"Separation inevitable if power continues to polarize with ethnic hegemony" - Mano Ganesan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 October 2007, 13:07 GMT]
Mano Ganesan MP, the leader of the Western Province People's Front (WPPF) and the convener of the Civil Monitoring Committee (CMC), engaged in monitoring abductions, addressing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, at the UN office in Colombo, on Thursday, said that the Tamils would be forced to seek separation as the only alternative if the Sri Lankan government failed to satisfy the "Sri Lankan dream," which he described as a dreamland with political power sharing between all the ethnic communities, where there are no places for war, abductions, extra judicial killings and where there is no room for polarization of political power with ethnic hegemony.
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Missing Tamil academic found dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 18:39 GMT]
A senior lecturer of the Science Faculty of Jaffna University, Ponniah Mahinan, who was reported missing since Saturday evening in Colombo was allegedly abducted and killed. The body of the victim with scratch injuries, located Sunday, was identified by his wife on Tuesday. The lecturer from the Department of Mathematics had come to Colombo from Jaffna to supervise paper corrections of GCE Advanced Level examinations at the end of September and was staying at a lodge on Daya Road in Wellawatte.
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TNA delegation meets UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 16:24 GMT]
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Wednesday evening met Louise Arbour, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights at the UN office in Colombo and briefed her about the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka, especially in the northeast.
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Fasting Tamil prisoners attacked in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 12:01 GMT]
A prison guard and Sinhala prisoners have attacked a group of Tamil detainees in Colombo remand prison in Welikade, when they went to seek medical treatment for sore eyes Wednesday morning. 86 Tamil prisoners have started a fast-unto-death campaign from 6.00 a.m. Wednesday, demanding the visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, to visit the Welikade prison, look into their plight and exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to expedite their cases that have been postponed fortnightly and not been heard for more than a year.
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Point Pedro lawyers protest against death threats, extortion

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 11:07 GMT]
Lawyers in Point Pedro began a token protest Wednesday afternoon, boycotting court sessions at Point Pedro divisional court, demanding protection against the death threats, intimidation and extortion by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) backed armed Tamil paramilitary groups. The boycott launched by Jaffna peninsula lawyers for the same reason in September was withdrawn on SLA Jaffna Commander's assurance that the menace will be eradicated, but the assurance is yet to be fulfilled, Vadamaraadchi Lawyers Association members said.
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UN envoy meets Sri Lankan Human Rights Minister

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 06:12 GMT]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Louise Arbour, is due to meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse Thursday. She met Sri Lankan Human Rights Minister Mr.Mahinda Samarasinghe on Wednesday morning and discussed with him in detail the human rights situation on the ground, UN sources said.
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Welikade Tamil prisoners agitate to meet UN official

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 02:44 GMT]
Eighty six Tamil detainees in Welikade maximum security prison and forty Tamil prisoners from Magazine prison staged a token hunger strike Tuesday demanding that Sri Lanka Government arrange High Commissioner of Human Rights in the United Nations, Ms Louise Arbour, who is currently on a fact finding mission to Sri Lanka, to visit the detainees in the prison. The detainees said Ms Arbour should be told of the prison conditions, and the extended incarceration without the right to a trial, civil society sources in Colombo said.
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Tigers urge UN Human Rights Commissioner to visit Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 October 2007, 22:57 GMT]
Welcoming the "timely mission" by United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, Louise Arbour, to investigate human rights violations in Sri Lanka, Liberation Tigers Human Rights spokesperson N. Selvy, Tuesday said the Tamils were expecting the UN High Commissioner to visit the LTTE administered Vanni to get an absolute assessment of the Human Rights violations perpetrated by the Sri Lankan military and its paramilitaries in the Tamil homeland. Tamils, as a people, were disappointed as "the main violator, the Sri Lankan government itself," was exercising control over the itinerary of the visiting High Commissioner, Ms. Selvy said.
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Abductions on the increase in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 October 2007, 18:45 GMT]
Eight Tamil civilians have been abducted during the first eight days of October in Trincomalee district, according to complaints received by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL). 27 Tamil civilians have been abducted in the month of September compared to 12 in August, HRCSL sources said.
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India urged to pay compensation to family of slain trade unionist

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 October 2007, 18:42 GMT]
The World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP), a forum of 34 organizations representing traditional fisher communities in Asia, has urged Indian and Tamil Nadu leaders to conduct an impartial inquiry and look after the family of a Sri Lankan fisherman trade unionist, 44-years-old Warnakulasooriya Canicius Fernando, who was shot and killed Friday at the gates of a restricted entrance of Mathurai Central Prision in Tamil Nadu, while he was visiting four Sri Lankan fishermen imprisoned in the Indian jail. The funeral of the victim, a father of two, has taken place in Munnakkarai in Negombo at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday.
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Emergency extended for another month in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 October 2007, 17:39 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's parliament Tuesday adopted motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of 93 votes. All constituent parties of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) including the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF) voted for the motion.
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Tamil farmer abducted in Thampalakaamam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 October 2007, 01:44 GMT]
A Tamil farmer was abducted by a group of unidentified armed persons Monday around 3.30 p.m. at Puthukuddiyiruppu, according to complaints filed by his relatives with the Kanthlaai police. Puthukuddiyiruppu is a suburb in Mullipottanai village under the administration of Thampalakaamam divisional secretariat division
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6 STF commandos killed, 10 injured in Ampaa'rai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 October 2007, 16:53 GMT]
Six Special Task Force (STF) elite commandos were killed and 10 others were injured in two separate attacks by the Liberation Tigers in the south-eastern Ampaa'rai district, Monday evening, LTTE's political head for the region, Kaviyarasan told TamilNet.
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MP condemns SLA ban on construction of houses for Batticaloa IDPs

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 October 2007, 10:41 GMT]
Batticaloa District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, S. Jeyananthamoorthy, speaking to media this week, condemned the ban imposed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA ) for constructing permanent houses for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) at Naavaladi Junction within Vaaharai District Secretary's administrative area in Batticaloa District.
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Jaffna fishermen suspicious of SLN's easing of restrictions

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 October 2007, 03:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), while stepping up naval operations, has suddenly relaxed its restrictions imposed on Jaffna fishermen by extending the distance to 3 km and the number of fishermen allowed to fish in these areas has been raised from 600 to 700. The fishermen are suspicious that this action has been taken with the hidden aim to exploit them as pawns in an attempt to launch camouflage offensives on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held areas across Jaffna lagoon, causing fear among the fishermen, Jaffna Fishermen Society representatives said.
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Tamil civilian abducted in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 October 2007, 17:59 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons Saturday night abducted a 33-year old Tamil, a father of three children, from his house in Palaiyootu, a suburb located about 2 km off east port town Trincomalee. according to a complaint lodged with the Uppuveli police by his wife Sunday.
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Six upcountry Tamil youths further remanded

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 October 2007, 08:23 GMT]
Six Tamil youths, residents of Kandy district were ordered further remand by the Colombo magistrate's court Friday. They were arrested on September 30 at Ragama town in Colombo district in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army and police.
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Tamil youth reported missing in Dehiwala

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 October 2007, 16:15 GMT]
A Twenty-two year old Tamil youth residing in Dehiwala, a suburb of Colombo, has been reported missing since Thursday morning, according to a complaint lodged with the Dehiwala police on Friday evening by his parents.
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48 Tamils arrested in Wellampitya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 October 2007, 16:12 GMT]
Forty-eight Tamil civilians were arrested in a combined cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police at Wellampitya, a town in Colombo district, from morning till noon Saturday. The Terrist Intelligence Division (TID) is interrogating those arrested at the Wellampitya police station, sources said.
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6 Tamils arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 October 2007, 11:48 GMT]
Six Tamil civilians were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in a cordon and search operation conducted in Gampaha town, situated 24 km northeast of Colombo, from Friday night till dawn of Saturday. The detainees were all staying with their relatives and lodges at that time of arrest.
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