SLA harass Tamil resettled civilians in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 April 2009, 06:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are subjecting the resettled civilians in Koa’ralaippattu South Divisional Secretariat area in Batticaloa district to undue harassment and restrictions accusing them of helping Liberation Tiger combatants who had infiltrated into the area, the civilians said. SLA soldiers intimidate them aimng to to expel them when they have to attend to their seasonal agricultural work, they added.
Full story >>

British celebrities, MPs endorse Mercy Mission to Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 April 2009, 05:34 GMT]
A global appeal event for the "Mercy Mission," a ship carrying relief and medical supplies to Vanni, was held Tuesday at the Royal Horseguards, UK, attended by several British Members of Parliament, celebrities to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka to the public, organizers of the event said. The event was sponsored by "Act Now" and several Tamil charities. A petition addressed to the President of Sri Lanka was signed by the attending MPs and other celebrities, and the organizers said that the petition will be circulated to political leaders and other celebrities in US, Europe, Canada and Australia before the petition is sent to Colombo.
Full story >>

Muslim editor of Tamil weekly attacked in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 April 2009, 05:11 GMT]
A masked gang of five armed men forcibly entering the house of the Muslim editor, M. I. Rahmathulla, of the Tamil weekly newspaper ‘Vaara Uraikal’ on Dean Veethi in Kaaththaankudi Wednesday midnight heavily assaulted him, sources in Batticaloa said. The weekly which comes out every Friday exposes the political malpractice and corruption related to the Government Development Projects, Mosques and government administration in the area, the sources informed. The armed gang burnt the copies of the next issue of the weekly and destroyed the publishing implements including his computer.
Full story >>

SLA fired artillery shells create havoc inside safety zone

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 April 2009, 04:46 GMT]
Lawrence Christy, planning director at the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) details the human toll due to indiscriminate firing of artillery shells by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) into the demarcated safety zone where more than 200,000 Tamil civilans have taken refuge. United Nations leaked document listed the number of killed as 2683 and wounded as 7241 between January 20 and March 7. Hundreds have been killed and injured in the last three weeks.
Full story >>

SL High Commission in UK differentiates Tamil students from Sri Lankans

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 April 2009, 02:20 GMT]
“We are also being informed by Sri Lankan diaspora [in UK] that Tamil students in schools, attended by their children, have made presentations titled ‘Stop Tamil Genocide’ during their citizenship class,” complained a recent letter signed by Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner, Sumith Nakandala, sent to head teachers of schools in Britain. Responding to the letter, the Chairman of British Tamils Forum (BTF) said: “British MPs and even a minister have recently expressed apprehension in British Parliament over impending genocide of Tamils at the hands of the Sri Lankan government and its armed forces. But the Sri Lankan High Commission is attempting to bully the democratic rights of the school students in London learning and voicing against the genocide in Sri Lanka.”
Full story >>

JU students boycott lectures demanding Raveendran’s release

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 2009, 13:58 GMT]
Jaffna University students of Medicine, Science and Agricultural Faculties joined in the boycott of lectures launched by the Arts Faculty students Wednesday demanding the immediate release of lecturer Selvarajah Raveendran, the younger brother of Jaffna District Tamil National (TNA) parliamentarian, Selvarajah Kajendran, sources in Jaffna said. All educational activities in Jaffna University ceased as the entire students joined in the boycott which is expected to continue until the release of Raveendran, the sources added.
Full story >>

SLA soldier killed, another injured in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 2009, 12:44 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a hand grenade attack on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers Tuesday around 10:45 p.m near Vaazhaichcheanai bus stand in Vaazhaichcheanai police division in Batticaloa district, killing a soldier and injuring another, Batticaloa district LTTE sources said.
Full story >>

US envisioning 'post-conflict' period puzzles Tamil circles

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 2009, 11:09 GMT]
“The international community has started planning for the post-conflict period”, said a letter written a week ago by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton to US Congress members who had shown concern to the humanitarian situation in the island of Sri Lanka. “I emphasized that the Sri Lanka Army should not fire into the areas where civilians are trapped in the conflict zone. I urged President Rajapaksa to devise a political solution to the ongoing conflict”, the letter further said. On the contrary, as civilian killings are only intensified by Colombo and as there are no signs of recognising the long-standing basic Tamil aspiration of self-determination, Tamil circles wonder what is meant by ‘post-conflict’ and by ‘political solution'.
Full story >>

LTTE Political Wing responds to John Holmes' briefing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 2009, 08:36 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Wing on Tuesday released the contents of a letter it recently sent to the UN, where it reiterated that an immediate ceasefire is urgent for the humanitarian aid and relief to reach the affected people. Stating that "no pressure is being exerted on the Government of Sri Lanka to bring an immediate end to the shelling that is slaughtering Tamil civilians in their thousands," the letter charged that "even while the Sri Lankan government is an active member of the United Nations, the UN is unable to rein in its own member state from killing civilians in thousands."
Full story >>

2 teenagers from Mannaar arrested in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 2009, 06:16 GMT]
Anuradhapura police arrested Sunday evening two Tamil teenagers on a tip-off that they appeared suspicious while they were waiting at Anuradhapura New Bus Stand to take a bus. The teenagers had come to Anuradhapura via Madawaachi a week ago and been staying in a Saiva temple, the police said.
Full story >>

SLA officer attempts Sinhalese colonization in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 2009, 04:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Civil Security Coordinator, Berty Perera, is alleged of pressurizing the Assistant Fisheries Director (AFD) of Batticaloa district to implement a plan to colonize the coastal area in Koa’ralaippattu North Divisional Secretariat in Batticaloa, with Sinhalese fishermen from South, sources in Batticaloa said. Earlier attempts made by Berty Perera to colonize Vaakarai with Sinhalese fishermen from South on his own accord having failed the Coordinator is exerting pressure on government officials to realize his intention, the sources added.
Full story >>

Thanthai Chelva’s 111th Birthday commemorated in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 16:28 GMT]
Hundreds of persons including several dignitaries took part in an event Tuesday morning to commemorate the 111th birthday of Thanthai Chelva, late S. J. V. Chelvanayagam, respectfully known as the Father of Tamil Nation, at the Thanthai Chelva Square in Jaffna town. Rev. Dr. S. Jebanesan, the president of Thanthai Chelva Trustee Board, presided at the event and delivered the memorial address. Later in the evening a memorial service was held in St. John’s Church in Chu’ndikkuzhi where Rev. Dr. S. Jebanesan paid tribute to Thanthai Chelva.
Full story >>

SLA attacks kill 88 Tamils, including 21 children on Monday

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 16:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Monday claimed the lives of 70 civilians as Fifty Caliber gunfire from the SLA positions across the lagoon also killed 18 civilians on the road, which links the makeshift hospital with IDP settlements. 21 of the slain victims and 31 of 156 wounded civilians were children. 63 tarpaulin huts were destroyed in SLA attacks. TamilNet correspondent witnessed that four children were orphaned as they lost both their parents and siblings. The civilians were struggling to take their wounded to the hospital as the entire stretch of the road has come under 50 Caliber machine gun fire. Four civilians, including a worker of the fishing union that arranges boats to transport the patients from the coastal point Thidal to the ICRC ship, were wounded in SLA gunfire.
Full story >>

Resettled Tamils in Moothoor east live in fear

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 15:40 GMT]
Resettled Tamil families in Moothoor east and Tamil villages in Serunuwara division in Trincomalee district are living in terror following the killings of three Tamil farmers of Paarathipuram, Thangkanakar and Poonakar. Tamil civilians in this area fear that these killings had taken place in revenge of the killing of Sinhala farmers in Serunuwara by some unidentified men last week, sources in Moothoor said.
Full story >>

Tamil youth shot dead in Serunuwara

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 15:37 GMT]
A gang of unidentified armed men shot and killed Sunday night a Tamil youth at his residence in Poonakar in Serunuwara police division in Trincomalee district, according to Serunuwara police. The killers forcibly entered the youth’s house and opened fire on him, the sources added.
Full story >>

JU Arts Faculty students to boycott demanding Raveendran’s release

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 14:11 GMT]
The Arts Faculty Students Union (AFSU) in Jaffna University is to engage in a boycott of lectures from Wednesday until further notice demanding the immediate release of their lecturer Selvarajah Raveendran, the younger brother of Jaffna District Tamil National (TNA) parliamentarian, Selvarajah Kajendran, according to a report to the media by AFSU. Raveendran was abducted 24 March night by armed persons inside the high security area in Madiwela in Colombo while he was returning to the parliamentarian's residence, according to police.
Full story >>

Batticaloa district development meeting held without TNA parliamentarians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 10:16 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians representing the people of Batticaloa district, P. Ariyanenthiran, S.Jeyanandamoorthy, K. Thangeswary and T. Kanagasabai did not attend the Annual Batticaloa District Development meeting Monday in Batticaloa District Secretariat for fear of danger to their lives by the paramilitary men operating along with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Special Task Force (STF) in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa. This is a meeting where the district’s parliamentarians allocate funds to various development projects in the district.
Full story >>

Case filed to block US vote on IMF loan to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 04:00 GMT]
Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group, filed a complaint against Secretary of the US Treasury, Timothy Geithner, and the US Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Meg Lundsager, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to obtain a "declaratory judgment that a failure of the United States to oppose Sri Lanka’s pending $1.9 billion IMF loan application would constitute a violation of 22 U.S.C. 262d," Monday at 6:00 p.m. Filing can be accessed by refering to Docket No: 09-0598, according to Bruce Fein, counsel for TAG.
Full story >>

Apply adequate pressure on Colombo for ceasefire and negotiations: LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 01:09 GMT]
The LTTE is not a movement believing that war is the only means to achieve the aspirations of the people it represents. But, political solution needs an environment conducive to it. The IC can play a positive role by adequately pressurizing Colombo for ceasefire and by promoting negotiations between GoSL and the LTTE as equal partners with due recognition, said Selvaraja Pathmanathan, the LTTE plenipotentiary for international relations, in an interview to TamilNet on Monday. On the issue of civilians, Mr. Pathmanathan said they have already asked the IC, what international instruments now hold GoSL accountable for the denial of basic rights of the people already moved and presently living in the internment camps.
Full story >>

2 Tamils in Moothoor shot dead

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 March 2009, 16:40 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot and killed Saturday night two Tamil civilians in front of Paarathipuram Viththiyaalayam in Moothoor in Trincomalee district. One of them was brought by the armed men from Thanganakar to Paarathipuram where both men were handcuffed behind their backs and shot to death, sources in Moothoor said.
Full story >>