Hindu idols recovered from soldiers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 September 1998, 19:41 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police at Paliyagoda, a suburb of Colombo north, arrested four SLA personnel yesterday who were attempting to sell ancient Tamil religious idols to an antique dealer.
Full story >>

MPGA concerned for Chemmani evidence

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 September 1998, 19:40 GMT]
The Missing Person's Guardians Association - Jaffna (MPGA) sent a letter to the National Human Rights Commission today urging it to take action on the Chemmani mass grave issue without any further delay in view of reports that there are secret moves to destroy the evidence about the Chemmani mass grave.
Full story >>

Canadian family formally detained

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 September 1998, 11:21 GMT]
Sources in Puttalam said today that the Canadian Tamil family which was arrested in the northwestern town was produced at the Chilaw courts and a Detention Order (DO) has been issued on them.
Full story >>

Youth found chained

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 September 1998, 00:34 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police Department's Counter Subversive Unit in Vavuniya found a youth chained and locked up in the room of an abandoned house in a suburb of the town last night when the raided the place on a tip off.
Full story >>

Contention over Trincomalee market

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 September 1998, 20:35 GMT]
The Chairman of the Trincomalee Urban Council, Mr.P.Sooriyamoorthy, announced today that September 13 should be observed as a black day by the people of the eastern port town.
Full story >>

Conditions for peace talks

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 September 1998, 13:16 GMT]
Prof. G.L Pieris, Sri Lanka's Minister for Constitutional Affairs, said yesterday that the Sri Lankan government can initiate talks with the Liberation Tigers only if it reaches an understanding with the main opposition party, the United National Party, on fundamental issues concerning the ethnic question.
Full story >>

Militant Islamic group emerges

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 September 1998, 10:59 GMT]
A Muslim militant organisation calling itself the PLO is attempting to foment violence against Tamils in Akkaraipattu, on the south eastern coast of the Amparai district said sources there.
Full story >>

Red Cross worker's detention continues

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 September 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Details about the arrest and detention of the Ceylon Red-Cross society's driver, Mr. Thuraisamy Pathmanathan and his prospective wife Ms. P. Mohana, have been published on "Sarinikar", a Tamil newspaper in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Priests meet fasting protestors

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 September 1998, 15:06 GMT]
The second day of the token fast undertaken by displaced persons in front of the Mullaitivu secretariat was well attended, said sources. Over 300 men, women and children participated in the fast, which started at 5.00 in the morning and went on till 5.00 in the evening.
Full story >>

Razeek group leads Batticaloa's organised crime

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 September 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Razeek group, the much-dreaded Tamil unit of the Sri Lankan army (SLA) in Batticaloa, is fast expanding into a business organization - at considerable cost to the local community, say sources.
Full story >>

Amnesty protests illegal detentions

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 September 1998, 23:10 GMT]
Amnesty International, the human rights watchdog, has appealed for an immediate halt to use of unauthorized places of detention in Sri Lanka. In a press release issued on 3 September, Amnesty has condemned the PLOTE, TELO and EPRLF for rights abuses.
Full story >>

Jaffna facing severe rice shortage

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 September 1998, 23:02 GMT]
More than seventy percent of Jaffna's rice fields may have to lie fallow due to the unavailability of seed paddy from the southern parts of the island, said sources in the peninsula this afternoon.
Full story >>

SL Police fire on hindu festival

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 September 1998, 23:00 GMT]
A young girl was killed and an eight year old boy seriously wounded when military trained Sri Lankan Police opened fire indiscriminately on devotees at a Hindu temple festival in Kondayankerni, near Valaichenai,32 kilometers north of Batticaloa last night around 9.30 p.m.
Full story >>

Harsh measures imposed on Vanni displaced

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 September 1998, 17:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government (SLG) announced today that dry rations for refugees in the Vanni would be provided only if there is proof that the slashed quota of supplies it sent for June and July have been fully distributed.
Full story >>

Civilian movement restricted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 September 1998, 06:39 GMT]
The Sri Lankan security forces banned the movement of civilians from the Akkaraippattu, Thirukkovil and Pottuvil areas in the south eastern part of the Ampara district to the Kanjikudichcha Aaron jungles yesterday.
Full story >>

Meeting over evictions inconclusive

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 September 1998, 20:28 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) said today that it might consider a request to permit the beleaguered residents of Linga Nagar in Trincomalee town to thatch their roofs torn off by soldiers on August 9, 1998.
Full story >>

GA's offices remain closed in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 September 1998, 11:34 GMT]
The Government Agent's secretariats in Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi have been closed for the past 3 weeks. Reports from Vanni say that the situation is worsening day by day.
Full story >>

Other mass graves in Jaffna -TCHR

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 August 1998, 18:19 GMT]
The Tamil Centre for Human Rights said that it believes that there are mass graves of Tamil people murdered by Sri Lankan troops in areas of the Jaffna peninsula other than Chemmani. The TCHR also said it was concerned the evidence at Chemmani was being destroyed.
Full story >>

Uthayan journalist assaulted over report

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 August 1998, 18:02 GMT]
A Tamil journalist in Jaffna was severely assaulted by unidentified persons, suspected to be members of the local council (Pradeshiya Sabha) on Saturday night at his residence in Sembianpattu in Vadamaradchi east said his colleagues in Jaffna.
Full story >>

Torture victim pursued into church

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 August 1998, 17:54 GMT]
A severely tortured Tamil youth who sought asylum in the Rambaikulam St. Anthony's church in Vavuniya while a mass was in progress was taken away by the Sri Lankan Police who were threatened by his captors - a Tamil paramilitary group operating with the SLA. Rambaikulam is a suburb of Vavuniya town.
Full story >>