NESHOR delegation meets UN officials in Geneva

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 April 2005, 19:05 GMT]
A delegation of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) led by its Deputy Chairman Mr.K.Sivapalan met with Mr.Miloon Kothari, United Nations Commission on Human Rights and Special Rapporteur to Adequate Housing at the UN headquarters in Geneva Monday, sources in Geneva said.
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SLA allows IDPs to settle in no-man's land near HSZ

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 April 2005, 13:34 GMT]
Jaffna area command of the Sri Lanka Army has given permission to the Jaffna district secretariat to relocate a section of the internally displaced families (IDPs) in an area located close to northeast of Palaly High Security Zone (HSZ) following threats by the Valigamam north fisheries societies that they would launch an agitation campaign if their demand were not met, secretariat sources said.
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Crowd sets fire to army motorbike in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 April 2005, 13:45 GMT]
An angry crowd set fire to a Sri Lanka army motorbike Saturday afternoon around 4.30 after it knocked down a girl in Sangarathanai, near Chavakachcheri town in Jaffna. Police rushed to the scene and dispersed the crowd following a tense stand off at Puliyadi on the A 9 road. The injured girl was admitted to Chavakachcheri Hospital and was later transferred to Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
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NESOHR delegation meets UN Rapporteur on education

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 April 2005, 10:25 GMT]
A delegation of the North East Secretariat On Human Rights (NESOHR) led by its Vice President Mr. K. Sivapalan (Attorney-at-Law), met with Mr. Vermor Munoz Villalobos, the Special Rapporteur on Rights to Education of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) on Wednesday in Geneva. Mr. T. Mahasivam, member of the NESOHR also participated. The NESOHR delegation submitted a detailed report about the discrimination shown to Tamils and Muslims students in Sri Lanka in the sphere of education.
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LTTE delegation in Finland, meets with Foreign Minister and Åland representative

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 March 2005, 23:54 GMT]
"The Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) was supposed to bring normalcy. But, under the pretext of High Security Zones (HSZ), Tamil people were denied of access to their homes. The war-displaced people were then heavily struck by the tsunami that multiplied the hardships. The delay in institutionalising a Joint Mechanism and the continued Sri Lankan military support to paramilitary operatives in violation to the CFA clause 1.8 have created a collective sense of frustration in the minds of the Tamil People," Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, LTTE's Political Head explained to Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Erkki Tuomioja, who received the LTTE delegation in Helsinki on Wednesday.
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Jaffna IDPs reject alternate land proposal by Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 March 2005, 19:09 GMT]
The Consortium of Welfare Centres for Internally Displaced Persons in Jaffna District Friday said that it would not accept alternate lands for their own lands now occupied by the government forces and declared as high security zones in the district. The Consortium said this in response to a report that the Supreme Court has queried the Jaffna Government Agent whether he could find alternate lands for the IDPs as their lands and houses are located within the HSZ and occupied by the State armed forces in the district, sources said.
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LTTE delegation in Bern, meets with Foreign Affairs officials

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 March 2005, 12:09 GMT]
The delegation led by Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, the head of political section of the LTTE, on Wednesday, met with Ambassador Thomas Greminger, Head of Political Affairs Division IV (Human Security), Switzerlands Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and discussed the post-tsunami joint mechanism and the current state of peace process.
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Riot Police stop IDPs entering Jaffna HSZ

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2005, 07:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police special riot squads Friday blocked more than a thousand Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) from forcibly entering the military high security zone (HSZ) in Thellipalai, Jaffna. The HSZ covers most of Jaffna’s northwestern sector. Protestors and Tamil National Alliance MPs argued with the Police riot squads. About thousand five hundred IDPs staged a protest march Friday from Mallakam Junction to the Thellipalai Divisional Secretary’s office demanding that they be allowed to resettle in their villages that have been garrisoned by the Sri Lanka army for more than fifteen years.
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Missing fishermen found in SLN custody

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 March 2005, 16:22 GMT]
Fishermen, Mr.Sivaraj Pirabu (24) and Mr.Joseph Iruthayathas (38), who went missing after going out fishing in Kankesanturai (KKS) sea were found in the custody of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), civil sources said. The SLN said the fishermen were arrested for straying into the high security zone (HSZ) in Kankesanthurai Sea.
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IDPs demand resettlement in HSZ

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 March 2005, 14:33 GMT]
Vadamaradchi East Fisheries Co-operative Societies Union (VEFCSU) has requested the Government of Sri Lanka to take immediate steps to allow all Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) to resettle in their own lands in Nagarkovil West, Nagarkovil East, Nagarkovil South and Amban East, which are located inside the high security zone (HSZ), sources said.
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Displaced fishermen demand resettlement near HSZ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 March 2005, 18:15 GMT]
Displaced fishermen of Valigamam coastal villages inside the high security zone (HSZ) and currently living in the villages of Polykandi, Sakkotai and Supparmadam in Vadamaradchchi North are to launch a protest campaign demanding they be allowed to resettle in villages from Valalai to Thondamannaru which border the HSZ, representatives of fisheries societies said at a press briefing held Thursday night at the office of the Vadamaradchchi North Fisheries Society.
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Foreign education officials visit tsunami hit Jaffna, Mullaitivu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2005, 15:48 GMT]
Mr.Fred van Leeuwen, General Secretary of the Education International (EI) and Mr.Aloysius Mathews, Chief Co-ordinator of the EI, Asia Pacific region accompanied by Mr.T.Mahasivam, General Secretary of the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) Monday visited the tsunami hit coastal areas in the districts of Jaffna and Mullaitivu, sources said.


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New offer no match for HSZ lands, say Jaffna Displaced

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2005, 12:37 GMT]
Mr N Ganesh, president of the displaced people welfare association in Jaffna said that the displaced people of Valikamam North Military High Security Zones categorically reject Sri Lankan governments recently announced offer of alternative lands in place of the lands occupied by the Sri Lankan armed forces in High Security Zones in Valikamam north, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLN stops school building construction in HSZ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2005, 16:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) refused permission to transport building material for the construction of a new building in Ponnalai Varathajaperumal Vidiyalayam effectively halting the construction work, civil society sources in Jaffna said. The school is located in the high security zone.


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Navy soldiers assault fishermen in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 January 2005, 11:25 GMT]
Two fishermen Wednesday lodged complaints with the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) that they were assaulted by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) while fishing in Pannai Sea Wednesday afternoon around 2 p.m., close to Jaffna town, sources said.
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SLA conditions delay school reconstruction in Jaffna HSZ

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 December 2004, 13:13 GMT]
The rehabilitation of war destroyed schools which are located inside the high security zones in Jaffna district are getting delayed due to stringent conditions of the Sri Lanka Army in transporting materials to sites of reconstruction. Hence the contractors are fighting to keep the deadline, education sources said.
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CTTU discusses Jaffna HSZ issue with SL President

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 December 2004, 03:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, told a delegation of the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) Friday that the Sri Lankan security forces continue to believe that Liberation Tiger cadres would infiltrate into the high security zones if the internally displaced families were allowed to resettle, according to CTTU general secretary Mr.T.Mahasivam.
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GoSL must start talks based on ISGA- Jaffna NGOs

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 December 2004, 04:22 GMT]
"If peace and goodwill are to prevail, the Government of Sri Lanka should come forward to discuss without delay the Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals put forward by the LTTE. The proposals represent the collective will of all NorthEast Tamils," said Rev. Father Jeyakumar on behalf of the consortium of NGOs at a meeting held Monday in Nallur, Jaffna. Academics from the South who were on a fact finding mission to Jaffna also participated in the meeting.
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Jaffna IDPs oppose Palaly runway extension

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 November 2004, 03:23 GMT]
Union of Welfare Organizations of Displaced (UWOD) in Jaffna District Thursday in a press release appealed to the Government of India not to lend any assistance to the Sri Lanka government's plan to extend the Palaly airbase runway which will make the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people permanent in refugee camps and welfare centres, civil sources said.
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Inter faith group meets in Jaffna to discuss Peace

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 November 2004, 12:09 GMT]
Three-day workshop on Inter Faith Collaboration on Peace Process in Sri Lanka began Saturday at the Jaffna Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) auditorium located in Chundikuli, a suburb in Jaffna town. Dignitaries of all faiths participated in the inaugural event, sources said.
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