'No new evidence' - Koneswary inquiry

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 February 1999, 23:59 GMT]
The Kalmunai Magistrate Mr.Anton Balasingham at the conclusion of the re-opened magisterial inquest proceedings into the death of a mother of four children, Murugesapillai Koneswary of Central Camp, Ampara district, reaffirmed his earlier verdict of homicide.
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Rights group call to investigate atrocities

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 February 1999, 23:55 GMT]
The Forum for Human Dignity in Colombo has brought to the notice of the Anti-Harassment Committee several cases of disappearances and deaths in the Jaffna peninsula and the eastern province, FHD officials told TamilNet.
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Call for NORAD projects in all Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 February 1999, 23:48 GMT]
The Batticaloa District Coordinating Committee (DCC), which comprises all the top government officials, including the Government Agent (GA) who functions as its secretary, and members of Parliament of this eastern region unanimously passed a resolution today that the Norwegian government aid program for development and rehabilitation should be implemented without discrimination in all parts of Batticaloa.
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Restrictions seen blocking NORAD projects

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 1999, 19:55 GMT]
"The concept of the uncleared and cleared areas is irrelevant. Every region has problems. All development work is prepared on the basis of the needs of the people. The economy of the whole district would be affected if there is no development or rehabilitation work in the uncleared areas" said Mr.A.K Pathmanathan, the Government Agent (GA) of Batticaloa today while addressing a meeting arranged for an official visit of the Norwegian Ambassador to the region.
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Government must negotiate - TULF

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 12:47 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Parliamentarian for the Batticaloa district, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, said that the denial of the legitimate rights of the Tamil people by Sri Lankan Governments has resulted in the current upsurge of violence on the island.
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350 eastern villagers arrested

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 December 1998, 15:09 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) arrested more than 350 civilians in the villages of Kondaiankerny, Kinnaiady, Sungaankerni and Karuvaakerny near Valaichenai, 32 kilometers north of Batticaloa, this morning for interrogation in connection with the activities of the Liberation Tigers in the area.
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TULF team in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 1998, 20:23 GMT]
A four member team of the TULF arrived in Jaffna by a special Sri Lankan military flight today to revive the function of the Jaffna Municipal Council. The team is in Jaffna with a mandate to ratify the Council's budget for 1999 said party sources.
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Journalists barred from Presidential Commission

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 November 1998, 20:02 GMT]
Journalists were barred from attending the sittings of the Presidential Commission, set up to investigate disappearances, which began at the Batticaloa Kachcheri today. The Commission was led by Ms.Manoari Muttatuwegama, wife of the late Ceylon Communist Party MP Sarath Muttetuwegama.
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Indian official visits east

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 November 1998, 11:47 GMT]
"The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka cannot be resolved without talking to the Liberation Tigers; they are the key players and main actors in the Tamil issue" said Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham MP of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) during discussions with Mr. C.V Thripathi, the first senior Indian official to visit the war torn Batticaloa district in ten years, this morning. Mr.Thripathi is India's new Deputy High Commissioner in Sri Lanka.
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Disappearances may be reprisals

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 October 1998, 21:05 GMT]
Twenty four Tamils are reported missing in the village of Koppaveli, 30 kilometers north west of Batticaloa from the early hours of the morning today said Divisional Secretary (DS) of Chenkalady.
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Jaffna Mayor's funeral held

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 September 1998, 13:23 GMT]
Reports from Jaffna said that the cortege of the slain Jaffna Mayor Pon Sivapalan was slowly winding its way through the streets of Jaffna to the Kombayan Manal cemetry.
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Begin talks with LTTE - TULF MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 September 1998, 18:26 GMT]
A senior member of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) said that the assassination of the Jaffna Mayor P. Sivapalan indicated that the Sri Lanka Government (SLG) and the Opposition should not play hide and seek in the matter of finding solution to the ethnic problem, but begin talks with the key player in the issue ñ the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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Amnesty protests illegal detentions

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 September 1998, 23:10 GMT]
Amnesty International, the human rights watchdog, has appealed for an immediate halt to use of unauthorized places of detention in Sri Lanka. In a press release issued on 3 September, Amnesty has condemned the PLOTE, TELO and EPRLF for rights abuses.
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PLOTE attempts to clear town

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 September 1998, 19:49 GMT]
PLOTE is making a fresh attempt to forcibly evacuate civilians from Rambaikkulam, a suburb of Vavuniya town said sources today. Some people may have already moved out they said.
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Informal meetings at India House

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Indian Prime Minister Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee had brief meetings with leaders of Tamil parties at a function held the India House in Colombo this evening.
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Uncertainty over journalists' arrests

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Officials from the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID), of the Sri Lankan Police have said that the two Tamil journalists who were recently taken into custody were arrested for reasons not related to their work, said sources.
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"Commission's mandate too narrow" - MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Joseph Pararajasingham, MP, has exhorted the Sri Lanka President, Chandrika Kumaratunga to extend the mandate of the recently constituted Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Involuntary Disappearances, to also investigate disappearances that occurred in the Tamil majority areas in the period from July 1995 to the present.
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Mayor's body arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The aircraft carrying the body of the assassinated Mayor of Jaffna, Sarojini Yogeswaran touched down at Ratmalana air- base, in the suburbs of Colombo around 1:30 p.m., said sources.
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Till the other side cracks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military's widespread and indiscriminate use of artillery and air power is arguably the major cause of civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka. In the past few years, the Sri Lankan military has repeatedly up-gunned its forces with ever larger caliber field guns, with more numerous aircraft that are capable of carrying heavier payloads and more heavily armed naval craft.
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Forced labour builds SLA defences

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is using forced labour to strengthen the Sri Lanka Army - Police checkpoint at Ottamavadi Bridge 36 km north of Batticaloa, following an attack on the position by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last Tuesday May 5, said sources in Batticaloa.
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