HRC investigates disappearances

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 June 2000, 05:45 GMT]
Four young men have been reported missing according to complaints made by their relatives with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Vavuniya. The Chairman of the Human Rights Commission in Vavuniya, Mr. Sreetharan said they were trying to trace the whereabouts of the missing persons.
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Drug shortage hits Vanni hospital

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 June 2000, 15:47 GMT]
Hospitals in the Vanni region are experiencing shortage of drugs and other medical equipment as they are yet to receive the entire supply approved by the Defence Ministry, for the first quarter of this year, government officers and medical sources said. They said the remaining supplies for the hospitals are lying in Vavuniya, awaiting approval from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities.
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TELO cadres shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 June 2000, 15:44 GMT]
Two members of a pro-government group, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Kalladi, about 2 km. north of Batticaloa, around 3.45 p.m. Wednesday evening the police said.
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Detained student admitted to hospital

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 June 2000, 21:03 GMT]
A GCE A/L student from Muttur has been detained at the Trincomalee Police Headquarters since last month. While being interrogated by the Police during this period he has been admitted twice to Trincomalee base hospital for medical treatment for injuries inflicted on him, relatives said.
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CTTU appeals to boycott Flag Week

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 June 2000, 05:16 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) has appealed to Tamil students and teachers not to contribute to the Flag Week scheduled to be held on June 26 by the National Youth Services Council throughout the island. The General Secretary of the CTTU, Mr.T.Mahasivam, in his appeal has pointed out that fifty percent of the money collected by the Flag Week is to be donated to the National Defense Fund of the Sri Lankan Government.
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Four more skeletons found in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 June 2000, 17:25 GMT]
Villagers cleaning a compound in Kilinochchi, 45 km. south of Jaffna, found four skeletons, with their hands tied behind their backs in a toilet pit on Thursday, the Voice of Tigers said.
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Tigers release Elephant Pass video

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 June 2000, 17:44 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have released a 40 minute long English language video documentary of their assault on the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) base at Elephant Pass, which they overran on April 22, the Tamileela vanoli, the commercial service of the Voice of Tigers (VoT) said Wednesday.
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Judge warns EPRLF factions

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 June 2000, 17:42 GMT]
Two factions of the minor ex-Tamil militant group operating in Mannar with the Sri Lankan security forces were severely reprimanded by the Mannar district judge M.Ilancheliyan Wednesday for breaching the peace in Mannar town by quarreling with each other incessantly. The Police filed a case Wednesday in the Mannar courts against both factions of the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) for being a public nuisance and a threat to law and order in the town. The EPRLF was formerly a group that was fully backed by India.
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Further arrests ordered in Hamilitta murder

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 June 2000, 14:05 GMT]
The Mannar Magistrate Mr.M.Illancheliyan ordered the arrest of five more Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in connection with gang-rape and murder of a young woman on Tuesday. Ida Hamilitta, 21, was raped and killed in the early hours of 11 July 1999 in Pallimunai in the north-west of the island.
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Five SLA soldiers killed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2000, 06:42 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and four others were seriously wounded in an ambush by the Liberation Tigers at Sri Mangalapaura on Allai-Kantalai road, about 75 km. south west of Trincomalee town, around 8.30 a.m. this morning, security sources said.
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UNP flays govt. for dialogue hypocrisy

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 June 2000, 15:32 GMT]
The general secretary of Sri Lanka's main opposition party, Mr.Gamini Athukorala, charged Monday that the government is hypocritical and insincere in its discussions with his party on constitutional reforms aimed at resolving the ethnic conflict in the island. The United National Party's (UNP) general secretary lambasted the state media for distorting decisions that had been mutually agreed upon and for carrying on a misinformation campaign about his party's role in the current dialogue towards a bipartisan consensus on constitutional reforms.
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Court releases arrested Trinco students

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2000, 17:03 GMT]
Two students of Chelvanayagapuram Tamil Maha Vidyalayam in Uppuveli in Trincomalee district, who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and held in detention, were produced before the Trincomalee acting magistrate, Mr. M.K. Selvarajah yesterday.
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Rescued refugees remanded

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2000, 16:32 GMT]
The 24 refugees who were rescued by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) from an islet of the Adam's Bridge in the high seas between the southern coast of Tamil Nadu and Mannar on June 14 were remanded until Monday by Mannar's acting magistrate.
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STF officer killed in claymore attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2000, 12:48 GMT]
The officer in charge of the elite Special Task Force (STF) commando camp in Thirukkovil, 77 kilometers south of Batticaloa, was killed Sunday morning around 11.30 a.m. when a claymore mine fixed to a bicycle exploded.
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Police accused of sexual brutality

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2000, 07:57 GMT]
Sri Lankan police officers in Sinnakadai area in Mannar have attempted to rape women in the nearby areas after forcibly opening the doors at night, residents in Mannar said. Sex-related abusive incidents have worsened since last Wednesday, they added.
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More casualties due to SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 June 2000, 15:16 GMT]
One civilian died and two suffered severe injuries whenthe Sri Lankan Army (SLA) intensified their shelling inthe Thenmaradchi sector of the Jaffna Peninsula.
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Mannar conditions said causing refugee trickle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 June 2000, 12:39 GMT]
Fifteen youth were arrested and detained by the Sri Lanka army when it cordoned off and searched the coastal village of Pesalai, 17 kilometers west of Mannar, Saturday morning. Sources said that the refugee camp in Pesalai was also searched. The SLA confiscated large quantities of kerosene stored by local fishermen as fuel for the light horsepower out board motors of their fishing boats.
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'City of Trinco' trip cancelled

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 June 2000, 08:29 GMT]
Due to a confrontation between the Sri Lanka Navy and the Liberation Tigers in the seas of Mullaitivu, in the north-east of the island, the naval authorities suspended the sailing of the vessel 'City of Trinco' to Jaffna from Trincomalee Thursday morning. Informed sources said a SLN gunboat was damaged in the confrontation that took place on Wednesday night.
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Blast kills two

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 June 2000, 06:53 GMT]
Police said two people were killed and thirteen were wounded when a suicide bomber attempted to ram a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bus Wednesday morning around 8.30 a.m. at Gemunu junction in Wattala town, a northern suburb of greater Colombo.
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Muttur cordoned and searched

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 June 2000, 13:13 GMT]
A large number of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and police cordoned off Muttur town, south of Trincomalee, in its entirety and conducted a search operation from 9.30 a.m. till 1.30 p.m. today said residents. At least 25 people were detained on suspicion during the search. Residents were headed to the town hall and interrogated in front of masked spotters.
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