Abducted Vaharai Co-op lorry drivers released

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2006, 19:02 GMT]
Thevarajah 45 and Kanagasundram 53, lorry drivers of Vaharai Multi-purpose society in Batticaloa, abducted by armed cadres of Karuna paramilitary group on the 25th April at Palainagar on the Batticaloa-Colombo road, were released Tuesday, said sources from Batticaloa.
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SL Police abandons Sivaram murder investigation- RSF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2006, 12:14 GMT]
"Violence between Tamil factions, sometimes manipulated by the security forces, has had particularly bloody results. The renowned Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram "Taraki", head of the news website TamilNet and editorialist on the Daily Mirror, was gunned down in Colombo in April. After arresting one suspect, police abandoned the investigation," said Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its annual report for 2006 on Sri Lanka, issued Tuesday.
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Gajendrakumar complains of threat to life

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2006, 10:54 GMT]
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Tamil National Alliance parlimentarian for Jaffna district, in a letter to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse Tuesday, complained of harassment and death threats to domestic staff at his Jaffna residence. His residence in 3rd Cross street is located close to two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps, one at the 2nd Cross street-Main street junction and the other at the 4th Cross street.
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SLA troopers on paramilitary rescue mission killed

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 May 2006, 09:46 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers commando unit that returned to LTTE Forward Defence Line (FDL) Sunday after completing the attack on three paramilitary camps in Welikande area, has claimed that 5 Sri Lanka Army troopers, including a Captain rank officer, who took part in a paramilitary rescue operation, were killed in confrontation with the Tigers. Informed defence circles in Colombo said that the SLA deaths were not revealed to avoid reports of SLA complicity in paramilitary issue.
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Colombo assails SLMM, accuses media bias in refugee figure dispute

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 April 2006, 16:58 GMT]
While Sri Lanka's President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse drew attention to "propaganda war," Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told the state-run weekly Sunday Observer that the Sri Lanka Government "categorically denies" and dismisses as "outrageous," accusation by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that security forces were involved in extra- judicial killings in the North-East. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, said State's attempt to accuse foreign media of bias is a precursor to enforcing self-censorship. The State wants to deter foreign press from exposing military excesses of Sri Lanka armed forces, he added.
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Tiger Commandos attack paramilitary camps, 18 killed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 April 2006, 03:08 GMT]
18 paramilitary operatives of Karuna group were killed in an attack launched by an Elite Commando unit of the Liberation Tigers on three paramilitary camps in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled Kasankulam close to Thibulana, located 7 km east of Welikande in Batticaloa - Polannaruwa border Sunday. Arms were seized and ammunitions at the paramilitary camps in Kasankulam were fully destroyed by the LTTE commandos in the surprise attack that was planned and supervised by Special Commander Col. Bhanu, an LTTE official from Kokkaddicholai in Batticaloa district told TamilNet. 10 paramilitary cadres sustained serious wounds, 5 were captured by the Tigers. An abducted Vavuniya trader was saved.
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Colombo May Day rallies, meetings called off

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 April 2006, 18:39 GMT]
Sri Lanka Defence Ministry officials, citing security concerns, have issued directions to parties to cancel all May Day public events, sources from Colombo said. Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) event scheduled to be held at the Galle Face Green, United National Party's (UNP's) procession from Galle Road to Colombo Municipal Council premises, and United Peoples Front (UPF) meeting at the Sugathadasa Stadium, and several other events are affected by the Defence ministry directive.
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Sivaram memorial held at Colombo Tamil Sangam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 April 2006, 15:05 GMT]
Speaking at the one year memorial event held at the Colombo Tamil Sangam by the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance Friday evening, C.A. Jothilingam, a popular political analyst, called for making Sivram's death anniversary, a Day for remembering all journalists slain for their writings in Sri Lanka.
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TamilNet editor's murder still unpunished, impunity prevails in Sri Lanka- RSF

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 April 2006, 11:35 GMT]
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Sri Lanka Free Media Movement (FMM) all voiced outrage on the lack of progress in the investigation into the murder of Dharmaretnam Sivaram and and said "the current serious crisis in Sri Lanka - the result of unacceptable terrorism - in no way justifies the impunity prevailing in the murders of journalists and human rights activists," in a press release issued Friday.
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Sivaram remembered in Batticaloa and Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 April 2006, 07:19 GMT]
The first death anniversary of reputed journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki), a Senior Editor of TamilNet, who was assassinated a year ago in Colombo was held in Batticaloa on Thursday and Friday morning in Jaffna. Batticaloa Rural Development Organization in collaboration with Thamileelam Education Development Board organized the event held at Ramakrishna Mission School in Kokkadichcholai. Jaffna District Media Association (JDMA) organized the Jaffna event.
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Stop violence, initiate dialogue, urges Rights Group

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 April 2006, 16:11 GMT]
FORUM-ASIA, a membership-based human rights organization with regional secretariat based in Bankok Thailand in a press release issued Thursday espressed deep concern urged the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers to "immediately stop the violence and to iniitate dialogue." The release said, "War inevitably violates human rights and destroys human lives and this must be avoided at all costs. Civilians in the North and East as well as other parts of the country, particularly women and children, will bear the brunt of violence."
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Decapitated bodies feared belonging to disappeared Tamils - Chandrasekaran

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 April 2006, 12:15 GMT]
"We fear that the five decapitated bodies found near Kaduvela in Avissawela may belong to Tamil civilians who have been arrested during searches and disappeared from Colombo," said Leader of Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF) and parliamentarian P.Chandrasekaran in a letter sent to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse Thursday, sources in Colombo said.
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Muttur east attacks on civilian targets totally unjustifiable, Elilan tells Henricsson

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 April 2006, 09:04 GMT]
Trincomalee Political Head of the Tigers, S. Elilan, who met Major General Ulf Henricsson, the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Thursday in Sampoor in Trincomalee, said the three pronged attack launched by the Sri Lankan forces on civilian targets in Muttur east following the bomb blast that injured Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka is not justifiable. 18 civilians were killed, more than thirty wounded and many thousands displaced by indiscriminate airstrike and artillery fire by the Sri Lankan forces on Muttur east.
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97 Tamils arrested in Colombo suburbs

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 April 2006, 01:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and Police arrested 97 Tamils from residences in Colombo suburbs of Bambalapitiya, Collpetty, Dehiwela and others Wednesday night through Thursday morning, and have detained them in Police stations across Colombo, said Deputy Inspector General of Police, Poojitha Jeyasundara. The security forces and police conducted thorough search of several residences and lodges, sources said.
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Democracy in crisis in Asia's killing fields- AHRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 April 2006, 01:06 GMT]
Saying that "Sri Lanka has been the stage of one of the most brutal killing fields," the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in a media release issued Wednesday said, "the problem Sri Lanka faces is much worse than a mere escalation of violence. A country that is already facing a collapse of its basic institutions and living at the lowest ebb of the rule of law is now plunging deeper into an abysmal crisis in all areas of life...crisis in Sri Lanka is a crisis of democracy, with its roots in the authoritarian style of rule that arose as a result of the 1978 Constitution."
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SLA obstruction of travel, an act of oppression - Jeyanandamoorthy MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 21:51 GMT]
"Obstructing people in the North and East travelling to and from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled areas as retribution for a bomb blast in the Colombo Sri Lanka Army (SLA) headquarters is an act of outright oppression of the Tamils in the north and east," said S. Jeyanandamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) M.P for Batticaloa, in his statement to the press Wednesday.
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International Community has failed to exert pressure on Colombo - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 20:03 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on Wednesday, called on the International Community to strongly condemn the "genocidal attempt" on the Tamil people in Muthur east in Trincomalee district. "The International Community is turning a blind eye," while Colombo has openly declared a war and is carrying out "reprehensible murders" of Tamil civilians in the Tamil homeland. The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has violated gravely the ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the LTTE, said the statement issued by the Head Quarters of the Political Division of the Tigers. More than 40,000 people have displaced, terrorized and are languishing as refugees, the statement said.
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TNA urges International Community to act

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 15:59 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Wednesday condemned the GoSL and its peace secretariat for "duplicitous behavior" and "carrying on a malicious and false campaign to mislead the international community," and urged the International Community to "realize this reality and take the appropriate action to compel the Sri Lankan State to act in a responsible way in the interest of the peace process," in a press release issued in Colombo Wednesday.
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Air strike, artillery fire, acts of provocation- LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 12:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka security forces began air attacks and artillery fire without any provacation from the Liberation Tigers, Mr. S.Puleedevan, Secretary General of the LTTE’s peace secretariat in Kilinochchi told TamilNet. He accused the Sri Lanka Government of carrying out the attacks after blocking the Muttur east area, and issuing false reports. "Colombo is issuing false reports accusing the Tigers of an attack on a Sri Lanka Navy vessel. There was no such attack, the accusations are baseless," he said.
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TRO appeals for humanitarian assistance to war IDPs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 11:48 GMT]
In an urgent appeal issued from its offices in Colombo Wednesday, the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) appealed to the International Red Cross, UNHCR, Bilateral and Multilateral donors for humanitarian assistance to the Internally Displaced People (IDP) due to the war in the east.
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