Police, SLA harass Aalangku’lam Tamil residents

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 March 2009, 00:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police conducted a cordon and search operation Thursday in Aalangku’lam village in Batticaloa district following the burning down of a Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) bus in Vaazhaichcheanai area by uniformed men Thursday early morning. The Tamil residents were intimidated and subjected to harassment, sources in Vaazhaichcheanai said. Policemen allegedly warned the residents that they will be killed if a similar incident occured again, local residents said.
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Clinton call expresses concern over deteriorating conditions in 'safe zone'

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 22:08 GMT]
In a call made to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton 'expressed the United States' deep concern over the deteriorating conditions and increasing loss of life occurring in the Government of Sri Lanka-designated 'safe zone' in northern Sri Lanka,' and 'stated that the 'Sri Lankan Army should not fire into the civilian areas of the conflict zone,' a press release issued by the U.S. State Department said. Meanwhile, US State Department South Asia official, Diane Kelly, commenting on 'distorted' accounts appearing on some Sri Lanka websites, said: "there was a call, but it was not the sunny news relayed."
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Second-generation diaspora reflects trauma and hope

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 20:39 GMT]
"I feel guilty every day for waking up... I follow the news everyday with my family, and sadly our family time has been all about discussing the fate of the Tamil community,” writes Sumudini Sathivadivel reflecting the trauma of the second generation diaspora of Eezham Tamils. “What can I do at this point to take my guiltiness away? I sit here in tears, holding my head… unable to think because I feel helpless. Then I get back on my feet and think to myself there is hope... I guess we are all eagerly waiting for the day to say I am a Tamil from Tamil Eelam.”
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UN lopsided in calling for evacuation - TNA MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 17:21 GMT]
Calling for the evacuation of civilians and making them to end up in the hands of their killers, is taking side with one of the parties to the conflict and amounts to another one of the war crimes, perhaps the most serious one of them when comes from a world body of human rights, said Jaffna MP, Kajendran, responding to a statement from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Friday. The High Commissioner, Ms. Navi Pillai called on both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to immediately suspend hostilities in order to allow the evacuation of the entire civilian population by land or sea, a press release from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said. She didn’t say anything on where should they be evacuated or on who would be responsible for them thereafter.
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4 TMVP Karuna group men shot dead in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 10:52 GMT]
Armed men alleged to be Liberation Tigers launched an attack Friday around 2:05 a.m on the office of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) Kaurna paramilitary group located at 6th mile post, Cho'rikkalmunai in Chammaanthu'rai police division in Ampaa'rai district killing four men of the paramilitary group and injuring two of them, sources in Ampaa'rai said.
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Australian State MP supports Tamils' struggle for self-determination

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 03:32 GMT]
“It is important that the Government of Australia and the international community recognise the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people and acknowledge the legitimacy of their struggle for self-determination,” said Hon. Ian Cohen, Member of Legislative Council and Greens Party during a speech he delivered on Thursday 5 March 2009 in New South Wales Parliament, Australia. "Too many lives have been lost, and each day we keep silent we allow more deaths to occur. It is important that the Government of Australia and the international community recognise that the' targeting of a minority' has been taking place for decades. What we see taking place today is but a culmination of successive attacks targeting the Tamils."
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US Senators call for immediate ceasefire, international oversight of detention camps

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 02:15 GMT]
A bipartisan group of seven senior U.S. Senators in a letter to Foreign Secretary Hilary Clinton blamed the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers for the "impending catastrophe," and said: "The situation in Sri Lanka is unacceptable and must be remedied as quickly as possible. We commend your recent statement with UK Foreign Minister David Milliband that called on the government and the LTTE to adhere to a ceasefire, allow access to humanitarian agencies, and resume political discussions to bring the long-standing ethnic conflict to an end. An enduring peace can be achieved only through a political solution that treats the Tamil minority as equal citizens under the law. Without such an agreement, the violence will only continue."
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EU Parliament passes significant resolution

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 21:43 GMT]
The EU Parliament Thursday passed a resolution, with a large majority, calling for immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lanka Army and Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam in order to allow the civilian population to leave the combat zone. Condemning all acts of violence against civilians in the safe zone and expressing serious concern for the plight of the people in the refugee camps run by the Sri Lankan government, the EU Parliament demanded full and unhindered access to international and national humanitarian organisations, as well as journalists to the combat zone and to the refugee camps.
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5 Tamil civilians arrested in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 18:19 GMT]
Five Tamil civilians were taken into custody by the police in cordon and search operations conducted in Trincomalee town and its suburbs on Wednesday following the bomb attack on a procession in Akuressa in Matara in down south.
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3 more SLA detention centres for Vanni IDPs opened in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 15:23 GMT]
Three additional Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres have been opened in Thenmaraadchi to detain the civilians fleeing war in Vanni, namely Kodikaamam Govt Tamil Mixed School (GTMS), Jaffna University Chiththa Aayurveatha College hostel in Kaithadi and Saiva Children Home of Jaffna Saiva Maha Chapai in Kaithadi, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, the temporary school erected with UNICEF funds in a private land near the SLA detention centre in Kodikaamam GTMS for the children in the detention centre was officially inaugurated Thursday morning, the sources added.
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SLTB bus burnt down in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 14:28 GMT]
A gang of unidentified men in military uniform burnt down a Sri Lanka Transport Board bus after ordering out the 50 passengers, conductor and the driver Thursday around 2:00 a.m at Aalangku’lam junction in Vaazhzichcheanai police division in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said. This act of arson may have been carried out as an attempt to create rifts between the Tamil, Muslim communities by some political forces, following the bomb blast in Akuressa in the Southern Province Tuesday, residents of Batticaloa said.
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LTTE asks whether UN abets Colombo discrediting combatants

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 11:04 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Puthukkudiyiruppu political head C. Ilamparithi categorically denied Wednesday the misuse of a high energy food sent for children by UNICEF in June 2007 by diverting the therapeutic food to the use of LTTE cadres. Based on a report of Colombo alleging the 'discovery' of the said food samples in the belongings of a dead LTTE cadre, the Colombo UN office on Tuesday came out with a statement deploring the diversion of its assistance meant for severely malnourished children.
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Menon wants civilians issue and war ending in Colombo’s favour

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 10:32 GMT]
The Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, has said in Washington that “civilians caught in the war should be safely moved to government-controlled areas”, PTI reported Thursday. Wrapping up his four days US visit and briefing that both India and the US have similar approaches to address the issue in Sri Lanka, he envisaged rehabilitation, reconstruction and building up normal economic life of people “once these areas are cleared or under the government control.” He also said on the need “to bring in the kind of the political steps including devolution”, according to the PTI report. Whatever Menon said in Washington doesn’t significantly differ from the verbal stance adopted by Mahinda Rajapaksa government, aiming for victory and subjugation of Tamils, said political observers in Colombo.
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US Legislators point out Sri Lanka's "Red Alert" genocide ranking to Secretary Clinton

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 02:44 GMT]
A group of 38 United States members of Congress sent a joint letter today to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and to the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Susan Rice, highlighting the humanitarian crisis faced by Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, and expressing concern over conditions in the internment camps, calling for bringing the issue to the UN Security Council, and encouraging active U.S. leadership to bring about a long-delayed political settlement.
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SLA shelling kills 133 civilians including 49 children on Tuesday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 17:27 GMT]
More than 49 of 133 civilians killed inside 'safe zone' in SLA shelling on Tuesday were children and 16 of them were children below 3 years of age. The SLA deployed internationally banned cluster munitions and fire-bombs against civilians who were stranded without shelter inside the 'safe zone' which has become a killing field, reports TamilNet correspondent from Vanni. 273 civilians, including a GS (village officer) and an ICRC worker, were wounded on Tuesday. 47 of the civilians succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital or after their admittance.
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Stopping Sri Lanka's genocide at ICJ, UN- Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 12:14 GMT]
"Any one or more of the 140 states parties to the Genocide Convention (1) must immediately sue Sri Lanka at the International Court of Justice in The Hague; (2) must demand an Emergency Hearing by the World Court; and (3) must request an Order indicating provisional measures of protection against Sri Lanka to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the 350,000 Tamils in Vanni," says Professor Francis Boyle, an expert in international law and a professor at University of Illinois College of Law, outlining the steps for the Tamil diaspora to take to bring Sri Lanka to International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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Tigers blast 6 Sri Lankan artillery positions in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 11:54 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Black Tiger commandos and Col. Kiddu Artillery formation launched a joint attack destroying six artillery positions of the Sri Lanka Army in the early hours of Tuesday, confirmed an LTTE official in Vanni to TamilNet on Wednesday. Six artillery weapons platforms in Thearaavil, located around 18 km from Puthukkudiyiruppu junction, were completely destroyed in a "precise mission" carried out by the Black Tiger commandos and the Tiger artillery formation, the official said. Ammunition dumps were also destroyed, the Tigers said.
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Tamil lady teacher abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 11:39 GMT]
Unidentified armed men arriving in a white van at the house of a Tamil lady teacher serving at Rajagiriya Roman Catholic School in Colombo Tuesday evening at Wellawathe forcibly abducted her, according to complaint lodged with Deputy Minister P. Rathakrishnan by her relatives.
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2 STF commandos injured in LTTE attack in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 05:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants launched an attack Monday around 8:45 p.m on the Special Task Force (STF) sentry post located between Koappaave’li and U’rukaamam in Ka’radiyanaa’ru police division in Batticaloa district, seriously injuring two STF commandos, Batticaloa district LTTE sources said.
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Knowing folly

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 02:12 GMT]
The pleading tone of the US Ambassador in Colombo, Robert Blake, even in selling what is already existing or is in proposal, last Friday, show the mood of Sinhala chauvinism in the South, living in the euphoria of ‘victory’ and delusions of ‘post-LTTE’ politics, writes Opinion Columnist Chivanadi. “A striking note of the ambassador’s speech was the importance he gave to the electoral process in ending the conflict.” It is ‘knowing folly’ of Mr. Blake to paint a picture of hope on the end of conflict through electoral process in Sri Lanka, after weakening the Tamil fighting force, he says.
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