'Valaichenai attack premeditated'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 June 2002, 19:07 GMT]
"The 'Hartal' was a pretext for the Islamic extremiststo destroy the Tamil people's economy in Valaichenai. They used guns, claymore mines and grenades to attack us. The Police stood by when Islamic extremists were attacking us with these weapons. Who gave them these weapons?," asked Mr. Ethirmannasingham Kamalranjith, the spokesman for the Tamil community leaders and traders, during a discussion with Sri Lanka's army commander, Lt. Gen. Balagalle, and Minister for Economic Reforms, Mr. Milinda Moragoda in the eastern town Sunday.
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Curfew lifted in troubled eastern town

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 June 2002, 12:39 GMT]
The four-day long curfew clamped in general area of Valaichenai - Oddamavadi 32 kilometres north of Batticaloa was lifted Tuesday morning. Tamil traders and businessmen were Monday permitted to see the gutted remains of their shops and buildings in the Valaichenai bazaar. The area has been under curfew since Friday 28 June.
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Ceasefire has reduced human rights violations - Amnesty

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 June 2002, 11:15 GMT]
Ending a two-week visit to Sri Lanka, Amnesty International (AI) delegates welcomed the positive engagement and cooperation from both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on issues of human rights and the peace process. "The current climate is one of pragmatic hope," Derek Evans, head of the delegation said. "The cease-fire agreement has made a significant impact in reducing human rights abuses in Sri Lanka."
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EPDP snubs official inquiry

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 June 2002, 02:42 GMT]
A Tamil paramilitary organisation whose armed cadres are accused of assaulting senior political cadres of the Liberation Tigers snubbed a request by a Sri Lankan government board to send representatives to an inquiry into the incident, press reports said Saturday. Cadres of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) along with army and naval personnel are accused of assaulting the LTTE’s top political cadre in the islets of the Jaffna and one his team members, on June 21.
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SLA troops advance to LTTE lines - report

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 June 2002, 00:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) units in the Kilali-Nagerkoil axis in the Jaffna peninsula have advanced closer to the positions of the Liberation Tigers and taken up positions well inside the minimum separation distance stipulated in the ceasefire agreement, according to complaints received by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Tamil press reports said this week.
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MPs allege Police hand in Valaichenai violence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 June 2002, 16:10 GMT]
The three Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians of the Batticaloa district Saturday alleged that the Police too had a hand in the violence in Valaichenai Thursday and Friday. In a letter to Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe they charged that Police officers in charge of the area had acted partially. They asked the Prime Minister to appoint a Commission of Inquiry headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge to inquire into the violence.
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Youth found shot dead

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 June 2002, 22:52 GMT]
The Chavakachcheri acting Magistrate A.Premashankar Friday ordered an investigation to the unexplained death of a Tamil youth whose body with was recovered with gunshot injuries Thursday evening from a paddy field close to the forward defense line of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp at Eluthumadduval, Thenamaradchchi in Jaffna district.
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Muslim extremists attack Minister’s house

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 June 2002, 15:15 GMT]
A large mob of Muslims led by Islamic extremists attacked and demolished the home of Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister for Fisheries, Mr. Mohideen Abdul Cader, Friday afternoon after prayers at a local mosque in Valaichenai, 32 kilometres north of Batticaloa. The attackers removed weapons of the Minister’s security unit that were in his home, Police sources in the eastern town said. The extremists had railed Mr. Cader after the Friday’s Jummah prayers for not backing their cause and had incited the crowds at the mosque to deal him justice. Meanwhile, another mob led by the Islamic extremists set fire to a local government body’s office in the town’s Tamil quarter.
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Tamil journalists condemn attack on colleague

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 June 2002, 11:02 GMT]
Tamil journalists Friday slammed the attack by an unidentified group on the residence of a Tamil journalist who had named in a recent report, an extremist Muslim group as behind recent communal violence in the Mutur area of Trincomalee. "We strongly condemn the attack on the house of Mr.Satchivanandam on Wednesday morning," said a statement issued by the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA).
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13 injured in attacks by Islamic extremists

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 June 2002, 14:56 GMT]
Thirteen Tamil civilians were wounded and one killed in attacks by armed persons suspected to be members of an extremist Islamic group in Valaichenai, 32 kilometres north of Batticaloa Thursday. Islamic extremists wounded four Tamils, one seriously, in a grenade attack in the morning and killed one and wounded nine hours after the Police clamped curfew Thursday afternoon to quell the violence. Ten Tamil women were abducted by the extremists in Oddamaavadi near Valaichenai, sources said.
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SLA fishing ban despite Colombo promise

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 June 2002, 14:28 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army imposed ban on fishing in the southeastern parts of the Jaffna lagoon has driven hundred and ninety fishing families to destitution, a spokesman for the Federation of Northern Province Fisheries Co-op Societies said Saturday. None of the families receive relief from the Sri Lankan government, the spokesman said. Colombo promised to remove restrictions on fishing in the northeast ninety days after signing the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers in February this year.
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Thousands march against Jaffna paramilitary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 June 2002, 11:31 GMT]
More than eight thousand people took part in a protest march and public rally in Kayts in Jaffna Thursday against the activities of a paramilitary group working with the Sri Lanka Navy in the islands off the northern peninsula. The protestors shouted slogans denouncing the paramilitary group, a close ally of Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, and condemning the attack on LTTE political activists in Kayts on 20 June. The organisers of the march and rally said that cadres of the paramilitary had threatened the public in Kayts Wednesday night to prevent them from participating in the protest.
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Support in Batticalo and Amparai for Trincomalee hartal

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 June 2002, 00:43 GMT]
(News Feature) The hartal in the Trincomalee district organised Tuesday by Tamil civil society organisations drew impromptu support from Tamils in Batticaloa and Amparai districts, press reports said. The hartals were in protest against the attacks on the political activists of the Liberation Tigers at Velanai in Jaffna district and the Muttur LTTE political office in Trincomalee district.
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'Torture continues despite stringent laws' -HRC co-ordinator

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 June 2002, 18:57 GMT]
"Almost in every household in the Trincomalee district there would be a complaint of disappearance. Torture still continues in the island although necessary legislation has been enacted to end this humanrights violation against the humanity," said Ms V.Mathiaparanam, Co-coordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in Trincomalee at a one-day seminar held Wednesday.
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Islamic extremists attack Mutur journalist's home

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 June 2002, 11:36 GMT]
Armed persons said to be members of an extremist Islamic militant group attacked the home of Tamil journalist, Mr. P. Satsivanantham, in Mutur town Wednesday afternoon, causing considerable damage to equipment and property, Sri Lanka Police sources said. Hundreds of Tamils in Mutur sought refuge in the local Church as armed gangs of an Islamic group calling itself 'Osama Front' went on rampage through the eastern town Wednesday morning, attacking houses in the Tamil neighbourhoods of the eastern town.
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Protest march in Trincomalee against attacks on LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 June 2002, 15:17 GMT]
"The Tamil people of Trincomalee district urge the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to intervene using its good offices and see that the offenders are brought to book and to ensure that similar incidents are not repeated or if not, it will only be proper that the LTTE cadres are allowed to be armed to guard their offices," states the memorandum handed over to the Norwegian Head of the SLMM in Trincomalee Ms Victoria Lund Tuesday.
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Mutur town under curfew after clashes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 June 2002, 14:27 GMT]
(News Feature) Mutur town in the Trincomalee district has been put under night curfew from 12 noon Tuesday till Wednesday morning following clashes between Muslims and Tamils which ended in several injured on both sides, police sources said. Five people have been admitted to the Trincomalee hospital and two are said to be in critical condition, medical sources said.
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General shut down in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 June 2002, 10:22 GMT]
The eastern port town of Trincomalee ground to a halt Tuesday in response to the call by several Tamil organisations in the district for a general shut down to protest against the attacks on the political activists of the Liberation Tigers at Velanai in Jaffna district and the Mutur LTTE political office in Trincomalee district.
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Ampara monitors say govt. apathy hampering work

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 June 2002, 21:10 GMT]
Sri Lankan security forces continue to occupy two hospitals, ten schools and five Hindu Temples in the Ampara district. Speaking at a discussion arranged by a local journalists' association, Mr. Svein Myklebust, acting head of the SLMM for the Ampara district, said seventy-four complaints of cease-fire violations in the region have been received so far, adding, "the number of complaints is not a reflection of the ground reality." Meanwhile, the two LTTE nominees of the Ampara SLMM told TamilNet Colombo's apathy regarding their status is seriously hindering them from carrying out their duties as cease-fire monitors.
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LTTE adopts UN policy on recruitment

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 June 2002, 08:00 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have set the minimum age for recruitment to their organisation at 18, the head of the movement's political section, Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, said last week. The LTTE made the policy decision following the adoption by the United Nations of a treaty on recruitment earlier this year, LTTE sources told TamilNet Sunday.
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