White van armed men abduct woman NGO staffer in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 June 2009, 13:46 GMT]
Unidentified armed men arriving in a white van abducted Thursday morning a woman employed in Seva Lanka Non-governmental organization in Vellaave’li area in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said. Two of the armed men spoke in Sinhalese and one in Tamil, the sources added.
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New TNA MP for Ampaa'rai district sworn in

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 June 2009, 13:15 GMT]
Dr.Thomas Thangathurai William Friday was sworn in as new Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Ampaa'rai district parliamentarian in parliament before the Speaker Mr.W.M.J.Lokkubandara. He fills the vacancy created with the demise of Mr.Kanagasabai Pathmanathan who passed away in Mathurai in South India after a brief illness. The new parliamentarian hails from Paa'ndiruppu in Ampaa'rai district and came second in the list of TNA in the 2004 general election held under proportionate preferential system.
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Camp conditions ‘not satisfactory’, ‘dust must settle’ for aid - Akashi

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 June 2009, 01:11 GMT]
Japan’s Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, said Thursday that Colombo "has lots to do" to improve the conditions of those living in the overcrowded camps in the north, where there are shortages of food, water, sanitation and medicines, AFP reported. Saying that Sri Lanka needs to wait until "the dust of the war" settles before donors would take a closer look at the massive development aid needed to rebuild, Akashi urged Colombo to engage with the international community, Reuters reported.
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Independent group pays deposit for Jaffna MC Election

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 June 2009, 22:06 GMT]
An independent group representing important factions in Jaffna peninsula paid the deposit money Thursday to contest in the forthcoming Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) elections, Election Department sources in Jaffna said. The sources, however, declined to reveal the particulars about the independent group which was the first to pay the deposit money due to security reasons.
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11 journalists killed, 50 abducted since 2005 – UNP parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 June 2009, 20:13 GMT]
“Eleven journalists have been killed while fifty have been abducted from 2005 up to now,” Joseph Michael Perera, Gampaha district parliamentarian and United National Party (UNP) Chief Whip said in Sri Lanka parliament presenting a special report Wednesday morning, sources in Colombo said. Meanwhile, five media organizations staged a protest demonstration Wednesday around 3:00 p.m in Colombo Vihara Mahadevi Park, condemning the abduction of and assault on journalist Bothala Jeyantha.
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62 dead bodies of IDPs unclaimed at hospital mortuary in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 June 2009, 14:00 GMT]
Sixty two bodies of Tamil refugees died in internment camps in Vavuniyaa and Cheddiku'lam have been kept in the mortuary of Vavuniyaa general hospital awaiting orders of the Magistrate’s Court to conduct common burial, legal sources said. Meanwhile, medical sources said that fifty one of the victims were elderly IDPs and the remaining infants, died during delivery.
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Neelson accuses NGO of supporting "dictatorship masquerading as democracy"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 June 2009, 11:35 GMT]
"When even the then supporters of the GoSL [Government of Sri Lanka] in Berlin, Paris or London have demanded an enquiry into war crimes and violations of human and humanitarian law in view of the estimated 20,000 mostly dead civilians during the last few weeks, when even the established media question the internment of 300,000 Tamil IDP, there is no way for any self-respecting intellectual or the critical public in general in the country concerned to pretend that the only problem left to be tackled is "humanitarian," said Prof. John Neelsen of Institute of Sociology in Tuebingen Germany in response to appeal for relief funds by the head of the NGO Foundation for Co-Existense's Dr Kumar Rupesinghe, accusing the NGO of supporting a "dictatorship masquerading as democracy."
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Tamil youth abducted in white van in Sammaanthu'rai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 12:18 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons who arrived in a white van Monday night around 9:00 p.m. abducted a 33year-old Tamil youth Sinnavan from his residence in Sorrikalmunai in Sammanthurai police division. He was a mason by profession, according to complains lodged by his wife with the Sammaanthu'rai Police, media reports said.
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Bob Rae denied entry to Sri Lanka - report

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 09:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Wednesday denied entry to Bob Rae, a prominent Canadian politician outspoken in his criticism of Colombo’s military campaign and then Chair of the Forum of Federations, the constitutional NGO advising the Norwegian peace process during 2002 and 2003. Sri Lanka’s Immigration Commissioner P. B. Abeykoon said “intelligence reports” meant Mr. Rae should not to be admitted and was therefore detained when he arrived at Colombo airport and put on a leaving flight.
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SL parliament extends Emergency for another month

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 June 2009, 17:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s parliament Tuesday adopted a motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of ninety five votes. 102 parliamentarians voted for the motion and seven against. This was the first extension of the State of Emergency after the defeat of LTTE last month, sources said.
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Thirumavalavan demands white paper on genocide of Tamils

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 June 2009, 16:06 GMT]
In his maiden address in the Indian Parliament Monday evening, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi President Thol. Thirumavalavan, urged the Indian Government to bring out a white paper on the genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils. He also called upon the Indian Government to change its anti-Tamil attitude. Thirumavalavan also sought to know the role of the Union Government on Sri Lankan issues and the kind of support that has been extended to the Government Sri Lanka. "Our party and our allied parties are very much concerned about Sri Lankan issues. I am sorry to say the Government of India betrayed the Tamil community in Sri Lanka," he observed.
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British Aid worker suspends hunger strike

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 June 2009, 12:08 GMT]
Over 500 people gathered in London outside Parliament, for a ceremony to mark the end of a hunger strike carried out by Tim Martin, a British former aid worker and director of the human rights group Act Now. Martin responded to assurances of help if he ended his hunger strike outside the Houses of Parliament in London, England, after a 21 day campaign taking only liquids, according to his supporters.
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'Our hands are tainted with blood,' admits Suryanarayan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 June 2009, 07:36 GMT]
“Our hands are tainted with blood”, admitted professor V. Suryanarayan, a member of India’s national security advisory panel during Vanni war, in a conference organised by International Tamil Centre, Chennai, on Monday. He also implied the connivance of the Tamil Nadu government when he said in this context that “during the last two three years New Delhi will not take any action without consulting Tamil Nadu”. However, Tamil circles found his criticism of India’s Sri Lanka policy leading nowhere to justice but was harping only on Indian aid conditioning Sri Lanka so that “a Tamil can be a Tamil but at the same time a loyal Sri Lankan”.
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Boyle, Fein charge Sri Lanka of Genocide in Chennai seminar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 June 2009, 02:20 GMT]
Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, and Bruce Fein, a Washington D.C. Attorney, speaking at a seminar in Chennai organized by the International Tamil Center Monday, reiterated charges of Genocide against the Sri Lanka Government alleging massacre of more than 50,000 Tamil civilians, sources attending the event said. While Prof. Boyle urged India to file charges in International Court against Sri Lanka for violating Geneva conventions, and to stop Colombo "to cease and desist from all acts of genocide against Tamils," Fein stressed the urgent need for the Tamils to reach a "consensus on their political aspirations." The event was organized by Dr Panchadcharam, a consultant physician from New York.
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'Geopolitical excuse for esoteric diplomacy'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 June 2009, 02:18 GMT]
“India views with unease the Chinese inroads into Sri Lanka as part of a broad move into the Indian Ocean. But India faces acute dilemma. Its capacity to cajole the diehard Sinhalese nationalists to compromise with the Tamils for an enduring settlement suffers so long as China extends such no-holds-barred political backing to the Colombo establishment”, writes M K Bhadrakumar, a former Indian diplomat in an article that appeared in Deccan Herald, 25 May. “The naval presence in Sri Lanka becomes invaluable for China if the planned canal across the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand materialises connecting Indian Ocean with China’s Pacific coast, a project that could dramatically shift the balance of power in Asia in China’s favour. Therefore, no matter what it takes, the West and China (with Russian backing) will compete for gaining the upper hand in Sri Lanka”, he further says.
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Sri Lanka turns back Mercy ship

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 June 2009, 23:07 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka turned away the ship, MV Captain Ali, carrying relief supplies to the Tamils held in internment camps, after keeping the ship under Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) custody for nearly 4.5 days, and after admitting that the ship carried purely humanitarian supplies, a press release from the Mercy Mission Head Office in the UK said.
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Emergency extension motion to be moved in parliament Tuesday

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 June 2009, 17:48 GMT]
A motion to extend the State of Emergency is to be moved in the Sri Lanka’s Parliament Tuesday for the first time after the defeat of LTTE in the war front. The State of Emergency was introduced on August 12, 2005. Thereafter it is being extended with the permission of parliament every month, parliamentary sources said.
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2 Tamil foreign returnees arrested in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 June 2009, 12:31 GMT]
Wellawatte Police Saturday arrested two Tamils who returned from abroad and have detained on the order of the Defence Ministry. The arrested were taken into custody while they were staying in a house located along 37th Lane in Wellawatte with their relatives, media sources said.
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‘Stop-Genocide’ candidate secures record result, but misses London seat

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 June 2009, 02:49 GMT]
Ms. Jan Jananayagam, an independent candidate contesting the European Parliament elections in London, secured over 50,000 votes, an unprecedented result, and a record for an independent candidate in an EU election. Though Ms Jananayagam failed to secure a seat, her campaign team said they were delighted with the results. Despite having decided to contest only days before voter registration closed and four weeks before the polls, the Tamil candidate had amassed more votes than some well-established small parties in Britain, and more than twice all other independent candidates combined, they said. Apart from Tamil expatriates, her campaign, conducted by students and volunteers, had drawn support and donations from British voters and other minority communities.
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International war crimes probe needed in Sri Lanka – Japan Times

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 June 2009, 02:10 GMT]
Noting the civilian casualty list in Sri Lanka’s offensive against the Tamil Tigers “is long and growing” and the “disturbing” evidence has emerged from the warzone, the Japan Times Monday joined calls for a “complete, unvarnished international” investigation into alleged war crimes. “No government or rebel group must believe it is immune from the rule of law,” the paper said, adding: “If the government is telling the truth, it should have nothing to fear from an investigation.” The editorial comes as Japan sent a special envoy to Sri Lanka to discuss the plight of 300,000 Tamils interned in militarised camps.
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