http://www.tamilnet.com Latest 20 TamilNet reports from Sri Lanka en Copyright (c) 1997-2012 TamilNet Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:05:18 GMT Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:05:18 GMT tamilnet@tamilnet.com http://www.tamilnet.com/img/feedlogo2.gif http://www.tamilnet.com 88 31 TamilNet logo http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34851 Occupying Sri Lanka plans to invite China to build an airport of international standard at Poonakari in the north of the country of Eezham Tamils to balance India’s projects centring around KKS harbour and Palaali airport in the northern coast of Jaffna Peninsula, news sources from the island said. Colombo has started confiscating large tracts of lands for this purpose and China has presented models of the airport for approval, revealed TNA parliamentarian Mr. Sritharan. Poonakari is situated in a controlling location linking Vanni with Jaffna Peninsula, with Palk Bay and Jaffna Lagoon on either side. It is also located close to Raameasvaram and Tho’ndi of the Tamil Nadu coast. Sun, 05 Feb 2012, 01:27 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34850 In a forceful rebuttal to the U.S. State Department's suggestion of immunity to Sri Lanka President Rajpakse in the war-crimes charges against him in the case filed in District Court in Washington by three Tamil plaintiffs, Bruce Fein, the attorney for the plaintiffs, said, 'the sitting head of state immunity issue pivots solely on an interpretation of the words “an individual” in the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA)," "the plain language of the statute makes no exceptions irrespective of the office an individual might occupy or the circumstances of the crimes universally abhorred," but "[t]he Executive Branch insolently maintains that this Court must obey its directive to dismiss this TVPA case that rests upon universally repugnant crimes in violation of the law of nations," and " [t]o bow to that command would be to permit usurpation of the judicial power by the Executive." Sun, 05 Feb 2012, 00:52 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34849 Eezham Tamil activists in Norway on Saturday released stamps featuring LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan, the map of Tamil Eelam and some of the LTTE declared national symbols of the de-facto state of Tamil Eelam, including the Tamil Eelam national flag. The stamps were released in front of the Norwegian Parliament by Jeyasri Balasubramaniam, a candidate elected to represent the Eezham Tamils in two elections held in that country. The event coincided with the so-called independence day of Sri Lanka. On 4th February 1948, the British conferred dominion status to the island then called Ceylon and transferred power to a Colombo-centric, ethnic majoritarian and unitary system of government. Sat, 04 Feb 2012, 21:52 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34848 February 4th, the day Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) got so-called “Independence” from Britain in 1948, is a day for action, not regret or mourning. “The betrayal of the Tamils by the British cannot be ignored. If it is, then Britain must be reminded of its moral, legal and ethical obligations, to ‘do the right thing’, by the Tamils even belatedly,” says Dr. Brian Senewiratne in an article he has authored on the so-called independence of Ceylon on 04 February 1948. “It is no exaggeration to say that on 4 February, 1948, ‘Independence’ was granted to the Sinhalese to do what they wanted to the Tamils. Britain could not care less, as long as the military bases were secure and the (British) tea estates remained under Sinhalese capitalist control, to supply tea at absurdly low prices to fill the British cup.” Sat, 04 Feb 2012, 12:05 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34847 Keeping genocide-afflicted Eezham Tamils in sheds and shelters, occupying Sri Lanka plans to build massive ‘tourist’ hotels in Jaffna with Sinhala investment and management, eventually to create Sinhala business enclaves and colonies, news sources in Jaffna said. SL presidential sibling Basil Rajapaksa laid foundation for a 14-storey tourist hotel in the heart of Jaffna city on Friday. Mr. Milinda Moragoda, opposition leader, Colombo municipal council, is said to be closely associated with the investment carried out by a tourism corporate named Jetwing-Yarl. Mr. Moragoda was bracketed with Norwegian development minister Mr. Erik Solheim in luring the LTTE to the peace process in 2001. Meanwhile, Norway conducts a seminar to select participants this weekend, on Norway Tamils contributing to peace, reconciliation and development of Sri Lanka that will be addressed by Mr. Erik Solheim. Sat, 04 Feb 2012, 08:50 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34846 24-year-old Garolin Vinotha Nesarajah, who killed herself along with her 20-month-old baby boy on 16 January in a refugee centre in Førde in Western Norway, was not prepared for her deportation, as she feared she would be interrogated and tortured by the Sri Lanka Army back home, reporters in Jaffna said. Garolin immolated herself along with the baby, the Norwegian police think. Garolin’s death raises several questions at the international system that continues to keep the people of the nation of Eezham Tamils deprived of State, deprived of international justice and deprived of psychological security or hope in life, maddening them further and further by pushing them into the hands of genocidal Sri Lanka, social workers in Jaffna said. Fri, 03 Feb 2012, 19:18 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34845 TERI University of India (The Energy and Resources Institute), which is a deemed university located in New Delhi, has conferred honorary doctorate on Norwegian Minister of Development Mr. Erik Solheim in its fourth convocation this year held on Wednesday. The deemed university, specialized in sustainable development, got accreditation in India in 1999. The university has affiliated centers in Japan, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, USA and UK, besides in some prominent Indian cities. Mr. Solheim is involved in international peace facilitation on behalf of Norway in several countries in the world. As Development minister, his office is part of the foreign ministry establishment of the Norwegian government, since Norway sees ‘development’ and ‘foreign relations’ intertwined in facilitating its interests. Fri, 03 Feb 2012, 02:05 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34844 The acting Geneva Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch, Philippe Dam, has said in a statement issued by the HRW Thursday that justice and accountability will not come from the Sri Lankan government. “Only international action will address the suffering of victims,” Mr. Dam said urging the United Nations Human Rights Council to address the lack of accountability for wartime abuses during its March 2012 session. Sri Lanka has a long history of failed promises to prosecute serious human rights abuses, the statement by the HRC further said. Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 23:59 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34843 A.C.M. Asam, a member of the Kaaththaankudi Good Governance People Movement was abducted last Friday by an armed men who came in motorbikes when he was returning home after seeing his ailing mother in the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. Mr. Asam was later released after four hours, according to M.M.Abdur Rahuman, Soora council member of the movement at a media briefing held this week. Mr. Asam had exposed the fraud to the tune of 150,000 rupees that took place in the Kaaththaankudy UC. Asam had been threatened by the abductors not to work against Kaaththaankudi Urban Council chairman M.L.A.M.Hisbullah, who is a Deputy Minister in SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime. Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 23:34 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34842 A group of persons, arriving in a white van and identifying themselves as from the Sri Lankan ‘Terrorism Investigation Division’ (TID), arrested two Tamil fishermen in Mannaar on January 19th, sources in Mannaar said. The TID officers had later had informed relatives of the fishermen after inquiry that TID police had detained the fishermen on reports that they had helped he LTTE.<br/><br/> Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 02:51 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34841 Tamil Nadu State Assembly should press New Delhi to make arrangements for its participation in the UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva in March to present the case of war crimes against Eezham Tamils, said, Communist Party of India’s MLA for Sivagangai, Mr. S. Gunasekaran, during debate on Governor’s Address in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. He reminded the Assembly on its earlier resolution on this issue and said that a case should be filed in the International Court of Justice against SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa for the genocide committed on Eezham Tamils. Deprivation of political, homeland and language rights of Eezham Tamils continues in the island and they are treated like slaves without security. SL has not even spent the Indian monetary assistance meant for Eezham Tamils sufficiently, the MLA said. Wed, 01 Feb 2012, 17:56 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34840 Sri Wikrama Rajasinghe alias Ka’n’nuch-chaami, the last king of Kandy, from whom the British captured the sovereignty of the last remaining kingdom in the island then called Ceylon, was remembered by his heirs and relatives in Tamil Nadu at his memorial in Vealoor (Vellore) in Tamil Nadu on his 181st death anniversary on Monday. Those who claim and uphold ‘unitary’ sovereignty over the entire island today never care for the king, who fought against colonialism for native sovereignty last remaining in the island, just because he was belonging to the Mathurai Naayakka dynasty of Tamil-Telugu origin. This is a small, but revealing example on the attitude of the sovereignty claim of the Sinhala state of Sri Lanka, showing why the sovereignty of genocide-affected Eezham Tamils in the island should never be vested into the hands of this state, commented an academic in Jaffna. Wed, 01 Feb 2012, 01:48 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34839 Archaeological traces of heritage, preserved in 25 acres of land in Chuvaami-malai and Kevu'liya-madu villages in Paddippazhai DS division of Batticaloa district, are being destroyed by Sinhala encroachers, who are attempting to construct a Buddhist vihara at the occupied lands, civil sources Paddippazhai said. Condemning the move, Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) member R. Thurairatnam, said the destructive trend is opposed to any future ethnic harmony in the East. The historical evidences in the area were well preserved even during the times of war, Mr. Thurairatnam observed. Tue, 31 Jan 2012, 23:57 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34838 Depriving the livelihood of resettled Tamils at 35th Colony, the Sri Lankan government authorities in Colombo have taken charge of the Tamil area, which comes under the Batticaloa district and the Eastern Provincial Council, aiming Sinhalicisation of the border village between the Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai district. The Tamil fishermen, who have been fishing in Navakkiri tank have now been denied access to the tank and only Sinhalese are allowed by the SL authorities to engage in fishing in the tank situated in the 35th Colony. The provincial minister responsible for fisheries affairs, Mr. Navaratnam, has also confirmed that the civil affairs at 35th Colony are being directly controlled from Colombo. Tue, 31 Jan 2012, 19:20 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34837 Two officials from the US State Department who met civil society of Jaffna last week categorically told them that the US would not take up war crimes/ human rights issues against Sri Lanka in the March HRC session, as there is no sufficient pressure or request from the affected people. Ruling out any outside intervention for political solution, the officials said that the US would only support the implementation of the LLRC report, which means annihilation of the nation of Eezham Tamils and completion of structural genocide by 2020, as fixed by the report. The officials didn't listen to the civil group, but insisted only on passing the message. As genocidal Sri Lanka is going to be emboldened further by the stand of the USA and similar stand of India, what responses are going to come from Tamil Nadu and from those who pawned politics to the USA and India, ask the civil groups. Mon, 30 Jan 2012, 11:37 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34836 Nearly three years after the genocidal war and amidst speedily on-going structural genocide against the nation of Eezham Tamils, the Establishments of the US, India and the UN increasingly prove that they are the real culprits buttressing the genocidal state of Sri Lanka and the crimes-accused Rajapaksa regime. A few individuals sitting in these Establishments take the entire human civilisation for a ride in setting a criminal paradigm for international polity. But, despite the presence of a large number of Tamils in North America, millions in the rest of the diaspora all over the world and 70 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu, Tamils still don’t know where to address and how to address their struggle in a concerted way showing strength and solidarity, for their polity is continually kept under deception, says a new generation Tamil politician in the island. Mon, 30 Jan 2012, 07:03 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34835 Pointing to the recent investigative reports in media outlets noting US may possess crucial supporting material to incriminating evidence from senior military commanders of Colombo committing war-crimes, to exposures on Wikileaks of Colombo-based US Ambassadors' reported knowledge of high level Sri Lanka officials' complicity to war crimes, and to incriminating reports from the UN and NGOs on alleged war-crimes, Professor Boyle of University of Illinois, College of Law, said, in similar circumstances Secretary of State Eagleburger accused Radovan Karadzic of committing war-crimes during the Bosnian genocide, and the Obama administration can, and should, do the same thing to political and military leaders in Colombo. Mon, 30 Jan 2012, 00:40 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34834 Four Tamil residents of Vinaayagapuram, a suburb in Trincomalee town, were injured, including one with severe injuries, when a gang of Sinhalese attacked them on Saturday evening around 6 p.m, sources in Trincomalee said. Thurainayagam Sanjeevan, 32, an employee of the Trincomalee office of a leading Tamil daily Virakesari, is in critical condition and has been admitted to the Trincomalee General Hospital. Other injured Tamils were discharged from the hospital after treatment, hospital sources said. The attackers had threatened the Tamil residents to vacate the village, according to the injured residents.<br/><br/> Sun, 29 Jan 2012, 16:56 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34833 In a classified memo written by US's Sri Lanka Ambassador Robert Blake in October 2006 to Washington, ten months after the extra-judicial execution of five students at a Trincomalee beach, Basil Rajapakse, advisor to Sri Lanka's President and brother Rajapakse, had told Ambassador Blake that Special Task Force (STF) was responsible for the killings, according a Wikileaks document. The father of Ragihar, one of the students killed, is one of the three plaintiffs who have filed a civil case against Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse for Command Responsibility in the killings. Sun, 29 Jan 2012, 01:26 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=34832 While several members of the legislative branch of the US Government are pressing for independent international investigations into Sri Lanka's war-crimes, the US executive branch, despite the presence of ardent advocates of human rights as President Obama's group of advisers, guided by Ambassador Robert Blake architected policy that has wrought havoc to Tamil justice, appears to support white-washing of war-crimes, Tamil circles in the US said. Civil society groups in Sri Lanka, which met visiting US officials recently have also reported hearing a Rajapakse-centric position from the officials, and revealed that the officials have tried to persuade the civil society to engage with the Sri Lanka Government on development and reconciliation, and thereby, to remain opposed to Tamil diaspora activities, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Sun, 29 Jan 2012, 00:39