Grassroot Tamil Nadu gathers to remember genocide, voice for Tamil Eelam

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 June 2011, 02:18 GMT]
Keeping aside party identities, religions and castes, more than 30,000 people of grass root Tamil Nadu gathered in Marina Beach of Chennai on Sunday to remember the genocide committed on Eezham Tamils and to call for independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam, sending a strong message to New Delhi and to the international community, the organisers of the event said. The congregation organised by Mr. Thirumurugan Gandhi of May 17 Movement, received massive support and participation of leaders cutting across party lines, similar grass root movements, civil society organisations, artists, social workers and the common public that has come with families bringing even their children.
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Sexual violence against Eezham Tamils carried out with genocidal intentions

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 June 2011, 14:25 GMT]
Sexual violence committed against Eezham Tamils by the occupying Sri Lanka Army in Vanni is on the increase in the recent months, reliable civil sources told TamilNet. Personnel in military vehicles and auto rickshaws parked under the trees away from the roadside in Ki'linochchi commit sexual violence to girls forcefully brought from the resettled villages and sometimes even to girls passing by on the road, by grabbing them into the vehicles. The wails of the victims are commonly heard, but people are unable to do anything about it, the civil sources further said. The violence is systematically committed with genocidal mentality and soon by replacing the civil administration of Ki'linochchi entirely by the Sinhalese, all protests will be silenced, the sources added.
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‘Sinhala only’ implemented in Trinco DDC, DAC meetings

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 June 2011, 14:00 GMT]
Conducting meetings of the Trincomalee District Coordinating Committee (DDC) and District Agricultural Committee (DAC) and other important conferences by the Trincomalee District Secretariat solely in Sinhala language has caused dissatisfaction among the Tamil speaking members. Two third of the population in Trincomalee district is Tamil speaking people. Most of the Rajapaksa appointed heads of government departments and officials attending the conferences are Sinhalese. Earlier, there was a translator to translate Sinhala and Tamil at meetings and conferences held in Trincomalee district secretariat to facilitate members of all communities to understand the proceedings. Now the translator is removed by the Trincomalee district secretariat.
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Work with the ‘other’ International Community: leftist MEP

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 June 2011, 17:56 GMT]
“Tamil diaspora activists are very capable and able to put pressure on governments around the world. But, alongside this work, I would really like to encourage the Tamil diaspora to focus on the 'other' international community – which isn't represented by these governments or institutions,” said Socialist Party and United Left Alliance MEP for Dublin, Paul Murphy MEP, in an e-mail interview to TamilNet on Thursday. The Irish MEP who played a key role in organising a hearing at the EU Parliament earlier this month also said: “For us in the Committee for a Workers' International, the right to self-determination for the Tamil people is vital.” He urged the Eezham Tamil diaspora to join hands with the progressive Sinhala forces in the South.
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Tamil youth in UK mark Eezham identity with I'lantha'lir event

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 June 2011, 19:14 GMT]
The Tamil Youth Organisation in Britain hosted Sunday an awareness event for ‘Eezham Thamizh identity’, with an evening of music, drama, dance and poetry. The event, named I'lantha'lir 2011, held at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall, began with the ceremonial raising of the Tamil Eelam flag outside the imposing art deco building, chosen for the quality of the acoustics which make it one of the UK's top venues for recording classical music. The performances opened with instrumental music using traditional Tamil instruments: Murasu, Thappai, Udukku, Changku (conch) and Kompu (horn). Many of the visitors touched or ran their hands through soil from Mullaiththeevu beach placed in a bronze bowl, and encouraged their children to do the same.
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Hague summons reaches Rajapakse for US Court case

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 June 2011, 06:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s local media reported that the Sri Lanka Justice Department has received the summons filed in connection with the Monoharan et al v. Rajapaksa (Civil Action No. 11-235(CKK) under the Hague Convention. This notification and demonstrated failure of Mr Rajapakse to answer the complaint will allow the Court to proceed to the next step in proposing a last resort attempt at service by publication or to move to consider a default judgment, plaintiffs’ attorney Bruce Fein told TamilNet.
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UK routeing ex-LTTE ‘reintegration’ through SL Army raises controversy in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 June 2011, 22:06 GMT]
Announcing a donation of 5,00,000 pound sterling (90 million SL rupees), and entirely accompanied by the occupying Sri Lanka Army, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Colombo, Mark Gooding, visited a detention camp run for ‘reintegration’ of ex-LTTE combatants by the SL military at the High Security Zone part of Thellippazhai in Valikaamam North, Jaffna, on Monday. The British government policy of accepting a genocidal military accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity as competent authority for the ‘reintegration’ of the ex-LTTE combatants, and involving the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) of questionable local credibility in the process, raises controversy in Jaffna.
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Oil, canal and security cause call for retrieval of Kachcha-theevu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 June 2011, 16:34 GMT]
The Tamil Nadu State Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution to legally associate the Tamil Nadu government with a case already pending in the Supreme Court of India on Kachchatheevu. The petition in the Supreme Court filed in 2008, by AIADMK General Secretary and present Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalitha, seeks the Supreme Court to declare India’s ceding of Kachchatheevu to Sri Lanka as unconstitutional. According to the CM and some Indian policy planning writers, the ceding of the islet under the 1974 and 1976 bilateral agreements affected fishing rights of the Tamil Nadu fishermen and resulted in the killing of hundreds of them by the Sri Lanka Navy. But oil in the Palk Bay, a canal project and security fears of India count more than the interests of the fishermen, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo.
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EU Court of Justice takes up LTTE case

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 June 2011, 16:49 GMT]
Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, on Tuesday, informed Victor Koppe, attorney for the LTTE, that the Court has taken up the case “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) vs Council of the European Union” (Case T-208/11-9) for hearing. The Registrar of the General Court informed the attorney that the case has been assigned to the Court's Second Chamber. Victor Koppe, filed the case against the European Union for the annulment of the European Union's ban on Liberation Tigers.
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Tamils protest at Lords over allegations of Sri Lanka war-crimes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 June 2011, 04:47 GMT]
Tamil youth activists in Britain took their ‘Boycott Sri Lanka Cricket’ campaign to the Lords cricket grounds on Saturday, the third day of the second Sri Lanka v England test match this summer. Several dozen Tamil activists and supporters handed out leaflets to arriving spectators and cricket officials and staged a noisy demonstration opposite the famous grounds in the latest in a series of events organised by the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) to raise awareness of the mass killings of Tamil civilians during the final months of Sri Lanka’s war in 2009, and call for a boycott of Sri Lankan cricket until Colombo agrees to an independent international investigation.
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LTTE mounts legal challenge, says post-Mu’l’livaaykkaal EU ban illegal

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 June 2011, 00:20 GMT]
Amsterdam-based Bohler Group's attorney, Victor Koppe, brought an action on behalf of the European wing of the LTTE against the Council of the European Union at the European Court of Justice Thursday for the annulment of the ban on Liberation Tigers, arguing that the LTTE no longer uses military means to achieve its goals, and in post-Mu’l’livaaykkaal context, uses political and non-violent methods to achieve the movement's goals of obtaining Tamil justice and exercising the right to self-determination of the Tamil people. Koppe argues that these rights are protected by the doctrine of fundamental freedoms of speech, association, assembly and movement.
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European United Left upholds Tamil right to self-determination including secession

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2011, 12:52 GMT]
A conference organised by the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) at the EU Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, resolved that it supported “the right to self determination of the Tamil-speaking people, up to and including separation, if that is what they wish, while safeguarding the rights of all minorities” and demanded the SL state to shut down the military bases of the “army of occupation” in North and East and sought a political solution addressing the “national and democratic aspirations” of the Tamil people. Heidi Hautala, Green MEP and Chair of EU Parliament's Human Rights Sub Committee, a key speaker at the event, called for a GUE/NGL fact finding mission to the island of Sri Lanka. Vaiko, the leader of the MDMK in Tamil Nadu and Sinhala and Tamil political activists from the island and the diaspora took part in the event.
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U.S. case: Rajapakse ducks service, Court order sought for alternate service

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2011, 00:04 GMT]
Attorney for the three Tamil plaintiffs who filed civil action against Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse for monetary damages under US's Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in the District Court of District of Columbia, informed the Court Tuesday that defendant, Mahinda Rajapakse, has avoided service of process by not accepting mail sent by recorded delivery to the Sri Lanka embassy and "Temple Trees," and that Plaintiffs are in the process of attempting to serve via Sri Lankan central authority in accordance with the provisions of "The Hague Convention," to which the U.S. and Sri Lanka are signatories. Plaintiffs will seek authorization from the court for alternate means of service, such as notification via a legal publication.
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SLA suppresses evidence of skeletal remains unearthed during demining

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 May 2011, 17:29 GMT]
Officials of demining NGOs in Vanni allege that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are taking measures to ensure that evidence regarding the skeletal remains of Tamil civilians discovered during the demining operations do not become exposed or become public information, sources in Kilinochchi said. Sri Lanka officials have issued unofficial directives to the demining organizations to bury the skeletons in a demarcated area, according to the NGOs.
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Genocide recognition of Mu’l’livaaykkaal 2009 gains ground

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 May 2011, 00:03 GMT]
Genocide recognition is a long and politicised process. While the international media has a pivotal role, historically it has failed to publicise genocides as they occur and has delayed in recognition afterwards. Governments on the other hand have been reluctant to recognise genocide as this would impose obligations on them under international law to act to 'prevent and to punish' and these obligations would consume resources and damage diplomatic relations with countries that may be their allies in military and security endeavours.
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Tamil independence, a universal issue going beyond state reformation in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 May 2011, 09:36 GMT]
India could do much better by acknowledging the right to independence of Eezham Tamils, by working for international consensus towards it, by structuring an IC-facilitated transition arrangement for it, and by creating an environment for the diaspora to freely interact through Palaali and Trincomalee, for India’s own reconciliation with Tamils and for relieving the island from endangering the entire region, rather than covertly waging ‘counterinsurgency’ and psy-op wars with people of Tamil Nadu and the diaspora through intelligence operatives to save establishments indicted, writes TamilNet commentator in Colombo. The Frankenstein Monster in Colombo is now difficult for its creators and the UN to handle, but Sinhalese alone may able to bring it down and strike true reconciliation if there is an IC decision that Tamil Eelam is inevitable. That is the only way out now, he further said.
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Rain helps Tamil protesters at Cardiff cricket match

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 May 2011, 03:29 GMT]
Rain that drenched Tamil youth activists conducting a major leafleting effort in support of the ‘Boycott Sri Lankan Cricket’ campaign on Saturday, the third day of Sri Lanka’s first test match against England, proved a blessing in disguise when it stopped play till lunch, allowing them to canvass crowds of spectators milling outside the Swalec Stadium in Wales. Two dozen activists received warm support and encouragement from spectators, including several members of England’s colourful ‘Barmy Army’, as they handed out leaflets and conversed with them over several hours, organizers said.
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Challenge Delhi, Convince Paris on investigations: Tamil Nadu journalist

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 May 2011, 11:01 GMT]
With its influence on UN Security Council and as an elected member of the 47-member UN Human Rights Council, the current Indian establishment will secretly put its weight behind Colombo's efforts to block international investigations, K. Aiyanathan, a senior journalist in Tamil Nadu told TamilNet Saturday. Urging the political forces in Tamil Nadu to checkmate New Delhi by calling for war crimes investigations against key Indian personalities if they continue to abet the Rajapaksa regime, the journalist told TamilNet that Diaspora Tamils should convince France, a permanent member in the Security Council and a member state of the Human Rights Council to stay the course of justice as the Council is scheduled to hold its 17th session from 30 May to 17 June at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
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Massacre commemoration rally in front of UN headquarters

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 May 2011, 02:51 GMT]
Nearly one thousand expatriate Tamils from the U.S. and Canada held a protest rally in front of the United Nations headquarters near the Dag Hammarskjold park in Manhattan New York on the second anniversary of the Mu’l’livaaykkaal massacre of May 2009, appealing to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to act on the recommendations of his expert panel to conduct independent war crimes investigations in Sri Lanka. Protesters' chants of “UN, UN, Never again” and “Ban Ki-moon, Act Now” echoed off the white metal building where Secretary General Ban's office now is, Inner City Press (ICP) which covered the protest reported.
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Calls for war-crimes probe escalate as Tamils commemorate massacre

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 May 2011, 02:49 GMT]
Amid increasing calls by world's premier human rights NGOs, newly elected Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for independent international investigations into alleged accusations of war-crimes committed by Sri Lanka on Tamils, Tamil expatriates in several countries in the West are preparing to commemorate the massacre of Tamil civilians during the final phase of Sri Lanka war. In the United Kingdom, youth groups are organizing a vigil in Trafalgar Square and planning protest campaigns against visiting Sri Lanka cricket team, while in the U.S. in a show of unity, multiple Tamil organizations are participating in a protest and vigil in front of the United Nations building. Organizers of both events said they are expecting a large turnout.
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