Systematic enforced disappearances, an international crime, says Boyle

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 2015, 23:21 GMT]
Noting the re-emerging threat of white van abductions and enforced disappearances in the historic homeland, the NorthEast, of Eezham Tamils, Professor Francis Boyle, an expert in international law, said that systematic enforced disappearances is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute, and in Sri Lanka this criminality of the Government of Sri Lanka is "an indicium of genocide against the Eelam Tamils." Boyle noted, as evidence of his concern, the recent incident in Jaffna where Colombo's military intelligence operatives threatened the editors of a local newspaper that they would have to face the "white van" if the paper failed to retract a published story on missing persons.
Full story >>

Paalu-kadawala

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 2015, 07:21 GMT]
The desolate passage or the desolate locality to pass through
Full story >>

SL military intelligence threatens Jaffna daily, reminds editors on ‘white-vans’ of past

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 December 2015, 23:28 GMT]
Four Sri Lankan military intelligence operatives, who entered the office of the Jaffna edition of Thinakkural newspaper on Wednesday night, threatened the editorial staff for publishing a news item that exposed the ‘activities’ of certain surveillance operatives, who were camouflaged as journalists and deployed to monitor a meeting held on the previous day. The paper had published a story detailing the presence of four to six ‘operatives’, who were monitoring the participants at a meeting organised by the families of missing persons from all the 8 districts in the North and East on Tuesday. The SL military intelligence operatives who entered the office of the paper on Wednesday warned the editors to withdraw their story with a correction and apology to be issued on Thursday.
Full story >>

Colombo seeks to contain political prisoners' struggle through adding ‘complications’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 December 2015, 23:32 GMT]
When Tamil political prisoners and prisoners of war waging their struggle demand release through existing SL mechanisms such as the presidential pardon and rehabilitation, they do not mean the SL ‘military rehabilitation’ or to get subjected further to the complicated procedures under the so-called Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the political prisoners planning their next phase of the struggle told TamilNet on Saturday. Although the Tamil prisoners have waged two phases of hunger strikes to bring attention to their plight, the Colombo regime has only complicated the matter citing the PTA. The outside world should take note of the conduct of the Colombo regime, the prisoners who are expected to announce their next phase of the struggle after December 15, said.
Full story >>

Paalaiyadith-thoa'naa, Palu-gas-wæwa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 December 2015, 20:30 GMT]
The sea-inlet surrounded land in the locality of a Manikara hexandra tree

The tank in the locality of Manikara hexandra trees
Full story >>

Tamil mother complains of neglect in tracing missing daughter, featured in photo with Sirisena

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 December 2015, 23:12 GMT]
A 15-year-old Eezham Tamil girl, Thanoja Viveganathan from Mu'l'liyava'lai in Mullaiththeevu was reported missing since the final hours of genocidal onslaught on Vanni on 17 May, 2009. Thanoja's mother, Vathanalogini Viveganathan has been claiming for almost a year now that she discovered her missing daughter in a photo taken with the incumbent SL President Maithiripala Sirisena, when he was visiting a school in the South during his election campaign 12 months ago. The trauma-stricken mother has been approaching the political leaders and the investigating commissions to trace the girl in the photo. But, no one has done anything so far to verify the claim of the Tamil mother or to disprove it by acting on her complaint. Born on 23 June 1993, Thanoja, if alive, would be at the age of 22 this year.
Full story >>

Another Tamil political prisoner goes on hunger-strike at New Magazine Prison

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 December 2015, 17:21 GMT]
32-year-old Komahan Murugiah, a former member of Jaffna Municipal Council, who has been detained in Colombo since July 2010 after being accused of attempting to assassinate Douglas Devananda, a former SL Minister and the leader of the EPDP outfit. The SL 'Terrorist' Investigation Division (TID) had arrested Mr Murugiah during the Rajapaksa regime and produced two cases, one in Vavuniyaa and another in Colombo. The High Court in Vavuniyaa had dismissed his case as his ‘confession’ had been obtained under torture. Mr Douglas Devananda has declined to witness against Mr Murugiah and openly urged for the release of the prisoner. However, the SL TID and SL Attorney General's Department have been trying to file a third case against Murugiah with the intention of keeping him detained indefinitely, informed legal sources told TamilNet on Thursday.
Full story >>

Hik-kaduwa, Kadu-wela

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 2015, 23:20 GMT]
The forest of Hik trees

The jungle paddy field
Full story >>

Hunger-striking political prisoner transferred to Colombo prison

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 2015, 20:47 GMT]
The police officials of occupying Sri Lanka have hurriedly transferred the Tamil political prisoner, Jeneevan Sivarasa, from Jaffna prison to Colombo prison on Wednesday following instructions from SL Attorney General's Department, informed sources told TamilNet. The sudden transfer, against his will, comes following a failed attempt to convince the 36-year-old prisoner to abandon his fast-unto-death campaign through false verbal promises. 36-year-old Jeneevan from Achchuveali, Jaffna, began fast-unto-death campaign at Jaffna prison since Monday.
Full story >>

Missing persons' families resolve to boycott Paranagama Commission

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 December 2015, 23:43 GMT]
The organisations representing the kith and kin of the enforced disappeared Eezham Tamils from the 8 districts of the country of Eezham Tamils came together in Jaffna on Tuesday to denounce the Sri Lankan Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (PCICMP), which is also known as Paranagama Commission. The families of the missing persons have jointly decided not to take part in any sittings, scheduled to take place at the various Divisional Secretariats in the Jaffna District between 11 and 19 December. The families, expressing solidarity with the Tamil prisoners who have exposed the deceptive designs of the Sri Lankan State have also resolved to step up their protests, including fast-unto-death, in the coming days.
Full story >>

Tamil political prisoner, subjected to indefinite detention, goes on fast-unto-death

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 December 2015, 22:10 GMT]
36-year-old political prisoner Jeneevan Sivarasa, who has been indefinitely detained without trial for 9 years, on Monday launched fast-unto-death in Jaffna Prison. The SL military had detained Jeneevan Sivarasa, who hails from Achchuveali in Jaffna, in 2006 while he was on his way to Polonnaruwa from Batticaloa. An Assistant Superintendent of Police, Senakumara Singhe, who had fabricated a false confession from Jeneevan, has been systematically avoiding presenting himself at every hearing scheduled during the past 6 years at the High Court in Jaffna. Each time, the Tamil prisoner was taken to Jaffna from Colombo and his case was being postponed indefinitely. There are three cases framed against Mr Sivarasa and two of these were fabricated cases of conspiracy to assassinate Maithiripala Sirisena, who is the incumbent SL President.
Full story >>

Case for Reparations for Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 December 2015, 19:28 GMT]
MacArthur fellow Ta-Nehisi Coates's historical narrative of the troubled history of racism in the US, which rekindled serious debate on systemic discrimination of blacks, starting with slavery, provides a stark parallel to a similar history behind Eezham Tamils from 1940s, about a decade before Ceylon gained ‘independence’. Similar to Coates characterization of white supremacy that lies at the core of the broken social contract for blacks in the U.S., the Sinhala Supremacy within the ruling elite and Sinhala population in general, is the root of the decades long evil oppression of Tamils, descending to State sponsored mass killing of Tamils leading to genocide. It is ironic that those accused by Coates, the past and current US policy makers, are now aiding and abetting the Sinhala supremacist political class to relegate the Tamils to subservient second class citizenship in the island.
Full story >>

SL Navy to seize more lands in Vidaththal-theevu, Mannaar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 December 2015, 22:51 GMT]
Resettled Eezham Tamil coastal villagers in Vidaththal-theevu, Mannaar, urged the SL administrative authorities last week to release the seized lands that belong to 12 of 200 resettled villagers. However, the commander of the occupying SL Navy in Vidaththal-theevu, who was present at a meeting on Thursday last week, responded by declining to take the request into consideration On the contrary, the SL Navy commander said he was looking for more lands to expand the naval camp into a full-fledged cantonment, news sources in Maanthai West told TamilNet on Saturday.
Full story >>

Colombo harasses Senthuran’s family, insults Tamil political prisoners

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 December 2015, 23:45 GMT]
Unidentified Sinhala operatives in civil cloths, claiming as intelligence wing officers of the occupying Sri Lankan military, as investigators from the ‘Terrorist’ Investigation Division (TID) and as police officers attached to SL Criminal Investigation Department (CID), have been continuously and systematically harassing the grieving family of 18-year-old Tamil student Senthuran Rajeswaran, who committed suicide last week in Jaffna, relatives of the family told TamilNet on Friday. The A/L student killed himself a day before Eezham Tamils observed Tamil Eelam Heroes Day. Senthuran left behind a letter demanding immediate release of Tamil political prisoners languishing in the prisons of genocidal Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

American Corner’s “Kozhampa Yaathraa” in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 December 2015, 23:30 GMT]
Those who were reading ITAK’s Suthanthiran newspaper of 1960s and 1970s would recollect how the weekly had to regularly fight against Colombo’s corruption and Sinhalicisation of Tamil language, stemming from contemptuous attitude of “Perun-thesiyam” (i.e., the genocidal nationalism in other words, and even today we have some ‘Marxists’ who see the Tamil struggle as “Ku'run-thesiyam”, i.e., narrow nationalism). After the three decades interlude of Tamil militant struggle, nothing has changed, except for the fact that the USA is now leading Colombo’s outlook of linguistic genocide, commented Tamil activists in Jaffna citing “Kozhampa Yaathraa” call of “American Corner” in Jaffna.
Full story >>

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."
Full story >>

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.
Full story >>

Kadi-gamuwa

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 November 2015, 23:10 GMT]
The forest village
Full story >>

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.
Full story >>

Deawaale-gaawa, Wadigamang-gaawa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 November 2015, 23:02 GMT]
The temple neighbourhood

The neighbourhood of the Telugu people's street; or the neighbourhood of the village of carpenters
Full story >>