AFTA calls for support to Tamil rights

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2005, 13:16 GMT]
In a press release issued Thursday, Australian Federation of Tamils Association (AFTA) called on the International Community to recognize Tamils right to self-determination. AFTA said in the release that it fully endorses the proclamation made during the Tamil conference in Vavuniya on 27 July which called for recognition of “our basic right to a life of freedom with peace on the basis of our traditional homeland, our nationhood, self rule and struggle for sovereignty.”
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SLMTA commemorates slain journalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2005, 11:01 GMT]
"Mr. Sivaram played an important role as a journalist highlighting the gravity of the NorthEast political and military situation with his in-depth analysis," said Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby, in a tribute to the slain popular military analyst and senior editor at TamilNet, Mr. Dharmeratnam Sivaram, on Tuesday during a commemoration event organised by the Sri Lankan Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) at Colombo Tamil Sangam in Wellawatte marking the third month of the journalist's death.
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Homeguard injured in friendly fire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 August 2005, 11:12 GMT]
Anura Basanayake, a homeguard attached to Thanthirimalai Police station was injured when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers opened fire while he was hunting near the army camp Tuesday morning, Officer-in-Charge (OIC) C. Abeysinghe said.
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Tamil Conference begins in Batticaloa amidst bomb explosion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 August 2005, 10:35 GMT]
A district level conference supporting the Tamil National Resurgence convention held in Vavuniya on July 27, ceremonially began at 4:15 p.m. at the grounds of Batticaloa Hindu College in Batticaloa town Tuesday. More than 1500 participants from various parts of the districts, comprising Tamil national activists including academics, writers, religious dignitaries, representatives of civil organisations and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs are participating in the conference amidst threats from paramilitary cadres operating in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) held Batticaloa town. A powerful time-bomb exploded 50 meters from the grounds at 2:30 p.m., according to the Batticaloa Police.
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SAARC meeting in Colombo to promote South Asia tourism

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 August 2005, 10:21 GMT]
Minister of State for Tourism, Government of India, Ms Renuka Chowdry and other heads of delegation of SAARC countries attending a meeting of SAARC Tourism Ministers in Colombo Monday, signed a joint declaration for making joint efforts for promotion of tourism in the region, a press release issued by the Sri Lanka Information Department said.


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US's strategic interests in Sri Lanka- Taraki

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 July 2005, 18:45 GMT]
What are the US government’s strategic interests in Sri Lanka? If the US has specific strategic interests in the island, then what are the means and modes by which it was and is securing them? Dharmaretnam Sivaram, popular military analyst and senior editor at TamilNet was working on this feature when he was abducted and killed on 28 April 2005.
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Jaffna trader complains of SLA harassment

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 July 2005, 15:57 GMT]
Mr.T.Nisakaran, owner of a photographic studio in Urumpirai area, has registered a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) that he has been continuously harassed and intimidated by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers of the Urelu army camp located in Jaffna district, civil sources said. Jaffna Regional Co-ordinator of the HRCSL has initiated procedures to hold an inquiry into the complaint, HRCSL sources said.


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Fish vendors complain harassment at Muhamalai SLA checkpoint

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 15:49 GMT]
Vendors engaged in the sale of fish in Jaffna district have complained to civil authorities that they are harassed by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army at Muhamalai checkpoint when bringing fish from Vadamaradchchi east division. They are asked to wait several hours at the Muhamalai checkpoint before entering the government-controlled areas in Jaffna district, civil sources said.
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LTTE office in Vavuniya attacked

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 17:22 GMT]
Two unidentified gunmen lobbed grenades at the Administrative Office of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vavuniya around 10:00 p.m. Thursday. No one was injured in the attack. The attackers, who came in a motorbike, fired into the building after charging two grenades, Mr. Tharmendra, LTTE's deputy head of political affairs in Vavuniya, told TamilNet. The office is located at Thirunavatkulam, two kilometers north of Vavuniya town. There are two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoints, each located 100 meters away from the office.
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"Human Rights in Sri Lanka under-addressed" - Karen Parker

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 11:23 GMT]
Noting that the Sri Lankan military and paramilitary forces are carrying out "a kind of shadow war", Ms. Karen Parker, J.D., a San Francisco based attorney, addressing the 57th session of the UN Sub-Commission On Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on Wednesday said that the Tamil people, already having suffered nearly 20 years of war, are also suffering from the failure of the Sri Lanka to allow international post-Tsunami aid to reach the Tamils. Ms. Parker urged the Sub-Commission members to voice their concerns in their own statements, and to "seek out ways to communicate concerns to other UN bodies" for action.
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UN Sub-Commission urged to protect human rights in the NorthEast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 09:54 GMT]
Outlining the bias in the Sri Lankan judicial system against Tamils, the Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR), a France based Tamil rights group, in a letter handed over to Mr. Vladimir Kartashkin, the chairperson of the UN Sub-Commission On Promotiion and Protection of Human Rights, said: "Justice has been denied to Tamils systematically, over several decades, in all aspects of life. They have suffered systematic human rights violations of genocidal proportions, the perpetrators of which have not been brought to book." The UN Sub-Commission opened its fifty-seventh session on Monday.
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US should facilitate equitable, expeditious aid distribution- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 00:39 GMT]
Speaking at a Members' briefing organized by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus Wednesday at the Rayburn building of the Capitol Hill Washington D.C on "Sri-Lanka: Challenges and Efforts to Effectively Deliver Humanitarian Relief in the Wake of the Tsunami," Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Gajendrakumar urged the United States Government to "resolve any legal issues that prevent the US government from directly, equitably and expeditiously providing all forms of assistance to all parts of the Northeast," sources in Washington said.


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LTTE: "no need to renegotiate ceasefire"

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 19:06 GMT]
Rejecting a call by the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga inviting the Liberation Tigers for top-level talks to review and restructure the February 2002 ceasefire agreement, the Tigers this week urged the Sri Lankan government to implement the clauses and obligations of the truce without delay, so as to "consolidate the conditions of peace and normalcy in the Tamil homeland."
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Muslim businessman shot dead in sectarian violence

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 18:28 GMT]
A muslim businessman, Mr. M. M. Ibrahim Mohideen, a follower of a Sufi muslim sect led by charismatic cleric Abdul 'Payilvaan,' was shot and killed by two unidentified muslim gunmen on Wednesday at 9:55 p.m in Abdul Jawath Alim Mawatta, Kaththankudy, a large Muslim town 4 km south of Batticaloa, Police said.
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Tamil convention demands immediate withdrawal of SL military

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 14:45 GMT]
Proclaiming that an environment must be created to enable Tamils to decide their political destiny, the Tamil National Resurgence Convention held in Vavuniya, demanded that the occupying Sinhala forces must vacate the land and seas of the NorthEast with immediate effect. The proclamation concluded urging the International Community to recognise the "basic rights and life of freedom with peace on the basis of our traditional homeland, our nationhood and self rule and struggle for sovereignty."


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Tamil National Resurgence Convention begins in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 09:37 GMT]
A Tamil national resurgence conference with more than one thousand Tamil national activists comprising academics, writers, religious dignitaries, representatives of civil organisations and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs from Amparai, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna, Vanni and Mannar, began in Vavuniya at 10:30 a.m on Wednesday at Vairavapuliyankulam Children's Park. Leaders of the Up-Country Peoples Front (UPF) and the Western Province Peoples' Front (WPPF) are also participating in the conference, sources in Vavuniya said.
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"Sri Lanka's Judiciary consistently denied justice to Tamils" - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 15:21 GMT]
"We have seen how the Judiciary of Sri Lanka aided the oppression of Tamil people during the period of war, and we have recently witnessed how Colombo's Supreme Court crippled the Agreement on Joint Mechanism accepted by the President of Sri Lanka," LTTE's Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan said in his key note address delivered in Kilinochchi at the ceremony to mark the opening of the new building for Legislation Secretariat of the Judicial Administrative Unit of the Tamil Eelam on Tuesday. "The Sinhala Nation has failed to seize the opportunity during this three and a half year period of absence of war to resolve the Tamil national question," LTTE's Political Head said.
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Soil excavation by SLA ruins fertile fields

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 15:15 GMT]
Mr.V. Shanmugam, President of the Thenmaradchchi-Mirusuvil Farmers Associations' Federation Monday expressed deep concern that several acres of fertile paddy fields are ruined following excavation of soil by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). SLA soldiers use soil from paddy fields to build earth bunds and to strengthen their bunkers and sentry points, civil sources said.


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SLA refuses to allow Thondamanaru bridge reconstruction

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 03:42 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has again refused permission for the Jaffna civil authorities to commence reconstruction work on the bridge over the Thondamanaru lagoon, which connects Valigamam north and Vadamaradchchi division in the Jaffna district district secretariat sources said. The Thondamannaru Bridge was destroyed during the military operation SLA launched in 1987.
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Tsunami warning, no threat to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 July 2005, 16:53 GMT]
An earthquake of initially estimated magnitude of 7.3 Richter scale near Nicobar Islands was reported by Japanese Meteorological agency Sunday 16.02 GMT, CNN reported. The earthquake has potential to generate tsunami in littoral areas in Indian Ocean, the report cautioned. However, Sri Lanka's Meteorology Department later said that there was no threat of a tsunami hitting Sri Lanka, AP reported.
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