Boyle denounces Power's notion of "trust deficit"

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 December 2015, 22:55 GMT]
Commenting on US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power's statement in an interview to the Sri Lanka's Sunday Observer that "[t]he entire country [Sri Lanka] needs to feel that there is positive and concrete action being taken to move forward...The government has commenced a journey and it must deliver the peace dividend to the people by calling for truth, justice and an end to impunity," Professor Boyle, an expert in International Law, said "Power knows full well that what she is saying here is total baloney and double-talk...It is ridiculous and preposterous for Power to talk about a ‘trust deficit’ between the GOSL and the Eelam Tamils—between the Genocidaires and their Victims."
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Premachandran releases photos of SL military-run torture chamber in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 December 2015, 23:04 GMT]
Former Tamil Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran has released photos taken by him from a former torture chamber operated by the occupying Sri Lankan military in Jaffna to media on Tuesday. The photos show blood-stained walls of a house used as torture cell and the roof of the abandoned house netted inside with barbed-wire. The photos were taken after the occupying Sri Lankan military relocated one of its most dreaded camps, known as 52nd Brigade Head Quarters, from Vara'ni to Kodikaamam in Thenmaraadchi. Describing the photographic traces of the former torture chamber in Vara'ni, Mr Premachandran told TamilNet that he was releasing the photos after the visiting UN working group on enforced disappearances had confirmed his earlier allegations on the existence of a similar torture chamber at Trincomalee Naval base in the East.
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Eezham Tamils urged to concentrate on strategic connections opposed to imperialism

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 November 2015, 21:06 GMT]
“The US and Britain deliberately broke the peace process, they reorganised and re-equipped the Sri Lankan armed forces, provided it with training, intelligence and tactical support and let it loose [on Eezham Tamils]. Then at the critical moment they withdrew the UN, and allowed the mass killings to take place with international impunity. Now the same imperialist powers are orchestrating acceptance of SL’s cover up,” said Dr. Andrew Higginbottom, lecturer in Politics and Human Rights at the Kingston University in London. He was addressing the participants at Tamil Eelam Heroes Day remembrance event held in London on Friday. Solidarity activist Roberto Cardenas from MERU Verdadero, the movement of Ecuadoreans in the UK, also joined the British academic in urging Eezham Tamils to make strategic connections with the progressive social movements in Latin America.
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Heroes Day addresses in diaspora slam ‘US-Sri Lanka’ agenda on Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 November 2015, 17:52 GMT]
Thousands of Diaspora Eezham Tamils gathered in several cities across the globe on Friday marking Tamil Eelam Heroes Day and passed a sharp message to the unitary State of Sri Lanka and to the powers that steer the UN discourse to whitewash the genocidal State through perfunctory investigations and biased presentations of past crimes for their geopolitical benefits. Eezham Tamils were already aware of the nexus between New Delhi and Colombo. Now, Tamils have also realised the real nature of the smoke-screen discourses in Geneva and New York, which have actualized the ‘US-Sri Lanka consensus resolution’ upholding the Colombo-centric unitary State of Sri Lanka. Eezham Tamil activists of the first- and second-generation diaspora responded with direct messages to the US-Colombo nexus at Oslo in Norway and at Fribourg in Switzerland.
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Occupied Tamil Eelam marks Heroes Day amidst ‘Sri Lankan’ harassment

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 November 2015, 13:54 GMT]
Tamil Eelam Heroes Day was observed in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils amidst intensified monitoring by the occupying military intelligence operatives of genocidal Sri Lanka on Friday. The university community in Jaffna, comprising the student union, teachers association and the union of non-academic staff gathered at Parameasvarar temple, which is located inside the campus of the University of Jaffna, to mark the largest event after 2009 to be organized braving the intimidating presence of the SL military intelligence operatives. Earlier in the day, former TNA parliamentarian and Northern Provincial Councillor M.K. Shivajilingam lit the flame of sacrifice at the historic Nalloor temple. A special prayer was held at St. Patricks Church in Jaffna.
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Tamil student in Jaffna commits suicide demanding release of political prisoners

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 November 2015, 08:39 GMT]
Leaving behind a letter demanding the Maithiripala regime in Colombo to immediately release Tamil political prisoners, 18-year-old Advanced Level Arts section student of Kokkuvil Hindu College, Senthuran Rajeswaran from Koappaay North, sacrificed his life Thursday morning by jumping in front of a speeding ‘Sri Lankan’ train at Kokkuvil junction. “In Tamil Elam, always loving Tamils,” he ended his letter just a day ahead of Eezham Tamils world over observing the Tamil Eelam Heroes Day.
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Theravada Buddhism worse than Brahmanism in language replacement

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 November 2015, 23:54 GMT]
Pali-based Theravada Buddhism, especially its Sinhala version, is historically worse than Sanskritic Brahmanism in language replacement and denial of linguistic rights of peoples in their religious pursuits. Tamils in their long civilization have seen all the religions through their language, and from time to time have been rebelling against all kinds of oppression coming through them. In this respect the atheist Dravidian movement set an example to entire South Asia and the Tamil militant struggle upheld the legacy. Tamils will come out with fitting answer to genocide coming through religion and to the international paradigms harping on religions in the game for world monopoly, commented Tamil activists for alternative politics responding to the Nayinaa-theevu question.
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Samantha Power rehabilitates genocidal Sri Lanka: Boyle

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 November 2015, 20:41 GMT]
"Power’s visit is just a public relations exercise designed to rehabilitate the genocidal GOSL government. In other words, Power has become an Accessory After The Fact to the GOSL genocide against the Eelam Tamils. Power has now become part of the GOSL’s “Problem from Hell,” said Professor Boyle, an expert in International Law and who teaches at the College of Law, University of Illinois, after following the events of Ms Samantha Power's visit to Sri Lanka this weekend. Criticizing Ms Power for avoiding questions on genocide, Boyle said, Power was guilty of unwittingly exhibiting racial bias in asking Tamil journalists whether they trusted Colombo, while she never would have asked the white-skinned Bosnian Muslims if they trusted the genocidal maniacs running the Government of Republika Srpska.
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Samantha Power evades questions in Jaffna on Tamil genocide

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 November 2015, 22:22 GMT]
Placing high hopes on Colombo regime that it will act positively to accountability demands of the US, and that there would be a vibrant civil society, lasting democracy and increased prosperity in the island, the visiting US Ambassador to United Nations, Ms Samantha Power, in Jaffna, dodged questions on the need for investigations on Tamil genocide, when journalists in Jaffna met her at the Jaffna Public Library on Sunday. During the tightly scheduled visit to Jaffna, Ms Power met with SL Governor to North, NPC Chief Minister and his ministers, toured the offices of the Uthayan newspaper and ceremonially opened a new science building at Jaffna Osmania College, constructed with 450,000 USD aid from the US Pacific Command. The Tamil-speaking Muslims in Jaffna had experienced “ethnic cleansing” even before the term was coined, Power said in her Osmania address.
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Opposition leader should address sovereignty concerns of Tamils: Former Land Commissioner

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 November 2015, 21:16 GMT]
The United States of America, locked in a geopolitical competition with China in the Indian Ocean Region, is primarily concerned with its own interests. All the stakeholders are mainly concerned of their stakes with regards to the geo strategic location of this island in the Indian Ocean. This was also the case during the times of the World Wars. Now, the USA wants to be in control after ousting the Chinese. India was also interested in the same. The same way, Tamils should also be concerned of their primary interests, said Karthirgamathamby Kurunathan, a retired land commissioner, urging the Tamil polity not to allow the Sinhala politicians to buy time and space through the manoeuvrings in the United Nations. The Tamil polity should be sharp in countering the age-old dragging techniques, he told TamilNet. The opposition leader should address the sovereignty concerns of Tamils, he said.
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Veteran photojournalist passes away at 82 after bicyle accident

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 November 2015, 23:41 GMT]
82-year-old photojournalist Sankarakampan Kathiravelu passed away on Thursday at Jaffna Hospital after he accidentally fell into a well when his bicycle crashed on a by-lane located near the newspaper office of Thinakkural in Jaffna. Mr S. Kathirvelu, coming from Up-country Tamil origin, has been one of the key photojournalists of Jaffna, who remained committed in his service for more than three decades. “His last wish was that Tamil journalists in the diaspora and the homeland should jointly work to strengthen the journalists to remain committed in their work to document the systemic crimes against the nation of Eezham Tamils,” senior journalists paying tribute to him told TamilNet.
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Hunger strike exposed non-seriousness of US Resolution: Prof Ramasamy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 November 2015, 09:10 GMT]
Since the prisoners’ plight has not been seriously addressed, many are wondering how the present Sri Lankan government would be able to address and punish those responsible for crimes against humanity, said Deputy Chief Minister of Penang state in Malaysia, Professor P. Ramasamy, in an article to TamilNet on Wednesday, announcing the intentions of a forthcoming international forum being organised on Saturday in Penang. “It is indeed ironic, that President Sirisena who promised truth, justice and reconciliation for Tamils, has failed to address the serious human rights plight of Tamils in the country,” he said. The conference comes at a time the prisoners in the island have placed the furtherance of their cause at the hands of the global Tamils and the Northern Provincial Council. The forum will be officiated by Chief Minister of Penang Lim Guan Eng.
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Tamil genocide continues, Sirisena shows no desire for change, says Grant

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 November 2015, 22:04 GMT]
Australian journalist and an advocate for Tamils rights, Trevor Grant, who has also written widely on the Sri Lankan State's genocide against Eezham Tamils and on the complicity of the Western governments in the genocide, in an interview with TamilNet this week opined that the Sirisena government's policies on critical Tamil issues are substantively not different from those of the predecessor Rajapakse government. Commenting on the recent prisoner issue where Tamil prisoners in several jails have resumed hunger strike after Sirisena failed to release the prisoners on Nov 7th as promised, Grant said that "if there was a genuine desire for change [in Srisena government], all prisoners would have been released within days of the election result in January." Grant added that Tamil Naadu has the capacity to turn India as a force supporting the cause of Eelam Tamils.
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Prisoners on hunger strike expose ‘reconciliation’ mask of genocidal Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 November 2015, 07:55 GMT]
The Prisoners of War and political prisoners on hunger strike languishing in the jails of occupying Colombo have stepped up their fast-unto-death protest on Saturday completely refusing medial treatment. The hunger-strikers learnt on Friday that the SL president Maithiripala Sirisena was not prepared to provide general amnesty to the prisoners. The hunger-strike has exposed the real faces behind the so-called good-governance personalities in the South and the one-way ‘reconciliation’ agenda they are trying to impose on Eezham Tamils, political observers in Jaffna said adding that the common public in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils, are now also able to understand the kind of Colombo-centric orchestrated politics being waged by the UN offices, diplomatic missions in Colombo and the NGOs funded by foreign governments.
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Hartal brings North to standstill, no signs of Colombo releasing Tamil POWs

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 November 2015, 15:58 GMT]
The entire Northern province was brought to a standstill on Friday in what was described as a successful boycott as the occupying Colombo and its military were unable to use force or muffle the protest for the first time after 9 years since 2006. The dawn to dusk shutdown, demanding immediate release of all prisoners of war and political prisoners involved in the Tamil war of independence, has sent a strong message to the SL State and to the global community, journalists in Jaffna said. However, informed sources close to Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran were pessimistic in their interpretation of the reports of a possible announcement coming from the SL President Maithiripala Sirisena on the coming Monday. “We are yet to see a principled decision from the side of the Sri Lankan president,” an NPC source told TamilNet.
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Condition of hunger-striking POWs, political prisoners worsens

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 November 2015, 16:28 GMT]
At least 31 Prisoners of War and political prisoners are either forcefully admitted to prison hospitals or their health has seriously declined as their fast-unto-death campaign reached the 5th day on Thursday at New Magazine prison in Welikade, Bogambara prision in Kandy and in Anuradhapura prison, former parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran told journalists in Jaffna today. There are Tamils from all the districts, up-country, Muslims and even Sinhalese who are alleged or accused for their involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) among the prisoners who are on hunger-strike, informed legal sources in Colombo told TamilNet. A wide-scale shut-down is to take place in the country of Eezham Tamils on Friday demanding release of the POWs and the political prisoners currently jailed in the prisons of genocidal Sri Lanka.
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South Africa to Singapore: global Tamils grasping geopolitics to act

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 November 2015, 06:42 GMT]
The powers of today have set their nodal points of global contention from the West to China. Whether it was landward, as visualised in Putin’s Eurasia talk at the UN, or seaward, as the traditional option left to the West, it is called the ‘Silk Route’ in their silk-coated language. The nodal points don’t care about the fundamental questions of the peoples in between, other than the question that which of the point overtakes or pre-empts the other. If the Islamic world in between is one example, Tamils without State in the sector between South Africa and Singapore is a worse example. The Eezham Tamils were particularly deceived in a similar situation before under the British, and now global Tamils have to grasp and set the bearings correct.
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Family of imprisoned Muslim joins Tamils demanding release of political prisoners

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 November 2015, 16:37 GMT]
The wife and a daughter of a 41-year-old Tamil Muslim political prisoner, who is languishing in the Sri Lankan prison in the South since January 2009 after being alleged of assisting the LTTE, joined the Tamil mothers on Tuesday morning at Mannaar where they staged a protest demanding the Sri Lankan President Maithiripala Sirisena to release their kith and kin, who are on a fast-unto-death campaign. Along with Ms Segu Mohadeen Noorjahan, Tamil mothers walked from St. Sebastian Church in the city of Mannaar towards the District Secretariat appealing for the release of their family members. “If this is the plight of the declared-prisoners in jail, what is going to be the response on the missing Prisoners of War and others believed to be in secret prisons,” the mothers asked the journalists covering the protest.
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Colombo intensifies demographic genocide in Moothoor, Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 November 2015, 23:51 GMT]
After settling local scores with a corporate outfit associated with the previous regime of Rajapaksa by releasing some of the lands seized from Eezham Tamils in Trincomalee back to the uprooted people from Champoor and making use of the act involved in a larger re-alignment of the geopolitical nexus with external powers that were trading on influencing the OISL recommendations and finally a resolution by ‘consensus’ at UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in October, the current regime of genocidal Sri Lanka has silently intensified the plans to permanently Sinhalicise 1,500 acres of lands that were already seized from Eezham Tamils at Kangkuveali, located southeast of Champoor in Moothoor division of the Trincomalee district.
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Diaspora should mount independent legal campaign: Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 November 2015, 23:18 GMT]
Pointing out that the United Nation's actions on Sri Lanka are unlikely to lead to establishing criminality for the Mu'l'livaaykkaal massacre on the State, Professor Francis Boyle, an expert in international law and who teaches at the College of Law, University of Illinois, advocates that the Tamil diaspora should organize a comprehensive legal campaign to bring charges in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and in parallel, bring criminal and/or civil charges against Sri Lanka's genocidaires in the courts of the democracies of the West using domestic legal mechanisms underpinned by universal jurisdiction. Boyle asserted that genocide, crimes against humanity and war-crimes are international crimes that have no statute of limitations, and Rajapaksas can be subjected to legal actions for the rest of their lives like the Jewish people's hunt for the Nazis.
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