Colombo battles to sidestep Human Rights focus - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 April 2007, 15:58 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is trying to sidestep International Community's focus on Colombo's worst record of human rights abuses and institutionalized impunity for crimes against the Tamil people, by attempting to use the forum of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit against Tamil people's right to defend themselves, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Political Head S.P. Thamilchelvan told TamilNet when asked to comment on Colombo's focus shift to LTTE's air capability, prior to the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi.
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Jaffna 3 month tally: 67 shot dead, 29 abducted, 68 missing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 April 2007, 14:14 GMT]
Sixty-seven persons were killed and twenty-nine abducted by unidentified armed men while sixty-eight had been reported missing in Jaffna peninsula during the period from January to March 2007, according to a report by Human Rights Organisations in Jaffna. Though complaints had been made about these human rights violations to the law enforcing authorities in the peninsula, no one had been arrested by the authorities in connection any of the the complaints, legal sources in Jaffna said.
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2 white van abductions, 3 missing, 1 arrested by SLA in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 April 2007, 21:25 GMT]
Unidentified armed men in a white van abducted two civilians in the early hours of Monday morning while three had gone missing Saturday, one of them not returning after going to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) civil administration office in Colombuthurai, Jaffna, according to complaints made by their family members with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) office in Jaffna. Meanwhile, three civilians also reported missing in Jaffna, HRC officials said.
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Jaffna NGOs threatened to withhold monthly reports

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 April 2007, 10:38 GMT]
Consortium of non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Jaffna, announced Saturday that they will no longer make public the monthly reports to the media as they have been receivng death threats from unknown persons not to publish the reports, civil society sources in Jaffna said. The NGOs monthly reports, regularly released to the media, describe details of human rights violations including killings and abductions, the impact on escalating prices of goods due to shortage and other matters affecting residents' daily life in Jaffna district.
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Rajapakse wants referendum on abolishing CFA – state media

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 13:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse plans to hold a referendum to decide whether the Sri Lankan government should continue to abide by the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), state media reported Sunday, quoting “a high ranking official of the Presidential Secretariat.” The official was quoted by the Sunday Observer as saying “President Rajapaksa is keen to obtain a fresh mandate from the people on the CFA. The President is interested in looking at the proposed abolition of the CFA in a 'democratic manner', enabling the voters to decide on the fate of the CFA.”
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HRW slams Sri Lanka’s support for Karuna Group

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 March 2007, 11:38 GMT]
Despite promises to investigate abductions of children by the pro-government Karuna group, Sri Lankan authorities have taken no effective action and abductions continue, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday. “The Karuna group’s use of child soldiers with state complicity is more blatant today than ever before, ” Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW said in a statement. HRW also accused the LTTE of recruiting child soldiers. “The Karuna group is doing the government’s dirty work,” Adams said. “It’s time for authorities in Colombo to stop this group from using children in its forces.”
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Six civilians disappear in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 March 2007, 09:23 GMT]
Abductions and disappearances of Tamil persons in Jaffna district by members of Sri Lankan armed forces and allied paramilitaries are continuing unabated amid accusations by the international community at the 4th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council held in Geneva for Sri Lanka's human rights violations against their citizens, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Within 36 hours from Tuesday morning to Wednesday evening, six complaints of abductions were lodged at the Jaffna branch of the Human Rights Commission (HRC).
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SLA holds Tamil journalist, says RSF

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 March 2007, 15:10 GMT]
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) said in a press release issued Friday that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was involved in the abduction and disappearance of Subramaniam Ramachandran, a journalist working for Tamil daily, Yarl Thinakural. Ramachandran disppeared on 15 February after being questioned at the Kalikai junction, Vadamaradchy SLA camp, and RSF said his collegeues believe that he is being held in an SLA camp.
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Puttalam observes hartal against killings, abductions

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 March 2007, 00:42 GMT]
Residents and traders in Puttalam observed a general shut down Wednesday condemning killing and abducting civilians demanding ransom, sources in Sri Lanka's west coastal town said. Shops were closed, public transport came to a standstill and normal life in the town was disrupted.
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SLA introduces pass system to travel out of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 March 2007, 01:29 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) high command in Jaffna said it requires all persons wishing to leave Jaffna district to provide a surety to stand guarantee for the return of the applicant as an additional requirement to obtain a pass to travel out of the distriict. The travellers are asked to submit applications to the area SLA official through the Village Officer and the Divisional Secretary. Civil society sources expressed concern over the new regulations restricting the freedom of movement, and urged Rights groups to bring pressure on Colombo to stop the deteriorating human rights situation in Northeast.
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Karuna group, SLA, abduct 5 IDPs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 March 2007, 16:19 GMT]
Five persons, including a Hindu priest, two teen aged sisters, and two youths from the Internally Displaced People (IDP)s displaced from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held areas in Batticaloa district, have been taken away by paramilitary Karuna group personnel and soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence wing within the last 10 days, according to complaints lodged with Batticaloa Human Rights commission by their relatives.
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Rights questions bedevil Bogollagama UK, US visit

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 March 2007, 12:55 GMT]
"The five year old Ceasefire Agreement is in tatters and the Government [of Sri Lanka] seems more and more determined to pursue a military solution. But what are the costs? With widespread reports of abductions and disappearances, extra-judicial killings and torture, today's Sri Lanka is beginning to look like Pinochet's Chile," says Allan Little, BBC's Hard Talk, in his introduction to an interview with Rohitha Bogollagama. The foreign minister has completed his visit to UK and is currently in US, and his visit is plagued by questions regarding the worsening Human Rights situation in Sri Lanka.
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Colombo Rights body meets German Ambassador

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 12:21 GMT]
Delegation of Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC), a human rights watch dog based in Colombo, met German Ambassador Juergen Weerth in Colombo Tuesday and discussed the Human Rights situation in Colombo and NorthEast, civil society sources in Colombo said.
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4 disappearances, 4 abductions in 48 hours in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 March 2007, 16:42 GMT]
Human Rights Commission (HRC) offices in Jaffna reported Sunday that four youths have disappeared and four others have been abducted from their houses by armed men wearing black uniforms in the last 48 hours, sources in Jaffna said. Jaffna residents are gripped with fear as abductions by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and SLA-backed paramilitaries under Mahinda Rajapakse Government have exceeded the dangerous levels witnessed during Colombo's 1997 counter-insurgency campaign, civil society sources said.
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Protest held in Colombo against abductions

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 March 2007, 12:45 GMT]
The Committee for Finding the Disappeared Persons of New Democratic Front (NDF) held a protest campaign at Company Street Junction in Colombo around 4:00 p.m. Thursday demanding the immediate stop to human rights violations and disappearances. More than hundred activists including the relatives of the disappeared participated in the one-hour long event. More than ten children carried the portraits of their disappeared fathers, sources in Colombo said.
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SLA abducts 3 youths in Vadamaradchy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 March 2007, 13:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers abducted three more youths from the Vadamaradchy area between 4th and 6th of March, officials of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna said, citing complaints filed by the relatives of the missing.
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Mutturajawela swamp bodies identified

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 March 2007, 21:30 GMT]
Five bodies of male persons recovered from Mutturajawela swamp in Kandana police division Friday and Saturday have been identified as belonging to persons from Batticaloa district, a private electronic media reported Tuesday in the late night news bulletin quoting a police officer, G.Amaratunge, of Pamunugamuwa Police.
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SL Police chief admits Sri Lanka forces involved in abductions

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 March 2007, 12:03 GMT]
Sri Lankan security forces are involved in abductions of civilians for ransom, the country’s Police Chief admitted Monday, saying a ‘large number’ of officers and troops had been arrested on charges of abduction and extortion. However the Inspector General of Police, Victor Perera also asserted that “organised groups” were conducting abductions and killings “to embarrass the government.”


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UNP to launch campaign against abduction, killings, HR violations

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 March 2007, 21:36 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) is to launch a mass protest campaign across Sri Lanka against the increased number of abduction, killings and other human rights violations. The campaign will begin in April led by Ranil Wickremasinghe, opposition leader, said S.B.Dissanayake, national organizer of the UNP.
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SLA readies for Manalaru offensive, Tigers warn of bloodbath

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 March 2007, 12:07 GMT]
"We are aware that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has amassed military hardware close to Manalaru in preparation for a major offensive towards Mullaitivu area. Consequence of this offensive will be a catastrophic bloodbath across Sri Lanka," said Mr. Thamilchelvan, Head of LTTE Political Wing, speaking to TamilNet after meeting the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hans Brattskar and Norwegian Embassy official Erik Nuremberg, in Kilinochchi Monday.


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