International countries should urge Sri Lanka to reveal proposal to solve ethnic issue

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 February 2010, 03:52 GMT]
Civil Society Organizations in Jaffna Peninsula requested Canadian Ambassador Mr. Pruce Levy to urge international countries to exert pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka to disclose immediately if it has any proposal to solve the ethnic issue, when the Ambassador met them at several places in the peninsula. President Mahinda Rajapakse who said that he will present the proposal after the presidential election now says that he will reveal it after the announced general election, the representatives told the visiting Canada Ambassador.
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SLA constructs Maximum HSZ in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 February 2010, 04:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna has begun constructing an earthen dam in an area encompassing Kaangeasanthu’rai and Keerimalai in Valikaamam North as part of the new Maximum High Security Zone (MHSZ) Wednesday, sources in Jaffna said. 20 Village Officer (VO) divisions of the 27 VO divisions occupied as SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North are to be turned into the new MHSZ, the sources added.
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SLA refuses permission to residents to enter HSZs in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 February 2010, 03:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers did not allow the people evicted from SLA High Security Zones (HSZs) in Jaffna peninsula to enter the HSZs in Thellippazhai and Jaffna town when they went to see their lands and houses Sunday. Prior to the presidential election the government had promised them resettlement in the HSZs and SLA soldiers had allowed them to go and see their properties during day time but now they had been denied permission even to enter the HSZs, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA, SLN restrictions in Jaffna peninsula imposed again

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 2010, 04:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) which had relaxed their various restrictions in Jaffna peninsula prior to president election have begun to impose them again actively, sources in Jaffna said. These restrictions include the checking of passengers travelling within the peninsula and to the islets of Jaffna besides access to their places in the SLA High Security Zones (HSZs), they said. People of Ezhuthumadduvaa’l in Thenmaraadchi who were told by Minister Douglas Devananda and SLA officials that they would be permitted to resettle in their places immediately after the presidential election were turned back when they tried to go to their homes Friday.
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SLN permits worship in Ma’ndaitheevu St. Peter’s church after 20 years

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 January 2010, 15:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) occupying Ma’ndaitheevu in the islets of Jaffna since 1990 allowed people to worship in St. Peter’s Church in Ma’ndaitheevu Friday, sources in Jaffna said. Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Soudaranayagam and the SLN top officials stationed in the islets of Jaffna were present on the occasion, sources added. However, only a group of people permitted to resettle in Ma’ndaitheevu were allowed to participate in the mass. Meanwhile, Jaffna Bishop stressed that the armed forces should vacate the surroundings of the church so that residents could observe their religious rites freely.
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Mahinda inciting racial hatred between Sinhalese and Tamils - Suresh Premachandran

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 2010, 14:01 GMT]
“President Mahinda Rajapakse, on learning Tamil National Alliance (TNA) intention of supporting his rival Sarath Fonseka in the presidential election, is actively engaged in whipping up racial animosity between the Sinhalese and the Tamils,” Suresh Premachandran, TNA parliamentarian said in a press briefing held Tuesday in his Jaffna office. “Mahinda, Minister Douglas Devananda and other government supporters are deceiving the Tamils with their false promises,” he further said.
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SLA holds greater part of Ki’linochchi as HSZ

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 2010, 02:19 GMT]
Normalcy has not been restored in greater part of Ki’linochchi district as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has declared a large area of it as its High Security Zone, sources in Ki’linochchi said. Although Northern Province Governor, Major General G. A. Chandrasiri ordered all government offices to function from 1st January, many of them being located east of A9 road, have not been opened as they are caught within the HSZ, the sources added.
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IDPs not allowed to enter their places in HSZs in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 2010, 03:08 GMT]
Following the announcement made by government ministers and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials, persons who went to observe ‘Pongal’ in their houses in the SLA High Security Zones (HSZ) in Ariyaalai North and Valikaamam North Thursday were chased away by SLA soldiers and police deployed at the Front Defence Line (FDL) positions in these areas, Internally Displaced Person’s Welfare Association representatives said. All promises of resettlement in Jaffna HSZs made by government ministers and SLA officials remain unfulfilled and empty promises made with the aim to get the IDPs to vote for Mahinda Rajapakse, they openly accused.
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People displaced from HSZs in Jaffna continue to be deceived

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 2010, 02:47 GMT]
Arranged by Minister Dougals Devananda, around 300 IDPs were taken by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers to Ariyaalai Wednesday saying that they can see their houses which had been caught in the High Security Zone (HSZ) during SLA occupation in 2000, representatives of IDP Welfare Organisations in Jaffna said. The IDPs, however, were not permitted to go beyond Poompukaar junction in Ariyaalai and they had to return with disappointment, they added. Though many promises had been given to the IDPs in an effort to get their votes for President Mahinda Rajapakse, so far no definite date or information had been given to them regarding resettlement in the HSZs, the representatives said.
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Support for Mahinda in Jaffna declines

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 2010, 04:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) being reluctant to permit resettlement in its High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North, whatever support that President Mahinda Rajapakse had in Jaffna peninsula began to decline fast, sources in Jaffna said. Besides, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Sivasakthi Ananthan had told ‘Valampuri’, the Tamil daily published in Jaffna, that SLA soldiers at Thellippazhai had demanded Ministry of Defence (MOD) permission from him to enter the HSZ and this had altogether dashed the hopes of the IDPs who had been time and again promised with resettlement.
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Families evacuated from Thellippazhai HSZ deceived by government officials

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 2010, 04:57 GMT]
More than a hundred Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), evacuated from their places in Thellippazhai area by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for establishing High Security Zone (HSZ), who was informed by Jaffna Government Agent (GA), K. Ganesh, that they will be allowed to resettle in their places had to return with disappointment. Even, Sivasakthi Anathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian who too had come to the SLA Front Defence Line (FDL) in Thellippazhai hoping to see his house within the HSZ was not allowed entry into the HSZ, sources in Jaffna said.
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TAK passes 25 resolutions in its 60th anniversary meeting

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 2010, 04:23 GMT]
The General Committee of Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (TAK) met Sunday in Jaffna on the 60th anniversary of its formation and passed 25 resolutions unanimously on issues related to Tamils, sources in Jaffna said. TAK said that it continues to stand firm that the Tamil ethnic issue should be resolved on the principles based on Tamil traditional homeland, Tamil Nation and self-rule based on the right to self-determination. The leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R. Sampanthan presided the meeting which was held in the I’lam Kalaignar Hall in Nalloor.
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Sri Lanka's President fails to fulfill Jaffna expectations, "go home" tell students

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 2010, 13:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse who arrived in Jaffna Sunday on his re-election campaign failed to make any important announcement in matters regarding youths gone missing after arrest, the immediate resettlement of IDPs in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zones (HSZs), and a solution to the ethnic issue, sources in Jaffna said. Government supporters in Jaffna and political leaders from the South had informed the local media that Mahinda Rajapakse will announce positive decisions in these pressing issues, but the speech delivered at Jaffna Duraippah Stadium Sunday side-stepped all issues of immediate interest to the people in Jaffna. At Aa’riyaku’lam Rajapakse was angered when protesting students shouted that they will never vote for him besides shouting "go home", journalists who covered the visit said.
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Basil Rajapakse announces election concessions in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 2010, 03:39 GMT]
Basil Rajapakse, the brother and senior advisor of President Mahinda Rajapakse, who arrived in Jaffna Wednesday, announced several concessions in an attempt to get Tamils to vote for Mahinda Rajapakse in the forthcoming presidential election. The concessions are being promised to counter the rising wave of support in the peninsula for the joint opposition candidate General (retd) Sarath Fonseka, political observers in Jaffna said. One of the concessions announced by Basil Rajapakse is the opening of A9 route, 24 hours a day, with effect from Wednesday midnight, sources in Jaffna said.
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"I will not accept partition of the country" - Sarath Fonseka, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 2010, 04:25 GMT]
"I am not prepared to allow partitioning the country, be it proposed by the minority or majority community," Sarath Fonseka, the common opposition presidential candidate, said in a press meet held Saturday in Jaffna town. In response to a question Sarath Fonseka took pains to explain the difference between the role he had to play as a military officer in the past and his present role as a politician. He had to give priority to the safety of soldiers as the Military Commander and now as a politician he gives priority to the benefit of people, he added.
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Family rule or Democratic rule? – Ranil Wickremasinghe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 December 2009, 10:22 GMT]
“The time has come for the people to decide whether they want the Rajapakse family rule to continue or democratic rule to be restored in Sri Lanka,” Leader of the opposition and United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremasinghe, who is in Jaffna canvassing support for Sarath Fonseka, the common candidate of the opposition parties in the presidential election, said Saturday speaking among the students of the private College of Education near the Buddhist temple in Jaffna.
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4 youths arrested in Katunayake HSZ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 December 2009, 08:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force and Sri Lanka Police Saturday took four youths- two Tamils and two Sinhalese into custody in a cordon and search operation conducted covering the high security zone of the Katunayake International airport complex. The Katunayake Police said they are being detained and interrogated as they failed to prove their identity and justify their stay at that time.
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Resettle IDPs in Jaffna before Presidential Election – IDP Welfare General Committee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 November 2009, 19:09 GMT]
The Welfare General Committee (WGC) of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Jaffna demands the speedy resettlement of IGPs in their own places occupied by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in its High Security Zones (HSZs) in Jaffna peninsula before the Presidential elections, WGC sources said. WGC has decided to present its request directly to Sri Lanka President, Mahinda Rajapakse when he visits Jaffna 8 December. Meanwhile, WGC strongly condemns Minister Douglas Devananda’s recent announcement that resettlement in HSZs in Jaffna peninsula will take place only in July 2010 after the presidential election.
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Vanni IDPs held in Thenmaraadchi to be settled in Army HSZ in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 November 2009, 16:33 GMT]
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from earlier Liberation Tiger controlled areas in Vadamaraadchi East beyond Naakarkoayil detained in Mirusuvil and Kodikaamam IDP camps in Thenmaraadchi are to be settled in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Ma’nattkaadu in Vadmaraadchi, according to Maruthangkea’ni Assistant Government Agent (AGA), S. Sriskantharajah. Ma’nattkaadu, Ampan and Kudaththanai villages are located in the HSZ where people are not permitted to move freely by the occupying SLA soldiers, sources in Vadamaraadchi said.
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SLA establishes another HSZ in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 November 2009, 05:28 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna informed the Fisheries Societies of the areas near Jaffna Lagoon that fishing will not be permitted in Kearatheevu, Changuppiddi areas including Poonakari, Fisheries society representatives said. People have not been permitted to enter these areas where SLA had sown numerous mines, for the last three years. The boats of the fishermen fishing in these areas will be confiscated and legal action will be taken on them, the SLA directive to the fishermen societies said.
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