TamilNet

Kohona: ‘Victorious soldiers could have raped every single woman’

[Fri, 03 Jul 2009, 02:20 GMT]

Sri Lankan government officials are running a prostitution racket using Tamil women interned in at least one of the militarised camps for displaced people, The Australian newspaper reported Thursday. "It's been brought to the attention of senior government officials but no one seems to be doing anything about it," an aid worker, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told the paper. In response to the accusations, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Palitha Kohona told the paper: "These (the military) are the guys who were winning the war - they could have raped every single woman on the way if they wanted to. Not one single woman was raped."

Full story >>

Buddhism among Tamils is quenched from two sides: Peter Schalk

[Thu, 02 Jul 2009, 06:09 GMT]

“To say that Tamil tradition has always been all-inclusive of religions is modern Tamil national ideology projected into an invented past. It is not history of the Tamils”, writes Professor Peter Schalk, challenging the perspectives of looking at Tamil identity from the point of the use of Tamil language that simultaneously accommodated various religions in its history, despite of them contradicting one another or coming and going. Responding to an article on Buddhism appeared in TamilNet, Tuesday, Prof. Schalk said that Buddhism among Tamils he objectifies is different from what the Sinhala-Buddhists are envisaging. Full story >>

Ploy of Buddhism in nullifying Tamil nationalism

[Tue, 30 Jun 2009, 01:53 GMT]

The North and East of the island of Sri Lanka should first be subjected to ‘archaeological’ investigation to prove the land’s Sinhala ownership, before its ‘resettlement’, is the demand of the National Front of Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka, reported Virakesari a few days ago. If archaeology has any say, the entire island having microlithic sites of prehistoric period has to be resettled by Veddas, and if enough Veddas are not found in the island they could still be found among their next of kin outside, ranging from the Austro-Asiatic tribes of the South Asian subcontinent to aborigines of Borneo, Papua New Guinea and Australia, commented an academic of ethnic studies in the island. Full story >>

Axe to fall on APRC

[Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 04:35 GMT]

The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) set up in June, 2006 to work out proposals to solve ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka faces uncertain future after the Peace Secretariat (SCOPP) has been asked by the Presidential Secretariat to wind up its activities by the end of July. “APRC has been given one month notice to complete its deliberations and submit a final document,” SCOPP Director General Professor Rajiva Wijesinghe told the media Tuesday. Full story >>

2ND LEAD (Adds links)

A "rolling" genocide?

[Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 11:56 GMT]

"The continuing concentration of over 250,000 people in the camps both blocks the search for answers to these questions, and itself constitutes a most serious crime. If the doors are not opened quickly, this will raise questions of whether the government seriously intends a restoration of Tamil society in the conquered zone. This would indeed pose a question of genocide, in the sense of the deliberate destruction of a population group in its home territory," writes Dr. Martin Shaw, professor of International Relations at UK's University of Sussex, and a historical sociologist of war and global politics. Full story >>

Children in Manik Farm camps suffer due to malnutrition: Sarvodaya

[Fri, 26 Jun 2009, 12:20 GMT]

“About thirty thousand to thirty five thousand children are sheltered in Manik Farm. Many of them are suffering from diseases and some still suffer from injuries sustained in the military operations. Fifteen to twenty percent of them are also suffering from acute malnutrition,” media reports in Colombo said quoting Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, the executive director of Colombo based NGO Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya. Full story >>

SL military shoots dead 2 detainees in Vavuniyaa internment camp

[Tue, 30 Jun 2009, 13:59 GMT]

Sri Lanka military personnel opened fire Sunday morning on detainees in an attempt to stop them making way through the barbed wire fence separating Ramanathan camp and Anandakumarasamy camp located in Cheddikulam, killing two of them and injuring more than two, in a confrontation that developed Sunday morning, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The killers had taken the two bodies away and their identities are not available at the moment, the sources added. Full story >>

IDPs living on Jaffna railway track area evicted

[Tue, 30 Jun 2009, 16:49 GMT]

Families of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living on Sri Lanka government railway properties since they were evicted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) twenty years ago from their residences in Valikaamam North, were forced to leave Tuesday to leave their temporary shelters in railway crossings, stations and officers’ quarters as the dead line to quit being 30 June, sources in Jaffna said. The government officials and SLA officers who were very keen to evict the families had not provided any alternate place for them to move in, the families complained. Full story >>

Jaffna Muslim IDPs should be resettled soon – Muslim contestant in JMC election

[Mon, 29 Jun 2009, 15:34 GMT]

“While welcoming the government’s interest in resettling the displaced Vanni civilians in their original places we request that it should also take action to resettle the Muslims displaced from Jaffna soon,” Ahamed Sulthan Subiyan, the president of Jaffna Muslim IDPs Association and the independent contestant in the forthcoming Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election, said in a press meet held Monday in his newly opened election office in Jaffna town. Full story >>

‘Final Warning’ issued to Jaffna Tamil daily Uthayan staffers

[Sun, 28 Jun 2009, 06:30 GMT]

A group calling itself ‘Tamil Front Protecting the Country’ allegedly linked to a paramilitary group operating with Colombo issued Saturday a notice titled ‘Final Warning’ to Uthayan Tamil daily office in Jaffna warning that Uthayan staffers will be killed if they do not officially relinquish their posts with effect from 30 June 2009, sources in Jaffna said. Thursday, all the local newspapers of Jaffna that defied publishing an anonymous and defiling notice against Liberation Tigers came under attack by an armed group in which thousands of copies of the local newspapers, Valampuri, Uthayan and Thinakkural (Jaffna edition) were burnt. Full story >>

Rights Coalition urges Obama to initiate War Crime investigations

[Thu, 02 Jul 2009, 00:07 GMT]

A Coalition of six US-based Human Rights Organizations in a letter to U.S. President Obama wrote: "[t]o address abuses associated with the recent fighting [in Sri Lanka's north], there is an urgent need for an independent, international commission of inquiry into many credible allegations of laws of war violations, including possible war crimes, by both sides, as well as illegitimate detentions. Mr. President, we urge you to publicly call for an international commission of inquiry and to take necessary steps to achieve it. We also urge you to take steps for the full protection of internally displaced persons, including independent access to camps, former areas of conflict and to conflict-affected civilians by humanitarian and human rights organizations and the media." Full story >>

Politicized courts, Compromised rights, says ICG on Sri Lanka Judiciary

[Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 05:28 GMT]

"Sri Lankan judiciary is not working in a fair and impartial way that secures justice and human rights for everyone regardless of ethnicity. This risks undermining the government’s recent military victory over the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). A durable national reconciliation process is only possible if human and constitutional rights are fully restored," warned a report released by the International Crisis Group (ICG) Tuesday. Full story >>

Elie Wiesel: Sri Lanka's victimization of Tamil people must stop

[Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 02:42 GMT]

Holocaust surviver, Jewish icon, and Nobel laureate, Professor Elie Wiesel, in a message posted on his website said: "Wherever minorities are being persecuted we must raise our voices to protest. According to reliable sources, the Tamil people are being disenfranchised and victimized by the Sri Lanka authorities. This injustice must stop. The Tamil people must be allowed to live in peace and flourish in their homeland." Full story >>

US statement undermines tourism revival - SL Foreign Ministry

[Mon, 29 Jun 2009, 11:24 GMT]

United States travel advisory aimed at discouraging US citizens from visiting Sri Lanka was part of US strategy to undermine the country [Sri Lanka], according to Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry official, the pro-Government Island newspaper said. "[N]othing could be as bad as the US warning of potential for continued stability and possible terrorist attacks a month after the end of war," the paper said, and added, "though the armed forces maintained road blocks and carried out routine checks on vehicles entering the city and its suburbs, there was no likelihood of LTTE attacks," attributing the comments to a foreign ministry official. Full story >>

Nirupama Menon Rao succeeds Shiv Shankar Menon

[Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 07:25 GMT]

Nirupama Rao, nee Menon, hailing from Kerala is named as India’s Foreign Secretary Tuesday, to succeed Shiv Shankar Menon who will be retiring on July 31. The 58-year-old diplomat is currently serving in China as India’s ambassador and before that she was High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka, between 2004 and 2006. Full story >>

Colombo’s concentration camps compared with Hitler’s in NZ parliament

[Thu, 25 Jun 2009, 08:36 GMT]

Urging New Zealand government to pay immediate attention to the horrific situation faced by the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, Keith Locke, New Zealand’s member of parliament, speaking Tuesday last week on the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, compared the concentration camps run by Colombo with that of Hitler. Blaming the international community for its failure, the MP urged the NZ government to demand full access to the camps, fair treatment to the combatants and non-combatants of the LTTE and release of people to get back to their homes. He also reminded not to forget attending the underlying cause of the conflict – the Tamil aspirations that arose from the time of independence, well before the Tamil Tigers were ever thought of. Full story >>

ICJ Vice Chairman urges governments of free people to protect Eezham Tamils

[Thu, 25 Jun 2009, 00:16 GMT]

“I call upon the Australian government to stand up and complain bitterly until something is done”, said Justice John Dowd, Vice President of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), stressing his point that it is “to not speak up but yell” in order to save the Tamils in the concentration camps. He was addressing a forum in Federal Parliament, Canberra, discussing Australia's role on human rights in Sri Lanka Wednesday last week. Sceptical of United Nations and questioning why Commonwealth is aloof, the jurist mooted an idea for governments such as Australia to hold hearings against those who violated the Genocide Convention, warning what is happening in the island is ethnic cleansing of an ancient people in their homeland. Full story >>

Veteran Kavignar Murugaian passes away

[Sun, 28 Jun 2009, 08:25 GMT]

Well-known Kavignar (Poet) E. Murugaian, veteran Tamil scholar, passed away in Colombo Saturday and his funeral is to be held Sunday evening at Borella general cemetery. He was seventy five years of age when he died. Murugaian was conferred with the honorary title of Doctor of Literature (Ilakkia Kalanithi) some years ago by Jaffna University for his immense services to Tamil Literature and Tamil Language. Full story >>

Burning of newspapers doesn't augur well for free elections: TNA

[Thu, 25 Jun 2009, 11:47 GMT]

"We do not believe that the elections are going to be free and fair. The burning of newspapers on the eve of nominations raises a big question about the circumstances under which the elections are going to be conducted," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah and Suresh Premachandran at a press conference Thursday afternoon after tending nominations for the Jaffna Municipal Council elections. The government is fully responsible for the attack on newspapers that took place when two of its ministers are camping in Jaffna said Suresh Premachandran MP. "A vicious propaganda is being made that the TNA is divided, but we stand together in all respect and take decisions in our central committee," he further said. Full story >>

It is also relevant that the school authorities did not purport to prohibit the wearing of all symbols of political or controversial significance . . . Instead, a particular symbol - black armbands worn to exhibit opposition to this Nation's involvement in Vietnam - was singled out for prohibition. Clearly, the prohibition of expression of one particular opinion, at least without evidence that it is necessary to avoid material and substantial interference with schoolwork or discipline, is not constitutionally permissible. In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are "persons" under our Constitution. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views. . . .

-Abe Fortas, US Supreme Court Justice
Majority Opinion Excerpts, Dec 16, 1965
On Mary Beth Tinker Vs Iowa
School officials banning students wearing black
arm bands to show opposition to war in Vietnam.
Federal Court took the side of school officials,
Court of Appeals was divided equally and
Supreme Court reversed the decision 7-2.

[09.06.09]
Health conditions among Vanni detainees deteriorate: Vanni civilians held in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres in Jaffna and Vavuniyaa are suffering from serious health conditions due to lack of medicines, proper medical treatment and poor sanitary facilities, Jaffna Health Department sources said. A 29-year-old woman from Maamoolai, Mu’l’liyava’lai from Vanni held in Raamavil detention centre, suspected to be suffering from septicaemia, died on 6 May in Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
Related Story >>

Prof Francis Boyle, University of Illinois College of Law

[06.06.09]
Sinhala "lebensraum" in progress in Vanni, warns Prof.Boyle: "The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is continuing to inflict Nazi-type crimes and atrocities against the Tamils even after their alleged excuse of fighting a "war against terrorism" has been exposed as a bogus pretext to annihilate the Tamils and to steal their lands and natural resources. This is what Hitler and the Nazis called "lebensraum"--"living space" for the Sinhala at the expense of the Tamils. The GOSL's "ethnic cleansing" of the Tamil Homeland for the benefit of the Sinhala is now underway," warns Francis Boyle.
Related Story >>

[16.05.09]
NYT highlights satellite evidence of Sri Lanka's criminal culpability: Reproducing satellite imagery and analysis produced by the Washington D.C. based American Association of Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), New York Times in the Thursday edition said the images "show dozens of structures that appear to have been destroyed between last Wednesday and Sunday, and multiple craters that appear to reflect the impact of heavy weaponry," pointing to AAAS analysis. During the said period, local workers reported heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) killing more than 1200 refugees.
Related Story >>

[08.05.09]
'Post-conflict is post-Sri Lankan': The Norwegian peace facilitator Erik Solheim is half a century late in calling for a federal solution to the Tamil national question in the island of Sri Lanka, said TamilNet’s political commentator in Colombo. The melting pot is ‘post-LTTE’ to Colombo and Sinhala intellectuals, ‘post-conflict’ to the West, but they don’t see or don’t want to see that it has become decisively ‘post-Sri Lankan’ to Tamil mind, he further comments.
Related Story >>

[08.05.09]
UN violating Charter obligation to promote, encourage human rights - Prof. Boyle: Dithering in the halls of the human rights apex body, the United Nations, culminating in the recent uncharacteristic pronouncement that the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is "too-busy" to visit Sri Lanka, has prompted a legal scholar to point out that "where an individual such as the U.N. Secretary General has an obligation to act to prevent criminal activity and either refuses or fails to do so, that would render him "complicit" with the underlying criminal activity--in this case genocide." Prof. Francis Boyle said Thursday that "[t]he U.N. Secretary General must immediately travel to Sri Lanka and do all in his power " to prevent" the Government's genocide against the Tamils."
Related Story >>

[27.04.09]
IC has been duped by Colombo: Prof. Ramasamy: The LTTE is expression of Tamil discontent of the Sri Lankan government and the way the latter has dealt with the Tamil national question. In so far as the conflict in Aceh was concerned, the international community was much neutral in providing the political circumstances for peace to be achieved. However, in the Sri Lankan conflict, the international took a biased stand. The current issue is not one of positions between the warring parties, but one that re-focuses attention on the fallacy of the international community in searching for a just solution for Tamils in Sri Lanka, says Prof. P. Ramasamy, deputy chief minister of the Penang state of Malaysia.
Related Story >>

[20.04.09]
French organisations vote, unanimously support Eezham Tamil independence: Exercising their right of free expression, 67 registered social welfare organisations of diaspora Tamils in France, took a pioneering democratic step of secret ballot on Saturday and unanimously declared support to the independence war of Eezham Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka, said Ki Pi Aravinthan in Paris to TamilNet. The Paris declaration read that in supporting the cause of Eezham Tamils, it has infallibly adopted the will and spirit of the Vaddukkoaddai Declaration of 1976 that was overwhelmingly mandated by Tamil voters in 1977, and was in line with the ideology behind the declaration of American independence, the Republic of France in 1789 and the UN human rights declaration of 1948.
Related Story >>

Wounded civilians in makeshift hospital at Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal

[20.04.09]
Tamils will never forget what they received when asked for justice: LTTE The LTTE on Monday recognized and welcomed a refreshing attitude in US, different from the other countries. It pleaded the Sri Lanka government to listen to international opinion, to stop the war and enter into negotiations. But at the same time it warned Colombo of dire consequences if the war is continued. “The LTTE and the fight for our freedom will also continue. The methods may vary but Sri Lanka will never be able to live in peace as it imagines a military victory will bring. However, for the record the LTTE would like to emphasize again that it is always ready to explore peaceful means to resolve the conflict”, the LTTE statement issued from the political headquarters in Vanni, read.
Related Story >>

[14.04.09]
'Powers have to repent for what they are doing': Vickramabhu Karunaratne It will be nonsense to think of eradicating the LTTE, writes Vickramabahu Karunaratne in a recent article highlighting the need for alternative thinking. "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.
Related Story >>

[09.04.09]
Opinion: In the name of its civilization IC is answerable "If the refusal of the Sri Lankan state to mend its ways and the violence it perpetrated have made the Tamil youth of the 1970s to get into militancy, it is the stubbornness of the International Community in not rectifying its blunder of perpetrating a genocidal war against Tamils in Sri Lanka that has now made the diaspora youth to take to streets defying procedures," writes Opinion Columnist Chivanadi.
Related Story >>

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"It's been brought to the attention of senior government officials but no one seems to be doing anything about it," an aid worker, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told the paper. In response to the accusations, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Palitha Kohona told the paper: "These (the military) are the guys who were winning the war - they could have raped every single woman on the way if they wanted to. Not one single woman was raped." Full story >> Latest 15 Reports: Jul 03 02:20 Kohona: ‘Victorious soldiers could have raped ever.. Jul 02 16:30 Jaffna residents demand back money, jewelry from C.. Jul 02 11:26 UN hires lawyers to defend detained local UN staff Jul 02 09:42 2 Tamil youths abducted in Batticaloa Jul 02 09:28 Arms surrender deadline to Muslim groups in the ea.. Jul 02 06:09 Buddhism among Tamils is quenched from two sides: .. Jul 02 00:07 Rights Coalition urges Obama to initiate War Crime.. Jul 01 17:38 SLA opens Special Rehabilitation Camp in Kaithadi Jul 01 11:56 A "rolling" genocide? Jul 01 09:27 3 Tamil civilians arrested in Colombo Jul 01 07:25 Nirupama Menon Rao succeeds Shiv Shankar Menon Jul 01 05:28 Politicized courts, Compromised rights, says ICG o.. Jul 01 05:23 NFF wants provincial boundaries redrawn Jul 01 04:35 Axe to fall on APRC Jul 01 02:42 Elie Wiesel: Sri Lanka's victimization of Tamil pe.. << Flashback More Reports >> Buddhism among Tamils is quenched from two sides: Peter Schalk [Thu, 02 Jul 2009, 06:09 GMT] “To say that Tamil tradition has always been all-inclusive of religions is modern Tamil national ideology projected into an invented past. It is not history of the Tamils”, writes Professor Peter Schalk, challenging the perspectives of looking at Tamil identity from the point of the use of Tamil language that simultaneously accommodated various religions in its history, despite of them contradicting one another or coming and going. Responding to an article on Buddhism appeared in TamilNet, Tuesday, Prof. Schalk said that Buddhism among Tamils he objectifies is different from what the Sinhala-Buddhists are envisaging. Full story >> Ploy of Buddhism in nullifying Tamil nationalism [Tue, 30 Jun 2009, 01:53 GMT] The North and East of the island of Sri Lanka should first be subjected to ‘archaeological’ investigation to prove the land’s Sinhala ownership, before its ‘resettlement’, is the demand of the National Front of Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka, reported Virakesari a few days ago. If archaeology has any say, the entire island having microlithic sites of prehistoric period has to be resettled by Veddas, and if enough Veddas are not found in the island they could still be found among their next of kin outside, ranging from the Austro-Asiatic tribes of the South Asian subcontinent to aborigines of Borneo, Papua New Guinea and Australia, commented an academic of ethnic studies in the island. Full story >> Axe to fall on APRC [Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 04:35 GMT] The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) set up in June, 2006 to work out proposals to solve ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka faces uncertain future after the Peace Secretariat (SCOPP) has been asked by the Presidential Secretariat to wind up its activities by the end of July. “APRC has been given one month notice to complete its deliberations and submit a final document,” SCOPP Director General Professor Rajiva Wijesinghe told the media Tuesday. Full story >> 2ND LEAD (Adds links) A "rolling" genocide? [Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 11:56 GMT] "The continuing concentration of over 250,000 people in the camps both blocks the search for answers to these questions, and itself constitutes a most serious crime. If the doors are not opened quickly, this will raise questions of whether the government seriously intends a restoration of Tamil society in the conquered zone. This would indeed pose a question of genocide, in the sense of the deliberate destruction of a population group in its home territory," writes Dr. Martin Shaw, professor of International Relations at UK's University of Sussex, and a historical sociologist of war and global politics. Full story >> Children in Manik Farm camps suffer due to malnutrition: Sarvodaya [Fri, 26 Jun 2009, 12:20 GMT] “About thirty thousand to thirty five thousand children are sheltered in Manik Farm. Many of them are suffering from diseases and some still suffer from injuries sustained in the military operations. Fifteen to twenty percent of them are also suffering from acute malnutrition,” media reports in Colombo said quoting Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, the executive director of Colombo based NGO Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya. Full story >> SL military shoots dead 2 detainees in Vavuniyaa internment camp [Tue, 30 Jun 2009, 13:59 GMT] Sri Lanka military personnel opened fire Sunday morning on detainees in an attempt to stop them making way through the barbed wire fence separating Ramanathan camp and Anandakumarasamy camp located in Cheddikulam, killing two of them and injuring more than two, in a confrontation that developed Sunday morning, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The killers had taken the two bodies away and their identities are not available at the moment, the sources added. Full story >> IDPs living on Jaffna railway track area evicted [Tue, 30 Jun 2009, 16:49 GMT] Families of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living on Sri Lanka government railway properties since they were evicted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) twenty years ago from their residences in Valikaamam North, were forced to leave Tuesday to leave their temporary shelters in railway crossings, stations and officers’ quarters as the dead line to quit being 30 June, sources in Jaffna said. The government officials and SLA officers who were very keen to evict the families had not provided any alternate place for them to move in, the families complained. Full story >> Jaffna Muslim IDPs should be resettled soon – Muslim contestant in JMC election [Mon, 29 Jun 2009, 15:34 GMT] “While welcoming the government’s interest in resettling the displaced Vanni civilians in their original places we request that it should also take action to resettle the Muslims displaced from Jaffna soon,” Ahamed Sulthan Subiyan, the president of Jaffna Muslim IDPs Association and the independent contestant in the forthcoming Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election, said in a press meet held Monday in his newly opened election office in Jaffna town. Full story >> ‘Final Warning’ issued to Jaffna Tamil daily Uthayan staffers [Sun, 28 Jun 2009, 06:30 GMT] A group calling itself ‘Tamil Front Protecting the Country’ allegedly linked to a paramilitary group operating with Colombo issued Saturday a notice titled ‘Final Warning’ to Uthayan Tamil daily office in Jaffna warning that Uthayan staffers will be killed if they do not officially relinquish their posts with effect from 30 June 2009, sources in Jaffna said. Thursday, all the local newspapers of Jaffna that defied publishing an anonymous and defiling notice against Liberation Tigers came under attack by an armed group in which thousands of copies of the local newspapers, Valampuri, Uthayan and Thinakkural (Jaffna edition) were burnt. Full story >> Rights Coalition urges Obama to initiate War Crime investigations [Thu, 02 Jul 2009, 00:07 GMT] A Coalition of six US-based Human Rights Organizations in a letter to U.S. President Obama wrote: "[t]o address abuses associated with the recent fighting [in Sri Lanka's north], there is an urgent need for an independent, international commission of inquiry into many credible allegations of laws of war violations, including possible war crimes, by both sides, as well as illegitimate detentions. Mr. President, we urge you to publicly call for an international commission of inquiry and to take necessary steps to achieve it. We also urge you to take steps for the full protection of internally displaced persons, including independent access to camps, former areas of conflict and to conflict-affected civilians by humanitarian and human rights organizations and the media." Full story >> Politicized courts, Compromised rights, says ICG on Sri Lanka Judiciary [Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 05:28 GMT] "Sri Lankan judiciary is not working in a fair and impartial way that secures justice and human rights for everyone regardless of ethnicity. This risks undermining the government’s recent military victory over the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). A durable national reconciliation process is only possible if human and constitutional rights are fully restored," warned a report released by the International Crisis Group (ICG) Tuesday. Full story >> Elie Wiesel: Sri Lanka's victimization of Tamil people must stop [Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 02:42 GMT] Holocaust surviver, Jewish icon, and Nobel laureate, Professor Elie Wiesel, in a message posted on his website said: "Wherever minorities are being persecuted we must raise our voices to protest. According to reliable sources, the Tamil people are being disenfranchised and victimized by the Sri Lanka authorities. This injustice must stop. The Tamil people must be allowed to live in peace and flourish in their homeland." Full story >> US statement undermines tourism revival - SL Foreign Ministry [Mon, 29 Jun 2009, 11:24 GMT] United States travel advisory aimed at discouraging US citizens from visiting Sri Lanka was part of US strategy to undermine the country [Sri Lanka], according to Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry official, the pro-Government Island newspaper said. "[N]othing could be as bad as the US warning of potential for continued stability and possible terrorist attacks a month after the end of war," the paper said, and added, "though the armed forces maintained road blocks and carried out routine checks on vehicles entering the city and its suburbs, there was no likelihood of LTTE attacks," attributing the comments to a foreign ministry official. Full story >> Nirupama Menon Rao succeeds Shiv Shankar Menon [Wed, 01 Jul 2009, 07:25 GMT] Nirupama Rao, nee Menon, hailing from Kerala is named as India’s Foreign Secretary Tuesday, to succeed Shiv Shankar Menon who will be retiring on July 31. The 58-year-old diplomat is currently serving in China as India’s ambassador and before that she was High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka, between 2004 and 2006. Full story >> Colombo’s concentration camps compared with Hitler’s in NZ parliament [Thu, 25 Jun 2009, 08:36 GMT] Urging New Zealand government to pay immediate attention to the horrific situation faced by the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, Keith Locke, New Zealand’s member of parliament, speaking Tuesday last week on the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, compared the concentration camps run by Colombo with that of Hitler. Blaming the international community for its failure, the MP urged the NZ government to demand full access to the camps, fair treatment to the combatants and non-combatants of the LTTE and release of people to get back to their homes. He also reminded not to forget attending the underlying cause of the conflict – the Tamil aspirations that arose from the time of independence, well before the Tamil Tigers were ever thought of. Full story >> ICJ Vice Chairman urges governments of free people to protect Eezham Tamils [Thu, 25 Jun 2009, 00:16 GMT] “I call upon the Australian government to stand up and complain bitterly until something is done”, said Justice John Dowd, Vice President of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), stressing his point that it is “to not speak up but yell” in order to save the Tamils in the concentration camps. He was addressing a forum in Federal Parliament, Canberra, discussing Australia's role on human rights in Sri Lanka Wednesday last week. Sceptical of United Nations and questioning why Commonwealth is aloof, the jurist mooted an idea for governments such as Australia to hold hearings against those who violated the Genocide Convention, warning what is happening in the island is ethnic cleansing of an ancient people in their homeland. Full story >> Veteran Kavignar Murugaian passes away [Sun, 28 Jun 2009, 08:25 GMT] Well-known Kavignar (Poet) E. Murugaian, veteran Tamil scholar, passed away in Colombo Saturday and his funeral is to be held Sunday evening at Borella general cemetery. He was seventy five years of age when he died. Murugaian was conferred with the honorary title of Doctor of Literature (Ilakkia Kalanithi) some years ago by Jaffna University for his immense services to Tamil Literature and Tamil Language. Full story >> Burning of newspapers doesn't augur well for free elections: TNA [Thu, 25 Jun 2009, 11:47 GMT] "We do not believe that the elections are going to be free and fair. The burning of newspapers on the eve of nominations raises a big question about the circumstances under which the elections are going to be conducted," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah and Suresh Premachandran at a press conference Thursday afternoon after tending nominations for the Jaffna Municipal Council elections. The government is fully responsible for the attack on newspapers that took place when two of its ministers are camping in Jaffna said Suresh Premachandran MP. "A vicious propaganda is being made that the TNA is divided, but we stand together in all respect and take decisions in our central committee," he further said. Full story >> Top Flashback: 2008: 2008 Jul 03 17:25 Renegade Karuna deported to Sri Lanka 2008 Jul 03 16:37 3 policemen, 2 civilians injured in Claymore at... 2008 Jul 03 16:19 DPU shoot dead student in Vanni 2008 Jul 03 14:31 Abducted restaurant owner released 2008 Jul 03 14:01 SLA, STF, police accused of sexual harassment i... 2008 Jul 03 11:33 Youth abducted in Batticaloa 2008 Jul 03 11:05 UPFA seeks TMVP candidates to woo Tamils in Pol... 2008 Jul 03 09:47 Weerawanse's JNP registered as new political party 2008 Jul 03 09:40 Abducted Tamil youth found shot dead in Trincom... 2008 Jul 03 07:37 2 men injured in TMVP shooting in Kalmunai 2008 Jul 03 03:46 Treatment delayed to Aayiththiyamalai injured 2008 Jul 03 03:38 600 pilgrims on foot from east reach Kathirkaamam 2008 Jul 03 02:42 Assure government employees in Vanni their safe... 2008 Jul 03 02:03 24 Civilians arrested by Vavuniyaa police 2008 Jul 03 01:40 Collecting Bank account details, violation of p... 2008 Jul 03 01:34 CWC, UPF decide to contest SPC election separately 2008 Jul 03 00:43 Tamil political prisoners in Mahara prison laun... 2007: 2007 Jul 03 21:28 Jaffna elderly woman alleges SLA torture 2007 Jul 03 17:03 Woman reported missing in Thenmaraadchi 2007 Jul 03 15:37 Stranded teachers from Vanni demand salary arrears 2007 Jul 03 11:54 3 SLA troopers killed in Vavuniya Claymore attack 2007 Jul 03 11:28 US Congressmen urge increased US efforts in Sri... 2007 Jul 03 11:18 SLA clearance required to use new cellular serv... 2007 Jul 03 07:24 Police constable shot, injured in Jaffna 2007 Jul 03 01:15 Civilian shot dead in Ea'raavoor 2006: 2006 Jul 03 15:57 Two SLA soldiers injured in Jaffna claymore attack 2006 Jul 03 13:29 Man shot dead by SLA inside Thandikulam HSZ 2006 Jul 03 13:13 Policemen gun down civilian, education official... 2006 Jul 03 12:43 SLA soldier killed, 2 wounded in Claymore attac... 2006 Jul 03 12:32 2 STF personnel wounded in Claymore attack in K... 2006 Jul 03 10:21 LTTE proscription, a huge mistake by EU, says M... 2006 Jul 03 09:41 SLA attack on bus driver triggers Jaffna transp... 2006 Jul 03 07:33 Seven killed, 13 injured in Trinco claymore exp... 2005: 2005 Jul 03 12:10 SLMM, SLA officials to meet to discuss LTTE ult... 2005 Jul 03 11:52 UNP's foot march continues for second day 2004: 2004 Jul 03 13:35 Kumaratunga ally rejects LTTE proposal for rest... 2004 Jul 03 09:13 Navy arrests 29 Tamil refugees in Talaimannar Sea 2003: 2003 Jul 03 18:23 Trinco St. Joseph's college holds education exh... 2003 Jul 03 17:08 Lack of furniture, buildings hamper Thenmaradch... 2003 Jul 03 17:03 VVT fishermen complain of assault by SLN soldiers 2003 Jul 03 15:44 Indian boatmen remanded till Friday 2003 Jul 03 15:32 ‘Development of Vavuniya district sluggish' - M... 2003 Jul 03 14:03 Canadian Envoy meets Thamilselvan 2003 Jul 03 13:32 Detained Indian fishermen to be produced in court 2003 Jul 03 11:33 SLA delays Batticaloa bound train for two hours 2003 Jul 03 04:02 LTTE, TNA Parliamentarians meet in Kokkadicholai 2003 Jul 03 03:42 Grenade attack on Batticaloa EPDP office 2003 Jul 03 00:11 STF resumes checks at Batticaloa ferry points 2002: 2002 Jul 03 18:05 Vanni returnee abducted, beaten up in Jaffna 2002 Jul 03 16:01 LTTE urges Muslim Tamil harmony in east 2001: 2001 Jul 03 21:20 Govt. must investigate paramilitary group viola... 2001 Jul 03 18:57 Tamil teachers join protest against rape 2001 Jul 03 13:28 Tigers release MV Missen crewmember 2001 Jul 03 10:52 UNP, JVP to vote against extension of emergency 2001 Jul 03 02:37 PA denies LTTE banned under PTA 2000: 2000 Jul 03 21:25 Ban on Jaffna paper lifted 2000 Jul 03 21:24 Tiger flags appear in Mannar town 2000 Jul 03 14:21 Tigers attack SLA-Police camp 1999: 1999 Jul 03 08:38 Three homeguards killed 1998: 1998 Jul 03 23:59 Fear in Batticaloa, Amparai 1998 Jul 03 23:59 Fast love? 1998 Jul 03 23:59 Death sentence for Krishanthi accused 1998 Jul 03 23:59 Five councillors lose their posts 1998 Jul 03 23:59 Jaffna SLFP official appointed It is also relevant that the school authorities did not purport to prohibit the wearing of all symbols of political or controversial significance . . . Instead, a particular symbol - black armbands worn to exhibit opposition to this Nation's involvement in Vietnam - was singled out for prohibition. Clearly, the prohibition of expression of one particular opinion, at least without evidence that it is necessary to avoid material and substantial interference with schoolwork or discipline, is not constitutionally permissible. In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are "persons" under our Constitution. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views. . . . -Abe Fortas, US Supreme Court Justice Majority Opinion Excerpts, Dec 16, 1965 On Mary Beth Tinker Vs Iowa School officials banning students wearing black arm bands to show opposition to war in Vietnam. Federal Court took the side of school officials, Court of Appeals was divided equally and Supreme Court reversed the decision 7-2.	Know the Etymology: 131 Place Name of the Day: Galle / Kaali The rocks The rocky place Read more >> [09.06.09] Health conditions among Vanni detainees deteriorate: Vanni civilians held in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres in Jaffna and Vavuniyaa are suffering from serious health conditions due to lack of medicines, proper medical treatment and poor sanitary facilities, Jaffna Health Department sources said. A 29-year-old woman from Maamoolai, Mu’l’liyava’lai from Vanni held in Raamavil detention centre, suspected to be suffering from septicaemia, died on 6 May in Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Related Story >> [06.06.09] Sinhala "lebensraum" in progress in Vanni, warns Prof.Boyle: "The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is continuing to inflict Nazi-type crimes and atrocities against the Tamils even after their alleged excuse of fighting a "war against terrorism" has been exposed as a bogus pretext to annihilate the Tamils and to steal their lands and natural resources. This is what Hitler and the Nazis called "lebensraum"--"living space" for the Sinhala at the expense of the Tamils. The GOSL's "ethnic cleansing" of the Tamil Homeland for the benefit of the Sinhala is now underway," warns Francis Boyle. Related Story >> [16.05.09] NYT highlights satellite evidence of Sri Lanka's criminal culpability: Reproducing satellite imagery and analysis produced by the Washington D.C. based American Association of Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), New York Times in the Thursday edition said the images "show dozens of structures that appear to have been destroyed between last Wednesday and Sunday, and multiple craters that appear to reflect the impact of heavy weaponry," pointing to AAAS analysis. During the said period, local workers reported heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) killing more than 1200 refugees. Related Story >> [08.05.09] 'Post-conflict is post-Sri Lankan': The Norwegian peace facilitator Erik Solheim is half a century late in calling for a federal solution to the Tamil national question in the island of Sri Lanka, said TamilNet’s political commentator in Colombo. The melting pot is ‘post-LTTE’ to Colombo and Sinhala intellectuals, ‘post-conflict’ to the West, but they don’t see or don’t want to see that it has become decisively ‘post-Sri Lankan’ to Tamil mind, he further comments. Related Story >> [08.05.09] UN violating Charter obligation to promote, encourage human rights - Prof. Boyle: Dithering in the halls of the human rights apex body, the United Nations, culminating in the recent uncharacteristic pronouncement that the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is "too-busy" to visit Sri Lanka, has prompted a legal scholar to point out that "where an individual such as the U.N. Secretary General has an obligation to act to prevent criminal activity and either refuses or fails to do so, that would render him "complicit" with the underlying criminal activity--in this case genocide." Prof. Francis Boyle said Thursday that "[t]he U.N. Secretary General must immediately travel to Sri Lanka and do all in his power " to prevent" the Government's genocide against the Tamils." Related Story >> [27.04.09] IC has been duped by Colombo: Prof. Ramasamy: The LTTE is expression of Tamil discontent of the Sri Lankan government and the way the latter has dealt with the Tamil national question. In so far as the conflict in Aceh was concerned, the international community was much neutral in providing the political circumstances for peace to be achieved. However, in the Sri Lankan conflict, the international took a biased stand. The current issue is not one of positions between the warring parties, but one that re-focuses attention on the fallacy of the international community in searching for a just solution for Tamils in Sri Lanka, says Prof. P. Ramasamy, deputy chief minister of the Penang state of Malaysia. Related Story >> [20.04.09] French organisations vote, unanimously support Eezham Tamil independence: Exercising their right of free expression, 67 registered social welfare organisations of diaspora Tamils in France, took a pioneering democratic step of secret ballot on Saturday and unanimously declared support to the independence war of Eezham Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka, said Ki Pi Aravinthan in Paris to TamilNet. The Paris declaration read that in supporting the cause of Eezham Tamils, it has infallibly adopted the will and spirit of the Vaddukkoaddai Declaration of 1976 that was overwhelmingly mandated by Tamil voters in 1977, and was in line with the ideology behind the declaration of American independence, the Republic of France in 1789 and the UN human rights declaration of 1948. Related Story >> [20.04.09] Tamils will never forget what they received when asked for justice: LTTE The LTTE on Monday recognized and welcomed a refreshing attitude in US, different from the other countries. It pleaded the Sri Lanka government to listen to international opinion, to stop the war and enter into negotiations. But at the same time it warned Colombo of dire consequences if the war is continued. “The LTTE and the fight for our freedom will also continue. The methods may vary but Sri Lanka will never be able to live in peace as it imagines a military victory will bring. However, for the record the LTTE would like to emphasize again that it is always ready to explore peaceful means to resolve the conflict”, the LTTE statement issued from the political headquarters in Vanni, read. Related Story >> [14.04.09] 'Powers have to repent for what they are doing': Vickramabhu Karunaratne It will be nonsense to think of eradicating the LTTE, writes Vickramabahu Karunaratne in a recent article highlighting the need for alternative thinking. "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. Related Story >> [09.04.09] Opinion: In the name of its civilization IC is answerable "If the refusal of the Sri Lankan state to mend its ways and the violence it perpetrated have made the Tamil youth of the 1970s to get into militancy, it is the stubbornness of the International Community in not rectifying its blunder of perpetrating a genocidal war against Tamils in Sri Lanka that has now made the diaspora youth to take to streets defying procedures," writes Opinion Columnist Chivanadi. Related Story >>
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