Court places 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen, 6 civilians in remand

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 16:59 GMT]
Kayts Court Magistrate, Joy Mahatheva, directed Kayts police Thursday to continue to detain the 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested in Kachchaitheevu seas and the 6 civilians arrested in Neduntheevu seas on their way to Tamil Nadu as refugees, in Jaffna Prison, atleast until the law enforcement authorities receive instructions from Attorney General’s office in Colombo, legal sources in Kayts said.
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Sinhalese appointed Secretary of Education for East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 15:03 GMT]
Condemning the hurried appointment of Uppul Weerawardene as the secretary of Ministry of Education in Eastern province, P.Ariyanarenthiran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament told TamilNet t that the appointment is further evidence of the Government of Sri Lanka's mission of continued Sinhalization of the east.
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Claymore attack injures policeman in Thampalakaamam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 10:51 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police Saturday morning launched a cordon and search operation at Thampalakaamam, after a claymore attack injured a policeman at 5:30 a.m. in Potkerni, a suburb of Thampalakaamam, Trincomalee, reports from Trincomalee said.
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Tamil woman arrested at politico's funeral in Ratnapura

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 05:15 GMT]
Ratnapura police Thursday arrested a Tamil woman attending a funeral event of a leading member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Police said she was taken in for questioning on suspicion that she being a member of the LTTE, reports from Ratnapura said.
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Polling cards for postal voting prepared for east elections

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 00:21 GMT]
Packing of postal voting cards for the forthcoming Batticaloa District elections were completed Friday morning at Batticaloa District Secretariat, and the parcels were handed over to the Deputy Superintendent of Postal services for Batticaloa district, Mr.Krisnananthalingam Batticaloa district Assistant Commissioner of Elections told Tamil Net.
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India should organize peace talks: Karunanidhi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 16:46 GMT]
"India should organize negotiations between the warring parties in Sri Lanka to bring peace to the island nation," said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi in an exclusive interview to the Times of India on Friday. His statement comes at a time when India has chosen to ignore all calls to mediate between Colombo and the Tamil Tigers and has satisfied itself with playing behind-the-scene roles.
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Indian PM denies arms supply to Sri Lanka: Vaiko

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 14:17 GMT]
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told Vaiko who met him Thursday in New Delhi that there is no truth in reports on Indian supply of arms to Sri Lanka. Vaiko met Indian PM to brief him on his meeting with Erik Solheim and Jon Hanssen-Bauer in Oslo and the outcome of the conference organised by the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) in Norway's capital last week. The Indian PM further told Vaiko that he was aware of Pakistan and China supplying arms to Sri Lanka. The general secretary of Marumalarchchi Dravida Munneatta Kazhakam (MDMK) also met Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Thursday night.
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Two shops looted, set on fire in Ka'ruvaakkeani

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 12:56 GMT]
Unidentified armed men looted the entire contents of two shops Wednesday night 10:00 p.m.in Ka'ruvaakkeani within Vaazhaichcheanai police division in Batticaloa district before setting them ablaze, sources said.
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LTTE, SLA exchange artillery fire in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 00:47 GMT]
A large number of artillery shells believed to have been launched by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday morning towards the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in Thenmaraadchi fell in the vicinity of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bases in Va'ra'ni, Mirusuvil Educated Women’s Scheme and Usan.
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Spectre of abductions scare Batticaloa residents

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2008, 13:04 GMT]
More than 300 Tamil youths from areas ranging from Poththuvil to Vaazhaichcheanai have been abducted in Batticaloa district in the past, allegedly by Special Task Force (STF) commandos and paramilitary groups, according to figures registered with Batticaloa Human Rights Commission (HRC) by the relatives of the missing. Of the 300 reported cases, eleven persons in January, eleven in February and fourteen in March are reported missing this year, HRC sources said. Most of the persons have gone missing in areas near government controlled Batticaloa city.
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15-year-old girl killed in SLAF airstrike

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2008, 07:26 GMT]
A 15-year-old girl was killed Thursday morning around 6:30 a.m. when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked Punnaineeraaviyadi in Visuvamadu in Mullaiththeevu district, according to Tamileelam Police.
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Tamil trader abducted in Kotahena

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2008, 02:21 GMT]
Unidentified men arriving in a white van abducted a Tamil trader Tuesday night around 7:30 p.m. from his residence located along Jampettah Road at Kotahena in Colombo city, according to a complaint lodged Wednesday by his wife with the Kotahena Police, media sources said.
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Buttala-Kadirgaamam highway re-opened after 3 months

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2008, 00:43 GMT]
Buttala-Kadirgaamam highway was re-opened on Sunday on the eve of Tamil-Sinhala New Year, after being closed for about 3 months. The road was closed down following attacks on Sri Lanka government security forces by the LTTE. However, traffic and public movement on the road is allowed only in day time from 7:00 a.m. till 6 p.m with condition that all vehicles should go in groups. The road is closed for night traffic, media sources said.
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Police re-opens Buttala road, instruct vehicles to go in convoy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 17:01 GMT]
Buttala-Kadirgaamam (Kataragama) highway has been re-opened on Sunday on the eve of Tamil-Sinhala New Year, after about three months with the condition that vehicles should go in convoy and not alone. The road continues to remain completely closed for night traffic, the Police said. The road was closed down following attacks on Sri Lankan forces by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam.
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3 Tamils abducted in Colombo suburb

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 16:22 GMT]
Three men in military uniform and two in civil clothes in a white van abducted a trader from his house in Kotahena (Koddaagncheanai) Wednesday around 6:00 a.m, according to complaint made by the victim's wife to Upcountry People's Front parliamentarian and Sri Lankan Deputy Minister, P. Rathakrishnan. Meanwhile, unknown men in white van abducted two family men Friday in Kotahena in front of Viyaakula Maathaa Church on New Chetty street, the relatives of the two men, who were from Jaffna, complained to Mr. P. Rathakrishnan and Western Peoples’ Front Colombo District Parliamentarian, Mano Ganesan.
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SLA imposes travel restrictions on Mannaar Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 05:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has recently imposed travel restrictions on Tamils traveling to and from Mannaar. Tamils who leave Mannaar are only allowed to travel in train from Mathavaachchi while the Tamils, returning to Mannaar from other areas are filtered by their native and residential addresses and refused entry into Mannaar if they carry a National Identity Card with a residential address in South at Kaddaiyadampan SLA checkpost, located between Madu Road junction and Murungkan, on Mannaar Mathavaachchi Road. Family members are separated and refused entry, residents complain.
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Tamil mechanic abducted in Moneragala

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 April 2008, 11:05 GMT]
A Tamil youth Nagalingam Rathishkumar, 34, a mechanic by profession and a resident of Moneragala is reported to have been abducted by two unidentified persons on April 12 evening from his house, according to complaints lodged by his relatives with the Moneragala police station Tuesday.
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SLA vehicle fatally knocks down Tamil cyclist on A9 road

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 April 2008, 09:49 GMT]
A Tamil civilian was killed when an armored vehicle of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) knocked him down on the eve of Tamil-Sinhala New Year Day. The victim Kaalimuththu Ledchumanan, 44, of Paththiniyaar Makizhangku'lam was cycling towards home Sunday afternoon around 1:00 p.m. along A-9 highway from Thaandikul'am when the armored vehicle knocked him down fatally, media sources said.
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Liberate Calendar

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 April 2008, 23:57 GMT]
A Calendar is conceived and designed by logic and astronomy rather than emotions and myths of politics. If people don’t understand the calendar they follow, educate them. If any section of the society thinks that the calendar is its prerogative, liberate the calendar, rather than mutilating it or abandoning it. If there is any problem in the calendar it has to be investigated and corrected by a forum of astronomers, climatologists and environmental scientists, sitting along with traditional astronomers historians and Tamil scholars. Any society, which doesn’t care to investigate and understand its own heritage of science, is not going to make any progress. It will always remain in slavery.
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IIGEP: Colombo lacks political will to investigate Human Rights violations

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 April 2008, 22:51 GMT]
The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), which terminates its observation mission reasoning that the proceedings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) setup by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to investigate and inquire into serious violations of Human Rights, have not been transparent and not satisfied basic international norms and standards, in its concluding public report on Tuesday blamed the Government of Sri Lanka for "absence of will" in the present Inquiry to "investigate cases with vigour, where the conduct of its own forces has been called into question."
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