SLAF Kfir jets bomb Vaakarai, 2 civilians wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2006, 14:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jets bombed thrice Mavilaru in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Vaakarai region in Trincomalee district Wednesday between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. Two civilians, wounded in the bombing were rushed to Eachilampattu hospital, medical sources said. The wounded civilians were from Thonithandamadu, located close to Mavilaru, located in Serunuwara division. Two houses were destroyed in SLAF bombing, according to S. Elilan, LTTE's Trincomalee District Political Head. Colombo has chosen, according to SLAF spokesperson, to bomb the area following a dispute over water supply from Verukal river.
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SL Government must be held accountable for violence - Canadian Parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2006, 11:05 GMT]
“We [Canada] should be using our influence as an aid donor, as a fellow Commonwealth nation to hold the SL government to a standard of conduct where extra judicial killings, bombing of civilian villages and human rights abuses do not continue with impunity.” said Albina Guarnieri, an opposition parliamentarian addressing a ten thousand strong crowd gathered in Dundas Square, Toronto on Monday July 24th to commemorate the anniversary of Black July. Raymond Cho, a Toronto city councilor, spoke about the need to redefine terrorism while Tim Dobson, from the Conservative Party, underscored the importance of educating people about the Tamil people’s struggle.
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Black July remembrance held in Australian cities

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2006, 10:55 GMT]
Candle light vigils and 24-hour fasts were held in several cities across Australia in the 23rd year anniversary remembrance of the victims of 'Black July.' Nearly thousand people assembled in the heart of Sydney at Martin Place to attend a candle light vigil held between 5 pm and 7 pm on Tuesday 25th July. In Melbourne Tamils were joined by their Australian friends and parliamentarians in a 24 hour fast. A vigil was also held in Brisbane City Centre where leaflets were distributed.


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Delay in relief adds to Muttur IDPs woes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2006, 10:09 GMT]
Although three months have passed since the internal displacement of several hundreds of Tamil people from Muttur east to other areas following attacks by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on April 25, only two weeks dry ration relief have been provided to the IDPs till now, said Mr.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) addressing a group of public servants and representatives of non-governmental organizations working in the affected areas Tuesday morning, LTTE sources said.
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UN High Commissioner visits Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2006, 09:06 GMT]
António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on Wednesday visited Kilinochchi, the de facto administration centre of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) administered Tamil territories and met with LTTE's Political Head, S. P. Thamilchelvan and M. Pavarasan, the Director of UN and NGO affairs of the Tamil administration, LTTE officials in Kilnochchi said.
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UNHCR High Commissioner visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2006, 08:03 GMT]
Mr. Antonio Guterres, the head of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees began a three-day visit Sri Lanka, Tuesday. The visit will be the first by a head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the country, where it has been working with conflict-displaced people since 1987, according to UN news centre.
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Surge in Mannar residents fleeing to South India

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2006, 01:55 GMT]
Increasing number of residents of Mannar district have started fleeing to South India by boats following the escalation in number of abductions, and killings of several Tamil civilians by State armed forces and Deep Penetration Units of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), civil sources said.
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Thousands gather in Hyde Park remembrance

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 July 2006, 13:11 GMT]
Thousands of British Tamils are gathering in London’s Hyde Park to remember the thousands of fellow Tamils massacred in the July 1983 pogrom. The event, organised by the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) on behalf of the expatriate Tamil community, is taking place in the centre of the Royal park Tuesday afternoon.
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Home Guard, Tamil civilian killed in Serunuwara

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 July 2006, 01:43 GMT]
Unidentified persons shot dead Nagarajah Suntharalingam, 34, Poonagar in Eachchilampathu on Monday morning in the Seruvila police division. Meanwhile Serunuwara Police Monday recovered the body of a home guard identified as Nissanka Ranjith Bandara at Sri Mangalapura, a Sinhala settlement located close to Serunuwara police station, police sources said.


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Psychiatric evaluation ordered for accused SLA soldiers in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 July 2006, 00:53 GMT]
Jaffna District Magistrate, E. T. Vignarajah, Monday, ordered psychiatric assessment for the three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers accused of threatening Jaffna Additional Magistrate Ms. Srinithi Nanthisekaran with death, to asses their mental status, after police officers at courts expressed doubts over the mental stability of the soldiers, legal sources in Jaffna said.


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Bodies of two Tamil youths recovered in Thirukovil

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 July 2006, 11:58 GMT]
Thirukovil Police recovered bullet riddled bodies of two Tamil youths at Kalappu area in Porakalappu, Vinayagapuram in Thirukovil Monday morning around 8:00 a.m. The bodies have been identified as belonging to Kandiah Thivakaran, 21, a mason by profession of Kali Kovil Road of Vinayagapuram and Jeyapragasam Jeyaraj, 23, a labourer, civil sources said.
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"Death Won't Deter Us," - Diaspora Tamils mark 83 Black July Genocide

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 July 2006, 09:28 GMT]
The 1983 Black July anti-Tamil pogroms in which more than 3000 Tamils were killed and billions of rupees worth of property were destroyed by Sinhala thugs, sections of Sri Lankan armed forces, and ruling UNP party cadres, fuelled the Tamil armed struggle towards a defensible Tamil homeland. Thousands of Tamils fled the island to Tamil Nadu state in India, Europe and elsewhere. The recent extra-judicial killings in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas in the NorthEast, during the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), have added significance to the widespread observance by the Tamil diaspora of the 23rd year remembrance of the anti-Tamil pogroms.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Kachchakodithivu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2006, 17:40 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) shot dead a Tamil civilian N.Suthakar (30) of Palamppadru in Thampalakamam division Saturday afternoon around 3 p.m. This incident had taken place at Kachchakodithivu village in Kinniya division, police sources said.
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Indian PM wants Tamil grievances addressed – Sunday Leader

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2006, 16:12 GMT]
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed serious concern at the lack of progress on the peace front in Colombo and called for the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people to be addressed urgently, the Sunday Leader reported this week. Meanwhile a Sri Lankan delegation has rushed to China on security-related matters, the paper added.
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Teacher Volunteer Force formed in Muttur east

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2006, 13:16 GMT]
"Thamileelam freedom struggle has attained a new dimension with the full participation of Thamileelam people and not confined only to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). How can then anyone ban our freedom struggle?" asked Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district of the LTTE addressing the graduation event of a group of teachers who underwent military training under the Rural Volunteer Force held at Eachchilampathu division in Trincomalee district Saturday evening, LTTE sources said.
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TNA accuses SL Armed Forces for attack on MP's residence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2006, 12:25 GMT]
Condemning in "strongest possible terms this cowardly act on a democratically elected Member of Parliament," the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a press release issued Sunday said it has not the slightest doubt that this has been carried out by the "Government Paramilitary Groups and the Government Armed Forces in direct contravention of the Ceasefire Agreement and the agreements reached in Geneva in February 2006." The release added: "It is the refusal of the Sri Lankan Government to deal with its Paramilitary Groups and its Armed Forces as per the Ceasefire Agreement and the Geneva agreements that has been the single most destabilizing factor of the Peace Process."
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Black July awareness campaign in South Africa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2006, 10:48 GMT]
Expatriate Tamils in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, began a three day awareness campaign of the July 1983 events in Sri Lanka, Tamil Coordinting Committee officials in South Africa said. The event starting from 22nd July is being organized at the Chatsworth Shopping Center in Kwazulu Natal, with poster displays and screening of July 1983 and current events in Sri Lanka, organizers said.
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Tamil youths detained in MI operated Secret Detention Centres in south - UNP MP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2006, 08:33 GMT]
Sri Lankan Military Intelligence (MI) is operating secret detention centres in Dematagoda, Kiribathgoda and in several other secret locations elsewhere, charged T. Maheswaran a Tamil parliamentarian from the opposition United National Party (UNP) in Parliament on Friday when an adjournment motion to censure the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government for failing to arrest the killers of the Sinhala investigative journalist Sampath Lakmal, tabled by Kalutura District UNP MP Rajitha Seneratne, was taken up in the Sri Lanka’s Parliament.
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Two persons shot dead in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2006, 08:06 GMT]
Two persons, a Tamil and a Sinhalese, were found shot dead at a graveyard in Thonikkal, 2 km from Vavuniya, Police said. Police suspected that the victims were persons involved in petty theft and burglary in Vavuniya area for a long time.


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Two Tamil youths shot dead in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 July 2006, 15:42 GMT]
Unidentified motorbike-gunmen shot and killed two Tamil youths at Periyaneelavanai on Kalmunai - Batticaloa Main Road Saturday at 2:05 p.m., Kalmunai Police said.
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