"I will not accept partition of the country" - Sarath Fonseka, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 2010, 04:25 GMT]
"I am not prepared to allow partitioning the country, be it proposed by the minority or majority community," Sarath Fonseka, the common opposition presidential candidate, said in a press meet held Saturday in Jaffna town. In response to a question Sarath Fonseka took pains to explain the difference between the role he had to play as a military officer in the past and his present role as a politician. He had to give priority to the safety of soldiers as the Military Commander and now as a politician he gives priority to the benefit of people, he added.
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Fourth Anniversary of Trinco Students' extra-judicial killings

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 2010, 19:35 GMT]
Dr Kasippillai Manoharan, the father of high school student Ragihar who with four of his friends were extra-judicially executed in what is widely believed to be pre-meditated killings by Sri Lanka military, told TamilNet today, at the fourth anniversary of the killings, that there is not even an iota of chance that he would receive justice from the Sri Lanka court system for his son's death, and that he is working with a select group of international organizations to bring war-crime charges against the culpable Sri Lanka military officials. Dr Manoharan who, with the surviving members of his family, was relocated to UK with the assistance of a UN organization, said that he will not rest until his son's killers are prosecuted in an international court of law.
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No likelihood of Vanni IDPs being settled east of A9 road

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 2010, 04:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka government is actively engaged in resettling Vanni IDPs along A9 road from Oamanthai to Maangku'lam in an attempt to show the outside world that it is resettling Vanni IDPs in their own places, in view of the forthcoming presidential election, sources in Jaffna said. Resettlement in areas located east of A9 road in Vanni will not be possible in the near future, according to sources in Northern Province Governor's office. The IDPs taken to areas along A9 road from Oamanthai to Maangku'lam have been only allowed to live in places close to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and sentry posts while neither the government nor NGOs provide them with any assistance, thee sources said.
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Dengue claims 5 lives in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 December 2009, 03:01 GMT]
Five persons, including two resettled Vanni IDPs, in Jaffna penisula have died due to dengue fever which is spreading at an alarming rate while hospitals are unable to treat dengue patients for want of basic facilities, according to Dr. K. Ketheswaran, Jaffna Director of Public Health (DPHS). Nearly 40 to 50 dengue patients are admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) daily and they have to be accommodated along corridors due to lack of space, JTH administration said.
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Sri Lanka's civilian massacre censored in RSF's 2009 report

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 December 2009, 13:09 GMT]
Reporters sans frontières (RSF), in a 2009 round-up report of key events on journalists, journalism and war, refers to the "mass exodus of journalists from repressive countries such as Iran and Sri Lanka" as RSF's major concern," and notes that "[t]he authorities in these countries have understood that by pushing journalists into exile, they can drastically reduce pluralism of ideas and the amount of criticism they attract." However, the report fails to mention the "massacre of more than 20,000 unarmed Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka security forces during the first 5 months of 2009 after banning journalists and NGOs, and conducting a "war without witness," Tamil circles complained.
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Around 800 persons including 50 women held in Boosa detention centre

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 December 2009, 03:14 GMT]
Nearly 800 youths including 50 women who had been either abducted in white vans or arrested by the armed forces in Vanni detention centres from January to September 2009 are being held in Boosa camp, according to a list sent to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna officials by HRC office in Colombo. Most of the families of the above detainees, being still held in Vanni detention centres, have no way of learning the fate of those abducted and arrested, the HRC Jaffna officials said.
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Government seeks NGO's assistance to help resettled Vanni IDPs in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 December 2009, 03:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government extended a request to the International and local Non-government Organizations in Jaffna to help the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Vanni now resettled in Jaffna, in a conference held with the NGOs Sunday at Jaffna Secretariat. Jaffna Government agent presided the conference which was attended by Minister Douglas Devananda and the Governor of Northern Province, Major. Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, sources in Jaffna said. Whatever assistance given to the above IDPs by the government leaves much to be desired, NGO representatives said.
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Tsunami victims remembered in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 December 2009, 02:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna transported nearly a thousand people in vehicles to Thaazhaiyadi in Jaffna Saturday where a memorial event was held for the victims killed by tsunami tidal wave five years ago, sources in Jaffna said. Tsunami had claimed 956 lives in Uduththu'rai area, 76 in Ma'natkaadu and 16 in Maathakal in Jaffna district. Persons who participated in the event said that the tsunami memorial monument erected by Liberation Tigers and the graves of tsunami victims had been destructed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during the war.
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Sri Lanka’s tsunami aid: Over $1 billion missing or misappropriated

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 December 2009, 01:20 GMT]
Nearly half a billion dollars in tsunami aid for Sri Lanka is unaccounted for and over 600 million dollars has been spent on projects unrelated to the disaster, press reports quoted anti Transparency International as saying Saturday. The anti-corruption watchdog demanded an audit of the money received by the Sri Lankan government to help victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami which hit the island on December 26, 2004, killing 31,000 people, AFP said.
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Diplomatic misstep

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 December 2009, 21:33 GMT]
Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, appears to have received a reprimand from his Department's Minister after making disparaging remarks on Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary execution, and for dismissing as "another nuisance," the letter from Alston requesting explanation to Sarath Fonseka's allegations that Colombo may have committed war-crimes. In an interview, Mr Wijesinha calls Alston "a sad man," "an excitable man," and "a bit of an excitable chap." The Sri Lanka Government announced that it has withdrawn Mr. Wijesinha's self-publicized response to Alston.
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Copenhagen exhibits expose NorthEast environmental destruction

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 December 2009, 14:53 GMT]
Two environmentalists from Tamil Nadu, interrupted their world tour promoting environment preservation, to organize an exhibit in the hallways of the climate change conference in Copenhagen between 7th and 18th December, to highlight the irreversible deforestation in the Tamil homeland of North-East carried out by the Sri Lanka military. “Decades-long massive military operations and occupation of Tamil Eelam by Sri Lanka’s military have caused grave environmental destruction to the north and east of the island. Recovery is difficult as the Tamil homeland is in the dry and arid part of the island, depending on scanty and truant northeast monsoon,” the two activists said, echoing many eelam activists' sentiments.
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SLFP appoints main organizer for North

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 December 2009, 02:56 GMT]
Thilagakumara Udagama, being appointed as the main Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) organizer for Jaffna and Vanni districts in the North by the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), is presently in Jaffna actively engaged in election campaign in support of Mahinda Rajapakse, sources in Jaffna said. He said that eleven Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) campaign offices have been opened in Jaffna peninsula and that local persons will go from house to house canvasing votes for Mahinda Rajapakse in the presidential election.
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Fonseka revelations mandate independent probe into UN's role, says Boyle

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 December 2009, 01:11 GMT]
Former Sri Lanka Army Commander, Sarath Fonseka's revelations of Gotabhaya Rajapakse ordering executions of surrendering LTTE leaders and their families, and UN chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar's reported role in the deadly surrenders "require a formal Investigation of the entire role played by the United Nations Organization and its Officials throughout the course of this latest irruption of the GOSL genocide against the Tamils starting in January of 2009 until today," said Professor Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois. "The U.N. Secretary General has the power to order and publish such an investigation," Boyle added.
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SLA constructs Buddhist temple in Jaffna without Municipality Council permission

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 December 2009, 04:07 GMT]
More than a hundred Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are engaged in building a Buddhist Vihara in Madaththadi Chanthi (Water Tank Junction) next to Jaffna holy Family Convent along A9 road, sources in Jaffna said. When the matter was brought to the notice of Minister Douglas Devananda he said that it was the SLA who is constructing the Buddhist Vihara and not the government. Civil society representatives in Jaffna, however, said that the SLA is building the Buddhist temple with the blessing of the government as it had already built several Buddhist places of worship with the statue of Buddha along A9 road in Vanni.
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Resettled IDPs in Jaffna yet to be give initial payment

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 December 2009, 03:50 GMT]
More than half the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) resettled in Jaffna peninsula have not been paid the first stage payment of 5,000 rupees yet, according to information which came to light in a conference held by Jaffna Government Agent (GA) in Jaffna Secretariat Tuesday. Only 44% of the total 71,186 persons of 23,882 families resettled IDPs have been paid 5,000 rupees as initial payment in the first stage. Two thirds of the IDPs in Jaffna camps had been taken over by their relatives in Jaffna peninsula, the GA said. Meanwhile, IDP Welfare organizations in Jaffna complain that the relief food items supplied by UNCHR are of poor quality.
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Tamil doctor files Rights petition in Sri Lanka Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 December 2009, 13:13 GMT]
The Supreme Court Monday granted leave to proceed with the fundamental rights violation petition filed by a Tamil medical officer, S.Murali, against his interdiction on his alleged comments made on the conditions in the internment camps which the Sri Lanka Government said "had brought disrepute on the Government of Sri Lanka." The petitioner had been serving as an Acting Consultant Community Physician of the Health Care & Nutrition Ministry at that time of interdiction.
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Third boycott protest held in Atlanta

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 December 2009, 03:30 GMT]
Tamil activists in Atlanta held a protest at the North Point Mall in the Atlanta's suburb of Alpharetta Saturday, urging ethical consumers to stop buying "made in Sri Lanka" products, especially the garments, for the 3rd time since this campaign started in September, an attendee to the protest said. North Point Mall is a super-regional shopping mall serving affluent part of the metropolitan Atlanta, according to the protesters.
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"Tamils should reject Mahinda, Sarath in the presidential poll" - Sivajilingam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 December 2009, 11:30 GMT]
"I am contesting in the presidential election only to give the Tamils of the North and East to register their unified protest against the presidential candidates Mahinda Rajapakse and Sarath Fonseka who were the key characters in killing our people and subjecting them to untold suffering," Sivajilingam, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian and the Tamil presidential candidate said Friday in a press meet held in Janatha Hotel in Jaffna. Sivajilingam extended a public appeal to TNA to support him in the election in order to show the world that the Tamils of the North and East reject both Mahinda and Sarath.
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99.8 percent say yes to Tamil Eelam in Canada referendum

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 December 2009, 08:49 GMT]
99.82 percent of 48,583 voters mandated independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the poll conducted in 31 centres across Canada, Saturday. The Canadian media and politicians showed great interest in the process of the ballot and organizers expressed satisfaction as 50, 000 was the expected turn out they quoted to media earlier. The poll was officiated by ES&S a professional company in North America that used counting machines. Unlike in Norway and France and contrary to earlier assurances, the ballot took place with complete registration of voters, which limited confidential participation, observers said. Voter turn out is assessed to be between 50 and 65 percent, but no authentic statistics is available on eligible Eezham Tamil voters.
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SLA officers enrich on scrap metal bribes, complain Jaffna traders

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 December 2009, 06:48 GMT]
Muslim traders in Jaffna alleged that they have to pay Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officers nearly 50,000 rupees as bribe to get the Ministry of Defence (MoD) permission to transport scrap iron to the South. Meanwhile, the SLA officers in Vanni are alleged to be making millions of rupees by sending thousands of metric ton scrap iron stored by Liberation Tigers in Vanni, sources in Vanni said.
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