Moothoor IDPs demand to be resettled in their own villages

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 April 2009, 10:50 GMT]
Hundreds of men, women and children displaced from Champoor East and West, Kooniththeevu and Kadatkaraicheanai Village Officer divisions in Trincomalee district gathered in Batticaloa Koaddaimunai Methodist Church premises Wednesday on completing the third year of their forced displacement due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensives in 2206, to pray and fast from morning till evening in an effort to draw the authorities' attention to their plea to be resettled in their original villages, Moothoor East Internally Displaced Peoples’ Welfare Association, which organized the event said.
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Court recommendation on moving HSZ in Valikaamam ignored

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 April 2009, 07:42 GMT]
The newly appointed Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander who had earlier rejected the recommendation by the committee appointed by the Supreme Court to expedite resettlement of displaced residents in Thellippazhai has allowed demining on both sides of Kaangkeasanththu’rai-Jaffna road so that students and patients to Union College and Cancer Treatment Hospital in Thellippazhai could access the institutions that are located within SLA High Security Zone (HSZ), Jaffna District Coordinating Committee (DCC) officials said. However, it is not known when the said road will be opened for public use, the sources added.
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Swiss representatives visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 April 2009, 04:25 GMT]
Two officials representing Switzerland were on a visit to Jaffna to assess various development projects carried out by the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) in Jaffna peninsula and to consider further development schemes, sources in Jaffna said. The officials will be submitting a report to their government on the progress made in the development projects SDC is engaged in and on the planning and feasibility of future projects.
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Japan to offer financial assistance for demining in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 15:39 GMT]
A delegation of key officials of the Japanese Embassy in Sri Lanka which visited Jaffna recently had intimated Japan’s inclination to provide financial assistance to continue the demining activities in Jaffna peninsula which has been curtailed in recent times, sources close to the Coordinating Committee for demining projects in Jaffna District Secretariat said. Areas in Changaththaanai, Madduvil and Oorkaavattu’rai have been earmarked to benefit from Japan's help in the first stage, Danish Demining Organization (DDO) sources said.
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Court recommendation on moving HSZ in Valikaamam ignored

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 March 2009, 17:12 GMT]
The committee appointed by Supreme Court to consider its recommendation to expedite resettlement of displaced residents from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Thellippazhai met Sunday in Palaali SLA head quarters headed by President of the committee, Jaffna High Court magistrate, R. T. Vicknarajah, to discuss the recommendation. The committee, however, decided on certain other measures related to the issue Sunday, ignoring the recommendation of the Court, attendees of the meeting said. Meanwhile, the committee’s announcement that demining work in the said HSZ has begun is refuted by the District Coordinating Committee (DCC) in Jaffna District Secretariat, the sources added.
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Six-year-old girl recovered dead in Trincomalee town

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009, 12:48 GMT]
Unidentified men who abducted Wednesday a six-year-old girl from Trincomalee St. Mary’s Girls’ School and demanded 30 million rupees as ransom from her mother, later killed the girl slitting her throat Friday for not paying the demanded ransom, sources in Trincomalee said. The girl’s body was found Friday morning along Sarathaa Veethi in Trincomalee town. Saratha Road and St. Mary’s Girl’s school are both located in the High Security Zone (HSZ) area in the city where there are many police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry points, the sources added.
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SLEB employees demonstrate against passing of amendment motion, in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 March 2009, 03:39 GMT]
Sri Lanka Electricity Board (SLEB) employees staged a protest demonstration in front of Fort Railway Station in Colombo Tuesday against the SLEB amendment bill being passed in Sri Lanka Parliament, sources in Colombo said. The bill, which has been a subject of controversy and vehemently opposed by the opposition United National Party (UNP) and Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), was presented on Tuesday by Sri Lankan Minister of Power and Energy, John Seneviratne, in the parliament where it was debated on before allowed to vote on.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Jaffna SLA, GA accused of delaying HSZ resettlement

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 December 2008, 19:03 GMT]
Displaced residents in Jaffna and civil society organizations have accused the Government Agent (GA) of Jaffna and the Palaly Military High command of deliberately delaying implementation of Supreme Court’s order to begin resettlement inside designated areas within the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North, sources in Jaffna said.
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NGOs Consortium urges government for relief to affected in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 December 2008, 18:12 GMT]
“More than 250,000 people affected in the recent cyclone and floods have only been issued relief sufficient for a week costing less than Rs. 500 per family,“ the Consortium of Non-governmental Organizations in Jaffna district said in an appeal to the President of Sri Lanka submitted through the Government Agent (GA) Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said.
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Major General Chandrasiri to retire

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 December 2008, 13:17 GMT]
Major General Chandrasiri is to retire from his current position as Military Commander of the Northern district effective from 6th of January. Promotion to Sri Lanka's Highest Army post eluded Mr Chandrasiri due to the extensions provided to his friend Lt.Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Meanwhile, Maj.Gen. Mendega Samarasinghe is expected to become the new SLA commander for Jaffna, military sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA permits opening of temples inside Point Pedro HSZ

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 17:28 GMT]
Doors of two Saiva temples located inside Point Pedro High Security Zone (HSZ) were opened for prayers and rituals again after being closed for more than two years, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Koddadi Siththivinaayagar Temple and Koadduvaasal Chandiga Parameswary Temple were closed for poojas and prayers from August 2006 when hostilities broke out between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers.
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Women in protective custody, transferred to SLA detention centre, fear for safety

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 00:40 GMT]
The women and children who faced death threats in Jaffna from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and its paramilitary and placed under protective custody through the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission in Jaffna at Kurunakar Rehabilitation Centre have been suddenly moved to the detention camp run by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) inside its High Security Zone in Thellippazhai. The women and children are being denied the opportunity of meeting their family members besides fear for their safety, according to legal sources in Jaffna. They have appealed to the team of Magistrates who visited the camp to relocate them to a protection facility in Jaffna city.
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2 youths abducted near Valikaamam HSZ

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2008, 23:35 GMT]
Six unidentified armed men abducted Saturday two young labourers from their house in Kuppi'laan, a village located on the border Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam in Jaffna peninsula, according to complaints lodged with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office Friday by the victims relatives.
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Families fleeing war in Vadamaraadchi north placed in SLA refuge camp

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2008, 18:06 GMT]
Kaangkeasanthu'rai Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) patrol units Wednesday arrested 28 persons, including men, women and small children fleeing in boats to escape Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombings and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery barrage on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held Vadamaraachi North, sources in Jaffna said. Kaangkeasanthu'rai police produced the arrested in Mallaakam district court Thursday where magistrate Ms. Sarojini Illankovan directed the refugees to be placed in the newly setup SLA refugee camp located in SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) in Thellippa'lai.
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British, Norway ambassadors visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 October 2008, 10:46 GMT]
British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Dr. Peter Hayes, and Norway's Ambassador Tore Hattrem accompanied by UNHCR residential representative in Colombo, were on a visit to Jaffna Wednesday. The emissaries met Jaffna Appeal Court Magistrate R. T.Vignarajah around 4:30 p.m. and discussed the humanitarian as well as the general security concerns of the civilians. Meanwhile, informed sources in Jaffna told TamilNet that the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry had initially declined permission for the delegation to visit Jaffna Prison and Kurunakar Special Rehabilitation Centre where civilians seeking protection from the threat of the SLA and paramilitaries are placed in protective custody.
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