Heavy fighting erupts in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 23:17 GMT]
Heavy fighting was reported between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) along the Forward Defence Line of the Northern Front, in the early hours of Wednesday. LTTE defensive formations were confronting the SLA units that have mounted offensive attacks simulatenously at several locations around 3:30 a.m., according to the initial reports from LTTE's Northern Forces Operations Command. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army sources in Jaffna confirmed that the SLA had launched an offensive in the Northern Front.
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Remains of Fr. Karunaratnam interred in Vavunikku’lam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 19:10 GMT]
Thousands of people stood in tearful reverence when the remains of Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, the chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), slain in a Claymore attack by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army on Sunday, were interred in Vavunikku’lam Annai Vea’laangka’n’ni church cemetery Tuesday evening.
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2 young Tamils shot dead in Naanaaddaan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 15:21 GMT]
Armed men shot and killed two young Tamil fishermen at Achangku'lam in Naanaaddaan division, Mannaar district Tuesday around 7:00 p.m., Police said. The fishermen were Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Musali division, displaced last year from Arippu when SLA occupied Chilaavaththu'rai.
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3 civilians wounded in DPU Claymore attack on MPCS lorry

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 11:08 GMT]
Three civilians including the driver of a lorry loaded with supplies to the Cooperative Society in Poonakari (Pooneryn) from Vavuniyaa, was attacked by a Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lanka Army in the early hours of Tuesday at 1:30 a.m. at Aanaivizhunthaan on Akkaraayan - Vanneari Road. The lorry, carrying essential supplies worth 2.3 million Sri Lankan Rupees to the Poonakari Multi Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS), which serves to the Internally Displaced People from Poonakari and Mannaar, was destroyed in the attack, according to the General Manager of the Poonakari MPCS, T. Ratnakumar, told TamilNet.
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Abductions increase in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 08:35 GMT]
Four Tamils were abducted by unknown persons at Peliyagoda, Kotahena in Colombo and in Negombo. One of them was later released at Peliyagoda. Relatives of those abducted have lodged complaints with the respective police stations.
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TNA condemns Father Karunaratnam slaying

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 04:32 GMT]
Father Karunaratnam was actively engaged in Human Rights related work, and as Chairman of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights, played a prominent role in the exposure of the grave human rights violations to which the Tamil Civilian population in the Vanni area were continuously subjected, said R.Sampanthan, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance and Maavai S.Senathirajah, the general secretary of Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) in a press statement issued on Tuesday. "We deeply mourn the loss of Rev Father Karunaratnam who indefatigably served the legitimate interests of the Tamil Civilian population in the Vanni."
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SLA Tank destroyed in Mukamaalai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 04:13 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army Tank was destroyed at Mukamaalai Forward Defence Line (FDL) Tuesday around 7:30 a.m. when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) anti-tank unit confronted the SLA soldiers who attempted to break the Tiger FDL, according to LTTE's Northern Front Operations Command. Meanwhile, an SLA artillery and mortar launchpad caught fire as the Tigers targeted the installation, the Tigers said.
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Paramilitary operatives clash in Aaraiyampathi, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 18:18 GMT]
Five supporters of Tamil Democratic National Alliance (TDNA) were seriously injured by paramilitary operatives of Tamil Makkal Viduthali Puligal (TMVP) Monday afternoon in Thaa'langkudaa in Aaraiyampathi division of Batticaloa district.
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Youth killed, 7 seriously injured in SLAF bombing in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 17:39 GMT]
Four Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) kifir fighter jets in two sorties bombed Monday around 9:30 a.m fishermen engaged in fishing in A'lampil in Mullaiththeevu district in Vanni killing a youth and seriously injuring seven innocent civilians including two small girls. Four SLAF bombers again struck Ma'nalkudiyiruppu, a civilian settlement near Mullaiththeevu town and fishermen, around 4:10 p.m in four sorties dropping more than 43 bombs in a continued air strike that lasted till 5:20 p.m. The head of the youth killed was severed from his body in the bombing.
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NPC condemns Rev Fr Karunaratnam assassination

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 12:08 GMT]
The assassination of Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, Chairman of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), who succumbed to injuries sustained in a remote controlled claymore mine attack that had targeted him within the LTTE controlled territory where he lived and worked is a shocking and callous act. Fr Karunaratnam died in close proximity to his residential prayer and counseling centre which was a haven to those who suffered the travails of the ongoing war. As head of NESoHR which was set up in July 2004, as part of the 2002 Peace Process, Fr Karunaratnam worked tirelessly to strengthen the human rights protection mechanisms in the North East of Sri Lanka, the NPC said.
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Silence is eloquence: last remarks of Rev Fr Karunaratnam

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 11:32 GMT]
Barely two weeks before he was killed in a Claymore attack, allegedly carried out by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army, Rev M X Karunaratnam was interviewed by the National Television of Tamileelam (NTT). While answering questions on the Madu Shrine controversy, he said, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) was entirely responsible for politicizing the issue of the Shrine as it had attempted to achieve a militarily favourable situation by choosing to launch its offensive drive through Madu, a greatly revered Catholic holy pilgrim center. The Reverend Father also explained the silence of Vatican and the Sinhala bishops.
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Ten youths arrested at Nittambuwa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 10:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka police took into custody ten youths including three Tamils, six Sinhalese, and one Muslim in a cordon and search operation conducted in Nittambuwa from dawn to dusk on Saturday. All of the arrested were from other districts and had been staying in Nittambuwa seeking employment, reports said.
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Condemn Colombo for targeting Human Rights defenders: LTTE urges IC

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 06:51 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan State has targeted a human rights defender who worked for the welfare of the people," Political Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), charged in a statement issued on Monday, and urged the international human rights bodies and the international community to condemn the continued gross human rights violations of the Sri Lankan state, and take actions without further delay to bring an end to the continuing human rights violations by the State.
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Threat to Jaffna journalists from SLA, paramilitaries

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 04:20 GMT]
Journalists in Jaffna face continued threats to their lives and harassment from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers and SLA-backed paramilitaries, severely impacting news coverage, and the deteriorating media freedom may lead to a complete breakdown of newspaper publications in the North, sources close to Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians told TamilNet Sunday.
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TID arrests principal, deputy principal, teacher in Nawalapitiya

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 02:00 GMT]
A special team from the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID) of Sri Lanka Police went from Colombo and arrested principal Visuvanathan, deputy principal Poopalasingham, and a former teacher Ramachandran of Demston Tamil school in Hatton in Nuwara Eliya district Sunday. TID team had brought them to Colombo for further interrogation and are being detained in TID Colombo headquarters, reports from Colombo said.
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NESoHR condemns Fr Karunaratnam's assassination

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 20:38 GMT]
Expressing "profound shock and loss," officials at the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), in a press release issued Sunday, condemned the assassination of NESoHR's chairman, Fr. M. X. Karunaratnam, and said, he "worked tirelessly championing the Human Rights of the Tamil people. He travelled to the United States, Canada and Geneva meeting with Foreign Governments and Organizations concerned in Human Rights. Rev. Fr. Karunaratnam pioneered the work of NESoHR in the field of psychological counseling of the war and tsunami affected people in the Tamil Homeland."
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Two Tamils arrested in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 14:59 GMT]
Police Friday night arrested two Tamil civilians in a cordon and search operation in Vihare Mawatte in Wellawatte. Police said they were residents of Jaffna, and that they failed to prove their identity and provide satisfactory reason for their stay in the location.
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Paramilitary operative shot dead in Kalkudaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 12:56 GMT]
Two unidentified persons shot and killed a member of the paramilitary-cum-political party, Pillayan group (Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, TMVP), Saturday night around 8:10 p.m in front of his house in Peaththaa'lai, Vaazhaichcheanai in Batticaloa district, Kalkudaa police said.
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NESoHR Chairman Fr. Karunaratnam killed in DPU attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 07:57 GMT]
Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, the chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), was killed in a Claymore attack carried out by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army on Sunday, according to initial reports from Tamileelam Police. The attack took place on Mallaavi - Vavunikku'lam Road in Vanni around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, according to initial reports.
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Toronto report recommends sanctions against Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 01:44 GMT]
A citizens report compiled by Canadian lawyers and Canadian Tamils released Friday, during a Conservative Party fundraising dinner, recommended that Canadian Government impose economic and diplomatic sanctions against Sri Lanka. Pointing out the "collapse of the Rule of Law," and "[t]he grievous violations of basic human rights and virtual elimination of due process," the report also urged Canada to "[s]upport the international call to appoint a United Nations Special Envoy for Sri Lanka to monitor and guard against human rights abuses and to assist the peace process, as recommended by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights."
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