Australian ICJ considers Tamil plight

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 June 2001, 15:56 GMT]
The Australian branch of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has suggested to the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and the Australian Foreign Minister to include the Sri Lankan ethnic issue on the Commonweal Heads of Government meeting scheduled to be held in Brisbane in October this year, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil United Liberation Front Member of Parliament of the Batticaloa district told Tamilnet Saturday. He said that Hon. Justice John Dowd, President of the International Commission of Jurists (Australian Section) has informed him of the development.
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Damage control as peace process hits the rocks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 June 2001, 05:15 GMT]
(News Feature) The bi-lateral decision by Norway and Sri Lanka last Thursday, at the latter's insistence, to reduce the prominence of Oslo's peace envoy, Erik Solheim, has delivered an unexpected and severe blow to the Liberation TigersÇ confidence in the Norwegian initiative, political analysts said Monday. Sri Lanka's state-media Monday strove to give the impression that the process was still on track, but the LTTE's strongly worded statement Sunday and sentiments being expressed by Tamil politicians and media emphasised the depth of the crisis, they said.
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SL Govt. insensitive to Tamil agony - Pararajasingham

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2001, 11:29 GMT]
“The Tamil people have totally lost faith in the Sri Lankan government. The Liberation Tigers observed a ceasefire unilaterally for four months because they felt that the Tamil people should not continue to suffer and to create a climate conducive for Norway’s peace efforts. By rashly rejecting their ceasefire and stubbornly refusing to reciprocate it, the government displayed its gross insensitivity to the agony of the Tamil people”, said Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil United Liberation Front MP for Batticaloa, in a comment sent to the Tamil press Tuesday.
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Colombo set on war path say Tamil parties

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 April 2001, 15:52 GMT]
Tamil party leaders Sunday strongly condemned statements made by Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, that the war against the Liberation Tigers has begun and that his government will not declare a ceasefire again. “ The Prime minister’s pronouncement on Friday makes it amply clear that the Sri Lankan government is not interested in peace negotiations at all. The PM is a confidante of the President. His renewed belligerence shows that the government is on the war path again”, charged a spokesman for the alliance of ten Tamil parties.
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Pararajasingham says prisons toll death knell for Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 April 2001, 12:25 GMT]
"The prison is said to be a high security, safe place for prisoners. But judging from various attacks on Tamil prisoners detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency Regulations during the past eight years, prison has become a death knell for Tamil prisoners", said Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, TULF MP for Batticaloa in a letter faxed to the Sri Lankan President about the brutal attack Saturday on Tamil prisoners held in the Negombo prison under the Immigrants and Emigrants (Amendment) Act No.42 of 1998. Fifteen Tamil prisoners who were on protest fast demanding that they be released on bail were injured when they were brutally attacked by prison guards Saturday. The condition of seven is serious.
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Eastcoast temple invokes peace

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 March 2001, 22:05 GMT]
More than five hundred people took part in a special Yaga ceremony for peace Saturday at Naavalady, a coastal village on the outskirts of Batticaloa town. Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham and Mr. Pon Selvarajah, the Tamil United Liberation Front MPs for Batticaloa, senior government servants and the town's leading businessmen were at the Gayathri temple where the Yaga (raising of sacrificial fire) was held.
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US security officials, ambassador visit Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 February 2001, 20:37 GMT]
The US ambassador for Sri Lanka, Ashley Wills, visited Batticaloa Wednesday with the mission’s Defence Attaché and its Regional Security Officer. The US embassy delegation held a two-hour discussion with SLA officers at the headquarters of the 23-3 brigade in Batticaloa town about the security situation in the district. The delegation also met Air Force and Police officers of the region thereafter. The ambassador later called on Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil United Liberation Front MP for Batticaloa. Security was tightened in places the US delegation was expected to visit in the town.
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Several said missing after massacre

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 October 2000, 00:36 GMT]
(News Feature) Four more Tamil detainees who were seriously wounded in Wednesday's massacre at the Bindunuwewa detention centre have succumbed to their injuries bringing the death toll to twenty-nine, Joseph Pararajasingham, an MP for the Batticaloa district said. Twenty Tamil detainees amongst those held at the detention centre remained unaccounted for Wednesday night, sources said.
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Pararajasingham elected on final count

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 October 2000, 16:49 GMT]
Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham was re-elected member of Parliament on the final count of personal preference votes obtained by candidates of his party which won two seats in Batticaloa. Mr. Nimalan Soundaranayagam obtained the largest number of personal preference votes among the TULF candidates who contested the elections in Batticaloa. The TULF lost Mr.Pararajasingham's electorate by coming third after the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress front, the National Unity Alliance, and the United National Party.
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TULF loses in Trincomalee, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 October 2000, 08:36 GMT]
Tamils in Trincomalee lost representation in the Sri Lankan parliament for the first time since the island became independent in 1948. Despite decades of state backed Sinhala colonization aimed at altering the demographic complexion of this east coast district, Tamils still form the majority at 36.4 percent of the population. Nevertheless, no Tamil was elected to Parliament in this election.
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SLA humiliates civilians in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 September 2000, 15:37 GMT]
A man was forced to climb and sit atop a tree for more than an hour by a Sri Lanka army soldier in the heart of Batticaloa town today while four boys were forced by soldiers in another part of the town centre this noon to carry their bicycles on their shoulders. The man was allowed to climb down after the local MP intervened in the matter. The boys were humiliated because they had left their bicycles by the pavement when a military convoy was passing by, sources said.
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Batticaloa group said blocking TULF

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2000, 13:51 GMT]
Joseph Pararajasingham Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP for Batticaloa denied reports Saturday that his party was divided over the new constitution bill. "I am sure that my party will stand united in opposing the constitution bill as it falls far short of basic Tamil aspirations" the MP said.
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Tamil parties say autonomy bill disappointing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 August 2000, 10:44 GMT]
Tamil parties Wednesday reacted with thinly veiled disappoinment and chagrin to the government's decision to table in the Sri Lankan Parliament tomorrow the constitutional reform proposals agreed upon last month by the ruling People's Alliance and the main opposition United National Party which falls much short of their basic expectations about autonomy. "The reform package to be presented tomorrow aims to make the country exclusively Buddhist. We have already objected to three fundamental aspects of this package" said TULF MP for Batticaloa Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham. The leaders of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) said categorically they will reject this 'package'.
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Key witness in Batticaloa massacre threatened

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 July 2000, 12:28 GMT]
Father Joseph Ignatius Chandra, the key witness in the massacre of civilians in Batticaloa town by a section of the Sri Lanka army on May 17 has been threatened by armed persons suspected to be members of the Sri Lankan security forces and cadres of Tamil para-military groups operating with the Sri Lanka army in the east.
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Package in Parliament next month - minister

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 July 2000, 08:25 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government said Saturday that it will place proposals for constitutional change in Parliament in the first week of August. Mr.Batty Weerakoon, Sri Lanka's Minister for Science and Technology, said today that the decision to submit the constitutional reform proposals to Parliament was taken at the discussion between the government and the United National Party. The Minister, however, said that the elections to the Parliament due by November this year will be held under the present constitution.
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Police arrests lecturer, Zonal Director

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 July 2000, 15:01 GMT]
Sri Lankan police arrested S.Thiyakarasa, a lecturer at Batticaloa Technical College and Sivagnanam Ahileswaran, the Paddiruppu Zonal Director of the Educational Department, on Tuesday. The students of the Technical College in the eastern town boycotted their classes and picketed in front of the college today, protesting against the arrest of the lecturer inside the college premises.
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TULF says PA-UNP formula "unacceptable"

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 July 2000, 11:02 GMT]
The delegation of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) that met the Sri Lankan President Monday afternoon to the discuss devolution formula which the government and the United National Party agreed upon last week, told her that the PA-UNP proposal did not satisfy Tamil aspirations with regard to the structure of the Sri Lankan state, the unit of devolution and powers relating to state land. The TULF delegation "impressed upon the government that the LTTE should be involved in the negotiating process in order to bring an end to the war and an effective resolution to the conflict". The party said that it had strongly objected to the referendum to determine the continuation of the north-eastern province as one unit.
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Tamil aspirations not fulfilled - TULF MP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 July 2000, 17:39 GMT]
Agreements reached between the People's Alliance (PA), and the opposition United National Party (UNP), on constitutional reforms aimed at solving the ethnic conflict of the island do not fulfil aspirations of Tamil people, and therefore, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) will not accept the new constitution, said Joseph Pararajasingham, Member of Parliament for Batticaloa district and Leader of the TULF Parliamentary Committee.
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MP reads out raped woman's letter

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 July 2000, 17:03 GMT]
Speaking on the extension of the emergency in Parliament Thursday, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP for Batticaloa Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham read out a letter written to the Sri Lanka's National Human Rights Commission by a seventy year old woman of Neervely in Jaffna who was raped and robbed by Sri Lankan army personnel on May 31. The MP said that he was bringing the letter to the attention of the house as the matter had been suppressed under the censorship. Mr.Pararajasingham pointed out that about 1500 Tamil youth have been detained for more than four years under the Prevention of Terrorism Act without trial.
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Policemen sentenced for forcing youth to marry

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 July 2000, 17:02 GMT]
The Batticaloa district judge Wednesday sentenced three Sri Lankan Policemen to six months rigorous imprisonment each on three counts and three months R.I on one count for abducting a youth and forcibly marrying him to a girl who had allegedly been made pregnant by one of their officers. The judge, J.Viswanathan, said that the court is not giving the Policemen suspended sentences in view of the increasing incidents of people being threatened by armed persons. The judge issued an arrest warrant on another Policeman involved in the case who is absconding.
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