New Delhi's stratagem seeking 'pause'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 22:13 GMT]
India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday asked Colombo to 'seize the opportunity' provided by LTTE’s ceasefire offer to bring about a ‘pause’ in hostilities and work for safe passage for 'trapped' civilians. Meanwhile, political observers in Tamil Nadu commented on the move a tactic to nullify their calls for a permanent ceasefire. Vaiko, the General Secretary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (MDMK) courted arrest with 300 other activists for waging black flags in protest against Mr. Mukherjee, who was on a visit to Thooththukkudi (Tutucorin).
Full story >>

Cordon, search operation in Trincomalee stepped up

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 21:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police and the Sri Lanka Army have stepped up its patrolling and cordon and search operations in the Trincomalee town and its suburbs, where Tamils live in majority. On Friday the police took about five Tamil youths into custody in the Uppuveli Police division alleging that they were strangers to the locality and subjected them for severe interrogation.
Full story >>

Chennai journalists demand Vithyatharan's immediate release

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 19:34 GMT]
Over a hundred journalists held a demonstration in Chennai near the State Guest House on Saturday to condemn the increasing attacks on the media in Sri Lanka and the recent abduction and arrest of well-known Tamil newspaper editor Nadesapillai Vithyatharan. The participants were from the Chennai Press Club, the Madras Union of Journalists, The Madras Reporters' Guild, and 'Journalists against Fascism'.
Full story >>

Chickenpox spreads among civilians in Mirusuvil detention camps

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 17:52 GMT]
Chicken pox infection is spreading fast among more the 1600 civilians held in Mirusuvil Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention camp in Thenmaraadchi due to lack of basic hygienic facilities, lack of drinking water and people being crowded together, representatives of humanitarian organizations visiting the camp said. SLA soldiers do not allow patients in need of treatment even though their illness is severe, the sources said.
Full story >>

Eastern University suspends lectures, examinations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 14:39 GMT]
Eastern University administration informed Saturday that lectures and examinations in all its faculties are being suspended until further notice. The death of a first year student of the Faculty of Arts and Culture in the women hostel of the university causing tension among the girl students is said to be the reason for the suspension, sources in Batticaloa said.
Full story >>

TNA MP's secretary abducted in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 12:20 GMT]
A group of 10 armed men, including a female, who arrived in a white van abducted Sellathurai Sabanathan, a 50-year-old secretary of Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Kanagaratnam Sathasivam. The abduction has taken place Saturday around 3:30 p.m. at the residence of the victim at Vairavappu'liyangku'lam.
Full story >>

Newborn babies bereft of milk, humanitarian situation worsens in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 02:13 GMT]
Due to acute malnutrition and continued blockade of food thousands of mothers of newborn babies have gone barren to feed babies in besieged Mullaiththeevu. The substitute of powdered milk is also not available, seriously affecting thousands of babies reports TamilNet correspondent from Vanni.
Full story >>

Indiscriminate felling of Palmyra palms by SLA in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 18:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has been engaged in felling thousands of Palmyra palms mostly in private lands in the SLA occupied High Security Zone (HSZ) using the trunks to construct additional sentry posts along Vadamaraadchi coasts, in the last three days, sources from Vadamaraadchi said. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in Vadamaraadchi north has been conducting war rehearsals during Wednesday and Thursday nights firing artillery shells towards the sea using illumination, local residents said.
Full story >>

Jaffna University student union appeals to government

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 17:39 GMT]
Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) extended an appeal to the government of Sri Lanka to enable Jaffna University students from Vanni held in the detention camps in Government controlled areas to continue their studies in Jaffna University, in a press report Friday. JUSU also said that though it has been said in the media that a group of Vanni students held in the detention camps had been flown to Jaffna to continue studies so far none of them had come to Jaffna University.
Full story >>

Slave camp suspected in Ki'linochchi hospital building

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 17:34 GMT]
A slave camp consisting male and female members 'chosen' from the fleeing civilians by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is reportedly setup in the abandoned Ki'lnochchi hospital building, reported TamilNet correspondent in Vanni, citing unverified information reaching Mullaiththeevu from males who escaped from the camp. According to the sources, men are kept at the downstairs for forced labour and women kept in the upstairs for abuse by the SLA soldiers who are on temporary leave.
Full story >>

Downed SLAF aircraft was engaged in carpet-bombing

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 16:41 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fighter jet exploded Friday was engaged in carpet-bombing civilian pockets at Aananthapuram and Chemma'nku'ndu, according to civilians fleeing towards 'safe zone' Friday evening. As the declared 'safe zone' along the Mullaiththeevu coast is a barren stretch and is congested beyond further accommodation, many civilians preferred to stay back in pockets, considered suitable for survival at least with shade and potable water. Around 60 civilians reportedly died in the carpet bombing and intense artillery and mortar barrage Friday alone.
Full story >>

Eastern University girl student found dead

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 11:07 GMT]
Girl students sleeping in their hostel in Eastern University found one of their fellow girl student from Mullaiththeevu district hanging dead from a ceiling fan Thursday when they went in search of her on noticing that she did not come into the hostel after going out between 4:30 a.m and 5:00 a.m, sources in Batticaloa said. Though Nirusha’s body was found hanging from the fan there appear to be no signs of Nirusha taking her own life while her head was seen to be wrung and facing backwards, they further said. On Monday, the female hostel warden of Eastern University Women’s hostel, Marimuthu Premalatha, was found dead in her room.
Full story >>

SLAF jet exploded over Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 10:41 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bomber was shot down in Mullaiththeevu on Friday at 11:25 a.m., civilians sources in Ira'naippaalai told TamilNet. Several civilians saw the jet explode in mid-air as it was beginning an attack run towards an unidentified locality. A huge plume of smoke followed after the flaming debris fell to earth, they said. The LTTE is yet to comment on the attack. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) spokesman Wing commander Janaka Nanayakara has denied the report that one of their aircraft was shot down in Vanni.
Full story >>

12 Tamil youths arrested in upcountry

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2009, 08:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police Friday morning took into custody twelve Tamil youths in a joint search operation conducted in Hatton, Bogawanthalawa, Kottagala and Nuwereliya areas where Tamils live in large numbers, according to complaints lodged with Deputy Minister, P. Rathakrishnan by the youths’ relatives.
Full story >>

RSF seeks guarantee of Vithyatharan's safety

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 21:51 GMT]
Expressing extreme shock at today's forcible arrest of Vithyatharan, the editor of Sudar Oli, a Colombo-based Tamil daily, the Reporters without Borders (RSF), a Paris-based media watchdog, sought gurantee of safety of the arrested Editor from Sri Lanka's Media minister, Mr. Laxman Yapa, a press release issued by RSF said.
Full story >>

Stop war, negotiate interim government for Tamils: Fourth International

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 20:41 GMT]
"We, the undersigned leaders of workers' parties, demand that the government of Sri Lanka stop attacks that can destroy thousands of Tamils and agree to a ceasefire with the LTTE to start discussions in order to install an interim government for the Tamil homeland," said a resolution passed Wednesday at the International Committee of the Fourth International, consisting over 50 political parties and organisations, spread throughout the five continents of the world. Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarante of the NSSP of Sri Lanka mooted the resolution, which was unanimously accepted.
Full story >>

Britain legally obliged to prevent Genocide in Sri Lanka: Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 20:27 GMT]
Since the British Foreign Minister has now publicly admitted on behalf of his Government that Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is "quite prepared to go ahead with acts of genocide," then under Article I of the Genocide Convention, the British government has a legal obligation "to prevent" this expected genocide of the Tamils by GoSL, said Professor Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, in a note sent to TamilNet.
Full story >>

UN Security Council to be briefed on Sri Lanka Friday

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 19:52 GMT]
The U.N. Security Council will get a briefing on the situation in Sri Lanka on Friday, Inner City Press, reported Senior Reporter of UN based news agency, Inner City Press (ICP), Thursday. The UN briefing comes in the wake of British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, telling British Parliament on Tuesday that Britain refrained from encouraging the move two weeks ago because it didn't want it get vetoed in the Security Council.
Full story >>

Family man seeks protection with Chunnaakam police

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 17:56 GMT]
A family man from Aavarangkaal East in Puththoor sought protection to his life with Chunnaakam police due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, Thursday. He had managed to escape arrest by SLA during a cordon and search conducted in his village after which his wife had tried to commit suicide, he told the police. His wife had later been taken into custody by the SLA and detained while his son who was arrested by SLA had been released as he was a school going student, he said in his statement to the police.
Full story >>

TMVP person recovered dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 17:10 GMT]
Vaazhaichcheanai police recovered Thursday around 10:00 a.m the body of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMV) person in charge of Vaakaneari, from Ottuveli in their division in a decomposed state, informed by the public. The victim had died due to the injury caused by being hit with a stone, Vaazhaichcheanai district medical officer, Dr. Atchuthan, who performed the post mortem examination said.
Full story >>

Vithyatharan attacked by 'abductors' inside white-van

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 17:06 GMT]
The wife of Chudaroli (Sudar Oli) Editor who was 'abducted' first and later claimed 'arrested' by the Sri Lankan Police, told media Thursday night that her husband had been attacked on his head and heels inside the white-van by the abductors. Meanwhile, Vithyatharan was dumped at Demattagoda by the abductors, Police told Mrs. Kala Vithytharan Thursday evening. However, Vithyatharan is detained at the Crime Division of the Police in Demattagoda where his wife visited him with their three children with police permission.
Full story >>

Female warden of Eastern University recovered dead

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 15:14 GMT]
Ea’raavoor police recovered Monday night the body of the female hostel warden in Eastern University and the Judicial Medical Officer who performed the post mortem examination of the body declared it was a case of suicide, sources in Ea’raavoor said. Relatives of the woman, however, said they suspect she had been murdered and accused the University administration for maintaining silence on this matter.
Full story >>

2 Tamil civilians shot dead in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 11:43 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed two Tamil civilians Wednesday night in two separate shootings. A family man was gunned down around 8:30 p.m in Vellaave’li police division while a farmer was shot and killed in Vavu’natheevu police division Wednesday night, in Batticaloa district, according to police sources.
Full story >>

4 policemen, a civilian injured in accident in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 09:06 GMT]
Four policemen and a civilian were injured when a police jeep collided with a passenger bus at a crossroad in Jaffna town Thursday around 8:00 a.m, sources in Jaffna said. All the injured were admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital and one of the policemen has been discharged from the hospital after treatment.
Full story >>

Sampanthan on CID grilling: Unwarranted interference in freedom of thought

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 06:48 GMT]
Senior Politician and the Parliamentary Group Leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan on Wednesday described the so-called 'investigation' by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as "unwarranted interference in my freedom of thought," in a letter addressed to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Mr. Sampanthan further said that there is "clearly a malicious effort" to create an environment hostile to him, the objective of which is to "suppress the truth." He was questioned by the CID on a statement at a media conference at the Sri Lankan Parliamentary complex on 17th February 2009 pertaining to the position of Tamil civilians in the war zone in the Mullaiththeevu District, and the Tamil civilians who had crossed into Sri Lanka Army controlled territory.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka war crimes under U.S. spotlight

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 06:12 GMT]
The uncontradicted testimony of Dr. Anna Neistat, Human Rights Watch, in Tuesday's U.S. Foreign Relations Subcommittee Hearings of Sri Lanka concluded that the "Sri Lankan Armed Forces are guilty of war crimes, including the indiscriminate shelling of areas packed with displaced Tamil civilians and of hospitals; the use of imprecise multi-barrel rocket launchers; acute or complete restrictions on humanitarian aid; the operation of militarily controlled “concentration camps” for Tamil civilians without freedom of movement or communications or adequate medical or other assistance," said Bruce Fein, in a letter sent to the Subcommittee following the Hearings.
Full story >>

Prominent Tamil Editor abducted in Colombo, later claimed 'arrested'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 05:08 GMT]
Armed persons and men in police uniform who arrived in three white vans Thursday morning abducted Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, 51, the prominent editor of Jaffna-based Uthayan daily and Colombo-based Chudaroli, eyewitnesses told TamilNet. The abduction comes six days after Mr. Vithyatharan was grilled by the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). The TID had questioned him Sunday for six hours on news and views that appeared in his papers on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) attacks on civilians in Vanni and about his interactions with the officials of the Tigers in the past. Police spokesman Gunasekara, who first said that the editor was abducted by unidentified men, hours later claimed that he had been arrested.
Full story >>

Revise policies on Tamil struggle: Karen Parker tells U.S. Senate

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2009, 00:55 GMT]
The twenty-six year old armed conflict between the armed forces of the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has reached a phase that can only be called genocide-like and catastrophic for the Tamil people in the north and east of the island, said human rights expert Karen Parker, Wednesday to the subcommittee of the US Senate, hearing on the situation in the island of Sri Lanka. Describing the war waged by Colombo as illegal military operations, using illegal weapons or legal weapons in an illegal manner without any international monitoring, she urged the US government to call for an immediate ceasefire and address it most forcefully to the Rajapaksa administration.
Full story >>

Danish media consultant refused entry into Kaarainakar by SLN

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 16:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) did not permit Dr. Henrik Grunnet, the media consultant of the Media Research and Training Centre (MRTC) affiliated to Jaffna University to attend an introductory event of a media course that was to be inaugurated Wednesday at Kaarainakar R. Thiyagarajah Maththiya Viththiyaalayam in his official capacity and as a guest of honour, sources close to MRTC said. Vice-chancellor emeritus of Jaffna University and the Director of MRTC, Prof. Pon. Balasuntharampillai, the chief guest of the event, had accompanied Dr. Henrik Grunnet to Ponnaalai SLN at the entrance to Kaarainakar where Grunnet was sent back by the SLN.
Full story >>

No neogitiations with Tigers even if they lay down arms - SL Premier

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 16:02 GMT]
There is no need to talk to Tigers once they lay down arms, said Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramasinghe on Tuesday. “Sri Lanka will not give in to international countries and bodies pressurizing it to stop the war on Liberation Tigers," he said participating in an event held in his office where his son, Vithura Wicremanayake, handed over essential commodities collected by him for the soldiers engaged in the war in the north and those injured, to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Northern Commander, media sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

Acts of genocide possible – British Foreign Secretary

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 13:53 GMT]
Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, agreed Tuesday with parliamentarians who said that the Sri Lankan government is “quite prepared to go ahead with acts of genocide.” Responding to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, MP, Mr. Miliband said “the resolution of [a] terrorist problem cannot be achieved at the expense of the rights of minority communities in Sri Lanka, and that is what we are trying to work on.” Britain was encouraging Sri Lanka’s government to work with London’s newly appointed Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, former defence minister and Secretary of State for Scotland, Des Browne, the Foreign Secretary said.
Full story >>

CID grills Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 06:57 GMT]
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers subjected R. Samapanthan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Trincomalee district parliamentarian and leader of TNA parliamentary group to intensive interrogation Tuesday for three hours from 10:00 a.m, in the notorious Colombo ‘Fourth Floor’ interrogation centre regarding Sampanthan's statement that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are the sole representatives of the Tamils in a press meet held in the Colombo Parliamentary complex Friday. Sri Lanka Government is accusing him of expressing a view dangerous to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka, sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

Colombo ignores Court order to resettle Jaffna IDPs inside HSZ

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 02:13 GMT]
The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from their lands occupied by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) enclosed within the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam north are being asked to provide alternate choice of location to be resettled in other than their own lands, Welfare organizations of the IDPs said. Colombo Supreme Court instruction to begin resettlement inside the designated areas within the HSZ is being ignored by this new measure adopted by the Ministry of Nation Building, Plantation, and Infrastructure Development in assistance with UNHCR office, they said.
Full story >>

Karuna to contest Batticaloa as UPFA candidate

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 01:24 GMT]
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna who met the government high officials, principals and the public in Batticaloa district this week had told them they should help electing him and six of his associates in Batticaloa district contesting under United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) ticket, Batticaloa residents said. The persons holding high offices in the government departments in Batticaloa are being replaced by Karuna's supporters, the residents alleged.
Full story >>

Heavy fighting in PTK, civilians trapped in SLA barrage

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 21:15 GMT]
Heavy fighting has been reported west of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) divisions 58 and 53 have suffered heavy casualties throughout the last 3 days, according to the sources close to the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE). The SLA fired hundreds of artillery shells into Ira'naipaalai and the adjoining areas between the safety zone and PTK junction, the reports further said. Three Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fighter jets also bombed Ira'naippaalai thrice on Tuesday, killing seven civilians. At least four of the victims belonged to a single family, according to the initial reports. Civilian casualty figures due to artillery shelling is not yet known.
Full story >>

Norwegian Tamils demonstrate in front of Norway parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 17:57 GMT]
Hundreds of Norwegian Tamils including many youngsters gathered in front of Norwegian parliament Monday around 1:00 p.m where they urged Norway government to help bring about a ceasefire immediately to stop the genocide of Tamils in Vanni. Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) which organized the above demonstration in which members of Norway political parties addressed the gathering submitted a memorandum to Norwegian parliament.
Full story >>

US Subcommittee to hear genocide charges against Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 11:47 GMT]
In an invited written testimony to the hearing on "Recent Developments in Sri Lanka" before the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Middle East and Asia, at the Dirksen Senate Building Tuesday, Bruce Fein, former U.S. associate deputy attorney general, details the recent violence by the Sri Lanka Government against Tamils civilians under "impenetrable media blackout and eviction of all outside observers...has crossed the line into genocide, which justified a criminal investigation under United States laws."
Full story >>

Children vulnerable to SLA shelling in new 'safe zone'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 06:14 GMT]
Every shell being fired by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) into the 'safe zone' inflicts civilian casualties as the entire area is tightly populated, reported TamilNet correspondent on Tuesday. A single artillery shell fired around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday claimed the lives of 6 civilians, including two teenage boys. The attack has taken place near the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan. Many of the wounded were children among the 98 injured civilians admitted Sunday and Monday, according to medical authorities.
Full story >>

Increased body checks on women entering Jaffna town

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 03:57 GMT]
Women’s Welfare Organizations and Non-government organizations in Jaffna peninsula expressed concern on the increasing levels of body checks on women entering via the main roads to Jaffna, and the resulting anxiety and fear caused to women, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna, being suspicious of infiltration of Liberation Tigers into the peninsula has intensified checking of women, the sources added.
Full story >>

Vadamaraadchi residents picket Point Pedro Divisional Secretariat

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 01:24 GMT]
More than a thousand residents of coastal areas of Vadamaraadchi north gathered Tuesday in front of the Point Pedro Divisional Secretariat (DS) to protest against the inadequate relief rations of food provided by the Sri Lanka Governement, and against the fishing ban that is depriving them from earning a livelihood, sources in Point Pedro said. The demonstrators blocked the entrance to the DS from 6:00 a.m but were forced out by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and police deployed in large numbers, around 9:30 a.m, to make way for the employees of the DS, the sources added.
Full story >>

Hoodlums attack Tamil settlement in Western province, 1 killed

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2009, 19:45 GMT]
Sinhala hoodlums attacked a Tamil settlement in Paadukka estate in Kalutara district in the western province Saturday night killing a Tamil worker and set fire to three houses of Tamil residents. The victim was identified as Selvarajah. Other Tamil workers had fled from the area with their families and sought refuge elsewhere to ensure their safety.
Full story >>

Police arrest 4 Tamils in Kandy

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2009, 19:42 GMT]
Kandy Police Saturday arrested four Tamil youths in a cordon and search operation conducted in the Kandy town. Police said they are being detained in the police station and are being interrogated. Police said they were residents of Uduwela, Dehideniya, Rakwana, Pelmadulla and Kandy.
Full story >>

23 Tamils arrested in Kuchchave'li

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2009, 18:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Air Force in a combined search operation conducted in Kuchchave'li area in Trincomalee district Saturday from dawn to dusk arrested twenty three Tamils. The arrested are being detained in the Kuchchave'li police station as they failed to prove their identity and justify their presence in the location, Police media spokesman Ranjit Gunasekara told media.
Full story >>

Tamil youth shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2009, 18:18 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons shot dead a Tamil youth Saturday night around 7:30 p.m while he was returning home which is located in Sivapuram in Vavuniyaa police division. The victim had been identified as Kantharooban Pirapaharan, 19.
Full story >>

Statement diplomacy of EU

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2009, 15:26 GMT]
Significantly deviating from its earlier position of justifying war on 'terrorism', the EU Council Conclusions on Sri Lanka, Monday, stressed the need for Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the LTTE to comply with ‘provisions of international humanitarian law and principles of the laws of war’, treating them as equal parties engaged in war. Taking this stance, the EU called for an immediate Ceasefire. The EU also reiterated its intention to send a Troika as soon as possible. However, the rest of the EU conclusions are the usual rhetoric, ending with the never implemented GSP+investigation on Sri Lanka, political observers said.
Full story >>

20 youths arrested in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2009, 14:18 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandos and police arrested twenty youths on suspicion Monday around 7:20 a.m in Second Kuruchchi in Paa’ndiruppu area in Kalmunai police division, in a joint cordon and search, sources in Kalmunai said. Two of the arrested youths have been detained.
Full story >>

Ceasefire, solution first; laying down arms irrelevant: LTTE appeals to Co-chairs, UN

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2009, 03:58 GMT]
Urging International Community to effect a ceasefire and initiate a political solution as a priority than insisting LTTE to lay down arms, the Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), B. Nadesan, made an appeal Sunday to the heads of the Co-chairs countries saying that "when a permanent political solution is reached for the Tamil people, with the support and the guarantee of the international community, the situation will arise where there will be no need for the arms of the LTTE."
Full story >>

DMK supporter self-immolates during Chennai human-chain protest

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2009, 02:17 GMT]
A 60-year old Dravida Munetra Kazhalagam (DMK) member who worked as a driver with the metropolitan transport corporation self-immolated demanding immediate stop to the killings of Tamils in the NorthEast by the Sri Lanka Government. S Sivaprakasam was a participant at the human-chain protest organized by the DMK Youth Wing when he set himself ablaze. He suffered fourth-degree burns, and later died at Kilpauk Government Medical College.
Full story >>

15,000 Diaspora Eelam Tamils demonstrate in Geneva

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 19:32 GMT]
More than 15,000 Diaspora Eelam Tamils from all over Europe gathered in front of the UN office in Geneva in Switzerland Friday voicing their demands calling the Sri Lanka government of stop the war on Tamils at once. The representatives of the Eelam Tamils youth organizations handed a memorandum to the officials of the UN, during the demonstration.
Full story >>

Inter-religious prayers held in Jaffna for Vanni Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 17:04 GMT]
More than a hundred Saiva priests, representatives of social and Non-governmental organizations and others participated in the prayers held in Nallai Aatheenam located behind Nalloor Kanthasuvami Temple, led by Nallai Aatheenam Srilasiri Somasunthara Parmaachchaariya Suvamikal, Sunday from 9:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m, for the liberation of the suffering Tamils in Vanni, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

12 Tamils including 2 women arrested in South

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 16:37 GMT]
Police from outstations arrested twelve young Tamil civilians including two women in Moratuwa, Panadura and Kalutura in the outskirts of Colombo city in a cordon and search conducted Sunday morning, the relatives of the arrested said.
Full story >>

50 Tamil civilians killed, 130 wounded within 48 hours

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 15:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery barrage has killed 33 civilians on Saturday and 73 were brought to the makeshift hospital at Maaththa'lan with injuries. 14 deaths were registered by the hospital. On Sunday, around 20 civilians were killed in the SLA barrage and 60 wounded were brought to hospital, according to medical sources.
Full story >>

LTTE denies civilian killings in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 12:01 GMT]
Nakulan, one of the commanders of Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Ampaa'rai district on Sunday denied allegations by the Sri Lankan military that Tigers were behind the slaying of Sinhalese Chena cultivators at Karametiya village at Rathmalgaha Ella in Iginiyagala, an area that borders Ampaa'rai and Moneragala districts.
Full story >>

Holmes u-turns minutes after TNA meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 11:41 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan has told the visiting UN Under Secretary General of Humanitarian Affairs, Sir John Holmes, that there is an urgent need for the international community to act decisively to stop the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Vanni. However, in the press conference he gave minutes afterwards, Sir Holmes lauded the Sri Lankan government’s conduct vis-à-vis the humanitarian situation and said there was “good cooperation” between UN agencies and the Mahinda Rajapakse regime.
Full story >>

Jaffna Saiva Mahaa Chapai announces special prayers for Vanni civilians

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 11:25 GMT]
Saiva Mahaa Chapai in Jaffna is to observe special prayers during the forthcoming Sivaraathiri religious event for the sake of the Tamil in Vanni whose sufferings continue and urging the warring parties to stop the war at once.
Full story >>

Passenger ship services to Jaffna to be reduced

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 11:04 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA) K. Ganesh informed Saturday that the number of passenger ship services between Trincomalee and Kaangkeasanthu'rai harbour are to be reduced also in March. Most of the residents in Jaffna peninsula depend on the passenger ships to travel out of the peninsula as they cannot afford to travel by plane, the only other alternative available and the reduction in the above service has hit them hard, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

Police arrests Tamil nurse, family man abducted, in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2009, 08:29 GMT]
Batticaloa police arrested Saturday around 11:00 a.m a Tamil nurse attached to Kalmunai hospital in Kalladi on suspicion that she had helped Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Meanwhile, unidentified armed men abducted Saturday a family man in Karadiyanaa’ru police division in Batticaloa district, Karadiyanaa’ru police said.
Full story >>

Holmes relies on SL Minister to translate IDPs' complaints

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 23:42 GMT]
Visiting UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sir John Holmes, visited displaced camps in Vavuniyaa on Friday, accompanied by the Minister of Resettlement, Rishard Badurdeen and his security detail. Moreover, Sir Holmes relied on the Minister to translate the complaints of those people brave enough to speak up, humanitarian sources in Vavuniyaa said. When one woman complained her sons had been abducted by the Army, Minister Badurdeen told Sir Holmes that she said LTTE had abducted or shot her sons. Meanwhile, parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had also protested the matter to Sir Holmes, sources said.
Full story >>

10 Sinhala villagers hacked to death in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 23:37 GMT]
An unknown armed group entered Rathmalgaha Ella, a remote village in Ampaa'rai district, shot and and hacked to death 10 villagers Saturday evening around 5:30 p.m., according to initial reports.
Full story >>

Black Air Tiger urges Vanni youth to join for final battle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 20:45 GMT]
Col. Rooban, one of the two Black Air Tigers who flew LTTE aircrafts hitting Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Headquarters and the SLAF base at Katunayake Friday, in a letter left behind, urged the Tamils in Vanni to join the Liberation Tigers and strengthen the LTTE's military forces in the fight against the Sri Lanka Military forces.
Full story >>

SLA motorcyclist kills Muslim civilian in accident in Ea’raavoor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 16:18 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers riding a motorcycle accidentally knocked down a Muslim civilian riding bicycle, seriously injuring him, Friday evening along Batticaloa-Vaazhaichcheanai main street, sources in Ea’raavoor said. The injured man was first rushed to Ea’raavoor District hospital and later transferred to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Full story >>

SLA arrests 10 Tamil civilians in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 16:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested 10 Tamil labourers 16 February in a cordon and search launched jointly with the police in Kalmunai police division in Batticaloa district, according to their relatives who had lodged complaints to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Batticaloa. Only seven of the arrested Tamils were produced in Batticaloa court Friday while the fate of three of them is not known, the relatives said.
Full story >>

SLA arrests Tamil youth in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 15:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested a Tamil youth in Maangkea’ni in Vaakarai police division Friday as he was going from Puchchaangkea’ni to Maangkea’ni and took him to a jungle area, sources in Batticaloa said. The youth who tried to escape was arrested again by SLA soldiers but it is not known where he is being held, the sources added.
Full story >>

13 civilians killed, 70 wounded in SLA barrage Friday night

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 14:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery barrage on civilian targets in Vanni Friday night causing severe injuries to more than 70 civilians within the 'safe zone' and the adjoining areas. 13 of the 70 wounded civilians rushed to Maaththa'lan hospital died, according to medical authorities.
Full story >>

KwaZulu condemns genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 11:58 GMT]
The Speaker of Kwazulu-Natal legislature, the provincial government of the South African region inhabited by the largest ethnic group of the country, on Friday condemned the genocide of Tamils and expressed his support for the Tamil freedom struggle, accepting a memorandum on behalf of the premier of Kwazulu Natal, Sbu Ndebele, from the demonstrators in the city. More than 1500 South African participants marched approximately 2 km through the city’s main street to Freedom Square urging India to stop sending arms, Sri Lanka to stop the genocide of Tamils and the international community to impose sanctions on Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Male body found in Chaavakachcheari

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 05:35 GMT]
Chaavakachcheari police recovered the body of a male in a decomposed stage Friday night from a shrub land close to Chaavakachcheari hospital and handed it over to Jaffna Teaching Hospital mortuary, sources in Jaffna said. The body bears marks of torture before being killed and dumped in the shrub land.
Full story >>

U.S. rally exposing Colombo's genocide draws 7000

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 04:17 GMT]
Nearly seven thousand U.S. and Canadian Tamils filled the Ellipse at the southern perimeter to the White House, as a show of solidarity with the more than 250,000 Tamil civilians undergoing daily aerial bombardment and artillery attacks herded within a 100 sq.mile area in Vanni. The rally, organized jointly by the US-based activist group, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) and several local organizations, drew a record crowd, dewarfing the "hurriedly arranged" counter-rally organized by supporters of Colombo, an AFP report said.
Full story >>

SLA barrages Mullaiththeevu after Tiger air attack on Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 February 2009, 02:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery barrage towards IDP settlements located in Ampalavaanpokka'nai and the area located between Ira'naippaalai and Maaththta'lan Friday night from 9:30 to midnight. Casualties are not known.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka forces 'slaughtering' civilians – HRW

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 23:07 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government should immediately cease its indiscriminate artillery attacks on civilians in the northern Vanni region and its policy of detaining displaced persons in internment camps, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Friday. "Sri Lankan forces are shelling hospitals and so-called safe zones and slaughtering the civilians there," James Ross, legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Sri Lankan forces have repeatedly and indiscriminately shelled areas crowded with displaced persons. This includes numerous reported bombardments of government-declared "safe zones" and of the remaining hospitals in the region,” HRW said. “The plight of the region's civilians has been made worse by the government's decision in September 2008 to order most humanitarian agencies out of the Vanni.”
Full story >>

LTTE: Black Air Tiger attack on Colombo's Air Force HQ, Air Base

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 22:55 GMT]
The LTTE Friday claimed two aircraft of Black Air Tiger mission diving into Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Headquarters in Colombo and into the SLAF base at Katunayaka, carrying out successful air raids. The Tigers also released photograph of the two Black Air Tigers, Col. Roopan and Lt. Col. Siriththiran with LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan before embarking on their mission.
Full story >>

Norwegian company donates sea craft, felicitates Colombo's 'victorious' forces

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 19:39 GMT]
Managing Director of a Norwegian boat manufacturing company, Jostine Viksund, Friday said that he and his staff had decided to donate their latest innovation, Viksund 605, a speed boat produced by them, to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, as a "tribute to the victorious armed forces," according to the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, which said the craft would be used in coastguard duties. More than 400 Tamil Nadu fishermen have been reportedly killed by the Sri Lanka Navy on coastguard duties during the last few years.
Full story >>

Tiger aircraft bomb Colombo, 2 killed, 51 wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 16:25 GMT]
Two LTTE aircrafts hit two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) installations in Colombo, the Slave Island area where the SLAF Headquarters is located and the SLAF base at Katunayake between 9:20 and 9:45 p.m. Friday. 47 persons, including Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) airmen, were rushed to hospital from Slave Island. Several of the wounded have sustained serious injuries, the sources said. Two of them succumbed to their injuries. At least 6 persons were wounded inside Katunayake airbase. Two of the aircrafts have come down on their targets, according to available details from Colombo.
Full story >>

Tamil Murasu comes out with corrigendum

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 11:42 GMT]
The Tamil daily of Singapore, Tamil Murasu, on Thursday published a corrigendum in its front page for a headline that appeared in the newspaper on 05 February. The headline cited a TamilNet article of 30 January as the source. The corrigendum consents that TamilNet is not a website of the LTTE and provides a Tamil translation of the concerned lines of the article, conceding that the Tamil Murasu headline did not accurately capture the thrust of the article.
Full story >>

"Flames on my body will guide to liberation"

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 11:30 GMT]
"We Tamils, displaced and all over the world, loudly raised our problems and asked for help before [the] international community in your own language for three decades. But nothing happened ... So I decided to sacrifice my life ... The flames over my body will be a torch to guide you through the liberation path," said British newspaper Guardian quoting British computer graduate, Murugathasan Varnakulasingham, who immolated to death in Geneva last week.
Full story >>

Pillayan group paramilitary person shot, injured in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 09:37 GMT]
Unidentified armed men opened fire Thursday around 7:30 p.m on a TMVP Pillayan paramilitary group person near Arasadi police sentry post in Batticaloa police division, seriously injuring him.
Full story >>

Lack of antibiotics force doctors to re-amputate patients in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2009, 09:35 GMT]
"If we are not going to receive at least IV antibiotics, anesthetics and surgical consumables in minimum amounts ASAP, we may not be able to provide even emergency first aid to the war wounded," writes Dr. T. Varatharajan, the Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS) in Mullaiththeevu district to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health, in a letter sent to Colombo five days ago. The letter, leaked through a dissent-friendly government official also states: "lack of lifesaving medicines required for surgical operations and post operative management-parenteral high potency antibiotics, anesthetics, esp. Ketamine, intravenous fluids, surgical consumables and accessories – and on top of all, absence of an aseptic operation theatre, seriously affects the outcome in many cases."
Full story >>

Police arrest 9 Tamil youths in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 21:50 GMT]
Nine Tamil youths were taken into custody during a cordon and search operation conducted in Mannaar town Tuesday from about 9:00 p.m till 10:00 p.m. They are still detained in the Mannaar police station and being interrogated, media sources said.
Full story >>

30 families wiped out in massive attack Wednesday, shelling continues

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 18:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fired 32 bombs, both cluster and bunker busters and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired more than 200 artillery shells, wiping out more than 30 families along the Iranaippaalai Ananthanpuram Road where humanitarian institutions including orphanages, houses of displaced and elders were located, TamilNet correspondent in Vanni reported on Thursday. More than 180 huts were destroyed in the massive bombardment. Meanwhile, 24 civilians were killed in Puthukkudiyiruppu in SLA artillery barrage in the early hours of Thursday. 10 more civilians were killed in Ira'naippaalai, Aananthapuram and Valaignarmadam villages.
Full story >>

Jaffna family man reported abducted in Trincomalee with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 18:00 GMT]
The wife of a family man from Arasadi in Jaffna lodged a complaint with Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) office Thursday that men suspected to be policemen abducted her husband, who had gone to visit his mother in Thampalakaamam in Trincomalee district, 31 January. Altogether six Jaffna peninsula residents, three in the peninsula and three out of the peninsula, had been reported missing in January, Jaffna HRC sources said.
Full story >>

LTTE identifies Sri Lankan PoW killed in SLAF air attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 16:09 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier who was in the custody of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) was killed in the air attack carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force on Aananthapuram on Wednesday, according to LTTE officials.
Full story >>

SLA soldiers search Kurunakar Technical Institute in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 14:51 GMT]
Hundreds of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers suddenly surrounded Wednesday around 9:00 a.m the premises of Advanced Technical Institute (ATI) in Kurunakar and ordered all the students out of their classes before conducting a scrupulous search of all the buildings of ATI, sources in Jaffna said. The soldiers subjected the students, who numbered more than a hundred, to rigorous checking, the sources added.
Full story >>

SLA arrests student in Valikaamam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 14:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers took away a 16-year-old school student from his house in Aavarangkaal in Valikaamam east in a search conducted in the area Wednesday claiming that they had found medicinal items including glucose from his house, sources in Jaffna said. The boy’s mother took kerosene oil in an attempt to kill herself while his father is said to have gone into hiding. This incident is related to the killings of two youths shot by SLA soldiers recently in Aavarangkaal, residents of Aavarangkaal said.
Full story >>

UK's Frontline Club suppresses genocide debate

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2009, 07:20 GMT]
Reinforcing the growing evidence of systematic attempts at suppressing debate on genocide in Sri Lanka, one of London's well known media avenues, the Frontline Club, Wednesday withdrew invitation to a Tamil genocide legal advocacy group to participate in a panel discussion on the crisis in Sri Lanka scheduled to take place on the 24th February. The reason given for Wednesday's decision not to include Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), by Frontline Programme Manager, Deborah Dwek, was that Frontline felt the discussion wouldn't be balanced without a spokesperson for the Sri Lankan government being on the panel.
Full story >>

30 tonnes of food for 300,000 - Ilamparithi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 18:32 GMT]
Pressurised by international opinion, Colombo government allowed Wednesday transportation of a meager amount of food – 30 tonnes – for a population of 300,000, said LTTE's Puthukkudiyiruppu Political Head C. Ilamparithi. "When distributed the amount each one would be getting is 100 grams: roughly 66 grams of flour, 20 grams of Dahl and 14 grams of sugar per person," he said blaming Colombo for 'eyewash'.
Full story >>

38 civilians arrested in Gampaha town

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 17:18 GMT]
Thirty eight civilians were taken into custody in cordon and search operations conducted in Gampaha town from Sunday evening till Monday evening. 25 of them are Tamil civilians, majority of them are residents of North and East, sources said.
Full story >>

Indian High Commissioner visits Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 17:14 GMT]
Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad Tuesday paid his first official visit to Trincomalee and met the Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, the paramilitary operative and UPFA nominated chief minister of the Eastern Province at the latter's office, which is located in the East Provincial Secretariat along Inner Harbour Road in Trincomalee town.
Full story >>

Students in detention camps to attend schools under SLA control

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 16:49 GMT]
Students of the civilians brought from Liberation Tigers held territories and held in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) internment camp in Mirusuvil are to attend a temporary school in Kodikaamam, taken to the school and back to their camp each school day by SLA soldiers, Thenmaraadchi education office sources said. Students held in similar detention camps in Koappaay Government Teachers’ Training College and in Kurunakar are to attend school under SLA surveillance, the sources added.
Full story >>

Jaffna District Development annual meeting postponed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 16:19 GMT]
The annual meeting of the Coordinating Committee to plan the future development schemes for Jaffna district scheduled to take place Thursday has been postponed due to security reasons, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. An event of issuing appointments by the Northern Province Governor on Thursday in Jaffna too has been postponed for the same reason, sources in Jaffna said. The annual Jaffna District Development meeting has been postponed for the fourth time since its inception in 2006, the sources said.
Full story >>

75 civilians abducted in last 3 months – HRC Batticalao

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 15:27 GMT]
Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Batticalao said that 75 civilians have been abducted during the past three months at the rate of one abduction a day. Most of the abductions taking place in Batticaloa district, particularly in Padduvankarai area, have not been registered with the HRC, the sources said.29 civilians in November, 26 in December and 21 in January had been reported abducted with the HRC.
Full story >>

Tamil diaspora doctors prepared to enter Vanni, demand access

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 15:13 GMT]
Doctors organised in charity and aid organisations in Australia and Norway have urged their foreign ministries, United Nations Secretary General and the ICRC to secure urgent permission from Sri Lankan authorities to facilitate safe passage of their convoy of doctors and medical supplies. Dr. V. Manomohan, the president of Australian Medical Aid Foundation (AMAF) and Dr. T. Sivakanesan, the coordinator of Norwegian Tamils Health Organistaion (NTHO) said Wednesday that their organisations that have rendered medical aid for a long time, especially in the aftermath of Tsunami, have the necessary skills, manpower and resources to engage immediately in the medical aid, given that a safe passage is provided to their medical units.
Full story >>

Sri Lankan government rejects ceasefire call by TNA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 15:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said Wednesday that his government was not prepared to stop the war as requested by the parliamentary group leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan, in a press meet in Colombo on Tuesday. "There is no need to stop the war against the LTTE when they are loosing the war," Rambukwella said. The statement of Sampanthan in the Tuesday press meet in the parliamentary complex that people in Vanni are being killed by the Sri Lankan armed forces is not true, he further said.
Full story >>

Karuna group shoots dead Tamil engineer in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 14:36 GMT]
Paramilitary Karuna group men gunned down a Tamil engineer Tuesday around 8:20 p.m after calling him out of his house in Yard Veethi in Kalmunai police division in Ampaa’rai district, his relatives said. There had been arguments between the victim and Iniya Barathi, Karuna group Amparai district head and a co-ordinator of President Mahinda Rajapakse, in recent times on matters related to road development contracts in Ampaa’rai, they said.
Full story >>

SLAF airstrike targeted PoW centre - Vanni Radio

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 12:20 GMT]
Tamileelam Vaanoli, a commercial broadcast of the Voice of Tigers (VoT), in its news broadcast on Wednesday said the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) attack on Aananthapuram near Ira'naippaalai on Wednesday had targeted a rehabilitation centre for Prisoners of War. LTTE officials are yet to confirm the report.
Full story >>

Massive air attack on civilian targets, scores killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 09:10 GMT]
At least 50 civilians were killed Wednesday around 12:50 p.m. when four Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers dropped cluster bombs on Internally Displaced Civilians at Aananthapuram in Ira'naippaalai, according to initial reports from medical sources. More than 70 wounded were rushed to hospital so far and 10 of the victims have died on the way to Maaththa'lan hospital. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an artillery barrage blocking transportation of wounded to hospitals. Doctors in the makeshift hospital told TamilNet that unless the seriously wounded were not evacuated by the ICRC to Trincomalee or elsewhere, many would die at the hospital. There is no medicine at the hospital as Colombo has refused to allow medical supplies to Vanni since December 2008.
Full story >>

Vanni civilians in Vavuniyaa camps mentally affected – Rev. Jeyanesan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 09:04 GMT]
The civilians fleeing the war zone in Vanni and held in the detainment camps in Vavuniyaa are mentally affected severely as they are not permitted to come in contact with their family members or relatives living out of Vanni, according to the interview given to BBC Tamil service by Rev. S. Jeyanesan, the head of the Church of American Ceylon Mission in Sri Lanka, Monday. Rev. Jeyaneasn and his group, obtaining special permission, visited the various detention camps in Vavuniyaa where the Vanni civilians are held to learn of the situation of the detainees.
Full story >>

SLA artillery fire hits new 'safety zone', 108 killed, 200 wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 03:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched indiscriminate artillery barrage into the newly announced 'safety zone' killing at least 108 civilians and causing injuries to more than 200, according to initial details from the medical sources in the area. Every shell that hit the area seemed to have caused casualties, said a doctor at the makeshift hospital at Maaththa'lan. More than 100,000 people have been forced into a plain and narrow strip along the coast, north of Mullaiththeevu town, without potable water. Meanwhile, relentless artillery barrage by the SLA has boxed Theavipuram and Va'l'lipunam villages within the old zone, trapping thousands of civilians preventing them from moving to the new 'safe zone'.
Full story >>

8 Tamils arrested in Katunayake

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 20:08 GMT]
Eight Tamil civilians, all are residents of North East provinces were taken into custody in a cordon and search operation conducted in the high security zone of the Katunayake international airport Monday. The police said they were arrested as they failed to prove their identity and justify their presence in the location.
Full story >>

Sampanthan accuses Sri Lanka of genocide of Tamils

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 19:21 GMT]
"A news black-out of Sri Lanka Government's slaughter of Tamils through indiscriminate artillery barrage and bombings prevails, while the International media is publishing false information spread by Colombo," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader, R. Sampanthan, in a press meet attended by a large number of local and international journalists Tuesday afternoon in Sri Lanka parliamentary complex, sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

Indian High Commissioner visits Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 17:38 GMT]
“Indian government will extend its full support to the decisions to be taken by the Sri Lankan government on the devolution of power according to the 13th amendment of its constitution,” Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Shri Alok Prasad, said participating in a meeting Monday in Batticaloa Municipal Council hall presided by Batticaloa mayor.
Full story >>

We are deeply sad, puzzled: LTTE Political Head

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 16:16 GMT]
"We are deeply sad and puzzled at the attitude of the apex institution of humanity, the United Nations, in not taking effective measures to protect the life, security and interests of innocent Tamil civilians," said LTTE's Political Head B. Nadesan on Tuesday. "Instead, the UN is engaged in fruitless exercises of accusing the wrong side, without coming and seeing what is happening by themselves," he said. When stopping the war is the need of the hour, allowing it and lamenting civilian sufferings is a faulty policy, Mr. Nadesan said, adding that indicting the defensive LTTE and exploiting the plight of civilians for the agenda of those who are waging the war will not bring in any positive results.
Full story >>

Poththuvil Muslim villagers sentenced to jail

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 15:43 GMT]
Tension prevails among Muslim community in Poththuvil area in Ampaa'rai district following jail sentence on 25 Muslim villagers by the Moneragala High Court, each one year rigorous imprisonment for committing offences under the State Properties Act. The Moneragala High Court Judge imposed the sentence on them last week, according to media reports on Monday.
Full story >>

UNICEF alarmed at plight of children in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 12:23 GMT]
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday that it was extremely alarmed at the high number of children being injured in the fighting in the northern area of Sri Lanka known as the Vanni. “Scores of injured children have been evacuated in the past week,” said UNICEF’s Duamelle. “Children are victims of this conflict by being killed, injured, recruited, displaced, separated and denied their every day needs due to the fighting.” The main injuries to children have been burns, fractures, shrapnel and bullet wounds. UNICEF reiterates the call it has made time and again to Government and the LTTE – civilians, especially children, must be given every protection from the fighting.
Full story >>

SLN to use confiscated Tamil Nadu boats

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 04:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka government directed Jaffna Government Agent (GA) to have the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen confiscated on Sri Lankan waters handed over to Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) for its use. More than one hundred boats confiscated from Tamil Nadu fishermen had been earlier handed over to SLN through Sri Lanka Fisheries Department, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

Jaffna SLA dishonors Court recommendation on moving HSZ boundaries

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 02:51 GMT]
The committee appointed by Supreme Court to consider the Courts' recommendation to expedite resettlement of displaced residents from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Thellippazhai met Saturday in Palaali SLA head quarters headed by President, Jaffna High Court magistrate, R. T. Vicknarajah, to discuss the issue, sources in Jaffna said. SLA in Jaffna, however, has rejected the recommendations to reconfigure Thellippazhaii HSZ boundary to enable resettlement of displaced residents, the sources added.
Full story >>

SLA bans re-telecast of Tamil Nadu TV in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 00:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officers in charge of their camps in Jaffna peninsula have ordered the cable TV operators not to re-telecast programs of Makkal TV from Tamil Nadu, civil society sources in Jaffna said. The recent news reports in Makkal TV on the present Vanni situation, and the TV's political analysis segments have irked the SLA hierarchy resulting in the ban, sources added.
Full story >>

ICRC evacuates 400 seriously wounded civilians via sea from Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 2009, 23:56 GMT]
The ICRC evacuated Monday more than 400 seriously wounded civilians in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery barrage from Puthumaaththa'lan in Mullaiththeevu district. This is the third batch of transport through sea of seriously wounded civilians who have been waiting for further treatment at higher hospitals, according to the local staff of the ICRC. The ICRC services in Vanni are carried out by its local staff as the organisation was forced to withdraw its foreign staff from Vanni as Government of Sri Lanka did not provide necessary security guarantees for foreign nationals of the ICRC.
Full story >>

260 killed, SLA shells and boxes civilians, preventing movement to safer areas

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 2009, 23:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery barrage has boxed Theavipuram and Va'l'lipunam villages within the old 'safety zone,' trapping thousands of civilians preventing them from moving to the new 'safe zone'. Around 275 civilians are feared killed since Saturday and the roads remain continuously under heavy artillery barrage, civilians who managed to flee the area said on Monday. At least 5 humanitarian workers were killed while serving the needs of the civilians trapped inside the 'Theavipuram box'.
Full story >>

SLA, SL Police arrest 100 civilians in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 2009, 22:43 GMT]
More than one hundred civilians, majority of them Tamils, and residents of North-East were taken into custody in combined cordon and search operations conducted by the Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in suburbs of Colombo from early morning till evening on Sunday. The arrested are being detained in police stations in the district and are being interrogated. The armed forces also took about three hundred motor bikes into their custody, police sources said.
Full story >>

UN sheds responsibilities - NGO official

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 2009, 18:01 GMT]
The UN said 15 of its local staff and 75 of their dependents were not allowed to leave the conflict area by the Tamil Tigers, who had forcibly recruited one of the UN staffers, reported AFP on Monday. "The UN for the first time openly acknowledges its agenda of withdrawing even the remaining few local staff from the conflict zone, completely shedding its responsibility of caring for the civilians trapped here," said Velupillai Sivanadiyar, the president of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), the only NGO working in Vanni. The latest UN stand implies that the apex security system of the world has written off the fate of more than 250,000 civilians to the discretion of Colombo’s hostile and encircling army of 50,000, a ratio of 1:5.
Full story >>

RSF accuses Colombo of "War Crimes"

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 2009, 17:36 GMT]
In an unprecedented move, Reporters sans frontières (RSF), a Paris-based media watchdog, in a press release issued today, expressed "revulsion at the death of Tamil journalist" Sathyamurthy in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bombardment, and accused Colombo of committing war crimes, asserting "Army air strikes and artillery fire on areas where there are tens of thousands of civilians, including Tamil journalists, are war crimes." Sathyamoorthy was killed inside the "Safe Zone" demarcated by Sri Lanka late last week. Several hundreds Tamil refugees herded into the safe zone by the Government of Sri Lanka have been killed by targeted artillery and air-attacks inside the safe zone.
Full story >>

Colombo uses firebombs setting ablaze civilian targets in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 2009, 11:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) have increasingly deployed incendiary bombs in several forms in recent attacks on Vanni civilians. A petroleum-derived liquid mixture is found used in SLAF bombardments. The same kind of bomb is also used in artillery and mortar barrage in addition to artillery-fired flying fireballs that ignite the bombed target. Recently, the makeshift hospital at Udaaiyaarkaddu was attacked with such bombs, as documented by a video, filmed from a building in the hospital.
Full story >>

India in duplicitous, murderous collaboration with genocidal regime - SA Post

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2009, 15:00 GMT]
Noting that the "shelling of safe areas, the genocide massacre of the elderly, innocent women, and children," are war crimes "on a par with the worst of Nazism," an article in South Africa's popular daily, The Post, accuses India that it "has revealed a duplicitous and murderous collaboration with the genocidal regime in power in Colombo. Not only deaf to the pleas and cries of its own Tamil population to intervene in this murderous onslaught, it actively assists the regime in the supply of military hardware, the training of strike-aircraft pilots, the supply of military expertise, and the provision of military advisors on the ground."
Full story >>

'Electoral victories of Mahinda government justify partition'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2009, 12:32 GMT]
The frame of mind of Sinhala majority in the island of Sri Lanka reflects unequivocally in the impressive electoral victories secured by Mahinda Rajapasa’s government in the elections for the provincial councils of Central and North-West Provinces. The electoral victories endorse the ongoing brutal war, aiming total subjugation of Tamils. In the process, the Sinhala majority virtually concedes the need for partition in the island, if any polity acceptable to human civilization should prevail there, said an expatriate Sinhala academic commenting on the reports of 'record victory' for Rajapaksa's ruling UPFA in the provincial elections.
Full story >>

Genocide in Sri Lanka - Boston Globe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2009, 12:28 GMT]
Comparing the recent bombing of hospital and training artillery barrage on a demarcated safety zone, where most of the 350,000 Tamil refugees were huddled, slaughtering hundreds of them to the "Bosnian Srebrenica genocide of more than 7,000 Muslims," an op-ed article written by former Associate Deputy Attorney General under President Reagan, Bruce Fein, Sunday said only a "genocide indictment" would "deter Rajapaksa and Fonseka from their ongoing atrocities against Tamil civilians." Pointing to US's actions against Serbia for noncooperation in apprehending genocide defendants Slobodan Milosevic et.al., Fein says, "[t]he United States should be no less scrupulous in prosecuting suspected genocide by its own citizens or permanent residents."
Full story >>

Bomb blast kills 12 STF commandos including an officer in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2009, 10:25 GMT]
A bomb explosion in Kanchikudichchaanaa’ru area in Ampaa'rai killed more than 12 Special Task Force (STF) commandos including their officer Saturday around 2:40 p.m at a site where preparations were being made to lay the foundation stone for a Buddhist Vihara, according to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sources in Ampaa'rai. The sources confirmed the killing of more than STF commandos and injury to many other commandos.
Full story >>

SLA shoots dead two youths in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2009, 08:00 GMT]
A group of unidentified armed men launched an attack Saturday night around 9:45 p.m on Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) soldiers posted at an electricity transformer point in Kapputhoo, Vaatharavaththai area in Valikaamam East, sources in Jaffna said. SLA soldiers opened fire in retaliation killing two of the armed youths while the rest had fled, SLA sources claimed.
Full story >>

US Congresswoman calls for ceasefire negotiations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 19:28 GMT]
Democratic Congresswoman Nital M Lowey, of 18th District of New York, and Chairwoman of the powerful State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee expressed concern on the continued violence and the resulting "humanitarian disaster, including massive civilian casualties and the displacement of approximately 250,000 innocent civilians," called on Sri Lanka and the LTTE to negotiate a ceasefire immediately, in statement issued this week.
Full story >>

Journalist Sathiyamoorthy killed inside Safe Zone

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 19:08 GMT]
Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy, journalist and political analyst, well-known and highly respected by the Tamils in Eelam and among diaspora Tamils, sustained serious injuries in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery barrage Thursday on Theavipuram in the 'safety zone' declared by Sri Lanka government in Mullaitheevu district in Vanni, and succumbed to his wounds. Lack of proper medical attention contributed to his death, according to relatives who cared for him after the incident.
Full story >>

75 feared killed in SLA shelling, elders home

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 18:11 GMT]
More than 50 civilians were feared killed in Theavipuram and Va'l'ipunam in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery barrage on Friday, according to people who were reached Puthukkudiyiruppu Friday night. Meanwhile, medical staff at Maaththa'lan hospital said fifteen civilians were killed and 35 wounded at Ira'naippaalai Saturday morning and that an elders home and the surrounding area came under artillery fire where four elders were killed and around 50 persons wounded.
Full story >>

Self-immolation reported in front of British PM's residence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 16:50 GMT]
An Eezham Tamil has self-immolated himself in front of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, according to UK based Tamil satellite Television Deepam TV.
Full story >>

Trinco town security tightened after arrival of Vanni wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 15:01 GMT]
Security of Trincomalee town has been strengthened by the government security forces since the admission of two groups of Vanni civilians in Trincomalee General Hospital. Vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians are being checked by police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers deployed at the sentry points along roads leading to the hospital.
Full story >>

20 new police stations between Vavuniyaa, EPS - DIG

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 14:57 GMT]
Twenty new police stations are to be established between Oamanthai in Vavuniyaa district and Elephant Pass, and will be brought under new police command called "Vanni East Police Operation Unit," according to Deputy Inspector General of Police for Vavuniyaa district Nandana Munasinghe.
Full story >>

Grand scale murder, rape of screened civilians feared, TNA MP alerts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 14:34 GMT]
Around 190 males were murdered and 130 females were taken for sexual abuse among the thousands of civilians so far fled and screened by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), accused Tamil National Alliance MP S. Gajendran Saturday, citing information he received from the inmates of internment camps and from his contacts in Vavuniyaa. The sources informed him that murdered were secretly buried in Anuradhapura. "Unless there is no immediate international supervision and international monitors, situation turning into another Yugoslavia cannot be prevented," the MP said.
Full story >>

STF commando killed, another injured in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 06:15 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants killed a Special Task Force (STF) commando and seriously injured another in a direct confrontation Friday around 7:30 a.m in Lagugala area in Ampaa’rai district, Ampaa’rai district LTTE said.
Full story >>

Teen fasts to publicize Tamils plight - Boston Globe

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 05:17 GMT]
A 17-year-old Bostonian is the "youngest of eight ethnic Tamils in the country who are fasting to call attention to the plight of their countrymen in Sri Lanka, an island nation off the coast of India where some 300,000 members of the Tamil minority are trapped in the fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebel army," reported Boston Globe. The "group plans to fast until they have forfeited 10,000 meals cumulatively - each meal representing 30 of the estimated 300,000 Tamils trapped in the war zone," the paper said.
Full story >>

US Foreign Relations Committee to hold hearings on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 03:25 GMT]
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is to hold hearings on "Recent Developments in Sri Lanka' on the 24th February, 2:30 p.m. at the Dirksen Senate Building, Committee's website said. The hearing will be presided by the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Kerry. Witnesses at the hearing are announced to be former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Honorable Jeffrey J. Lunstead, Ms Anna Neistat from Human Rights Watch, and Bob Dietz from Committee to Protect Journalists, New York.
Full story >>

SL Police arrests Tamil youth in Kandy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 02:48 GMT]
The Kandy Police Tuesday arrested a Tamil youth and have detained him in the police station for further inquiry by the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID). The Kandy Police said he was taken into custody on a report by the Colombo Terrorist Intelligence Unit that he had been a member of the LTTE intelligence wing.
Full story >>

5 Tamil youths arrested in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2009, 01:42 GMT]
The Kuchchave'li Police in Trincomalee district Tuesday arrested five Tamil youths, who are residents of Kuchchave'li village located along Trincomalee – Pulmoaddai highway, police sources said. The arrested are now being detained in the police station and are being subjected to interrogation by the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police.
Full story >>

LTTE welcomes appointment of British Special Envoy

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 19:03 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) has welcomed the appointment of Des Browne as Special Envoy to Sri Lanka by the British Prime Minister on Thursday. In a letter addressed to Mr. Des Browne, LTTE's Head of International Diplomatic Relations S. Pathmanathan said the British government had a moral responsibility to intervene to stop the genocide being committed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) on Tamil civilians in the island of Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Youths placed in Jaffna Prison to be issued with new NIC

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 19:01 GMT]
Jaffna magistrate court is making arrangements to help the youths who sought protection to their lives with Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) and placed in the protective custody of Jaffna Prison, to get new National Identity Cards (NICs), as their NICs had been confiscated by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, Jaffna sources said. The youths had sought protection as they were ordered to report at the SLA camp in their areas to get their NICs back, the sources added.
Full story >>

STF arrests Tamil woman in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 18:36 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandos arrested Friday morning a 24-year-old woman at her house in Ka’radiyanaa’ru police division in Batticaloa district, claiming that they had been informed that the woman is a former member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Batticaloa said. STF commandos and the paramilitary men operating with them are abducting and arresting young men and women who had been in the LTTE in Paduvaankarai area and now living a normal life, relatives of the abducted persons said.
Full story >>

SLN arrests 4 fisherman on Mannaar sea

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 18:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in Kaangeasanthu’rai arrested four fisherman from Mannaar on I’ra’nai Theevu in Mannaar sea with explosives and detonators and handed them over to Oorkaavattu’rai police. The police produced the 4 fishermen in Oorkaavattu’rai court Friday before magistrate Ms. Joy Mahatheva. The fishermen are suspected to be using explosives to catch fish, the police said.
Full story >>

Eezham Tamil immolates himself to death in front of UN office in Geneva

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 16:17 GMT]
A 26-year-old diaspora Eezham Tamil from UK has self-immolated himself to death in front of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) in Switzerland Thursday night around 8:20 p.m., according to police spokesman Eric Grandgean. The man has identified himself as Murukathasan in a letter left behind by him 10 meters away from the scene, the Police officer said when contacted by a Tamil journalist in Switzerland on Friday. The copy of the letter in English and Tamil, received by Tamil journalists, with the identical name, said: "I believe the flames over my body, heart and soul will help the world community to have a deep human look over the great sufferings of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
Full story >>

STF shoots dead two youths in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 16:04 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandos lying in ambush shot and killed Friday early morning two youths in Kedaoya in Lagugala area, sources in Ampaa’rai said. STF claimed that the two youths were Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members and that they recovered two T56 rifles and 3 hand grenades from the youths.
Full story >>

Herding people by terror: Intense shelling, dead bodies on roadside in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 13:50 GMT]
More than 150 civilians were feared killed Thursday alone and around 90 in the preceding two days in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling in Mullaiththeevu district. Most of the casualties are reported along the sides of two roads through which the civilians are forced to flee in yet another mass exodus to a new 'safety zone' unilaterally announced by Colombo. Dead bodies were lying along the roadside from Theavipuram to Puthukkudiyiruppu and the fleeing civilians were forced to bury their dead along the roadside amid intense shelling, initial reports from Vanni said. The new 'safety zone' declared by Colombo is nothing but an assembling ground to herd 300,000 civilians in a small stretch of land along the lagoon and the sea coast, north of Mullaiththeevu.
Full story >>

Tamil youth shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2009, 11:51 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen forcibly took away a Tamil youth from his house in Ea’raavoor police division and shot him dead, Thursday around 8:30 p.m, in Batticaloa district, according to Ea’raavoor police.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka rejects Britain’s appointing of Special Envoy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 20:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka swiftly rejected as “an intrusion into internal affairs” Britain’s appointment Thursday of a Special Envoy to help settle the island’s protracted conflict. Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was quoted by the AFP as saying that the British move was tantamount to "an intrusion into Sri Lanka's internal affairs" and was "disrespectful to the country's statehood. Earlier Thursday, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a parliamentary committee that he had asked former defence secretary, Des Browne, to be an envoy for Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

7 upcountry Tamil youths arrested in Kandy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 19:49 GMT]
Seven Tamil youths were arrested in cordon and search operation conducted in Kandy town Tuesday by the Sri Lanka Police, sources in Kandy said. The operation was conducted by the Kandy police to ensure protection of Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse who was scheduled to address a provincial council election meeting in Getambe in Kandy district the same evening.
Full story >>

Silent prayer, fast observed in Jaffna University, for the suffering Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 16:03 GMT]
“The people in Vanni are undergoing unprecedented suffering and pain without any food, medicine, clothes and places to seek shelter, in the unrelenting attacks on them and we urge the concerned parties and the International Community to help stop the war on the Tamils immediately,” Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) said in a media report Thursday.
Full story >>

Burnt bodies of 2 Tamil youths recovered in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 15:48 GMT]
Bodies of two Tamil youths burnt beyond recognition were recovered from Chamayaapuram in Kaneasapuram area in Vavuniyaa district Wednesday morning by the Vavuniyaa police. Both had been abducted by unidentified armed persons few days ago from their residences, according to the relatives in statements to Vavuniyaa police.
Full story >>

British ex-defence secretary appointed special envoy to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 15:44 GMT]
Britain named a special envoy to Sri Lanka on Thursday to help bring about a political solution to the island’s long-running conflict and to ease hardships to Tamil civilians trapped in the Vanni warzone, UK press reports said. "I've asked Des Browne, our former defence secretary, to be an envoy for Sri Lanka," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a parliamentary committee. Brown said the priorities were to achieve a ceasefire and to get a political settlement, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake was quoted by the Washington Post as saying the Sri Lankan military’s capture of the Vanni region – which he expects within weeks – will not end the LTTE’s armed struggle and that Colombo must reach a political settlement with the Tamils.
Full story >>

Clashes reported on Vadamaraadchi sea

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 15:12 GMT]
Residents on the coast of Vadamaraadchi said that they heard sudden artillery and gunfire on Vadamaraadchi sea Thursday around 7:30 indicating clashes. Gun boats from Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) from Kaangkeasanthu’rai base were seen rushing towards the place where the clash erupted while artillery shells were fired from the Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) bases in Point Pedro Munai, they said.
Full story >>

Singapore Tamils protest newspaper misreporting

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 13:57 GMT]
Singapore Tamils have protested misreporting of a news in the headlines of the country's Tamil daily Tamil Murasu last Thursday, which read that the LTTE had claimed they would even attack Tamil Nadu, media circles in Singapore said.
Full story >>

ICRC evacuates 360 more patients to Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 12:41 GMT]
The ICRC on Thursday evacuated second batch of 360 injured and sick patients from makeshift hospitals in Puthumaaththa'lan and Thaevipuram in Vanni to Trincomalee in chartered vessel 'Green Ocean', according to medical sources. The foreign officials of the ICRC who came to Vanni, have also returned in the ship, the sources further said. Meanwhile, informed sources in Colombo said that the ICRC was not allowed by the GoSL to have foreign officials to operate in Vanni as it would no longer guarantee their security. Colombo government is also pressing the remaining health workers to leave Vanni with ICRC escort.
Full story >>

Civilian refugees imprisoned in internment camps in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 11:55 GMT]
The civilian refugees who either fled the war zone or caught by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are denied not only the freedom of movement to go out of the buildings in which they are detained under 'near-prison' conditions, but are also denied freedom of movement inside the camp itself after 6:00 p.m. by the SLA, even for the call of nature, on grounds of condemnation that they were linked to the LTTE, said NGO activists on condition of anonymity.
Full story >>

SLA shoots dead 2 youths in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 11:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers engaged in road patrol opened fire on two youths as they were cycling along Aadiyapaatham Road near Thirunelveali junction in Jaffna, killing them on the spot, Thursday around 11:30 a.m, sources in Jaffna said. One of the youths killed is from Nainaatheevu who had come to see his bride-to-be in Thirunelveali but SLA claimed that they gunned down the two youths because they opened fire on the soldiers, seriously injuring one of them.
Full story >>

Jaffna people's resilience will trump current atmosphere of fear, says US diplomat

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2009, 00:34 GMT]
“Though the people of Jaffna peninsula live in an atmosphere of fear and difficulties they are looked upon as a people who successfully overcome them by everyone,” James R. Moore, the Deputy Chief of Mission attached to US Embassy in Sri Lanka, said in an event held in the office of the Regional Director of Health Service (RDHS) in Jaffna Wednesday, sources in Jaffna said. Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh, Regional Health Service Director, Dr. Ketheeswaran and other Government officials participated in the event where a new system of ambulance service was inaugurated.
Full story >>

Tamil youth arrested in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 20:25 GMT]
A Tamil youth was arrested Tuesday in Neriyaku'lam in Anuradhapura district by a special team of the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID) and is being detained in the police for further inquiry, said Senior Superintendent of Police Ranjit Gunasekara, Police spokesman in Colombo district. The youth is a resident of Maangku'lam.
Full story >>

9 Tamils arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 20:24 GMT]
Nine Tamil civilians were arrested in several cordon and search operations conducted in ten police divisions in the Gampaha district Tuesday. Nearly ten thousand residents were subjected to severe interrogation and about 1200 vehicles were searched during the operation, police sources said.
Full story >>

SLA launch large scale cordon, search in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 17:20 GMT]
Hundreds of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers conducted a large scale cordon and search from early morning Wednesday till evening in Karaveddi area in Vadamaraadchi, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. The religious rites for the local ICRC employee killed recently which took place at his house in Karaveddi Wednesday where many people had gathered may have triggered the SLA search, the sources said.
Full story >>

Village officer reported missing in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 17:03 GMT]
The Village Officer (Grama Sevaka) of Paavakkodi Cheanai in Vavu’natheevu Regional secretariat division is reported missing since Tuesday from his home in Poompukaar in Batticaloa, according to the complaint lodged with Batticaloa police, by his wife.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka engaged in deliberate, systematic act of genocide - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 11:15 GMT]
The Tamil homeland is witnessing one of the worst human tragedies of the 21st century said the Political Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in a statement issued in Tamil on Wednesday. More than one-thousand civilians have been killed and four-thousand are struggling to recover from the injuries amid continuous artillery barrage, air attacks and cluster bombing by the Sinhala state, the LTTE statement said. The LTTE statement categorically denied the Sri Lankan claim that a Tiger human bomb had recently attacked civilians.
Full story >>

Colombo orders all health workers to immediately leave Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 06:57 GMT]
Health ministry officials in Colombo issued Tuesday a 'final warning' to the 8 doctors and around one thousand medical and health workers of Mullaiththeevu and Ki'linochchi districts, now serving more than 250,000 civilians in the besieged Mullaiththeevu district, to immediately leave the LTTE controlled territory, according to the sources at the District Secretariat in Vavuniyaa. The move comes after military officials warned the medical staff of dire consequences.
Full story >>

ICRC: Vanni dependent on outside aid, shelling killed 16 patients on Monday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 06:08 GMT]
On Monday, Putumattalan was hit by shelling that killed at least 16 patients. "We are shocked that patients are not afforded the protection they are entitled to," said Paul Castella, head of the ICRC delegation in Colombo, in a press statement issued Tuesday. "Most of the population is now displaced and completely dependent on outside aid, yet none has reached the area since 29 January," the ICRC said adding that it remained extremely concerned about the plight of the civilians in Vanni. "It is imperative that both parties immediately allow food and other urgently needed items to reach those who are trapped."
Full story >>

Police arrest Muslim youth in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 05:26 GMT]
Earaavoor police arrested Tuesday a Muslim youth for illegal possession of a T56 type rifle, ammunition magazine and 2 grenades in their division in Batticaloa district, according to Earaavoor police. He was arrested on secret information given to them, the police said.
Full story >>

'Good old game of Sinhala chauvinism'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 03:37 GMT]
The tactics that are played at every juncture during the last several decades by Sinhala chauvinism against Tamil emancipation in the island of Sri Lanka were re-enacted in Colombo Tuesday when Patriotic National Movement (PNM), an outfit of Rajapaksa circle, staged a demonstration against ICRC, USA and Britain, even for their minimal engagement and token gestures to the sufferings of Tamils, journalistic circles in Colombo commented. "It is but only a taste of what to follow for those who envisage a political solution of lasting peace within the state system of Sri Lanka," said a senior journalist.
Full story >>

World socialists condemn war as Co-chairs’ machination

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 02:32 GMT]
The Co-Chairs have not been helpless, passive bystanders, but active participants who bear political responsibility for the Sri Lankan government's war and the humanitarian disaster now unfolding in northern Sri Lanka, writes K.Ratnayake, tracing the history of Co-chairs involvement in the island, in an article ‘The end of the Sri Lankan Peace Process’, appeared in World Socialist Web Site, Monday.
Full story >>

IDPs in SLA detention camps lack sufficient food in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 01:35 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA) made an urgent appeal Tuesday to local and international non-government organizations in Jaffna to provide food materials to the 2400 detainees held in three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps as the arrangement of supplying cooked food to them has been suspended by the SLA authorities in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The dry food items given to them under the World Food Programme (WFP) are hardly sufficient to meet the food requirements of the civilians detained in the SLA detention centres in Kurunakar, Koaappay and Mirusuvil, Jaffna Secretariat sources added.
Full story >>

Tigers deny firing at civilians, accuse SLA, urge for international monitors

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 01:15 GMT]
Categorically denying reports by the Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo that the Tigers had fired at the fleeing civilians in Vanni, Puthukkudiyiruppu Divisional Political Head of the LTTE, C. Ilamparithy told TamilNet Wednesday that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commando teams had entered the 'safety zone' in Udaiyaarkaddu and Chuthanthirapuram and had opened fire killing civilians and causing injuries to many in their attempt to forcibly move the civilians into the hands of the SLA. "Sri Lankan military machinery, which has relentlessly killed and maimed thousands of civilians during the past four weeks, is now engaged in a propaganda drive to divert the mounting pressure on the Colombo government by the International Community," Mr. Ilamparithy charged.
Full story >>

US Ambassador Robert Blake cancels visit to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 22:59 GMT]
Ambassador of United States of America in Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, who was expected to be the chief guest in the opening ceremony of the ‘Health Village’ constructed in Pa’n’nai in Jaffna Wednesday cancelled his visit to Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Colombo, James R. Moore who arrived in Jaffna Tuesday is expected to fill the place of the US Ambassador, the sources added.
Full story >>

Demonstration in Delhi to release victims of India’s Intelligence Agency

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 22:22 GMT]
42 political activists of Myanmar landed in the Windfall Island of India’s Andaman Islands in 1998, allegedly lured by a promise of getting a base for them there. On arrival, 6 of them were killed and 36 arrested reportedly by an Indian intelligence officer LT. Col. Grewal. Two of the arrested have gone missing. A book titled ‘Rogue Agent’ authored by Nandita Haksar and published by Penguin India is released in Delhi, Wednesday, along with a protest demonstration demanding the release of the 34, languishing in Indian prison for 11 years and requesting the UNHCR to grant them refugee status, Burma Centre in Delhi said.
Full story >>

250 patients evacuated, return of ICRC to Vanni urged

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 15:21 GMT]
Two foreign officials of the ICRC officials left Vanni Tuesday around 5:00 p.m. in a ship transporting 250 seriously wounded patients, including 50 children, all wounded in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire. The patients were taken on board the ship at LTTE controlled Puthumaaththa'lan in Mullaiththeevu to Trincomalee. The two ICRC officials who were remaining in Vanni had received instructions to be present in Trincomalee and it is not known whether they would return to Vanni, according to informed government officials.
Full story >>

Land mine blast kills 3 SLA soldiers in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 14:19 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) triggered a landmine killing 3 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and seriously injuring 2 soldiers Tuesday around 1:45 p.m when they were engaged in road patrol at Pannalakamam area in Ampaa’rai district, LTTE sources in Ampaa’rai district said. Meanwhile, a policeman was killed and a home guard injured in a grenade attack on the sentry post located at Veeramunai junction Tuesday around 3:30 p.m in Chammaanththu’rai, the sources added.
Full story >>

Tamil trader, family missing in Mannar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 13:23 GMT]
A Tamil trader Rasiah Gopal, 37, is reported missing with his wife Ambika, 35, and his three month old baby girl since February 5 from their residence located behind an Amman Temple in Uppukulam in Mannaar district. Tension prevailes in the area following the disappearance of this family. Neighbors rushed to their residence and found all doors open, and fear that the family may have been abducted, civil sources said.
Full story >>

Relentless shelling expels civilians from 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 05:56 GMT]
Thousands of civilians were seen Monday fleeing in all directions from the 'safety zone' as mortar, artillery and Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) rockets hit the entire area demarcated by the Colombo government as safety zone. At least 36 civilians were killed and 76 wounded throughout the day in Va'l'lipunam, Chuthanthirapuram and in Maaththa'lan. The entire 100-houses-scheme located in Chuthanthirapuram was burning following MBRL attack with shells that caused immediate fire.
Full story >>

East Timor President urges ceasefire, offers mediation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 04:00 GMT]
"There will be no long term peace in Sri Lanka if this war is prosecuted by either side to the bitter end," said the President of Timor Leste (East Timor) Jose Ramos-Horta, on Monday, offering his preparedness "to assist in any way that might contribute to a peaceful settlement." Recollecting the experience of East Timor, the Nobel Laureate expressed his fear of immense destruction a civil war can generate and said: " The people already traumatised should not be forced to remain or move against their will." He urged the LTTE to seek a political settlement through dialouge.
Full story >>

UN experts concerned at suppression of criticism, impunity

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 01:57 GMT]
Ten independent UN experts on Monday expressed their deep concern at the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka, particularly the shrinking space for critical voices and the fear of reprisals against victims and witnesses which – together with a lack of effective investigations and prosecutions – has led to unabated impunity for human rights violations.
Full story >>

Wounded civilians treated under trees, warded in bunkers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 00:58 GMT]
The makeshift hospitals in Vanni that have been forced to relocate amidst artillery and aerial attacks that followed after Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa publicly claimed that the medical facilities outside the so-called 'no fire zone' would be regarded as legitimate military targets by his forces. The hospitals, struggling to treat the wounded, are operating under the trees and bunkers have been turned to wards to treat the seriously wounded.
Full story >>

TRO recovers 15 bodies in Chuthanthirapuram

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 23:42 GMT]
TRO volunteers buried 15 dead bodies of civilians Monday in Chuthanthirapuram. 12 of the victims were not identified, according to the officials of the NGO.
Full story >>

ICRC staff escape SLA shelling in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 23:29 GMT]
ICRC staff who went to Maaththa'lan coastal area located north of Mullaiththeevu town, came under Sri Lanka Army artillery fire around 11:00 a.m. Monday, media reports in Vanni said. The ICRC staff had gone there after informing the Sri Lankan defence authorities that they would be present there for the preparatory work to facilitate transportation of the wounded civilians.
Full story >>

SLBC jamming FM broadcast prompts BBC to suspend partnership

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 23:21 GMT]
Sri Lankan state run SLBC, which airs BBC World Service programmes in FM, has deliberately jammed BBC Tamil 17 times and BBC Sinhala 8 times, between 27 November and early January 2009, according to a statement by the BBC World Service Press Office Monday. The BBC said it was suspending the programming agreement with the SLBC from Tuesday.
Full story >>

13 Tamil civilians arrested in Chilaapam, Dehiwala

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 22:03 GMT]
Sri Lankan forces have arrested 8 Tamil civilians in two separate cordon and search operations conducted Friday night in Chilaapam (Chilaw) in the northwestern province and in Dehiwala in the western province. The Sri Lankan Police said the arrested persons had failed to prove their identity and justify their presence in the location. Five Tamil youths were taken into custody in Ira'navillu in Chilaapam district. The five youths are residents of Eastern province and Up-country and are being detained in the Chilaapam police station for further inquiry.
Full story >>

Nordic foreign ministers call for international safeguards

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 21:58 GMT]
Subtly, but significantly differing from Tokyo Co-chairs, the Nordic Foreign Ministers who met in Oslo on Monday came out with a statement not insisting on LTTE's surrender but stressing on the interim no-fire period and a central role for UN and ICRC in receiving the IDPs from the conflict zone, adhering to international standards.
Full story >>

Civilians killed by SLA gunfire after bomb blast

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 19:48 GMT]
Reports from Vanni indicate that the civilian casualties at the military checkpost claimed as 'IDP rescue centre' by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was in fact due to gunfire at the civilians by the SLA after a bomb blast, according to civilians who escaped the scene back to LTTE territory.
Full story >>

Tragedy of civilians as international mechanism backs out

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 12:33 GMT]
Eight died and forty injured among fleeing civilians, reportedly caused by a human bomb according to news released by Sri Lankan military Monday. 15 military personnel also died and 24 injured in an 'IDP rescue centre' north of Visuvamadu, the military said. There were children among the dead as seen in the video released by the Sri Lankan military. The US Embassy in Colombo was quick to condemn the LTTE, based entirely on the Sri Lankan military version of the story.
Full story >>

Colombo-Vavuniyaa train service resumes

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 12:31 GMT]
Train service between Colombo and Vavuniyaa which was suspended two weeks ago due to security reason has resumed from Sunday. The Defence Authority had earlier directed the Railway Department to run Yarl Devi train from Colombo only up to Madawachchi till the Independence Day on February 4 to ensure security in Colombo, sources said.
Full story >>

Police shoots dead Tamil youth in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 12:27 GMT]
A Tamil youth who was arrested in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka police was shot dead Sunday while the arrestee was being taken in manacled position in a police jeep along Dam Street in Colombo to a venue for further investigation, said Senior Superintendent of Police Ranjit Gunasekara, police media spokesperson.
Full story >>

3 STF killed in mine ambush in Ampaa'rai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 10:31 GMT]
Three Sri Lankan Special Task Forces (STF) commandos were killed and the tractor in which they were transporting military hardware from Ukanthai to Paanama, was destroyed, the Tigers have claimed according to LTTE media reports. The STF has not issued any details on the ambush.
Full story >>

Pope’s emissary meets detained IDPs in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2009, 10:25 GMT]
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing war and detained by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Kurunakar and Koappaay refugee camps pleaded Pope’s emissary, Rt. Rev. Mario Senario to get them permission to live and engage in their customary occupations, when he personally met them in the said camps, sources in Jaffna said. Bishop Mario Senario who conducted a special mass Sunday at 7:30 a.m in St. Mary’s church in Jaffna at the end of the mass said that he would convey in detail the plight of the Tamils caught in the war in Vanni to the Holy See.
Full story >>

80 killed, 200 wounded, carnage continues inside 'safe zone'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 19:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued indiscriminate barrage of artillery shelling on the 'safety zone' killing more than 80 civilians and causing injuries to 200. Most of the casualties were reported along the roads. Every single shell fired by the SLA was exploding in densely populated civilian area and people were forced to stay inside bunkers. However, as people feared ending up in the hands of the SLA which is close to Chuthanthirapuram, they were fleeing in thousands further into LTTE territory amid shelling, facing deaths and injuries on their way, said TamilNet correspondent in Vanni. According to eyewitness reports, 40 dead bodies of civilians, including children and women, were seen along the 2.5 km stretch of Paranthan Puthukkudiyiruppu Road between Chuthanthirapuram and Theavipuram.
Full story >>

Old woman strangled to death in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 18:58 GMT]
Unidentified persons strangled to death the 94-year-old wife of a Saiva priest Saturday night in her house at Irupaalai, Koappaay, according to Koappaay police who recovered her body and handed it over to Jaffna Teaching Hospital Saturday evening.
Full story >>

Jayalalitha cancels birthday celebrations for Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 18:05 GMT]
Jayalalitha, the principal opposition leader and former Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu announced Sunday her decision to cancel her birthday celebrations on 24 February in view of the massive and tragic killings of Tamils in Sri Lanka for the past six months.
Full story >>

3000 Tamils protest in Canberra

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 16:50 GMT]
More than 3000 Tamils from Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra attended a rally at the Lawns of the Parliament House in the Australian capital Canberra on the 5th of February 2009 to raise the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Vanni, calling the Australian Government to stop the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The rally was organized by the Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), an umbrella organization representing the Tamil Australians.
Full story >>

Diaspora Tamil dies in self-immolation urging Obama to stop Colombo's war

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 08:42 GMT]
27-year-old Eezham Tamil, Raja, living in Malaysia for 3 years set fire on himself and died Friday leaving a note in his diary saying “I am burning myself to death resting my hopes on global Tamils to save the Eezham Tamils. I plead American President Barack Obama to bring in a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.” This is the first act of self-immolation committed by a person of the Eezham Tamil diaspora. Three people in Tamil Nadu have already died by self-immolation in support of Eezham Tamils.
Full story >>

Colombo needs military victory before economy sinks - Aussie Don

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 05:58 GMT]
Asserting that Tamils have suffered "systematic discrimination practised against them," by past Sinhala Governments, Prof. Sisira Jeyasuriya, associate professor of Economics at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation last week said that Colombo's military victories are unlikely to bring violence to an end, as the Tigers will resort to guerrilla warfare, and added that the Government is engaged in false propaganda to ensure its survival. The recent news stories of 300 Tamil civilians killed in the safe zone are likely true despite Colombo's denials, Prof. Jeyasuriya told the ABC.
Full story >>

American Tamil youths "starve for peace"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 05:24 GMT]
Eight American youths have begun a hunger-strike campaign calling on the United States Congress and the Obama administration to provide relief to the 300,000 Tamil civilians caught up in the war in Vanni. The youths urge members of the diaspora to pledge sacrificing a meal to show solidarity with the campaign, and each pledge, the participants said, will result in e-mail notes delivered to the pledger's Congressional Representatives notifying the suffering of civilians, and urging the congress persons to take immediate action.
Full story >>

More than 180 killed in Sri Lankan bombardment within 48 hours

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 04:00 GMT]
More than 120 civilians were killed in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling Friday and Saturday inside the safety zone in Chuthanthirapuram, Iruddumadu, Udaiyaarkaddu and Theavipuram within the last 48 hours. At least 59 civilians were killed Friday and more than 62 killed on Saturday. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed Puthukkdiyiruppu (PTK) Ponnampalam hospital killing 61 patients on Friday. Casualty figures from SLA shelling in Puthukkudiyiruppuu were not available.
Full story >>

SLA traps hundreds of civilians in safety zone border

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 03:05 GMT]
Around 4,000 civilians, fleeing intense shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have been caught by the SLA that entered a bordering area of Chuthanthirapuram safety zone Friday, according to initial reports. The SLA soldiers opened fire on the civilians, instructing them to walk deeper into SLA controlled territories carrying white flags with them, according to youths who managed to escape.
Full story >>

Missing SLA soldiers' parents urge ICRC to approach LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2009, 02:25 GMT]
Parents of missing Sri Lankan soldiers this week urged the ICRC to approach the LTTE to check whether their sons were in Tiger custody as reports appeared in Colombo media of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) overrunning an LTTE detention camp in Visuvamadu area. The association of missing soldiers parents, based in Kandy, has sent a letter to the ICRC in Colombo urging it to take up the issue with the LTTE as they feared 750 Sri Lankan soldiers were in LTTE custody.
Full story >>

Congress cadre immolates himself to death protesting party inaction

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2009, 19:17 GMT]
Congress functionary Sirkazhi (Cheerkaazhi) Ravichandran, a 47-year-old father of two children, immolated himself Saturday to protest his party's inaction on the Eelam Tamils issue. He succumbed to hundred percent burn injuries and died a short while later at 3:45 p.m. Two days earlier, he had an altercation with the Union Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar blaming the Congress party for failing to stop the war in Sri Lanka. He had also told a couple of his friends about his decision in order to bring about a change in the attitude of the Congress.
Full story >>

Pope’s emissary visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2009, 17:18 GMT]
Representative of the Holy See from Vatican, Bishop Rt. Rev. Mario Senario, is on a visit to Jaffna to meet the displaced Tamils detained in camps in Jaffna and to learn of their situation, Jaffna Bishop’s House sources said. Biship Senario will also discuss the plight of the Tamils caught in war in Vanni. Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, and Rt. Rev. Mario Senario will also hold jointly a special mass for the safety of the Tamils in Vanni and for permanent peace for the Tamils in Sri Lanka Sunday 7:30 a.m. in St. Mary’s Church, Jaffna, sources added.
Full story >>

SLAF bombs Ponnampalam hospital, 61 patients killed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2009, 13:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers on Friday bombed and fully destroyed Ponnampalam Memorial hospital in Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK), killing scores and wounding many, according to initial reports received from PTK. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched indiscriminate artillery barrage on the hospital, totally disabling the rescue of the surviving patients. 61 patients were killed in the air attack. The bombardment comes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urging the warring parties not to attack medical facilities both within and outside the safety zone following the claim by SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya that hospitals outside safety zone were legitimate targets.
Full story >>

Armed men shoot Tamil youth dead in Mannaar playground

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2009, 12:24 GMT]
A Tamil youth playing in a playground in Keeri in Mannaar town was shot dead by armed men arrived in a van on Thursday evening. Keeri playground is located along Mannaar-Thaazhvupaadu road. The victim was identified as Paththinathan Thavaseelan, a displaced from Naakathaazhvu in Mannaar and currently residing in Periyakaamam 100-houses scheme, according to complaints lodged with the Mannaar police.
Full story >>

SLA hands over body of Tamil farmer to Vaazhaichcheanai hospital

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2009, 08:39 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in Paduvaankarai in Batticaloa district handed the body of a Tamil farmer Friday morning to Vaazhaichcheanai hospital claiming that he had committed suicide by taking poison, sources in Batticaloa said. Vaazhaichcheanai district magistrate who held the inquest into the death ordered Vaazhaichcheanai police to find the true cause of death and submit the report before 12 February.
Full story >>

CNN edits out Genocide charges against Sri Lanka, complains M.I.A

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2009, 04:54 GMT]
Oscar and Grammy award nominee, Eezham born music phenom, Maya Arulpragasam, uses "her fame to shed light on a growing international conflict" CNN says in its website. During an interview with CNN's Kareen Wynter, Friday, pointing an accusing finger at the Government of Sri Lanka for killing Tamil civilians, Maya says, "Tamils who are a bunch of people in Sri Lanka, are being wiped out; I am one of those people who made it out. My school got bombed, people in my village are getting killed," and adds that she needs music to get all this information out. Reliable sources told TamilNet that the singer accused CNN for editing out her references to Sri Lanka's Genocide, and for attempting to associate her music with violence.
Full story >>

CPI leader's car set on fire in Chennai

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 22:25 GMT]
Communist Party of India (CPI) Tamil Nadu State Secretary D. Pandian's car and a moped parked in his A'n'naa Nakar (Anna Nagar) residence were set on fire by unidentified persons Thursday night, media reports from Chennai said. Mr. Pandian was away in Mathurai (Madurai) at that time.
Full story >>

Fonseka, Gotabaya Genocide charges filed with US Justice Dept

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 19:39 GMT]
Bruce Fein, counsel for US-based group Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), Thursday afternoon 3:00 p.m. submitted to United States Attorney General, Mr Eric Holder, the Model Indictment charging U.S. citizen and Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and U.S. green card holder and Sri Lanka's Army Commander, Sarath Fonseka, for genocide, war crimes and torture against Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Counsel urged the Department to open a grand jury investigation into the crimes, based on evidence amassed in the three volume 1000-page document which the Counsel said "amply satisfies the Department's threshold for commencing a criminal investigation."
Full story >>

Trader reported missing with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 17:30 GMT]
Relatives of a trader from Koa’ndaavil West in Jaffna registered complaint with Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) that the trader had gone missing since leaving home 31 January to Jaffna town.
Full story >>

Tamil youth recovered dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 17:15 GMT]
Ka’luvaangchchikkudi police recovered the body of a Tamil youth with gunshot wounds Friday in Onthaachchimadam area in Batticaloa district. The youth had gone missing since 29 January after going to Erivil area with his friends from his village in Kokkaddichchoalai police division in Batticaloa district, the police said.
Full story >>

Tigers seize SLA arms storage in PTK

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 16:02 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) this week seized an arms storage from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK), sources close to LTTE told TamilNet Friday. Hundreds of SLA crack commandos were drawn into Mannaka'ndal and Keappaapulavu 'boxes' and were cut off from their rear supplies during a pre-emptive strike by the Tiger forces, resulting in the loss of more than one thousand SLA soldiers since February 01. An arms storage, which was full of weapons as the SLA was in full preparation to launch its 'final assault' on PTK was seized by the Tiger commandos engaged in the preemptive strike.
Full story >>

120 Tamil young men, women detained in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 15:07 GMT]
120 Tamil young men and women arrested during the past one week in Colombo and its suburbs are being detained though they had produced the necessary documents of identification to the police, according to complaints made by relatives to Deputy Minsiter, P. Rathakrishnan.
Full story >>

Sinhala mob stones ICRC office in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 10:03 GMT]
Unruly mobs surrounded and stoned the main office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the capital Colombo on Friday afternoon. The attack comes hours after a pro-government politician called for the expulsion of the ICRC chief Paul Castella following recent statements made by him on the ongoing conflict in the north between the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE).
Full story >>

Welcome to armed forces, hindrance to academics: India's Sri Lanka policy

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 08:11 GMT]
While the genocidal armed forces of Sri Lanka are warmly welcomed in India for training, the academics of the island of Sri Lanka, seeking registration to do doctoral research in Indian universities, including Buddhist monks, are waiting to get clearance from the Foreign as well as Human Resource Development ministries of India for nearly a year now, student sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

Minister, members come hard on Colombo in British Parliament

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 08:04 GMT]
The situation in Sri Lanka is nothing short of shocking. Any attempts, including by representatives of the Sri Lanka government to defend the shelling of the [Puthukkudiyiruppu] hospital are frankly unacceptable. Such attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law, said Bill Rummell, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in the British Parliament on Thursday. “The statement made by the Sri Lankan Government on Tuesday—that civilians should move out of the conflict area because they could no longer guarantee their safety—was extraordinarily worrying. […] The call for a temporary no-fire period by the [British] Foreign Secretary and Hillary Clinton this week should be acted upon immediately," he said.
Full story >>

Civilian sufferings unacceptable – Danish FM

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 06:31 GMT]
“The Danish government, greatly concerned about the situation of the civilians in the conflict areas in North Sri Lanka, is following the situation closely as well as is engaged in exerting pressure on the parties in conflict through institutions including the EU,” Denmark Foreign Minister, Per Stig Møller, said in a report 3 February. Around 4000 Tamils staged a demonstration 4 February starting from Copenhagen Town Hall to the entrance of the Danish Parliament, sources in Copenhagen said.
Full story >>

Indian Home Minister, Foreign Minister differ on Colombo's war

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2009, 02:17 GMT]
"We are not happy that the Sri Lankan government has resumed hostilities," said India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who said the LTTE must lay down arms and come to the negotiating table. However, within a few hours after his statement, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee approved the Sri Lankan military offensive by saying: "Along with military offensive, the Sri Lankan government should ensure that the lives of innocent civilians should be protected."
Full story >>

SLA attacks 'safety zone' using short-range mortars, gunfire, claiming lives

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 20:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Thursday shell-attacked saftey zone in torrents not allowing people to come out of bunkers throughout the day in Chuthanthirapuram and Iruddumadu civilian refuges. Two of the sixteen dead bodies of civilians brought to hospital had gunfire injuries, according to medical sources. More than 6,000 shells exploded inside the safe zone, reported TamilNet correspondent amidst shelling audible throughout reporting. The SLA has deployed several short and medium range mortars to fire shells on Chunthanthirapuram and Iruddumadu.
Full story >>

Vavuniyaa hospital canteen owner abducted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 18:07 GMT]
The owner of the canteen in the Vavuniyaa general hospital was abducted by a group of unidentified persons Tuesday night around 8.30 p.m. from the hospital premises, according to complaints lodged with the Vavuniyaa police by his wife. The abductors had allegedly told the victim that he was being take for questioning over some incidents.
Full story >>

U.S. Tamils urge Ambassador Rice to intervene in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 17:01 GMT]
More than 300 Tamils from New York/New Jersey area held a rally Wednesday afternoon in front of the U.S. Mission to U.N. to highlight the plight of Tamil civilians subjected to daily intense artillery attacks in Vanni, and the persistent human rights violations of the Sri Lanka military. The representatives of the awareness rally in a memorandum addressed to U.S. Ambassador to U.N., Susan Rice, noted her "passion and commitment to prevent genocide," and urged U.S. to "take immediate action to halt the genocide against the Tamils."
Full story >>

IC abandons hope in liberal peace, seeks to live with Sinhala chauvinism - paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 15:53 GMT]
The Co-Chairs statement this week marks the final collapse of the international liberal project in Sri Lanka, the Tamil Guardian newspaper’s editorial said this week. “The international actors who swaggered up in 2001 to make liberal peace in Sri Lanka never had the stomach to take on the Sinhala state's chauvinism. Instead they long pretended it doesn't exist, even as the signs were all around. Now, when it's in their faces, they simply bow to its ferocity - and ask the Tamils to do the same,” the paper said.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka rejects Co-Chairs’ call for surrender negotiations

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 10:56 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has rejected the call by the Co-Chairs (US, EU, Japan and Norway) for the Tamil Tigers to negotiate terms of surrender with Colombo. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the BBC that the government would accept only "unconditional surrender".
Full story >>

India's top lawyers condemn Sri Lanka's genocide

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 10:45 GMT]
India's Supreme Court Bar Association based in New Delhi has condmned the genocide on the tamil civilians by the Sri Lanka Government and the Security Forces. In an excutive meeting held Wednesday, the association also called upon the Goverment of India and UN to take steps to ensure ceasefire.
Full story >>

Tamil Nadu, Puducherry shut down sends strong signals to State, Central Governments

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 10:37 GMT]
In the face of severe threats from the State Government, the people of Tamil Nadu projected their unified voice of support for the Eelam Tamils by making the Wednesday general strike a grand success. More than 90 percent of the shops and commercial establishments throughout the state downed their shutters as a mark of solidarity. Although the umbrella front, Ilangkaith Thamizhar Paathukaappu Pearavai, which was recently formed to protect the Eezham Tamils, had announced the boycott, it was the spontaneous participation of the people of Tamil Nadu of all walks of life, made it a big success. Since the strike coincided with Sri Lanka's 61st independence day, the Sinhalese lion flag and Mahinda Rajapakse's effigy were burnt in several places.
Full story >>

Hospital attacked, 7 killed, dozens wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 09:42 GMT]
The only remaining hospital in Udaiyaarkaddu within the so-called safe zone has again come under heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army on Thursday. At least 7 civilians were killed and 27 wounded in the close vicinity of the makeshift hospital functioning at a school. 2 ambulances were destroyed and the medical store of the hospital has been completely destroyed. The attack comes a day after US Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urging the warring parties not to fire out of or into the safe zone and in the vicinity of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) hospital or any other medical structure.
Full story >>

Norwegian Tamils demonstrate against Sri Lanka's Genocide of Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 08:09 GMT]
Norwegian Tamils marched through Central Oslo (Youngstorget) on Wednesday around 6:00 p.m to condemn Sri Lankan government for its genocidal war against Tamil people. The Leader of the Opposition, from the Conservative party (H), Ms. Erna Solberg, who spoke said that she doesn't support LTTE but she supports the right to self-determination for the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

India legally obliged to prevent GoSL's genocide against Tamils- Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 05:02 GMT]
Emphasizing that under Common Article 1 to the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949, India has the obligation "to respect and to ensure respect" for these Conventions "in all circumstances," Professor Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, in a communiqué sent to TamilNet says, "India must demand that the United States government prosecute Rajapakse immediately for violating the U.S. Genocide Convention Implementation Act as well as the U.S. War Crimes Act," and appeals to the Tamils worldwide and people of good faith and goodwill to mobilize behind the legal agenda set forth above [in the communique] and to pressure the Governments of India and the United States to fulfill their solemn obligations under the Genocide Convention and the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949."
Full story >>

Anonymous organization upbraids dailies in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 01:23 GMT]
An anonymus organization, calling itself, ’Theasa Makkal Ezhuchchip Pearavai’ (Nation’s People’s Form of Uprisal’), called on the dailies of Jaffna peninsula to uphold journalistic moral instead of submitting themselves to be influenced by the culture of arms, in a fax message sent to the media in Jaffna Wednesday.
Full story >>

Government party paramilitary men threaten Tamil daily editors in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2009, 00:06 GMT]
Paramilitary men of a Tamil political party that is a member of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government of Sri Lanka threatened the editorial staff of the two Tamil dailies published in Jaffna for not giving prominence for the news related to their party activities or the reports issued by their party leader, according to the complaint made by the editorial staff to the Joint Media Association in Colombo, sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

Deliberate massacre, not 'crossfire' killing Tamil civilians - MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 18:33 GMT]
Criticising international media reports for suggesting Tamil civilians are caught in a ‘crossfire’, TNA MP for Vanni S. Kanagratnam Wednesday said the Sri Lanka Army was shelling deep into Tamil Tiger controlled territory and deliberately targeting hospitals and internally displaced people. “Scores of Tamil civilians are being killed every day. But the civilian victims are not on or near the frontline as some international media is reporting. These people, inside safety zone, away from the frontline and they are being deliberately targeted by the Sri Lankan military,” he said.
Full story >>

Tamil businessman abducted in Kadawatte

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 17:52 GMT]
A Tamil businessman of Kadawatte in Colombo district was abducted by a gang of unidentified armed persons on Monday night. The members of the gang dressed in denim trousers and T-shirts arrived in a white van and took the businessman identified as M.Gnanasamy, 35 with them.
Full story >>

South Africans demonstrate against Sri Lanka's Genocide of Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 17:19 GMT]
Representatives of the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) Wednesday took part in a demonstration that called for an immediate end to the Sri Lankan military aggression against Eezham Tamils. The demonstration was held around the Durban City Hall on February 04, 2009, coinciding with Sri Lanka’s independence day. South African Muslim Network, Minority Front and members of the South African community also rallied against the war in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Tamil civilian reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 16:48 GMT]
A Tamil civilian Velupillai Suntharajah, 47 has been reported missing after he left by train from Colombo to Bandarawela, his home town on 17th January, according to complaints lodged by his relatives with the Bandarawela and Colombo police on Monday.
Full story >>

Muslim engineer reported missing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 16:42 GMT]
A Muslim family man identified as Ismail Lebbe Mohamed Faiser Khan of Perukuvedduwan in Puththa'lam district has been reported missing since the last week of January. He is an engineer by profession. He left for work on 24th January morning but failed to return home the same, according to complaint lodged with the Puththa'lam police by his brother-in-law Badurudeen Mohamed Irban.
Full story >>

Australian Tamils mark February 04 as Black Day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 16:31 GMT]
Upto 5000 Tamils rallied during peak hour traffic through Sydney City, Australia on Wednesday 4 February to urge the Australian government to support international calls for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka as well as highlight the need for an independent Tamil homeland in response to continued acts of genocide by the Sri Lankan army upon Tamil civilians. "For 61 years the Tamils have lived without peace, justice or freedom," says Lakshmi Kathir, a high school student. "Today maybe Sri Lanka's Independence Day, but for the Tamils it is the day we lost our liberty," she added.
Full story >>

Delhi based human rights centre condemns Tokyo Co-chair stand

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 15:46 GMT]
Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), a New Delhi-based human rights watchdog headed by Suhas Chakma, in a statement issued on Wednesday said the Tokyo Co-chairs (Norway, Japan, USA, EU), instead of mediating between government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to declare indefinite cease-fire, have failed to reflect the ground situations and remained silent on the need for ensuring respect for the laws of war. The ACHR on Wednesday issued a review titled "Mullaitivu Vs Gaza: The Tokyo Co-Chairs fail on the responsibility to protect".
Full story >>

Pope appeals for an end to fighting in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 15:31 GMT]
"News of the worsening conflict and the growing number of innocent victims induces us to address a pressing appeal to the combatants to show respect for humanitarian law and for people's freedom of movement, said Pope Benedict XVI at the end of Wednesday general audience held in Paul VI Hall, in an appeal for an end to the ongoing fighting in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Tokyo Co-chairs' stand fails in fundamentals - TNA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 14:35 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance, responding to the controversial statement by the Tokyo Co-chairs, which called on the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms and surrender to the Sri Lankan government, said it has been the firm and consistent position of the Tamil people that the island of Sri Lanka is inhabited by the Tamil nation and the Sinhala nation. "It is on the basis of recognising this reality and by the respective authentic representatives of these two nations, namely the LTTE and the Sri Lanka State, engaging in negotiations on how these two nations shall associate with each other for the future security and mutual benefit of both nations, can a just and sustainable solution to the Tamil National Question be found."
Full story >>

Trinco Tamil youth arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 14:30 GMT]
A 23 year-old Trincomalee Tamil youth was arrested in Colombo on Monday by the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police.
Full story >>

Tamil labourer shot killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 13:54 GMT]
Unidentified armed men abducted a Tamil labourer Tuesday around 7:30 p.m from the dairy farm where he worked and later shot and killed him, in Akkaraanai in Punaanai police division in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka's scorched earth offensive must be stopped - Boston Globe

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 12:41 GMT]
Pointing out that "the shelling of a hospital pediatric ward Sunday in Sri Lanka gave the world a glimpse of the scorched-earth offensive Sri Lanka's government has been conducting against the secessionist Tamil Tigers," the Boston Globe, in an editorial that appeared Wednesday, said the "war has to stop," and Obama administration ought to ask for a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire, and the Asian powers providing military assistance to Sri Lanka - China, India, and Pakistan - should exert their influence on the government to halt the shooting." The globe reiterated its long standing position that "[t]he only true solution must be political: some form of confederal autonomy for the Tamil regions."
Full story >>

Hillary Clinton, David Miliband urge to halt attacks on PTK hospital, Safe Zone

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 10:06 GMT]
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday jointly called on the warring parties in the island of Sri Lanka to "not to fire out of or into" the safe zone and in the "vicinity of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) hospital or any other medical structure". The statement has come, following the claims of Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa that PTK hospital was a "legitimate" target, delivering a clear message to Colombo saying that the parties "must respect the international law of armed conflict. 12 people have been killed and several wounded in the attacks on the hospital so far. Meanwhile, reports from PTK said Wednesday that Sri Lanka Army was continuing to fire artillery shells on the hospital. A UN official in Colombo said Wednesday that cluster bombs have been fired on the hospital.
Full story >>

Top US Senator calls for immediate ceasefire

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 06:34 GMT]
In a statement issued Tuesday, U.S. Judiciary Committee Chairman and Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy said that "it is imperative that the government and the LTTE agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid further loss of life, permit access to UN monitors and humanitarian organizations, and permit civilians to leave for areas of safety. The Obama administration, the British, Indian and other concerned governments, should be publicly urging the same," and added that "over the longer term, if lasting peace is to come to Sri Lanka, the government must effectively address, in negotiations which include all the main Tamil and Muslim parties, the core issues that have fueled the conflict including laws and policies that unfairly discriminate against Sri Lanka’s minorities."
Full story >>

"Tamils under existential threat"

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 05:16 GMT]
In an interview with BBC's Lyse Doucet in Tuesday's Newshour program, British member of the US-based group Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), Jan Jananayagam, says, "[g]enocide by UN definition is an attempt to destroy in part or in whole an ethnic group. I think that what is going here becomes perilously close to at least destruction at least in part," and adds that the "existential threat to Tamils" in Sri Lanka has to be immediately recognized to avoid mistakes made in Rwanda where obstruction to recognition of genocide early resulted in the loss of thousands of lives.
Full story >>

Body with gunshot injuries recovered in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 04:17 GMT]
Vavuniyaa police Monday evening recovered a body of an unidentified youth with gunshot injuries in his head in Thambapuliyankulam in Vavuniyaa district. The police began investigation into the killing, sources in Vavuniyaa said.
Full story >>

Gotabaya should be prosecuted for Genocide, war crimes – Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 22:47 GMT]
Commenting on the interview to the BBC and to the Sky TV by Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Professor Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, told TamilNet that “the deliberate targeting of Hospitals and Civilians by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) violates the Geneva Conventions and is thus a war crime,” and that “as a United States Citizen, Defense Secretary Rajapakse, should be prosecuted by the United States government for violating the US Genocide Convention Implementation Act and the US War Crimes Act.”
Full story >>

‘For whom the Co-chairs strive,’ asks Tamil parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 21:33 GMT]
The statement of the Co-chairs released Tuesday is “regrettably based on wrong premises and aims at disastrous ends,” Jaffna district parliamentarian S. Kajendren told TamilNet. "It sounds as though the Co-directors of the current war are at a last bid attempt to save Sri Lanka, one of the worst genocidal states of our times, before it collapses under its own burden of militarization, ethnic chauvinism and human rights violations. Their approach would have been different if they really care for the lives and dignity of civilians and if they have any respect for the democratic right of the national aspirations of Eezham Tamils,” he told TamilNet while issuing a statement responding to Co-chairs' stand.
Full story >>

65 Vanni patients transferred to Mannaar, relatives languish in internment camp

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 20:43 GMT]
Sixty-five seriously wounded patients brought to Vavuniyaa by the ICRC last week have been transferred to Mannaar hospital and admitted there under strict military surveillance, medical sources in Mannaar said. Meanwhile, twelve relatives of the patients, who accompanied them from Vanni to provide care and separated by the SLA at Oamanthai, are still languishing at Nelullku'lam internment camp. The patients in Mannaar, most of them young children and elderly, who have lost either both legs or both hands and need personal care by close family members, have urged the authorities to allow their relatives to be with them as initially facilitated by the ICRC.
Full story >>

Rajapakse, Karunanidhi governments ideologically similar: Dr.S.Ramadoss

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 19:19 GMT]
PMK founder-leader Dr. S. Ramadoss launched a direct attack on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi over the Eelam Tamils issue Tuesday. He criticized the DMK Executive Council resolutions for not containing any ceasefire demand. "Does Karunanidhi not know that ceasefire is a prerequisite for peace-talks? Does this omission not reveal that the Rajapakse Government and the Karunanidhi Government are no different at the ideological level?" he said.
Full story >>

SLN hands over arrested Tamil Nadu fishermen to Indian Navy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 18:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) handed over Tuesday evening the 22 Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested on 21 January in the seas of Jaffna islets, to Indian Navy on the sea boundary between Sri Lanka and India, on the orders of Oorkaavttu’rai (Kayts) magistrate Ms. Joy Mahatheva, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

SLAF personnel being trained in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 18:13 GMT]
Eight pilots of the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) are presently undergoing training at the Indian Air Force base at Thaamparam (Tambaram) near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, highly placed sources told TamilNet. News of this training spread like wildfire when the Sri Lankan Airforce personnel were taken Monday to the Chealaiyoor (Selaiyur) police-station for visa verification purposes. "People of Tamil Nadu need no further proof that this war of decimating Tamils in Sri Lanka is being undertaken at India's insistence and instructions. This confirms our fears that Indian troops have also been sent to fight there," a veteran Tamil activist told TamilNet.
Full story >>

SLA forces public to hoist lion flag on Independence Day, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 17:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna has been engaged in issuing strict orders to the public to hoist the national flag of Sri Lanka on Independence Day Wednesday on all houses as well as public and private institutions, using loud speakers attached to SLA vehicles, in the last few days, sources in Jaffna said. Shop keepers and traders in Vadamaraadchi and Thenmaraadchi in particular have been warned by SLA officials in their area that they will not be allowed to open their shops in the future if they fail to follow their orders, the traders said.
Full story >>

Co-Chairs: LTTE surrender will save Vanni civilians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 16:53 GMT]
The Tokyo Co-Chairs (Norway, Japan, US and EU) Tuesday called on the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms surrender to the Sri Lankan government if the civilians of Vanni are to be spared further death and suffering. The Co-Chairs said they would (thereafter) ensure an “inclusive dialogue” that will lead to lasting peace.
Full story >>

Obama greetings disregard Tamil aspirations - TNA MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 15:36 GMT]
While Eezham Tamils all over the world observe a Black Day on the occasion of Sri Lankan Independence Day on February 4, US President Barack Obama's greetings to the Sri Lankan President that hint integrity of Sri Lanka is viewed by Tamil circles as hurting the democratic aspirations of Tamils, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) pariamentarian S. Jeyananthamoorthy told TamilNet.
Full story >>

The pawns of states and super states: A poetic picture of Tamil agony

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 13:48 GMT]
A Tamil academic and folklorist S. Jeyasankar aptly brings out the plight of Eezham Tamils in a recent verse of him in English. The poem found in his website is reproduced by TamilNet.
Full story >>

Prominent Norwegian politician blames Sri Lanka for violating international Law

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 10:14 GMT]
Deputy Leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Norwegian Parliament, representing the ruling Labour Party (AP), Marit Nybakk, on Monday came hard on Colombo government for violating the International Law. "Sri Lanka should adhere to the Geneva Conventions under the prevailing war conditions," she said and condemned Colombo for committing genocide. Norwegian politicians across political parties addressed Norwegian Tamils at a public meeting in Oslo and said they were concerned why Co-chairs of Sri Lanka Peace Process are yet to respond to the current phase of the crisis.
Full story >>

Hunger strike against killings of Tamil in Vanni continues, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 05:35 GMT]
More than a hundred persons including women, men, children and priests led by Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, continued the hunger strike at Paasaiyoor St. Antony’s Church Monday, calling for the immediate stop of the killings of innocent Tamils in Vanni by the government of Sri Lanka, sources in Jaffna said. The participants in the hunger strike kept praying for the safety of the people in Vanni as artillery barrage and aerial bombings continued in Vanni, killing and maiming men, women and children, the sources added. The hunger strike began at 9:00 a.m and ended at 3:00 p.m.
Full story >>

PTK hospital, legitimate military target - Gotabhaya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 05:14 GMT]
"No hospital should operate outside the Safety Zone...everything beyond the safety is a legitimate target," Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapakse tells the Skynews, admitting to the culpability of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital. In another interview with the BBC, a clearly irate Rajapakse ridicules Lasantha Wickrematunge as an editor of a "tabloid," and queries reporter Chris Morris as to why the media is interested in "one man" when there are thousands of killings and murders."
Full story >>

US Senators express concern on humanitarian situation in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 04:08 GMT]
United States Senator and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D - Mass.) and Ranking Committee Minority Member, Senator Richard Lugar, in a press release issued today expressed concern "about the deteriorating humanitarian situation" in Vanni, and urged both parties to provide humanitarian access. The senior Senators condemned the "repeated shelling of a hospital," and added they are deeply troubled by Colombo's threat to expel foreign diplomats, and the brazen assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge.
Full story >>

SLAF bombers attack Vanni, deploy cluster bombs

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 23:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers carried out four sorties of indiscriminate bombardment, also deploying cluster bombs, from Monday morning till 2:00 p.m. at Theavipuram and Puthukkudiyiruppu.
Full story >>

Nurse killed in Udaiyaarkaddu hospital, ICRC staff wounded in PTK

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 17:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells on both the hospitals in Vanni again on Monday. A nurse who was attending a wounded patient at Udaiyaarkaddu makeshift hospital (Ki'linochchi hospital) was killed when 3 shells hit the hospital. 10 civilians, including ICRC/SLRC staff stationed in the vicinity of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK), were wounded, according to a civilian source. Hospital authorities were unreachable to verify the details.
Full story >>

SL police arrests Tamil youth in Ratnapura

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 17:31 GMT]
A Tamil youth, originally from the East and staying with his relatives in Deniyaya in Ratnapura district was arrested by Sri Lanka police on Friday.
Full story >>

More than 5,000 shells fired on 'safety zone', casualties uncountable

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 16:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells throughout the whole day on Monday from all directions into civilian refuges. At least one hundred civilians could have been killed or maimed in the indiscriminate barrage. The casualties are uncountable as the whole population is forced to reside inside the bunkers throughout the whole day, reports TamilNet correspondent. "Monday was the worst day of SLA shelling so far within the safety zone."
Full story >>

SLA fires MBRL rockets on IDP camp, several feared dead

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 16:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) rockets exploded inside a refugee camp of the Internally Displaced People Monday night around 10:00 p.m. killing several IDPs, initial reports said. The camp, located in Chuthanthirapuram is on fire. No one is able to access the camp to gather more details as shelling continues to target the roads. TamilNet correspondent has witnessed several artillery-fired flying fireballs coming from SLA positions into the safety zone. The shells cause immediate fire.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka HRC key officials visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 15:12 GMT]
A high profile team of Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (HRC) Colombo arrived Friday in Jaffna where they met Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officers and the magistrates in Jaffna and discussed matters related to the interests of persons placed in the protective custody of Jaffna Prison and the civilians brought to Jaffna peninsula by the SLA and placed in detention camps, sources in Jaffna said. The team flew back to Colombo Sunday.
Full story >>

Liberal Democrats to British PM: UK must seek UN Resolution for ceasefire in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 14:35 GMT]
Liberal Democrats have called on the British Government to seek a resolution of the United Nations Security Council demanding a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Edward Davey MP, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, has written to the British Prime Minister on Monday, urging him to repeat his Government efforts that achieved a similar resolution in the conflict in Gaza. "In addition to pressure at the United Nations for a permanent ceasefire and for peace talks, I would urge you to use your influence this week within the European Union, within the Commonwealth and with President Obama’s new administration, to push for an end to hostilities."
Full story >>

Explosive laden lorry discovered in Trincomalee town

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 14:33 GMT]
Sri Lanaka armed forces in Trincomalee town have been put on red alert Monday following the discovery of a lorry alleged to have been loaded with explosives near the residence of a police official of Trincomalee Harbour Police. Sri Lanaka armed forces suspect that LTTE cadres had brought the explosive laden vehicle to commit a crime in the east port town, according to media sources in Colombo quoting Police Headquarters.
Full story >>

Poththuvil Muslims on hunger strike demanding release of 30 Muslim men

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 13:38 GMT]
Children and wives of 30 Muslims detained by Poththuvil police in Ampaa’rai district went on a hunger strike Monday around 8:00 a.m in front of Poththuvil Pratheasa Chapai demanding immediate release of the 30 Muslim men from Poththuvil arrested by Special Task Force commandos six months ago when they went to collect firewood in the jungles of Poththuvil, sources in Poththuvil said.
Full story >>

TMVP person shot killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 08:56 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a Tamil Makal Viduthali Pulikal (TMVP) paramilitary person Monday around 8:30 a.m at Chengkaladi in Ea’raavoor police division as he was on his way to Aiyangkea’ni on his motor cycle from the TMVP Chengkaladi office, Ea’raavoor police said.
Full story >>

SLA shells PTK hospital, 9 killed, 15 wounded

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 02:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelled Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) hospital Sunday night killing nine civilians, including patients and their family members in the ward. More than 15 civilians were injured. The indiscriminate attack on the hospital has caused panic and tension among the hundreds of wounded civilians at the hospital. The shelling has come despite repeated calls from the medical authorities not to fire shells on the civilian medical facility and within a few hours of a public statement from the ICRC, which said it was shocked by the shelling on hospital twice in recent days. Meanwhile, a source at Vavuniyaa District Secretariat told TamilNet Monday that it was a premeditated massacre as the military was given instructions by the SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to isolate hospitals from civilian access by artillery barrage.
Full story >>

Civilian casualties rise, SLA, SLAF attacks continue on safety zone

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 21:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked Moongkilaa'ru Sunday night around 10:00 p.m. casualty details are not known. Amid reports of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) using cluster munitions fitted to artillery shells in its indiscriminate barrage on civilian refuges, around 13 dead bodies of civilians were recovered Sunday morning in completely burned state, beyond identification, at Moongkilaa'ru in Udaiyaarkaddu within the 'safety zone' announced by the government of Sri Lanka. More than 30 children and elders were killed Saturday alone, reports said. Civilian casualties were mounting also on Sunday.
Full story >>

Shelling hits hospital, ICRC shocked

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 19:39 GMT]
The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), in a statement issued from Colombo Sunday expressed shock at the shelling of Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital a second time in a week, and said "wounded and sick people, medical personnel and medical facilities are all protected by international humanitarian law. Under no circumstance may they be directly attacked," pointing an accusing finger at the Government of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) without mentioning either by name.
Full story >>

22 Tamils arrested in Colombo, BMICH declared HSZ

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 16:50 GMT]
More than twenty Tamil civilians were arrested in cordon and search operations conducted by the police and armed forces in several parts of Colombo since Friday, in preparation to the Independence Day celebration that falls on February 4. About five thousand police personnel drawn from outstations, have been deployed in the Colombo city to step up security. All vehicles entering the Colombo city are stopped and checked by the police, police sources said.
Full story >>

SLA arrests 10 Tamils, 5 Sinhalese in Chilaw

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 16:42 GMT]
Ten Tamils and five Sinhalese were taken into custody in a cordon and search operation conducted in Chilaw town Saturday by the Sri Lanka Army and police on receipt of information that some strangers had infiltrated. Houses, shops lodges and boarding houses were subjected to careful search, police sources said.
Full story >>

Expressing concern is not enough, countries should intervene - CJPCD Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 14:53 GMT]
“Mere expression of concern by the countries of the world is not enough; immediate intervention to urge Sri Lanka government to stop its killing and maiming of the innocent Tamils in Vanni is the need of the hour,” the Commission for Justice and Peace of Catholic Diocese (CJPCD) said in its message released at the end of the fifth day hunger strike in protest against the continuing Sri Lanka government’s artillery barrage and aerial strikes on the Tamils in Vanni, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

'Tigers in pitched battle against genocidal military' - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 13:48 GMT]
"The defensive formations of the Liberation Tigers are courageously facing the Sri Lanka Army, which has been engaged by Colombo in a genocidal war against Tamils," said S. Puleedevan from LTTE's Political office in Vanni Sunday evening. The offensive units of the SLA had massed near Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) in full strength, with tanks and all preparedness in their hurry to capture PTK in the next one or two days, but are now pushed back beyond their forward lines, he said. The fighting, which began in the early hours of Sunday was still continuing.
Full story >>

Muslims in Potthuvil to go on hunger strike

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 10:27 GMT]
Muslims in Poththuvil will go on a protest hunger strike Monday in front of Poththuvil Prethesa Sabai, demanding the immediate release of the 30 Muslim villagers arrested by Special Task Force (STF) six months ago when they went to collect firewood in the jungles in Poththuvil police division in Ampaa’rai district, M. P. Mallika Umma, leader of the committee of the affected people said.
Full story >>

Two more suicide-bids in Tamil Nadu against Indian inaction to stop war in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 09:13 GMT]
Coming closely on the heels of Muthukumar and Ravi's self-immolation, two more young men in Tamil Nadu attempted to kill themselves in order to draw the world's attention against India's proxy war in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Eelam Tamils protest against war in Vanni, in Norway, Germany

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 07:25 GMT]
Norwegian Tamils, spurred by the brutal attacks by the Sri Lanaka armed forces killing and maiming many innocent Tamils in Vanni, gathered unannounced in front Norwegian Parliament Saturday between 1:00 p.m and 3:00 p.m, voicing that each hour delay in stopping the war will increase the number of people killed in Vanni, sources in Oslo said. Meanwhile, Hundreds of Berlin Tamils engaged in a similar spontaneous demonstration in front of the Indian High Commission in Berlin Friday around 11:00 a.m demanding the Indian Government to immediately stop its assistance to Sri Lanka in killing the Tamils in Vanni, sources in Berlin said.
Full story >>

Tigers launch preemptive strike in PTK

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 07:05 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) forces Sunday morning launched a preemptive strike on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive units that were prepared for an all out assault on Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK). The SLA has suffered heavy casualties, initial reports from Vanni said.
Full story >>

Grenade attack on Vavuniyaa TNA MP’s office

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 05:42 GMT]
Unidentified persons hurled a hand grenade on the Vavuniyaa office of Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Vavuniyaa and the head of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Saturday around 8:00 p.m, causing damage to the rear section of the office, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The office is located in Vairava Pu'liyangku'lam in Vavuniyaa.
Full story >>