SL Police intimidated Tamil voters in Kalmunai: TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 October 2011, 23:26 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Police had unleashed terror on Tamil voters who went to cast their votes and return after exercising their franchise in the Kalmunai Municipal Council election held Saturday, according to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) sources in Kalmunai. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) polled 22,356 votes (48.99%) and secured 11 seats. The TNA has secured 4 seats polling 9,911 votes (21.72%). The UPFA came third, securing 3 seats and the UNP 1 seat of the Kalmunai Municipal council.
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Remedial Sovereignty

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 October 2011, 05:22 GMT]
Tamils' demand for self-determination in the past four decades, which posed persistent challenges to Sri Lanka's sovereignty, was rooted on the acceptance of Tamils fundamental right to self-determination under customary international law, as a "people" possessing a distinct language, distinct culture and living in an identifiable region considered as the historic homeland. But recent, state sanctioned, massacre of 40,000 Tamils in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, and the continuing structural genocide, while reinforcing the traditional argument based on rights, also supplies an independent, stand alone justification for the creation of a state, based on the need to defend the Eelam Tamil population from further destruction - the doctrine of "remedial sovereignty."
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Fox connections with Sri Lanka raises questions on UK national security

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 21:50 GMT]
Shady associations and modus operandi of British Defence Minister Liam Fox in his dealings with the genocidal regime of Sri Lanka endanger the national security of UK, media reports from UK said this week. The revelations, following information through Wikileaks cables on the handling of Sri Lanka by the US Asst. Secretary of State Robert Blake, show how certain individuals sitting in the world Establishments pervert international relations upholding global order of justice, which particularly affects the case of the Eezham Tamils, said diaspora Tamil circles in London. Politics of Eezham Tamils in the diaspora and in the island need to address the issue in appropriate democratic ways to achieve reconciliation in their engagement with the international community and not to forget similar elements sitting in the Indian Establishment too, the diaspora circles further said.
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Colombo destroys herbal forest in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 21:38 GMT]
Several hundred acres of forest that contains herbal plants, situated along the coastal strip from Koa'ra'langkea'ni to Paalaiyadith-thoa'naa in Koa'ra'laip-pattu South DS division in Batticaloa district where rare medicinal plants are found are being destroyed deploying bulldozers for the past six days under the direction of Colombo authorities. On behalf of Colombo, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, a paramilitary leader and deputy minister in Rajapaksa government, has been heading the destruction in the name of ‘urban development and tourism’.
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Japan's defiance to adhere to UN Convention, leaves Tamil Refugees in limbo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 16:02 GMT]
Several refugees, fleeing repression and threat to life in Sri Lanka, are either being held in Japanese immigration jails, or have been temporarily released on "bail" after paying sums of between $2K to $5K, and these refugees are undergoing severe misery for more than two years, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group contacted by the asylum seekers said. Since becoming a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1981, and until 2008 Japan has admitted only 573 of a total 7,297 applicants under the guidelines set out in the convention while an additional 882 were granted permission to remain for humanitarian reasons, reports indicate.
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Snail pace delivery of houses with Indian assistance, mere 0.1% completed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 14:38 GMT]
Housing scheme for displaced civilians of North and East, announced by India last year, has failed to deliver, according to Tamil NGO and political circles in Jaffna. India had announced last year that it would construct 50,000 houses for the displaced in the North and East. However, only 53 houses have been constructed so far till October 2011, Tamil NGO sources said. Plans were afoot in Mannaar, Vavuniyaa, Ki'linochchi, Mullaiththeevu and Jaffna in North to construct houses for the war-displaced people. Earlier this year, when asked on the lack of progress of Indian announcement, Indian officials in the island responded that at least one thousand houses will be constructed before the end of 2011. The officials diluted the commitment further indicating that the numbers also included repair of existing houses.
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Colombo accused of attempts to nobble Navi Pillay's budget

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2011, 15:07 GMT]
Crediting Latin American countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, along with Zambia for the Human Rights Watch praise on UN Human Rights Council [UNHRC] for launching international investigations in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya and Syria, appointing an investigator to monitor developments in Iran, and extending the mandates of rapporteurs for Myanmar, Cambodia, Somalia and Sudan, The Economist, in an article in the 8th October edition, accused Sri Lanka of colluding with two other countries in "underhandedly' attempting to manipulate the Agency's budget, allegedly to limit Navi Pillay's efforts to focus on allegations of war crimes against Sri Lanka.
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Blake wooed genocidal Sri Lanka Army to help Afghan war

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2011, 09:30 GMT]
Within months of a war masterminded to end in the genocide of Eezham Tamils, the US Asst Secretary of State Robert Blake wooed the genocidal Sri Lanka Army’s help in the US-led war in Afghanistan, reveals a Wikileaks document. In a meeting that took place in Colombo on 8th December 2009 with SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, “Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka contributing to U.S.-led coalition operations in Afghanistan, noting that would be a significant step in support of improving military-to-military engagement,” briefs a classified cable of the US embassy in Colombo. Citing Muslim sentiments and ire of Islamic organizations, Gotabhaya avoided committing on any direct involvement, but he came out with an alternative for Sri Lanka providing covert training assistance in Afghanistan through NGOs and Private Military Companies.
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Tamil opinion backs Bahu, Mano

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2011, 18:54 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil National Peoples Front have urged the Tamil speaking people in the Western Province to support Wickramabahu Karunaratne and Mano Ganesan of the Democratic National Front (DNF) in the civic elections in the South. While Selvam Adaikalanathan and Mavai Senathiraja of the TNA in their speeches have urged the Tamil speaking population in Colombo to back Dr. Vickrmabahu and Mr. Mano Ganeshan, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam and Selvaraja Kajendren of the TNPF came out with a statement urging the Tamils to back the courageous leaders of the DNF who have been openly expressing support to Tamils Right to Self-Determination at a time when some individuals of Tamil parties claiming to represent Tamils were displaying dubious conduct on the fundamental principles of Tamil Nation.
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SL military collects details on ex-LTTE members in Jaffna, Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2011, 13:22 GMT]
Occupying Sri Lanka Army soldiers in Jaffna and Vanni have again started collecting details of former LTTE members. The SLA, using new forms from Colombo, is registering details of ex-Tiger members who had left the movement several years ago and of those who were detained and released by the SLA after the genocidal onslaught on Vanni in 2009. The SLA has been registering the details of former LTTE members since it seized the control of Jaffna peninsula from the Tigers in 1996. The SL military also registered the details of the LTTE members whom it took into its custody in 2009. The SLA is now collecting data on the whereabouts and details on what the former LTTE members are doing now. Even the identities of the dead ones are being verified, sources in Jaffna said.
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Tamil student reported missing in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2011, 20:20 GMT]
A 16-year-old student who left his home at U'rukamam in Karadiyanaa'ru in Batticaloa on September 29 to visit his relatives in Aiyangkea'ni in Ea'raavoor has failed to return since then, according to a complaint lodged with the SL Police at Ea'raavoor by his parents. The victim, Amarasingham Vimalraj, has been a student of Karadiayanaa'ru MV and attending GCE O/L classes.
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Sinhala encroachment of grazing lands continues unabated in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2011, 20:32 GMT]
Under the direction of SL authorities in Colombo, the Ampaa'rai District Agrarians Services Department has begun issuing permits to Sinhala encroachers on grazing lands in the Batticaloa district giving permanent status. Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr.P.Selvarasa addressing a meeting of the farmers at Vavu'natheevu DS secretariat last week requested the Sri Lanka Government Agent of Batticaloa District to stop legalizing encroachment by Sinhalese on grazing land located in Vavu'natheevu, Paddippazhai and Vellaave'li DS division in the Batticaloa district.
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US knew Rajapaksa election was irregular

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 October 2011, 20:24 GMT]
A classified cable of the US Embassy in Colombo, made available through WikiLeaks, shows that the US Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis has informed the US government about a Rajapaksa order to eight SL Government Agents to send election results directly to SL President’s house for his review before sending them on to the SL Election Commissioner. The Ambassador also has cited other irregularities, frauds and intimidations in the last SL Presidential Elections. However, the US Government ‘congratulated’ Rajapaksa on his election and it regularly used to appreciate ‘democracy’ in the genocidal State, Tamil politicians commented.
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Dutch Court overrides Koppe's challenge against Judges

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 October 2011, 02:30 GMT]
The Hague Chamber of Recusal ruled that the panel of three judges in the case of five alleged Dutch Tamil citizens charged with providing material assistance to Liberation Tigers, can continue, after the panel considered a challenge to the judges submitted by defense lawyer, Victor Koppe, for refusing to let Koppe continue with the 200-page address beyond 5:00 p.m., Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) reported Monday. Koppe said the trial was "unfair" as the Judges "shamelessly ignored his request for an additional 30 minutes of defense argument.
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Australia’s bids to lend legitimacy to Sri Lanka’s war-crime regime condemned

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 October 2011, 11:16 GMT]
Vehemently condemning Australia’s envoy for Sri Lanka, Kathy Klugman, for partaking in a high-profile propaganda ceremony at the Sri Lankan Presidential residence in Colombo, head of the International Commission of Jurists in Australia, John Dowd, has accused the Australian government of trying to legitimise the actions of Rajapaksa regime, which is credibly accused to have committed wide-spread war crimes during the final months of the war, a media report by The Age said. Australia’s high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Kathy Klugman, took part in a ceremony in Colombo on Friday to release 1,800 ex-members of the LTTE after what the Sri Lankan military called “a two-year rehabilitation program”. She also handed out certificates to alleged ‘rehabilitated’ Tamils, who were later detained and prevented from reuniting with their families.
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‘Misplaced Loyalties’

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 October 2011, 05:17 GMT]
Genuine anti-imperialism does not lie in mere abstract anti-American/anti-west sloganeering, writes RM Karthick, a freelance writer based in Chennai. “In the wake of a ‘post-national world’ discourse framed by apologists of multi-national capitalism and equally regressive capitalist-bureaucratic models as upheld by states like Turkey, China and Russia - both aiding the logic of genocidal states like Sri Lanka, anti-imperialism in concrete requires solidarity with national liberation struggles and their progressive representatives,” he further writes in an article that appeared in West Bengal based Sanhati online journal on Saturday. The regimes in Cuba and Venezuela end up as political opportunists by supporting mass murderers and despots like Rajapaksa who virulently implement neo-liberal policies in deed, but put up a sham ‘anti-Americanism’ in words, the writer from Tamil Nadu says.
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UK Labour party calls for Sri Lanka's War Crimes investigations

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 October 2011, 18:57 GMT]
Speaking to Tamil supporters at a meeting during the Labour party conference Wednesday, Douglas Alexander MP, the British Shadow Foreign Secretary, said his party supports the establishment of an international commission to investigate the “acts of unconscionable violence” perpetrated in the final months of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict in 2009, a press release issued by the British group, Tamils for Labour. "Investigation held under international auspices was essential given that there are “profound concerns” regarding the independence, accountability and witness protection capacity of Sri Lanka’s domestic inquiry, the ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission,’" Alexander further said, according to the release.
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‘Reconciliation comes by accepting nations are different’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 October 2011, 10:15 GMT]
The South and its Sinhala polity talked of themselves as Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans. Those who opposed the war, but still wanted to be part of the warring Sinhala ideology, thus said the common meeting point of all Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people is the ‘Sri Lankan’ identity. But this ‘Sri Lankan’ identity is essentially a Southern Sinhala identity, points out veteran Sinhala journalist Kusal Perera. Sinhala political parties in the opposition cannot and does not want to leave their Sinhala identity in challenging this regime [of Rajapaksa]. Challenging this regime with a Sinhala identity is impossible, with a State that is now wholly Sinhalised and is firmly controlled with the defence establishment entrenched in politics and economics, he further said, writing in The Sunday Leader, last Sunday.
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Rajapakse, an enemy of all mankind, filed U.S. Court papers say

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2011, 17:07 GMT]
In a potential precedent setting motion filed in the U.S. District Court of District of Columbia, Bruce Fein, attorney for three Tamil plaintiffs, requested Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, to authorize issuing summons through latest electronic social networks and local papers to the defendant, Sri Lanka's sitting President, Mahinda Rajapakse, forcing the defendant to answer war-crimes charges, paving the way for Court determination of civil claims of $30m, legal sources in Washington said. Arguing that Rajapakse is "hostis humani generis," an enemy of all mankind, the motion provides legal precedence to establish that Rajapakse's crimes fall under Universal Jurisdiction applicable under TVPA.
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Congressman Honda calls for war-crimes accountability

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2011, 16:01 GMT]
Citing Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International's criticism of Sri Lanka's failed accountability through the locally constituted "Commission," and highlighting the atrocities described in the UN Panel's report, California Congressman Honda said in a US Congressional debate Thursday that a independent international mechanism is necessary to investigate Sri Lanka's war-crime allegations. However, the Congressman, appeared to be adhering to the soft foreign policy on Sri Lanka laid out by Asst. Secretary of State for South Asia, Robert Blake, by continuing to express faith in Government of Sri Lanka to "to provide for the peaceful well-being of all its people."
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