Fishermen complain army harassment

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 September 2002, 17:04 GMT]
The Vadamarachchi Fisheries Co-operatives Federation Thursday complained to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna that the Sri Lanka Army is falsely implicating fishermen in the area in connection with incidents that took place during student's agitation on September 2 in Point Pedro town. The complaint was lodged following the third arrest of a fisherman by the Police Thursday.
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Protest against privatisation in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 19:44 GMT]
Hundreds of workers of state runs banks and the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation demonstrated Tuesday in downtown Colombo against the United National Front government's plans to privatise the institutions. The demonstration was organised by Ceylon Bank Workers'Union and Sri Lanka insurance Corporation workers Union.
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SLA arrests two civilians in Point Pedro

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 18:08 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka army Tuesday arrested the president of a fisheries co-operative society in Pt. Pedro and a local fisherman for allegedly causing damage to properties belonging to the military during a protest last week by students and parents in the northern town . “The arrests are in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government and hence a very alarming development”, a lawyer in Pt. Pedro said.
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SLA builds new camp in Mirusuvil

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 13:05 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army is building a new camp behind the Mirusuvil hospital, according to residents in the war-scarred town east of Chavakachcheri in Jaffna. The site for the camp is situated along the northern and southern boundaries of the hospital, encompassing lands and homes belonging to the townspeople.
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Confrontational politics bane of Sri Lanka – Ranil

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 September 2002, 19:17 GMT]
"The main reason for the present crisis in Sri Lanka is due to the confrontational politics between the two major political groups in the south," said Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe addressing a mammoth rally held Monday evening at Colombo Town Hall. "Both parties to the conflict should participate in the peace talks scheduled to begin in Thailand next week between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with full confidence," said the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe.
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Hartley, Methodist re-open amid unease

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 September 2002, 19:13 GMT]
Student turn out was very low when the Sri Lanka army permitted the reopening of Hartley College and Pt. Pedro Methodist Girls High School in Jaffna Monday amid tensions, teachers said. The two schools were shut down by the SLA last week when students and parents, who were protesting against the military, urging it to remove its bunkers and defence positions around the two schools, stormed the checkpoints and demolished some.
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Saththurukkondaan massacre remembered

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 September 2002, 16:59 GMT]
The twelfth annual remembrance of the Saththurukkondaan massacre was observed Monday at Panichchaiyadi junction near Batticaloa town Monday. Sri Lanka army soldiers and Muslim home guards murdered 186 Tamils, mostly women and children, in the villages of Saththurukkondaan, Panichchaiyadi, Kokkuvil and Pillaiyaradi on the northern outskirts of Batticaloa town on 9 September 1990. A memorial for the victims was unveiled near the scene of the massacre.
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Justice officials inspect destroyed Jaffna courthouses

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 September 2002, 16:34 GMT]
Officials from Sri Lanka's Judicial Service Commission (JSC) headed by its secretary paid a two day visit to Jaffna peninsula inspecting court houses destroyed in the heavy fighting which raged in the northern peninsula in the past. JSC Secretary Mr. S. W. Jayatilake Monday inspected the Point Pedro magistrate court building, which is presently occupied by the Sri Lanka Army.
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Colombo gets ready for 'People's Power' rally

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 September 2002, 20:22 GMT]
Colombo city has been put on security alert from Sunday night, with more than ten thousand police personnel manning various strategic points, as thousands of supporters the United National Front (UNF) government started arriving to attend a mammoth rally scheduled to be held Monday evening. The UNF government organised this campaign to show its strength and support of the masses for its peace efforts, ruling party sources said.
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Sixth Amendment threat looms over peace talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 September 2002, 19:08 GMT]
(Newsfeature) President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance and the Sinhala nationalist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) vowed Friday to fight the United National Front government for lifting of the ban on the Liberation Tigers. The spokesman for the People’s Alliance Dr. Sarath Amunugama said the party will take legal action and start mass protests against the de-proscription. He was addressing a press conference at the opposition leader’s office in Colombo Friday.
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Mines, apathy balk temple zone re-settlers

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 September 2002, 19:02 GMT]
Hundreds of families that were driven out of the environs of the historic Thiruketheeswaram temple in Mannar twelve years ago by Sri Lanka army operations are unable to go back to their villages because their paddy fields are mined and homes have been razed to the ground, rehabilitation officials in the district said.
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Black September remembrance in Batticaloa university

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 21:53 GMT]
Batticaloa marked the beginning of Black September Thursday with a largely attended function at the Eastern University in Vantharumoolai on the 12th anniversary of the massacre of 174 refugees who had sought asylum on the campus during Sri Lanka army operations in the area in 1990.
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Hartley and Methodist Girls reopen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 21:28 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Thursday agreed to allow Hartley College and Vadamarachchi Methodist Girls High School in Point Pedro to reopen starting from Monday September 9. "These schools were shut down to enable the SLA to rebuild and strengthen the sentry and check points which were damaged by students during the agitation Monday. We have now strengthened our positions around these schools," Jaffna district SLA area commander Major General Sarath Fonseka said at a conference held Thursday at the Vadamaradchi Methodist Girls High School.
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SC holds Vavuniya pass system violates FR

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 19:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court held Thursday that the security pass system in Vavuniya under thePeoples Alliance government was a violation of the fundamental rights of citizens. Residents and visitors had to obtain special security permits to to live, stay or travel outside Vavuniya and Mannar. The system was abolished after the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers signed a ceasefire agreement in February this year.
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Govt. to announce de-proscription

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 September 2002, 16:23 GMT]
A Gazette notification regarding removal of ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka will be issued tonight, government sources said. The de-proscription comes 10 days ahead of the commencement of peace talks between the government and the LTTE in Thailand.
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General shut down as military closes Point Pedro schools

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 15:18 GMT]
(Adds: Photos) A complete 'hartal' (general shut down) was observed in Point Pedro and Manthikai areas in the Jaffna peninsula Tuesday in response to a call by the Jaffna Journalists' Association condemning the assault of two journalists and students during the picketing campaign held Monday. All shops and schools were closed down and black flags were hoisted. The military ordered the indefinite closure of Hartley College and Vadamarachchi Methodist Girls High School whose students were involved in Monday’s protests.
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Court to hear Mylanthanai massacre case

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 14:15 GMT]
The Colombo High Court Tuesday fixed September 30 as the date for inquiry into the Mylanthanai massacre case before a panel of Jury. In this case the Attorney General had indicted twenty-one soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army for killing thirty-five Tamil civilians and causing injuries to twenty-four others, court sources said.
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PA parliamentarian for ban removal before talks

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 September 2002, 18:11 GMT]
A leading People’s Alliance parliamentarian Monday openly said that the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam should be lifted before the commencement of Thailand peace talks on September 16. " All peace efforts taken by the United National Front government will be ruined if the ban on the LTTE is not removed before the commencement of Thailand talks," said Mr.A.H.M.Fowzie, a senior minister in the then PA government and a leading member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
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Jaffna students storm SLA positions

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 September 2002, 14:15 GMT]
(News Feature) Over two thousand protesting Tamil students Monday forced their way into Sri Lanka Army positions and camps in Point Pedro in the northern Jaffna peninsula, destroying barriers, sentry points and checkpoints. Students demanding the withdrawal of troops from public places also blocked the main entrance of the SLA's 52-4 Brigade headquarters. Troops fired tear gars and live rounds and assaulted students, journalists and local officials of the Liberation Tigers' political wing who intervened.
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Batti TEEDOR launches Book

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 September 2002, 08:51 GMT]
"Our National Leader's objective is not to prolong the long, devastating war. His primary focus is in obtaining a lasting peace through negotiations that allows our people to live free and with dignity," said Ramesh, the Special Military commander of LTTE for Batti-Ampara district at a book launching ceremony organised by the TEEDOR (Tamil Eelam Economic Development Organisation).
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