MP lists occupied temples, schools in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 June 2002, 16:10 GMT]
Trincomalee parliamentarian R. Sampanthan Monday sent a letter by fax to the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe listing schools, places of worship, private lands and public buildings in the Trincomalee district which have not been vacated by the State armed forces even one hundred and fifteen have passed after signing the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers on February 23. The list included five places of worship, twelve schools and eighteen public buildings and private lands which are still in the hands of State armed forces.
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VoT hosts Jaffna cultural show

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 June 2002, 10:07 GMT]
Thousands of Tamils in Jaffna gathered Sunday for a cultural performance put on by the Arts & Culture section of the Liberation Tigers, in the first such event in seven years, the Uthayan newspaper reported. The 'Muththamil Kalai Arangam' road show took place at Nallur's Ilam Kalaignar Hall and was presented by the 'Voice of Tigers' radio.
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Samurdhi ministry discriminates against Tamil villages

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 June 2002, 22:01 GMT]
Several civil groups Sunday complained that Tamil villages in the Trincomalee district have been discriminated when allocating funds for implementing agricultural development projects under the Poverty Alleviation (Samurdhi) Programme. The Department of Samurdhi (Poverty Alleviation) is functioning in the Trincomalee district secretariat under the supervision of the Government Agent.
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Peace secretariat official's visit to China deplored

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 June 2002, 18:25 GMT]
"It is most disturbing that a member of the Peace Secretariat has gone to China along with the Defence Minister and the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy presumably to procure arms and to modernize the Navy at the expense of the poor people of this country. This has to be viewed in the context that Tamil fishermen in the northeast view the Sri Lanka Navy as an undisciplined force," said Tamil Human Rights lawyer Mr.K.Sivapalan Saturday. Mr. Sivapalan is a member of the Trincomalee Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.
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SLA stops fishing boats coming ashore

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 June 2002, 14:22 GMT]
Fishermen in Inparutti near Pt. Pedro in Jaffna blocked the main coastal road Saturday when the Sri Lanka army refused to let more than 24 catamarans and 12 boats come ashore as these had not obtained permits from the military to fish in the sea. Fishermen in Inparutti said that they had set out to sea Friday evening without obtaining permits from the SLA because Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence had promised Thursday to lift draconian controls on fishing following an agitation by the Federation of Fisheries Co-op Societies in Northern Province last week.
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Navy threatens Kayts businessmen

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 June 2002, 11:45 GMT]
Sri Lankan Navy personnel Thursday threatened Tamil businessmen in Kayts who had joined residents in the rest of the Jaffna peninsula in observing a general strike (hartal) on Wednesday to protest the armed forces failure to implement the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers. Navy personnel visited the businesses in a pickup truck and warned the owners that they should not close their establishments “based on newspaper stories,” the Sudar Oli reported Friday.
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Military harassment continues in east

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 June 2002, 11:30 GMT]
Police personnel manning the checkpoint in Kaddaiparicchhan, Muttur in the Trincomalee district have again started harassing Tamil youths, local press reports said. People traveling from Muttur East are stopped and questioned at the checkpoint and those not carrying sufficient identification are barred from crossing, the Uthayan reported last week.
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MP lists occupied temples and schools in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 June 2002, 22:10 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr.Jospeh Pararajasingham Friday sent a list of places of worship, schools and public buildings now being occupied by the Sri lankan armed forces in the Batticaloa district to the Prime Minister. According to the list, 8 schools, 5 temples and several public buildings in Batticaloa are either occupied by government forces or situated within the perimeter of their camps.
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SLA occupies more Jaffna homes

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 June 2002, 11:13 GMT]
The Sri Lankan armed forces are expanding and bolstering a chain of sentry posts along the Jaffna coastline, the largest circulating daily in the peninsula, the Uthayan, reported Thursday. Meanwhile, in Nunavil East, the SLA has taken over more than ten homes for their camp, and is constructing bunkers, residents told TamilNet.
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Navy should completely move out of Thiriyai - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 June 2002, 22:33 GMT]
"The Sri Lanka Navy should vacate Thiryai village completely, enabling the displaced Tamil families to resettle in the area. No resettlement or rehabilitation is possible with the presence of a large number of SLN personnel in the village," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, Trincomalee district parliamentarian, speaking at a conference held Wednesday evening at the office of the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat.
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PM to meet TNA over government cease-fire violations

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 June 2002, 22:31 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe has invited the leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for talks on June 19 at the Parliamentary complex. The invitation was sent to Mr.R.Sampanthan, the leader of the TNA parliamentary group.
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'Just solution will end armed struggle'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 June 2002, 14:10 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are committed to the ceasefire agreement with the Sri Lankan government and will honour its terms and conditions, but must remain strong until the rights of the Tamil people have been secured, a senior LTTE commander said Monday.
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Navy blocks resettlement of Tamil families in Thiriyai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 June 2002, 21:41 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy Wednesday refused permission to a group of displaced Tamil families to enter their destroyed village, Thiriyai- a Tamil village about 42 km north of Trincomalee town- to make preliminary arrangements for their resettlement.
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General shut down in Jaffna, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 June 2002, 13:49 GMT]
School, government offices, shops and business establishments were closed Wednesday in the Jaffna and Batticaloa districts in response to a call by the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) in Jaffna. The Jaffna CHA called the general shut down to protest against fishing restriction, destruction of coconut and palmyra farms in the northeast province and setting up of new camps in the northern peninsula.
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TRO's Trincomalee office begins work

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 June 2002, 13:16 GMT]
The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) branch in Trincomalee town is taking action to reconstruct the Karadipuval village, destroyed by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and to conduct rehabilitation work in the Kapalthurai village, said Mr.C. Kumarakuruparan, the branch secretary, at a TRO musical night held Sunday in the eastern town.
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Paper lists public places occupied by military

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 June 2002, 12:36 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military is occupying at least 139 places of worship, 74 schools and 113 public buildings across the north and east of the island in violation of the permanent ceasefire between the government and the Liberation Tigers, the Tamil Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday. The London-based weekly published the details, categorised by type and district, of the public locations it said are presently under military occupation.
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Jaffna protests planned over truce breaches

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 June 2002, 06:32 GMT]
The Jaffna Humanitarian Organisations' Committee called on all residents in the peninsula to observe a day's strike on Wednesday in protest at the Sri Lankan government's reluctance to fulfil the requirements set out in the ceasefire accord it signed with the Liberation Tigers. The organisation appealed for all residents to remain in their homes to demonstrate the strength of their feeling.
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Quit notices on Linganagar Tamil families withdrawn

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 June 2002, 05:13 GMT]
The Trincomalee Divisional Secretary (DS) has decided to withdraw ejectment applications filed in the magistrateís court under the State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act against several Tamil residents who live on state lands in the Linganagar area, a suburb in Trincomalee, when the defense counsel submitted that the affidavits of the prosecution were bad in law and not in conformity with the land.
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SLMM denies commenting on gazette

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 June 2002, 02:44 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Sunday denied a report by the Daily Mirror that Hagrup Haukland, Deputy head of the SLMM, had stated that the Sri Lankan government’s gazette notification of fishing restrictions issued last month conflicts with the provisions of the ceasefire agreement the government signed with the Liberation Tigers.
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SLA positions bar temple access

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 June 2002, 02:27 GMT]
Claims by the Sri Lanka Army that its troops have moved out from temples and schools occupied Kommanthurai, located on the Valaichenai road between Vantharumoolai and Chenkalady is a sham since the sentries, roadblocks and restrictions on access to the area continues, local civil society leaders said.
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