Family man reported missing in Peasaalai, Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 May 2008, 10:52 GMT]
Armed men riding in a white colour van, on Thursday abducted a 34-year-old Tamil civilian, T.M. Francis, at Nadukkudaa in Peasaalai around 3:25 p.m., according a complaint made by the relatives of the missing person, who is a family man.
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Muslim three-wheeler driver beaten to death in Akkaraippattu

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 May 2008, 10:00 GMT]
Police in Akkaraippattu Friday morning recovered the dead body of a 27-year-old Muslim person, beaten to death at Periyavaaykkaal in Aalangku'lam, a Tamil area in Akkaraippattu police division. Three persons had hired him for a three-wheeler trip, Thursday night, Police said. Tension prevailed in Aalangku'lam following the episode.
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Bomb explosion targets Police bus in Colombo, 10 killed, 95 wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 May 2008, 07:00 GMT]
A motorbike fitted with a bomb rammed into a bus carrying riot control police personnel, few hundred meters away from the Sri Lankan Presidential Secretariat, Friday noon, killing 10 persons, 7 policemen and 3 civilians, and injuring 6 Sri Lanka Army soldiers, 30 policemen and 59 civilians. The explosion has taken place on Lotus Road inside the High Security area near the Hilton Hotel. 12 wounded policemen were in critical condition, according to medical sources in Colombo hospital.
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SLA, SLN conduct joint war rehearsals in Jaffna seas

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 May 2008, 02:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) sailors from Karainagar Naval base and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers stationed along the northern coastal areas, have been jointly conducting large scale war exercises in the seas off the coast of Jaffna peninsula in Valigaamam North High security Zone (HSZ) for the past few days supported by attack air crafts of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), civil sources in Jaffna said.
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Tamil fisherman shot, killed in Kalkudaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 May 2008, 22:05 GMT]
Unidentified armed men following a fisherman in Paddiyadichcheanai area in GTZ village of Kalkudaa within Kalkudaa police division in Batticaloa district, shot him at close range Wednesday night 9:15 p.m.and fled the scene, sources said.
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3 Tamil youths abducted in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 May 2008, 17:04 GMT]
Three Tamil youths were abducted by unidentified men in three separate incidents in Thampalakaamam, Kanthalaay and Thirukadaloor in Trincomalee district Wednesday night, according to complaints lodged with the police and the Trincomalee regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) by their relatives.
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Tamil woman shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 May 2008, 16:56 GMT]
A Tamil woman was killed and her husband sustained serious injuries when unidentified persons fired at them when they were in their house in Kanniyaa village in Uppuve'li police division in Trincomalee district Wednesday night.
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Sri Lanka not fit to be in UN Rights Council- Tutu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 May 2008, 11:36 GMT]
"With a terrible record of torture and disappearance, Sri Lanka doesn't deserve a seat on the UN human rights council. It should be voted out," says the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, in a comment that appeared on the daily Guardian, U.K., May 15th edition.
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19 Tamil Nadu fishermen blindfolded, attacked by SLN for 5 days

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 May 2008, 10:07 GMT]
Nineteen Indian Tamil fishermen, including two 15-year-old boys, arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy in the Historical Waters of Palk Strait last Friday were blindfolded, attacked and interrogated by the SLN for 5-days and handed over to the Police and brought to Mannaar Magistrate's Courts Thursday. T.J. Prabahkaran, the magistrate, allowed the Police application to remand the fishermen into police custody for 7 days, legal sources said.
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Tamil farmer seeks protection with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 10:19 GMT]
A 33-year-old farmer from Ka'l'liyangkaadu within Jaffna Municipal council area surrendered himself Tuesday at the office of Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) seeking protection complaining that he has been continuously receiving death threats in the past few days. Incidents of extortion from businessmen, building contractors and traders in Jaffna peninsula have been rapidly escalating in the recent months, a spokesman for civil groups said.
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Pillayan group harasses TDNF supporters in Ka'luvaagnchikkudi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 09:38 GMT]
A group of Pillayan paramilitary personnel, led by operative Senthooran, in the days following the Eastern Provincial Council elections, entered the houses of the supporters of Tamil Democratic National Allaiance (TDNF), a Tamil alliance consisting ex-militant and paramilitary groups, in Ka'luvaagnchikkudi area, 22 km south of Batticaloa and have attacked the supporters of the TDNF, which had won a single seat in the Batticaloa district.
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No CFA in future, says Sri Lanka's PM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 18:50 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government would not sign any ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at any stage as the time has come to wipe out terrorism from Sri Lanka completely, said Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, at an event held Tuesday in Colombo.
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Upcountry Tamil youth abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 17:49 GMT]
An upcountry Tamil youth, Selvathurai Kannan, 28, was abducted from his residence in Aattupatitheru in Colombo by unidentified armed men Saturday night, his relatives said in a complaint filed with teh Colombo police. The abductors came in a van and forcibly removed him from his house, according to complaints.
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Maheswari Velayutham shot dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 15:23 GMT]
Maheswari Velautham, an advisor of EPDP leader Douglas Devandanda, was shot and killed at her residence at Navi'ndil near Nelliyadi in Vadamaraadchi in Jaffna Tuesday around 6:30 p.m., initial reports from Jaffna said. Ms. Maheswari, whose association with Tamil militancy dates back to late 1970s, narrowly escaped from a group of Tamil prisoners who attacked Mr. Douglas Devananda when he visited Kalutara prison in June 1998 with her. She is a lawyer by profession.
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Tamil youth abducted in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 10:48 GMT]
Twenty nine year-old Tamil youth Balasingham Balamohan was abducted by unidentified persons from his house Monday night in Ve'ppankulam in Vavuniyaa, according to complaints lodged with the Vavuniyaa police by his relatives.
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8 Tamil youths arrested in Wattegama

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 10:46 GMT]
Eight Tamils youths were taken into custody by Sri Lanka police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) when they conducted a cordon and search in Puthukaadu area in Wattegama police division in Kandy district Sunday night.
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Student feared abducted by SLA in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 09:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who had demanded a student in Karaveddi East, Vadamaraadchi, to hand over his brother, who they claimed was a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatant, abducted the said youth, according to complaints made to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna, by his parents.
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Youth reported missing in Thellippa'lai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 00:56 GMT]
A Tamil youth from Thellippa'lai residing in the High Security Zone (HSZ) near the Forward Defence Lines (FDL) of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has been reported missing since Monday morning, the victim’s father stated in a complaint lodged with office of Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC), sources said.
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Rajapaksa to address Oxford Union in UK

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 May 2008, 20:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to address Oxford Union in the United Kingdom Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., sources in London told TamilNet. Meanwhile, sources at the SL Presidential Secretariat in Colombo confirmed Mr. Rajapaksa's mission to London and said it comes on the invitation of the Oxford Union and the Sri Lanka Society of Oxford University.
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Tamil detainees allege sexual abuse after transfer from Magazine Prison - MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 May 2008, 20:17 GMT]
68 Tamil detainees, hurriedly transferred from New Magazine prison in Colombo Saturday around 8:50 p.m. by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) interrogators, were verbally abused, tortured and subjected to sexual abuse at the notorious Boosa Prison in Galle, according to complaints made by the parents to Tamil parliamentarian Chandrakanth Chandranehru. Expressing shock at the gross violation of Human Rights, the parliamentarian has promised the parents to bring the matter to the attention of relevant quarters. Sri Lanka's Commissioner General of Prisons, Major General (ret) Vajira Wijegunawaredena on Monday denied the allegation.
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