Tamil youth abducted in Uppuveli

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 October 2007, 11:45 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons Friday night abducted a Tamil youth from his house located in Uppuveli, a suburb in Trincomalee town. Abductors came in a white colour-van, forcibly entered the house, and took the youth with them, parents said in their complaint to the Uppuveli Police.
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US expresses concern over rights abuses in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 23:08 GMT]
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns, expressed "serious concern over credible reports of severe human rights abuses in Jaffna...," during a meeting with Sri Lanka's foreign minister Bogollagama in Washington D.C. Thursday, a press release issued by the State Department said.
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Conference on Violence against women held in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 19:24 GMT]
Tamil, Muslim women Oraganizations in Batticaloa district, aided by Oxfam, convened a conference involving nearly 5000 women in Batticaloa district at Batticaloa Manresa Centre Thursday and Friday.
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U.S. expresses rights concern, urges progress on power-sharing proposal

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 17:32 GMT]
U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns has expressed serious concern over credible reports of continued severe human rights abuses in Jaffna and other parts of Sri Lanka and ongoing threats to freedom of the press when he met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, according to a media note released by the U.S. Department of State.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Ea'raavoor

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 17:13 GMT]
An unidentified armed youth shot dead a Tamil youth Thursday at Siththaa'ndi Vipulaanantha Cross street in Ea'ravvoor in Batticaloa district, as the victim was coming from his home on bicycle, Ea'raavoor police said. The victim was rushed to Ea'raavoor hospital where he succumbed to the gunshot wounds.
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SLA intelligence officer, soldier shot in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 17:10 GMT]
An unknown armed person shot and wounded a Sri Lanka Army intelligence officer and a soldier at Maligawatte in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo Friday around 2:40 p.m., police said. The two military personnel in plain-cloth were riding in a three-wheeler along Jumma Masjeed road.
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Colombo court releases 9 Jaffna youths

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 00:33 GMT]
The Colombo Chief Magistrate Tuesday ordered the release of nine Tamil youths, detained in Boosa camp after being arrested during cordon and search operations in Colombo, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Corpses of 2 Tamil youths recovered in Ea'raavoor

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 00:17 GMT]
Ea'raavoor police recovered two bodies of Tamil youths shots killed, hands bound and eyes blind folded Thursday around 8:00 a.m at Theavapuram, Mu'rakkoddaancheanai in Ea'raavoor police division in Batticaloa district. The youths may have been abducted and brought from another place and killed at Theavapuram, police said.
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Colombo court releases 9 Jaffna youths

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 October 2007, 12:24 GMT]
The Colombo Chief Magistrate Tuesday ordered the release of nine Tamil youths, residents of Jaffna district, kept in detention in Boosa detention camp. Some of them were arrested in Colombo and its suburbs during cordon and search operation.
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Gotabhaya bans transport of livestock from abandoned Tamil homes in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 October 2007, 08:55 GMT]
Acting on a complaint made by Ameer Ali, Sri Lankan minister of disaster relief services, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan defense secretary, has instructed teh Batticaloa district commanding officer of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Superintendents of Police and officers of Special Task Force (STF) to ban the transport of livestock belonging to Tamils from the areas in Batticaloa district, recently brought under the control of the SLA. Tamils in these areas have repeatedly lodged complaint with Mr. Ameer Ali that cattle from their homes were being systematically stolen out of the district by paramilitaries and Sri Lankan soldiers and sold in Sinhala areas of the Polonnaruwa district.
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SLA blocks SLMM officials at Oamanthai border

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 October 2007, 06:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Northern Region officials scheduled to meet Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials in Ki'linochchi Thursday noon were blocked from crossing the Oamanthai entry point by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) due to new instructions from Colombo, General Secretary of Liberation Tigers Peace Secretariat, S. Puleedevan, told TamilNet. By refusing entry to the SLMM, Colombo was trying to block the information flow between the SLMM and the LTTE, he charged. Meanwhile, SLMM sources said the monitors had returned after being informed of new routines that involved going through a body check, inspection of vehicles and early enlistment of travelers.
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Allaippiddi massacre witnesses fear travel to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 October 2007, 14:55 GMT]
Witnesses to identify Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel alleged to have massacred 13 civilians at Allaipiddy last year did not appear at Kayts Court Tuesday for fear of their lives, Attorney-at-law, S. Remedias, appearing on their behalf, informed Additional Magistrate R. T. Vignarajah at the inquiry into Allaipiddy massacre case. The witnesses, presently living in Ki'linochchi in Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled area, fear to travel through Vavuniyaa and then sail from Trincomalee to Jaffna as they are afforded security only in Jaffna peninsula, the lawyer told the courts.
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International Chakkadaththaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 October 2007, 13:38 GMT]
The main reason why Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict couldn’t be resolved all these decades was that it was approached as a terrorist issue. The approach, which served the convenience and deceit of the Sinhala politicians, was endorsed by the world system, because everybody had skeletons in their cupboards. It was a general debility of international polity and political ideologies to resolve situations similar to that of Sri Lanka. As a result, the mainstream international system has led the world into an Age of Paranoia. The bigger the State, the bigger is the paranoia, writes Opinion Columnist Ampalam.
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Kilinochchi protest rally condemns Fr.Pakiyaranjith's killing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 October 2007, 11:05 GMT]
More than 2500 people joined in a protest rally held Monday afternoon 2:00 p.m. in Kilinochchi condemning the brutal killing of Rev.Fr.Nicholaspillai Pakiyaranjith, Mannar Coordinator for the International Humanitarian Organization, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), by an alleged Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) on 26 th September, and the killing of number of other humanitarian workers in North and East recently.
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Tamil trader abducted in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 October 2007, 08:58 GMT]
A Tamil trader was abducted Monday night around 7:15 p.m. in Trincomalee bazaar when he was shopping with his wife. The trader has been identified as Murugiah Ashokumar, 35, a resident of Uppuveli, a suburb in the east port town.
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British oil firms to explore Mannar amid UK ‘worry’ over rights

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 October 2007, 13:10 GMT]
British oil companies are to carry out oil explorations in Sri Lanka, press reports quoted the country’s Development and Investment minister, Sarath Amunagama, as saying. The agreement was reached following a series of high-level discussions he held with leading oil companies during a visit to London, the LankaTribune reported. Meanwhile, describing the human rights situation in Sri Lanka as “deeply worrying”, British Development Trade and Development minister, Gareth Thomas, said his government was pressing Sri Lanka to respect human rights.
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UNP drops federalism

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 October 2007, 11:15 GMT]
The decision by Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) to ditch the federal constitutional model as a solution to the island’s protracted ethnic conflict makes it the last of the major southern parties to embrace Sinhala nationalism again. In doing so, the former ‘pro-peace’ party may finally have resolved its ethnic dilemma.
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Naakarkoayil offensive thwarted, weapons seized - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 October 2007, 07:24 GMT]
A ground offensive, launched by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Naakarkoayil in Northern Forward Defence Line (FDL), backed by heavy artillery and mortar fire, was withdrawn following one-hour long stiff resistance put up by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Sunday night at 11:30 p.m., LTTE field officials in Vanni said. Claiming that they inflicted heavy casualties on the SLA, the Tigers said they have seized weapons and ammunitions including Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Launchers and Light Machine Guns (LMG). Three LTTE fighters were killed in action.
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UN Special Rapporteur on Torture visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 October 2007, 05:21 GMT]
Mr.Manfred Nowak, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Human Rights Abuse arrived in Colombo Sunday morning around 9 a.m. During his one-week stay till October 8 he is to hold talks with authorities concerned and victims of torture and human rights abuse, according to human rights sources in Colombo.
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Sri Lanka’s Humanitarian Crisis discussed in Swiss seminar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 September 2007, 13:46 GMT]
Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD), in collaboration with the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), and Sri Lanka and International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (LIDLIP), Switzerland, hosted a seminar on “Humanitarian Action in the Undeclared War in Sri Lanka,” on 22 September 2007. Local and international activists, UN agencies and other humanitarian agencies discussed the present ground situation in Sri Lanka and explored ways to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population.
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