SLA condemned for opposing student participation in LTTE events

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 July 2004, 22:23 GMT]
Several peoples' organizations including leading student groups in Jaffna district have condemned the request made by Major General Susil Chandrapala, Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army, to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to stop students participating in events organized by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), civil sources said.
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Trader complains of SLA intimidation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 July 2004, 17:20 GMT]
Mr.S. Sasikumar, a trader residing in the Liberation Tigers controlled village Thalaiyadi located in Vaththirayan north of Vadamarachchi east in Jaffna district Thursday complained to the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) that he is intimidated and threatened by Sri Lanka Army soldiers manning Muhamalai checkpoint whenever enters the Sri Lanka government controlled Jaffna to buy provisions for his shop, civil sources said.


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SLA officer says he arrested missing Jaffna youth

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 July 2004, 09:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Attorney General (AG) Thursday informed the Jaffna High Court that Lt. Col. T. M Mahindarathne, a Sri Lanka army officer who is the first respondent in a habeas corpus application, has written to the AG’s department acknowledging that he had indeed taken into custody Mr. Velupillai Uthayakumar on 17 June 1997 in Kodikamam, a town in the northern peninsula. Mr. Uthayakumar is among more than 600 Tamil persons who went missing after they were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in 1996-97.
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Navatkuli SLA Commander to appear in Court

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 July 2004, 01:50 GMT]
Captain Duminda Kepattipola who was in charge of the Navatkuli Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp will appear in Chavakachcheri Court when a case related to 1995-1997 disappearances in Jaffna is scheduled to begin hearing, local media in Jaffna reported.
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SLA opposes student participation in LTTE events

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 July 2004, 00:46 GMT]
Major General Susil Chandrapala, Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), has requested the Human Rights of Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to take steps to stop students participating in events organized by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in future, sources said.
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Tamil MPs slam SLA, paramilitaries for threats to media

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 July 2004, 14:14 GMT]
“Journalist Nadesan was murdered because the Sri Lankan government did not disarm paramilitary groups working with the military as it agreed to do under the cease-fire agreement. A paramilitary group in Batticaloa killed Nadesan and is threatening other independent journalists with death. This group cannot roam Batticaloa with weapons and intimidate and murder journalists without the military’s permission”, said Mr. Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance MP for Batticaloa speaking Tuesday during a debate in the Sri Lankan Parliament on the state of the media in the island.
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Fall of SLA’s Mullaithivu base remembered

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 July 2004, 03:36 GMT]
The public in Mullaithivu conducted a special rally Sunday to mark the capture eight years ago of the Sri Lanka Army’s Mullaithivu base by the Liberation Tigers, press reports from the North said.
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SL soldiers in Jaffna train for special operations

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 July 2004, 03:00 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army headquarters in Jaffna has announced that its soldiers are being trained in special operations in small groups, and the training, conducted over a period of two months, will significantly improve the SLA’s attack capability, sources quoted the SLA headquarters in Jaffna as saying.
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HRC attends problems of Thenmaradchchi fishermen

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 July 2004, 17:11 GMT]
The Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Monday invited the Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army Major General Susil Chandrapala for a discussion on the problems confronted by fishermen of Kohilakandy in Thenamaradchchi south division in Jaffna district, fisheries societies sources said.
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PTA was big blunder by Tamil politicians - TNA MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 July 2004, 16:46 GMT]
“Tamil Parliamentarians committed a great blunder by not opposing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). It was wrong on our part for not objecting or raising our voices against the draconian bill”, said Mr. Nadarajah Raviraj, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna, speaking Monday at a public meeting in Colombo to mark the 25th anniversary of the PTA and to launch a campaign for its repeal. The meeting was organised at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo jointly by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD).
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SLA returns 450-acres paddy fields back to Thenmaradchchi farmers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 July 2004, 19:55 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Saturday handed over 450 acres of paddy lands in Maravanpulo village, which come under the high security zone of Thenmaradchchi south division, to the Jaffna District Government Agent Mr.S.Pathmanathan, civil sources said. According to records maintained by the GA, SLA is currently occupying more than three thousand acres of paddy lands in this division for the last four years.
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SL Govt. is preparing for war-Jaffna undergrads

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 July 2004, 15:57 GMT]
''Main aim of the Deputy Defense Minister Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayake's visit to Jaffna district was to put the security forces on red alert for another war. His inspection of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) forward defense lines of Muhamalai has proved Sri Lanka government's intention beyond any doubt,'' said the Jaffna University Students Forum (JUSF) in a statement issued to the media today.
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US-Sri Lanka to jointly strengthen Colombo port security

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 July 2004, 14:41 GMT]
The United States (US) and the Sri Lanka will soon enter discussions regarding the island’s participation in ‘Mega Ports,’ a US Department of Energy (DOE) initiative to curb the illicit movement of radioactive materials worldwide. Representatives from DOE’s ‘Mega Ports’ initiative will visit Colombo to discuss the program with Sri Lankan officials, said the US embassy press release issued Friday.
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Campaign to repeal PTA to be launched

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 July 2004, 09:23 GMT]
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), which have their headquarters in Colombo, are to launch a campaign to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which is in operation for the last 25 years.
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Key Karuna associate shot dead in Batticaloa jail

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 July 2004, 03:13 GMT]
A key associate of the renegade commander was assassinated inside the Batticaloa prison in the early hours of the morning Thursday. Police and army surrounded the prison as the gunman who shot dead 'Satchi Master' and another associate of Karuna climbed the jail roof with his handgun and a grenade. He surrendered to Police in the presence of the ICRC and truce monitors later around 10.45 p.m.
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SLA promises rent payment on occupied Valigamam buildings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 July 2004, 10:39 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army's (SLA) public liason officier, Mr.S.Sriwardene, in Manipay Jaffna told a Valigamam West co-operative club meeting that the SLA will soon start paying rents for all public building and houses it occupies in Vali West Pradeshya sabha, local media reported Wednesday.
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Terror Stalks journalists in the East - RSF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 July 2004, 17:48 GMT]
The French media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) said Tuesday in special report on threats faced by journalists in Sri Lanka's eastcoast: "The impunity which prevails in cases involving the murder and assault of journalists is seriously jeopardizing press freedom and the peace process in Sri Lanka."
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SLA objects to hoisting Tiger flag

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 July 2004, 12:05 GMT]
Tension prevailed between the soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army and members of the public Monday evening in Vathiri area in Vadamarachchi division in Jaffna district over the question of hoisting Tiger flag in a public function when organizers refused to bring down the flag, residents said.
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Security Forces, LTTE meet in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 July 2004, 00:14 GMT]
Liberation Tigers agreed to cooperate with Sri Lanka Security Forces to bring the violence and murders in Vavuniya district under control in a meeting attended by Senior LTTE officials and Security Forces commanders at the offices of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in Vavuniya Monday, security sources said.
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Katkovalam fisherman say SLA retarding trade

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 July 2004, 17:03 GMT]
Fishermen of Katkovalam, a coastal village south of Pt. Pedro in Jaffna, Monday complained that a Sri Lanka army (SLA)checkpoint at their beach market is scuttling sales.
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