News vom 06.01.2006

[srilanka1998]

Karuna Camp: The secret probe
[ Sunday Times ] [ 02:44 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

The first camps were established in the jungle north of Thivuchchena/Diwulsena village but in December 2004 the Karuna faction established a camp in the village itself. Initially the camp was located closer to the tarmac road before SLA told them to move. The camp was then moved to its present location. According to the 2ic, today's total strength of this Karuna group is 140 combatants. The main Karuna camps are now in the jungle North of Thivuchchenai/Diwulsena. The SLMM monitors met the second in command (2ic) of the camp at the Western CP and the atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly. "He openly admitted that he and his comrades are Karuna cadres and that they came to this jungle area North of Senapura in September 2004.


International community: no double standards, please!
[ Northeastern Monthly ] [ 02:48 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

The assassination of Joseph Pararajasingham, MP (TNA-Batticaloa District) was an abominable act, carried out by gunmen while the victim was at midnight mass in the early hours of Christmas day. The plaudits that are pouring in on the life and work of the slain MP bear ample testimony to the immense contribution he made to Tamil nationalism, for which he laid down his life.The state-controlled media, and sections of the privately-owned media in Colombo that slavishly repeat what their 'contacts' in military intelligence, or the military spokesman want them to say, declared the murder was committed by the hand of the LTTE. The truth of the matter however is plain. Pararajasingham was killed in a high security area literally crawling with soldiers and policemen. How the assassins could have escaped from being challenged by military personnel present in the vicinity, unless of course they were specifically told not to apprehend the culprits, defeats the imagination.


Sri Lankan government does not want war with rebels: FM
[ AFP ] [ 11:22 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that his government did not want a war with the Tamil Tigers and appealed to the rebels to be flexible, return to the negotiating table and jointly strengthen a Norwegian-backed ceasefire. "The next step has to be negotiations and nothing else because our government does not believe in war," Samaraweera told AFP in an interview in Washington on Thursday after holding talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.He said Rice gave an assurance that the United States "will do whatever possible" There has been widespread speculation that Sri Lanka would descend again into civil war amid an upsurge in violence which has threatened to rupture a 2002 ceasefire between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

 

[srilanka1998]

Canada Fails to Condemn Assassination of Joseph Pararajasingham, M.P. by Sri Lankan Military Intelligence
[ TCWA ] [ 11:46 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

We are disappointed the Canadian government has failed to condemn the despicable assassination of Joseph Pararajasingham, MP even after a lapse of more than one week. He was assassinated while attending mid-night mass at St. Mary's Church, Batticaloa in government controlled HSZ. The deafening silence of the government that is used to issuing press statements at the drop of a hat as in the case of killing of Lakshman Kadirgamar is deplorable. Joseph Pararajasingham, MP is no ordinary person. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. His assassination has placed the peace process in jeopardy. The Liberal government is treating Thamil Canadians less than equal in regard to a number of vital issues affecting them.


Canadian High Commission's Press Release - I beg you for answers?
[ TCNR ] [ 19:30 GMT, Jan. 5, 2006 ]
Re: Canadian High Commission Press Release

Having read the Canadian High Commission's recent press release regarding the Sri Lankan situation in the Daily News (Sri Lanka) newspaper, I thought of writing to you, Tamil Canadians, to express my resentment.

The press release is biased. It has called upon the paramilitaries and the LTTE to stop the violence; it looks like a deliberate equation to discredit the LTTE who are sole representative of Tamils.

War clouds are looming in our homeland. The SL military is involved in indiscriminate killing, gang rapes and arbitrary arrests. People fear to walk in the streets. Normalcy is deteriorating and sure will continue to worsen. We don't know what would happen to us in the coming days.

New government and military seem to have determined to subdue Tamils by force. Education of the Tamils seems to be the first prime target; thus students are being targeted.

International Governments do not care about the new government's policy of unitary state policy vis-à-vis- the peace process. Where is the federal concept earlier agreed to explore? That means no body guarantees the agreements reached between parties? Why didn't your government condemn this breach of agreement? Why didn't they condemn the cold-blooded killing of our Tamil MP in a church?

How could you, about 250,000 Tamil Canadians, allow this by the name of your country? Why did your High Commission in Sri Lanka issue a press release? We have always expected Canada as another country that could play a neutral role in the conflict? How come you have allowed your government to do such a thing?

I beg you for answers?

S Kathirkamanathan
Manipay, Sri Lanka.


Condemn the assassination of Hon Joseph Pararajasingham
[ WAPD ] [ 11:53 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

There are forces who are engineering these confrontations and murders in a bid to break the ceasefire agreement and take the country back to war. It is unfortunate that His Excellency has not been able to restraint the language of chauvinism and ethnic hatred promoted during his campaign that has now being translated into military maneuvers. There is the urgent need to defuse the tensions as civilians have faced numerous hardships as a repressive environment has been created in the North and East. The appearance of masked gunmen at various corners of Jaffna keeping surveillance is a reminder to us of the gruesome past and calls for immediate withdrawal of such measures. The need of the hour is to build confidence among the Tamil people if the government is ready to resume peace talks and develop a process to bring LTTE to the peace table. The road to peace in not an easy task.

 

[srilanka1998]

Tensions rise in Sri Lanka enclave
[ Aljazeera ] [ 12:40 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

Tension is growing between soldiers and civilians in the army-held enclave of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka as fears rise of a return to civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels. Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission said on Friday that complaints of abuse against the army have grown since dozens of troops were killed recently in suspected rebel attacks on the peninsula. Rohitha Priyadarshina, the commission's regional co-ordinator, said: "After those attacks, we have been getting more complaints. Some report missing people, some were arrested by the army."


Sri Lanka in diplomatic push as attacks stoke war fears
[ Reuters ] [ 12:46 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

One person was killed and six were wounded in sporadic attacks in Sri Lanka's troubled eastern region overnight, the military said on Friday, as the government sought U.S. diplomatic help to avoid a slide back into war. A civilian died and three others were hurt when an unidentified gunman lobbed a grenade and opened fire near rebel-held territory in the eastern district of Batticaloa. In the neighboring Trincomalee district, three soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack. Amid the continuing violence, the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are locked in a propaganda war, each accusing the other of being behind a string of deadly attacks that are straining a 2002 ceasefire to breaking point.

Protest in Colombo over indiscriminate arrests of Tamils

[TamilNet, January 06, 2006 12:40 GMT]
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated Friday afternoon 3 p.m.at the Grandpass junction in Colombo city against indiscriminate arrests and harassment of Tamil people in Colombo under the Emergency Regulations. Several organizations and Sinhala and Tamil political party leaders participated in this jointly organized event, sources said.

Protesters carried placards and shouted the slogan "stop the police arrestments as well as remove the emergency law." After an hour of protest the political party leaders addressed the gathering.

Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians, N.Raviraj and Suresh Premachandran, Western Province People's Front Leader Mano Ganesan, New Leftist Movement leader Vikramabhu Karunarathna and other leaders of leftist movement attended the demonstration.

Notable absentees to the demonstrations are the members of Colombo peace movements and Peace NGOs, attendees to the event said.


Strike grips Sri Lanka town after troops accused of killing students
[ AFP ] [ 12:47 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

A strike gripped Sri Lanka's restive port town of Trincomalee, a day after the funerals of five students allegedly killed by government forces, residents and officials said. Residents said shops and offices were shut in Trincomalee, 260 kilometres (160 miles) northeast of Colombo, the capital of the tropical island nation torn by ethnic conflict. Public transport came to a halt, they said on Friday. A local outfit known as the Pongu Thamil Organisation had called the strike to protest Monday's killing of the five students, residents said.


Attacks deepen distrust between north S. Lankans and army
[ Reuters ] [ 12:49 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]

Tension and distrust , between soldiers and civilians are growing in Sri Lanka's northern army-held Jaffna enclave, with a spike in allegations of abuse by troops as fears rise of a return to civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels. Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission said on Friday that complaints against the army have grown since dozens of troops were killed recently in a series of suspected rebel attacks on the peninsula. "After those attacks, we have been getting more complaints," said the commission's regional coordinator, Rohitha Priyadarshina, a member of the Sinhalese majority working in a town where almost all are Tamils.

 

[srilanka1998]

Sri Lanka's growing war fears
[ BBC ] [ 17:46 GMT, Jan. 6, 2006 ]


With still no sign of peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, many people in the country fear the delay could lead to increased violence and possibly even full-scale war. Nearly 60 military personnel were killed in various incidents last month, sparking fears that the nearly four-year-old ceasefire agreement could collapse. The Tamil Tigers have said they had nothing to do with most of the attacks and said some armed civilian groups could be behind the violence. So far, the army has not retaliated, much to the relief of the international ceasefire monitors. "Sri Lankan forces should be commended for showing restraint," Hagrup Haukland, the chief of the ceasefire monitoring mission told the BBC.

 

[srilanka1998]

Four civilians killed in Northeast
SLA and paramilitaries continue civilian killings in Northeast

Valaichenai

One man was killed and three men were injured by a grenade attack in Valaichenai on Thursday at about 8:00 pm. Unidentified men forcefully entered a tailor shop in front of Valaichenai Hindu College and threw the grenade inside. Kunam Danush (22) was killed immediately. Mathanraj (20), Sarathkumar (20) and Kala (58) were seriously wounded and were rushed to Valaichenai Hospital. They were later sent to Batticaloa Hospital for further treatment.

Vadamarachchi

The body of Thabenthiran Mathan (28) was found on Thumpalai Road in Point Pedro with severe stab wounds on Thursday night. Residents in the area said they knew Mathan had submitted complaints to SLMM about death threats that he received from a paramilitary group and they suspect the paramilitary group was responsible for this murder.

Mathan is a father of two children and was an employee at the Point Pedro Urban Council.

Valigamam

Thangarajah Pratheeshkumar (32) was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in outside of him home in Uduvil on Thursday at about 10:00 pm. Pratheeshkumar's home is near a large Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp located near the border of the High Security Zone area. Residents said the gunmen escaped from his home immediately after the incident. Pratheeshkumar's body was taken to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for postmortem examination.

Kiran

A father of a one-year-old baby, Rasaratnam Kugenenthiran, was killed in Korakallimadu on Thursday morning by Sri Lankan Army (SLA) who was patrolling the area at that time. SLA has said that Kugenthiran had a grenade in his hand and that is why they shot at him.

06 January 2006