Outgoing Vavuniyaa Judge says he held inquests into 1000 deaths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 June 2008, 14:06 GMT]
Newly appointed High Court Judge of Trincomalee district M.Ilancheliyan at a farewell event held in Vavuniyaa magistrate's court Monday said that he had held inquests into the deaths of over one thousand persons during his service in Vavuniyaa as Magistrate and District Judge, reports from Vavuniyaa said. He added that killing in nights, abductions and disappearances in Vavuniyaa district should be brought to an end. Authorities concerned should move into stop all atrocities committed against civilians in Vavuniyaa without delay.
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Don't visit Colombo, Ganesan tells NorthEast Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2008, 16:58 GMT]
Accusing both the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers for action irrationally, Mano Ganesan, leader of Western People’s Front (WPF) and the Convener of Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC) said in a media release Saturday, "[n]either the government nor the LTTE have any control over blasts going on in the respective territories under their own control," and appealed to the Tamil civilians travelling from NorthEast to stay away from Colombo and the South as both areas are "unsafe and insecure for Tamil civilians."
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Two Tamils abducted in Colombo Friday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2008, 03:01 GMT]
Two Tamil civilians were abducted in Vaalaithoddam and Aattupattiththeru in Colombo city Friday afternoon by unidentified persons who came in vehicles, according to complaints lodged with respective police stations by the relatives, media sources in Colombo said.
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7 injured in Police, STF baton charge on protestors in Kaaththaankudi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 June 2008, 08:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka police and Special Task Force (STF) commandos, in an attempt Tuesday to disperse the demonstration march of the protestors in Kaaththaankudi against the killing of the Muslim vegetable trader from Kaahthtaankudi Sunday in Batticaloa, assaulted the demonstrators causing injuries to seven, sources in Kaaththaankudi said. The police confiscated 3 motorcycles and 30 bicycles of the protestors.
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"Plucked peace flower"- Washington Times

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 June 2008, 11:25 GMT]
In a commentary appearing in the Tuesday issue of Washington Times, Bruce Fein, Washington-based attorney for a Tamil Activist Group, and Chairman of the American Freedom Agenda, says that "the peace solution to Sri Lanka's descent into hell was discerned by [Ambassador] Mr. Blake - even if unwittingly - in an interview published in the Sunday Observer on May 25. The subtext affirmed the right of the Tamil people to determine their own political destiny without dictation by Tamil Tiger leader, Velupillai Prabharkaran, or by any other person or organization."
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3 white van abductions in Puththa'lam

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 June 2008, 16:31 GMT]
Three Tamils were abducted by unidentified men in Puththa'alm Saturday afternoon and Sunday, sources in Puththa'lam said. One was abducted by gunmen in a white van Sunday, and the other two Saturday afternoon while travelling in an auto-rickshaw, also by men who arrived in a white van.
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Development untenable without peace - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 May 2008, 11:42 GMT]
"Development is possible only when there is permanent peace. To achieve peace the International Community (IC) should engage seriously in restoring the status quo which the IC itself has disturbed in recent times, and should pressurise the Sri Lankan government to come to terms with a negotiated settlement," said Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan, in an exclusive interview to TamilNet on Friday, while responding to a question on LTTE's position on International involvement in Colombo's 'development-agenda'. "Recognition of Tamil sovereignty and right to self-determination are key issues in creating a climate for a negotiated settlement," Nadesan added.
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Third member of same family abducted in Vadamarraadchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 11:53 GMT]
Unidentified armed men in a white van forcibly abducted Thursday the 19-year-old son of the couple who were abducted 14 May during curfew hours from their house in Karaveddi West in Vadamaraadchi following the large scale cordon and search operation conducted in Vadamaraadchi by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), according to the complaint made Monday by the relatives of the abductees to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office.
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Senior U.S. Human Rights official visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 May 2008, 07:54 GMT]
Barks-Ruggles, a key official of the U.S. Foreign Service, who earlier served in the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, where her portfolio included peace negotiations in Sri Lanka, visited Colombo on Thursday and met with several senior government officials, political and civil society leaders to address the concerns of the U.S. and others on Human Rights and to emphasize the importance of 'continuing the dialogue' between the U.S. and Sri Lanka, which have enjoyed '60 years of unbroken friendship,' according to a press statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Colombo Saturday.
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5 abducted following SLA search operation in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2008, 07:18 GMT]
Five civilians including a couple have been abducted in three days last week after the large scale cordon and search operations carried out by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vadmaraadchi, according to complaints made to Human Rights Commission Office (HRC) in Jaffna Wednesday. Four of the abductions have taken place during the early hours of the day when the SLA imposed curfew was in force, by armed men in vehicles.
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SLA, Police complicit in white van abductions- SL Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 02:18 GMT]
"I have received information that Sri Lanka Police personnel and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were involved in several white van abductions. Reluctance of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other law enforcement officials to take timely steps to investigate these crimes is clear evidence of widespread violations of human rights and breakdown of law and order," said Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for Vocational Training and Industrial Education, P. Rathakrishnan, during a meeting with the relatives of the disappeared held late last week at the Colombo 14 offices of the Upcountry People's Front (UPF), Tamil daily Thinakkural reported in the Sunday edition.
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Torture victims in Jaffna peninsula lack adequate treatment

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 May 2008, 03:02 GMT]
Medical specialists and representatives related to the treatment of victims of torture in Jaffna peninsula who convened Friday at Thellippa’lai hospital, decided to request the medical authorities and International organizations for help in providing adequate psychological cure and follow-up treatment that are lacking in Jaffna peninsula. Security forces and Police are alleged to subject victims after arrest or abductions to severe torture before release, health officers said.
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3 Tamil youths abducted in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 May 2008, 17:04 GMT]
Three Tamil youths were abducted by unidentified men in three separate incidents in Thampalakaamam, Kanthalaay and Thirukadaloor in Trincomalee district Wednesday night, according to complaints lodged with the police and the Trincomalee regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) by their relatives.
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UK: Karuna released, remains under immigration detention powers

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 May 2008, 13:08 GMT]
Vinayagmoorthy Muralitharan, alias Karuna, a former Tiger commander who turned leader of a paramilitary group operated by the Sri Lanka Army in the East, was released by the British authorities on Thursday following his imprisonment for possessing false documents. "He now remains under immigration detention powers," said British High Commission in Colombo, in a press release issued on Friday.
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Slain journalists remembered in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 May 2008, 12:16 GMT]
Movement Against Media Suppression (MAMS), a common front organization consisting of five major media organizations, held a memorial event Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. in front of Fort Railway Station, Colombo, in remembrance of the 14 slain journalists. The MAMS, in a leaflet gave the statistics, describing the state of media freedom in Sri Lanka where 14 journalists were killed in recent years, 8 journalists were subjected to abductions, 4 were imprisoned, 5 electronic broadcasts were blocked, 1 website blocked, 3 records of suppressive laws against media and countless number of harassments against media and media personnel.
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Tamil woman, man reported abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 May 2008, 02:04 GMT]
Unidentified men have allegedly abducted two Tamil civilians, a woman and a man, in Colombo in two separate incidents on 28th and 29th of April, sources close to the victims said.
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US Country Report accuses GoSL, LTTE of terrorist activities

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 May 2008, 11:17 GMT]
Noting that in South and Central Asia, "[t]errorism remained a serious problem in the region, directly and indirectly threatening American interests and lives," the Country Reports on Terrorism 2007, released by the US Department of State Wednesday, blamed the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers for terrorist activities saying, "[t]he LTTE reverted to targeting civilians in bus bombings and claymore mine attacks, while the government used anti-LTTE paramilitaries to terrorize citizens suspected of having ties to the Tigers."
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Medical student of Jaffna University shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 05:35 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a former medical student of Jaffna University from Pottpathi Veethi, Kokkuvil, in Jaffna at his house on Tuesday around 7:00 p.m, sources in Jaffna said. The victim is alleged to have been working for the Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and said to have collaborated in the killings, and abductions in Jaffna peninsula, the sources added.
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UNP accuses ruling party of breach of East election rules

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 13:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian, Laxman Kiriyella, charged that the paramilitary Pillayan group, Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) and Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) that are jointly contesting Eastern Province Provincial (EPC) elections with the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), for carrying arms besides other violations during the campaign for the forthcoming Easter Provincial Council (EPC) election, UNP sources said.
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Mavai Senathirajah meets Jaffna Military Commander

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 03:06 GMT]
Mavai Senathirajah, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, arrived in Jaffna Friday to participate in the 31st Memorial Day of S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Saturday. The first TNA member to return to Jaffna since the assassination of TNA Jaffna MP, Nadarajah Raviraj, in 2006, he met Maj. Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna Commander, at the latter’s request Friday in Palaali SLA military complex, the MP told media.
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