Two more TPPs join hunger-strike, refuse medical admittance

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 September 2018, 22:16 GMT]
The Tamil political prisoners waging hunger-strike for the 16th day on Sunday at Anuradhapura prison have sent a letter to the management of the prison not to admit them to medical treatment anymore. In the meantime, two TPPs joined the hunger strike today. Purusothaman Aravinthan who hails from Jaffna and Nallan Sivalingam from Vavuniyaa joined the campaign. The TPPs who were admitted for treatment were also back in the Anuradhapura prison continuing the protest.
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Sinhala colonists resume occupation of pasture lands in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 September 2018, 21:45 GMT]
The Secretary of Dairy Farmers Association in Kiraan and Chengka'ladi, Nimalan Kanthasamy, said the Tamil farmers were facing the recurrence of violence from Sinhala colonists who have started to encroach into to Periya-maathava'nai and Mayilaththa-madu, a pasture land located in the interior Ko'ra'laip-pattu South (Kiraan) division of Batticaloa district. Sinhala colonists from Polonnaruwa, Badulla and Moneragala were withdrawn last year after repeated protests. The interior land was under the control of the LTTE before 2007.
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Ex-SLA soldiers operate as gangs, robberies on increase in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 September 2018, 21:08 GMT]
Former military soldiers of the occupying SL Army, who have settled as Sinhala colonists in the Tamil village of Thiriyaay, located to the north of Trincomalee, and those who engage in small businesses at Aa'ndaan-ku'lam in the Town and Gravets, are mobilising criminal gangs allegedly with the backing of the military intelligence, civil sources at the District Secretariat said. The victims were mostly Tamil women, they noted citing some recent robberies in the district. The chain of events has caused suspicion among the people that the intelligence wing of the occupying SL military was introducing gangs as they have done in Jaffna. The squads also deploy young Sinhala-speaking boys, they said.
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Sirisena praises genocidal military at UN, seeks to appease all State actors

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 September 2018, 11:10 GMT]
Maithiripala Sirisena, the president of the occupying unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka, was addressing the UN General Assembly on Tuesday appeasing all the actors, ranging from the pro-Israel US President Donal Trump to those who support the cause of the Palestinians. It was an apparent move to keep all the State actors continuing to turn a blind eye to the ongoing structural and heritage genocide against the nation of Eezham Tamils in the island, commented Tamil political observers in Jaffna. His address, made in Sinhala, was targeting the Sinhala masses in the island, they said.
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Two more TPPs join hunger-strike at Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 September 2018, 10:07 GMT]
Two political prisoners, including a Tamil-speaking Mulsim, recently transferred to Anuradhapura from Colombo have joined the hunger strike on Sunday. The SL military intelligence has alleged the Muslim prisoner, Abdul Hameed Umar Hattaaph, as being involved in the assassination carried out by the LTTE on a former commander of the genocidal military, Major General (retd) Janaka Perera in 2008.
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USAID-funded project renders exploitation of Tamil farmers by export conglomerate

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 September 2018, 20:03 GMT]
Poverty-stricken Eezham Tamil household farmers from Koa'ra'laip-pattu North (Vaakarai) division of Batticaloa, complain that they are systematically exploited by the SL State-owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC), which has threatened to seize their lands if they complained about exploitation by Hayleys Agriculture, the largest exporter of fruits in the island. The farmers were given technical assistance to commence Gherkin Cucumber farming with USAID assistance. The BOC maintains that the farmers have to pay back the initial funding by binding their sales to Hayleys. The produce is purchased at a low price, and if they complained about the exploitation, they would risk losing their lands, the BOC officials have threatened they said.
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Four hunger-striker TPPs admitted to Anuradhapura hospital

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 September 2018, 18:34 GMT]
Four of the hunger-striking Tamil Political Prisoners have been admitted to the public hospital in Anuradhapura as their health conditions have worsened. Two TPPs who had been admitted to the attached hospital at Anuradhapura prison earlier were transferred to the general hospital on Friday. Two more TPPs were rushed to the same hospital on Saturday. Rights activist Ganesh Velayutham who visited the fasting TPPs told TamilNet that all the prisoners were in bad condition as they were languishing for more than nine years in the prison. The TPPs are heavily traumatised due to the depression caused by the dilly-dallying by the occupying Colombo's rulers. All of them have staged hunger-strikes four times before, and that they are not fit for a lengthy hunger-strike, he said.
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SL President not prepared to consider demands of TPPs until 27 September

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 September 2018, 16:27 GMT]
The health condition of the Tamil political prisoners who have been on a hunger strike since 14 September has deteriorated and two of the hunger strikers have been admitted to the prison hospital at Anuradhapura, the families of the prisoners said. In the meantime, a group of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians who visited the fasting prisoners have told them that TNA Leader and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan had taken their matter with SL President Maithiripala Sirisena before the latter travelled to New York to address the UN General Assembly. Mr Maithiripala had told Mr Sampanthan that he would only be able to think about the matter of Tamil prisoners after 27 September, after the UN meetings were over.
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Pasturelands converted into agricultural lands through Karuna influence

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 September 2018, 15:31 GMT]
The Divisional Secretariat of Koa'ra'laip-pattu South in the district of Batticaloa is under increased pressure to convert 550 acres of pasture lands traditionally used by the dairy farmers into agricultural areas. The lands are being allocated to the supporters of Vinayagmoorthy Muralitharan, alias Karuna, a former Tiger commander, who turned into a paramilitary leader operated by the Sri Lanka Army in the East and later a politician, who has been collaborating with the Rajapaksa establishment.
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SL State refuses to renew land permits to resettled Champoor Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 September 2018, 16:54 GMT]
The resettled Eezham Tamils from Champoor and the connecting section of Kadatkaraich-cheanai were refused of renewal of their land permits at a mobile land kachcheri held on Sunday at Moothoor. The Eastern Provincial Land Commissioner organised the land meeting at Moothoor to look into the land issues of the resettled people in the Moothoor East. However, the residents of Champoor were told the renewals of their land permits were on hold as the SL State has not revoked the earlier state acquisition of their lands from the times of Rajapaksa rule. The people who are in possession of old documents are refused of housing assistance as well as loans that could be obtained through Samurdhi scheme as they are unable to document current ownership to their lands where they reside.
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Vadamaraadchi East fishers besiege intruding poachers from South

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 September 2018, 22:42 GMT]
Eezham Tamil fishers from Valveddith-thu'rai (VVT) in Vadamaraadchi to Maruthang-kea'ni in Vadamaraadchi East in the district of Jaffna have mobilised against the Sea-Cucumber poachers who are deployed in the territorial seas and lagoons of Eezham Tamils in the North. The occupying SL Navy and the SL Police are protecting the intruders whom the native fishermen blame as destroying the fishing ecosystem in the North. The SL Fisheries Ministry and its department, coming under the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka, have been collaborating with the big export-oriented business owners in the South who deploy the fishers from South for large-scale Sea Cucumber poaching. On Tuesday, Tamil fishers staged a coordinated action searching for intruders in their coast during the early hours and detained 8 Sinhala poachers along with three boats.
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TPP on hunger-strike in Anuradhapura shifted to Welikade prison

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 September 2018, 22:06 GMT]
The SL Prison authorities have transferred one of the eight Tamil political prisoners who are on hunger-strike away from the prison at Anuradhapura citing the diabetic condition of the prisoner. In the meantime, Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) convened a press conference highlighting the significance of a mass struggle to support the protesters. University students in Jaffna are also planning to launch a wider student campaign in support of the hunger-strikers.
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Mullaiththeevu residents resume deity rituals after confronting intruding Sinhala group

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 September 2018, 20:33 GMT]
The Tamil residents of Kumuzha-munai and Tha'n'ni-mu'rippu villages in Karai-thu'raip-pattu division of Mullaiththeevu district on Sunday staged a ‘Padaiyal’ ritual to their village deity at Kurunthoor-malai after Mullaiththeevu Magistrate on Thursday lifted the restraining order, which had come into force following the controversies earlier this month. A group of Sinhala youth, led by two extremist Theravada Buddhist monks, attempted to erect a Buddha statue at the hilltop of Kurunthoor-malai, a place with traces of ancient heritage in the country of Eezham Tamils, causing ethnic tension at the site. SL Forest Department guards and SL military intelligence soldiers wearing civilian clothes had accompanied the intruding mob, which was besieged by a group of vigilant Tamil youth on 04 September.
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TPPs launch hunger-strike, urge Tamils to address UN double standards

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 September 2018, 20:10 GMT]
A section of Tamil political prisoners languishing in the Anuradhapura prison has launched a hunger strike on Friday demanding immediate action from the larger Tamil society. While the SL President Maithiripala Sirisena is preparing to dignify the three armed forces of the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka, Tamil politicians and the human rights community is mostly silent on the plight of Tamil political prisoners who continue to languish in the prisons of the SL State. The SL State should be condemned for trying to dignify its armed forces accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity while the Tamil political prisoners languishing in the prisons of the SL State are even refused of political prisoner status and are subjected to inhumane conditions, the prisoners at Anuradhapura said.
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Drastic reduction of funds hampers resettlement of uprooted Tamils in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 September 2018, 22:25 GMT]
The uprooted people from SL military occupied Valikaamam North in Jaffna are still languishing in 34 camps. However, the occupying unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka has allocated barely 250 million rupees (USD 1.5 million) for resettlement of the internally displaced people in Jaffna district in 2018, Tamil civil sources in Jaffna said. For comparison, 5,500 million rupees (USD 32.7 million) was allocated in 2016 - 2017, the sources said. Mr S. Muralitharan, the additional District Secretary who deals with land affairs, has admitted the figures on the expenditure on resettlement.
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Powers appeasing SL State risk future instability in the island: Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 September 2018, 22:12 GMT]
The Tamil people value the sacrifices made by their liberation movement with the highest respect. However, the SL State and its military show relentless intolerance against every attempt by the Tamils in the North-East to honour the sites of their destroyed monuments. The attitude is counter-productive, not only to the SL State but also to the global actors, who continue to appease the SL government, which refuses to reform itself, alluded Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, the leader of Tamil National Peoples' Front, in a recent interview to TamilNet. His comments come after witnessing the hostile acts of the SL military and the SL CID during the annual festival of Nalloor temple in Jaffna this month against the move to preserve the sacred nature of the memorial square of Lt. Col. Thileepan, who sacrificed himself in a fast-unto-death campaign in 1987.
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Protest called against SL Police brutality against Tamil family in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 September 2018, 22:37 GMT]
A Sinhala Inspector of Police, Saminda Pinthu, in charge of the SL Police stationed at Kanakaayan-ku'lam in Vavuniyaa North went amok on a Tamil family Sunday night, causing severe injuries to a 14-year-old girl. The SL Police Inspector was also attacking her elder brother who intervened to safeguard their mother, whose clothes were being torn by him. The mother was attempting to protect her husband while the police inspector was attacking her husband. Samindu targeted the family for demanding their lands back from a trader who had initially obtained the property of the family on a lease. The trader, a Muslim, is running a restaurant backed by the Sinhala police.
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SL Police instructed to clarify authenticity of letter issued to monks by SL Archaeology Department

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 September 2018, 23:39 GMT]
The SL Police in Oddu-chuddaan in Mullaiththeevu didn't act against the intruding group of Sinhala youth, led by two extremist Theravada Buddhist monks from South, who were blocked by the people of Kumuzha-munai on Tuesday. The people of the ancient Tamil village laid siege to the group that came with a Buddha statue and claimed it was authorised to do so by the SL Archaeology Department. How could the erection of a brand new Buddha statue be called conservation work and how come a religious group to engage in such action, was the question raised by the Tamil villagers, who interrupted the group on its way and turned it over to SL Police with demand for legal action against the intruders. However, the SL police released the group on the same day and attempted to file cases against the Tamil youth.
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Tamil villagers lay siege to intruding monks, expose ethnic bias of SL Archaeology Department

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 September 2018, 23:14 GMT]
The villagers of the ancient Tamil village of Kumuzha-munai in Karai-thu'raip-pattu division of Mullaith-theevu district on Tuesday evening laid siege to a 16-member group of Sinhala Theravada Buddhist extremists from the South, who had come with a Buddha statue, which they wanted to erect at Kurunthoor-malai, a place with traces of ancient heritage in the country of Eezham Tamils. The group, led by two young monks, consisted mostly of Sinhala youth. The SL Forest Department guards also assisted them. The villagers alleged SL military intelligence personnel wearing civilian clothes were also in the group. The SL Police, providing escort to the group, had to withdraw from the intruders to the police station.
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NPC CM prepares to face contempt of court case engineered by Sumanthiran et al

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 September 2018, 22:15 GMT]
The justice system of the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka has been deployed against the Northern Provincial Council as the TNA Parliamentarian and President's Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran was making another die-hard move to weaken the position of the NPC Chief Minister and former Supreme Court Justice C.V. Wigneswaran through furnishing new cases. The latest in the series is a contempt of court case, filed against him and two of his ministers, Ananthy Sasitharan and K. Sivanesan. The case comes amidst an appeal filed by NPC Chief Minister against the interim order issued by the SL Court of Appeal, pending a scheduled hearing on Wednesday. However, the NPC CM is fully prepared to address the challenge, informed sources in Jaffna told TamilNet on Monday. It is not the reputation of the NPC CM, but that of the SL Justice System, getting exposed, political observers in Jaffna said.
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UN silence on Mannaar killing fields questioned, legal activists urge Bishops to act

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 September 2018, 16:31 GMT]
The victims of Mannaar killing fields could be families that were fleeing from Peasaalai and other places to Tamil Nadu in India during the times of Eezham War II which lasted from 1990 to 1995, legal activists working with the enforced disappeared families told TamilNet on Sunday. Since there is a systematic pattern and the massacres seem to have been deliberately committed against unarmed civilians fleeing from the war zone, these are Crime Against Humanity of the first-degree according to any standard of the International Criminal Law, they said. The UN system, particularly the Geneva-based Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), well aware of Colombo's drive to dodge international forensic analyses of the exhumed human skeletons, also keeps mum, they complained.
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Judicial investigations on Mannaar killing fields marred by Colombo transferring judges

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 September 2018, 23:19 GMT]
The all-Sinhala Judicial Service Commission (JSC) of the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka has been subjected to political influence by the regime of occupying Colombo sabotaging the independent investigations of the mass graves in Mannaar. The judicial investigations on mass graves exhumed four years ago at Thirukkeatheesvaram in Mannaar mainland with 88 human skeletons and the latest excavations at the entrance to Mannaar city at the premises of Cooperative Wholesale Establishment, where traces of 111 slain humans, including children and women, have been marked so far since 28 May, informed sources in Mannaar and in Colombo told TamilNet. The local media is thoroughly avoiding to report the controversy, and the lawyers are avoiding to talk about it fearing charges against them based on Contempt of Courts, the sources further said.
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