Holmes needs more homework: Diaspora refugee worker

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 April 2009, 15:06 GMT]
It is unfortunate that UN, the apex body meant to protect the weaker sections of humanity, is on the contrary exploiting the misery of Eezham Tamil civilians to abet the aims of their sworn oppressors, said K.Suthahar, an information counsellor of a refugee reception centre in Norway. "Top UN official John Holmes, would do better by convincing his organisation to first demonstrate that to what extent it can practically defy the genocidal agenda of the Sri Lankan state and in what ways it can protect the concerned civilians particularly, and the Tamil people in general. The first step is to take full responsibility of the civilians who are already in the concentration camps of Colombo. But the UN is unable even to free its own local workers in Colombo’s camps," he said.
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SLA, SLAF intensify offensive targeting safety zone

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 April 2009, 03:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) intensified its offensive targeting to bifurcate so-called saftey zone Thursday at 6:50 a.m. with fire support provided by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter gunships attempting to break the defensive bunds of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) for the fourth day. The SLA and the SLAF were deploying maximum fire power in the fighting. SLAF bombers began attacking the bunds at 7:40 a.m. Civilian settlements in Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal were being targeted by long-range artillery and cannons.
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SLA offensive on civilian zone continues

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 April 2009, 19:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive units are continuously engaged in an offensive push, targeting Iraddai-vaaykkaal junction from Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) Mullaiththeevu road, amidst heavy resistance by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), according to latest reports from Vanni. Stiff fighting was heard near Iraddai-vaaykkaal junction, close to the entrance of the so-called safety zone. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked the area at least 6 times in the morning and helicopter gunships were seen firing rockets in the evening as Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) shells that hit Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal rocked the safety zone. As dead civilians were buried where they were attacked, only 83 wounded civilians managed to reach the hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan upto 5:00 p.m., according to medical sources.
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Unprecedented carnage, SLA turns firepower on civilian zone

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 April 2009, 05:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Wednesday morning turned its artillery, mortar, 40 mm cannon, Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) and gunfire ranging from 50 caliber machine guns to LMG fire into the so-called safety zone, causing a carnage within a short period of time between 7:40 and 10:40 a.m. killing and maiming hundreds of civilians, according to the latest update by TamilNet correspondent in Vanni reporting from the area under attack. Civilians were struggling to transport the wounded to the hospital and many of the injured were lying along the roadside as gunfire and artillery barrage by the SLA continues. "It is impossible to assess casualty details, but at least 180 civilians are feared killed within 3 hours in the area between Mu'l'livaaykkaal to Pokka'nai."
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Mass human tragedy possible any moment in 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 23:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Tuesday night launched a full scale ground offensive attempting to break the last earth bund of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) situated close to the safety zone on Puthukkudiyiruppu - Mullaiththeevu Road, TamilNet correspondent in Vanni reported Wednesday early hours, Sri Lankan time. When the Co-Chairs countries have asked for the extension of ceasefire, Colombo's defiance and ferocious attack on the civilian safety zone are widely seen by political observers as efforts to fulfil the agenda of India, which is scheduled to receive TNA, Wednesday.
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US should intervene directly with GoSL, LTTE to protect civilians - Professor Boyle

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 16:42 GMT]
With Norway's ouster as a third-party engaging with the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), the role of the United States in having direct access with the Liberation Tigers has become critical to negotiating a ceasefire and bring relief to the more than 250,000 Tamil civilians caught in the war. Ambassador Lunstead points out that legal restrictions imposed by US domestic laws do not prevent the U.S. taking that role, and Professor Boyle further asserts that Geneva Conventions of 1949 makes it an obligation for the U.S. to intervene directly with both the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the LTTE in order to protect these innocent Tamil civilians.
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IC should engage LTTE directly - Diaspora activist

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 15:38 GMT]
"Discredited and wrongly applied policies shouldn’t be a hindrance to the International Community in upholding a humanitarian cause. The IC, especially the US should find ways of engaging the LTTE directly in resolving the humanitarian tragedy resulting from the war waged by the Colombo government," said Shan Thavaraja, Switzerland based diaspora and human rights activist, on Tuesday. Striping Norway of its peace negotiation role, reportedly for mediating on behalf of US, was a scheming act of Colombo to keep the IC at bay. Colombo is planning for massive genocide and imprisonment of civilians in the forthcoming days. IC negotiating directly with LTTE only can pre-empt Colombo, he said.
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SLA alleged of forcing fleeing Tamils to strip and walk naked

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 14:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) personnel at the check posts in Jaffna, Vavuniyaa and elsewhere in Vanni subject both men and women coming from Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) held areas into SLA controlled areas to naked body checking before entering the check post, according to information given by the women held in the SLA detention centres to women representatives of Non-governmental Organizations in Jaffna. Though there are women SLA personnel at the check posts the women, irrespective of their age, have to undress at a distance from the check posts and walk naked to the check post where they are subjected to body check, the NGO representatives who visited the SLA detention centre in Jaffna said.
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Only 40 civilians reach SLA territory during 48 hour announcement by Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 13:32 GMT]
As a few hours remained of Colombo's announcement of restricting military operations for 48 hours, sources in Jaffna and Vavuniyaa reported that only 40 civilians were registered as having arrived in SLA controlled territory from the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) held area. 26 civilians arrived in boats to Point Pedro Munai in Vadamaraadchi while 14 civilians had reached Vavuniyaa by land during the said period.
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3 Sinhala villagers killed in second Buttala attack

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 12:01 GMT]
Unidentified persons shot dead three Sinhalese villagers including two women Monday night around 7:00 p.m. at Galmadiyawa along Buttala-Moneragala highway in the southern province. Among the injured one is a woman. This was the second attack on Sinhalese villagers in Buttala area since Saturday.
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'Powers have to repent for what they are doing': Vickramabhu Karunaratne

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 00:17 GMT]
It will be nonsense to think of eradicating the LTTE, writes Vickramabahu Karunaratne in a recent article highlighting the need for alternative thinking. "In the case of the LTTE, it represents the real anger of the Tamil people against discrimination, humiliation and oppression by Sinhala chauvinism. [...] It was and is wrong to the hilt in hating Tamil society for its demand for equality and self-determination. [...] All global capitalist powers including India will be forced to repent in time to come for their aggressive participation in human suffering of this order. [...] The LTTE cannot be blamed for not surrendering to the Sinhala army of the chauvinist regime," he writes.
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LTTE reiterates need for permanent ceasefire

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 April 2009, 17:52 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Division, in a statement issued in Tamil on Monday called the Sri Lankan announcement of restricting military operations for two days as an eyewash to create an impression of engagement on false premises. Condemning the move as a "political drama" aimed at "deceiving the International Community and the Tamil people", the LTTE said the Sri Lanka Army was continuing indiscriminate shelling and gunfire on civilians. The LTTE statement categorically stated that the Tigers were calling for a politically and militarily meaningful ceasefire with humanitarian considerations.
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US engagement irks Colombo, Norway ousted from Sri Lanka peace mission

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 April 2009, 15:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka in a formal letter handed over to Norway's ambassador to Colombo, Tore Hattrem, Monday, has stripped the peace facilitator of its role in the Sri Lankan process, AFP said in a report Monday. "The government of Sri Lanka perceives that there is no room for Norway to act as (peace) facilitator," AFP quoted an official as saying. The announcement comes following recent reports leaked in Colombo press suggesting that the United States had contacted the LTTE leadership through a third party and that the LTTE, concerned of the security of the civilians, had proposed a longer period of ceasefire. Diplomatic circles in Colombo said that Sri Lanka's action was precipitated by the revelation that the United States Government was using Norway as a third party to facilitate a week long ceasefire.
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'Three insults to Tamils for the traditional New Year'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 19:32 GMT]
Disguised insults meant against Tamil struggle this week bring out a picture of the attitudes operating in Colombo, New Delhi and Chennai, writes a political analyst in Colombo. “It is not exactly the Sri Lankan government, but the Sri Lankan state that is the core symbol of oppression in the island. Ethnic chauvinism is the cornerstone of this state. No liberation can come to Eezham Tamils unless this symbol is deconstructed. It is important for both Tamils and Sinhalese to see that accepting this symbol as it is now, or imposing this symbol as the basis of any political discourse, will never pave way for peace of both.”
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5 Sinhala villagers hacked to death in Buttala

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 16:11 GMT]
Five Sinhala villagers were killed by unidentified persons at Mahagodaya in Buttala area in Moneragala district Sunday evening around 7:00 p.m., according to police spokesman in Colombo.
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31 civilians killed in SLA shelling, gunfire in 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 09:11 GMT]
At least 31 civilians were killed throughout the day on Sunday inside the 'safety zone'. Exact figure of wounded civilians was not known, but at least 36 injured were rushed to the makeshift hospital at Puthumaththa'lan Sunday morning as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was embarked upon concerted attacks on the zone since the early hours of Sunday. 30 of the victims were wounded in shelling and 6 in gunfire, medical sources said. Two of the victims had succumbed to their injuries at hospital.
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Tamil people subjected to Genocide - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 07:18 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in an urgent statement issued on Sunday pointed out the dramatic rise in Tamil civilian casualties over the last two weeks and said over 4,100 Tamil civilians have been killed and over 8,800 gravely injured within the four months of this year. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the TNA, in the statement said that 707 Tamil civilians have been killed within the last 9 days alone and over 1,000 gravely injured. Sri Lankan State's armed forces were deliberately targeting Tamil civilians and that the Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka are clearly being subjected to Genocide, the TNA said. It urged the International Community to compel the Sri Lankan Government to stop all military operations immediately and to bring about an immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lankan State and the LTTE.
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Fein debunks Patton-Boggs "white paper" on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 21:52 GMT]
Bruce Fein, former Associate Deputy Attorney General and counsel for a Washington-based Tamil activist group, responding to a "white paper" on the current situation in Sri Lanka written and distributed to the media by Patton Boggs LLP, the Washington Law firm retained by the Government of Sri Lanka for advocacy work in the U.S., said, the "[p]aper is a collection of lies or misrepresentations calculated to conceal the ongoing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes perpetrated against Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka’s armed forces," and "fails to discredit a single one of the more than 1,000 genocidal incidents marshaled in the model genocide indictment."
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Nadesan: there will be no post-LTTE scenario

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 12:35 GMT]
Head of Liberation Tigers Political section, B. Nadesan, in an interview to India's weekly magazine Tehelka, said that, "[t]here will not be a post-LTTE scenario. Look around the world, and you will see the desire for freedom and dignity in the hearts and minds of all Tamils. The LTTE is seen as the way to achieve the political aspirations of the Tamil people," and added that the International Community should work towards "fulfilling the political aspirations of the Tamil people by recognizing their struggle for self-determination and a homeland," instead of waiting for a "post-LTTE scenario, which is never going to come."
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Identify with suffering civilians, share their grief – Bishop's Easter Message

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 12:18 GMT]
Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Jaffna Bishop, in his Easter message appealed to the people in Jaffna district to identify themselves with the civilians held in the detention camps, sharing their grief and sufferings, and to be frugal in their daily lives, sources in Jaffna said. Sixteen Catholic parishes in Mullaiththeevu have been forced to close down due to the artillery fire and aerial bombings by the Sri Lanka military, driving members of the parishes into the ‘safe zone’ announced by the government within the LTTE administered area where they continue to spend their lives in the bunkers, Catholic Guardian current issue said.
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