Assessing progress of Chemmani investigations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 November 2002, 18:42 GMT]
Amnesty International said in 1997 that as many as 600 people who "disappeared" in the Jaffna peninsula after the Sri Lankan Army moved into the area in 1996, "died under torture or been deliberately killed." A soldier involved in the crimes alleged that Chemmani was where bodies of those disappeared were clandestinely buried. However, the Chemmani mass grave investigation has become a victim of the judicial limbo common in Sri Lanka when powerful interests are implicated. Ethnic politics and the fallout of an active war have also contributed to the lack of forward movement in the case.
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Tamil Organisations condemn killings

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 20:47 GMT]
"Judicial investigation should be held into the killings of innocent Tamils at Kanchirankuda in Ampara district and at Abeyapura in Trincomalee and culprits should be brought to book without delay," said the Humanitarian Agencies Consortium in Killinochchi in memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister and Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Saturday.
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‘Punitha Boomi’ Celebrates 10th Anniversary

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 October 2002, 20:25 GMT]
'Punitha Boomi', a boys’ home operating from Oddusuddan in the Vanni region, Saturday celebrated its 10th anniversary. The occasion was also marked by the ceremonial opening of four new halls of residence, a cultural centre, a medical house and an administrative office.
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Second LTTE convoy uses sea route

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 October 2002, 13:12 GMT]
A large number of Liberation Tigers, escorted by international ceasefire monitors, travelled Thursday from Mullaitivu to the eastern province along the sea route agreed by the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE two months ago. This is the second such convoy to use the route.
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Polio immunisation targets northeast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 September 2002, 13:27 GMT]
More than three hundred thousand children under five years of age in Sri Lanka’s northeast province were immunized against Polio Saturday, health officials said.
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Disabled Tigers return overland to Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 September 2002, 09:26 GMT]
Seven wounded and disabled Liberation Tigers recuperating at a rehabilitation centre in Mullaitivu Wednesday travelled through Sri Lanka Army controlled territory to meet relatives in Batticaloa, Tamil press reports said Friday.
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NE local government polls postponed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 September 2002, 14:57 GMT]
The Commissioner of Elections Tuesday announced that the local government polls in the Northeast province scheduled for 25 September has been postponed for the second time in a year. According to the notification issued by the Commissioner Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake Tuesday, the elections to Northeast local authorities will be held on 25 June, 2003.
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First Sea Movement of LTTE Successful -SLMM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 August 2002, 15:15 GMT]
The Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Major General Trond Furuhovde, said Tuesday that the first sea movement of the LTEE members between Mullaithivu and Vaakarai, this weekend has clearly demonstrated the parties’ determination and willingness to find solutions on complicated matters. "The sea movement, as challenging it is, can form the very symbol of commitment and confidence of the Parties," Mr.Furuhovde said in a statment issued by the SLMM, Tuesday.
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Sea Tiger convoy sails under SLMM aegis

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 August 2002, 20:25 GMT]
The first Sea Tiger convoy sailing from Mullaitivu under a working agreement between the Sri Lankan Navy and the Liberation Tigers brokered by international ceasefire monitors arrived in Vaakarai Sunday. Two patrol boats of the Sri Lanka Navy provided escort to LTTE boats.
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Stolen vehicles 'sold in north'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 August 2002, 17:52 GMT]
People in the north of Sri Lanka should be wary of buying vehicles which could be stolen in the south of the island, the Vavuniya Magistrate warned. "People in Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar should think twice before purchasing a vehicle from strangers, as a gang is operating in selling vehicles which have been stolen in the south," Mr.M.Illancheliyan, said at a murder inquest.
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NE District Unions in new Consortium

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 August 2002, 01:56 GMT]
A new organisation, the Consortium of North East Thrift and Credit Co-operative Societies Unions (TCCS) has been formed with its headquarters in Trincomalee. Eight district member unions of the NorthEast province which had been aligned with the Sri Lanka Federation of TCCS Ltd with its headquarters in Colombo became members of the TCCS.
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Six arrested entering Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 August 2002, 17:09 GMT]
The Tamil Eelam police arrested six people who entered LTTE-held Vanni without permission in two separate incidents on August 4, Tamil press reports said Monday. Among those arrested were three weapon-carrying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers who attempted to infiltrate into LTTE-held areas.
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'Lack of transparency in NGO activities'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 June 2002, 02:14 GMT]
There was a lack of transparency in the activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the north and east, with some aid workers putting their personal betterment ahead of the interests of the people they ought to be assisting, speakers told a two-day workshop on the Poverty Alleviation Programme organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry assisting Vanni Rehabilitation and sponsored by the Northeast Provincial Planning Secretariat in Trincomalee Sunday. The workshop concluded with a play enacted by a group of artistes who specially came to Trincomalee from the Vanni region.
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25,245 Vanni children not getting schooling

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 June 2002, 20:34 GMT]
Due to the poor education facilities in the Vanni region, 25,245 students in five education zones in the region are not attending school regularly. Prior to the research conducted by the Rural Economic Research and Development Corporation during education awareness week, the number was assumed to be 21,000.
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MP lists occupied temples, schools in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 June 2002, 16:10 GMT]
Trincomalee parliamentarian R. Sampanthan Monday sent a letter by fax to the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe listing schools, places of worship, private lands and public buildings in the Trincomalee district which have not been vacated by the State armed forces even one hundred and fifteen have passed after signing the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers on February 23. The list included five places of worship, twelve schools and eighteen public buildings and private lands which are still in the hands of State armed forces.
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VoT hosts Jaffna cultural show

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 June 2002, 10:07 GMT]
Thousands of Tamils in Jaffna gathered Sunday for a cultural performance put on by the Arts & Culture section of the Liberation Tigers, in the first such event in seven years, the Uthayan newspaper reported. The 'Muththamil Kalai Arangam' road show took place at Nallur's Ilam Kalaignar Hall and was presented by the 'Voice of Tigers' radio.
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Tamil Eelam police celebrate anniversary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 June 2002, 16:45 GMT]
The Tamil Eelam Police Service (TEPS) held a sports tournament at the Malathi Stadium in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu as part of the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of its formation. In his address, the head of the TEPS, Mr. P. Nadesan, saluted the service’s exemplary performance during the past decade, which he said had been rendered amidst difficult conditions of embargo and equipment shortage.
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Monitors say Navy restrictions violate truce

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 June 2002, 00:19 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government’s gazette notification of fishing restrictions issued last week under the Prevention of Terrorism Act conflicts with the provisions of the ceasefire agreement the government signed with the Liberation Tigers, press reports Thursday quoted international truce monitors as saying.
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Sri Lanka tightens fishing restrictions under terrorism act

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 June 2002, 05:52 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has issued a gazette notification retrospectively dated 23 May, 2002 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act specifying areas in the Northeast that have been restricted for fishing. The government will appoint a Competent Authority in charge of the newly demarcated restricted areas under this gazette notification. The new PTA regulation includes punishment for those violating restriction on fishing in the specified areas.
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SLA strengthens Jaffna coastal defences

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 May 2002, 12:39 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army is constructing new bunkers and check posts in the coastal areas of Vadamarachchi division in Jaffna, residents said Monday. The military began strengthening its coastal defenses in the villages of Polikandy, Thikkam, Sakkottai, Manalkaadu and Kudaththanai. The SLA is also engaged in fortifying its camps in the interior sectors of the division, sources said.
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