4 youths killed by 'White Van' squads in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 November 2006, 12:31 GMT]
Bodies of four youths, abducted earler by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) trooper and collaborating paramilitaries driving white vans, were found in Jaffna district Tuesday morning, civil society sources in Jaffna said. White van abductions, subsequent killings, and harassment of civilians by SLA soldiers riding in field bikes, have increased at an alarming rate in Jaffna, where amidst prevailing dire economic conditions residents are also gripped with fear from SLAs brutal counter-insurgency campaign, civil society sources and human rights activists in Jaffna said.
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Two youths found dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 November 2006, 22:13 GMT]
An unidentified burnt body of a youth, was recovered Monday near Urumpirai junction, residents of Urumpirai said. Sounds of gunfire were were heard Sunday around midnight from the place where the dead body was found, sources added.
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Three men abducted by 'White Van' squad in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 November 2006, 14:22 GMT]
Armed men arriving in white van have abducted three youths in Chunnakam, Jaffna Sunday night, officials of the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna said. Relatives of the abducted say that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) operating from the Atchelu Army camp are responsible for the abductions.
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UN: Sri Lanka military ‘recruiting child soldiers’

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 November 2006, 13:15 GMT]
A United Nations official Monday accused Sri Lankan government security forces of recruiting child soldiers on behalf of an allied paramilitary group which is also fighting Tamil Tigers. The special advisor to the UN Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Allan Rock, told reporters in Colombo that he had evidence of direct involvement of troops in forcibly enlisting children for the paramilitary group.
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Raviraj assassination, a black mark on Sri Lanka - UNP parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 November 2006, 18:08 GMT]
United National Party MP for Kalutura district, Rajitha Senaratne, addressing an all party press meet Sunday in Colombo said the assassination of Tamil National Alliance MP Nadarajah Raviraj in Colombo has challenged the people who voice for peace in the South. The assassination has created a black mark on Sri Lanka and has paved a way for the International Community to intervene in the domestic affairs, the MP said. The Anti-War National Front (AWNF) in Colombo has called for a Hartal in Colombo on Monday protesting against the assassination, extra-judicial killings and abductions taking place in Colombo and its environs.
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LTTE Political Head condemns Raviraj assassination in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 11:02 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Political Head S.P.Thamilchelvan condemned the assassination of Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj and accused the Sri Lankan state as responsible for the systematic slaying of humanitarian and democratic voices of Tamils. "Mr. Raviraj was slain in Colombo where he voiced against the abductions and killings carried out by the Sri Lankan military and it's paramilitaries," he said.
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Tamil Parliamentarian Raviraj assassinated in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 03:43 GMT]
Nadarajah Raviraj, 44, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian was shot in Colombo around 8:30 a.m. Friday. The MP succumbed to his wounds at Colombo National Hospital. A lawyer turned politician, former mayor of Jaffna, Mr. Raviraj, elected twice, has been an outspoken parliamentarian who voiced against the extra-judicial killings and forced disapperances in NorthEast and Colombo. The parliamentarian took part in a demonstration Thursday against the Sri Lanka Army shelling in Vaharai where 47 Tamil civilians, Internally Displaced from Trincomalee, were killed, Wednesday.
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Lack of Tamil proficiency impedes prompt action by SL police- IGP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 November 2006, 09:33 GMT]
The Sri Lanka police constables and officials lack proficiency in Tamil language, and therefore, are unable to take prompt and right action on the complaints made by the Tamils regarding abductions, disappearance, killings, and other law and order concerns of Tamils, said Inspector General of Police (IGP), Victor Perera, in a press meet held in Colombo Monday.


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India should lift ban on LTTE - Kuldip Nayar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 November 2006, 22:04 GMT]
Kuldip Nayar, the noted Indian journalist and head of the Indian Peace Mission to Sri Lanka called on India to lift the ban on the LTTE and engage it politically in order to bring lasting peace to the war-torn island, the Hindustan Times reported.
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Protest held in Colombo condemning abductions

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 November 2006, 21:09 GMT]
Committee for Tracing the Abducted Persons held a demonstration in Colombo Fort railway station Wednesday 12:00 noon demanding the release of persons abducted in Colombo and the suburbs, and urging civil society to pressure the Sri Lanka government to take urgent steps to prevent future abductions, civil sources said.


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Fifteen youths abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2006, 15:07 GMT]
Fifteen students of Chenkalady Central College are alleged to have been abducted on Monday at 5.30 pm in Chenkalady in Batticaloa district by armed men traveling in a white van. The parents of one of the missing have lodged complaints with Eravur Police, International Red Cross(ICRC) and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission(SLMM), Tuesday afternoon, civil society sources said.
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Peace process depends on ceasefire implementation - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 10:49 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers called Saturday for the full implementation of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA), saying "such actions will bring normalcy in the lives of our people, and help in taking forward the peace process towards a satisfactory conclusion." Addressing the opening session of the Norwegian facilitated negotiations in Geneva, LTTE's Political Head, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, said: "the best we can hope for from the current talks is therefore, the strengthening of the CFA agreement that has the potential to lead to a permanent, just peace in this island."
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Karuna ‘abducted hundreds of children’ – The Times

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 15:48 GMT]
The Karuna Group has abducted between 300 and 900 children — some as young as 12 — since March, The Times newspaper reported this week, quoting international and local aid workers in Sri Lanka. The paramilitary group’s “escalating activity has emerged as a key factor behind the upsurge in violence that has killed more than 2,000 people this year and left a 2002 ceasefire agreement in tatters,” the British newspaper said.
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TNA appeals to UN: "GoSL uses Humanitarian crisis as tool of war"

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 06:36 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) consisting 22 out of the 23 Tamil members elected to Sri Lankan Parliament from the NorthEast, in an appeal to the United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights and Refugees, said that the Government of Sri Lanka was using the humanitarian crisis as a tool of war. Detailing the humanitarian situation prevailing in all the districts of NorthEast, the TNA charged that the GoSL was engaged in a policy to drive the Tamil civilian population out of the Trincomalee District. The TNA's appeal to UN comes a day before the talks in Geneva.
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Sri Lanka in "interminable and intractable crisis"- UN

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 October 2006, 01:56 GMT]
Prof. Philip Alston, United Nation's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, Third Committee, 20 October 2006, said that the "dramatic attacks in recent days and spiraling number of extrajudicial executions" indicate that "Sri Lanka is not so much on the brink of a new crisis but, instead, only in the midst of an interminable and intractable crisis that has already exhausted its fair share of international attention," and called upon the United Nations Secretariat to "establish a full-fledged international human rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka."
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Muslim youth abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 October 2006, 00:55 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen in a white van abducted a Muslim youth Tuesday around 7:00 p.m from his home at Kavathamunai MPCS road in Valaichenai police division in Batticaloa, said Valaichenai police. Relatives of the victim, Mohamed Thaheem 21, a trader, have registered a complaint with the Valaichenai police.


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29 reported missing in Colombo - Civil Monitoring Committee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 October 2006, 08:33 GMT]
The Civil Monitoring Committee (CMC), formed recently in Colombo by involved Tamil and Sinhala politicians, to monitor extra judicial killings, abductions and disappearances, based on the records registered so far, reported Friday that 29 persons were still missing in Colombo. Six persons were reported killed. Eight persons were released, according to the list compiled from the details become public and from the people who are willing to talk.
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20 youths abducted in 2 days in Amparai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 October 2006, 05:22 GMT]
More than 20 Tamil youths were reported abducted in Akkaraippattu and Thirukkovil area in Amparai district by unidentified armed gang traveling in white vans on Sunday and Monday, civil society sources said. Relatives of abducted filed four complaints, two in Akkaraippattu and two in Thirukkovil, sources added.
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"White Van Squad" abducts two Tamils in Chilaw

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 September 2006, 05:43 GMT]
Unidentified armed men came in a "White Van" abducted two Tamil civilians on Tuesday night around 11:10 p.m. in Ward No.6 area opposite Udappu Tamil Vidiyalayam, according to a complaint made by the abductees' relatives with the Munthal police.
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Tigers respond positively for Co-Chairs' call for talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 09:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers officials at the LTTE's Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi Friday said that the Tigers had responded positively for the International Community's call for talks in Oslo to Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar, in a meeting Friday where LTTE's Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan discussed the ground situation and the recent statement from the Co-Chairs, who represent the donor community to Sri Lanka.
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