Pathmanathan welcomes US shift in approach

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 March 2009, 14:51 GMT]
"We have been hoping for such a fresh approach to the longstanding but little understood problem of the Eezham Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka," said Selvaraja Pathmanathan, the newly appointed LTTE plenipotentiary for international relations, when contacted by TamilNet for his response on US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton’s statement Friday. “An immediate ceasefire can stop the killing of civilians and will pave way for other measures to take effect in a more acceptable manner to the affected people”, he further said, adding, “ grief on one side and greed on the other side have to be assessed impartially in working out a solution meeting the aspirations of all of Sri Lanka’s communities.
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Clinton call expresses concern over deteriorating conditions in 'safe zone'

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 22:08 GMT]
In a call made to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton 'expressed the United States' deep concern over the deteriorating conditions and increasing loss of life occurring in the Government of Sri Lanka-designated 'safe zone' in northern Sri Lanka,' and 'stated that the 'Sri Lankan Army should not fire into the civilian areas of the conflict zone,' a press release issued by the U.S. State Department said. Meanwhile, US State Department South Asia official, Diane Kelly, commenting on 'distorted' accounts appearing on some Sri Lanka websites, said: "there was a call, but it was not the sunny news relayed."
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UN lopsided in calling for evacuation - TNA MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 17:21 GMT]
Calling for the evacuation of civilians and making them to end up in the hands of their killers, is taking side with one of the parties to the conflict and amounts to another one of the war crimes, perhaps the most serious one of them when comes from a world body of human rights, said Jaffna MP, Kajendran, responding to a statement from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Friday. The High Commissioner, Ms. Navi Pillai called on both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to immediately suspend hostilities in order to allow the evacuation of the entire civilian population by land or sea, a press release from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said. She didn’t say anything on where should they be evacuated or on who would be responsible for them thereafter.
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SLA shelling targets relief supplies and hospital, patients wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 16:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells hit the area close to the makeshift-hospital in Puthumaaththa'lan inside the 'safe zone' Friday around 4:10 p.m., causing injuries to four patients who were already wounded. The artillery attack intensified while ICRC ship was unloading humanitarian supplies. Seven civilians were killed and 32 wounded in shell explosion near the ground where the humanitarian supplies were being stored around 3:00 p.m. Totally, 31 civilians were killed during the daytime on Friday inside the 'safe zone'.
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Australian State MP supports Tamils' struggle for self-determination

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 03:32 GMT]
“It is important that the Government of Australia and the international community recognise the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people and acknowledge the legitimacy of their struggle for self-determination,” said Hon. Ian Cohen, Member of Legislative Council and Greens Party during a speech he delivered on Thursday 5 March 2009 in New South Wales Parliament, Australia. "Too many lives have been lost, and each day we keep silent we allow more deaths to occur. It is important that the Government of Australia and the international community recognise that the' targeting of a minority' has been taking place for decades. What we see taking place today is but a culmination of successive attacks targeting the Tamils."
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SLA shelling targets humanitarian supplies in 'safe zone'

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 02:29 GMT]
A pregnant mother delivered dead twins Thursday and her husband was wounded when Sri Lanka Army fired bullets reached their hut in Maaththa'lan, across the lagoon. Meanwhlie, SLA-fired shells hit the ground 300 meters away from the spot where the humanitarian supplies were being unloaded. Five civilians were killed and 20 sustained injuries in the attack that occurred around 8:20 a.m. Later in the evening, another shell attack targeted the ground where the supplies were being stored. 62 civilians were killed and more than 129 wounded throughout the day and the night inside the safe zone.
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US Senators call for immediate ceasefire, international oversight of detention camps

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 02:15 GMT]
A bipartisan group of seven senior U.S. Senators in a letter to Foreign Secretary Hilary Clinton blamed the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers for the "impending catastrophe," and said: "The situation in Sri Lanka is unacceptable and must be remedied as quickly as possible. We commend your recent statement with UK Foreign Minister David Milliband that called on the government and the LTTE to adhere to a ceasefire, allow access to humanitarian agencies, and resume political discussions to bring the long-standing ethnic conflict to an end. An enduring peace can be achieved only through a political solution that treats the Tamil minority as equal citizens under the law. Without such an agreement, the violence will only continue."
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SLA shelling kills 82 civilians inside 'safe zone' on Wednesday

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 23:40 GMT]
Mullaiththeevu Medical Superintend V. Shanmugarajah narrowly escaped Wednesday from Sri Lanka Army fired Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) shells that hit Mu'l'livaaykkaal inside the 'safe zone', and a 7-year-old child was killed in long distance gunfire near the inland waters in Maaththa'lan. Totally, 82 civilians were killed and more than 130 wounded. Civilians who were waiting in queue to receive humanitarian supplies were hit by the MBRL and artillery fire. More than 500 patients were struggling without shelters and medical treatment amidst heavy rains.
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EU Parliament passes significant resolution

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 21:43 GMT]
The EU Parliament Thursday passed a resolution, with a large majority, calling for immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lanka Army and Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam in order to allow the civilian population to leave the combat zone. Condemning all acts of violence against civilians in the safe zone and expressing serious concern for the plight of the people in the refugee camps run by the Sri Lankan government, the EU Parliament demanded full and unhindered access to international and national humanitarian organisations, as well as journalists to the combat zone and to the refugee camps.
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5 Tamil civilians arrested in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 18:19 GMT]
Five Tamil civilians were taken into custody by the police in cordon and search operations conducted in Trincomalee town and its suburbs on Wednesday following the bomb attack on a procession in Akuressa in Matara in down south.
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3 more SLA detention centres for Vanni IDPs opened in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 15:23 GMT]
Three additional Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres have been opened in Thenmaraadchi to detain the civilians fleeing war in Vanni, namely Kodikaamam Govt Tamil Mixed School (GTMS), Jaffna University Chiththa Aayurveatha College hostel in Kaithadi and Saiva Children Home of Jaffna Saiva Maha Chapai in Kaithadi, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, the temporary school erected with UNICEF funds in a private land near the SLA detention centre in Kodikaamam GTMS for the children in the detention centre was officially inaugurated Thursday morning, the sources added.
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50,000 families affected by floods in 'safe zone'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 13:07 GMT]
Health officials in Vanni said Wednesday that civilians inside the 'safe zone', urgently need at least 50,000 temporary shelters and temporary toilets as they live under worn out tarpaulin tents. There is a severe shortage of food and medicines. Scarcity of drinking water and sanitation facilities add to the woes of the people, health officials said. The makeshift hospital in Puthumaaththa'lan was struggling to accommodate patients under its roof. Many patients were earlier staying outside the building. The ICRC ship, which uses to transport the seriously wounded did not come due to the bad weather conditions, the officials further said.
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Menon wants civilians issue and war ending in Colombo’s favour

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 10:32 GMT]
The Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, has said in Washington that “civilians caught in the war should be safely moved to government-controlled areas”, PTI reported Thursday. Wrapping up his four days US visit and briefing that both India and the US have similar approaches to address the issue in Sri Lanka, he envisaged rehabilitation, reconstruction and building up normal economic life of people “once these areas are cleared or under the government control.” He also said on the need “to bring in the kind of the political steps including devolution”, according to the PTI report. Whatever Menon said in Washington doesn’t significantly differ from the verbal stance adopted by Mahinda Rajapaksa government, aiming for victory and subjugation of Tamils, said political observers in Colombo.
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US Legislators point out Sri Lanka's "Red Alert" genocide ranking to Secretary Clinton

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 02:44 GMT]
A group of 38 United States members of Congress sent a joint letter today to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and to the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Susan Rice, highlighting the humanitarian crisis faced by Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, and expressing concern over conditions in the internment camps, calling for bringing the issue to the UN Security Council, and encouraging active U.S. leadership to bring about a long-delayed political settlement.
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SLA shelling kills 133 civilians including 49 children on Tuesday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 17:27 GMT]
More than 49 of 133 civilians killed inside 'safe zone' in SLA shelling on Tuesday were children and 16 of them were children below 3 years of age. The SLA deployed internationally banned cluster munitions and fire-bombs against civilians who were stranded without shelter inside the 'safe zone' which has become a killing field, reports TamilNet correspondent from Vanni. 273 civilians, including a GS (village officer) and an ICRC worker, were wounded on Tuesday. 47 of the civilians succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital or after their admittance.
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Civilians entering Jaffna town subjected to severe checking

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 17:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and police subject civilians entering Jaffna town from all parts of the peninsula to severe checking in three or four points along each of the main roads to Jaffna town while security measures at important places in Jaffna town are being strengthened, during the past few days, sources in Jaffna said.
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Stopping Sri Lanka's genocide at ICJ, UN- Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 12:14 GMT]
"Any one or more of the 140 states parties to the Genocide Convention (1) must immediately sue Sri Lanka at the International Court of Justice in The Hague; (2) must demand an Emergency Hearing by the World Court; and (3) must request an Order indicating provisional measures of protection against Sri Lanka to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the 350,000 Tamils in Vanni," says Professor Francis Boyle, an expert in international law and a professor at University of Illinois College of Law, outlining the steps for the Tamil diaspora to take to bring Sri Lanka to International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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Diaspora prepares to send relief to forsaken civilians in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 March 2009, 23:47 GMT]
The Tamil diaspora in Britain is organising a direct 'mercy mission' taking food and medicine to the civilians of Vanni, forsaken by the conscience of the International Community, said Dr. V. Arudkumar from London, on Tuesday. Prominent humanitarian personalities are expected to participate in this mission. The expedition will be supported and participated by diaspora Tamil professionals in the medical field.
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Hillary, Menon discuss Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 March 2009, 19:26 GMT]
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon met for 45 minutes in Washington, Monday. “A discussion of one regional issue, in particular, was Sri Lanka -- the importance of trying to find a way to make sure that whatever happens in the armed conflict, that there is a political settlement in the future that both the US and India can help create, and participate in", reports Rediff News Tuesday, citing Administrative sources in Washington.
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U.N. funding Sri Lanka internment camps, withholds casualty numbers - ICP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 March 2009, 12:28 GMT]
"The UN on Monday acknowledged that it is funding camps in Sri Lanka from which people cannot leave, and that it has compiled casualty figures from the fighting which it will not release," correspondent Matthew Lee of Inner City Press (ICP), who has been reporting on UN issues on Sri Lanka, said in a report. "Inner City Press, which two weeks ago published a local count of 1800 civilians killed since January, on Monday asked UN's relief coordinator John Holmes to confirm that the UN now has a count of 2300," said the report, but accused U.N.'s Holmes of withholding the figures.
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