven, will amount to war-crimes.
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Passengers from Jaffna through A9 road subjected to inconvenience

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 December 2009, 07:53 GMT]
Though Sri Lanka government and its ministers say that all restrictions imposed on persons travelling from Jaffna to Vavuniyaa have been completely lifted they continue to experience undue delay and inconvenience, sources in Jaffna said. The buses carrying the passages from Jaffna have to wait at Jaffna esplande first and then allowed to go in convoys under military escort, the sources added.
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99.8 percent say yes to Tamil Eelam in Canada referendum

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 December 2009, 08:49 GMT]
99.82 percent of 48,583 voters mandated independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the poll conducted in 31 centres across Canada, Saturday. The Canadian media and politicians showed great interest in the process of the ballot and organizers expressed satisfaction as 50, 000 was the expected turn out they quoted to media earlier. The poll was officiated by ES&S a professional company in North America that used counting machines. Unlike in Norway and France and contrary to earlier assurances, the ballot took place with complete registration of voters, which limited confidential participation, observers said. Voter turn out is assessed to be between 50 and 65 percent, but no authentic statistics is available on eligible Eezham Tamil voters.
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SLA, police extort money from passengers to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 December 2009, 02:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and police personnel manning the bus terminal at Vavuniyaa demand money from the people travelling to Jaffna, who have to report for checking before travel, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The bus travel being the cheapest, people choose it rather than ship or flight which are run by agencies of prominent persons of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). The demand for bribe from passengers at Vavuniyaa appears to be a ploy to divert them to travel by ship or planes, the sources further said.
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Times expert authenticates Sri Lanka's Channel-4 war-crimes video

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 December 2009, 04:51 GMT]
Following independent verification by a US-based group of the authenticity of the Channel-4 video in October, UK's Times reported in its Tuesday edition that its own independent analysis of the Channel-4 broadcast video, showing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers summarily executing unarmed Tamils stripped naked and hands tied behind the back, found "no evidence of digital manipulation, editing or any other special effects." Times' forensic analyst, Grant Fredericks, is an independent forensic video specialist who is also an instructor at the FBI National Academy, the paper said.
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Unrelenting rain continues in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 2009, 14:15 GMT]
Monsoon rains continue to pour down in Jaffna peninsula for the third day Monday flooding the low lying areas, sources in Jaffna said. The most affected by the persisting rain are the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) resettled in Jaffna and those living as permanent refugees evicted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) because they are located in low lying areas that are easily flooded. However, no one had left their residences until now and they will have to move into school buildings if the rains do not stop, Jaffna Secretariat officials said.
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