2 Tamil women arrested in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 16:52 GMT]
Two Tamil females were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police in a cordon and search operation conducted from evening 6 pm till about 10 pm Thursday in Wellawatte area in Colombo district. Police said the two women are detained in the police station for further interrogation as they failed to establish their identity and justify their presence in the location.
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The Times demands action over ‘monstrous collusion’ in slaughter of Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 15:59 GMT]
Pointing out that not only the United Nations but several Western governments knew of the ongoing slaughter of 20,000 Tamil civilians by the Sri Lanka Army, but kept silent for fear of upsetting the Colombo Government, The Times newspaper Saturday demanded international action to prevent further atrocities. “Such a monstrous collusion in covering up an atrocity must not go unchallenged. If the UN Human Rights Council refuses to investigate what has happened, the West must do so forthwith,” the paper said. “The silence of those who were warned of civilian deaths in Sri Lanka is shameful. They must speak out now to prevent future atrocities,” the editorial’s subtitle charged.
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Evidence points to Colombo culpability to Tamil massacre - Washington Post

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 13:24 GMT]
Adding to the increasing international media coverage of Government of Sri Lanka's culpability to the massacre of more than 20,000 Tamil civilians in Mullaitheevu, Emily Wax of Washington Post in a Saturday story said, the beach "shows clear signs of heavy artillery shelling, according to a helicopter inspection of the site by independent journalists, interviews with eyewitnesses, and specialists who have studied high-resolution satellite imagery from the war zone." The paper notes Rights advocates view that "any government could defeat terrorism if it ignored the 1949 Geneva convention that aims to protect civilians caught in war zones," and adds that U.S. Justice Department is considering whether to seek criminal charges against Colombo officials based on information filed by Attorney Bruce Fein.
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UN concealed carnage to keep Sri Lanka goodwill – Le Monde

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 2009, 23:39 GMT]
The United Nations deliberately hid the number of Tamil civilians being killed during the Sri Lankan government offensive against the LTTE, according to a report in the French daily Le Monde. The report, translated by FRANCE 24, quotes several UN sources alleging that high-ranking UN officials, including Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, chose to keep silent about the high civilian death toll so as to avoid offending the Sri Lankan government and maintain UN operations in the country. A low figure was even leaked by the UN in mid-May, when it was known that the real toll was approaching 20,000 dead.
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Jaffna NGOs Federation wants probe into shortage of essential goods

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 2009, 22:52 GMT]
Federation of Jaffna Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) in its meeting held Thursday at Koayil Veethi office in Jaffna to discuss the current acute shortage of essential food items including wheat flour and sugar extended an urgent request to Jaffna Government Agent (GA) to investigate into the issue and identify the persons responsible for the shortage of essential food items in Jaffna peninsula. Wheat flour, sugar and other essential commodities are being sold 20 to 25 rupees higher than their normal price in the black market, the representatives of NGOs Federation said.
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Prof. S. Krishnarajah passes away in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 2009, 22:04 GMT]
Dean of the Faculty of Art in Jaffna University, Prof. S. Krishnarajah, admitted to a private hospital in Colombo recently passed away Friday, sources in Colombo said. Sixty-two-years old Prof. S. Krishnarajah has been serving in Jaffna University for the last 33 years.
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‘Still no access’ - UN, aid agencies

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 May 2009, 19:09 GMT]
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and international aid groups Friday protested Sri Lanka’s denial of access to hundreds of thousands of Tamils concentrated in militarized camps in the north and the homes from which the displaced had fled. Sri Lanka is still refusing to provide aid workers with full access despite an appeal by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the UN said separately.
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Armed men shoot Tamil youth in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 May 2009, 15:48 GMT]
A Tamil youth was critically injured when unidentified armed persons arrived in a three wheeler fired at him. They fled from the scene when the neighbors shouted for assistance. The incident took place Tuesday afternoon around 12:55 p.m. at New Chetty Street in Kotahena police division in Colombo district, according to Police Spokesman Ranjit Gunasekara. The injured has been identified as Satkunarajah Wimalan (26) of New Chetty Street.
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TNA MP Jeyananthamoorthy's secretary reported missing

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 May 2009, 15:32 GMT]
Thavarajasingham Subash, 23, secretary to S.Jeyananthamoorthy, Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian has been reported missing mysteriously since Tuesday early morning around 2:15 a.m after he arrived in Katunayake from Chennai airport in Tamilnadu. Katunayake Police took into custody on his arrival from Chennai. Later it was reported that he was released. However he failed to return home thereafter, according to complaints lodged with the police by his relatives, according to media reports.
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Jaffna traders required to bribe government officials in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 May 2009, 09:53 GMT]
Traders in Jaffna peninsula have to bribe government officials to expedite transport of goods from Colombo in lorries through A9 land route, representatives of Jaffna Traders Union (JTU) told the visiting delegation of Colombo Chamber of Commerce, Wednesday, in Jaffna. Despite wide publicity by Sri Lanka government that the A9 route is available for public use, transport of goods along this route has taken place only four times since its opening, sources in Jaffna said.
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Access to Sri Lanka detention camps ‘not satisfactory’ - ICRC chief

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 May 2009, 00:47 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross has been barred from visiting internment camps in Sri Lanka to check on people held by the Colombo government, the head of the organisation has said. Jakob Kellenberger has asked the Sri Lankan government for access to all its camps, which are ringed by barbed wire and soldiers, to check on conditions of hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians. He pointed out the present situation is "not satisfactory," Swissinfo reported. The ICRC, which usually refrains from publicly criticizing governments, is mandated under the Geneva Conventions to aid victims of war, Canadian Press reported.
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Tamil shop burnt down in Wattala

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 17:23 GMT]
A shop run by Tamil person located along Kalveti Road in Wattala in Colombo district was burnt down on Monday early morning by two unidentified persons who came in a motorbike. The shop was reduced to ashes, according to complaint lodged with the Wattala Police by the owner.
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Sinhalese's extremists demonstrate against Canada

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 14:56 GMT]
Hundreds of Sinhalese extremists from political parties and other organizations including Buddhist monks staged a protest demonstration Wednesday in front of the Canadian Embassy in Colombo, accusing the Canadian government of supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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Acute shortage of essential food items in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 14:38 GMT]
Residents of Jaffna peninsula are experiencing an acute shortage of essential food commodities including wheat flour and sugar, sources in Jaffna said. Jaffna Government Agent (GA), in a press release Tuesday night, said that arrangements are being made to get down wheat flour from Trincomalee and sugar from Colombo.
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Conditions in Jaffna for investment poor – Jaffna Traders

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 11:26 GMT]
"The conditions prevailing in Jaffna peninsula do not encourage new investments or fresh business ventures,” Jaffna Traders’ Union (JTU) representatives told the delegation from Colombo Chamber of Commerce that paid a visit to Jaffna Tuesday, sources in Jaffna said.
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JHU pays tribute to Russia for supporting war against LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 09:00 GMT]
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the Buddhist monk political party of the ruling United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government of Sri Lanka paid tribute to Russia Tuesday for the support it extended to the Government of Sri Lanka by supplying arms and technical advice in defeating the LTTE and also for extending its support in the UN.
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Sri Lanka accused of 'ethnic cleansing' of Tamil areas - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 12:43 GMT]
"Aid officials, human rights campaigners and politicians claim Tamils have been driven out of areas in the north-east of the country by killings and kidnappings carried out by pro-government militias. They say the government has simultaneously encouraged members of the Sinhalese majority in the south to relocate to the vacated villages," Telegraph, UK, said, adding that according to an aid worker the recent killings in Trincomalee "were part of a strategy to drive out Tamils."
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Detained TNA MP pays last respects to fellow MP Pathmanathan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 04:55 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Mullaiththeevu district parliamentarian Mr. Sathasivam Kanagaretnam, escorted by police officers of the Crime Intelligence Unit Saturday afternoon, paid his last respects to departed fellow parliamentarian Mr. Kanagasabai Pathmanathan who passed away in Mathurai in Tamil Nadu. Mr. Kanagaretnam was dressed in sarong and an old shirt, sources in Colombo said.
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UN becomes battleground for maritime Great Game - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 00:26 GMT]
"The strange line-up of the member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for or against Sri Lanka at the special session of the body scheduled to take place in Geneva on Tuesday underscores the maritime Great Game unfolding in the Indian Ocean," says former Pakistani diplomat in the Tuesday edition of Deccan Herald, referring to the support by India, China, Russia, and Pakistan among others to a self-congratulatory resolution put forward by the Sri Lanka Government, and the competing resolution advanced by the Swiss Government.
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Tamil civilian reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 May 2009, 09:34 GMT]
A Tamil civilian residing in Kottawa in Colombo has gone missing since 19 May according to the complaint lodged with the police by his sister.
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