Mason shot dead in Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 March 2007, 04:30 GMT]
Amid escalating number of killings and abductions in Thenmaradchy in Jaffna district, a young family man, 28, was shot dead by unknown gunmen along Dutch Road in Chavakachcheri near the Government Hospital at 8:45 a.m. Sunday, sources in Jaffna said.
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UN delegation discusses Rights violation with Jaffna magistrate

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 February 2007, 00:36 GMT]
Legal Advisor to UN Geneva office, Cordula Droege, and Mariko Kushima, the newly appointed ICRC Jaffna Delegate, met Jaffna District Magistrate Mr. R. T. Vignarajah Friday at the Jaffna Courts office to find out in detail the situation in Jaffna peninsula concerning continuing arrests, abductions, killings, harrassment and other human rights violation, sources close to Jaffna courts said.
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5 Jaffna civilians missing, feared abducted by SLA

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 February 2007, 02:41 GMT]
Five civilians were reported missing on Tuesday from Jaffna Municipal area and Atchuvely area in Jaffna peninsula according to complaints made at the Jaffna office of the Human Rights Commission (HRC). Two of the persons were missing on their way to Jaffna town while three were arrested by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers driving a white van, family members of the missing persons said.
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4000 killed in 15 months - SLMM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 February 2007, 09:54 GMT]
Nearly 4000 people have lost their lives during the past 15 months in contrast to less than 130 deaths during the first 3 years following the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) of 22 February 2002, between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the truce monitors said Thursday in a statement marking the fifth year of the signing of the CFA between the GoSL and the LTTE.
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Ad Hominem

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 February 2007, 00:28 GMT]
Allan Rock, Special Representative for United Nations Committee on Children and Armed Conflict, came under scathing personal attack in Sri Lanka Government controlled media for his report implicating Colombo for complicity in child recruitment. Ad hominem, a fundamental fallacy much detested in the field of rhetoric, and legal and scientific debate, has become a common tool in Sri Lanka Government's arsenal in confronting bad publicity in matters that have drawn negative international attention.
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Education in peril

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 February 2007, 00:33 GMT]
More than 7% of school-aged children in Jaffna, amounting to 10201 students, dropped out of schools in 2006, most of the dropouts occurring following the fresh outbreak of violence from 11 August 2006, say education officials in Jaffna. The schools in the district that boasted highest literacy rates 3 decades ago, and produced nearly 40% of the medical and engineering freshmen, now are gripped with fear of student abductions, and with high school education crippled with lack of school supplies and scarcity of books.
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SLFP dissidents urge Colombo to prevent Rights abuses

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 February 2007, 04:19 GMT]
Former Sri Lanka's Foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, and former Port Development Minister, Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi, on Thursday accused the Mahinda Rajapakse government of alleged human rights violations, and warned that Sri Lanka faced international isolation unless steps were taken to stem the tide of disappearances and extra judicial killings, sources in Colombo said. Addressing a press conference at the Parliamentary complex, Mr. Samaraweera said his concern about the growing human rights violations in Sri Lanka was one of the main reasons that he was sacked by Mr Rajapakse.
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UNP condemns abductions

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 February 2007, 21:41 GMT]
Tamils who have no connections with war and terrorism are being abducted in Colombo and other areas in the country, said Lakshman Kiriella, Kandy district United National Party parliamentarian addressing a press briefing held Thursday at the office of the Leader of the Opposition.
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Jaffna journalists fearful amid threats, killings

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 February 2007, 02:27 GMT]
The campaign of intimidation backed up by deadly violence has compelled Sri Lankan journalists of all ethnicities to flee Sri Lanka. But unlike their southern colleagues, journalists in the Jaffna have no easy escape and media institutions in the northern peninsula are appealing for international support in the face of threats by Army-backed paramilitaries.
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Jaffna students end boycott

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 February 2007, 14:54 GMT]
High School and Secondary school students in Jaffna peninsula returned to their classes on Wednesday, in response to the communiqué issued by Jaffna Students Union calling for an end to the two weeks-old boycott of classes. However, attendence was low at Hartley College, Point Pedro and Velauththam MahaVidyalayam, the schools where two abducted on 17 January were attending classes.


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AG orders formation of vigilante groups in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 February 2007, 01:33 GMT]
The Attorney General (AG) of Sri Lanka issued a special order to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to take steps to facilitate formation of vigilante groups in the villages of Jaffna Peninsula to include civil leaders as a mechanism to prevent robberies, abductions and killings taking place in nights during the curfew hours. The Special order was issued due to highlight the urgency to the local Police which has been unresponsive to AG's earlier call on the same matter, legal sources said.
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Two civilians abducted in Jaffna Sunday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 February 2007, 12:45 GMT]
Two more civilians were abducted early morning Sunday in Chunnakam and Ariyalai areas by armed men riding in white vans, Jaffna Branch of Human Rights Commission (HRC) officials said citing complaints registered at their offices by victims' relatives. The escalation in abductions has continued amidst the visit to Jaffna of a special Human Rights group under the direction of UN Secretary General Saturday, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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Eight "white van" abductions in Jaffna in 3 days

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 February 2007, 01:10 GMT]
Eight Tamil male civilians have been abducted by unidentified armed men in white vans within seventy two hour period beginning Wednesday, Jaffna branch of Human Rights Commission (HRC) officials said. According to complaints registered at the HRC office by the victims relatives, three men were abducted on Wednesday and five on Friday.
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UN urged not to ignore Rajapakse regime

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 February 2007, 12:58 GMT]
The UN security council working group which is set to study underage recruitment in Sri Lanka later Friday should not ignore the practice of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse’s regime in the practice, a senior columnist with The Guardian newspaper wrote in Friday’s edition on Guardian's 'Comment is Free' section. And condemning political movements for the violence they turn to, “whilst ignoring their complaints and the degree of support they command leads only to political stalemate and more bloodshed,” Jonathan Steele said in his column. He criticised President Rajapakse for destroying the 2002 truce by trying to reoccupy the areas recognised as under Tiger control.
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Anura Bandaranaike receives death threat

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 February 2007, 12:13 GMT]
Anura Bandaranaike, the Sri Lankan minister of National Heritage, and the brother of former SL President Chandrika Kumaratunga, has complained to law enforcement authorities in Colombo that he has received telephone death threats from anonymous callers. The threats are reported amidst speculation that relationship between Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and Anura Bandaranaike has been severely strained since the latest cabinet reshuffle when Mr. Bandaranaike lost his Tourism Ministry portfolio.
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Jaffna-wide schools boycott enters second week

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 February 2007, 10:33 GMT]
The boycott organized by Vadamaradchy Tamil Students union throughout Jaffna peninsula entered its second week on Monday, with no information received about the whereabouts of the two students abducted in Vadamaradchy three weeks ago. Most students in Jaffna district responded to the call by the Students Union to boycott school activities until the abducted students are released.
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Release East undergraduates immediately- TNA MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 February 2007, 00:27 GMT]
“Successive Sri Lanka Governments have been using education as a tool to punish the Tamil community as part of their campaign to subjugate the Tamils. The recent abductions and harassment of Northeast student community by the Sri Lankan Forces aimed at disrupting the education and instilling fear among the student population should be stopped immediately,” said S. Jeyananthamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian for Batticaloa district, Friday.
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Batticaloa GA visits Vaharai

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 February 2007, 00:44 GMT]
"Vaharai residents displaced due to the offensive of Sri Lanka army (SLA) will be resettled very soon, and displaced residents of Trincomalee district will follow soon after," said Sundaram Arumainayagam, the Government agent (GA) of Batticaloa district speaking to the press Thursday.
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Seven youths arrested by SLA, reported missing in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 February 2007, 00:05 GMT]
Seven youths arrested by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers and collaborating paramilitaries in Jaffna since Sunday, have been reported as missing by their relatives with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna offices, civil sources said. Three youths were arrested in Vadamaradchy Sunday, three youths on Tuesday and another on Monday from other parts of peninsula are listed as missing at the HRC.
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TRO staffers disappearance reaches one-year anniversary

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 01:07 GMT]
Seven staffers of Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), an NGO registered with the Government of Sri Lanka, were abducted on 29th and 30th January 2006, by armed paramilitiaries inside Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled area in Polannaruwa. In a press release issued from Colombo offices, the TRO said: "To date the Sri Lanka Police have yet to conduct any meaningful investigation or inquiry into these disappearances. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka investigated this case and made a report to its head that has never been released."


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