Muttur victims get Rs.32.5 million compensation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 July 2003, 18:44 GMT]
Minister of Port Development, Shipping and Eastern Regional Development Minister Mr.Rauff Hakim Saturday started payment of compensation to victims of April violence in Muttur area at an event held in Muttur Al Hilal Girls School. About 585 families affected by April violence were paid 32.5 million rupees as compensation Saturday as first installment, sources said.
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LTTE returns under-aged Tamil boys, Sinhalese villager

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 July 2003, 19:30 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the Trincomalee district Monday handed over two boys aged about ten years to their parents in the presence of UNICEF officials and also handed over a Sinhalese villager who had strayed into the LTTE controlled area of Kumburupiddy, north of Trincomalee, to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission monitors, sources said.
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’Trincomalee Hindu temple lands encroached’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 July 2003, 18:32 GMT]
The Trincomalee District Young Men Hindu Association (TDYMHA) Tuesday brought to the notice of the Hindu Religious Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka that lands belonging to several Hindu temples in the Trincomalee district are being unlawfully occupied by members of the majority community of the country, thus depriving the income from the lands to these temples, sources said
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Picketing villagers bring Trinco-Vavuniya traffic to standstill

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 June 2003, 13:41 GMT]
Vehicular traffic between Trincomalee and Vavuniya through the Trincomalee-Anuradhapura trunk road came to a standstill Thursday when a group of Sinhalese villagers held a sit in protest across the road, demanding the release of a villager alleged to have been abducted by unidentified persons, police sources said.
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Colombo taking steps to enforce Official Language Policy - Language Commissioner

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 13:03 GMT]
"Although Sinhala, Tamil and English were declared as official languages fifteen years ago Sri Lanka governments of the past have not taken adequate measures to facilitate use of Tamil in Government offices of the Northeast," said D.U.Gunasekara, Head of the Official Language Commission briefing the press Friday in Rajagiriya, Colombo.


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Jaffna to hold peace sports festival in September

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 June 2003, 10:43 GMT]
At a conference held Monday at the Jaffna district secretariat it was agreed to hold the second North-South peace sports festival in Jaffna peninsula on September 4, 5 and 6, provincial sports ministry sources said.


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JVP vows to defeat interim administration proposal

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2003, 15:43 GMT]
The Sinhala hardliner Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Monday declared that it would go all out to thwart the attempt by the United National Front (UNF) government to grant interim administration for the north east as demanded by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Colombo said.
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Sampanthan writes to PM on interim administration

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2003, 14:28 GMT]
The parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Mr.R.Sampanthan Monday sent a letter to the Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister urging him to act with “adequate clarity and certainty the commitment as stated in his 2001 general election manifesto that an Interim Administration will be set up for the northeast province and such a step will strengthen and consolidate the peace process.”
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Flood relief convoy from North arrives Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 14:55 GMT]
A convoy of six lorries loaded with flood relief supplies valued at more than three million rupees sent by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from north arrived Colombo Thursday, government sources said.
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Canadian High Commissioner concludes Trincomalee visit

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 06:39 GMT]
The Canadian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Ms Valerie Raymond Monday commenced her Batticaloa tour, concluding her two-day visit to Trincomalee district Tuesday. She met Tamil and Muslim representatives in Trincomalee at the conclusion of her visit to east port town Tuesday evening held at the office of the Trincomalee District Development Association (TDDA). TDDA organised the discussion.
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TNA delegation meets Helgessen, Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 May 2003, 00:06 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation met with Norwegian deputy foreign minister Mr. Vidar Helgessen and the Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe separately Monday and held discussions regarding resumption of peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), political sources in Colombo said.
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CPA holds peace-arts festival in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 May 2003, 11:43 GMT]
A three-day arts festival of the Centre for Performing Arts (CPA) inaugurated in Jaffna Wednesday is to conclude Friday evening. "The arts festival, the first event of its kind to take place in Jaffna, represents a bold, path-breaking move for CPA in its work for peace through creative arts," said a spokesman of the CPA.


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AI slams US State Department rights report on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 May 2003, 19:04 GMT]
The Amnesty International Thursday criticised the US state department for putting out a biased human rights report on Sri Lanka for 2002. Mr. Jim McDonald, Sri Lanka Country Specialist, Amnesty International, U.S.A said Thursday that the US state department’s human rights report on Sri Lanka for 2002 made serious omissions relating to human rights violations committed by Sri Lankan armed forces.
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TNA parliamentarians address Muslims in Pulmoddai

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 May 2003, 02:25 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan addressing a meeting at Pulmoddai, a traditional Muslim village about 70km north of Trincomalee district, Saturday said that a lasting political solution could be found for the northeast problem only by ensuring equal rights and privileges to Muslims living in the province.
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UK envoy on fact finding tour in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 April 2003, 17:01 GMT]
The British High Commissioner Mr. Stephen Evans is on a three-day visit to Trincomalee district. He is to meet the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Trincomalee Mr.S.Tilak on Thursday at Sampoor in the LTTE held Muttur east, south of Trincomalee district, sources said.
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Tamil fishermen complain of assault by southern fishermen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2003, 18:42 GMT]
Two Jaffna fishermen were assaulted while fishing in the Vadamaradchi sea Thursday morning by Sinhalese fishermen who came from the south of the country in ?tank boats" to fish in the northern sea, fisheries co-operative federation sources said.
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Netherlands aids NE resettlement, educational development

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 00:05 GMT]
The Ambassador for Netherlands in Sri Lanka, Ms. Susan Blankhart, Tuesday inaugurated the scheme for granting livelihood assistance for resettled families in the eight districts of the North-East province and the donation of school furniture to improve education in the province at a function held at the Trincomalee Town Hall, sources said.
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'Disappeared' Sinhala youths return home

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2003, 16:13 GMT]
Two Sinhalese youths alleged to have been abducted by some unidentified persons few weeks ago have returned home, according to police sources. Sinhalese activists had accused Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the disappearance of these youths.
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Poverty, oblivion dog rape victim

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2003, 00:30 GMT]
Two years since she was brutally raped and tortured in custody, Ms. Sivamani Weerakoon, lives in abject poverty and uncertainty. The mother of three said that she was never offered counselling to help her cope with the trauma of her ordeal. Sri Lankan law is yet to bring the perpetrators of the violence committed on her to book. Ms. Sivamani said that no women’s rights group has ever contacted her in connection with her rape and torture by Sri Lankan armed forces personnel.
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52 Jaffna schools still occupied by SLA

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2003, 01:36 GMT]
Continued occupation of fifty-two government schools in Jaffna district by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and delay by the officials of the Education Ministry to fill the more than six thousand Tamil medium teacher vacancies in northeast schools, are causing irreparable damage to Tamil children’s education in Jaffna, said General Secretary of the Ceylon Tamil Teacher’s Union (CTTU) , Mr.T.Mahasivam, addressing a press briefing Thursday held at Navalar Government School in Jaffna.


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