World socialists condemn war as Co-chairs’ machination

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 02:32 GMT]
The Co-Chairs have not been helpless, passive bystanders, but active participants who bear political responsibility for the Sri Lankan government's war and the humanitarian disaster now unfolding in northern Sri Lanka, writes K.Ratnayake, tracing the history of Co-chairs involvement in the island, in an article ‘The end of the Sri Lankan Peace Process’, appeared in World Socialist Web Site, Monday.
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IDPs in SLA detention camps lack sufficient food in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 01:35 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA) made an urgent appeal Tuesday to local and international non-government organizations in Jaffna to provide food materials to the 2400 detainees held in three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps as the arrangement of supplying cooked food to them has been suspended by the SLA authorities in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The dry food items given to them under the World Food Programme (WFP) are hardly sufficient to meet the food requirements of the civilians detained in the SLA detention centres in Kurunakar, Koaappay and Mirusuvil, Jaffna Secretariat sources added.
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Tigers deny firing at civilians, accuse SLA, urge for international monitors

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 01:15 GMT]
Categorically denying reports by the Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo that the Tigers had fired at the fleeing civilians in Vanni, Puthukkudiyiruppu Divisional Political Head of the LTTE, C. Ilamparithy told TamilNet Wednesday that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commando teams had entered the 'safety zone' in Udaiyaarkaddu and Chuthanthirapuram and had opened fire killing civilians and causing injuries to many in their attempt to forcibly move the civilians into the hands of the SLA. "Sri Lankan military machinery, which has relentlessly killed and maimed thousands of civilians during the past four weeks, is now engaged in a propaganda drive to divert the mounting pressure on the Colombo government by the International Community," Mr. Ilamparithy charged.
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US Ambassador Robert Blake cancels visit to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 22:59 GMT]
Ambassador of United States of America in Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, who was expected to be the chief guest in the opening ceremony of the ‘Health Village’ constructed in Pa’n’nai in Jaffna Wednesday cancelled his visit to Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Colombo, James R. Moore who arrived in Jaffna Tuesday is expected to fill the place of the US Ambassador, the sources added.
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Land mine blast kills 3 SLA soldiers in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 14:19 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) triggered a landmine killing 3 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and seriously injuring 2 soldiers Tuesday around 1:45 p.m when they were engaged in road patrol at Pannalakamam area in Ampaa’rai district, LTTE sources in Ampaa’rai district said. Meanwhile, a policeman was killed and a home guard injured in a grenade attack on the sentry post located at Veeramunai junction Tuesday around 3:30 p.m in Chammaanththu’rai, the sources added.
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Tamil trader, family missing in Mannar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 13:23 GMT]
A Tamil trader Rasiah Gopal, 37, is reported missing with his wife Ambika, 35, and his three month old baby girl since February 5 from their residence located behind an Amman Temple in Uppukulam in Mannaar district. Tension prevailes in the area following the disappearance of this family. Neighbors rushed to their residence and found all doors open, and fear that the family may have been abducted, civil sources said.
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East Timor President urges ceasefire, offers mediation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 04:00 GMT]
"There will be no long term peace in Sri Lanka if this war is prosecuted by either side to the bitter end," said the President of Timor Leste (East Timor) Jose Ramos-Horta, on Monday, offering his preparedness "to assist in any way that might contribute to a peaceful settlement." Recollecting the experience of East Timor, the Nobel Laureate expressed his fear of immense destruction a civil war can generate and said: " The people already traumatised should not be forced to remain or move against their will." He urged the LTTE to seek a political settlement through dialouge.
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UN experts concerned at suppression of criticism, impunity

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 01:57 GMT]
Ten independent UN experts on Monday expressed their deep concern at the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka, particularly the shrinking space for critical voices and the fear of reprisals against victims and witnesses which – together with a lack of effective investigations and prosecutions – has led to unabated impunity for human rights violations.
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SLBC jamming FM broadcast prompts BBC to suspend partnership

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 23:21 GMT]
Sri Lankan state run SLBC, which airs BBC World Service programmes in FM, has deliberately jammed BBC Tamil 17 times and BBC Sinhala 8 times, between 27 November and early January 2009, according to a statement by the BBC World Service Press Office Monday. The BBC said it was suspending the programming agreement with the SLBC from Tuesday.
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13 Tamil civilians arrested in Chilaapam, Dehiwala

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 22:03 GMT]
Sri Lankan forces have arrested 8 Tamil civilians in two separate cordon and search operations conducted Friday night in Chilaapam (Chilaw) in the northwestern province and in Dehiwala in the western province. The Sri Lankan Police said the arrested persons had failed to prove their identity and justify their presence in the location. Five Tamil youths were taken into custody in Ira'navillu in Chilaapam district. The five youths are residents of Eastern province and Up-country and are being detained in the Chilaapam police station for further inquiry.
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Police shoots dead Tamil youth in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 12:27 GMT]
A Tamil youth who was arrested in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka police was shot dead Sunday while the arrestee was being taken in manacled position in a police jeep along Dam Street in Colombo to a venue for further investigation, said Senior Superintendent of Police Ranjit Gunasekara, police media spokesperson.
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Pope’s emissary meets detained IDPs in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 10:25 GMT]
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing war and detained by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Kurunakar and Koappaay refugee camps pleaded Pope’s emissary, Rt. Rev. Mario Senario to get them permission to live and engage in their customary occupations, when he personally met them in the said camps, sources in Jaffna said. Bishop Mario Senario who conducted a special mass Sunday at 7:30 a.m in St. Mary’s church in Jaffna at the end of the mass said that he would convey in detail the plight of the Tamils caught in the war in Vanni to the Holy See.
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80 killed, 200 wounded, carnage continues inside 'safe zone'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 19:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued indiscriminate barrage of artillery shelling on the 'safety zone' killing more than 80 civilians and causing injuries to 200. Most of the casualties were reported along the roads. Every single shell fired by the SLA was exploding in densely populated civilian area and people were forced to stay inside bunkers. However, as people feared ending up in the hands of the SLA which is close to Chuthanthirapuram, they were fleeing in thousands further into LTTE territory amid shelling, facing deaths and injuries on their way, said TamilNet correspondent in Vanni. According to eyewitness reports, 40 dead bodies of civilians, including children and women, were seen along the 2.5 km stretch of Paranthan Puthukkudiyiruppu Road between Chuthanthirapuram and Theavipuram.
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Jayalalitha cancels birthday celebrations for Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 18:05 GMT]
Jayalalitha, the principal opposition leader and former Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu announced Sunday her decision to cancel her birthday celebrations on 24 February in view of the massive and tragic killings of Tamils in Sri Lanka for the past six months.
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3000 Tamils protest in Canberra

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 16:50 GMT]
More than 3000 Tamils from Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra attended a rally at the Lawns of the Parliament House in the Australian capital Canberra on the 5th of February 2009 to raise the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Vanni, calling the Australian Government to stop the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The rally was organized by the Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), an umbrella organization representing the Tamil Australians.
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Diaspora Tamil dies in self-immolation urging Obama to stop Colombo's war

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 08:42 GMT]
27-year-old Eezham Tamil, Raja, living in Malaysia for 3 years set fire on himself and died Friday leaving a note in his diary saying “I am burning myself to death resting my hopes on global Tamils to save the Eezham Tamils. I plead American President Barack Obama to bring in a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.” This is the first act of self-immolation committed by a person of the Eezham Tamil diaspora. Three people in Tamil Nadu have already died by self-immolation in support of Eezham Tamils.
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Russia, UK protect Colombo's international impunity

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 06:00 GMT]
While world powers look apparently condemning Colombo for its culture of impunity allowing armed forces and other elements to commit human rights violations, some among the very powers are engaged covertly in ensuring international impunity to Colombo's war crimes by dodging discussion on Sri Lanka in the apex international security system. During the closed-door meetings of the UN Security Council this week, when Mexico moved for briefing on Sri Lankan situation, Russia reportedly blocked it saying it was not in the agenda. When the British Representative to the UN was asked why Sri Lanka was not in the deliberations, while Sudan was in, the answer was that the situation was entirely different in Sri Lanka where "proscribed" Tamil Tigers were long "blighting" the government and that has to be brought to an end.
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Colombo needs military victory before economy sinks - Aussie Don

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 05:58 GMT]
Asserting that Tamils have suffered "systematic discrimination practised against them," by past Sinhala Governments, Prof. Sisira Jeyasuriya, associate professor of Economics at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation last week said that Colombo's military victories are unlikely to bring violence to an end, as the Tigers will resort to guerrilla warfare, and added that the Government is engaged in false propaganda to ensure its survival. The recent news stories of 300 Tamil civilians killed in the safe zone are likely true despite Colombo's denials, Prof. Jeyasuriya told the ABC.
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American Tamil youths "starve for peace"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 05:24 GMT]
Eight American youths have begun a hunger-strike campaign calling on the United States Congress and the Obama administration to provide relief to the 300,000 Tamil civilians caught up in the war in Vanni. The youths urge members of the diaspora to pledge sacrificing a meal to show solidarity with the campaign, and each pledge, the participants said, will result in e-mail notes delivered to the pledger's Congressional Representatives notifying the suffering of civilians, and urging the congress persons to take immediate action.
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Congress cadre immolates himself to death protesting party inaction

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2009, 19:17 GMT]
Congress functionary Sirkazhi (Cheerkaazhi) Ravichandran, a 47-year-old father of two children, immolated himself Saturday to protest his party's inaction on the Eelam Tamils issue. He succumbed to hundred percent burn injuries and died a short while later at 3:45 p.m. Two days earlier, he had an altercation with the Union Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar blaming the Congress party for failing to stop the war in Sri Lanka. He had also told a couple of his friends about his decision in order to bring about a change in the attitude of the Congress.
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