Court to hear Mailanthanai massacre case

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2001, 23:34 GMT]
(Newsfeature) The Mailanthanai massacre case in which 21 Sri Lanka army soldiers are accused of hacking to death 35 Tamils, including women, in a remote Batticaloa village on 9 August 1992 will be taken up for hearing in Colombo Monday lawyers appearing for the families of the victims said. "Justice delayed is justice denied. As with most cases in which SLA soldiers have been accused of massacring innocent Tamil civilians, a patently deliberate procrastinating strategy drawing on untenable pretexts is causing inordinate delays. This benefits the perpetrators of the murders," Mr.N. Kandasamy, a senior human rights activist in Colombo who has been monitoring the case for nine years told TamilNet Sunday.
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SLA ambush kills one

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 January 2001, 14:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers lying in ambush in the jungles of Kirimichchaikulam in the Vaakarai region, about 62 km. north of Batticaloa opened fire, killing one civilian and injuring three others. According to villagers the incident occurred around 2 p.m. on Friday.
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PA not capable of resolving conflict -Tamil coalition

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2001, 07:32 GMT]
"Tamil parties firmly believe that Peoples Alliance (PA) Government is not capable of bringing the ethnic conflict to an end. That is why we have formed a coalition to urge the international community to actively join the peace efforts by pressuring the Sri Lankan Government to stop fighting and start negotiations with the Liberation Tigers," said the representatives of Tamil parties during a meeting with the Swedish Ambassador held in Colombo on Wednesday.
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Tigers extend unilateral ceasefire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 January 2001, 12:41 GMT]
(CORRECTION) The Liberation Tigers said Tuesday they would extend their unilateral ceasefire by another month, and called on the international community to persuade Sri Lanka to "reciprocate favourably and resume negotiations in a cordial atmosphere of peace and normalcy." The LTTE's unilateral ceasefire was due to expire Wednesday night. The Tigers said they had made the decision "in conformity with the collective will of the Tamil nation which demands peace and also in compliance with the wish of the international community which pleads for a peaceful means of resolving the conflict."
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Embargo crippling life in Vanni-Bishop

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 20:37 GMT]
"The people in the Vanni expressed disappointment that the Sri Lankan government talks about peace only when it has to face an election and that once in power it seeks to solve the problem only by military means" said the Bishop of the Mannar diocese of the Catholic Church, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph, on returning from a five day visit to the northern region controlled by the Liberation Tigers. The displaced civilians of the Vanni receive only 25 percent of the relief due to them from the government and most people there are unable to make a living or ply their trade because of the continuing economic embargo on the region, according to the Bishop.
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SLA demolishes homes in Jaffna suburbs

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 19:53 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army has demolished more than three hundred homes in the southwestern coastal suburbs of Jaffna town to construct large military facilities, said residents who visited the area this week. An official of a local NGO who went to inspect his home in Colombuthurai told TamilNet that coconut plantations in these suburbs were also destroyed.
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Mannar citizens’ committee lists killed, missing

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 January 2001, 17:43 GMT]
Thirty two civilians were killed due to the actions of the Sri Lankan security forces while twelve were reported missing in Mannar from January to December 2000 according to statistics released Saturday by the Citizens’ Committee for the district. The Committee said that hundred and forty three civilians were arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces in this period and that only 70 of these have been released so far.
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Army planning 'all-out' offensive - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 January 2001, 07:33 GMT]
Exploiting the Liberation Tigers' unilateral ceasefire, the Sri Lanka Army is inducting fresh troops, armour and artillery into the Jaffna offensive in preparation for an "all-out" offensive in the Kilali-Nagerkoil, the LTTE said Friday. In an interview with the London-based Tamil Guardian, the LTTE's chief negotiator warned that the Army's "strategy will result in a major escalation of the war."
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Will not permit student demo- Jaffna commander

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 January 2001, 20:56 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army's objective is not recapturing Elephant Pass but ensuring the protection of Jaffna and its people said Major. General Anton Wijendra, the Security Forces Commander for the northern peninsula, addressing a press conference for foreign and local journalists flown in Wednesday by the military at his headquarters in Palali. He charged that students of the Jaffna University are engaging in political agitation with the backing of the Liberation Tigers and vowed to stop demonstration the undergraduates are planning to hold on 17 January.
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Peace activists slam SLA warning

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 January 2001, 16:44 GMT]
The Bishop of the Trincomalee -Batticaloa diocese of the Catholic Church, Rt.Rev.Kingsley Swampillai protested against the Sri Lanka Army's proclamation that it will punish people urging the Sri Lankan government to start peace talks with the Liberations Tigers when he met the military Co-ordinating Officer for the Batticaloa district, Brigadier V.R.Anthonis Thursday. "It is a dangerous development that people who say the war ought to be stopped and call for peace in Sri Lanka should be considered offenders by the army", the bishop said.
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Colombo categorically rejects Tiger cease-fire

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2001, 15:29 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government will not in anyway respond to the cease-fire unilaterally declared by the Liberation Tigers last month said Sri Lanka's Minister for Media, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, addressing a press conference in Colombo Friday to announce this week's cabinet decisions.
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152 arrested, 73 missing in Jaffna in 2000

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 19:33 GMT]
Seventy three civilians were reported missing in the Jaffna peninsula from January to September in 2000 according to a report put out by the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna Thursday. The report said that 152 persons were arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces during this period.
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Two more suspects identified in Mirusivil

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 12:27 GMT]
Two more Sri Lanka Army soldiers (SLA) accused of murdering eight Tamil civilians, including a 5-year old boy, at Mirusuvil on 19 December were identified by the prime witness, Ponnuthurai Maheswaran, during an identification parade held Thursday. Three SLA soldiers, including an officer, were identified by the witness on Wednesday.
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Witness picks out murder accused

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 January 2001, 16:50 GMT]
Three of several Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, including an officer, accused of murdering eight civilians in Mirusuvil in Jaffna on 19 December were identified by the prime witness, Ponnuthurai Maheswaran, during an identification parade held Wednesday. Thirteen government troops including two officers have been arrested in connection with the massacre. Seven of them appeared for the identification parade.
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Mirusuvil massacre accused to stand in identification parade

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 December 2000, 09:12 GMT]
The six Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers accused of murdering eight Tamil civilians and burying their bodies in Mirusuvil North, Jaffna were ordered to be kept in remand prison until 10th of January and to appear in an identification parade on the 3rd of January by the Chavakachcheri District Court Judge A. Premshankar Friday evening, said sources in Jaffna.
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Tamil parties appeal for ceasefire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 December 2000, 04:20 GMT]
"Sri Lankan government should respond favourably to the call by the Liberation Tigers for a ceasefire and, USA, Britain, India, members of the European Union and other countries interested in solving the conflict in Sri Lanka should exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to bring an end to the war," said a joint statement issued by a coalition of ten Tamil political parties after they met in Colombo yesterday. .
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No compensation for Palaly expansion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 December 2000, 14:52 GMT]
Hundreds of families in Valikamam-north sector who had to vacate their houses when the Sri Lanka Army expanded its Palaly base in the Jaffna peninsula have not received compensations from the government, according to the Consortium of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the northern town.
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More bodies feared buried in Mirusuvil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 December 2000, 21:35 GMT]
In addition to the recently discovered bodies of eight Tamil civilians found buried in Mirusuvil North in Jaffna, residents and local authorities fear more civilian bodies may be hidden buried in areas surrounding Mirusuvil, according to deposition given by Jesutha, the young wife of one of the murdered civilians Theivakulasingam.
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Massacre victims died of stab wounds - Medical Officer

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 December 2000, 16:21 GMT]
Bodies of the eight civilians found buried in Mirusuvil, Northern SriLanka yesterday, allegedly abducted and murdered by the Sri Lanka security forces, contained deep stab wounds around the necks, said the District Medical Officer, Dr. S. Kathiravetpillai, after his postmortem examination carried out at Manthikai General Hospital today.
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Bodies of missing civilians found

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 December 2000, 16:52 GMT]
The bodies of eight Tamil civilians, including a five year old child, who were reported 'missing' after being arrested by Sri Lanka Army soldiers on 19 December were unearthed from a grave in Mirusuvil area in the Thenmaradchi Monday, said police and hospital sources in Jaffna.
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