7 bodies of Tamil Nadu fishermen washed ashore in Jaffna identified

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 August 2009, 16:07 GMT]
Relatives of the seven Tamil Nadu fishermen whose bodies had been washed ashore in the islets of Jaffna last week identified the bodies Sunday, sources in Jaffna said. They identified the bodies as the fishermen who had gone missing from Raameasvaram and Thanushkoadi in Tamil Nadu.
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Headless male corpse washed ashore in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 August 2009, 16:30 GMT]
Oorkaavattu’rai police recovered Friday a headless male body in a highly decomposed state in Veala’nai, in the islets of Jaffna, being informed by fishermen going to the seas. Though bodies of Raameasvaram fishermen had been washed ashore recently in the islets of Jaffna, the body recovered Friday seemed not to belong to that group, the police who handed over the remains to Jaffna Teaching Hospital Friday evening, said.
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EPDP men violate human rights – ITAK chief candidate Remediyas

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 August 2009, 14:16 GMT]
“Minister Douglas Devananda’s men are intimidating the fishermen in Jaffna that the ban on fishing will be imposed again if they vote for Ilankai Thamizh Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election and this is an obvious violation of human rights,” Mudiyappu Remediyas, the principal candidate of ITAK, said in the press conference held Tuesday in ITAK office in Jaffna.
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Ruling party supporters confiscate voting cards in Jaffna – TNA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 August 2009, 17:11 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran alleged that the ruling party contestants in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election had forcibly confiscated more than 1500 voting cards from residents in Kozhumpuththu’rai, Ariyaalai and Eachchamoaddai area in Jaffna, in a press meet held in his Jaffna office Saturday. TNA parliamentarians Gejendrakumar Ponnambalam and Solomon Cyril along with Thamizharsuk Kadchi (TK) chief candidate Mudiyappu Remedias attended the press meet.
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Raameasvaram fishermen expected to identify the bodies washed ashore in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 July 2009, 17:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Indian Navy (IN) authorities informed Jaffna Fisheries Societies that they would sail the relatives and friends of the Rameasvaram fishermen whose corpses were washed ashore in the islets of Jaffna recently, to Kaangkeasanththu’rai harbour Friday. They are expected to identify the six bodies which lie in Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) mortuary Friday, fisheries society sources in Jaffna said.
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3 washed ashore bodies in the islets of Jaffna identified

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 July 2009, 15:33 GMT]
Three of the six bodies washed ashore since Sunday in the islets of Jaffna have been identified as belonging to fishermen from Raameasvaram in Tamil Nadu, according to the identity cards found on the recovered bodies. Meanwhile, fishermen returning from the sea in the islets Thursday said that another body was sighted in the sea and that it would reach the shore Thursday night or Friday morning.
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Altogether 4 bodies washed ashore in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 July 2009, 15:11 GMT]
Oorkaavattu’rai police recovered a male body washed ashore each in Pungkudutheevu and Ezhuvaitheevu beaches in the islets of Jaffna Tuesday in addition to a male body washed ashore each in Pungkudutheevu and Ezhuvaitheevu Sunday, sources in Jaffna said. The four recovered bodies may belong to the fishermen from Raameasvaram in Tamil Nadu gone missing on the seas recently, police said. Oorkaavattu’rai magistrate, Ms. Joy Mahatheva, has directed the police to inform the Indian High Commission in Colombo and the fisheries societies in India and Sri Lanka to take necessary action to find whether the dead bodies belong to Indian fishermen.
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2 corpses of youths washed ashore in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 July 2009, 18:46 GMT]
Oorkaavatu’rai police recovered Sunday the corpse of a young male found washed ashore on the beach of Pungkudutheevu, an islet of Jaffna, and handed it over to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) mortuary. Meanwhile, a male corpse washed ashore on the coast of Ezhuvaitheevu, another islet of Jaffna, was recovered by Oorkaavatttu’rai police Monday and handed over to JTH mortuary. Both bodies, clad only in underwear, were covered with assault injuries, residents who saw the bodies said.
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Fishing restrictions in Jaffna will continue – Fisheries Minister

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 July 2009, 15:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Fisheries Minister and Aquatic Resources, Felix Perera, told representatives of the Fisheries Societies in Jaffna peninsula that the current restrictions on fishing in Jaffna lagoon and in the seas of the islets of Jaffna will not be lifted until new radars are installed between Mannaar and Poonakari, on being requested to lift the existing restrictions which continue even after President Mahinda Rajapakse’s public announcement that 24 hours fishing is permitted in the North, sources in Jaffna said.
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Devotees to Nainaatheevu temple inconvenienced, delayed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 July 2009, 09:55 GMT]
Around a thousand devotees on their way Monday to attend the annual Thear (charriot) festival of Nainaatheevu Nakapoosha’ni Amman temple, a historically famous Saiva temple in the islets of Jaffna, had to undergo severe checking and undue delay at the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) check post at Allaippiddi, sources in Jaffna said. Only around 50 ordinary boats were used by SLN to sail the devotees from Allaippiddi to the Nainaatheevu, the devotees said.
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State, unclaimed, lands in Jaffna to be acquired for investment projects

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 July 2009, 05:22 GMT]
Retired Major Gen. Sunil Tennakoon, former Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander for Jaffna, said that action is being taken to acquire the lands belonging to the state and those unclaimed in Jaffna peninsula to be given to investors from foreign countries and the South, in a press meet held in Jaffna Secretariat Friday. Sunil Tennakoon, heading a team of officials of the ‘Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BISL), held the press meet along with the other members of the team.
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SLA provides security to Tamil dailies’ distributors in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 June 2009, 04:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA), following the burning of all copies of three Tamil dailies intended for distribution in Jaffna district Thursday, allegedly by the armed group operating with the Sri Lanka military intelligence, provided escort by armed motorbike squad Friday morning to the newspaper distribution staff on motorcycles, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA deployed security guards for the offices of Valampuri and Yarl Thinakural Tamil dailies in Jaffna with effect from Friday though the editors of these dailies have rejected SLA security in the past, the sources added.
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Fishing ban imposed in Jaffna in view of Basil’s visit

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 June 2009, 12:07 GMT]
Fishermen in Kaarainakar, Ponnaalai and Chuzhipuram areas in Jaffna were not allowed to go fishing from Thursday evening till Friday evening in the seas of Jaffna islets in a security measure imposed in view of Basil Rajapakse, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse’s brother and advisor, taking part in a meeting at Kaarainakar, along with some ministers, to explore into the difficulties faced by the fishermen in Jaffna peninsula, sources in Jaffna said.
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Colombo SLHRC restricts its Jaffna office functions

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 May 2009, 14:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) Colombo Head Office Secretary, Ms. Chandra Ellawela, has instructed Jaffna office not to admit anyone seeking protection to their lives into the office but to get the assistance of the police to check them and not to take them to Court in HRC vehicles but in private vehicles, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, it has been decided to instruct persons seeking protection to their lives to do so in one of the five Magistrate Courts in Jaffna peninsula, in a high level meeting between Jaffna Additional Magistrate, T. Wicknarajah and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna Commander, according to directions released by the Additional Magistrate, the sources added.
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SLA reimposes ban on outboard motor fishing in Jaffna lagoon

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 April 2009, 13:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna has reimposed the ban on outboard motor fishing in Jaffna lagoon for an indefinite period from Thursday, according to Fisheries Society sources in Jaffna. Thousands of families on the coast of Jaffna lagoon are affected by the ban which is said to have been reimposed as a security measure for the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) vessels transporting troops from Kurikaaduvaan in Jaffna to Mannaar, the sources added.
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Kurunakar fish market reopened in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 April 2009, 19:33 GMT]
Kurunakar fish market in Jaffna town which had remained closed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for nearly 20 years due to security reasons and occupied by the SLA for the last 15 years was officially reopened by SLA Wednesday for public use, sources in Jaffna said. Fisheries and Marine Resources Ministry, Jaffna Deputy Director, N. Tharmalingam, SLA officials, Fisheries Society representatives and political party persons took part in the event where fishermen sold their catch to public, the sources said.
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More than 10 SLN soldiers injured in accident in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 April 2009, 16:01 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) vehicle carrying SLN soldiers along the causeway between Ponnaalai junction and Valanthalai junction in Kaarainakar in the islets of Jaffna lost control and leapt into the water causing injuries to more than ten SLN soldiers in the vehicle, Friday around 6:20 a.m. Some of the injured who were rushed to Kaarainakar SLN base are said to be in critical condition, according to unconfirmed sources in the islet of Jaffna.
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Memorial mass for Rev. Fr. Philip Jim Brown held in Allaippiddi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 2009, 15:01 GMT]
Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Jaffna Bishop, conducted a memorial mass Wednesday morning in Allaippiddi St. Philip Neri Roman Catholic church in remembrance of Rev. Fr. Jim Brown and his assistant V. Vimaladas who had gone missing on their way to Allaippiddi church in the islets of Jaffna at a Sri Lanka Navy (SLA) check post in late August 2006, sources in Jaffna said. The church had been damaged in the Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire on the people who had sought refuge in it during a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive on 11 August 2006 and was renovated by the efforts of Chaaddi Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Philip Stanislaw, the sources added.
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SLN obstructs resettlement of IDPs in Allaippiddi in the islet of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 March 2009, 15:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) which hold the islets of Jaffna in its control is delaying permission for IDP resettlement in Allaippiddi besides not allowing demining in the coasts of Allaippiddi, according to Jaffna Secretariat officials who had forwarded the applications of 48 Allaippiddi families staying in refugee camps in Jaffna town to SLN officials. Recently, Minister Douglas Devnanda, along with his government, had made much publicity in resettling Allaippiddi IDPs, sources in Jaffna said.
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Japan to offer financial assistance for demining in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 15:39 GMT]
A delegation of key officials of the Japanese Embassy in Sri Lanka which visited Jaffna recently had intimated Japan’s inclination to provide financial assistance to continue the demining activities in Jaffna peninsula which has been curtailed in recent times, sources close to the Coordinating Committee for demining projects in Jaffna District Secretariat said. Areas in Changaththaanai, Madduvil and Oorkaavattu’rai have been earmarked to benefit from Japan's help in the first stage, Danish Demining Organization (DDO) sources said.
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