EPDP supporter shot dead in Jaffna islet

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 June 2006, 11:10 GMT]
Owner of a welding plant in Vankalavadi, Velanai in Jaffna islets was shot dead at 1:35 p.m. by two unknown gunmen who arrived in a motorbike at the garage. C. Yogeswaran, 55, who is alleged to be a supporter of Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) is from Nayanmarkattu area in Nallur, local residents said.
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SL Police delay in Allaipiddy investigations unacceptable- Judge

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 13:27 GMT]
Kayts district court Judge, Mr. Jeyaraman Trotsky accused the Sri Lanka Police of attempting to derail the investigations into the Allaipiddy killings in Jaffna islets, when the case was taken up at the Kayts Court Tuesday, legal sources said. Judge Trotsky in the earlier hearings gave 15 days extension to the special Committee lead by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) level officer Mahes Perera to submit a report detailing the investigations into the killings. Mr Mahesh Perera, instead, sent a letter to the judge citing reasons for the inability to submit the report and did not appear in Court, legal sources in Jaffna said.
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SLN assaults three Pallimunai fishermen

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 June 2006, 00:31 GMT]
Three fishermen from Pallimunai returning late Saturday around 7:00 p.m.after fishing in Mannar seas were severely assaulted by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers and have been warded in Mannar Hospital in critical condition, sources in Mannar said. Mannar residents have continued to seek refuge in the three churches in the area after the attack by SLN soldiers at the Our Lady of Victory church in Pesalai Saturday morning which killed 5 civilians and injured over 40, clergy in Pallimunai said.
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SLN, SLAF conduct training exercise in Kayts

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2006, 12:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) conducted a combined live fire exercise along the Karainagar-Kankesanthurai (KKS) seas along coast for nearly 20 minutes Saturday morning, defence sources in Jaffna said. SLN ships fired artillery shells from the sea while the Kfir fast attack aircrafts provided air cover during the training, residents witnessing training said.
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Refugees reject EPDP minister's request to return to Allaipiddy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 June 2006, 17:08 GMT]
Allaipiddy refugees who are currently being given shelter in St. Marys Church and St. Nicholas Church at Navanthurai rejected request by Sri Lanka Government Minister Douglas Devananda, the leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), to return back to their homes in Allaipiddy, sources in Jaffna said. Mr Devananda, heavily escorted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, visited the refugees Wednesday. Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and EPDP cadres are alleged to be responsible for the extra-judicial killing of 9 persons including an infant and a four year child on the 13th of May 2006 in Allaipiddy.
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Two EPDP cadres shot dead in Velanai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 June 2006, 10:30 GMT]
Unknown gunmen shot and killed two men alleged to be members of the Eelam Democratic Peoples Party (EPDP) paramilitary group Tuesday morning while walking out of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp in Velanai in the Jaffna islets, said sources of Jaffna. The two men died on the spot.
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Judge assails Allaipiddy investigations as cover-up

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 June 2006, 02:23 GMT]
Kayts district court Judge, Mr. Jeyaraman Trotsky, rebuked the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) for attempting to coverup the investigations into the Allaipiddy killing of eight civilians, when the case was taken up at the Kayts Court Monday, legal sources said. A special Committee lead by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) level officer Mahes Perera was appointed by the Sri Lanka Government to investigate into the killing that took place in Jaffna Islets on 13 May 2006.
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Two SLA troopers injured in Chullipuram attack

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 May 2006, 15:40 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were seriously injured when a group of five unidentified gunmen fired at soldiers working in a compound near Chulipuram junction in Valligamam Tuesday 12:00 noon, sources in Jaffna said. The soldiers were cutting trees to reinforce the SLA camp located near Chullipuram Victoria College when the attack took place.
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Jaffna Rights official receives death threats

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 May 2006, 09:39 GMT]
Rohitha Priyadharshana, co-ordinator at the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna, received a letter Friday threatening his life if he does not vacate his post, officials in the HRC said. A man believed to be a paramilitary working with Sri Lanka Military Intelligence, gave the letter, written in Tamil, through an employee at the HRC office, according to officials. The letter included Priyadharshana has been leading the investigation in several landmark cases where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) were blamed for killing civilians, civil society sources said.
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Kohona: paramilitary link with "lowest rank" of SL forces

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2006, 16:50 GMT]
Amidst increasing accusations against Colombo of Sri Lankan troopers alleged involvement in extra-judicial killings and the terror-campaign let loose on Jaffna islets, Dr. Palitha Kohona, the Head of Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat, on Tuesday said that he suspects there might be contacts with the paramilitary cadres and the lower rank Sri Lankan troops.
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Brattskar meets Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2006, 11:58 GMT]
Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hans Brattskar met with S. P. Thamilchelvan, Political Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Tuesday around 9.00 a.m at the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi, and discussed the forthcoming visit of Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister and peace envoy, and the present critical situation in Sri Lanka, said sources in Kilinochchi. Brattskar arrived in Kilinochchi after visiting the site of Allapiddy killings on Monday.


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Durban Tamils demonstrate against Sri Lanka's rights violations

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 00:23 GMT]
More than 500 Tamil activists participated in a demonstration held Sunday in Durban, South Africa organized by the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee of South Africa, protesting against the killings of Tamil civilians in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka, sources in Durban said. Placards carried by the protesters accused the Government of Sri Lanka for the complicity of Sri Lanka security forces and paramilitaries in several killings, including the recent murders of eight residents of Allaipiddy in Jaffna islets, sources added.
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TRO provides facilities to Allaipiddy refugees in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 17:13 GMT]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) is providing temporary dwellings, food and transport facilities to the growing number of refugees moving into Vanni from Jaffna islets in the wake of the Allaipiddy assassinations, said TRO sources in Vanni. More than 40 families consisting of 200 members are yet to recover from fear and shock after the murders believed to be carried by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and the collaborating paramilitaries.
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More families flee from SLN controlled Jaffna islets

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 12:56 GMT]
Following the Allaipiddy assassinations and the consequent evacuation of the village by its entire population, more than ten families from its neighbouring villages Velanai and Suruvil fled Sunday in fear seeking refuge in schools and churches in Jaffna, said sources in Jaffna. The Jaffna islets are under the total control of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN).
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Jaffna GA, NGOs unable to guarantee safety to Allaipiddy refugees

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 May 2006, 18:28 GMT]
Meeting between Jaffna Government Agent (GA), representatives of the non-Governmental Orgnizations, and Allaipiddy refugees Thursday afternoon around 3 p.m at the Allaipiddy St. Philips church, ended inconclusively with the GA and NGOs unable to provide guarantees of safety to the Allaipiddy displaced, sources said. Families from the islets have sought refuge in the Church following the 13th Saturday Allaipiddy assassinations alleged to have been carried out by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and its paramilitary men,.
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Religious heads protest in Kilinochchi against civilian killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 May 2006, 18:17 GMT]
"International community and Human Rights agencies including UNHCR, UNICEF are keeping silent while Tamil men, women and children are being killed daily in NorthEast of Sri Lanka," said Janab. S. M. Shaheel, Islamic religious leader, participating in a non-violent sit-in demonstration staged in front of the UNHCR office in Kilinochchi Wednesday from 8.45 a.m to 1:00 p.m., said sources in Kilinochchi.
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SL Navy, EPDP cadres present at massacre site - Amnesty International

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 May 2006, 08:13 GMT]
The Amnesty International has slammed the Government of Sri Lanka as having a record of "disturbing pattern of incomplete or ineffective investigations" of the extrajudicial killings and said it has received credible reports that Sri Lanka Navy personnel and armed cadres affiliated with Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), were present at the massacre site on Kayts islet. Thirteen civilians were massacred in three spots on the Kayts islet controlled by the Sri Lanka Navy Saturday night. The EPDP, a paramilitary and a political party in the ruling UPFA alliance of the SL President Mahinda Rajapakse, had exercised tight control of the Jaffna islets before the Ceasefire Agreement.
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MP saddened by UNICEF, UNHCR's silence on Children's killing

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 May 2006, 02:35 GMT]
"I am deeply concerned and saddened by the silence of the premier world organizations that advocate rights of children, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and the UNHCR, on the escalating number of children being killed in the NorthEast in Sri Lanka by the State's security forces," said Pathmini Sithamparanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Jaffna, speaking to the press Monday.
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SLMM's delay in publicizing evidence aiding killing spree- Ilamparithi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 May 2006, 17:01 GMT]
"Though the injured victims, the relatives of the killed and our Political office have submitted concrete evidence to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna proving the killings of innocent civilians in the Jaffna peninsula after the Geneva talks by security forces and paramilitaries, the evidence has not been made public by the SLMM. Unfortunately, this delay has resulted in marked escalation in killings," said Ilamparithi, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Jaffna district political wing head, giving particulars of his urgent complaint to the Chief of SLMM, Jaffna district, Sunday.
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Gunmen kill 4 more civilians, islets terrorized

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 May 2006, 06:31 GMT]
Three civilians belonging to same family were massacred at their home in Puliyankoodal in Kayts by Sri Lanka Navy operated paramilitary gunmen, around 10:30 p.m. Saturday. A tea-shop owner was also found shot dead near Velanai junction. A petrol station was attacked. Meanwhile, armed men who came in a vehicle set fire to several shops and blasted a transformer at Puliyankoodal junction in Kayts, Saturday night, civilian sources said. Villagers blame Sri Lankan forces for the attacks in the Jaffna islets. On Saturday alone, 13 civilians have been killed in Sri Lanka Navy controlled Jaffna islets. EPDP paramilitary was in control of the Jaffna islets before the signing of CFA in 2002.
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