UN names war crimes panel on Sri Lanka

June 22, 2010 at 8:12 PM

A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that the Secretary-General has appointed a three-member panel of experts to advise him on the issue of war crimes reportedly committed in Sri Lanka during the war between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.  Is this the international investigation that Amnesty International has been calling for?  No, unfortunately.  According to the spokesperson’s statement, the UN panel will look into “modalities, applicable international standards and comparative experience” on how to provide accountability for reported violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.  While the panel is to advise the UN Secretary-General, it hopes to cooperate with Sri Lankan officials and is supposed to be available as a resource to the Sri Lankan government.

The Sri Lankan government, for its part, is reportedly not happy with the Secretary-General naming the panel.  One Sri Lankan official yesterday, in anticipation of the panel being named today, said that it amounted to “an attempt to provide oxygen” to the Tamil Tigers (who were militarily defeated a year ago).  Another Sri Lankan official called the move by the UN “unwarranted” as the Sri Lankan government had recently appointed its own reconciliation commission to look into events during the war.

But as Amnesty International’s report, “Twenty Years of Make-Believe:  Sri Lanka’s Commissions of Inquiry,” documents, the Sri Lankan government has a poor record of holding its own forces accountable for violations of human rights and war crimes.  One of the prior commissions of inquiry described in our report was a 2006 commission set up by the Sri Lankan government to investigate several high-profile cases of human rights violations.  That commission’s activities were observed, at the Sri Lankan’s government’s request, by an “International Independent Group of Eminent Persons” (known as IIGEP).  After a little more than a year in operation, IIGEP quit in protest, saying that the commission’s proceedings didn’t satisfy basic international standards for such commissions.

As it happens, Mr. Marzuki Darusman, the Chair of the new UN panel, was also a member of IIGEP.  This fact has already been used by a Sri Lankan official to criticize the new UN panel.  I hope Mr. Darusman’s experience on the new panel will turn out more positively than the IIGEP experience, but judging from the Sri Lankan government’s reactions so far, I’m not very optimistic.  I do hope that the UN panel will help lead to an independent international investigation into war crimes and human rights abuses committed by both sides during the war in Sri Lanka, sooner rather than later.

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727 thoughts on “UN names war crimes panel on Sri Lanka”

  3. Tamil Genocide http://www.topix.com/forum/world/sri-lanka/TC70A5…

    Massacres of Tamils by Sri lanka State Terror from 1956 http://www.topix.com/forum/world/sri-lanka/TPHS2B…

    As long as the government is successful in covering up the atrocities and mass graves, they can pretend to be happy. But, you can read their faces, they are worried that the truth might come out one day and they may be held responsible for the massacres. Tamils are sad that their sacrifices have gone in vain because the whole world was naive to believe the government and watched in silence the carnage and burial of 50,000 which are still unaccounted for.

    MIA said
    “It wasn’t just about me, and me getting to the Oscars or me going to the Grammys – that doesn’t mean anything. The whole point of that journey was so you can go ‘hey – 50 000 people are going to die next month, here’s your opportunity to help,’ and no one did, and they still died. It wasn’t about accolades or fame.”

  6. First the Reconciliation then Accountability !!

    Also the Reparations must be done by the Guilty – Aggressor – The Sri Lankan Army and not the occupation/colonization !!

    The Sri Lanka killed the Tamils and destroyed their livelihoods and homes in the Tamil Homelands

    ———–

    The Sinhalese blow up the Tamil Shops.

    They are responsible for the loss of livelihoods .

    So, they have to pay the reparations to the Tamils for the loss of their businesses !!

    The Sinhalese blow up the Tamil Homes .

    They are responsible for the loss of houses .

    So, they have to pay the reparations to the Tamils for the loss of their homes !!

    The Sinhalese kill the Tamils .

    They are responsible for the loss of lives .

    So, they have to pay the reparations to the Tamils for pain and suffering !!

    The Sinhalese injured the Tamils by indiscriminate bombings .

    They are responsible for the loss of limbs or other injuries .

    So, they have to pay the reparations to the Tamils because they are not able to work anymore !!

    And so on , so on and so on …….

  7. Over 62+ years of injustice to tamils in sri lanka, still waitng for justice. International legal systems have so far failed to bring the Sri Lankan War Criminals to justice.

    Fifty thousand innocent men, women and children were brutally murdered on the sandy beaches and in the jungles of Sri Lanka, by the Sri Lankan Military while the whole world stood back and watched.

    A typical Sri Lankan leader would talk like he has the whole world under his feet and he doesn’t care about outside opinions. Many of us remember the controversial Sri Lankan defence secretary of Sri Lanka who appeared on many TV channels across the globe and thundered that he had the right to bomb hospitals and schools. He had indeed ordered to bomb several hospitals in the recent war in Sri Lanka. This short tempered leader and the former military commander of Sri Lanka are directly responsible for thousands of
    killings in Sri Lanka.

    Sri Lankan rulers no longer tell the truth. According to them, the Sun raises in the West and the rooster crows only in the evenings. While murdering civilians with heavy weapons including tanks and missiles with unconventional war heads, Sri Lanka was lying to the world that they were only using light weapons.

    Although, Sri Lanka is a democratic country, the majority Sinhala people support Nazi Style right wing parties. Racist politicians and military leaders are looked upon as heroes and saviours of the country.
    Tamils who once had their own nation are now considered as aliens and invaders even though the majority of the Tamils are the original inhabitants of this land. Politics is driven by the powers of ignorance, greed, lies and deceptions.

    Tamils, who are one of the most oppressed communities in the world, have been fighting to free themselves from the evil regimes of the country. But they have so far failed to achieve their goals. Tamils initially fought through democratic means. Democracy no longer works in favour of Tamils because the majority prefers the Tamils to be wiped out from the country.

    Tamils were slaughtered in thousands with swords and knives in the buses, trains and in their own homes in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Frustrated Tamil youth took arms to fight against fascism. Armed rebellion has now been crushed with the help of China and India.

    Sri Lankan army did manage to slaughter more than fifty thousand Tamil civilians including women and children within few months time. Banned weapons like cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs were used against the innocents.

    Thousands of surrendered and wounded rebels were brutally murdered. Military tanks rolled over the dying and the golden beaches of Sri Lanka were turned into red carpets with the blood of the innocents.

    Although China, India and Pakistan are helping the Sri Lankan rulers, Genocide is being carried out with the complete freewill of this Nation. Sri Lankan leaders have made this beautiful country into a half naked
    prostitute in the India Ocean. Ministers of this country regularly fly to China and India to meet the political and military leaders of those nations. Sri Lanka has become a puppet of these superpowers with its own sweet will.

  8. SLA’re destroying war crimes evidence -hundreds of human remains

    Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are hastily destroying hundreds of human skeletal remains that lies in the weed overgrown bunkers where the Tamil civilians were sheltering to save their lives when SLA occupied Vanni in its final offensives on the Tamil Homeland.

    Meanwhile, a priest, an eyewitness to the massacre, recalled how the advancing SLA soldiers ruthlessly had thrown grenades into the bunkers which were full of women and children and how SLA tanks had dumped them with earth even with people alive in them and were heard screaming and begging for help

  11. Grieving for the War Victims – criminalized in Sri Lanka

    The mourning seem to be criminalized in the newly “liberated” North

    On 18th June 2010, has been declared a public holiday by the government. Many Sri Lankans, especially Sinhalese from the South are expected to respond enthusiastically to the government’s elaborate plans to celebrating the war victory over the LTTE. For several days, citizens in Colombo had to put up with closed roads in preparation. How much of our – citizens – tax payer’s money will be spent for this celebration is something I don’t know and dare not think.

    Some media had highlighted on the fact that the General who led the war victory is likely to be in detention and not invited to celebrate the victory he led.

    What seems to be forgotten, and what I do know for sure is that tens or hundreds of thousands of Tamils, particularly in the North, will not be celebrating this victory. Many of them infact, will be grieving and mourning for family members and friends killed, injured, missing and detained in during the course of the war, particularly the final months of the war.

    However, now, even grieving and mourning appears to be criminalized in the newly “liberated” North.

    On 17th May, amidst heavy showers and floods in Colombo (which had compelled the government to postpone the victory celebrations), I was with a group of friends, at an ecumenical (Christian) event to commemorate those killed in the war. As we were starting the event, I got a call from a good friend, a Catholic priest in Jaffna, who told me that he had got several threatening calls asking him to cancel a religious event he had organized in Jaffna to commemorate civilians killed in the war.

    In addition to the telephone calls, senior army officers had visited his office-threatened them and forced them to cancel the event. He was in a dilemma – he was personally not keen to cancel the event, but was concerned about the safety of his staff and families due to participate in the event.

    Later, I came to know that this was not an isolated incident and several other friends were subjected to similar threats.

    On the same day, 17th May, Nallur Temple area in Jaffna, where an inter-religious event was being held to remember those killed in the war was held, was surrounded by the police and the army. The people who came to participate were threatened and told to go away. Those who insisted on going in they were asked to register their names and other details with the police. Many went away in fear and only few had participated. Later on, the army had questioned and threatened a priest who was involved in organizing the event. The priest was even summoned to Palaly military headquarters in Jaffna for interrogation .

    In Vanni, an army officer had told a villager that he will shoot a parish priest and drag him behind his jeep, because he (the priest) was organizing prayer services for those killed in the war. Another priest was prevented from celebrating a holy mass to pray for those killed in the war on 19th May in the Vanni.

    So, it is clear the army doesn’t want Tamils to mourn and grieve for their loved ones killed during the war.

  12. June 20th, 2010 at 11:21 am
    A new (cultural) campaign against Tamils in Vanni

    As Tamil signs disappear in northern Sri Lanka, those in Sinhalese go up. Soldiers are rebuilding Buddhist temples whilst allowing Christian churches and Hindu temples to lay in ruin even though most locals belong to these two religions. Meanwhile, monuments celebrating the Sinhalese victory are starting to dot the region, but for Tamil victims there is but oblivion.

    The provinces of northern Sri Lanka “are undergoing a different kind of attack, not military, but cultural and religious this time. They are faced with the ‘Sinhalisation’ of the area,” Rukshan Fernando told AsiaNews. The human rights activist and director of the Law and Society Trust just completed a tour of the provinces of Vanni and Killinochi.

    “A first example and one that might appear trivial but isn’t so is road signs. Tamil language signs have disappeared; everything now is in Sinhalese. The military claim that Tamil terms are too long and complicated and that’s that. Place names are in both languages, but the one in Sinhalese comes first. What is more, beside the usual and accepted Sinhalese names, signs also mention older Sinhalese names in an attempt to show that these lands are Sinhalese lands,” a Tamil priest told me.

    The attempt to change local history and society “also involves religion. In the city of Killinochi, for example, a large arch was put up, saying ‘May Buddhism shine’.” Yet, most people in the area are either Hindus or Christians.”

    “Buddhist temples have been rebuilt and are spotless, whereas the places of worship of other religions are not allowed to do the same. And the difference is clearly visible since soldiers are involved in the work at Buddhist sites.”

    Lastly, this campaign includes monument building.“Soldiers are building all sorts of monument hailing the victory of the government and the army . For locals, they are a symbol of their domination, also because no one is allowed to build anything to commemorate Tamil war dead.”

  15. Sri Lanka appointed many commissions called the Presidential Commissions of Inquiry into Involuntary Removals and Disappearances of Persons, so far no one convicted, it is an eyewash. Many people reported missing in Sri Lanka have never been located and are presumed dead.

    Sri lankan President said
    “Yes, we are Sinhala. The country is also Sinhala. Therefore, you Demala (Tamils) listen to me. If you cannot listen without trying to be too smart, then leave.”
    Rajapakse regime introduces a new constitution we might have only a line of Sinhala Buddhist Kings, not democratic leaders who believe in a multi ethnic, multi religious society. Forces that support and control the present regime do not believe in a multi ethnic or multi religious Sri Lanka. What they envisage is a unitary Sinhala Buddhist state where the minorities should merge with the majority, forgetting and losing their identity.

  16. Tamil Genocide http://www.topix.com/forum/world/sri-lanka/TC70A5…

    Massacres of Tamils by Sri lanka State Terror from 1956 http://www.topix.com/forum/world/sri-lanka/TPHS2B…

    As long as the government is successful in covering up the atrocities and mass graves, they can pretend to be happy. But, you can read their faces, they are worried that the truth might come out one day and they may be held responsible for the massacres. Tamils are sad that their sacrifices have gone in vain because the whole world was naive to believe the government and watched in silence the carnage and burial of 50,000 which are still unaccounted for.

    MIA said
    “It wasn’t just about me, and me getting to the Oscars or me going to the Grammys – that doesn’t mean anything. The whole point of that journey was so you can go ‘hey – 50 000 people are going to die next month, here’s your opportunity to help,’ and no one did, and they still died. It wasn’t about accolades or fame.”

  17. Tamil Genocide http://www.topix.com/forum/world/sri-lanka/TC70A5…

    Massacres of Tamils by Sri lanka State Terror from 1956 http://www.topix.com/forum/world/sri-lanka/TPHS2B…

    As long as the government is successful in covering up the atrocities and mass graves, they can pretend to be happy. But, you can read their faces, they are worried that the truth might come out one day and they may be held responsible for the massacres. Tamils are sad that their sacrifices have gone in vain because the whole world was naive to believe the government and watched in silence the carnage and burial of 50,000 which are still unaccounted for.

    MIA said
    “It wasn’t just about me, and me getting to the Oscars or me going to the Grammys – that doesn’t mean anything. The whole point of that journey was so you can go ‘hey – 50 000 people are going to die next month, here’s your opportunity to help,’ and no one did, and they still died. It wasn’t about accolades or fame.”

  22. Colombo intensifies spread of Buddhism in the Tamil Homelands.

    Buses carrying around two thousand Buddhist priests under heavy escort carrying a sacred statue of Buddha on a pilgrimage to Jaffna had passed Vavuniyaa Monday and entered Vanni main land through A9 road, sources in Vavuniyaa said.

    The buses, however, have not reached Jaffna until Tuesday evening and it is assumed that the Buddhist priests, on an urgent mission to spread Buddhism in the North, are engaged in some unannounced opening ceremonies of newly erected Buddhist Viharas in Vanni by the occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA)

    It is not yet known what the Buddhist priests are to do in Jaffna but it is generally believed that they will engage in opening a new Buddhist Vihara somewhere in the peninsula to observe ‘Poson’ festival Friday which celebrates the introduction of Buddhism in the island.

    Meanwhile, Northern Province Governor, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri had directed government heads in the North to make arrangements to cater to the needs of the priests passing through.

    Accordingly, some of the schools along this route have been hastily prepared to accommodate the pilgrims.

    The Sinhala Governor had also directed the heads of government to widen and renovate all the main roads that lead to Buddhist religious sites in the peninsula.

    Meanwhile, an academic from Jaffna commenting said that the aim of this feverish engagement in spreading Buddhism in the North by Colombo includes the construction of Sinhala-Buddhist stupas in the heart of the Tamil homeland paving way for islands of Sinhala-Buddhist colonies protected by military.

    This will go hand in hand with the ‘development’ projects aiming to open the conquered territory to the conquerors and eventually the change of demography so that Tamils can never fight for their national rights in the island, he pointed out.

    Temporally and spiritually it is a heritage genocide: to make Eezham Tamils feel that their homeland doesn’t belong to them, they are historically inferior ‘intruders’, they have no claims for their nationalism and as long as they exist as Tamils they cannot be equals, he added.

    Meanwhile, the extreme Sinhala nationalist Jathika Hella Urumaya (JHU) Saturday had to elect a new leader as Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera had resigned from the post as he needed more time to devote on his pet subjects of archaeological research in Mullaiththeevu in Vanni, JHU sources said.

  23. Finally UN is taking some ‘announcements’, hope, the panel will not sit in idle like the UN has been while all the atrocities were going on in Sri Lanka, and UN was ousted from the conflict zones in early 2008.

    Many forgotten all the safe passage etc. UN and others were calling and Sri Lanka disregarded.

    Fact remains that Sri Lanka has committed disenfranchisement, pogroms, enforced disappearances, scorched earth policy and destruction of all Tamil livelihoods and uprooting of Tamils for over 60 years – under one guise or another

  24. Sri Lanka Army raped, tortured Tamil men , women and children but the justice for the victims is impossible because complaints of rape, like other complaints of torture, are often not effectively dealt with by the Sinhalese.

    Deficiencies in the early stages of the criminal investigation process have repeatedly contributed to the ultimate collapse of the investigation of the alleged rape and the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators.

    It also stated that ‘every case of alleged criminal conduct committed by the armed forces and police has been investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted, although there may have been unavoidable legal delays’. Contrary to the government s assertion not a single member of the security forces has been brought to trial in connection to incidents of rape in custody although one successful prosecution has been brought in a case where the victim of rape was also murdered. An analysis of the cases in which investigations were conducted and trial proceedings initiated suggests that the authorities are far more inclined to take action if there is a considerable amount of public pressure.

    government announced that seven indictments had been presented to the High Courts with regard to the alleged perpetration of torture and that the ‘Prosecution of Torture Perpetrators Unit’ in the Attorney General s department had in addition processed investigative material in another six cases. However, despite these initiatives, the fact remains that to date no one has been found guilty by a court of law in relation to charges of torture or rape in custody in Sri Lanka.

    There are many additional reasons why criminal investigations into complaints of rape are generally unsuccessful. Among them are:

    – threats by the perpetrators against the victim and/or the witnesses
    – inadequate medical evidence due to poor quality of initial medical examination (in itself sometimes caused by threats to the doctor) or due to delay in taking the victim to a doctor
    – lack of independence of the investigating authority: police investigating police or members of the security forces
    – slow action by the local authority (normally the police) to investigate
    – political or other pressure brought to bear on the investigators
    – the victim withdraws the complaint or stops her cooperation with the investigations, under pressure from her family or community in the context of a traditional stigma associated with rape
    – transfer of the case to a court a long distance away from the victim s home
    – the police fears to act against alleged perpetrators belonging to the security forces.even the magistrate was threatened

  25. SLA arrests sixteen Tamil civilians in Eastern provinces

    At least sixteen persons were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from the districts of Ampaa’rai and Batticaloa until last week

    Atrocities of SLA are common in Paduvaankarai and other areas in the Batticaloa district since 2006 after it was claimed that the district was no longer under army control.

    —————————————————————————————-

    All those poor Tamils will be drug off to the inhuman Sinha-Nazi’s jails where they will be tortured and killed !!!

  26. Tamils who have been facing death and destruction for more than six decades and are still under indescribable trauma after the Tamil War and the decimation of their Tamil Identity and Loss All Human Dignity as they forced to become beggars in their own land under ruthless Sinhala Occupation !!!

  27. First the Reconciliation then Accountability !!

    Also the Reparations must be done by the Guilty – Aggressor – The Sri Lankan Army and not the occupation/colonization !!

    The Sri Lanka killed the Tamils and destroyed their livelihoods and homes in the Tamil Homelands

    ———–

    The Sinhalese blow up the Tamil Shops.

    They are responsible for the loss of livelihoods .

    So, they have to pay the reparations to the Tamils for the loss of their businesses !!

    The Sinhalese blow up the Tamil Homes .

    They are responsible for the loss of houses .

    So, they have to pay the reparations to the Tamils for the loss of their homes !!

    The Sinhalese kill the Tamils .

    They are responsible for the loss of lives .

    So, they have to pay the reparations to the Tamils for pain and suffering !!

    The Sinhalese injured the Tamils by indiscriminate bombings .

    They are responsible for the loss of limbs or other injuries .

    So, they have to pay the reparations to the Tamils because they are not able to work anymore !!

    And so on , so on and so on …….

  28. Over 62+ years of injustice to tamils in sri lanka, still waitng for justice. International legal systems have so far failed to bring the Sri Lankan War Criminals to justice.

    Fifty thousand innocent men, women and children were brutally murdered on the sandy beaches and in the jungles of Sri Lanka, by the Sri Lankan Military while the whole world stood back and watched.

    A typical Sri Lankan leader would talk like he has the whole world under his feet and he doesn’t care about outside opinions. Many of us remember the controversial Sri Lankan defence secretary of Sri Lanka who appeared on many TV channels across the globe and thundered that he had the right to bomb hospitals and schools. He had indeed ordered to bomb several hospitals in the recent war in Sri Lanka. This short tempered leader and the former military commander of Sri Lanka are directly responsible for thousands of
    killings in Sri Lanka.

    Sri Lankan rulers no longer tell the truth. According to them, the Sun raises in the West and the rooster crows only in the evenings. While murdering civilians with heavy weapons including tanks and missiles with unconventional war heads, Sri Lanka was lying to the world that they were only using light weapons.

    Although, Sri Lanka is a democratic country, the majority Sinhala people support Nazi Style right wing parties. Racist politicians and military leaders are looked upon as heroes and saviours of the country.
    Tamils who once had their own nation are now considered as aliens and invaders even though the majority of the Tamils are the original inhabitants of this land. Politics is driven by the powers of ignorance, greed, lies and deceptions.

    Tamils, who are one of the most oppressed communities in the world, have been fighting to free themselves from the evil regimes of the country. But they have so far failed to achieve their goals. Tamils initially fought through democratic means. Democracy no longer works in favour of Tamils because the majority prefers the Tamils to be wiped out from the country.

    Tamils were slaughtered in thousands with swords and knives in the buses, trains and in their own homes in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Frustrated Tamil youth took arms to fight against fascism. Armed rebellion has now been crushed with the help of China and India.

    Sri Lankan army did manage to slaughter more than fifty thousand Tamil civilians including women and children within few months time. Banned weapons like cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs were used against the innocents.

    Thousands of surrendered and wounded rebels were brutally murdered. Military tanks rolled over the dying and the golden beaches of Sri Lanka were turned into red carpets with the blood of the innocents.

    Although China, India and Pakistan are helping the Sri Lankan rulers, Genocide is being carried out with the complete freewill of this Nation. Sri Lankan leaders have made this beautiful country into a half naked
    prostitute in the India Ocean. Ministers of this country regularly fly to China and India to meet the political and military leaders of those nations. Sri Lanka has become a puppet of these superpowers with its own sweet will.

  29. SLA’re destroying war crimes evidence -hundreds of human remains

    Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are hastily destroying hundreds of human skeletal remains that lies in the weed overgrown bunkers where the Tamil civilians were sheltering to save their lives when SLA occupied Vanni in its final offensives on the Tamil Homeland.

    Meanwhile, a priest, an eyewitness to the massacre, recalled how the advancing SLA soldiers ruthlessly had thrown grenades into the bunkers which were full of women and children and how SLA tanks had dumped them with earth even with people alive in them and were heard screaming and begging for help

  31. Grieving for the War Victims – criminalized in Sri Lanka

    The mourning seem to be criminalized in the newly “liberated” North

    On 18th June 2010, has been declared a public holiday by the government. Many Sri Lankans, especially Sinhalese from the South are expected to respond enthusiastically to the government’s elaborate plans to celebrating the war victory over the LTTE. For several days, citizens in Colombo had to put up with closed roads in preparation. How much of our – citizens – tax payer’s money will be spent for this celebration is something I don’t know and dare not think.

    Some media had highlighted on the fact that the General who led the war victory is likely to be in detention and not invited to celebrate the victory he led.

    What seems to be forgotten, and what I do know for sure is that tens or hundreds of thousands of Tamils, particularly in the North, will not be celebrating this victory. Many of them infact, will be grieving and mourning for family members and friends killed, injured, missing and detained in during the course of the war, particularly the final months of the war.

    However, now, even grieving and mourning appears to be criminalized in the newly “liberated” North.

    On 17th May, amidst heavy showers and floods in Colombo (which had compelled the government to postpone the victory celebrations), I was with a group of friends, at an ecumenical (Christian) event to commemorate those killed in the war. As we were starting the event, I got a call from a good friend, a Catholic priest in Jaffna, who told me that he had got several threatening calls asking him to cancel a religious event he had organized in Jaffna to commemorate civilians killed in the war.

    In addition to the telephone calls, senior army officers had visited his office-threatened them and forced them to cancel the event. He was in a dilemma – he was personally not keen to cancel the event, but was concerned about the safety of his staff and families due to participate in the event.

    Later, I came to know that this was not an isolated incident and several other friends were subjected to similar threats.

    On the same day, 17th May, Nallur Temple area in Jaffna, where an inter-religious event was being held to remember those killed in the war was held, was surrounded by the police and the army. The people who came to participate were threatened and told to go away. Those who insisted on going in they were asked to register their names and other details with the police. Many went away in fear and only few had participated. Later on, the army had questioned and threatened a priest who was involved in organizing the event. The priest was even summoned to Palaly military headquarters in Jaffna for interrogation .

    In Vanni, an army officer had told a villager that he will shoot a parish priest and drag him behind his jeep, because he (the priest) was organizing prayer services for those killed in the war. Another priest was prevented from celebrating a holy mass to pray for those killed in the war on 19th May in the Vanni.

    So, it is clear the army doesn’t want Tamils to mourn and grieve for their loved ones killed during the war.

  32. June 20th, 2010 at 11:21 am
    A new (cultural) campaign against Tamils in Vanni

    As Tamil signs disappear in northern Sri Lanka, those in Sinhalese go up. Soldiers are rebuilding Buddhist temples whilst allowing Christian churches and Hindu temples to lay in ruin even though most locals belong to these two religions. Meanwhile, monuments celebrating the Sinhalese victory are starting to dot the region, but for Tamil victims there is but oblivion.

    The provinces of northern Sri Lanka “are undergoing a different kind of attack, not military, but cultural and religious this time. They are faced with the ‘Sinhalisation’ of the area,” Rukshan Fernando told AsiaNews. The human rights activist and director of the Law and Society Trust just completed a tour of the provinces of Vanni and Killinochi.

    “A first example and one that might appear trivial but isn’t so is road signs. Tamil language signs have disappeared; everything now is in Sinhalese. The military claim that Tamil terms are too long and complicated and that’s that. Place names are in both languages, but the one in Sinhalese comes first. What is more, beside the usual and accepted Sinhalese names, signs also mention older Sinhalese names in an attempt to show that these lands are Sinhalese lands,” a Tamil priest told me.

    The attempt to change local history and society “also involves religion. In the city of Killinochi, for example, a large arch was put up, saying ‘May Buddhism shine’.” Yet, most people in the area are either Hindus or Christians.”

    “Buddhist temples have been rebuilt and are spotless, whereas the places of worship of other religions are not allowed to do the same. And the difference is clearly visible since soldiers are involved in the work at Buddhist sites.”

    Lastly, this campaign includes monument building.“Soldiers are building all sorts of monument hailing the victory of the government and the army . For locals, they are a symbol of their domination, also because no one is allowed to build anything to commemorate Tamil war dead.”

  33. Tamils in slave camps for POWs

    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=32029

    The plight of the captured LTTE cadres and alleged supporters numbering more than 10,000 in the slave camps of Colombo is a direct result of the deliberate failure of the international system in not recognising them as Prisoners of War. The war broke out by Colombo breaching an internationally enacted peace. The war against the LTTE was internationally abetted. Personnel of some countries, especially India, were known for directly operating in the ground, proving the international dimensions of the war. The call for the surrender of the LTTE was made internationally. The Norwegian peace facilitator publicly made the call. Yet, the international system tries to maintain the issue as ‘internal’. The failure of the system in either not taking direct responsibility of the cadres or declaring them as POWs questions the credibility of the powers dominating the system, Tamil circles said.

    By doing so, the system now abets Colombo to politically blackmail the Tamil nation. Colombo and some powers, by roping in some collaborators, are conspiring to link the issue of the cadres with permanent political enslavement of the Tamil nation. Voice should be raised internationally to pre-empt the conspiracy, to relieve the POWs away from manipulation and to bring in the issue under international law and norms of human civilisation, Tamil circles said.

    At the close of the war in May 2009, the UN said that Colombo could be permitted to keep the captive-cadres in its custody for a year. No list of captives has been made available to the world then or now. Many cadres are feared slaughtered in the meantime. The captives kept alive perish as slaves in camps while Colombo hoodwinks the world by performing marriages to a few couples.

    What the international system is doing in the island will seriously discredit all future peace initiatives anywhere in the world. It is widening the rift between global Tamils and some powers of the system. It is late, but not too late for the international system to approach the national question as a national question and to come out with bold remedies, at least in order to save its own credibility, observers said.

    Reports reaching from the camps indicate that many inmates have told their relatives not to visit them. Because they don’t want their relatives pained at seeing their plight. Relatives are permitted to meet them only during the weekends.

    The captives are kept in the prison camps in Vavuniyaa in the North, Seruvila in the East, Velikkanthai at the border of Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa districts, and Thirukkoa’namadu and Kanthak-kaadu located in a reserved forest in Polonnaruwa district, bordering Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts.

    The captives at Kanthak-kaadu are kept in the custody of Sri Lanka Army while the inmates of Thirukkoa’namadu are in the custody of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

    The Kanthak-kaadu camp, 25 km interior of Velikkanthai, where about 1000 are kept is almost a slave farm of Karuna, the Deputy ‘Rehabilitation’ Minister of Colombo, reports said.

    Dirty drinking water, that too very little, unpalatable food cooked for them by the army cooks, restricted bathing, conditions of mosquitoes and flies so that even while eating they have to be inside nets, forced labour in farming and in doing menial work to the army, denied or restricted medical facilities are reported from this camp, said to be for the ‘rehabilitation’ of the cadres.

    Medical treatment is provided only when the patient is totally collapsed.

    Visitors have noticed their relatives in the camps further emaciated.

    The Thirukkoa’namadu camp is in forest area, 20km from Velikkanthai, and is of roughly 1.5 km wide area. There are three divisions, A, B, and C.

    Inmates do the work of clearing the forest. In camp C, each gets only 15 litres of water once in two days for all purposes. In other divisions inmates have dug their own wells.

    Visitors on weekends have to register their names with the air force and then have to contact volunteers among the inmates to meet their relatives.

    Inmates are forced to work all six days except Sundays.

    Full text of the report from eyewitnesses reaching from so-called rehabilitation camps of Velikkanthai and Thirukkoa’namadu, follows:

    Condition of Velikanthai, Thirukkoa’namadu ‘rehabilitation’ camps

    Persons who had been arrested during the offensive on Vanni by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or persons worked for them or supported them and others who had surrendered themselves later on the assurance that arrangements would be made to rehabilitate them are all being held in the detention camps in Vauniyaa and ‘rehabilitation’ centres in Thirukkoa’namadu, Kanthak-kaadu claimed as Velikkanthai Rehabilitation Centres and in the detention camp in Cheruvila for the past one year. The relatives of these POWs can visit them only during week-ends.

    The condition of POWs detained under Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) in Thirukkoa’namadu and those under SLA in Kanththak-kaadu was found to be so very deplorable.

    Kanththak-kaadu detention centre seems to belong to present Deputy Minister of Rehabilitation Vinayagamootrthy Muralitharan. It is located in a deserted jungle area around 25 km interior from Velikkanththai junction.

    Maavilaa’ru is 0.5 km from this centre and around one thousand persons are being held here. They have to live in very adverse conditions.

    The conditions in Kanthak-kaadu are as follows:

    There has been no drinking water for the past one month and the detainees have to drink the river water from Maavilaa’ru which is contaminated with dirt and yellow coloured, as there is no facility to boil it before drinking.
    Half an hour for bathing is given to those detained who are taken to Maavilaa’ru from each tent by eight or ten SLA soldiers. The second group is taken only after the first group returns and half an hour is hardly enough to bathe and wash clothes.
    In the beginning, meals had been cooked by groups of ten detainees on rotation and now the meals are cooked by persons brought in by the SLA. What they get now is half cooked rice and curries, which are not prepared properly, making the food uneatable.
    The entire camp is infested with flies and other insects which sometimes are found in their food. The inmates have to take their meals seated within mosquito nets and one of them had told a relative that he no longer could eat anything as he had found a big beetle in the rice.
    Though it had been claimed that rehabilitation measures will adopted in the camps so far nothing of that sort has taken place. On the contrary the inmates are made to clear the jungle in the area and to cultivate vegetables. They appeared like slaves being taken to do forced and hard labour.
    It was observed that the detainees were taken to work in places far from the detention camp and when relatives come to visit them they are brought to camp at once.
    The detainees have to cut grass and erecting tents for the soldiers who constantly watch them.
    The food is served at 1:30 p.m. and if one fails to reach the place on time one has to go without food.
    A wife said that her husband held in the detention camp appeared to be in worse physical condition than during his time in Vavuniyaa detention centre.
    Medical treatment is not given when needed. Only when one’s condition gets worse the person is taken to the hospital.
    Recently a detainee had refused to work and when a quarrel ensued with the SLA officer the soldiers had tried to assault the detainee but his tent mates intervened and stopped the army. Later, the person had been transferred from the camp after a stone thrown by him missed the target and hit the Sri Lankan flagpole in the camp.

    The visitors to Thirukkoa’namadu detention camp located 20 km for Velikkanthai said conditions were worse than what they had seen in Kanthak-kaadu detention camp.

    They are as follow:
    The inmates in this camp, which is controlled by SLAF said that they had to erect the tents for themselves and there were three divisions in the camp called A, B and C. They had to clear the thick jungle, felling and burning trees before erecting their tents.
    On the way to this detention camp many POWs were seen toiling in the hot sun setting fire to felled trees, digging wells and erecting tents.
    This detention camps is set in an area around 15 sq km.
    The C division, being constructed only two weeks ago, lacks drinking water. SLAF personnel give a person 2 liters of water once in two days for all purposes. The inmates in other divisions draw water from wells they had dug.
    Rice is provided for all three meals of the day.
    The detainees request their visitors not to come again to visit them as they do not want to cause pain to their relatives seeing them in such abject condition.
    The visiting relatives are taken to the inmates after having registered their names and particulars with the SLAF authorities at the entrance by detainee-volunteers who work on rotation every week-end.
    The detainees have to work six days in a week and are free only on Sundays.

  35. Sri Lanka appointed many commissions called the Presidential Commissions of Inquiry into Involuntary Removals and Disappearances of Persons, so far no one convicted, it is an eyewash. Many people reported missing in Sri Lanka have never been located and are presumed dead.

    Sri lankan President said
    “Yes, we are Sinhala. The country is also Sinhala. Therefore, you Demala (Tamils) listen to me. If you cannot listen without trying to be too smart, then leave.”
    Rajapakse regime introduces a new constitution we might have only a line of Sinhala Buddhist Kings, not democratic leaders who believe in a multi ethnic, multi religious society. Forces that support and control the present regime do not believe in a multi ethnic or multi religious Sri Lanka. What they envisage is a unitary Sinhala Buddhist state where the minorities should merge with the majority, forgetting and losing their identity.

  36. Tamil Genocide
    http://www.topix.com/forum/world/sri-lanka/TC70A5EDNMP25J14C

    Massacres of Tamils by Sri lanka State Terror from 1956
    http://www.topix.com/forum/world/sri-lanka/TPHS2BRT61CRONBGP

    As long as the government is successful in covering up the atrocities and mass graves, they can pretend to be happy. But, you can read their faces, they are worried that the truth might come out one day and they may be held responsible for the massacres. Tamils are sad that their sacrifices have gone in vain because the whole world was naive to believe the government and watched in silence the carnage and burial of 50,000 which are still unaccounted for.

    MIA said
    “It wasn’t just about me, and me getting to the Oscars or me going to the Grammys – that doesn’t mean anything. The whole point of that journey was so you can go ‘hey – 50 000 people are going to die next month, here’s your opportunity to help,’ and no one did, and they still died. It wasn’t about accolades or fame.”

  39. On War Crimes, UN Ban’s Panel May Not Speak to Fonseka or Travel to Sri Lanka, Report May Be Secret????
    http://www.innercitypress.com/sri5bantor062210.html

    UN’s Ban and Darusman: public report for 1 death, secret for tens of thousands of deaths?

    Which officials are more “concerned” than President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his brothers Gotabaya and Basil, and his Ambassador to the UN Palitha Kohona, named by Ban’s chief of staff Vijay Nambiar as having given assurances that those who surrendered would be treated in accordance with international law — before they were killed?

    MR holds urgent meeting
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4555-mr-convenes-urgent-meeting.html

  41. Funds allocated for Kalmunai Muslim tsunami victims used to benefit Sinhalese

    426 tsunami affected Muslim families living in temporary shelters in Kalmunaikkudi accused the government for using the funds allocated for the Rehabilitation Scheme of the tsunami victims for the benefit of Sinhalese people who were not in anyway affected. Their complaints about this misuse of funds to their parliamentarians, government officials and NGOs being unattended the victimized people picketed Kalmunai Divisional Secretariat office

  42. Rajapaksa settle yet more Sinhalese in the traditional Tamil areas of Batticaloa district

    Basil Rajapakse Tuesday paid an official visit to Paasikkudaa in Batticaloa district

    This tourist complex is viewed as another step to settle yet more Sinhalese in the traditional Tamil areas of Batticaloa district, by the local residents.

    Paasikkudaa tourist resort was completely destroyed in 2004 tsunami which killed nearly 300 persons.

    The residents of Paasikkudaa moved to Paddiyadichcheanai but had to return to Passdikkudaa as they were not able find any means of livelihood.

    Meanwhile, ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) ministers had frequently visited Batticaloa district under the pretext of development and had briefed the local SLA officials about their plans of colonizing the areas with Sinhalese in the lands owned by Tamils.

    The residents of the area said that they are more affected by the SLA violence

    They further said that SLA officials, without the knowledge of local government officials, had brought Sinhalese fishermen and settled them in the coastal areas of Batticaloa which were the traditional fishing areas of the Tamils.

  43. Colombo intensifies spread of Buddhism in the Tamil Homelands.

    Buses carrying around two thousand Buddhist priests under heavy escort carrying a sacred statue of Buddha on a pilgrimage to Jaffna had passed Vavuniyaa Monday and entered Vanni main land through A9 road, sources in Vavuniyaa said.

    The buses, however, have not reached Jaffna until Tuesday evening and it is assumed that the Buddhist priests, on an urgent mission to spread Buddhism in the North, are engaged in some unannounced opening ceremonies of newly erected Buddhist Viharas in Vanni by the occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA)

    It is not yet known what the Buddhist priests are to do in Jaffna but it is generally believed that they will engage in opening a new Buddhist Vihara somewhere in the peninsula to observe ‘Poson’ festival Friday which celebrates the introduction of Buddhism in the island.

    Meanwhile, Northern Province Governor, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri had directed government heads in the North to make arrangements to cater to the needs of the priests passing through.

    Accordingly, some of the schools along this route have been hastily prepared to accommodate the pilgrims.

    The Sinhala Governor had also directed the heads of government to widen and renovate all the main roads that lead to Buddhist religious sites in the peninsula.

    Meanwhile, an academic from Jaffna commenting said that the aim of this feverish engagement in spreading Buddhism in the North by Colombo includes the construction of Sinhala-Buddhist stupas in the heart of the Tamil homeland paving way for islands of Sinhala-Buddhist colonies protected by military.

    This will go hand in hand with the ‘development’ projects aiming to open the conquered territory to the conquerors and eventually the change of demography so that Tamils can never fight for their national rights in the island, he pointed out.

    Temporally and spiritually it is a heritage genocide: to make Eezham Tamils feel that their homeland doesn’t belong to them, they are historically inferior ‘intruders’, they have no claims for their nationalism and as long as they exist as Tamils they cannot be equals, he added.

    Meanwhile, the extreme Sinhala nationalist Jathika Hella Urumaya (JHU) Saturday had to elect a new leader as Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera had resigned from the post as he needed more time to devote on his pet subjects of archaeological research in Mullaiththeevu in Vanni, JHU sources said.

  44. Finally UN is taking some ‘announcements’, hope, the panel will not sit in idle like the UN has been while all the atrocities were going on in Sri Lanka, and UN was ousted from the conflict zones in early 2008.

    Many forgotten all the safe passage etc. UN and others were calling and Sri Lanka disregarded.

    Fact remains that Sri Lanka has committed disenfranchisement, pogroms, enforced disappearances, scorched earth policy and destruction of all Tamil livelihoods and uprooting of Tamils for over 60 years – under one guise or another

  47. No Vote For The IDPs In Camps Again !

    Thousands of IDPs haven’t received applications !!!!!

    It is unlikely that those who still live in the IDP camps will be resettled before the deadline for the electoral registration expires. Therefore the Department of Elections is obligated to visit the IDP camps and conduct the necessary activities. This step is vital since this is the only chance to ensure their right to vote.

    There are 209 electorates in the Kilinochchi, Mannar and Mullativu. Because of the war the Department of Elections were not able to revise the electoral registry of 76 electorates in 2008 and 2009 which lead to many losing their franchise in the recently held elections. Also the registry includes many who have been either killed or have left the country. The voter registry of Jaffna and Kilinochchi does not include the National Identity Card numbers which leaves space for election malpractices…….

  48. Sri Lanka Army raped, tortured Tamil men , women and children but the justice for the victims is impossible because complaints of rape, like other complaints of torture, are often not effectively dealt with by the Sinhalese.

    Deficiencies in the early stages of the criminal investigation process have repeatedly contributed to the ultimate collapse of the investigation of the alleged rape and the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators.

    It also stated that ‘every case of alleged criminal conduct committed by the armed forces and police has been investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted, although there may have been unavoidable legal delays’. Contrary to the government s assertion not a single member of the security forces has been brought to trial in connection to incidents of rape in custody although one successful prosecution has been brought in a case where the victim of rape was also murdered. An analysis of the cases in which investigations were conducted and trial proceedings initiated suggests that the authorities are far more inclined to take action if there is a considerable amount of public pressure.

    government announced that seven indictments had been presented to the High Courts with regard to the alleged perpetration of torture and that the ‘Prosecution of Torture Perpetrators Unit’ in the Attorney General s department had in addition processed investigative material in another six cases. However, despite these initiatives, the fact remains that to date no one has been found guilty by a court of law in relation to charges of torture or rape in custody in Sri Lanka.

    There are many additional reasons why criminal investigations into complaints of rape are generally unsuccessful. Among them are:

    – threats by the perpetrators against the victim and/or the witnesses
    – inadequate medical evidence due to poor quality of initial medical examination (in itself sometimes caused by threats to the doctor) or due to delay in taking the victim to a doctor
    – lack of independence of the investigating authority: police investigating police or members of the security forces
    – slow action by the local authority (normally the police) to investigate
    – political or other pressure brought to bear on the investigators
    – the victim withdraws the complaint or stops her cooperation with the investigations, under pressure from her family or community in the context of a traditional stigma associated with rape
    – transfer of the case to a court a long distance away from the victim s home
    – the police fears to act against alleged perpetrators belonging to the security forces.even the magistrate was threatened

  49. SLA arrests sixteen Tamil civilians in Eastern provinces

    At least sixteen persons were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from the districts of Ampaa’rai and Batticaloa until last week

    Atrocities of SLA are common in Paduvaankarai and other areas in the Batticaloa district since 2006 after it was claimed that the district was no longer under army control.

    —————————————————————————————-

    All those poor Tamils will be drug off to the inhuman Sinha-Nazi’s jails where they will be tortured and killed !!!

  50. Tamils who have been facing death and destruction for more than six decades and are still under indescribable trauma after the Tamil War and the decimation of their Tamil Identity and Loss All Human Dignity as they forced to become beggars in their own land under ruthless Sinhala Occupation !!!

  51. Continuing ‘counter insurgency’ approach to chronic national question http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

    Colombo’s latest deployment of Selvarasa Pathmanathan (KP), a victim of circumstances, to blunt the Eezham Tamil struggle only reveals that ‘counter insurgency’ is the style continued to be envisaged by some powers in approaching the chronic national question in the island, commented Tamil circles watching the developments. The move, bereft of any political promises, but aiming at roping in the diaspora for ‘development,’ comes after the visit of G L Peiris to Washington, Robert Blake lamenting that still “some polarisation” exists in the island and amidst heavy visits of dignitaries in the last couple of weeks. The move is not surprising. It is a sequence of a long-existing design, operated simultaneously through good and ugly faces of the West, observers said. The KP operation in Colombo is handled by a controversial group of foreign-trained Sri Lankan military intelligence personnel.

  52. Those who might accuse the United Nations of being toothless and frequently failing to act in other parts of the World might like to look at the Sri Lanka experience, and ask themselves whether this time it is Europe that is planning to turn a blind eye to humanitarian abuses on the island whose name is a literal translation of ‘Island of Splendour’. http://bigthink.com/ideas/20579

  53. Fonseka must be shot – Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2010_06_17_00…

    Deputy Highways Minister Mervyn Silva has said that General Sarath Fonseka should be tortured to death or shot for betraying the country.

    He had made the statement at the inaugural meeting of the Mathale District Development Committee.

    Mervyn had said that General Fonseka was a traitor who had bought war crimes charges against the country.

    Gotabhaya challenges HRW to prove allegations of war crimes http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2010_06_17_00…

  55. screams of the child when it was taken away from its dead mother http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

    Even while dying she nursed baby, http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/02/stories/200905025…
    Among the 11 Sri Lankan fishermen and women rescued at Uppada here is a 12-month-old Kubera. Sadly, her mother Mary died on the high seas a few
    days after fishermen from Mullaithivu, numbering 21, set sail on a fibre boat to flee the battle zone in Sri Lanka. Like others on the ill-fated
    boat, Mary had only sea water to drink and no food to eat. But she did not miss suckling the baby and that’s what kept Kubera alive and healthy.

  56. Continuing ‘counter insurgency’ approach to chronic national question http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

    Colombo’s latest deployment of Selvarasa Pathmanathan (KP), a victim of circumstances, to blunt the Eezham Tamil struggle only reveals that ‘counter insurgency’ is the style continued to be envisaged by some powers in approaching the chronic national question in the island, commented Tamil circles watching the developments. The move, bereft of any political promises, but aiming at roping in the diaspora for ‘development,’ comes after the visit of G L Peiris to Washington, Robert Blake lamenting that still “some polarisation” exists in the island and amidst heavy visits of dignitaries in the last couple of weeks. The move is not surprising. It is a sequence of a long-existing design, operated simultaneously through good and ugly faces of the West, observers said. The KP operation in Colombo is handled by a controversial group of foreign-trained Sri Lankan military intelligence personnel.

  57. Continuing ‘counter insurgency’ approach to chronic national question http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

    Colombo’s latest deployment of Selvarasa Pathmanathan (KP), a victim of circumstances, to blunt the Eezham Tamil struggle only reveals that ‘counter insurgency’ is the style continued to be envisaged by some powers in approaching the chronic national question in the island, commented Tamil circles watching the developments. The move, bereft of any political promises, but aiming at roping in the diaspora for ‘development,’ comes after the visit of G L Peiris to Washington, Robert Blake lamenting that still “some polarisation” exists in the island and amidst heavy visits of dignitaries in the last couple of weeks. The move is not surprising. It is a sequence of a long-existing design, operated simultaneously through good and ugly faces of the West, observers said. The KP operation in Colombo is handled by a controversial group of foreign-trained Sri Lankan military intelligence personnel.

  58. Those who might accuse the United Nations of being toothless and frequently failing to act in other parts of the World might like to look at the Sri Lanka experience, and ask themselves whether this time it is Europe that is planning to turn a blind eye to humanitarian abuses on the island whose name is a literal translation of ‘Island of Splendour’. http://bigthink.com/ideas/20579

  59. Those who might accuse the United Nations of being toothless and frequently failing to act in other parts of the World might like to look at the Sri Lanka experience, and ask themselves whether this time it is Europe that is planning to turn a blind eye to humanitarian abuses on the island whose name is a literal translation of ‘Island of Splendour’. http://bigthink.com/ideas/20579

  60. Fonseka must be shot – Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2010_06_17_00…

    Deputy Highways Minister Mervyn Silva has said that General Sarath Fonseka should be tortured to death or shot for betraying the country.

    He had made the statement at the inaugural meeting of the Mathale District Development Committee.

    Mervyn had said that General Fonseka was a traitor who had bought war crimes charges against the country.

    Gotabhaya challenges HRW to prove allegations of war crimes http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2010_06_17_00…

  61. Fonseka must be shot – Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2010_06_17_00…

    Deputy Highways Minister Mervyn Silva has said that General Sarath Fonseka should be tortured to death or shot for betraying the country.

    He had made the statement at the inaugural meeting of the Mathale District Development Committee.

    Mervyn had said that General Fonseka was a traitor who had bought war crimes charges against the country.

    Gotabhaya challenges HRW to prove allegations of war crimes http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2010_06_17_00…

  64. screams of the child when it was taken away from its dead mother http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

    Even while dying she nursed baby, http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/02/stories/200905025…
    Among the 11 Sri Lankan fishermen and women rescued at Uppada here is a 12-month-old Kubera. Sadly, her mother Mary died on the high seas a few
    days after fishermen from Mullaithivu, numbering 21, set sail on a fibre boat to flee the battle zone in Sri Lanka. Like others on the ill-fated
    boat, Mary had only sea water to drink and no food to eat. But she did not miss suckling the baby and that’s what kept Kubera alive and healthy.

  65. screams of the child when it was taken away from its dead mother http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

    Even while dying she nursed baby, http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/02/stories/200905025…
    Among the 11 Sri Lankan fishermen and women rescued at Uppada here is a 12-month-old Kubera. Sadly, her mother Mary died on the high seas a few
    days after fishermen from Mullaithivu, numbering 21, set sail on a fibre boat to flee the battle zone in Sri Lanka. Like others on the ill-fated
    boat, Mary had only sea water to drink and no food to eat. But she did not miss suckling the baby and that’s what kept Kubera alive and healthy.

  67. Continuing ‘counter insurgency’ approach to chronic national question
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=32043

    Colombo’s latest deployment of Selvarasa Pathmanathan (KP), a victim of circumstances, to blunt the Eezham Tamil struggle only reveals that ‘counter insurgency’ is the style continued to be envisaged by some powers in approaching the chronic national question in the island, commented Tamil circles watching the developments. The move, bereft of any political promises, but aiming at roping in the diaspora for ‘development,’ comes after the visit of G L Peiris to Washington, Robert Blake lamenting that still “some polarisation” exists in the island and amidst heavy visits of dignitaries in the last couple of weeks. The move is not surprising. It is a sequence of a long-existing design, operated simultaneously through good and ugly faces of the West, observers said. The KP operation in Colombo is handled by a controversial group of foreign-trained Sri Lankan military intelligence personnel.

  68. Those who might accuse the United Nations of being toothless and frequently failing to act in other parts of the World might like to look at the Sri Lanka experience, and ask themselves whether this time it is Europe that is planning to turn a blind eye to humanitarian abuses on the island whose name is a literal translation of ‘Island of Splendour’.
    http://bigthink.com/ideas/20579

  69. Fonseka must be shot – Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva
    http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2010_06_17_003.html

    Deputy Highways Minister Mervyn Silva has said that General Sarath Fonseka should be tortured to death or shot for betraying the country.

    He had made the statement at the inaugural meeting of the Mathale District Development Committee.

    Mervyn had said that General Fonseka was a traitor who had bought war crimes charges against the country.

    Gotabhaya challenges HRW to prove allegations of war crimes
    http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2010_06_17_006.html

  71. screams of the child when it was taken away from its dead mother http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=28924

    Even while dying she nursed baby, http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/02/stories/2009050255261100.htm
    Among the 11 Sri Lankan fishermen and women rescued at Uppada here is a 12-month-old Kubera. Sadly, her mother Mary died on the high seas a few
    days after fishermen from Mullaithivu, numbering 21, set sail on a fibre boat to flee the battle zone in Sri Lanka. Like others on the ill-fated
    boat, Mary had only sea water to drink and no food to eat. But she did not miss suckling the baby and that’s what kept Kubera alive and healthy.

  72. Shattering images & commentaries on their genocide from the Tamil contributors.

    Thillai particularly.

    About the international dimensions of the last war.

    The presence of foreign personnel, esp indians, on the ground during the war. My God !!!!

    The emerging picture of the slave gulags.

    This is far, far worse in its concentrated practices & programmings than anything all the rest of these warcriminal states are doing — both re magnitude ( the numbers of the dead & the imprisoned ), & the secrecy ( through inaction ) imposed by the socalled "internat'l community".

    Rohan is revealing on another aspect … the democratic nature of the genocide in the fullscale, generous support accorded to it by the Sinhalese people, & the equally "democratic" ( voluntary ) sale of sri lanka to its internat'l sponsors by the regime in colombo.

    Sivanesan strips bare another, even more bizarre side to the saga — the covert role of Buddhist priests in sanctifying & sanctioning genocide & indeed in perpetrating apartheid.

    i read each of the contributions — & despite the "familiarity" of the counerinsurgency & savagery, the very expectedness of these things being done ( as always ) to "pacify" ( break ) the People & their hold on their land, i'm unable to keep from being continually stunned & maddened by the perversities at work under this regime of horrors !

  73. Thanks a.savage

    President rejects EU conditions, president doesn't want respect the Humanity??? http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/fr…

    External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told the Cabinet that Denmark and Spain took a rigid stand against Sri Lanka while Italy supported the country on this issue at the EU. He said even Germany was very flexible. Later, the German Ambassador and the British High Commissioner had informed Prof. Peiris that their countries were not in favour of the EU decision. Prof. Peiris explained to the ministers about the conditions laid down by the EU and added that it had agreed to extend GSP+ trade facility, but made it mandatory for the government to adhere to 15 demands within a stipulated period of six months.

    The conditions included the implementation of the 17th Amendment, the release of those arrested under emergency regulations and the abrogation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

    Commenting on these conditions, the president said all these were internal political matters and had no relevance whatsoever to international trade.

    He said constitutional amendments would be necessary if these conditions were to be implemented and added that it was impossible to do so within six months and as such there was no need to pursue further negotiations on the GSP+ facility with anyone.

    He stressed the need for Sri Lanka to explore new market opportunities overseas.

    “We want to relax the emergency regulations stage by stage. We have already released a number of LTTE combatants and reintegrated them into society. With regard to the remaining cadres, we will release those who have not been charged while taking legal action against the others. We are for all these things. Yet, we do not want to do it at the dictate of outsiders,” he told the Cabinet meeting.

    The president said the government had prevented the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar in the greater interest of exporters, though the country’s foreign reserves had increased during the past few months.

    The president is reported to have mentioned the names of two civil society activists whose reports had been studied by the EU before taking this stand against Sri Lanka.

    Referring to the resettlement of displaced people, he said the government would complete the task by this December and with regard to de-mining operations only little help had come from outside with the government having played the leading role. Out of the ten de-mining machines, eight had been imported by the government.

    National Heritage Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi had chipped in saying Sri Lanka should also levy a duty of 15 per cent on imports from member states of the European Union since it gave a similar amount as tariff concessions to Sri Lankan exports to its markets under the GSP + facility.

    But Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said such a step was not practical. The president agreed with the views expressed by Mr. Ranawaka.

    Minister Ranawaka said the opposition might try to create a fear psychosis among exporters and the people about the economic consequences that might have to be faced by the country in the absence of these tariff concessions.

  74. 'Tamil is mother of all languages in the world', But there is no country for Tamils http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Tamil-is…

    The Tamil language is older than Sanskrit and is "the mother of all languages in the world," said Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday.

    Setting the stage for an academic debate on the antiquity of Tamil language at the World Classical Tamil conference in Coimbatore, the CM said more than 20 Tamil words had been found in Vedas by linguist Robert Caldwell, who coined the term Dravidian languages and first declared Tamil as a classical language.

    "From this we learn that Tamil had an existence prior to Sanskrit," the CM said.

    "Tamil is not only an international language, it is like a mother of all languages in the world,"' he said. Tamil scholar Devaneya Pavanar had established that Tamil is the primary classical language of the world, he said.

    "Root Tamil words exist in many languages of the world in various modifications but retaining the semantic meaning. In the world languages, it is difficult to find a basic word that does not have some link with the Tamil word. Hence, Tamil has the status of the mother tongue in the world," the CM said.

    But CM could have saved 50,000 from singhalla murderers, but he did't do it.

    People formed a 60 km long 'human chain,' to prevail upon the Centre to ensure a ceasefire between the Army http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x76tlz_massive-h…

  75. Sri Lanka celebrates victory anniversary with foreign VIPs: Tamils still victims of State terrorism http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=5&i…

    Last week was a remarkable one for the Sri Lankan government. They celebrated the first year of victory over the Tamils, what Sri Lanka is calling peace and reconciliation celebrations. The envoys from the U.S. and Japan, as well as the UN, made a surprise visit to the island last week. Although Sri Lanka announced its victory in the war against the LTTE in May last year, the government was not able to hold the event as earlier scheduled on May 18 due to inclement weather. Torrential rain that caused flooding made hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

    After the Sri Lankan president’s first visit to neighbouring India, where several agreements including monetary aid from that country were signed with Indian leaders, Rajapaksa returned home just few weeks ago. On his return home, he met with the Chinese deputy prime minister in Sri Lanka. Both leaders signed six agreements.

    The Sri Lankan government seemed to be very excited over the last few weeks, especially at a time when international pressure was mounting on Sri Lanka to conduct an impartial third party investigation into last year’s war abuses, as it is getting widespread support unlike in the past few years. In the outset, the Sri Lankan president was doubly happy last week with the diplomats’ visits and the victory celebrations which took place on Friday, June 18, 2010 at the Galle Face green in Colombo.

    When speaking at the event, Rajapaksa said: “The people should have complete faith and confidence that the land that was liberated from terrorism through great sacrifice of life will not be handed over to the forces of separatism again…As long as we remember that those who sacrificed their lives now rest in the soil of our land, I declare with pride that our people shall not leave room for anyone to divide this motherland of ours.”

    All the words from Mr. President are just to win the hearts of the diplomatic community. There are some sections of the diplomatic community who do buy the words of those who caused deaths to tens of thousands of innocent civilians. Mr. President and the Sinhala successive governments declared war against the Tamil community in general, and killed their own citizens using internationally banned chemical bombs. Just as Bosnia, Cambodia, Congo, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Sudan have done against civilians. This was the exact wording from former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He further said, in order to stop such genocidal war, it is mandatory to educate through elementary schools.

    In this context, it is significant to discuss the visit of senior diplomats of the U.S., Japan, and United Nations.

    What is the message?

    The U.S. National Defence Council’s war crime and National Security Director, David Bushman, as well as the U.S. President Barak Obama’s special envoy, Samantha Power, who is the special advisor to Obama, the Senior Director for the Human Rights and National Defence Council, were the two envoys landed in Colombo on Monday (June 14).

    Both envoys, along with U.S. high commissioner for Sri Lanka, Patricia Putninaz, met with the Sri Lankan President on June 15 where they discussed various issues including bilateral relations between the U.S. and Sri Lanka. They both discussed the recent bitter events between the two countries over the war crime abuses. The U.S. is putting pressure on Sri Lanka to accept an international team to investigate the last year’s war abuses while Sri Lanka is adamant not to appoint international team, but is willing to appoint its own team of experts to go into the ‘Reconciliation and lessons learned in terms of recent conflict’.

    Also, Japanese special envoy, Yasushi Akashi, landed at Colombo on the evening of June 15. He stayed in Sri Lanka until June 20. During his five-day official visit, he met Sinhala and Tamil-speaking leaders and he paid a visit to Jaffna to oversee the projects initiated by the Japanese government for the war-affected people. Akashi has made numerous visits to Sri Lanka after he was appointed by the Japanese government for Sri Lanka as a special envoy to facilitate talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government after they entered into peace agreement in 2002.

    Akashi made several unsuccessful attempts to stop the war against the Tamils when governments led by Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa were in power. As a special envoy, he was not able to influence the Sri Lankan leaders. In this backdrop, he made another visit last week.

    Before he left Sri Lanka, Akashi held a press conference and gave contradictory statements. Once, he admitted that the UN should cooperate with Sri Lanka in investigating last year’s abuses through the investigative team appointed by Sri Lanka itself. Also, he said that the panel of experts should be allowed to investigate the matter and they should provide the advice to Ban-ki Moon. Akashi advised Sri Lanka to cooperate with the U.N. He also asked Sri Lanka to work with the UN in the reconciliation process and offer a meaningful political solution to Tamil-speaking people.

    The next important visit was by the United Nation Organization’s political division Deputy Secretary, Lyne Pascoe, who arrived on June 16 for a two-day official visit. He met with Sinhala and Tamil politicians. On the day he arrived in Sri Lanka, he paid a visit to Mullaitheevu where the final days of the last phase of the war took place. He met with the relocated people. Soon after, when he returned to Colombo from Vanni, he met with the Sri Lankan President and discussed the efforts of resettlement, political reconciliation, and the human rights abuse issues.

    There is no doubt that Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo and other areas received the senior diplomats well. The Sri Lankan government appears desperate to do anything possible to curb the international community’s move to establish international war investigations against Sri Lanka.

    Victory parade a showcase to visitors

    Some of the visiting diplomats got the chance to see the ‘victory parade’ commemorating the victory over the LTTE last year. Nearly 10,000 Sri Lankan soldiers, who directly participated in the war with the LTTE, took part in the parade.

    This parade was a showpiece to the world that the Sri Lankan government is in a good position with the support of two giants of Asia, neighbouring India and its rival China. Sri Lanka is getting enormous monetary and material support from both countries. Each of these countries has a vested economic interest in Sri Lanka. Although these senior diplomats did not take part directly in the parade as guests, they had a great view of the parade preparations and how the decorations were done in Colombo and its suburbs to mark the victory parade.

    China is also planning a massive investment in the fishery industry which is to be inaugurated in Mullaitheevu where the final days of the war took place. Former southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa leaked out shocking news that over 25,000 Chinese nationals, who were held in jails in China for crimes, have been brought to Sri Lanka under the guise of working in Sri Lanka. She said these Chinese nationals are a direct threat to South India in particular and throughout India in general. Jayalalithaa further said if these criminal elements, who are the spies of China, launch criminal activities against Tamils in Sri Lanka, tens of thousands of Tamils would be victimized.

    Obviously, the reason for the parade was to bring credibility to Sri Lanka by showing the might of Sri Lankan military. Due to the victory day event, Sri Lanka announced a public holiday so that people would get the chance to see the event and to pay their respect to their fallen ‘heroes’ who killed over 150,000 Tamil civilians in the three-decade war as well as they conducted numerous rights abuses against Tamils.

    However, this was a good showpiece for the Sri Lankan government to show the world that the people are with the government and they are happy that their government succeeded to crush the Tamil Tigers who, as it was said, were posing threat to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka for more than three decades.

    Mr. President said at the parade event that some countries which were being battered by terrorism had gathered strength from Sri Lanka’s victories over the menace and it was time that they looked back to see what had gone wrong with their strategies while Sri Lanka had succeeded.

    He further said: “It is a grave error of judgment to think, while being opposed to terrorism targeting you, that terrorism that is no threat to you is good. The world has so far trodden this wrong path. Terrorism remains unvanquished because of this incorrect thinking. The countries that show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of history.”

    Political observers argue that Mr. President must also be aware that the modern political scientists have come up with the three types of terrorism; one of which is State Terrorism. Also, Tamils are feeling alienated as the war brought nothing to them but sorrow. Tamils are still in grief after the war. The war left hundreds of thousands of people killed and same number of people still in camps despite the government’s claims that below 50,000 civilians are sequestered in camps, and they, too, will be released soon. All these statements are rubbish and have no validity at all.

    Tamils argue that despite Sri Lanka failing to acknowledge how many Tamils are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), how can they receive justice from this Sinhalese-dominated State which has no clear mandate in solving the political aspirations of Tamils? In a liberal account, over half a million Tamils are living under pathetic conditions, still living in the houses of their relatives and friends or in temporary shelters, as they cannot even move to their traditional villages, because they are declared by the Sri Lankan State as High Security Zones (HSZs), which are now being used by the Sinhalese from the South. This is the ground reality but the government gives contradictory account of the IDPs.

    Hence, the special envoys from the U.S., Japan, and the UN are another milestone of political success. The question is whether these envoys will keep up their mandates or will they fall into the trap of the Sri Lankan leaders whose hands are soaked in the blood of Tamils

  76. In the wake of the UN belated disclosing the identities of the three members of its advisory panel on Sri Lanka war crimes, names that Inner City Press exclusively reported 25 hours before, on the evening of January 22 the politics behind the appointments were made clear to the Press.

    Sri Lanka argued that its self investigation would be like South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Fine, then: Yasmin Sooka of that Commission was included on the panel, at the suggestion of South African advisor to Ban Ki-moon Nicholas Hayson.

    Sri Lanka fashions itself not just South Asian but ASEAN writ large. So Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia was included. Indonesia is ASEAN's bridge, on Myanmar and now Sri Lanka.

    Nevertheless it was reported

    A senior Sri Lankan official said appointing former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman as the head of the panel was “unfair” as he has been involved in the island before and has had disagreements with local authorities.

    Mr. Darusman was a member of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) which quit observing human rights investigations in Sri Lanka in April 2008 after clashing with the local administration. 'In that context, having this Indonesian in the panel could lead to a serious conflict of interest,' the official who declined to be named said. He added that the government may come up with a formal response later.

    Sri Lanka being so unprepared to fire back had no excuse. Inner City Press is informed that the Rajapaksa administration was informed in advance of the terms of reference.

    Sri Lanka Spin on S. Africa and ASEAN Played Role in UN Panel, Khmer Rouge Rajapaksa http://www.innercitypress.com/sri6bantor062310.ht…

  77. Thanks a.savage

    President rejects EU conditions, president doesn't want respect the Humanity??? http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/fr…

    External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told the Cabinet that Denmark and Spain took a rigid stand against Sri Lanka while Italy supported the country on this issue at the EU. He said even Germany was very flexible. Later, the German Ambassador and the British High Commissioner had informed Prof. Peiris that their countries were not in favour of the EU decision. Prof. Peiris explained to the ministers about the conditions laid down by the EU and added that it had agreed to extend GSP+ trade facility, but made it mandatory for the government to adhere to 15 demands within a stipulated period of six months.

    The conditions included the implementation of the 17th Amendment, the release of those arrested under emergency regulations and the abrogation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

    Commenting on these conditions, the president said all these were internal political matters and had no relevance whatsoever to international trade.

    He said constitutional amendments would be necessary if these conditions were to be implemented and added that it was impossible to do so within six months and as such there was no need to pursue further negotiations on the GSP+ facility with anyone.

    He stressed the need for Sri Lanka to explore new market opportunities overseas.

    “We want to relax the emergency regulations stage by stage. We have already released a number of LTTE combatants and reintegrated them into society. With regard to the remaining cadres, we will release those who have not been charged while taking legal action against the others. We are for all these things. Yet, we do not want to do it at the dictate of outsiders,” he told the Cabinet meeting.

    The president said the government had prevented the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar in the greater interest of exporters, though the country’s foreign reserves had increased during the past few months.

    The president is reported to have mentioned the names of two civil society activists whose reports had been studied by the EU before taking this stand against Sri Lanka.

    Referring to the resettlement of displaced people, he said the government would complete the task by this December and with regard to de-mining operations only little help had come from outside with the government having played the leading role. Out of the ten de-mining machines, eight had been imported by the government.

    National Heritage Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi had chipped in saying Sri Lanka should also levy a duty of 15 per cent on imports from member states of the European Union since it gave a similar amount as tariff concessions to Sri Lankan exports to its markets under the GSP + facility.

    But Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said such a step was not practical. The president agreed with the views expressed by Mr. Ranawaka.

    Minister Ranawaka said the opposition might try to create a fear psychosis among exporters and the people about the economic consequences that might have to be faced by the country in the absence of these tariff concessions.

  78. Thanks a.savage

    President rejects EU conditions, president doesn't want respect the Humanity??? http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/fr…

    External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told the Cabinet that Denmark and Spain took a rigid stand against Sri Lanka while Italy supported the country on this issue at the EU. He said even Germany was very flexible. Later, the German Ambassador and the British High Commissioner had informed Prof. Peiris that their countries were not in favour of the EU decision. Prof. Peiris explained to the ministers about the conditions laid down by the EU and added that it had agreed to extend GSP+ trade facility, but made it mandatory for the government to adhere to 15 demands within a stipulated period of six months.

    The conditions included the implementation of the 17th Amendment, the release of those arrested under emergency regulations and the abrogation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

    Commenting on these conditions, the president said all these were internal political matters and had no relevance whatsoever to international trade.

    He said constitutional amendments would be necessary if these conditions were to be implemented and added that it was impossible to do so within six months and as such there was no need to pursue further negotiations on the GSP+ facility with anyone.

    He stressed the need for Sri Lanka to explore new market opportunities overseas.

    “We want to relax the emergency regulations stage by stage. We have already released a number of LTTE combatants and reintegrated them into society. With regard to the remaining cadres, we will release those who have not been charged while taking legal action against the others. We are for all these things. Yet, we do not want to do it at the dictate of outsiders,” he told the Cabinet meeting.

    The president said the government had prevented the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar in the greater interest of exporters, though the country’s foreign reserves had increased during the past few months.

    The president is reported to have mentioned the names of two civil society activists whose reports had been studied by the EU before taking this stand against Sri Lanka.

    Referring to the resettlement of displaced people, he said the government would complete the task by this December and with regard to de-mining operations only little help had come from outside with the government having played the leading role. Out of the ten de-mining machines, eight had been imported by the government.

    National Heritage Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi had chipped in saying Sri Lanka should also levy a duty of 15 per cent on imports from member states of the European Union since it gave a similar amount as tariff concessions to Sri Lankan exports to its markets under the GSP + facility.

    But Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said such a step was not practical. The president agreed with the views expressed by Mr. Ranawaka.

    Minister Ranawaka said the opposition might try to create a fear psychosis among exporters and the people about the economic consequences that might have to be faced by the country in the absence of these tariff concessions.

  80. Has anyone seen a picture of a full term pregnant mother who was killed by a shell, which lacerated her womb exposing the leg of the fetus? Or the baby that was born with shrapnel embedded in its thigh? It is most disheartening to see thousand of our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters were brutally killed by the occupying Sri Lankan security forces in the North and the East and enduring long and immense sufferings in the hands of the Sinhalese chauvinism for more than six decades,
    http://www.tamilnet.com/cat.html?catid=13&yea…

  81. Every shell being fired by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) into the 'safe zone' inflicts civilian casualties as the entire area is tightly populated, reported TamilNet correspondent on Tuesday. A single artillery shell fired around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday claimed the lives of 6 civilians, including two teenage boys. The attack has taken place near the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan. Many of the wounded were children among the 98 injured civilians admitted Sunday and Monday, according to medical authorities. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

    The twenty-six year old armed conflict between the armed forces of the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has reached a phase that can only be called genocide-like and catastrophic for the Tamil people in the north and east of the island, said human rights expert Karen Parker, Wednesday to the subcommittee of the US Senate, hearing on the situation in the island of Sri Lanka. Describing the war waged by Colombo as illegal military operations, using illegal weapons or legal weapons in an illegal manner without any international monitoring, she urged the US government to call for an immediate ceasefire and address it most forcefully to the Rajapaksa administration. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

  82. 'Tamil is mother of all languages in the world', But there is no country for Tamils http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Tamil-is…

    The Tamil language is older than Sanskrit and is "the mother of all languages in the world," said Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday.

    Setting the stage for an academic debate on the antiquity of Tamil language at the World Classical Tamil conference in Coimbatore, the CM said more than 20 Tamil words had been found in Vedas by linguist Robert Caldwell, who coined the term Dravidian languages and first declared Tamil as a classical language.

    "From this we learn that Tamil had an existence prior to Sanskrit," the CM said.

    "Tamil is not only an international language, it is like a mother of all languages in the world,"' he said. Tamil scholar Devaneya Pavanar had established that Tamil is the primary classical language of the world, he said.

    "Root Tamil words exist in many languages of the world in various modifications but retaining the semantic meaning. In the world languages, it is difficult to find a basic word that does not have some link with the Tamil word. Hence, Tamil has the status of the mother tongue in the world," the CM said.

    But CM could have saved 50,000 from singhalla murderers, but he did't do it.

    People formed a 60 km long 'human chain,' to prevail upon the Centre to ensure a ceasefire between the Army http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x76tlz_massive-h…

  83. 'Tamil is mother of all languages in the world', But there is no country for Tamils http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Tamil-is…

    The Tamil language is older than Sanskrit and is "the mother of all languages in the world," said Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday.

    Setting the stage for an academic debate on the antiquity of Tamil language at the World Classical Tamil conference in Coimbatore, the CM said more than 20 Tamil words had been found in Vedas by linguist Robert Caldwell, who coined the term Dravidian languages and first declared Tamil as a classical language.

    "From this we learn that Tamil had an existence prior to Sanskrit," the CM said.

    "Tamil is not only an international language, it is like a mother of all languages in the world,"' he said. Tamil scholar Devaneya Pavanar had established that Tamil is the primary classical language of the world, he said.

    "Root Tamil words exist in many languages of the world in various modifications but retaining the semantic meaning. In the world languages, it is difficult to find a basic word that does not have some link with the Tamil word. Hence, Tamil has the status of the mother tongue in the world," the CM said.

    But CM could have saved 50,000 from singhalla murderers, but he did't do it.

    People formed a 60 km long 'human chain,' to prevail upon the Centre to ensure a ceasefire between the Army http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x76tlz_massive-h…

  84. Sri Lanka celebrates victory anniversary with foreign VIPs: Tamils still victims of State terrorism http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=5&i…

    Last week was a remarkable one for the Sri Lankan government. They celebrated the first year of victory over the Tamils, what Sri Lanka is calling peace and reconciliation celebrations. The envoys from the U.S. and Japan, as well as the UN, made a surprise visit to the island last week. Although Sri Lanka announced its victory in the war against the LTTE in May last year, the government was not able to hold the event as earlier scheduled on May 18 due to inclement weather. Torrential rain that caused flooding made hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

    After the Sri Lankan president’s first visit to neighbouring India, where several agreements including monetary aid from that country were signed with Indian leaders, Rajapaksa returned home just few weeks ago. On his return home, he met with the Chinese deputy prime minister in Sri Lanka. Both leaders signed six agreements.

    The Sri Lankan government seemed to be very excited over the last few weeks, especially at a time when international pressure was mounting on Sri Lanka to conduct an impartial third party investigation into last year’s war abuses, as it is getting widespread support unlike in the past few years. In the outset, the Sri Lankan president was doubly happy last week with the diplomats’ visits and the victory celebrations which took place on Friday, June 18, 2010 at the Galle Face green in Colombo.

    When speaking at the event, Rajapaksa said: “The people should have complete faith and confidence that the land that was liberated from terrorism through great sacrifice of life will not be handed over to the forces of separatism again…As long as we remember that those who sacrificed their lives now rest in the soil of our land, I declare with pride that our people shall not leave room for anyone to divide this motherland of ours.”

    All the words from Mr. President are just to win the hearts of the diplomatic community. There are some sections of the diplomatic community who do buy the words of those who caused deaths to tens of thousands of innocent civilians. Mr. President and the Sinhala successive governments declared war against the Tamil community in general, and killed their own citizens using internationally banned chemical bombs. Just as Bosnia, Cambodia, Congo, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Sudan have done against civilians. This was the exact wording from former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He further said, in order to stop such genocidal war, it is mandatory to educate through elementary schools.

    In this context, it is significant to discuss the visit of senior diplomats of the U.S., Japan, and United Nations.

    What is the message?

    The U.S. National Defence Council’s war crime and National Security Director, David Bushman, as well as the U.S. President Barak Obama’s special envoy, Samantha Power, who is the special advisor to Obama, the Senior Director for the Human Rights and National Defence Council, were the two envoys landed in Colombo on Monday (June 14).

    Both envoys, along with U.S. high commissioner for Sri Lanka, Patricia Putninaz, met with the Sri Lankan President on June 15 where they discussed various issues including bilateral relations between the U.S. and Sri Lanka. They both discussed the recent bitter events between the two countries over the war crime abuses. The U.S. is putting pressure on Sri Lanka to accept an international team to investigate the last year’s war abuses while Sri Lanka is adamant not to appoint international team, but is willing to appoint its own team of experts to go into the ‘Reconciliation and lessons learned in terms of recent conflict’.

    Also, Japanese special envoy, Yasushi Akashi, landed at Colombo on the evening of June 15. He stayed in Sri Lanka until June 20. During his five-day official visit, he met Sinhala and Tamil-speaking leaders and he paid a visit to Jaffna to oversee the projects initiated by the Japanese government for the war-affected people. Akashi has made numerous visits to Sri Lanka after he was appointed by the Japanese government for Sri Lanka as a special envoy to facilitate talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government after they entered into peace agreement in 2002.

    Akashi made several unsuccessful attempts to stop the war against the Tamils when governments led by Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa were in power. As a special envoy, he was not able to influence the Sri Lankan leaders. In this backdrop, he made another visit last week.

    Before he left Sri Lanka, Akashi held a press conference and gave contradictory statements. Once, he admitted that the UN should cooperate with Sri Lanka in investigating last year’s abuses through the investigative team appointed by Sri Lanka itself. Also, he said that the panel of experts should be allowed to investigate the matter and they should provide the advice to Ban-ki Moon. Akashi advised Sri Lanka to cooperate with the U.N. He also asked Sri Lanka to work with the UN in the reconciliation process and offer a meaningful political solution to Tamil-speaking people.

    The next important visit was by the United Nation Organization’s political division Deputy Secretary, Lyne Pascoe, who arrived on June 16 for a two-day official visit. He met with Sinhala and Tamil politicians. On the day he arrived in Sri Lanka, he paid a visit to Mullaitheevu where the final days of the last phase of the war took place. He met with the relocated people. Soon after, when he returned to Colombo from Vanni, he met with the Sri Lankan President and discussed the efforts of resettlement, political reconciliation, and the human rights abuse issues.

    There is no doubt that Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo and other areas received the senior diplomats well. The Sri Lankan government appears desperate to do anything possible to curb the international community’s move to establish international war investigations against Sri Lanka.

    Victory parade a showcase to visitors

    Some of the visiting diplomats got the chance to see the ‘victory parade’ commemorating the victory over the LTTE last year. Nearly 10,000 Sri Lankan soldiers, who directly participated in the war with the LTTE, took part in the parade.

    This parade was a showpiece to the world that the Sri Lankan government is in a good position with the support of two giants of Asia, neighbouring India and its rival China. Sri Lanka is getting enormous monetary and material support from both countries. Each of these countries has a vested economic interest in Sri Lanka. Although these senior diplomats did not take part directly in the parade as guests, they had a great view of the parade preparations and how the decorations were done in Colombo and its suburbs to mark the victory parade.

    China is also planning a massive investment in the fishery industry which is to be inaugurated in Mullaitheevu where the final days of the war took place. Former southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa leaked out shocking news that over 25,000 Chinese nationals, who were held in jails in China for crimes, have been brought to Sri Lanka under the guise of working in Sri Lanka. She said these Chinese nationals are a direct threat to South India in particular and throughout India in general. Jayalalithaa further said if these criminal elements, who are the spies of China, launch criminal activities against Tamils in Sri Lanka, tens of thousands of Tamils would be victimized.

    Obviously, the reason for the parade was to bring credibility to Sri Lanka by showing the might of Sri Lankan military. Due to the victory day event, Sri Lanka announced a public holiday so that people would get the chance to see the event and to pay their respect to their fallen ‘heroes’ who killed over 150,000 Tamil civilians in the three-decade war as well as they conducted numerous rights abuses against Tamils.

    However, this was a good showpiece for the Sri Lankan government to show the world that the people are with the government and they are happy that their government succeeded to crush the Tamil Tigers who, as it was said, were posing threat to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka for more than three decades.

    Mr. President said at the parade event that some countries which were being battered by terrorism had gathered strength from Sri Lanka’s victories over the menace and it was time that they looked back to see what had gone wrong with their strategies while Sri Lanka had succeeded.

    He further said: “It is a grave error of judgment to think, while being opposed to terrorism targeting you, that terrorism that is no threat to you is good. The world has so far trodden this wrong path. Terrorism remains unvanquished because of this incorrect thinking. The countries that show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of history.”

    Political observers argue that Mr. President must also be aware that the modern political scientists have come up with the three types of terrorism; one of which is State Terrorism. Also, Tamils are feeling alienated as the war brought nothing to them but sorrow. Tamils are still in grief after the war. The war left hundreds of thousands of people killed and same number of people still in camps despite the government’s claims that below 50,000 civilians are sequestered in camps, and they, too, will be released soon. All these statements are rubbish and have no validity at all.

    Tamils argue that despite Sri Lanka failing to acknowledge how many Tamils are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), how can they receive justice from this Sinhalese-dominated State which has no clear mandate in solving the political aspirations of Tamils? In a liberal account, over half a million Tamils are living under pathetic conditions, still living in the houses of their relatives and friends or in temporary shelters, as they cannot even move to their traditional villages, because they are declared by the Sri Lankan State as High Security Zones (HSZs), which are now being used by the Sinhalese from the South. This is the ground reality but the government gives contradictory account of the IDPs.

    Hence, the special envoys from the U.S., Japan, and the UN are another milestone of political success. The question is whether these envoys will keep up their mandates or will they fall into the trap of the Sri Lankan leaders whose hands are soaked in the blood of Tamils

  85. Sri Lanka celebrates victory anniversary with foreign VIPs: Tamils still victims of State terrorism http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=5&i…

    Last week was a remarkable one for the Sri Lankan government. They celebrated the first year of victory over the Tamils, what Sri Lanka is calling peace and reconciliation celebrations. The envoys from the U.S. and Japan, as well as the UN, made a surprise visit to the island last week. Although Sri Lanka announced its victory in the war against the LTTE in May last year, the government was not able to hold the event as earlier scheduled on May 18 due to inclement weather. Torrential rain that caused flooding made hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

    After the Sri Lankan president’s first visit to neighbouring India, where several agreements including monetary aid from that country were signed with Indian leaders, Rajapaksa returned home just few weeks ago. On his return home, he met with the Chinese deputy prime minister in Sri Lanka. Both leaders signed six agreements.

    The Sri Lankan government seemed to be very excited over the last few weeks, especially at a time when international pressure was mounting on Sri Lanka to conduct an impartial third party investigation into last year’s war abuses, as it is getting widespread support unlike in the past few years. In the outset, the Sri Lankan president was doubly happy last week with the diplomats’ visits and the victory celebrations which took place on Friday, June 18, 2010 at the Galle Face green in Colombo.

    When speaking at the event, Rajapaksa said: “The people should have complete faith and confidence that the land that was liberated from terrorism through great sacrifice of life will not be handed over to the forces of separatism again…As long as we remember that those who sacrificed their lives now rest in the soil of our land, I declare with pride that our people shall not leave room for anyone to divide this motherland of ours.”

    All the words from Mr. President are just to win the hearts of the diplomatic community. There are some sections of the diplomatic community who do buy the words of those who caused deaths to tens of thousands of innocent civilians. Mr. President and the Sinhala successive governments declared war against the Tamil community in general, and killed their own citizens using internationally banned chemical bombs. Just as Bosnia, Cambodia, Congo, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Sudan have done against civilians. This was the exact wording from former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He further said, in order to stop such genocidal war, it is mandatory to educate through elementary schools.

    In this context, it is significant to discuss the visit of senior diplomats of the U.S., Japan, and United Nations.

    What is the message?

    The U.S. National Defence Council’s war crime and National Security Director, David Bushman, as well as the U.S. President Barak Obama’s special envoy, Samantha Power, who is the special advisor to Obama, the Senior Director for the Human Rights and National Defence Council, were the two envoys landed in Colombo on Monday (June 14).

    Both envoys, along with U.S. high commissioner for Sri Lanka, Patricia Putninaz, met with the Sri Lankan President on June 15 where they discussed various issues including bilateral relations between the U.S. and Sri Lanka. They both discussed the recent bitter events between the two countries over the war crime abuses. The U.S. is putting pressure on Sri Lanka to accept an international team to investigate the last year’s war abuses while Sri Lanka is adamant not to appoint international team, but is willing to appoint its own team of experts to go into the ‘Reconciliation and lessons learned in terms of recent conflict’.

    Also, Japanese special envoy, Yasushi Akashi, landed at Colombo on the evening of June 15. He stayed in Sri Lanka until June 20. During his five-day official visit, he met Sinhala and Tamil-speaking leaders and he paid a visit to Jaffna to oversee the projects initiated by the Japanese government for the war-affected people. Akashi has made numerous visits to Sri Lanka after he was appointed by the Japanese government for Sri Lanka as a special envoy to facilitate talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government after they entered into peace agreement in 2002.

    Akashi made several unsuccessful attempts to stop the war against the Tamils when governments led by Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa were in power. As a special envoy, he was not able to influence the Sri Lankan leaders. In this backdrop, he made another visit last week.

    Before he left Sri Lanka, Akashi held a press conference and gave contradictory statements. Once, he admitted that the UN should cooperate with Sri Lanka in investigating last year’s abuses through the investigative team appointed by Sri Lanka itself. Also, he said that the panel of experts should be allowed to investigate the matter and they should provide the advice to Ban-ki Moon. Akashi advised Sri Lanka to cooperate with the U.N. He also asked Sri Lanka to work with the UN in the reconciliation process and offer a meaningful political solution to Tamil-speaking people.

    The next important visit was by the United Nation Organization’s political division Deputy Secretary, Lyne Pascoe, who arrived on June 16 for a two-day official visit. He met with Sinhala and Tamil politicians. On the day he arrived in Sri Lanka, he paid a visit to Mullaitheevu where the final days of the last phase of the war took place. He met with the relocated people. Soon after, when he returned to Colombo from Vanni, he met with the Sri Lankan President and discussed the efforts of resettlement, political reconciliation, and the human rights abuse issues.

    There is no doubt that Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo and other areas received the senior diplomats well. The Sri Lankan government appears desperate to do anything possible to curb the international community’s move to establish international war investigations against Sri Lanka.

    Victory parade a showcase to visitors

    Some of the visiting diplomats got the chance to see the ‘victory parade’ commemorating the victory over the LTTE last year. Nearly 10,000 Sri Lankan soldiers, who directly participated in the war with the LTTE, took part in the parade.

    This parade was a showpiece to the world that the Sri Lankan government is in a good position with the support of two giants of Asia, neighbouring India and its rival China. Sri Lanka is getting enormous monetary and material support from both countries. Each of these countries has a vested economic interest in Sri Lanka. Although these senior diplomats did not take part directly in the parade as guests, they had a great view of the parade preparations and how the decorations were done in Colombo and its suburbs to mark the victory parade.

    China is also planning a massive investment in the fishery industry which is to be inaugurated in Mullaitheevu where the final days of the war took place. Former southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa leaked out shocking news that over 25,000 Chinese nationals, who were held in jails in China for crimes, have been brought to Sri Lanka under the guise of working in Sri Lanka. She said these Chinese nationals are a direct threat to South India in particular and throughout India in general. Jayalalithaa further said if these criminal elements, who are the spies of China, launch criminal activities against Tamils in Sri Lanka, tens of thousands of Tamils would be victimized.

    Obviously, the reason for the parade was to bring credibility to Sri Lanka by showing the might of Sri Lankan military. Due to the victory day event, Sri Lanka announced a public holiday so that people would get the chance to see the event and to pay their respect to their fallen ‘heroes’ who killed over 150,000 Tamil civilians in the three-decade war as well as they conducted numerous rights abuses against Tamils.

    However, this was a good showpiece for the Sri Lankan government to show the world that the people are with the government and they are happy that their government succeeded to crush the Tamil Tigers who, as it was said, were posing threat to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka for more than three decades.

    Mr. President said at the parade event that some countries which were being battered by terrorism had gathered strength from Sri Lanka’s victories over the menace and it was time that they looked back to see what had gone wrong with their strategies while Sri Lanka had succeeded.

    He further said: “It is a grave error of judgment to think, while being opposed to terrorism targeting you, that terrorism that is no threat to you is good. The world has so far trodden this wrong path. Terrorism remains unvanquished because of this incorrect thinking. The countries that show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of history.”

    Political observers argue that Mr. President must also be aware that the modern political scientists have come up with the three types of terrorism; one of which is State Terrorism. Also, Tamils are feeling alienated as the war brought nothing to them but sorrow. Tamils are still in grief after the war. The war left hundreds of thousands of people killed and same number of people still in camps despite the government’s claims that below 50,000 civilians are sequestered in camps, and they, too, will be released soon. All these statements are rubbish and have no validity at all.

    Tamils argue that despite Sri Lanka failing to acknowledge how many Tamils are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), how can they receive justice from this Sinhalese-dominated State which has no clear mandate in solving the political aspirations of Tamils? In a liberal account, over half a million Tamils are living under pathetic conditions, still living in the houses of their relatives and friends or in temporary shelters, as they cannot even move to their traditional villages, because they are declared by the Sri Lankan State as High Security Zones (HSZs), which are now being used by the Sinhalese from the South. This is the ground reality but the government gives contradictory account of the IDPs.

    Hence, the special envoys from the U.S., Japan, and the UN are another milestone of political success. The question is whether these envoys will keep up their mandates or will they fall into the trap of the Sri Lankan leaders whose hands are soaked in the blood of Tamils

  86. In the wake of the UN belated disclosing the identities of the three members of its advisory panel on Sri Lanka war crimes, names that Inner City Press exclusively reported 25 hours before, on the evening of January 22 the politics behind the appointments were made clear to the Press.

    Sri Lanka argued that its self investigation would be like South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Fine, then: Yasmin Sooka of that Commission was included on the panel, at the suggestion of South African advisor to Ban Ki-moon Nicholas Hayson.

    Sri Lanka fashions itself not just South Asian but ASEAN writ large. So Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia was included. Indonesia is ASEAN's bridge, on Myanmar and now Sri Lanka.

    Nevertheless it was reported

    A senior Sri Lankan official said appointing former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman as the head of the panel was “unfair” as he has been involved in the island before and has had disagreements with local authorities.

    Mr. Darusman was a member of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) which quit observing human rights investigations in Sri Lanka in April 2008 after clashing with the local administration. 'In that context, having this Indonesian in the panel could lead to a serious conflict of interest,' the official who declined to be named said. He added that the government may come up with a formal response later.

    Sri Lanka being so unprepared to fire back had no excuse. Inner City Press is informed that the Rajapaksa administration was informed in advance of the terms of reference.

    Sri Lanka Spin on S. Africa and ASEAN Played Role in UN Panel, Khmer Rouge Rajapaksa http://www.innercitypress.com/sri6bantor062310.ht…

  87. In the wake of the UN belated disclosing the identities of the three members of its advisory panel on Sri Lanka war crimes, names that Inner City Press exclusively reported 25 hours before, on the evening of January 22 the politics behind the appointments were made clear to the Press.

    Sri Lanka argued that its self investigation would be like South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Fine, then: Yasmin Sooka of that Commission was included on the panel, at the suggestion of South African advisor to Ban Ki-moon Nicholas Hayson.

    Sri Lanka fashions itself not just South Asian but ASEAN writ large. So Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia was included. Indonesia is ASEAN's bridge, on Myanmar and now Sri Lanka.

    Nevertheless it was reported

    A senior Sri Lankan official said appointing former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman as the head of the panel was “unfair” as he has been involved in the island before and has had disagreements with local authorities.

    Mr. Darusman was a member of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) which quit observing human rights investigations in Sri Lanka in April 2008 after clashing with the local administration. 'In that context, having this Indonesian in the panel could lead to a serious conflict of interest,' the official who declined to be named said. He added that the government may come up with a formal response later.

    Sri Lanka being so unprepared to fire back had no excuse. Inner City Press is informed that the Rajapaksa administration was informed in advance of the terms of reference.

    Sri Lanka Spin on S. Africa and ASEAN Played Role in UN Panel, Khmer Rouge Rajapaksa http://www.innercitypress.com/sri6bantor062310.ht…

  88. The War Crimes War Crimes were committed by Shameless Rajapksa, the Liar, who said there were ZERO civilian casualties !!

    ————————————————————–

    Eyewitness report at a hospital in ” safe zone ”

    The makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa’lan within the so-called ’safe zone’

    The record of the gruesome effects of the carnage by the attacks of the Sri Lankan forces on civilians amidst prevailing starvation

    We had this very tragic incident. A shell had exploded killing the elderly and the eldest child of one family. The injured mother and father were brought in along with their 2nd child, an 8-month-old baby, dependent on breast milk. The baby only had a slight injury but the mother had sustained serious injuries to her chest towards one side of her breast. After receiving first aid, the mother wanted to nurse since the baby was inconsolable. But, the mother died while nursing the baby. We didn’t realise that the mother was dead. The baby was still breastfeeding…”

    We we had this very tragic incident. A shell had exploded killing the elderly and the eldest child of one family. The injured mother and father were brought in along with their 2nd child, an 8-month-old baby, dependent on breast milk. The baby only had a slight injury but the mother had sustained serious injuries to her chest towards one side of her breast. After receiving first aid, the mother wanted to nurse since the baby was inconsolable. But, the mother died while nursing the baby. We didn’t realise that the mother was dead. The baby was still breastfeeding…”

    “I still can’t forget the screams of the child when it was taken away from its dead mother,” Theyva says.

    “We do this work with a lot of self control but tears were just pouring down my cheeks at that tragic scene.”

    “We have been receiving many injured expectant mothers. The other day, we had a case of an expectant mother whose 7-month foetus was killed in the womb due to shrapnel injuries.”

    “This is the first time I am seeing this kind of situation where a baby is not only killed inside the womb, but the unborn child’s head is also blown apart. I am not sure if the mother survived or not.”

    “It was gruesome. I felt like going somewhere alone and crying out loud.”

    “The injuries to children are horrific.”

    “We had a 6-month-old child, whose foot was split open between the toes. These kinds of injuries are common and we get horrific cases each day.”

    “A 14-year-old girl from Valaignarmadam was brought in with deep shell shrapnel wounds to her chest and stomach. Blood was urgently needed. The injured girl’s mother, who was taking care of her two younger children, was in an extremely weak condition. The mother hadn’t eaten for 3 days, and in addition, she was having blood loss due to menstruation. Hence, she was not in a position to give blood.”

    “The child died soon after.”

    There were about 120 casualties brought to the hospital. Many among the injured had lost their arms or legs or both, and hadn’t eaten a meal for about 2 days or 3 days.”

    “When we ask them,’did you get to eat anything at least this morning?’ most of them reply ‘we just had plain tea’.”

    “I am unable to describe this, but these weak and hollowed eyed people seem to be a state of shock and grief.”
    Traumatised children at the hospital where parents are treated“The other day, a young mother came in search of infant milk powder for her baby. When I suggested breast-feeding, she said that she hadn’t had enough food to eat and the milk supply has been impacted due to this. The baby was constantly crying, and was emaciated and malnourished. Most of the babies I am seeing now seem to lack adequate development and are suffering from malnourishment.”

    “A few days ago, we had 3 tractor loads full of injured people. Since most of the injuries were very serious, initially I was helping out people whose lives could be saved. There was a man whose eyeball was hanging out. Nevertheless, since it was only an eye injury, I was rushing him in, when a shell landed and exploded in the hospital premises. Both he and I fell to the ground.”

    “This is the kind of environment we are working in.”

    When we receive the wounded, they are just put on the ground outside.”

    “At times we don’t even have mats, sheets or clothing to spread under them. We are unable to attend to all injuries so those who had lost their arms, legs or both, just die due to bleeding.”

    “We do our rounds quickly and often you hear words like ‘Is that person dead? Okay, let’s lift him and move him out’,'bring the other person into this space’. ”

    “We can’t even afford 5 minutes of rest since the injured and the dying are brought in tractor loads.”

    How can the outside world keep on watching these things? Do they want the Tamil people to perish completely?

  89. Sinhala State Terrorism !!!!!!!!

    Sinhala State terrorize the Tamil civilians in the Tamil war and continue to terrorize now with impunity !!

    Tamils are feeling alienated as the war brought nothing to them but sorrow. Tamils are still in grief after the war. The war left hundreds of thousands of people killed and same number of people still in camps despite the government’s claims that below 50,000 civilians are sequestered in camps, and they, too, will be released soon. All these statements are rubbish and have no validity at all.

    Tamils argue that despite Sri Lanka failing to acknowledge how many Tamils are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), how can they receive justice from this Sinhalese-dominated State which has no clear mandate in solving the political aspirations of Tamils? In a liberal account, over half a million Tamils are living under pathetic conditions, still living in the houses of their relatives and friends or in temporary shelters, as they cannot even move to their traditional villages, because they are declared by the Sri Lankan State as High Security Zones (HSZs), which are now being used by the Sinhalese from the South. This is the ground reality but the government gives contradictory account of the IDPs.

    Hence, the special envoys from the U.S., Japan, and the UN are another milestone of political success. The question is whether these envoys will keep up their mandates or will they fall into the trap of the Sri Lankan leaders whose hands are soaked in the blood of Tamils

  92. Has anyone seen a picture of a full term pregnant mother who was killed by a shell, which lacerated her womb exposing the leg of the fetus? Or the baby that was born with shrapnel embedded in its thigh? It is most disheartening to see thousand of our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters were brutally killed by the occupying Sri Lankan security forces in the North and the East and enduring long and immense sufferings in the hands of the Sinhalese chauvinism for more than six decades,
    http://www.tamilnet.com/cat.html?catid=13&yea…

  93. Has anyone seen a picture of a full term pregnant mother who was killed by a shell, which lacerated her womb exposing the leg of the fetus? Or the baby that was born with shrapnel embedded in its thigh? It is most disheartening to see thousand of our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters were brutally killed by the occupying Sri Lankan security forces in the North and the East and enduring long and immense sufferings in the hands of the Sinhalese chauvinism for more than six decades,
    http://www.tamilnet.com/cat.html?catid=13&yea…

  94. Every shell being fired by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) into the 'safe zone' inflicts civilian casualties as the entire area is tightly populated, reported TamilNet correspondent on Tuesday. A single artillery shell fired around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday claimed the lives of 6 civilians, including two teenage boys. The attack has taken place near the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan. Many of the wounded were children among the 98 injured civilians admitted Sunday and Monday, according to medical authorities. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

    The twenty-six year old armed conflict between the armed forces of the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has reached a phase that can only be called genocide-like and catastrophic for the Tamil people in the north and east of the island, said human rights expert Karen Parker, Wednesday to the subcommittee of the US Senate, hearing on the situation in the island of Sri Lanka. Describing the war waged by Colombo as illegal military operations, using illegal weapons or legal weapons in an illegal manner without any international monitoring, she urged the US government to call for an immediate ceasefire and address it most forcefully to the Rajapaksa administration. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

  95. Every shell being fired by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) into the 'safe zone' inflicts civilian casualties as the entire area is tightly populated, reported TamilNet correspondent on Tuesday. A single artillery shell fired around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday claimed the lives of 6 civilians, including two teenage boys. The attack has taken place near the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan. Many of the wounded were children among the 98 injured civilians admitted Sunday and Monday, according to medical authorities. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

    The twenty-six year old armed conflict between the armed forces of the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has reached a phase that can only be called genocide-like and catastrophic for the Tamil people in the north and east of the island, said human rights expert Karen Parker, Wednesday to the subcommittee of the US Senate, hearing on the situation in the island of Sri Lanka. Describing the war waged by Colombo as illegal military operations, using illegal weapons or legal weapons in an illegal manner without any international monitoring, she urged the US government to call for an immediate ceasefire and address it most forcefully to the Rajapaksa administration. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

  96. Shattering images & commentaries on their genocide from the Tamil contributors.

    Thillai particularly.

    About the international dimensions of the last war.

    The presence of foreign personnel, esp indians, on the ground during the war. My God !!!!

    The emerging picture of the slave gulags.

    This is far, far worse in its concentrated practices & programmings than anything all the rest of these warcriminal states are doing — both re magnitude ( the numbers of the dead & the imprisoned ), & the secrecy ( through inaction ) imposed by the socalled “internat’l community”.

    Rohan is revealing on another aspect … the democratic nature of the genocide in the fullscale, generous support accorded to it by the Sinhalese people, & the equally “democratic” ( voluntary ) sale of sri lanka to its internat’l sponsors by the regime in colombo.

    Sivanesan strips bare another, even more bizarre side to the saga — the covert role of Buddhist priests in sanctifying & sanctioning genocide & indeed in perpetrating apartheid.

    i read each of the contributions — & despite the “familiarity” of the counerinsurgency & savagery, the very expectedness of these things being done ( as always ) to “pacify” ( break ) the People & their hold on their land, i’m unable to keep from being continually stunned & maddened by the perversities at work under this regime of horrors !

  97. Despite the end of the Tamil war, the Sri Lanka government recently proposed maintaining defence spending at about 1.8 billion dollars a year.

    And the army size will remain at 200,000 men and women .

    Critics say the military presence in all areas of Sri Lankan life is dampening entrepreneurial spirit and holding back post-war development.

    "Without downsizing the military after the war, or returning leased equipment, the military is encroaching into the civilian economy," complained Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, a consultant economist to foreign donors.

    Sarvananthan, who conducts surveys on the northern and eastern economy, said the military must be cut back to allow Sri Lanka to grow a stable peacetime economy.

    "It is a waste of public resources to pay specially trained people to do mundane things like pour tea and cook food .

    If there is no war, the military should be downsized to save money," he said.

  98. Thanks a.savage

    President rejects EU conditions, president doesn’t want respect the Humanity???
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/front-page-news/13851.html

    External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told the Cabinet that Denmark and Spain took a rigid stand against Sri Lanka while Italy supported the country on this issue at the EU. He said even Germany was very flexible. Later, the German Ambassador and the British High Commissioner had informed Prof. Peiris that their countries were not in favour of the EU decision. Prof. Peiris explained to the ministers about the conditions laid down by the EU and added that it had agreed to extend GSP+ trade facility, but made it mandatory for the government to adhere to 15 demands within a stipulated period of six months.

    The conditions included the implementation of the 17th Amendment, the release of those arrested under emergency regulations and the abrogation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

    Commenting on these conditions, the president said all these were internal political matters and had no relevance whatsoever to international trade.

    He said constitutional amendments would be necessary if these conditions were to be implemented and added that it was impossible to do so within six months and as such there was no need to pursue further negotiations on the GSP+ facility with anyone.

    He stressed the need for Sri Lanka to explore new market opportunities overseas.

    “We want to relax the emergency regulations stage by stage. We have already released a number of LTTE combatants and reintegrated them into society. With regard to the remaining cadres, we will release those who have not been charged while taking legal action against the others. We are for all these things. Yet, we do not want to do it at the dictate of outsiders,” he told the Cabinet meeting.

    The president said the government had prevented the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar in the greater interest of exporters, though the country’s foreign reserves had increased during the past few months.

    The president is reported to have mentioned the names of two civil society activists whose reports had been studied by the EU before taking this stand against Sri Lanka.

    Referring to the resettlement of displaced people, he said the government would complete the task by this December and with regard to de-mining operations only little help had come from outside with the government having played the leading role. Out of the ten de-mining machines, eight had been imported by the government.

    National Heritage Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi had chipped in saying Sri Lanka should also levy a duty of 15 per cent on imports from member states of the European Union since it gave a similar amount as tariff concessions to Sri Lankan exports to its markets under the GSP + facility.

    But Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said such a step was not practical. The president agreed with the views expressed by Mr. Ranawaka.

    Minister Ranawaka said the opposition might try to create a fear psychosis among exporters and the people about the economic consequences that might have to be faced by the country in the absence of these tariff concessions.

  99. I dont think successive srilankan governments are going to advertise the fact that tamil civilians are killed. The sinhalese are in the dark and are thinking terrorists are being killed. I will give an example where once during the UNP regime about 100 innocent Tamil youth were just rounded up by the Sri Lanka army locked inside a building and the building blown up. The LTTE retaliated. The sinhalese did not know about the previous incident and were very angry. The Sinhales papers and news only splash with atrocities against sinhalese civilians. The GoSL has always been a controlled Sri Lankan media especially where sensitive matters are concerned.

  100. ‘Tamil is mother of all languages in the world’, But there is no country for Tamils
    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Tamil-is-mother-of-all-languages-in-the-world/articleshow/6084187.cms

    The Tamil language is older than Sanskrit and is “the mother of all languages in the world,” said Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday.

    Setting the stage for an academic debate on the antiquity of Tamil language at the World Classical Tamil conference in Coimbatore, the CM said more than 20 Tamil words had been found in Vedas by linguist Robert Caldwell, who coined the term Dravidian languages and first declared Tamil as a classical language.

    “From this we learn that Tamil had an existence prior to Sanskrit,” the CM said.

    “Tamil is not only an international language, it is like a mother of all languages in the world,”‘ he said. Tamil scholar Devaneya Pavanar had established that Tamil is the primary classical language of the world, he said.

    “Root Tamil words exist in many languages of the world in various modifications but retaining the semantic meaning. In the world languages, it is difficult to find a basic word that does not have some link with the Tamil word. Hence, Tamil has the status of the mother tongue in the world,” the CM said.

    But CM could have saved 50,000 from singhalla murderers, but he did’t do it.

    People formed a 60 km long ‘human chain,’ to prevail upon the Centre to ensure a ceasefire between the Army
    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x76tlz_massive-human-chain-protest-despite_news

  101. Sri Lanka celebrates victory anniversary with foreign VIPs: Tamils still victims of State terrorism
    http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=5&id=5921

    Last week was a remarkable one for the Sri Lankan government. They celebrated the first year of victory over the Tamils, what Sri Lanka is calling peace and reconciliation celebrations. The envoys from the U.S. and Japan, as well as the UN, made a surprise visit to the island last week. Although Sri Lanka announced its victory in the war against the LTTE in May last year, the government was not able to hold the event as earlier scheduled on May 18 due to inclement weather. Torrential rain that caused flooding made hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

    After the Sri Lankan president’s first visit to neighbouring India, where several agreements including monetary aid from that country were signed with Indian leaders, Rajapaksa returned home just few weeks ago. On his return home, he met with the Chinese deputy prime minister in Sri Lanka. Both leaders signed six agreements.

    The Sri Lankan government seemed to be very excited over the last few weeks, especially at a time when international pressure was mounting on Sri Lanka to conduct an impartial third party investigation into last year’s war abuses, as it is getting widespread support unlike in the past few years. In the outset, the Sri Lankan president was doubly happy last week with the diplomats’ visits and the victory celebrations which took place on Friday, June 18, 2010 at the Galle Face green in Colombo.

    When speaking at the event, Rajapaksa said: “The people should have complete faith and confidence that the land that was liberated from terrorism through great sacrifice of life will not be handed over to the forces of separatism again…As long as we remember that those who sacrificed their lives now rest in the soil of our land, I declare with pride that our people shall not leave room for anyone to divide this motherland of ours.”

    All the words from Mr. President are just to win the hearts of the diplomatic community. There are some sections of the diplomatic community who do buy the words of those who caused deaths to tens of thousands of innocent civilians. Mr. President and the Sinhala successive governments declared war against the Tamil community in general, and killed their own citizens using internationally banned chemical bombs. Just as Bosnia, Cambodia, Congo, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Sudan have done against civilians. This was the exact wording from former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He further said, in order to stop such genocidal war, it is mandatory to educate through elementary schools.

    In this context, it is significant to discuss the visit of senior diplomats of the U.S., Japan, and United Nations.

    What is the message?

    The U.S. National Defence Council’s war crime and National Security Director, David Bushman, as well as the U.S. President Barak Obama’s special envoy, Samantha Power, who is the special advisor to Obama, the Senior Director for the Human Rights and National Defence Council, were the two envoys landed in Colombo on Monday (June 14).

    Both envoys, along with U.S. high commissioner for Sri Lanka, Patricia Putninaz, met with the Sri Lankan President on June 15 where they discussed various issues including bilateral relations between the U.S. and Sri Lanka. They both discussed the recent bitter events between the two countries over the war crime abuses. The U.S. is putting pressure on Sri Lanka to accept an international team to investigate the last year’s war abuses while Sri Lanka is adamant not to appoint international team, but is willing to appoint its own team of experts to go into the ‘Reconciliation and lessons learned in terms of recent conflict’.

    Also, Japanese special envoy, Yasushi Akashi, landed at Colombo on the evening of June 15. He stayed in Sri Lanka until June 20. During his five-day official visit, he met Sinhala and Tamil-speaking leaders and he paid a visit to Jaffna to oversee the projects initiated by the Japanese government for the war-affected people. Akashi has made numerous visits to Sri Lanka after he was appointed by the Japanese government for Sri Lanka as a special envoy to facilitate talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government after they entered into peace agreement in 2002.

    Akashi made several unsuccessful attempts to stop the war against the Tamils when governments led by Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa were in power. As a special envoy, he was not able to influence the Sri Lankan leaders. In this backdrop, he made another visit last week.

    Before he left Sri Lanka, Akashi held a press conference and gave contradictory statements. Once, he admitted that the UN should cooperate with Sri Lanka in investigating last year’s abuses through the investigative team appointed by Sri Lanka itself. Also, he said that the panel of experts should be allowed to investigate the matter and they should provide the advice to Ban-ki Moon. Akashi advised Sri Lanka to cooperate with the U.N. He also asked Sri Lanka to work with the UN in the reconciliation process and offer a meaningful political solution to Tamil-speaking people.

    The next important visit was by the United Nation Organization’s political division Deputy Secretary, Lyne Pascoe, who arrived on June 16 for a two-day official visit. He met with Sinhala and Tamil politicians. On the day he arrived in Sri Lanka, he paid a visit to Mullaitheevu where the final days of the last phase of the war took place. He met with the relocated people. Soon after, when he returned to Colombo from Vanni, he met with the Sri Lankan President and discussed the efforts of resettlement, political reconciliation, and the human rights abuse issues.

    There is no doubt that Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo and other areas received the senior diplomats well. The Sri Lankan government appears desperate to do anything possible to curb the international community’s move to establish international war investigations against Sri Lanka.

    Victory parade a showcase to visitors

    Some of the visiting diplomats got the chance to see the ‘victory parade’ commemorating the victory over the LTTE last year. Nearly 10,000 Sri Lankan soldiers, who directly participated in the war with the LTTE, took part in the parade.

    This parade was a showpiece to the world that the Sri Lankan government is in a good position with the support of two giants of Asia, neighbouring India and its rival China. Sri Lanka is getting enormous monetary and material support from both countries. Each of these countries has a vested economic interest in Sri Lanka. Although these senior diplomats did not take part directly in the parade as guests, they had a great view of the parade preparations and how the decorations were done in Colombo and its suburbs to mark the victory parade.

    China is also planning a massive investment in the fishery industry which is to be inaugurated in Mullaitheevu where the final days of the war took place. Former southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa leaked out shocking news that over 25,000 Chinese nationals, who were held in jails in China for crimes, have been brought to Sri Lanka under the guise of working in Sri Lanka. She said these Chinese nationals are a direct threat to South India in particular and throughout India in general. Jayalalithaa further said if these criminal elements, who are the spies of China, launch criminal activities against Tamils in Sri Lanka, tens of thousands of Tamils would be victimized.

    Obviously, the reason for the parade was to bring credibility to Sri Lanka by showing the might of Sri Lankan military. Due to the victory day event, Sri Lanka announced a public holiday so that people would get the chance to see the event and to pay their respect to their fallen ‘heroes’ who killed over 150,000 Tamil civilians in the three-decade war as well as they conducted numerous rights abuses against Tamils.

    However, this was a good showpiece for the Sri Lankan government to show the world that the people are with the government and they are happy that their government succeeded to crush the Tamil Tigers who, as it was said, were posing threat to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka for more than three decades.

    Mr. President said at the parade event that some countries which were being battered by terrorism had gathered strength from Sri Lanka’s victories over the menace and it was time that they looked back to see what had gone wrong with their strategies while Sri Lanka had succeeded.

    He further said: “It is a grave error of judgment to think, while being opposed to terrorism targeting you, that terrorism that is no threat to you is good. The world has so far trodden this wrong path. Terrorism remains unvanquished because of this incorrect thinking. The countries that show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of history.”

    Political observers argue that Mr. President must also be aware that the modern political scientists have come up with the three types of terrorism; one of which is State Terrorism. Also, Tamils are feeling alienated as the war brought nothing to them but sorrow. Tamils are still in grief after the war. The war left hundreds of thousands of people killed and same number of people still in camps despite the government’s claims that below 50,000 civilians are sequestered in camps, and they, too, will be released soon. All these statements are rubbish and have no validity at all.

    Tamils argue that despite Sri Lanka failing to acknowledge how many Tamils are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), how can they receive justice from this Sinhalese-dominated State which has no clear mandate in solving the political aspirations of Tamils? In a liberal account, over half a million Tamils are living under pathetic conditions, still living in the houses of their relatives and friends or in temporary shelters, as they cannot even move to their traditional villages, because they are declared by the Sri Lankan State as High Security Zones (HSZs), which are now being used by the Sinhalese from the South. This is the ground reality but the government gives contradictory account of the IDPs.

    Hence, the special envoys from the U.S., Japan, and the UN are another milestone of political success. The question is whether these envoys will keep up their mandates or will they fall into the trap of the Sri Lankan leaders whose hands are soaked in the blood of Tamils

  102. In the wake of the UN belated disclosing the identities of the three members of its advisory panel on Sri Lanka war crimes, names that Inner City Press exclusively reported 25 hours before, on the evening of January 22 the politics behind the appointments were made clear to the Press.

    Sri Lanka argued that its self investigation would be like South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Fine, then: Yasmin Sooka of that Commission was included on the panel, at the suggestion of South African advisor to Ban Ki-moon Nicholas Hayson.

    Sri Lanka fashions itself not just South Asian but ASEAN writ large. So Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia was included. Indonesia is ASEAN’s bridge, on Myanmar and now Sri Lanka.

    Nevertheless it was reported

    A senior Sri Lankan official said appointing former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman as the head of the panel was “unfair” as he has been involved in the island before and has had disagreements with local authorities.

    Mr. Darusman was a member of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) which quit observing human rights investigations in Sri Lanka in April 2008 after clashing with the local administration. ‘In that context, having this Indonesian in the panel could lead to a serious conflict of interest,’ the official who declined to be named said. He added that the government may come up with a formal response later.

    Sri Lanka being so unprepared to fire back had no excuse. Inner City Press is informed that the Rajapaksa administration was informed in advance of the terms of reference.

    Sri Lanka Spin on S. Africa and ASEAN Played Role in UN Panel, Khmer Rouge Rajapaksa
    http://www.innercitypress.com/sri6bantor062310.html

  103. Dear, Siva

    Democracy only works if the elected people respect human rights and equality.

    Otherwise, it works against minorities like in Sri Lanka ..

  104. The War Crimes War Crimes were committed by Shameless Rajapksa, the Liar, who said there were ZERO civilian casualties !!

    ————————————————————–

    Eyewitness report at a hospital in ” safe zone ”

    The makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa’lan within the so-called ’safe zone’

    The record of the gruesome effects of the carnage by the attacks of the Sri Lankan forces on civilians amidst prevailing starvation

    We had this very tragic incident. A shell had exploded killing the elderly and the eldest child of one family. The injured mother and father were brought in along with their 2nd child, an 8-month-old baby, dependent on breast milk. The baby only had a slight injury but the mother had sustained serious injuries to her chest towards one side of her breast. After receiving first aid, the mother wanted to nurse since the baby was inconsolable. But, the mother died while nursing the baby. We didn’t realise that the mother was dead. The baby was still breastfeeding…”

    We we had this very tragic incident. A shell had exploded killing the elderly and the eldest child of one family. The injured mother and father were brought in along with their 2nd child, an 8-month-old baby, dependent on breast milk. The baby only had a slight injury but the mother had sustained serious injuries to her chest towards one side of her breast. After receiving first aid, the mother wanted to nurse since the baby was inconsolable. But, the mother died while nursing the baby. We didn’t realise that the mother was dead. The baby was still breastfeeding…”

    “I still can’t forget the screams of the child when it was taken away from its dead mother,” Theyva says.

    “We do this work with a lot of self control but tears were just pouring down my cheeks at that tragic scene.”

    “We have been receiving many injured expectant mothers. The other day, we had a case of an expectant mother whose 7-month foetus was killed in the womb due to shrapnel injuries.”

    “This is the first time I am seeing this kind of situation where a baby is not only killed inside the womb, but the unborn child’s head is also blown apart. I am not sure if the mother survived or not.”

    “It was gruesome. I felt like going somewhere alone and crying out loud.”

    “The injuries to children are horrific.”

    “We had a 6-month-old child, whose foot was split open between the toes. These kinds of injuries are common and we get horrific cases each day.”

    “A 14-year-old girl from Valaignarmadam was brought in with deep shell shrapnel wounds to her chest and stomach. Blood was urgently needed. The injured girl’s mother, who was taking care of her two younger children, was in an extremely weak condition. The mother hadn’t eaten for 3 days, and in addition, she was having blood loss due to menstruation. Hence, she was not in a position to give blood.”

    “The child died soon after.”

    There were about 120 casualties brought to the hospital. Many among the injured had lost their arms or legs or both, and hadn’t eaten a meal for about 2 days or 3 days.”

    “When we ask them,’did you get to eat anything at least this morning?’ most of them reply ‘we just had plain tea’.”

    “I am unable to describe this, but these weak and hollowed eyed people seem to be a state of shock and grief.”
    Traumatised children at the hospital where parents are treated“The other day, a young mother came in search of infant milk powder for her baby. When I suggested breast-feeding, she said that she hadn’t had enough food to eat and the milk supply has been impacted due to this. The baby was constantly crying, and was emaciated and malnourished. Most of the babies I am seeing now seem to lack adequate development and are suffering from malnourishment.”

    “A few days ago, we had 3 tractor loads full of injured people. Since most of the injuries were very serious, initially I was helping out people whose lives could be saved. There was a man whose eyeball was hanging out. Nevertheless, since it was only an eye injury, I was rushing him in, when a shell landed and exploded in the hospital premises. Both he and I fell to the ground.”

    “This is the kind of environment we are working in.”

    When we receive the wounded, they are just put on the ground outside.”

    “At times we don’t even have mats, sheets or clothing to spread under them. We are unable to attend to all injuries so those who had lost their arms, legs or both, just die due to bleeding.”

    “We do our rounds quickly and often you hear words like ‘Is that person dead? Okay, let’s lift him and move him out’,’bring the other person into this space’. ”

    “We can’t even afford 5 minutes of rest since the injured and the dying are brought in tractor loads.”

    How can the outside world keep on watching these things? Do they want the Tamil people to perish completely?

  105. Sinhala State Terrorism !!!!!!!!

    Sinhala State terrorize the Tamil civilians in the Tamil war and continue to terrorize now with impunity !!

    Tamils are feeling alienated as the war brought nothing to them but sorrow. Tamils are still in grief after the war. The war left hundreds of thousands of people killed and same number of people still in camps despite the government’s claims that below 50,000 civilians are sequestered in camps, and they, too, will be released soon. All these statements are rubbish and have no validity at all.

    Tamils argue that despite Sri Lanka failing to acknowledge how many Tamils are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), how can they receive justice from this Sinhalese-dominated State which has no clear mandate in solving the political aspirations of Tamils? In a liberal account, over half a million Tamils are living under pathetic conditions, still living in the houses of their relatives and friends or in temporary shelters, as they cannot even move to their traditional villages, because they are declared by the Sri Lankan State as High Security Zones (HSZs), which are now being used by the Sinhalese from the South. This is the ground reality but the government gives contradictory account of the IDPs.

    Hence, the special envoys from the U.S., Japan, and the UN are another milestone of political success. The question is whether these envoys will keep up their mandates or will they fall into the trap of the Sri Lankan leaders whose hands are soaked in the blood of Tamils

  106. The Responsibility to Protect is a doctrine, accepted in the UN General Assembly, that if a country cannot or does not protect its
    population from harm, the international community can intervene to do so. On Sri Lanka, Mexico Invokes Responsibility to Protect,
    Rebukes Colombo’s “Inaccuracies” http://www.innercitypress.com/unscsri8lanka041309.html

    The child victims of Sri Lankan’s hidden war
    http://andrewbuncombe.independentminds.livejournal.com/4661.html

  107. Has anyone seen a picture of a full term pregnant mother who was killed by a shell, which lacerated her womb exposing the leg of the fetus? Or the baby that was born with shrapnel embedded in its thigh? It is most disheartening to see thousand of our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters were brutally killed by the occupying Sri Lankan security forces in the North and the East and enduring long and immense sufferings in the hands of the Sinhalese chauvinism for more than six decades,

    http://www.tamilnet.com/cat.html?catid=13&year=2009&month=02&view=summary

  108. Every shell being fired by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) into the ‘safe zone’ inflicts civilian casualties as the entire area is tightly populated, reported TamilNet correspondent on Tuesday. A single artillery shell fired around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday claimed the lives of 6 civilians, including two teenage boys. The attack has taken place near the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa’lan. Many of the wounded were children among the 98 injured civilians admitted Sunday and Monday, according to medical authorities.
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=28515

    The twenty-six year old armed conflict between the armed forces of the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has reached a phase that can only be called genocide-like and catastrophic for the Tamil people in the north and east of the island, said human rights expert Karen Parker, Wednesday to the subcommittee of the US Senate, hearing on the situation in the island of Sri Lanka. Describing the war waged by Colombo as illegal military operations, using illegal weapons or legal weapons in an illegal manner without any international monitoring, she urged the US government to call for an immediate ceasefire and address it most forcefully to the Rajapaksa administration.
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=28525

  110. No GSP+ for Sri Lanka !!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

    ——————————————–

    Dear EU , thank you for helping the Tamils !!

    Home EU puts 15 conditions to extend GSP+ trade concession to Sri Lanka

    The abrogation of Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the release of those detained held under the Emergency Regulations (ER) and the implementation of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution are among the fifteen conditions put forward by the European Union (EU) as a pre-requisite for the further extension of the GSP+ trade concessions to Sri Lanka from August this year. However, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who addressed cabinet meeting held Wednesday is reported to have rejected these conditions stating that he would not compromise the sovereignty of the Sri Lankan state for the sake of USD 150 million.

    Mr. Rajapaksa said all these were internal political matters and had no relevance whatsoever to international trade.

    Denmark and Spain took a rigid stand against Sri Lanka while Italy supported the country on this issue at the EU.

    Even Germany was very flexible, according to Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris.

    Peiris explained to the ministers about the conditions laid down by the EU and added that it had agreed to extend GSP+ trade facility, but made it mandatory for the government to adhere to 15 demands within a stipulated period of six months.

    He said constitutional amendments would be necessary if these conditions were to be implemented and added that it was impossible to do so within six months and as such there was no need to pursue further negotiations on the GSP+ facility with anyone.

    G.L. Peiris stressed the need for Sri Lanka to explore ‘new market opportunities’ overseas.

  113. Despite the end of the Tamil war, the Sri Lanka government recently proposed maintaining defence spending at about 1.8 billion dollars a year.

    And the army size will remain at 200,000 men and women .

    Critics say the military presence in all areas of Sri Lankan life is dampening entrepreneurial spirit and holding back post-war development.

    “Without downsizing the military after the war, or returning leased equipment, the military is encroaching into the civilian economy,” complained Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, a consultant economist to foreign donors.

    Sarvananthan, who conducts surveys on the northern and eastern economy, said the military must be cut back to allow Sri Lanka to grow a stable peacetime economy.

    “It is a waste of public resources to pay specially trained people to do mundane things like pour tea and cook food .

    If there is no war, the military should be downsized to save money,” he said.

  114. I dont think successive srilankan governments are going to advertise the fact that tamil civilians are killed. The sinhalese are in the dark and are thinking terrorists are being killed. I will give an example where once during the UNP regime about 100 innocent Tamil youth were just rounded up by the Sri Lanka army locked inside a building and the building blown up. The LTTE retaliated. The sinhalese did not know about the previous incident and were very angry. The Sinhales papers and news only splash with atrocities against sinhalese civilians. The GoSL has always been a controlled Sri Lankan media especially where sensitive matters are concerned.

  117. Dear, Siva

    Democracy only works if the elected people respect human rights and equality.

    Otherwise, it works against minorities like in Sri Lanka ..

  118. Here are the 15 conditions spelt out by the European Commission for renewal of GSP+

    1. Reduction of the number of derogations to the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights).

    2. Take steps to ensure that the key objective of the 17th Amendment to Constitution, namely to provide for independent impartial appointments to key public positions, is fully safeguarded, including through Constitutional Council which adequately reflect the interest of all political, ethic and religious groups and minorities within Sri Lankan society.

    3. Repeal the remaining part of the 2005 Emergency regulations, notably those Regulations concerning detention without trial, restrictions on freedom of movement, ouster of jurisdiction and immunity and repeal of the 2006 Emergency Regulations (Gazette No 1474/5/2006). If GoSL considers that it is essential to retain certain provisions which are compatible with the ICCPR or UNCAT, such as provisions concerning possession of weapons, such provisions should be transferred to the Criminal Code.

    4. Repeal of those sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act which are incompatible with the ICCPR (in particular sections 9,10, 11, 14, 15, 16 and 26) or amendment so as to make them clearly compatible with the ICCPR.

    5. Repeal of the ouster clause in section 8 and the immunity clause in section 9 of the Public Security Ordinance or amendment so as to make them clearly compatible with the ICCPR.

    6. Adoption of the planned amendments to the code of Criminal Procedure, which provide for the right of a suspect to see a lawyer immediately following arrest.

    7. Legislative steps necessary to allow individuals to submit complaints to the UN Human Rights Commission under the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR and to the UN Committee against Torture under Article 22.

    8. Steps to implement outstanding opinions of the UN Human Rights Committee in individual cases.

    9. Extension of an invitation to the following UN Special Procedures who have requested to visit Sri Lanka (UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, UN Special Rapporteur pn Torture, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers).

    10. Responses to a significant number of individual cases currently pending before the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances.

    11. Publication of the complete final report of the 2008 Commission of Enquiry.

    12. Publication or making available to family members a list of the former LTTE combatants currently held in detention as well as all other persons detained under the Emergency Regulations. Decisive steps to bring to an end the detention of any persons held under the Emergency Regulations either by releasing them or by bringing them to trial.

    13. Granting of access to all places of detention for monitoring purposes to an independent humanitarian organization, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

    14. Adoption of the National Human Rights Action Plan by Parliament and its prompt implementation.

    15. Take steps to ensure journalists can exercise their professional duties without harassment.

  119. Sri Lanka has become the fiefdom of the Rajapakses. As a result of the actions of a few the entire country is suffering. We are well on our way to gaining failed state status. GSP+ is lost and so will be more jobs.

    Our human rights record is untenable as thousands rot in jail without charges unknown to their kith and kin. Thousands more listed as missing may be buried or disposed off.

    Now we are well on our way to become a military state with a thundering 220 Billions allocated for defence spending whilst the rest of the population suffer in silence. Day by day the cost of living rises while the rulers cruise around in SUV's.

  122. No GSP+ for Sri Lanka !!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

    ——————————————–

    Dear EU , thank you for helping the Tamils !!

    Home EU puts 15 conditions to extend GSP+ trade concession to Sri Lanka

    The abrogation of Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the release of those detained held under the Emergency Regulations (ER) and the implementation of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution are among the fifteen conditions put forward by the European Union (EU) as a pre-requisite for the further extension of the GSP+ trade concessions to Sri Lanka from August this year. However, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who addressed cabinet meeting held Wednesday is reported to have rejected these conditions stating that he would not compromise the sovereignty of the Sri Lankan state for the sake of USD 150 million.

    Mr. Rajapaksa said all these were internal political matters and had no relevance whatsoever to international trade.

    Denmark and Spain took a rigid stand against Sri Lanka while Italy supported the country on this issue at the EU.

    Even Germany was very flexible, according to Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris.

    Peiris explained to the ministers about the conditions laid down by the EU and added that it had agreed to extend GSP+ trade facility, but made it mandatory for the government to adhere to 15 demands within a stipulated period of six months.

    He said constitutional amendments would be necessary if these conditions were to be implemented and added that it was impossible to do so within six months and as such there was no need to pursue further negotiations on the GSP+ facility with anyone.

    G.L. Peiris stressed the need for Sri Lanka to explore ‘new market opportunities’ overseas.

  125. Tamil speaking people are not clamouring for blood but for justice !!

    Many Tamils welcome UN panel !!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

  126. Gee – leave the apes and their keepers for 2 days and they start monkeying around like there is no tomorrow !!!!!

    First and foremost it is an advisory panel that Ban has appointed and not an investigation panel.

    All you monkeys and keepers are dancing around as if this panel has found Rajapakse guilty and already hung him. Dream on you insult to baboons !!!!

    Anyways, proud that SL is not bowing down to the Baboons and the Primates who try to own the Baboons.
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4609-lan…

  127. Also we bow down to the good professor !!!
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4601-un-…

    In a way, I actually don't mind this Advisory Panel though it is not morally right for the UN to do so after such long silence about the HR issues of USA and UK even after video evidence (Not like the fakes of LTTE) – You know why ?? It would prove even better how mentally challenged the bloody Apes of LTTE were and are !!!

    This will kind of ensure that the little bit of noise these apes are allowed to make in the out side world would get shut down – Ha Ha Ha !!!

  128. Sri Lanka is still a very poor country.

    But GDP per capita doesn’t tell the whole story, because it doesn’t show how wealth is distributed within a country. According to government figures, 15 percent of Sri Lankans live below the official poverty line of Rs. 3,087 a month. The World Bank puts the figure higher, at 23 percent. The UN estimates that 45 percent of Sri Lankans live on less than Rs. 226 ($2) a day. Poverty is concentrated in rural areas, as well as the North and East

    Moreover, the country remains stunningly unequal, with the richest 10 percent of the people holding nearly 40 percent of the wealth and the poorest 10 percent holding barely over one percent. Based on the Gini Index of wealth distribution, Sri Lanka is the 27th most unequal country in the world — more unequal than Cambodia (50)

    Sri Lanka has become a military state with a thundering 220 Billions allocated for defence spending whilst the rest of the population suffer in silence. Day by day the cost of living rises while the rulers wallow in luxury

  129. All you Apes – Will you still provide money to KP as you did to procure arms to develop the standards of the north and civilians of north ??

    Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), former arms procurer of the LTTE, now under the custody of the Sri Lankan authorities, along with a few other rebels abroad, has agreed to cooperate with the efforts of the government to rehabilitate the nearly three lakh war-displaced Tamil civilians and help in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged northern province.

    full article :- http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/articl…

  130. Jim and the Zoo Keeper of AI !!

    Did U see this ??? The head of the Panel has already resigned before work started !!! Any comments ???

    Mr Darusman was part of an international team appointed to observe proceedings on a previous Sri Lankan commission on atrocities – but he resigned saying that commission did not meet basic minimum standards.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/10405996.st…

  131. Jim and AI !!

    Do you not talk of the good HR activities that people do ?? Do you only talk of speculations and day dreams of Apes ??? What say U about the following ???

    Hundreds of former Tamil Tiger (LTTE) child soldiers are being educated in Sri Lanka as part of government rehabilitation efforts following the rebels' defeat in May. The BBC Tamil service's Swaminathan Natarajan (a Tamil himself) spoke to some of them.

    "I am from Trincomalee. I was studying in [the] ninth year when I was forcefully taken away by the Tigers," says Murugan, one of the former combatants studying in Colombo.

    Read more of these important news than impotent news of the LTTE wailers !!
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8400366.stm

  133. Gee – leave the apes and their keepers for 2 days and they start monkeying around like there is no tomorrow !!!!!

    First and foremost it is an advisory panel that Ban has appointed and not an investigation panel.

    All you monkeys and keepers are dancing around as if this panel has found Rajapakse guilty and already hung him. Dream on you insult to baboons !!!!

    Anyways, proud that SL is not bowing down to the Baboons and the Primates who try to own the Baboons.
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4609-lan…

  134. Gee – leave the apes and their keepers for 2 days and they start monkeying around like there is no tomorrow !!!!!

    First and foremost it is an advisory panel that Ban has appointed and not an investigation panel.

    All you monkeys and keepers are dancing around as if this panel has found Rajapakse guilty and already hung him. Dream on you insult to baboons !!!!

    Anyways, proud that SL is not bowing down to the Baboons and the Primates who try to own the Baboons.
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4609-lan…

  135. Also in other news !!

    A UN Experts Panel that will investigate allegations of human rights violations in Sri Lanka will also be considering the actions of the Tamil Tigers during the final stage of the civil war, Panel Chairman Marzuki Darusman said.

    Mr. Darusman has been appointed to lead the investigation and told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program that he will also look into the actions of the rebels during the final months of the civil war.

    "This [investigation] would then cover – without any distinction – acts that were committed in the course of that conflict," Mr Darusman said.
    Colombo says it's conducting its own investigation into the claims and considers the UN's involvement as "unneccessary interferance".

    This week a UN spokesman described the panel as having a mostly consultative role, and that "primary responsibility for investigating rests with the government of Sri Lanka."

    But Marzuki Darusman has made it clear that the panel would act independently of the government.

    "Any relations or connections with the Sri Lankan government will have to be done through the [UN] Secretary General's office," said Mr Darusman.
    He added that the panel is also independent of any nation.

    Mr Darusman would not speculate on whether the panel is likely to recommend a war crimes tribunal be established to further investigate the right violations, but said the human rights and legal backgrounds of the panel members indicate the direction the investigation will take.

    "We can't foreclose any possibility of going as far as what would be feasible, possible."

    The UN panel will convene soon in New York for a briefing and planning session, and is expected to submit their report to Ban Ki-moon in four months.

    So all you Baboons of the Peelam Die Ass Pora don't think that a 0.1% sure positive outcome would allow you to establish any kind of legal entity. You were, are and always will be Mentally challenged Terrorists in the eyes of the world – that would never change U apes !!

  136. Also we bow down to the good professor !!!
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4601-un-…

    In a way, I actually don't mind this Advisory Panel though it is not morally right for the UN to do so after such long silence about the HR issues of USA and UK even after video evidence (Not like the fakes of LTTE) – You know why ?? It would prove even better how mentally challenged the bloody Apes of LTTE were and are !!!

    This will kind of ensure that the little bit of noise these apes are allowed to make in the out side world would get shut down – Ha Ha Ha !!!

  137. Also we bow down to the good professor !!!
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4601-un-…

    In a way, I actually don't mind this Advisory Panel though it is not morally right for the UN to do so after such long silence about the HR issues of USA and UK even after video evidence (Not like the fakes of LTTE) – You know why ?? It would prove even better how mentally challenged the bloody Apes of LTTE were and are !!!

    This will kind of ensure that the little bit of noise these apes are allowed to make in the out side world would get shut down – Ha Ha Ha !!!

  138. Moe News for the Zoo Keepers and Apes of Peelam !!!

    The government yesterday said it regards the appointment of the Panel of Experts by Secretary General of the United Nations Ban ki-Moon, to advice him on Sri Lanka as an unwarranted and unnecessary interference into the affairs of a sovereign nation, the The Foreign Ministry said that this interference, moreover, has potential for exploitation by vested interests hostile to the process of reconciliation taking place in Sri Lanka.

    In an announcement made on Tuesday in New York, the UN Secretary General said the three member experts panel would be headed by former Indonesian Attorney General Marzuki Darusman. The other members are Ms Yasmin Sooka, a former member of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and an American lawyer Steven Ratner.

    A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on the appointment of the experts panel said:

    "Sri Lanka was ravaged by the scourge of terrorism for over 30 years. The people of Sri Lanka have, during this period, suffered violence and terror of unimaginable proportions, unleashed on them by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world.

    "After a long and difficult struggle, the Government of Sri Lanka has successfully rid the country of terror, and is in the process of rebuilding the lives of her people. As an important part of this process, the President of Sri Lanka has appointed a Commission on ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation’ under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, a statutory regime available under Sri Lankan law. The Government is confident that the Commission would make a most significant contribution to the further strengthening of national amity, through a process of restorative justice.

    "Sri Lanka is a sovereign State with a robustly independent judiciary and a tried and tested system for the administration of justice. The Government of Sri Lanka has consistently promoted and protected human rights. Indeed, it has been explicitly acknowledged by legitimate organs of the United Nations systems. The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has formally adopted, after the cessation of the conflict situation, a resolution commending, inter – alia, the commitment of Sri Lanka to the promotion and protection of human rights".

    The statement finally said that Sri Lanka notes that the joint statement of the President of Sri Lanka and the UN Secretary General, issued at the conclusion of the Secretary General’s visit to the country on 23rd May, 2009 makes no reference to"allegations of violations of international humanitarian law committed during military operations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

  139. Even the opposition is with the government on this – which means, you Zoo Keepers and Apes will not have a chance – the country is united as one against you immoral people !!

    Both senior UNP parliamentarians Sajith Premadasa and Ravi Karunanayake opposed the Advisory Panel…. Hoo Hoo – Go learn to peel Bananas you Apes – May be your Zoo keepers might be able to teach you how to !! BTW, Zoo Keepers – better learn how to eat normal food your selves !!

  140. Also. No matter what you Mentally underdeveloped Apes and your Zoo Keepers say or do, Sri Lanka will always have our friends to help us and support us at all times….

    Still the government is spending the aids we get on the very infrastructure and lives that the Terrorists destroyed with the help of you Apes !

    The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide Rs 2,877 million to develop the infrastructure facilities of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, the Ministry of Health said yesterday. It added that the work will be completed in 21 months.

    W. Wanninayake, spokesman of the Ministry, said the Hospital had been functioning without many important facilities since the end of the war. Most of the facilities had been destroyed during the war.

    He said under the infrastructure development programme, a central operating theatre complex, central supplies and sterilizing department, intensive care units, laboratory complexes, facilities for diagnostic imaging and procurement equipment would be supplied.

  141. More News on Jaffna development as reply to the posts by the LTTE supporters

    Chavakachcheri Hindu College was the recipient of a complete set of sports equipment worth over Rs. 1.7 million. The donation was made by the German Ambassador Jens Ploetner when he and his wife Mrs. Meike Ploetner visited the Chavakachcheri Hindu College recently .

    Students of the Chavakachcheri Hindu College, which is one of the biggest Colleges in the region, mainly come from the once war-ravaged rural south of the Jaffna peninsula.

    Be thankful that these children are not getting Cyanide Capsules from Germany like you Apes sent !!

  142. All you Apes – Will you still provide money to KP as you did to procure arms to develop the standards of the north and civilians of north ??

    Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), former arms procurer of the LTTE, now under the custody of the Sri Lankan authorities, along with a few other rebels abroad, has agreed to cooperate with the efforts of the government to rehabilitate the nearly three lakh war-displaced Tamil civilians and help in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged northern province.

    full article :- http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/articl…

  143. All you Apes – Will you still provide money to KP as you did to procure arms to develop the standards of the north and civilians of north ??

    Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), former arms procurer of the LTTE, now under the custody of the Sri Lankan authorities, along with a few other rebels abroad, has agreed to cooperate with the efforts of the government to rehabilitate the nearly three lakh war-displaced Tamil civilians and help in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged northern province.

    full article :- http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/articl…

  144. Jim and the Zoo Keeper of AI !!

    Did U see this ??? The head of the Panel has already resigned before work started !!! Any comments ???

    Mr Darusman was part of an international team appointed to observe proceedings on a previous Sri Lankan commission on atrocities – but he resigned saying that commission did not meet basic minimum standards.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/10405996.st…

  145. Jim and the Zoo Keeper of AI !!

    Did U see this ??? The head of the Panel has already resigned before work started !!! Any comments ???

    Mr Darusman was part of an international team appointed to observe proceedings on a previous Sri Lankan commission on atrocities – but he resigned saying that commission did not meet basic minimum standards.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/10405996.st…

  146. Jim and AI !!

    Do you not talk of the good HR activities that people do ?? Do you only talk of speculations and day dreams of Apes ??? What say U about the following ???

    Hundreds of former Tamil Tiger (LTTE) child soldiers are being educated in Sri Lanka as part of government rehabilitation efforts following the rebels' defeat in May. The BBC Tamil service's Swaminathan Natarajan (a Tamil himself) spoke to some of them.

    "I am from Trincomalee. I was studying in [the] ninth year when I was forcefully taken away by the Tigers," says Murugan, one of the former combatants studying in Colombo.

    Read more of these important news than impotent news of the LTTE wailers !!
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8400366.stm

  147. Jim and AI !!

    Do you not talk of the good HR activities that people do ?? Do you only talk of speculations and day dreams of Apes ??? What say U about the following ???

    Hundreds of former Tamil Tiger (LTTE) child soldiers are being educated in Sri Lanka as part of government rehabilitation efforts following the rebels' defeat in May. The BBC Tamil service's Swaminathan Natarajan (a Tamil himself) spoke to some of them.

    "I am from Trincomalee. I was studying in [the] ninth year when I was forcefully taken away by the Tigers," says Murugan, one of the former combatants studying in Colombo.

    Read more of these important news than impotent news of the LTTE wailers !!
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8400366.stm

  148. Here are the 15 conditions spelt out by the European Commission for renewal of GSP+

    1. Reduction of the number of derogations to the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights).

    2. Take steps to ensure that the key objective of the 17th Amendment to Constitution, namely to provide for independent impartial appointments to key public positions, is fully safeguarded, including through Constitutional Council which adequately reflect the interest of all political, ethic and religious groups and minorities within Sri Lankan society.

    3. Repeal the remaining part of the 2005 Emergency regulations, notably those Regulations concerning detention without trial, restrictions on freedom of movement, ouster of jurisdiction and immunity and repeal of the 2006 Emergency Regulations (Gazette No 1474/5/2006). If GoSL considers that it is essential to retain certain provisions which are compatible with the ICCPR or UNCAT, such as provisions concerning possession of weapons, such provisions should be transferred to the Criminal Code.

    4. Repeal of those sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act which are incompatible with the ICCPR (in particular sections 9,10, 11, 14, 15, 16 and 26) or amendment so as to make them clearly compatible with the ICCPR.

    5. Repeal of the ouster clause in section 8 and the immunity clause in section 9 of the Public Security Ordinance or amendment so as to make them clearly compatible with the ICCPR.

    6. Adoption of the planned amendments to the code of Criminal Procedure, which provide for the right of a suspect to see a lawyer immediately following arrest.

    7. Legislative steps necessary to allow individuals to submit complaints to the UN Human Rights Commission under the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR and to the UN Committee against Torture under Article 22.

    8. Steps to implement outstanding opinions of the UN Human Rights Committee in individual cases.

    9. Extension of an invitation to the following UN Special Procedures who have requested to visit Sri Lanka (UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, UN Special Rapporteur pn Torture, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers).

    10. Responses to a significant number of individual cases currently pending before the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances.

    11. Publication of the complete final report of the 2008 Commission of Enquiry.

    12. Publication or making available to family members a list of the former LTTE combatants currently held in detention as well as all other persons detained under the Emergency Regulations. Decisive steps to bring to an end the detention of any persons held under the Emergency Regulations either by releasing them or by bringing them to trial.

    13. Granting of access to all places of detention for monitoring purposes to an independent humanitarian organization, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

    14. Adoption of the National Human Rights Action Plan by Parliament and its prompt implementation.

    15. Take steps to ensure journalists can exercise their professional duties without harassment.

  149. Sri Lanka has become the fiefdom of the Rajapakses. As a result of the actions of a few the entire country is suffering. We are well on our way to gaining failed state status. GSP+ is lost and so will be more jobs.

    Our human rights record is untenable as thousands rot in jail without charges unknown to their kith and kin. Thousands more listed as missing may be buried or disposed off.

    Now we are well on our way to become a military state with a thundering 220 Billions allocated for defence spending whilst the rest of the population suffer in silence. Day by day the cost of living rises while the rulers cruise around in SUV’s.

  152. Tamil speaking people are not clamouring for blood but for justice !!

    Many Tamils welcome UN panel !!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

  153. Sri Lanka is still a very poor country.

    But GDP per capita doesn’t tell the whole story, because it doesn’t show how wealth is distributed within a country. According to government figures, 15 percent of Sri Lankans live below the official poverty line of Rs. 3,087 a month. The World Bank puts the figure higher, at 23 percent. The UN estimates that 45 percent of Sri Lankans live on less than Rs. 226 ($2) a day. Poverty is concentrated in rural areas, as well as the North and East

    Moreover, the country remains stunningly unequal, with the richest 10 percent of the people holding nearly 40 percent of the wealth and the poorest 10 percent holding barely over one percent. Based on the Gini Index of wealth distribution, Sri Lanka is the 27th most unequal country in the world — more unequal than Cambodia (50)

    Sri Lanka has become a military state with a thundering 220 Billions allocated for defence spending whilst the rest of the population suffer in silence. Day by day the cost of living rises while the rulers wallow in luxury

  154. Gee – leave the apes and their keepers for 2 days and they start monkeying around like there is no tomorrow !!!!!

    First and foremost it is an advisory panel that Ban has appointed and not an investigation panel.

    All you monkeys and keepers are dancing around as if this panel has found Rajapakse guilty and already hung him. Dream on you insult to baboons !!!!

    Anyways, proud that SL is not bowing down to the Baboons and the Primates who try to own the Baboons.

    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4609-lanka-will-not-submit.html

  156. Also in other news !!

    A UN Experts Panel that will investigate allegations of human rights violations in Sri Lanka will also be considering the actions of the Tamil Tigers during the final stage of the civil war, Panel Chairman Marzuki Darusman said.

    Mr. Darusman has been appointed to lead the investigation and told Radio Australia’s Asia Pacific program that he will also look into the actions of the rebels during the final months of the civil war.

    “This [investigation] would then cover – without any distinction – acts that were committed in the course of that conflict,” Mr Darusman said.
    Colombo says it’s conducting its own investigation into the claims and considers the UN’s involvement as “unneccessary interferance”.

    This week a UN spokesman described the panel as having a mostly consultative role, and that “primary responsibility for investigating rests with the government of Sri Lanka.”

    But Marzuki Darusman has made it clear that the panel would act independently of the government.

    “Any relations or connections with the Sri Lankan government will have to be done through the [UN] Secretary General’s office,” said Mr Darusman.
    He added that the panel is also independent of any nation.

    Mr Darusman would not speculate on whether the panel is likely to recommend a war crimes tribunal be established to further investigate the right violations, but said the human rights and legal backgrounds of the panel members indicate the direction the investigation will take.

    “We can’t foreclose any possibility of going as far as what would be feasible, possible.”

    The UN panel will convene soon in New York for a briefing and planning session, and is expected to submit their report to Ban Ki-moon in four months.

    So all you Baboons of the Peelam Die Ass Pora don’t think that a 0.1% sure positive outcome would allow you to establish any kind of legal entity. You were, are and always will be Mentally challenged Terrorists in the eyes of the world – that would never change U apes !!

  157. Also we bow down to the good professor !!!

    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4601-un-panel-counterproductive.html

    In a way, I actually don’t mind this Advisory Panel though it is not morally right for the UN to do so after such long silence about the HR issues of USA and UK even after video evidence (Not like the fakes of LTTE) – You know why ?? It would prove even better how mentally challenged the bloody Apes of LTTE were and are !!!

    This will kind of ensure that the little bit of noise these apes are allowed to make in the out side world would get shut down – Ha Ha Ha !!!

  158. Moe News for the Zoo Keepers and Apes of Peelam !!!

    The government yesterday said it regards the appointment of the Panel of Experts by Secretary General of the United Nations Ban ki-Moon, to advice him on Sri Lanka as an unwarranted and unnecessary interference into the affairs of a sovereign nation, the The Foreign Ministry said that this interference, moreover, has potential for exploitation by vested interests hostile to the process of reconciliation taking place in Sri Lanka.

    In an announcement made on Tuesday in New York, the UN Secretary General said the three member experts panel would be headed by former Indonesian Attorney General Marzuki Darusman. The other members are Ms Yasmin Sooka, a former member of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and an American lawyer Steven Ratner.

    A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on the appointment of the experts panel said:

    “Sri Lanka was ravaged by the scourge of terrorism for over 30 years. The people of Sri Lanka have, during this period, suffered violence and terror of unimaginable proportions, unleashed on them by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world.

    “After a long and difficult struggle, the Government of Sri Lanka has successfully rid the country of terror, and is in the process of rebuilding the lives of her people. As an important part of this process, the President of Sri Lanka has appointed a Commission on ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation’ under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, a statutory regime available under Sri Lankan law. The Government is confident that the Commission would make a most significant contribution to the further strengthening of national amity, through a process of restorative justice.

    “Sri Lanka is a sovereign State with a robustly independent judiciary and a tried and tested system for the administration of justice. The Government of Sri Lanka has consistently promoted and protected human rights. Indeed, it has been explicitly acknowledged by legitimate organs of the United Nations systems. The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has formally adopted, after the cessation of the conflict situation, a resolution commending, inter – alia, the commitment of Sri Lanka to the promotion and protection of human rights”.

    The statement finally said that Sri Lanka notes that the joint statement of the President of Sri Lanka and the UN Secretary General, issued at the conclusion of the Secretary General’s visit to the country on 23rd May, 2009 makes no reference to”allegations of violations of international humanitarian law committed during military operations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

  159. Even the opposition is with the government on this – which means, you Zoo Keepers and Apes will not have a chance – the country is united as one against you immoral people !!

    Both senior UNP parliamentarians Sajith Premadasa and Ravi Karunanayake opposed the Advisory Panel…. Hoo Hoo – Go learn to peel Bananas you Apes – May be your Zoo keepers might be able to teach you how to !! BTW, Zoo Keepers – better learn how to eat normal food your selves !!

  160. Also. No matter what you Mentally underdeveloped Apes and your Zoo Keepers say or do, Sri Lanka will always have our friends to help us and support us at all times….

    Still the government is spending the aids we get on the very infrastructure and lives that the Terrorists destroyed with the help of you Apes !

    The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide Rs 2,877 million to develop the infrastructure facilities of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, the Ministry of Health said yesterday. It added that the work will be completed in 21 months.

    W. Wanninayake, spokesman of the Ministry, said the Hospital had been functioning without many important facilities since the end of the war. Most of the facilities had been destroyed during the war.

    He said under the infrastructure development programme, a central operating theatre complex, central supplies and sterilizing department, intensive care units, laboratory complexes, facilities for diagnostic imaging and procurement equipment would be supplied.

  161. More News on Jaffna development as reply to the posts by the LTTE supporters

    Chavakachcheri Hindu College was the recipient of a complete set of sports equipment worth over Rs. 1.7 million. The donation was made by the German Ambassador Jens Ploetner when he and his wife Mrs. Meike Ploetner visited the Chavakachcheri Hindu College recently .

    Students of the Chavakachcheri Hindu College, which is one of the biggest Colleges in the region, mainly come from the once war-ravaged rural south of the Jaffna peninsula.

    Be thankful that these children are not getting Cyanide Capsules from Germany like you Apes sent !!

  162. All you Apes – Will you still provide money to KP as you did to procure arms to develop the standards of the north and civilians of north ??

    Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), former arms procurer of the LTTE, now under the custody of the Sri Lankan authorities, along with a few other rebels abroad, has agreed to cooperate with the efforts of the government to rehabilitate the nearly three lakh war-displaced Tamil civilians and help in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged northern province.

    full article :- http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article476044.ece

  163. Jim and the Zoo Keeper of AI !!

    Did U see this ??? The head of the Panel has already resigned before work started !!! Any comments ???

    Mr Darusman was part of an international team appointed to observe proceedings on a previous Sri Lankan commission on atrocities – but he resigned saying that commission did not meet basic minimum standards.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/10405996.stm

  164. Jim and AI !!

    Do you not talk of the good HR activities that people do ?? Do you only talk of speculations and day dreams of Apes ??? What say U about the following ???

    Hundreds of former Tamil Tiger (LTTE) child soldiers are being educated in Sri Lanka as part of government rehabilitation efforts following the rebels’ defeat in May. The BBC Tamil service’s Swaminathan Natarajan (a Tamil himself) spoke to some of them.

    “I am from Trincomalee. I was studying in [the] ninth year when I was forcefully taken away by the Tigers,” says Murugan, one of the former combatants studying in Colombo.

    Read more of these important news than impotent news of the LTTE wailers !!

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8400366.stm

  167. Dear Rohan,

    Excellent report by you on the diplomatic front in lanka.

    Samantha Power represents Obama at Rajapakse's court.

    Right person for job — the selective student of genocide, who spots it a world away but can't see it under her nose.

    Karunanidhi waxing big about Tamil, nowhere in sight when the people came close to the end…

    Jayalalitha on 25,000 chinese convicts coming to work / spy / terrorise in lanka ??? … if true, it'll be a dawn of new horrors. Incredible.

    Your report on the dead mother, the leg of the foetus exposed !!

    Such things … i hear as if for the first time…

  168. Dear brothers & sisters,

    i've said before this is the blogsite with the highest level of reporting, discourse & even consciousness …& why ? Because it has the participation of the very people the blog is for, not "outsiders" talking for them.

    At the same time, this is the site with the most naked display of racism available on an Amnesty Int'l blogsite.

    Even the upholders of the death penalty in america… the apologists for the FBI attacking Leonard Peltier the American Indian leader for his struggle for his people… the white supremacists supporting apartheid in Arizona to subjugate the indigenous immigrants coming to the US… the Zionists supporting the Gaza blockade … none of them speak anything even remotely like the language of racism of the Sinhalese gentlemen on this blog.

    Abuse & addiction …

    They're often spoken of together, when we talk of drugs or other debilitating habits …

    But until i heard the Sinhalese bloggers, i never thought to address the issue of the addiction of abuse itself…

    Abuse as an addiction ….

    Abuse as instrument of attempted control …

    See famous examples of white american racism from the US media …

    1. Elderly white McCain supporter in last US elections, holding out a MONKEY DOLL with turban as representing Obama …

    2. White politicians emailing pictures of Michelle Obama next to pictures of CHIMPANZEES …

    3. The wellknown black scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr arrested by a white policeman as he tries to enter his house, even after he shows his ID, & when he becomes justly enraged, another white police officer writes describing him as a "BANANA – EATING JUNGLE MONKEY"…

    Now Professor Gates,Jr, has something in common with Mr & Mrs Obama.

    Not just a rich skin color, but a richer arsenal of words, of logic ( though not deployed in defence of the people in the case of the prof & the pres , alas ).

    So whenever i see Sinhalese copying the language of white supremacy , racism & apartheid, i never talk to them, but i know exactly what's driving them mad.

    Abuse as impotence …

    As Mao famously says, "When the enemy attacks us, we know we're doing the right thing."

  169. a.savage

    Thanks for an excellent post! 🙂

    You are a true humanitarian and a decent human being !!
    ——————————————————————————

    Thousands of War Widows with 4 or 5 children are neglected by the Sri Lankan Government and starving

    Tens of thousands of Tamil women lost their husbands, innocent victims of the civil war. The Sri Lankan government however appears indifferent to their fate, and even Tamil society is keen on marginalising them.

    The Tamil women have to cope with an unhelpful government and social prejudice in Tamil society. Private groups provide aid so that they can regain their dignity.

    The Tamil War left so many Tamil women without husbands. The Sri Lanka government and public institutions have no plan to help or protect them. Often, these women have four or even five children, to be raises on their own, doing odd jobs. Their children go hungry. Only private groups provide some help in finding jobs for them.

    Many Sinhala soldiers who are temporarily stationed in the area just want “to have fun” and forcing helpless and hungry War Widows to provide “voluntary sexual services “ for meager food rations to feed their children Many locals are upset that, with so many women without a man, the government does not issue orders to Sinhalese soldiers to respect them and refrain from taking advantage of their situation of need.

    These widows are still living the trauma of the cruel events of the war, especially the horrible moment when their husbands died, often before their eyes. Some do not know how to tell the children that their beloved father is no more. It is hard to tell children that their father died hit by a nameless bomb, without rhyme or reason.”
    http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Jaffna,-where-wome…

  170. a.savage Says:
    June 24th, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Another display of the ignorance of the Apes and what more – proves that indeed they are mentally under developed and do not understand the posts they read !!!

    i’ve said before this is the blogsite with the highest level of reporting, discourse & even consciousness …& why ? Because it has the participation of the very people the blog is for, not “outsiders” talking for them.

    Don't think that this blog site is for Apes only – if so, talk only of Ape activities and not about a legal state of Sri Lanka – If you talk of Sri Lanka, there will be Sri Lankans who would have the right to talk of it and defend it too…. Who gave you the sole proprietorship of the site? Your Zoo Keepers ??

    At the same time, this is the site with the most naked display of racism available on an Amnesty Int’l blogsite.

    Totally Agree !!

    All you Apes of Peelam Die Ass Pora point fingers at a Racist Singhala Buddhist State – Being Pure Racist while the Sri Lankans here point fingers at the Terrorists and not a specific ethnic group We have repeatedly mention about Adela Bitch being a Aussie and also Bin Laden being a Arab – but Terrorist.

    language of racism of the Sinhalese gentlemen on this blog.

    There are no Singhalees writing in these blog sites – So we assume that U R lying as you normally do for may reasons as to gain sympathy votes to just because your rectums scratch.

    Abuse as an addiction ….

    Glad to Abuse Terrorists who abused Sri Lanka and the region for 30 years. PAY BACK TIME YOU APE !!!!

    1. Elderly white McCain supporter in last US elections, holding out a MONKEY DOLL with turban as representing Obama …2. White politicians emailing pictures of Michelle Obama next to pictures of CHIMPANZEES …

    These Idiots used the monkey obviously due to skin colour !!!!

    We call you "Apes" because we have managed to prove that

    1. you are mentally underdeveloped
    2. uneducated (only cut and paste and no understand what we say)
    3. Have ancient thinking patterns – goes beyond 10,000 years
    4. Have Terrorist mentality of distruction
    5. Use ancient tactics of lying to gain sympathy votes etc.

    Hence, we call you apes as none evolved to humans or even Homo Neanderthal level – you know – the primates who were just starting to learn how to peel a Banana – LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    As Mao famously says, “When the enemy attacks us, we know we’re doing the right thing.”

    Indeed the great Mao from China !!

    We see a lot of attack aimed at Sri Lanka & the Rajapakse's in these blogs – So May I conclude that they are your enemy and they are indeed doing the right thing for you to keep attacking ???? Including AI ???

    Vise-Versa statement noh you Ape ???

  171. a.savage

    Thanks for an excellent post! 🙂

    You are a true humanitarian and a decent human being !!
    ——————————————————————————

    Thousands of War Widows with 4 or 5 children are neglected by the Sri Lankan Government and starving

    Tens of thousands of Tamil women lost their husbands, innocent victims of the civil war. The Sri Lankan government however appears indifferent to their fate, and even Tamil society is keen on marginalising them.

    The Tamil women have to cope with an unhelpful government and social prejudice in Tamil society. Private groups provide aid so that they can regain their dignity.

    The Tamil War left so many Tamil women without husbands. The Sri Lanka government and public institutions have no plan to help or protect them. Often, these women have four or even five children, to be raises on their own, doing odd jobs. Their children go hungry. Only private groups provide some help in finding jobs for them.

    Many Sinhala soldiers who are temporarily stationed in the area just want “to have fun” and forcing helpless and hungry War Widows to provide “voluntary sexual services “ for meager food rations to feed their children Many locals are upset that, with so many women without a man, the government does not issue orders to Sinhalese soldiers to respect them and refrain from taking advantage of their situation of need.

    These widows are still living the trauma of the cruel events of the war, especially the horrible moment when their husbands died, often before their eyes. Some do not know how to tell the children that their beloved father is no more. It is hard to tell children that their father died hit by a nameless bomb, without rhyme or reason.”
    http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Jaffna,-where-wome…

  172. a.savage

    Thanks for an excellent post! 🙂

    You are a true humanitarian and a decent human being !!
    ——————————————————————————

    Thousands of War Widows with 4 or 5 children are neglected by the Sri Lankan Government and starving

    Tens of thousands of Tamil women lost their husbands, innocent victims of the civil war. The Sri Lankan government however appears indifferent to their fate, and even Tamil society is keen on marginalising them.

    The Tamil women have to cope with an unhelpful government and social prejudice in Tamil society. Private groups provide aid so that they can regain their dignity.

    The Tamil War left so many Tamil women without husbands. The Sri Lanka government and public institutions have no plan to help or protect them. Often, these women have four or even five children, to be raises on their own, doing odd jobs. Their children go hungry. Only private groups provide some help in finding jobs for them.

    Many Sinhala soldiers who are temporarily stationed in the area just want “to have fun” and forcing helpless and hungry War Widows to provide “voluntary sexual services “ for meager food rations to feed their children Many locals are upset that, with so many women without a man, the government does not issue orders to Sinhalese soldiers to respect them and refrain from taking advantage of their situation of need.

    These widows are still living the trauma of the cruel events of the war, especially the horrible moment when their husbands died, often before their eyes. Some do not know how to tell the children that their beloved father is no more. It is hard to tell children that their father died hit by a nameless bomb, without rhyme or reason.”
    http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Jaffna,-where-wome…

  174. South African Tamil organizations have welcomed a United Nations probe into Sri Lankan war crimes

    The UN itself has said seven thousand people perished in just four months during the last phase of the war.

    International media put the death toll of the last offensive at an alarming 40 000.

    The Vereeniging Tamil Association ( VTA ) which spear-headed calls by other SA Tamil groups for a probe said the UN investigation is the last hope for justice on the island.“ If Sri-Lanka’s conscience is clear, the government should have no problem with the UN investigators” said the VTA’s Manjini Mestry.

  175. Dear Rohan,

    Excellent report by you on the diplomatic front in lanka.

    Samantha Power represents Obama at Rajapakse’s court.

    Right person for job — the selective student of genocide, who spots it a world away but can’t see it under her nose.

    Karunanidhi waxing big about Tamil, nowhere in sight when the people came close to the end…

    Jayalalitha on 25,000 chinese convicts coming to work / spy / terrorise in lanka ??? … if true, it’ll be a dawn of new horrors. Incredible.

    Your report on the dead mother, the leg of the foetus exposed !!

    Such things … i hear as if for the first time…

  176. Dear brothers & sisters,

    i’ve said before this is the blogsite with the highest level of reporting, discourse & even consciousness …& why ? Because it has the participation of the very people the blog is for, not “outsiders” talking for them.

    At the same time, this is the site with the most naked display of racism available on an Amnesty Int’l blogsite.

    Even the upholders of the death penalty in america… the apologists for the FBI attacking Leonard Peltier the American Indian leader for his struggle for his people… the white supremacists supporting apartheid in Arizona to subjugate the indigenous immigrants coming to the US… the Zionists supporting the Gaza blockade … none of them speak anything even remotely like the language of racism of the Sinhalese gentlemen on this blog.

    Abuse & addiction …

    They’re often spoken of together, when we talk of drugs or other debilitating habits …

    But until i heard the Sinhalese bloggers, i never thought to address the issue of the addiction of abuse itself…

    Abuse as an addiction ….

    Abuse as instrument of attempted control …

    See famous examples of white american racism from the US media …

    1. Elderly white McCain supporter in last US elections, holding out a MONKEY DOLL with turban as representing Obama …

    2. White politicians emailing pictures of Michelle Obama next to pictures of CHIMPANZEES …

    3. The wellknown black scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr arrested by a white policeman as he tries to enter his house, even after he shows his ID, & when he becomes justly enraged, another white police officer writes describing him as a “BANANA – EATING JUNGLE MONKEY”…

    Now Professor Gates,Jr, has something in common with Mr & Mrs Obama.

    Not just a rich skin color, but a richer arsenal of words, of logic ( though not deployed in defence of the people in the case of the prof & the pres , alas ).

    So whenever i see Sinhalese copying the language of white supremacy , racism & apartheid, i never talk to them, but i know exactly what’s driving them mad.

    Abuse as impotence …

    As Mao famously says, “When the enemy attacks us, we know we’re doing the right thing.”

  177. a.savage Says:
    June 24th, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Another display of the ignorance of the Apes and what more – proves that indeed they are mentally under developed and do not understand the posts they read !!!

    i’ve said before this is the blogsite with the highest level of reporting, discourse & even consciousness …& why ? Because it has the participation of the very people the blog is for, not “outsiders” talking for them.

    Don’t think that this blog site is for Apes only – if so, talk only of Ape activities and not about a legal state of Sri Lanka – If you talk of Sri Lanka, there will be Sri Lankans who would have the right to talk of it and defend it too…. Who gave you the sole proprietorship of the site? Your Zoo Keepers ??

    At the same time, this is the site with the most naked display of racism available on an Amnesty Int’l blogsite.

    Totally Agree !!

    All you Apes of Peelam Die Ass Pora point fingers at a Racist Singhala Buddhist State – Being Pure Racist while the Sri Lankans here point fingers at the Terrorists and not a specific ethnic group We have repeatedly mention about Adela Bitch being a Aussie and also Bin Laden being a Arab – but Terrorist.

    language of racism of the Sinhalese gentlemen on this blog.

    There are no Singhalees writing in these blog sites – So we assume that U R lying as you normally do for may reasons as to gain sympathy votes to just because your rectums scratch.

    Abuse as an addiction ….

    Glad to Abuse Terrorists who abused Sri Lanka and the region for 30 years. PAY BACK TIME YOU APE !!!!

    1. Elderly white McCain supporter in last US elections, holding out a MONKEY DOLL with turban as representing Obama …2. White politicians emailing pictures of Michelle Obama next to pictures of CHIMPANZEES …

    These Idiots used the monkey obviously due to skin colour !!!!

    We call you “Apes” because we have managed to prove that

    1. you are mentally underdeveloped
    2. uneducated (only cut and paste and no understand what we say)
    3. Have ancient thinking patterns – goes beyond 10,000 years
    4. Have Terrorist mentality of distruction
    5. Use ancient tactics of lying to gain sympathy votes etc.

    Hence, we call you apes as none evolved to humans or even Homo Neanderthal level – you know – the primates who were just starting to learn how to peel a Banana – LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    As Mao famously says, “When the enemy attacks us, we know we’re doing the right thing.”

    Indeed the great Mao from China !!

    We see a lot of attack aimed at Sri Lanka & the Rajapakse’s in these blogs – So May I conclude that they are your enemy and they are indeed doing the right thing for you to keep attacking ???? Including AI ???

    Vise-Versa statement noh you Ape ???

  178. a.savage

    Thanks for an excellent post! 🙂

    You are a true humanitarian and a decent human being !!
    ——————————————————————————

    Thousands of War Widows with 4 or 5 children are neglected by the Sri Lankan Government and starving

    Tens of thousands of Tamil women lost their husbands, innocent victims of the civil war. The Sri Lankan government however appears indifferent to their fate, and even Tamil society is keen on marginalising them.

    The Tamil women have to cope with an unhelpful government and social prejudice in Tamil society. Private groups provide aid so that they can regain their dignity.

    The Tamil War left so many Tamil women without husbands. The Sri Lanka government and public institutions have no plan to help or protect them. Often, these women have four or even five children, to be raises on their own, doing odd jobs. Their children go hungry. Only private groups provide some help in finding jobs for them.

    Many Sinhala soldiers who are temporarily stationed in the area just want “to have fun” and forcing helpless and hungry War Widows to provide “voluntary sexual services “ for meager food rations to feed their children Many locals are upset that, with so many women without a man, the government does not issue orders to Sinhalese soldiers to respect them and refrain from taking advantage of their situation of need.

    These widows are still living the trauma of the cruel events of the war, especially the horrible moment when their husbands died, often before their eyes. Some do not know how to tell the children that their beloved father is no more. It is hard to tell children that their father died hit by a nameless bomb, without rhyme or reason.”

    http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Jaffna,-where-women-weep-18763.html

  179. South African Tamil organizations have welcomed a United Nations probe into Sri Lankan war crimes

    The UN itself has said seven thousand people perished in just four months during the last phase of the war.

    International media put the death toll of the last offensive at an alarming 40 000.

    The Vereeniging Tamil Association ( VTA ) which spear-headed calls by other SA Tamil groups for a probe said the UN investigation is the last hope for justice on the island.“ If Sri-Lanka’s conscience is clear, the government should have no problem with the UN investigators” said the VTA’s Manjini Mestry.

  180. GoSL said NO to the UN Panel set to investigate Sri Lanka’s war.

    What sri lanka is afraid of?

    Too many skeletons in the closet? 🙁

  182. War criminal in waiting and crime syndicate boss Mahinda Rajapaksa said…

    "Our people have faced the worst tragedies in the history of the world."

    ****

    Hiroshima, Nazi Holocaust, the Black Plague, fire bombing of Dresden, Bopal poisoning, rape of Nanking, Shansi quake '53, Irish potato famine, Sudan/Horn of Africa famine 80's…

    I never realised all of those things happened in Sri Lanka!

    Mahinda Rajapaksa is clearly hyperbolising in full knowledge that typical kool-aid drinkers will swill back any nonsense he spews as is perfectly evidenced day in and out on the pages Sri Lankan subservient newspapers.

    It does not matter how completely ridiculous the claim (such as zero civilian casualties in the Tamil War)

    MR knows just how effective it is to treat Sri Lankans as fools.

    Sure, he is insulting many folks with half a brain but the ignorant masses carry the votes and he is a master at taking advantage of their situation.

    The sad thing is he does not need to resort to such rubbish as Sri Lanka has dealt with many difficulties but guys like him just cannot stop lying and let's face it… nobody can stop him and his family mafia cartel that now is bleeding Sri Lanka dry for personal benefit whilst selling it off to the Chinese under the watchful eye of sycophants like SLDF.

  183. I think the UN should cut off all aid to Sri Lanka. It is obvious that this country has a lot of war crimes to hide. It is time the UN goes much faster on arresting nay Presidents and leaders of countries that have committed war crimes and any genocide against its people. We all saw the horrible pictures of bombed out hospitals, schools and homes done by the Sri Lankan army on the orders of their President. If Western Leaders from Yugoslavia can be arrested then so too can a tin pot leader from Sri Lanka. The message should be loud and clear, if you're going to do war crimes, then you cannot even hide in your own country.

  188. GoSL said NO to the UN Panel set to investigate Sri Lanka’s war.

    What sri lanka is afraid of?

    Too many skeletons in the closet? 🙁

  193. Rajapaksa Gotabhaya, the President’s brother, the Defence Secretary, tells all of us and the world “we have done nothing wrong… Our army is the most disciplined in the world…. We did’nt kill a single civilian…”

    What a joke !! 🙂

  194. War criminal in waiting and crime syndicate boss Mahinda Rajapaksa said…

    “Our people have faced the worst tragedies in the history of the world.”

    ****

    Hiroshima, Nazi Holocaust, the Black Plague, fire bombing of Dresden, Bopal poisoning, rape of Nanking, Shansi quake ’53, Irish potato famine, Sudan/Horn of Africa famine 80’s…

    I never realised all of those things happened in Sri Lanka!

    Mahinda Rajapaksa is clearly hyperbolising in full knowledge that typical kool-aid drinkers will swill back any nonsense he spews as is perfectly evidenced day in and out on the pages Sri Lankan subservient newspapers.

    It does not matter how completely ridiculous the claim (such as zero civilian casualties in the Tamil War)

    MR knows just how effective it is to treat Sri Lankans as fools.

    Sure, he is insulting many folks with half a brain but the ignorant masses carry the votes and he is a master at taking advantage of their situation.

    The sad thing is he does not need to resort to such rubbish as Sri Lanka has dealt with many difficulties but guys like him just cannot stop lying and let’s face it… nobody can stop him and his family mafia cartel that now is bleeding Sri Lanka dry for personal benefit whilst selling it off to the Chinese under the watchful eye of sycophants like SLDF.

  195. I think the UN should cut off all aid to Sri Lanka. It is obvious that this country has a lot of war crimes to hide. It is time the UN goes much faster on arresting nay Presidents and leaders of countries that have committed war crimes and any genocide against its people. We all saw the horrible pictures of bombed out hospitals, schools and homes done by the Sri Lankan army on the orders of their President. If Western Leaders from Yugoslavia can be arrested then so too can a tin pot leader from Sri Lanka. The message should be loud and clear, if you’re going to do war crimes, then you cannot even hide in your own country.

  199. Rajapaksa Gotabhaya, the President’s brother, the Defence Secretary, tells all of us and the world “we have done nothing wrong… Our army is the most disciplined in the world…. We did’nt kill a single civilian…”

    What a joke !! 🙂

  200. Norway has once again claimed that the Sri Lankan government was informed of a surrender by senior LTTE cadres during the final stages of the war and that Oslo was in contact with top Tiger leaders Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) and S. Pullithevan on the matter.

    Former Norwegian peace envoy to Sri Lanka Erik Solheim speaking to a group of Sri Lankan journalists who are on a visit to Oslo today said the LTTE leaders were told that the only way they could surrender was to show white flags.

    When asked as to who else was involved in the surrender deal Erik Solheim declined to comment but added that negotiations for the surrender continued till May 17 last year, just two days before the war was officially declared over.

    The Norwegian Minister also reiterated calls for a political solution in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the bitter war which ended last year and also supported the move by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to create a panel of experts to advice him on Sri Lanka.

    “A permanent solution is a must for the economic development desired by Sri Lanka," he said. Mr. Solhem also explained that there will be no room for any violence or a resumption of war as the struggle that is on today is for a political solution. http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4631-osl…

  201. As Sri Lanka Says No Visas, UN Says No Need to Visit or Talk to Witnesses http://www.innercitypress.com/sri7bantor062410.ht…

    The "no visas" announcement was made by External Affairs minister GL Peiris, who twice rebuffed the Press while in the US lobbying against the UN panel. Then, Hillary Clinton stood by Peiris. And now?

    The Sri Lankan Mission to the UN put out the foreign ministry's statement, a day late and in an unwieldy format. The Permanent Representative Palitha Kohona is still apparently not back in New York. Sri Lanka has thumbed its nose at GSP Plus as well. What will happen with the IMF?

    Lanka's ban will make truth harder to unearth: UN panel head http://www.zeenews.com/news636473.html

  202. Sri Lanka says UN panel 'will not be allowed' to enter http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10405…

    Russia opposes UN Panel on Sri Lanka http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…
    The Russian Federation and its predecessor Soviet Union, in its long relationship with Sri Lanka, never took any initiation in persuading the Sinhala state to resolve the national question even by applying the Leninist principles, Tamil circles said.

    Tamils, who are one of the most oppressed communities in the world, have been fighting to free themselves from the evil regimes of the country. But they have so far failed to achieve their goals. Tamils initially fought through democratic means. Democracy no longer works in favour of Tamils because the majority prefers the Tamils to be wiped out from the country.
    Tamils were slaughtered in thousands with swords and knives in the buses, trains and in their own homes in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Frustrated Tamil youth took arms to fight against fascism. Armed rebellion has now been crushed with the help of China and India.

    Sri Lankan army did manage to slaughter more than fifty thousand Tamil civilians including women and children within few months time. Banned weapons like cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs were used against the innocents.

  203. Tax payers of the donors/western/other coutries have to think whether money reach the poor or militray in sri lanka.

    Sri Lankan rulers no longer tell the truth. According to them, the Sun raises in the West and the rooster crows only in the evenings. While murdering civilians with heavy weapons including tanks and missiles with unconventional war heads, Sri Lanka was lying to the world that they were only using light weapons.

    Sri Lanka is the most militarised among the South Asian countries with 13000 military personnel per one million population. Every street corner of Sri Lanka is guarded by armed soldiers. Sri Lanka has 266K active armed personal (Total Troops 374K) which is much higher than many developed countries. [Australia (54k), Canada (65K), South Africa (56K), Norway (28K), United Kingdom (188K), Germany (248K), France (260K), Italy (230K)]

    In terms of military expenditure as percentage of GDP, Sri Lanka spends the most in South Asia. The figure is 6% in Sri Lanka which is much higher than the amount spent by its neighbours. (3.5% in Pakistan; 2.5% in India and Nepal; and 1.5% in Bangladesh)

    Sri Lanka has now become like another Myanmar in the region. Close associations with nuclear armed China and Pakistan and friendships with Iran, Libya, and Myanmar are already giving the danger signs. Iran has indicated that it is willing to share nuclear technologies with Sri Lanka for peaceful purposes. Those who follow the current trend in the world, very well know what these peaceful purposes are.

    Sri Lanka is trying to get hold of nuclear technology (to supplement its power needs). Having been turned away by India, Sri Lanka is turning to States like Iran to fulfil its nuclear ambitions. This is why Sri Lanka always backs Iran’s nuclear program

    It may not be well known that Sri Lanka was instrumental in Iran acquiring nuclear technology. Some Sri Lankan businessmen and engineers are among those whose names appear in a United States blacklist over the alleged involvement in the world’s worst illicit nuclear proliferation racket, the British media reported recently.

    Although, Sri Lanka is a democratic country, the majority Sinhala people support Nazi Style right wing parties. Racist politicians and military leaders are looked upon as heroes and saviours of the country. Tamils who once had their own nation are now considered as aliens and invaders even though the majority of the Tamils are the original inhabitants of this land. Politics is driven by the powers of ignorance, greed, lies and deceptions.

  204. Vanni is a Tamil land in the north eastern region of Sri Lanka that was once flowing with milk and honey. People prospered in every thing. Many of them did farming and deep sea fishing. They were not poor. Their barns were filled with grains throughout the year. These people ate a very healthy diet and lived in homes that were located in unpolluted areas. In our terms, people of Vanni ate organic grains, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish all their lives.

    one year ago, all of a sudden, Skis of Vanni became darkened. Children stopped playing. Dancing was turned into mourning. Chinese F7s, Russian MIGs f lied over Vanni and bombed homes, hospitals, schools and farms. Cluster bombs, phosphorous bombs and other banned weapons were used against innocent civilians.

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    27.01.09 300,000 civilians face hunger, Colombo, abettors r..
    27.01.09 Norway breaks silence, condemns war
    27.01.09 Dead bodies decomposed beyond identification – med..
    27.01.09 Artillery barrage continues on 'safety zone', no s..
    26.01.09 Targeting civilians in safety zone, premeditated w..
    26.01.09 'Biased UN official misleads humanity, safely sitt..
    26.01.09 More than 1,000 wounded, Mullai RDHS urges IC to s..
    26.01.09 TNA seeks IC to stop carnage, urges medical help t..
    26.01.09 More than 300 civilians feared killed, people blee..
    26.01.09 Does IC know no human dignity of civilians, asks a..
    26.01.09 100 civilians feared killed, countless wounded, ar..
    25.01.09 SLA shelling kills 22 civilians, wounds 60, target..
    24.01.09 12 civilians killed, 87 wounded, SLA continues art..
    23.01.09 'Safety zone' shelled again, 5 civilians killed, 8..
    23.01.09 Artillery barrage continues, 3 killed, 33 wounded
    22.01.09 2 medical staff wounded in artillery barrage on ho..
    22.01.09 Military was provided with exact coordinates of ho..
    22.01.09 Hospital bombed, 5 killed, 15 wounded
    22.01.09 66 civilians killed within 3 days – Mullai RDHS
    22.01.09 SLA attacks civilians in 'secure zone', several ki..
    21.01.09 IC urged to act on humanitarian grounds to safegua..
    20.01.09 Unprecedented civilian carnage in Vanni
    18.01.09 Vanni civilians under deadly siege
    18.01.09 Artillery barrage kills several civilians, dozens ..
    18.01.09 Sri Lankan shelling kills 4 civilians, children am..
    17.01.09 Catholic priests appeal to UN to intervene in Vann..
    16.01.09 5 civilians killed, 7 injured in Sri Lankan artill..
    16.01.09 Jaffna Bishop urges SL President to stop bombardme..
    16.01.09 Humanitarian tragedy in Vanni enters deadlier phas..
    16.01.09 "Which norms of liberal democracy preclude IC atte..
    13.01.09 Doctors call for attack free zones surrounding dis..
    13.01.09 Humanitarian tragedy unfolds in Vanni http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

  205. Norway has once again claimed that the Sri Lankan government was informed of a surrender by senior LTTE cadres during the final stages of the war and that Oslo was in contact with top Tiger leaders Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) and S. Pullithevan on the matter.

    Former Norwegian peace envoy to Sri Lanka Erik Solheim speaking to a group of Sri Lankan journalists who are on a visit to Oslo today said the LTTE leaders were told that the only way they could surrender was to show white flags.

    When asked as to who else was involved in the surrender deal Erik Solheim declined to comment but added that negotiations for the surrender continued till May 17 last year, just two days before the war was officially declared over.

    The Norwegian Minister also reiterated calls for a political solution in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the bitter war which ended last year and also supported the move by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to create a panel of experts to advice him on Sri Lanka.

    “A permanent solution is a must for the economic development desired by Sri Lanka," he said. Mr. Solhem also explained that there will be no room for any violence or a resumption of war as the struggle that is on today is for a political solution. http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4631-osl…

  206. Norway has once again claimed that the Sri Lankan government was informed of a surrender by senior LTTE cadres during the final stages of the war and that Oslo was in contact with top Tiger leaders Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) and S. Pullithevan on the matter.

    Former Norwegian peace envoy to Sri Lanka Erik Solheim speaking to a group of Sri Lankan journalists who are on a visit to Oslo today said the LTTE leaders were told that the only way they could surrender was to show white flags.

    When asked as to who else was involved in the surrender deal Erik Solheim declined to comment but added that negotiations for the surrender continued till May 17 last year, just two days before the war was officially declared over.

    The Norwegian Minister also reiterated calls for a political solution in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the bitter war which ended last year and also supported the move by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to create a panel of experts to advice him on Sri Lanka.

    “A permanent solution is a must for the economic development desired by Sri Lanka," he said. Mr. Solhem also explained that there will be no room for any violence or a resumption of war as the struggle that is on today is for a political solution. http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4631-osl…

  207. Plight of babies born and unborn http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…
    A 20-days old baby succumbed to injuries of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Sunday in the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa’lan within the safety zone. Recently, a pregnant mother whose abdomen was torn open and in the condition of the hand of the foetus coming out was admitted to the hospital, after the SLA shelling. Meanwhile, as a result of the food shortage, children were seen standing in a long queue to receive gruel from a distribution centre run by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation on the Easter Sunday noon. The photos published here are self explanatory, but we caution readers of their strong content.

    Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War Crimes of Colombo http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

  208. As Sri Lanka Says No Visas, UN Says No Need to Visit or Talk to Witnesses http://www.innercitypress.com/sri7bantor062410.ht…

    The "no visas" announcement was made by External Affairs minister GL Peiris, who twice rebuffed the Press while in the US lobbying against the UN panel. Then, Hillary Clinton stood by Peiris. And now?

    The Sri Lankan Mission to the UN put out the foreign ministry's statement, a day late and in an unwieldy format. The Permanent Representative Palitha Kohona is still apparently not back in New York. Sri Lanka has thumbed its nose at GSP Plus as well. What will happen with the IMF?

    Lanka's ban will make truth harder to unearth: UN panel head http://www.zeenews.com/news636473.html

  209. As Sri Lanka Says No Visas, UN Says No Need to Visit or Talk to Witnesses http://www.innercitypress.com/sri7bantor062410.ht…

    The "no visas" announcement was made by External Affairs minister GL Peiris, who twice rebuffed the Press while in the US lobbying against the UN panel. Then, Hillary Clinton stood by Peiris. And now?

    The Sri Lankan Mission to the UN put out the foreign ministry's statement, a day late and in an unwieldy format. The Permanent Representative Palitha Kohona is still apparently not back in New York. Sri Lanka has thumbed its nose at GSP Plus as well. What will happen with the IMF?

    Lanka's ban will make truth harder to unearth: UN panel head http://www.zeenews.com/news636473.html

  210. Sri Lanka says UN panel 'will not be allowed' to enter http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10405…

    Russia opposes UN Panel on Sri Lanka http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…
    The Russian Federation and its predecessor Soviet Union, in its long relationship with Sri Lanka, never took any initiation in persuading the Sinhala state to resolve the national question even by applying the Leninist principles, Tamil circles said.

    Tamils, who are one of the most oppressed communities in the world, have been fighting to free themselves from the evil regimes of the country. But they have so far failed to achieve their goals. Tamils initially fought through democratic means. Democracy no longer works in favour of Tamils because the majority prefers the Tamils to be wiped out from the country.
    Tamils were slaughtered in thousands with swords and knives in the buses, trains and in their own homes in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Frustrated Tamil youth took arms to fight against fascism. Armed rebellion has now been crushed with the help of China and India.

    Sri Lankan army did manage to slaughter more than fifty thousand Tamil civilians including women and children within few months time. Banned weapons like cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs were used against the innocents.

  211. Sri Lanka says UN panel 'will not be allowed' to enter http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10405…

    Russia opposes UN Panel on Sri Lanka http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…
    The Russian Federation and its predecessor Soviet Union, in its long relationship with Sri Lanka, never took any initiation in persuading the Sinhala state to resolve the national question even by applying the Leninist principles, Tamil circles said.

    Tamils, who are one of the most oppressed communities in the world, have been fighting to free themselves from the evil regimes of the country. But they have so far failed to achieve their goals. Tamils initially fought through democratic means. Democracy no longer works in favour of Tamils because the majority prefers the Tamils to be wiped out from the country.
    Tamils were slaughtered in thousands with swords and knives in the buses, trains and in their own homes in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Frustrated Tamil youth took arms to fight against fascism. Armed rebellion has now been crushed with the help of China and India.

    Sri Lankan army did manage to slaughter more than fifty thousand Tamil civilians including women and children within few months time. Banned weapons like cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs were used against the innocents.

  212. Vanni is a Tamil land in the north eastern region of Sri Lanka that was once flowing with milk and honey. People prospered in every thing. Many of them did farming and deep sea fishing. They were not poor. Their barns were filled with grains throughout the year. These people ate a very healthy diet and lived in homes that were located in unpolluted areas. In our terms, people of Vanni ate organic grains, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish all their lives.

    one year ago, all of a sudden, Skis of Vanni became darkened. Children stopped playing. Dancing was turned into mourning. Chinese F7s, Russian MIGs f lied over Vanni and bombed homes, hospitals, schools and farms. Cluster bombs, phosphorous bombs and other banned weapons were used against innocent civilians.

    14.05.10 Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War..
    20.05.09 Fears mount for safety of doctors arrested by SLA
    16.05.09 Doctors quit safety zone, volunteer medics remain ..
    16.05.09 SLA continues intense barrage of heavy weapons
    16.05.09 Stench of dead bodies permeate Vanni, wounded allo..
    15.05.09 More than 100,000 civilians in safe zone, ICRC sus..
    15.05.09 'Safety zone' in smoke, close-quarter fighting is ..
    14.05.09 LTTE urges IC to save civilians in the name of hum..
    13.05.09 SLA barrage inflicts carnage, makeshift hospital r..
    13.05.09 SLA shells hospital again, several killed includin..
    12.05.09 US, UK want UN to facilitate 'safe evacuation' of ..
    12.05.09 SLA attacks hospital, 47 massacred
    11.05.09 SLA continues to inflict carnage
    10.05.09 1200 bodies counted, hundreds seriously injured, a..
    10.05.09 LTTE urges IC to act in the international way
    10.05.09 2,000 civilians feared slaughtered in a single nig..
    09.05.09 SLA artillery barrage hits 'safety zone' as ICRC s..
    09.05.09 Malnutrition in mothers triggers Jaundice, Hepatit..
    08.05.09 SLA steps up carnage on civilians
    05.05.09 US responsible, least humanitarian is dropping foo..
    05.05.09 TRO: Food shortage in Safe Zone, critical
    05.05.09 'Drop food now if the concern is humanitarian': Va..
    03.05.09 Colombo builds up for imminent massacre
    02.05.09 SLA massacres patients with targeted shelling, 64 ..
    01.05.09 SLA steps up attacks, civilian casualties mount am..
    29.04.09 300 feared killed, worst spurt of massacre imminen..
    29.04.09 Hospital attacked, SLN naval crafts fire artillery..
    28.04.09 500 grams rice, 20 grams sugar per person to reach..
    28.04.09 SLA fired 5,600 shells within 15 hours: LTTE
    28.04.09 IC makes history in experimenting ‘genocide bomb’
    28.04.09 Unprecedented carnage unfolds in Vanni
    27.04.09 Sri Lanka steps up intense barrage of heavy weapon..
    27.04.09 Sri Lanka continues air strikes violating own anno..
    26.04.09 Several civilians killed, 200 wounded within 5 hou..
    26.04.09 Inaction may cause 10,000 casualties: SOS appeal t..
    26.04.09 SLA poised for all-out-carnage
    26.04.09 Sri Lankan Defence Secretary rejects ceasefire, ca..
    26.04.09 LTTE announces unilateral ceasefire
    26.04.09 Colombo steps up air strikes, safe zone targeted 3..
    25.04.09 Starvation: Colombo deploys the worst genocidal we..
    25.04.09 Sri Lanka intensifies bombardment, 'safe zone' bom..
    25.04.09 Another carnage imminent as the two Indian mandari..
    24.04.09 165,000 civilians face imminent starvation, LTTE u..
    24.04.09 Colombo uses starvation, denial of medicine as wea..
    24.04.09 Civilian casualties top 20,000 in Vanni: Leaked UN..
    23.04.09 SLN crafts encircle ICRC ship in Vanni
    23.04.09 SLA shelling on church kills 14, Caritas-HUDEC Van..
    22.04.09 SLA fire hampers ICRC evacuation of seriously woun..
    22.04.09 SLA shells Church in Valaignarmadam, Fr. James Pat..
    21.04.09 SLA cluster bombs kill doctor, medical staff at Va..
    21.04.09 'SLA advances behind human shield, act fast to res..
    20.04.09 Nadesan denies reports of human bomb, blames Colom..
    20.04.09 Casualties cross 1000 in SLA's attempt to capture ..
    20.04.09 SLA fires cluster bombs on 'safety zone'
    20.04.09 Chaos and carnage as SLA enters 'safety zone'
    19.04.09 SLA launches ground push targeting 'safety zone'
    19.04.09 SLA attacks continue to target 'safety zone'
    18.04.09 'Starvation poised for worse killings than shellin..
    16.04.09 UN and IC signal civilian carnage
    16.04.09 Onslaught of civilians continues, more than 57 kil..
    16.04.09 SLA, SLAF intensify offensive targeting safety zon..
    15.04.09 SLA offensive on civilian zone continues
    15.04.09 Unprecedented carnage, SLA turns firepower on civi..
    14.04.09 Mass human tragedy possible any moment in 'safety ..
    14.04.09 SLA continues offensive at the doorstep of 'safe z..
    13.04.09 SLA attacks kill 23 Tamil civilians within 12 hour..
    13.04.09 SLA steps up ground offensive targeting 'safety zo..
    12.04.09 Plight of babies born and unborn
    12.04.09 31 civilians killed in SLA shelling, gunfire in 's..
    11.04.09 SLA embarks upon capturing attack on civilians, 30..
    11.04.09 SLA buildup poses severe threat to civilian securi..
    11.04.09 599 killed, 3350 injured inside 'safety zone' sinc..
    11.04.09 69 percent kids malnourished: Vanni health officia..
    10.04.09 Stop shelling say Co-chairs, attack continues amid..
    09.04.09 Carnage continues in Vanni
    08.04.09 SLA attacks kill 129 civilians, 282 wounded in 'sa..
    08.04.09 SLA bombs child nutrition centre in safety zone, 2..
    07.04.09 Colombo turns firepower onto 'safety zone'
    07.04.09 Threat of starvation haunts "Safe Zone" families
    06.04.09 Medical official reports on pattern of shelling in..
    05.04.09 Mangled bodies, torn limbs litter Safe Zone – medi..
    05.04.09 SLA intensifies attacks on Safe Zone, 71 civilians..
    04.04.09 Recognize our freedom: Vanni civilian leader
    03.04.09 SLA attacks kill 90 civililans within 3 days, 195 ..
    03.04.09 Eyewitness reports horrific experiences at makeshi..
    02.04.09 SLA fired artillery shells create havoc inside saf..
    31.03.09 SLA fires cluster shells, 45 civilians killed, 120..
    31.03.09 SLA attacks kill 88 Tamils, including 21 children ..
    30.03.09 SLA attacks kill 53 civilians inside 'safety zone'..
    29.03.09 'Global order' experiments with body and mind of V..
    28.03.09 179 civilians including 76 children killed within ..
    26.03.09 SLA attacks kill Mullai DS officials engaged in hu..
    26.03.09 SLA attacks hospital, 5 patients killed, 11 wounde..
    26.03.09 Carnage continues, 131 civilians including 32 chil..
    24.03.09 62 civilians killed, SLA, SLAF step up attacks on ..
    24.03.09 SLA attacks kill 128 civilians in 48 hours
    22.03.09 42 civilians killed, 80 wounded in Vanni Saturday
    21.03.09 SLA shelling kills 102 civilians within 3 days ins..
    17.03.09 84 killed, 182 wounded in SLAF attacks, shelling o..
    17.03.09 18 civilians reported missing in 'safe-zone' borde..
    17.03.09 'Safe zone' under encircling fire, 137 killed in 3..
    15.03.09 Makeshift-hospital struggles without medicines
    15.03.09 Shelling doesn't spare even babies in wombs
    15.03.09 Civilian casualties mount as intense bombing and s..
    13.03.09 SLA shelling targets relief supplies and hospital,..
    13.03.09 SLA shelling targets humanitarian supplies in 'saf..
    12.03.09 SLA shelling kills 82 civilians inside 'safe zone'..
    12.03.09 50,000 families affected by floods in 'safe zone'
    11.03.09 SLA shelling kills 133 civilians including 49 chil..
    10.03.09 Sri Lankan cluster shelling kills 129 civilians wi..
    10.03.09 Colombo's shelling carnage of flood-hit civilians,..
    09.03.09 Shelling amidst mini-cyclone and lashing rains, th..
    07.03.09 Sri Lankan attacks kill 208 civilians within 72 ho..
    06.03.09 Doctors warn severe shortage of medicines in Vanni
    06.03.09 Acid test for international actors
    06.03.09 Only 2.2% of humanitarian supplies reached Vanni i..
    05.03.09 Perpetrating civilian starvation is violation of a..
    05.03.09 SLA fires cluster shells near hospital, scores wou..
    05.03.09 Diarrhea claims 13 lives in Vanni within 14 days
    04.03.09 SLA shelling kills more children, carnage in 'safe..
    04.03.09 ICRC worker killed in SLA shelling
    04.03.09 SLA in killing spree in the 'safety zone', 73 kill..
    04.03.09 Shell landed on a civilian saves others
    04.03.09 Deputy ZDE of Mullaiththeevu dies of shock from sh..
    03.03.09 RDHS confirms 13 hunger deaths, urges officials to..
    03.03.09 SLA shells hospital environs, 13 killed including ..
    03.03.09 Skin rash breaks among children in Vanni
    03.03.09 Vanni IDPs starving due to acute shortage of food
    02.03.09 SLA shelling kills 122 within 3 days in Mullaithth..
    02.03.09 Hunger claims lives in Vanni
    02.03.09 Colombo killed 700 children in 2 months – LTTE Rad..
    28.02.09 Newborn babies bereft of milk, humanitarian situat..
    27.02.09 Downed SLAF aircraft was engaged in carpet-bombing
    24.02.09 Heavy fighting in PTK, civilians trapped in SLA ba..
    24.02.09 Children vulnerable to SLA shelling in new 'safe z..
    22.02.09 50 Tamil civilians killed, 130 wounded within 48 h..
    21.02.09 13 civilians killed, 70 wounded in SLA barrage Fri..
    21.02.09 SLA barrages Mullaiththeevu after Tiger air attack..
    19.02.09 30 families wiped out in massive attack Wednesday,..
    18.02.09 Massive air attack on civilian targets, scores kil..
    18.02.09 SLA artillery fire hits new 'safety zone', 108 kil..
    16.02.09 260 killed, SLA shells and boxes civilians, preven..
    16.02.09 Colombo uses firebombs setting ablaze civilian tar..
    14.02.09 75 feared killed in SLA shelling, elders home
    13.02.09 Herding people by terror: Intense shelling, dead b..
    10.02.09 Relentless shelling expels civilians from 'safety ..
    08.02.09 80 killed, 200 wounded, carnage continues inside '..
    08.02.09 More than 180 killed in Sri Lankan bombardment wit..
    07.02.09 SLAF bombs Ponnampalam hospital, 61 patients kille..
    05.02.09 SLA attacks 'safety zone' using short-range mortar..
    05.02.09 Hospital attacked, 7 killed, dozens wounded
    04.02.09 Deliberate massacre, not 'crossfire' killing Tamil..
    02.02.09 SLAF bombers attack Vanni, deploy cluster bombs
    02.02.09 Nurse killed in Udaiyaarkaddu hospital, ICRC staff..
    02.02.09 More than 5,000 shells fired on 'safety zone', cas..
    02.02.09 SLA fires MBRL rockets on IDP camp, several feared..
    02.02.09 SLA shells PTK hospital, 9 killed, 15 wounded
    01.02.09 Civilian casualties rise, SLA, SLAF attacks contin..
    01.02.09 Shelling hits hospital, ICRC shocked
    31.01.09 Artillery-fired cluster shells, aerial bombing on ..
    31.01.09 SLA shelling continues on 'safety zone', Colombo r..
    30.01.09 Only international-sponsored ceasefire can lead to..
    29.01.09 Artillery barrage kills 44 civilians, 178 wounded ..
    28.01.09 Brutal attack on civilians, assurance to Mukherjee..
    28.01.09 46 more civilians killed Tuesday, few wounded surv..
    28.01.09 Hospitals, ambulances hit by shelling, hundreds ki..
    27.01.09 300,000 civilians face hunger, Colombo, abettors r..
    27.01.09 Norway breaks silence, condemns war
    27.01.09 Dead bodies decomposed beyond identification – med..
    27.01.09 Artillery barrage continues on 'safety zone', no s..
    26.01.09 Targeting civilians in safety zone, premeditated w..
    26.01.09 'Biased UN official misleads humanity, safely sitt..
    26.01.09 More than 1,000 wounded, Mullai RDHS urges IC to s..
    26.01.09 TNA seeks IC to stop carnage, urges medical help t..
    26.01.09 More than 300 civilians feared killed, people blee..
    26.01.09 Does IC know no human dignity of civilians, asks a..
    26.01.09 100 civilians feared killed, countless wounded, ar..
    25.01.09 SLA shelling kills 22 civilians, wounds 60, target..
    24.01.09 12 civilians killed, 87 wounded, SLA continues art..
    23.01.09 'Safety zone' shelled again, 5 civilians killed, 8..
    23.01.09 Artillery barrage continues, 3 killed, 33 wounded
    22.01.09 2 medical staff wounded in artillery barrage on ho..
    22.01.09 Military was provided with exact coordinates of ho..
    22.01.09 Hospital bombed, 5 killed, 15 wounded
    22.01.09 66 civilians killed within 3 days – Mullai RDHS
    22.01.09 SLA attacks civilians in 'secure zone', several ki..
    21.01.09 IC urged to act on humanitarian grounds to safegua..
    20.01.09 Unprecedented civilian carnage in Vanni
    18.01.09 Vanni civilians under deadly siege
    18.01.09 Artillery barrage kills several civilians, dozens ..
    18.01.09 Sri Lankan shelling kills 4 civilians, children am..
    17.01.09 Catholic priests appeal to UN to intervene in Vann..
    16.01.09 5 civilians killed, 7 injured in Sri Lankan artill..
    16.01.09 Jaffna Bishop urges SL President to stop bombardme..
    16.01.09 Humanitarian tragedy in Vanni enters deadlier phas..
    16.01.09 "Which norms of liberal democracy preclude IC atte..
    13.01.09 Doctors call for attack free zones surrounding dis..
    13.01.09 Humanitarian tragedy unfolds in Vanni http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

  213. Vanni is a Tamil land in the north eastern region of Sri Lanka that was once flowing with milk and honey. People prospered in every thing. Many of them did farming and deep sea fishing. They were not poor. Their barns were filled with grains throughout the year. These people ate a very healthy diet and lived in homes that were located in unpolluted areas. In our terms, people of Vanni ate organic grains, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish all their lives.

    one year ago, all of a sudden, Skis of Vanni became darkened. Children stopped playing. Dancing was turned into mourning. Chinese F7s, Russian MIGs f lied over Vanni and bombed homes, hospitals, schools and farms. Cluster bombs, phosphorous bombs and other banned weapons were used against innocent civilians.

    14.05.10 Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War..
    20.05.09 Fears mount for safety of doctors arrested by SLA
    16.05.09 Doctors quit safety zone, volunteer medics remain ..
    16.05.09 SLA continues intense barrage of heavy weapons
    16.05.09 Stench of dead bodies permeate Vanni, wounded allo..
    15.05.09 More than 100,000 civilians in safe zone, ICRC sus..
    15.05.09 'Safety zone' in smoke, close-quarter fighting is ..
    14.05.09 LTTE urges IC to save civilians in the name of hum..
    13.05.09 SLA barrage inflicts carnage, makeshift hospital r..
    13.05.09 SLA shells hospital again, several killed includin..
    12.05.09 US, UK want UN to facilitate 'safe evacuation' of ..
    12.05.09 SLA attacks hospital, 47 massacred
    11.05.09 SLA continues to inflict carnage
    10.05.09 1200 bodies counted, hundreds seriously injured, a..
    10.05.09 LTTE urges IC to act in the international way
    10.05.09 2,000 civilians feared slaughtered in a single nig..
    09.05.09 SLA artillery barrage hits 'safety zone' as ICRC s..
    09.05.09 Malnutrition in mothers triggers Jaundice, Hepatit..
    08.05.09 SLA steps up carnage on civilians
    05.05.09 US responsible, least humanitarian is dropping foo..
    05.05.09 TRO: Food shortage in Safe Zone, critical
    05.05.09 'Drop food now if the concern is humanitarian': Va..
    03.05.09 Colombo builds up for imminent massacre
    02.05.09 SLA massacres patients with targeted shelling, 64 ..
    01.05.09 SLA steps up attacks, civilian casualties mount am..
    29.04.09 300 feared killed, worst spurt of massacre imminen..
    29.04.09 Hospital attacked, SLN naval crafts fire artillery..
    28.04.09 500 grams rice, 20 grams sugar per person to reach..
    28.04.09 SLA fired 5,600 shells within 15 hours: LTTE
    28.04.09 IC makes history in experimenting ‘genocide bomb’
    28.04.09 Unprecedented carnage unfolds in Vanni
    27.04.09 Sri Lanka steps up intense barrage of heavy weapon..
    27.04.09 Sri Lanka continues air strikes violating own anno..
    26.04.09 Several civilians killed, 200 wounded within 5 hou..
    26.04.09 Inaction may cause 10,000 casualties: SOS appeal t..
    26.04.09 SLA poised for all-out-carnage
    26.04.09 Sri Lankan Defence Secretary rejects ceasefire, ca..
    26.04.09 LTTE announces unilateral ceasefire
    26.04.09 Colombo steps up air strikes, safe zone targeted 3..
    25.04.09 Starvation: Colombo deploys the worst genocidal we..
    25.04.09 Sri Lanka intensifies bombardment, 'safe zone' bom..
    25.04.09 Another carnage imminent as the two Indian mandari..
    24.04.09 165,000 civilians face imminent starvation, LTTE u..
    24.04.09 Colombo uses starvation, denial of medicine as wea..
    24.04.09 Civilian casualties top 20,000 in Vanni: Leaked UN..
    23.04.09 SLN crafts encircle ICRC ship in Vanni
    23.04.09 SLA shelling on church kills 14, Caritas-HUDEC Van..
    22.04.09 SLA fire hampers ICRC evacuation of seriously woun..
    22.04.09 SLA shells Church in Valaignarmadam, Fr. James Pat..
    21.04.09 SLA cluster bombs kill doctor, medical staff at Va..
    21.04.09 'SLA advances behind human shield, act fast to res..
    20.04.09 Nadesan denies reports of human bomb, blames Colom..
    20.04.09 Casualties cross 1000 in SLA's attempt to capture ..
    20.04.09 SLA fires cluster bombs on 'safety zone'
    20.04.09 Chaos and carnage as SLA enters 'safety zone'
    19.04.09 SLA launches ground push targeting 'safety zone'
    19.04.09 SLA attacks continue to target 'safety zone'
    18.04.09 'Starvation poised for worse killings than shellin..
    16.04.09 UN and IC signal civilian carnage
    16.04.09 Onslaught of civilians continues, more than 57 kil..
    16.04.09 SLA, SLAF intensify offensive targeting safety zon..
    15.04.09 SLA offensive on civilian zone continues
    15.04.09 Unprecedented carnage, SLA turns firepower on civi..
    14.04.09 Mass human tragedy possible any moment in 'safety ..
    14.04.09 SLA continues offensive at the doorstep of 'safe z..
    13.04.09 SLA attacks kill 23 Tamil civilians within 12 hour..
    13.04.09 SLA steps up ground offensive targeting 'safety zo..
    12.04.09 Plight of babies born and unborn
    12.04.09 31 civilians killed in SLA shelling, gunfire in 's..
    11.04.09 SLA embarks upon capturing attack on civilians, 30..
    11.04.09 SLA buildup poses severe threat to civilian securi..
    11.04.09 599 killed, 3350 injured inside 'safety zone' sinc..
    11.04.09 69 percent kids malnourished: Vanni health officia..
    10.04.09 Stop shelling say Co-chairs, attack continues amid..
    09.04.09 Carnage continues in Vanni
    08.04.09 SLA attacks kill 129 civilians, 282 wounded in 'sa..
    08.04.09 SLA bombs child nutrition centre in safety zone, 2..
    07.04.09 Colombo turns firepower onto 'safety zone'
    07.04.09 Threat of starvation haunts "Safe Zone" families
    06.04.09 Medical official reports on pattern of shelling in..
    05.04.09 Mangled bodies, torn limbs litter Safe Zone – medi..
    05.04.09 SLA intensifies attacks on Safe Zone, 71 civilians..
    04.04.09 Recognize our freedom: Vanni civilian leader
    03.04.09 SLA attacks kill 90 civililans within 3 days, 195 ..
    03.04.09 Eyewitness reports horrific experiences at makeshi..
    02.04.09 SLA fired artillery shells create havoc inside saf..
    31.03.09 SLA fires cluster shells, 45 civilians killed, 120..
    31.03.09 SLA attacks kill 88 Tamils, including 21 children ..
    30.03.09 SLA attacks kill 53 civilians inside 'safety zone'..
    29.03.09 'Global order' experiments with body and mind of V..
    28.03.09 179 civilians including 76 children killed within ..
    26.03.09 SLA attacks kill Mullai DS officials engaged in hu..
    26.03.09 SLA attacks hospital, 5 patients killed, 11 wounde..
    26.03.09 Carnage continues, 131 civilians including 32 chil..
    24.03.09 62 civilians killed, SLA, SLAF step up attacks on ..
    24.03.09 SLA attacks kill 128 civilians in 48 hours
    22.03.09 42 civilians killed, 80 wounded in Vanni Saturday
    21.03.09 SLA shelling kills 102 civilians within 3 days ins..
    17.03.09 84 killed, 182 wounded in SLAF attacks, shelling o..
    17.03.09 18 civilians reported missing in 'safe-zone' borde..
    17.03.09 'Safe zone' under encircling fire, 137 killed in 3..
    15.03.09 Makeshift-hospital struggles without medicines
    15.03.09 Shelling doesn't spare even babies in wombs
    15.03.09 Civilian casualties mount as intense bombing and s..
    13.03.09 SLA shelling targets relief supplies and hospital,..
    13.03.09 SLA shelling targets humanitarian supplies in 'saf..
    12.03.09 SLA shelling kills 82 civilians inside 'safe zone'..
    12.03.09 50,000 families affected by floods in 'safe zone'
    11.03.09 SLA shelling kills 133 civilians including 49 chil..
    10.03.09 Sri Lankan cluster shelling kills 129 civilians wi..
    10.03.09 Colombo's shelling carnage of flood-hit civilians,..
    09.03.09 Shelling amidst mini-cyclone and lashing rains, th..
    07.03.09 Sri Lankan attacks kill 208 civilians within 72 ho..
    06.03.09 Doctors warn severe shortage of medicines in Vanni
    06.03.09 Acid test for international actors
    06.03.09 Only 2.2% of humanitarian supplies reached Vanni i..
    05.03.09 Perpetrating civilian starvation is violation of a..
    05.03.09 SLA fires cluster shells near hospital, scores wou..
    05.03.09 Diarrhea claims 13 lives in Vanni within 14 days
    04.03.09 SLA shelling kills more children, carnage in 'safe..
    04.03.09 ICRC worker killed in SLA shelling
    04.03.09 SLA in killing spree in the 'safety zone', 73 kill..
    04.03.09 Shell landed on a civilian saves others
    04.03.09 Deputy ZDE of Mullaiththeevu dies of shock from sh..
    03.03.09 RDHS confirms 13 hunger deaths, urges officials to..
    03.03.09 SLA shells hospital environs, 13 killed including ..
    03.03.09 Skin rash breaks among children in Vanni
    03.03.09 Vanni IDPs starving due to acute shortage of food
    02.03.09 SLA shelling kills 122 within 3 days in Mullaithth..
    02.03.09 Hunger claims lives in Vanni
    02.03.09 Colombo killed 700 children in 2 months – LTTE Rad..
    28.02.09 Newborn babies bereft of milk, humanitarian situat..
    27.02.09 Downed SLAF aircraft was engaged in carpet-bombing
    24.02.09 Heavy fighting in PTK, civilians trapped in SLA ba..
    24.02.09 Children vulnerable to SLA shelling in new 'safe z..
    22.02.09 50 Tamil civilians killed, 130 wounded within 48 h..
    21.02.09 13 civilians killed, 70 wounded in SLA barrage Fri..
    21.02.09 SLA barrages Mullaiththeevu after Tiger air attack..
    19.02.09 30 families wiped out in massive attack Wednesday,..
    18.02.09 Massive air attack on civilian targets, scores kil..
    18.02.09 SLA artillery fire hits new 'safety zone', 108 kil..
    16.02.09 260 killed, SLA shells and boxes civilians, preven..
    16.02.09 Colombo uses firebombs setting ablaze civilian tar..
    14.02.09 75 feared killed in SLA shelling, elders home
    13.02.09 Herding people by terror: Intense shelling, dead b..
    10.02.09 Relentless shelling expels civilians from 'safety ..
    08.02.09 80 killed, 200 wounded, carnage continues inside '..
    08.02.09 More than 180 killed in Sri Lankan bombardment wit..
    07.02.09 SLAF bombs Ponnampalam hospital, 61 patients kille..
    05.02.09 SLA attacks 'safety zone' using short-range mortar..
    05.02.09 Hospital attacked, 7 killed, dozens wounded
    04.02.09 Deliberate massacre, not 'crossfire' killing Tamil..
    02.02.09 SLAF bombers attack Vanni, deploy cluster bombs
    02.02.09 Nurse killed in Udaiyaarkaddu hospital, ICRC staff..
    02.02.09 More than 5,000 shells fired on 'safety zone', cas..
    02.02.09 SLA fires MBRL rockets on IDP camp, several feared..
    02.02.09 SLA shells PTK hospital, 9 killed, 15 wounded
    01.02.09 Civilian casualties rise, SLA, SLAF attacks contin..
    01.02.09 Shelling hits hospital, ICRC shocked
    31.01.09 Artillery-fired cluster shells, aerial bombing on ..
    31.01.09 SLA shelling continues on 'safety zone', Colombo r..
    30.01.09 Only international-sponsored ceasefire can lead to..
    29.01.09 Artillery barrage kills 44 civilians, 178 wounded ..
    28.01.09 Brutal attack on civilians, assurance to Mukherjee..
    28.01.09 46 more civilians killed Tuesday, few wounded surv..
    28.01.09 Hospitals, ambulances hit by shelling, hundreds ki..
    27.01.09 300,000 civilians face hunger, Colombo, abettors r..
    27.01.09 Norway breaks silence, condemns war
    27.01.09 Dead bodies decomposed beyond identification – med..
    27.01.09 Artillery barrage continues on 'safety zone', no s..
    26.01.09 Targeting civilians in safety zone, premeditated w..
    26.01.09 'Biased UN official misleads humanity, safely sitt..
    26.01.09 More than 1,000 wounded, Mullai RDHS urges IC to s..
    26.01.09 TNA seeks IC to stop carnage, urges medical help t..
    26.01.09 More than 300 civilians feared killed, people blee..
    26.01.09 Does IC know no human dignity of civilians, asks a..
    26.01.09 100 civilians feared killed, countless wounded, ar..
    25.01.09 SLA shelling kills 22 civilians, wounds 60, target..
    24.01.09 12 civilians killed, 87 wounded, SLA continues art..
    23.01.09 'Safety zone' shelled again, 5 civilians killed, 8..
    23.01.09 Artillery barrage continues, 3 killed, 33 wounded
    22.01.09 2 medical staff wounded in artillery barrage on ho..
    22.01.09 Military was provided with exact coordinates of ho..
    22.01.09 Hospital bombed, 5 killed, 15 wounded
    22.01.09 66 civilians killed within 3 days – Mullai RDHS
    22.01.09 SLA attacks civilians in 'secure zone', several ki..
    21.01.09 IC urged to act on humanitarian grounds to safegua..
    20.01.09 Unprecedented civilian carnage in Vanni
    18.01.09 Vanni civilians under deadly siege
    18.01.09 Artillery barrage kills several civilians, dozens ..
    18.01.09 Sri Lankan shelling kills 4 civilians, children am..
    17.01.09 Catholic priests appeal to UN to intervene in Vann..
    16.01.09 5 civilians killed, 7 injured in Sri Lankan artill..
    16.01.09 Jaffna Bishop urges SL President to stop bombardme..
    16.01.09 Humanitarian tragedy in Vanni enters deadlier phas..
    16.01.09 "Which norms of liberal democracy preclude IC atte..
    13.01.09 Doctors call for attack free zones surrounding dis..
    13.01.09 Humanitarian tragedy unfolds in Vanni http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&art…

  214. Plight of babies born and unborn http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…
    A 20-days old baby succumbed to injuries of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Sunday in the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa’lan within the safety zone. Recently, a pregnant mother whose abdomen was torn open and in the condition of the hand of the foetus coming out was admitted to the hospital, after the SLA shelling. Meanwhile, as a result of the food shortage, children were seen standing in a long queue to receive gruel from a distribution centre run by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation on the Easter Sunday noon. The photos published here are self explanatory, but we caution readers of their strong content.

    Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War Crimes of Colombo http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

  215. Plight of babies born and unborn http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…
    A 20-days old baby succumbed to injuries of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Sunday in the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa’lan within the safety zone. Recently, a pregnant mother whose abdomen was torn open and in the condition of the hand of the foetus coming out was admitted to the hospital, after the SLA shelling. Meanwhile, as a result of the food shortage, children were seen standing in a long queue to receive gruel from a distribution centre run by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation on the Easter Sunday noon. The photos published here are self explanatory, but we caution readers of their strong content.

    Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War Crimes of Colombo http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

  216. Sri Lanka's Wartime Abuses

    According to a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a non-

    governmental organization headquartered in Belgium, between 30,000 and

    75,000 people died as the Sri Lankan military bombed and shelled Tamil

    civilians

    Capitalizing on Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, Rajapaksa

    used the China card not only in India, but also to virtually compel the United

    States to overlook the immense civilian casualties in the anti-LTTE war. For,

    like India, the United States is also wary of China’s growing influence in Asia

    and the world.

    This explains Rajapaksa’s arrogance !!!

    Likewise, while the Tamil diaspora has been active in Europe, Canada, and

    Australia –- and also in the United States –- lobbying to bring Rajapaksa to

    book for war crimes

    Colombo plans to appoint an independent panel to look into atrocities in Sri

    Lanka. In what appears to be tokenism, the Sri Lankan government formed the

    Learned and Reconciliation Commission – allegedly comprising of members

    handpicked by Rajapaksa – to examine the country’s civil war since 2002.

    The European Union recently announced temporary withdrawal, starting in

    August, of preferential tariff benefits on imports to Sri Lanka, citing human

    rights concerns. A press release by the EU stated, “This decision follows an

    exhaustive investigation by the European Commission, which identified

    significant shortcomings in respect of Sri Lanka’s implementation of three UN

    human rights conventions relevant for benefits under the scheme.”

    Rajapaksa he seems not serious about rehabilitating the displaced Tamils

    and the IDPs who have been resettled are living in abject conditions.
    http://www.fpif.org/articles/sri_lankas_wartime_a…

  217. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister says that SL has the mechanism to conduct its own investigations.

    If that is so, what happened to the Udalagama Commission which was appointed to investigate the murder of the students in Trincomalee ?

    Murders of the 17 French charity workers ?

    Where are the reports of those investigations?

    As the Govt. is unable to provide answers to these question s, the international community‘s confidence in the Sri Lankan Government is eroded.

  218. Sri Lanka's Wartime Abuses

    According to a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a non-

    governmental organization headquartered in Belgium, between 30,000 and

    75,000 people died as the Sri Lankan military bombed and shelled Tamil

    civilians

    Capitalizing on Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, Rajapaksa

    used the China card not only in India, but also to virtually compel the United

    States to overlook the immense civilian casualties in the anti-LTTE war. For,

    like India, the United States is also wary of China’s growing influence in Asia

    and the world.

    This explains Rajapaksa’s arrogance !!!

    Likewise, while the Tamil diaspora has been active in Europe, Canada, and

    Australia –- and also in the United States –- lobbying to bring Rajapaksa to

    book for war crimes

    Colombo plans to appoint an independent panel to look into atrocities in Sri

    Lanka. In what appears to be tokenism, the Sri Lankan government formed the

    Learned and Reconciliation Commission – allegedly comprising of members

    handpicked by Rajapaksa – to examine the country’s civil war since 2002.

    The European Union recently announced temporary withdrawal, starting in

    August, of preferential tariff benefits on imports to Sri Lanka, citing human

    rights concerns. A press release by the EU stated, “This decision follows an

    exhaustive investigation by the European Commission, which identified

    significant shortcomings in respect of Sri Lanka’s implementation of three UN

    human rights conventions relevant for benefits under the scheme.”

    Rajapaksa he seems not serious about rehabilitating the displaced Tamils

    and the IDPs who have been resettled are living in abject conditions.
    http://www.fpif.org/articles/sri_lankas_wartime_a…

  219. Sri Lanka's Wartime Abuses

    According to a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a non-

    governmental organization headquartered in Belgium, between 30,000 and

    75,000 people died as the Sri Lankan military bombed and shelled Tamil

    civilians

    Capitalizing on Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, Rajapaksa

    used the China card not only in India, but also to virtually compel the United

    States to overlook the immense civilian casualties in the anti-LTTE war. For,

    like India, the United States is also wary of China’s growing influence in Asia

    and the world.

    This explains Rajapaksa’s arrogance !!!

    Likewise, while the Tamil diaspora has been active in Europe, Canada, and

    Australia –- and also in the United States –- lobbying to bring Rajapaksa to

    book for war crimes

    Colombo plans to appoint an independent panel to look into atrocities in Sri

    Lanka. In what appears to be tokenism, the Sri Lankan government formed the

    Learned and Reconciliation Commission – allegedly comprising of members

    handpicked by Rajapaksa – to examine the country’s civil war since 2002.

    The European Union recently announced temporary withdrawal, starting in

    August, of preferential tariff benefits on imports to Sri Lanka, citing human

    rights concerns. A press release by the EU stated, “This decision follows an

    exhaustive investigation by the European Commission, which identified

    significant shortcomings in respect of Sri Lanka’s implementation of three UN

    human rights conventions relevant for benefits under the scheme.”

    Rajapaksa he seems not serious about rehabilitating the displaced Tamils

    and the IDPs who have been resettled are living in abject conditions.
    http://www.fpif.org/articles/sri_lankas_wartime_a…

  220. UN official barred in Sri Lanka

    THE HEAD of a UN panel probing alleged war crimes during Sri Lanka's civil war has criticised a Colombo decision to block him from entering the country.

    Former Indonesian attorney-general Marzuki Darusman is leading a team advising UN chief Ban Ki-moon on possible war crimes committed during Sri Lanka's 37-year separatist war that ended last year.

    ''Everybody loses out if we cannot go to Sri Lanka. It will make it harder for the truth to be unearthed,'' Mr Darusman told the BBC. The UN panel was to probe allegations Tamil civilians and surrendering rebels were killed by government troops.

  221. Tax payers of the donors/western/other coutries have to think whether money reach the poor or militray in sri lanka.

    Sri Lankan rulers no longer tell the truth. According to them, the Sun raises in the West and the rooster crows only in the evenings. While murdering civilians with heavy weapons including tanks and missiles with unconventional war heads, Sri Lanka was lying to the world that they were only using light weapons.

    Sri Lanka is the most militarised among the South Asian countries with 13000 military personnel per one million population. Every street corner of Sri Lanka is guarded by armed soldiers. Sri Lanka has 266K active armed personal (Total Troops 374K) which is much higher than many developed countries. [Australia (54k), Canada (65K), South Africa (56K), Norway (28K), United Kingdom (188K), Germany (248K), France (260K), Italy (230K)]

    In terms of military expenditure as percentage of GDP, Sri Lanka spends the most in South Asia. The figure is 6% in Sri Lanka which is much higher than the amount spent by its neighbours. (3.5% in Pakistan; 2.5% in India and Nepal; and 1.5% in Bangladesh)

    Sri Lanka has now become like another Myanmar in the region. Close associations with nuclear armed China and Pakistan and friendships with Iran, Libya, and Myanmar are already giving the danger signs. Iran has indicated that it is willing to share nuclear technologies with Sri Lanka for peaceful purposes. Those who follow the current trend in the world, very well know what these peaceful purposes are.

    Sri Lanka is trying to get hold of nuclear technology (to supplement its power needs). Having been turned away by India, Sri Lanka is turning to States like Iran to fulfil its nuclear ambitions. This is why Sri Lanka always backs Iran’s nuclear program

    It may not be well known that Sri Lanka was instrumental in Iran acquiring nuclear technology. Some Sri Lankan businessmen and engineers are among those whose names appear in a United States blacklist over the alleged involvement in the world’s worst illicit nuclear proliferation racket, the British media reported recently.

    Although, Sri Lanka is a democratic country, the majority Sinhala people support Nazi Style right wing parties. Racist politicians and military leaders are looked upon as heroes and saviours of the country. Tamils who once had their own nation are now considered as aliens and invaders even though the majority of the Tamils are the original inhabitants of this land. Politics is driven by the powers of ignorance, greed, lies and deceptions.

  222. Norway has once again claimed that the Sri Lankan government was informed of a surrender by senior LTTE cadres during the final stages of the war and that Oslo was in contact with top Tiger leaders Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) and S. Pullithevan on the matter.

    Former Norwegian peace envoy to Sri Lanka Erik Solheim speaking to a group of Sri Lankan journalists who are on a visit to Oslo today said the LTTE leaders were told that the only way they could surrender was to show white flags.

    When asked as to who else was involved in the surrender deal Erik Solheim declined to comment but added that negotiations for the surrender continued till May 17 last year, just two days before the war was officially declared over.

    The Norwegian Minister also reiterated calls for a political solution in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the bitter war which ended last year and also supported the move by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to create a panel of experts to advice him on Sri Lanka.

    “A permanent solution is a must for the economic development desired by Sri Lanka,” he said. Mr. Solhem also explained that there will be no room for any violence or a resumption of war as the struggle that is on today is for a political solution.
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4631-oslo-urges-political-solution.html

  223. From the time of independence from the British in 1948 the Sinhalese who got the power, had been trying to reduce the minority Tamils by killing them of 62 yr

    This ultimately resulted in the genocide of 40000 Tamil civilians and the scorching and sacking of Vanni a part of the Tamil Homeland of its entire population. The whole world watched this happen and remained mute over this tyranny. Still the world did not understand that entire Vanni was torched and not a civilian remained when the army advanced carpet bombing by various means; multi-barrel guns, cluster bombs and fire bombs and napalm. This sort of demolishing of the entire habitation of a race never happened in history except in Alexander’s time, 100 s years ago

    Unless economic sanctions and political isolation is brought against the Sinhalese government they will not deliver a peaceful solution to the Tamils or any other minorities in Sri-Lanka. The Sinhalese as pointed out by the author of this article had already planned colonizing the TH of Tamils and reducing their power of political representation in their parliament. They are also economically and socially reducing them to be paupers. When a race loses its language, its homeland and political representation it is bound to die.

  224. From the time of independence from the British in 1948 the Sinhalese who got the power , had been trying to reduce the minority Tamils by killing them of 62 yr

    This ultimately resulted in the genocide of 40000 Tamil civilians and the scorching and sacking of Vanni a part of the Tamil Homeland of its entire population. The whole world watched this happen and remained mute over this tyranny. Still the world did not understand that entire Vanni was torched and not a civilian remained when the army advanced carpet bombing by various means; multi-barrel guns, cluster bombs and fire bombs and napalm. This sort of demolishing of the entire habitation of a race never happened in history except in Alexander’s time, 100 s years ago

    Unless economic sanctions and political isolation is brought against the Sinhalese government they will not deliver a peaceful solution to the Tamils or any other minorities in Sri-Lanka. The Sinhalese had already planned colonizing the TH of Tamils and reducing their power of political representation in their parliament. They are also economically and socially reducing them to be paupers. When a race loses its language, its homeland and political representation it is bound to die.

  225. As Sri Lanka Says No Visas, UN Says No Need to Visit or Talk to Witnesses
    http://www.innercitypress.com/sri7bantor062410.html

    The “no visas” announcement was made by External Affairs minister GL Peiris, who twice rebuffed the Press while in the US lobbying against the UN panel. Then, Hillary Clinton stood by Peiris. And now?

    The Sri Lankan Mission to the UN put out the foreign ministry’s statement, a day late and in an unwieldy format. The Permanent Representative Palitha Kohona is still apparently not back in New York. Sri Lanka has thumbed its nose at GSP Plus as well. What will happen with the IMF?

    Lanka’s ban will make truth harder to unearth: UN panel head
    http://www.zeenews.com/news636473.html

  226. Sri Lanka says UN panel ‘will not be allowed’ to enter
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10405996.stm

    Russia opposes UN Panel on Sri Lanka
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=32055
    The Russian Federation and its predecessor Soviet Union, in its long relationship with Sri Lanka, never took any initiation in persuading the Sinhala state to resolve the national question even by applying the Leninist principles, Tamil circles said.

    Tamils, who are one of the most oppressed communities in the world, have been fighting to free themselves from the evil regimes of the country. But they have so far failed to achieve their goals. Tamils initially fought through democratic means. Democracy no longer works in favour of Tamils because the majority prefers the Tamils to be wiped out from the country.
    Tamils were slaughtered in thousands with swords and knives in the buses, trains and in their own homes in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Frustrated Tamil youth took arms to fight against fascism. Armed rebellion has now been crushed with the help of China and India.

    Sri Lankan army did manage to slaughter more than fifty thousand Tamil civilians including women and children within few months time. Banned weapons like cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs were used against the innocents.

  227. Vanni is a Tamil land in the north eastern region of Sri Lanka that was once flowing with milk and honey. People prospered in every thing. Many of them did farming and deep sea fishing. They were not poor. Their barns were filled with grains throughout the year. These people ate a very healthy diet and lived in homes that were located in unpolluted areas. In our terms, people of Vanni ate organic grains, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish all their lives.

    one year ago, all of a sudden, Skis of Vanni became darkened. Children stopped playing. Dancing was turned into mourning. Chinese F7s, Russian MIGs f lied over Vanni and bombed homes, hospitals, schools and farms. Cluster bombs, phosphorous bombs and other banned weapons were used against innocent civilians.

    14.05.10 Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War..
    20.05.09 Fears mount for safety of doctors arrested by SLA
    16.05.09 Doctors quit safety zone, volunteer medics remain ..
    16.05.09 SLA continues intense barrage of heavy weapons
    16.05.09 Stench of dead bodies permeate Vanni, wounded allo..
    15.05.09 More than 100,000 civilians in safe zone, ICRC sus..
    15.05.09 ‘Safety zone’ in smoke, close-quarter fighting is ..
    14.05.09 LTTE urges IC to save civilians in the name of hum..
    13.05.09 SLA barrage inflicts carnage, makeshift hospital r..
    13.05.09 SLA shells hospital again, several killed includin..
    12.05.09 US, UK want UN to facilitate ‘safe evacuation’ of ..
    12.05.09 SLA attacks hospital, 47 massacred
    11.05.09 SLA continues to inflict carnage
    10.05.09 1200 bodies counted, hundreds seriously injured, a..
    10.05.09 LTTE urges IC to act in the international way
    10.05.09 2,000 civilians feared slaughtered in a single nig..
    09.05.09 SLA artillery barrage hits ‘safety zone’ as ICRC s..
    09.05.09 Malnutrition in mothers triggers Jaundice, Hepatit..
    08.05.09 SLA steps up carnage on civilians
    05.05.09 US responsible, least humanitarian is dropping foo..
    05.05.09 TRO: Food shortage in Safe Zone, critical
    05.05.09 ‘Drop food now if the concern is humanitarian’: Va..
    03.05.09 Colombo builds up for imminent massacre
    02.05.09 SLA massacres patients with targeted shelling, 64 ..
    01.05.09 SLA steps up attacks, civilian casualties mount am..
    29.04.09 300 feared killed, worst spurt of massacre imminen..
    29.04.09 Hospital attacked, SLN naval crafts fire artillery..
    28.04.09 500 grams rice, 20 grams sugar per person to reach..
    28.04.09 SLA fired 5,600 shells within 15 hours: LTTE
    28.04.09 IC makes history in experimenting ‘genocide bomb’
    28.04.09 Unprecedented carnage unfolds in Vanni
    27.04.09 Sri Lanka steps up intense barrage of heavy weapon..
    27.04.09 Sri Lanka continues air strikes violating own anno..
    26.04.09 Several civilians killed, 200 wounded within 5 hou..
    26.04.09 Inaction may cause 10,000 casualties: SOS appeal t..
    26.04.09 SLA poised for all-out-carnage
    26.04.09 Sri Lankan Defence Secretary rejects ceasefire, ca..
    26.04.09 LTTE announces unilateral ceasefire
    26.04.09 Colombo steps up air strikes, safe zone targeted 3..
    25.04.09 Starvation: Colombo deploys the worst genocidal we..
    25.04.09 Sri Lanka intensifies bombardment, ‘safe zone’ bom..
    25.04.09 Another carnage imminent as the two Indian mandari..
    24.04.09 165,000 civilians face imminent starvation, LTTE u..
    24.04.09 Colombo uses starvation, denial of medicine as wea..
    24.04.09 Civilian casualties top 20,000 in Vanni: Leaked UN..
    23.04.09 SLN crafts encircle ICRC ship in Vanni
    23.04.09 SLA shelling on church kills 14, Caritas-HUDEC Van..
    22.04.09 SLA fire hampers ICRC evacuation of seriously woun..
    22.04.09 SLA shells Church in Valaignarmadam, Fr. James Pat..
    21.04.09 SLA cluster bombs kill doctor, medical staff at Va..
    21.04.09 ‘SLA advances behind human shield, act fast to res..
    20.04.09 Nadesan denies reports of human bomb, blames Colom..
    20.04.09 Casualties cross 1000 in SLA’s attempt to capture ..
    20.04.09 SLA fires cluster bombs on ‘safety zone’
    20.04.09 Chaos and carnage as SLA enters ‘safety zone’
    19.04.09 SLA launches ground push targeting ‘safety zone’
    19.04.09 SLA attacks continue to target ‘safety zone’
    18.04.09 ‘Starvation poised for worse killings than shellin..
    16.04.09 UN and IC signal civilian carnage
    16.04.09 Onslaught of civilians continues, more than 57 kil..
    16.04.09 SLA, SLAF intensify offensive targeting safety zon..
    15.04.09 SLA offensive on civilian zone continues
    15.04.09 Unprecedented carnage, SLA turns firepower on civi..
    14.04.09 Mass human tragedy possible any moment in ‘safety ..
    14.04.09 SLA continues offensive at the doorstep of ‘safe z..
    13.04.09 SLA attacks kill 23 Tamil civilians within 12 hour..
    13.04.09 SLA steps up ground offensive targeting ‘safety zo..
    12.04.09 Plight of babies born and unborn
    12.04.09 31 civilians killed in SLA shelling, gunfire in ‘s..
    11.04.09 SLA embarks upon capturing attack on civilians, 30..
    11.04.09 SLA buildup poses severe threat to civilian securi..
    11.04.09 599 killed, 3350 injured inside ‘safety zone’ sinc..
    11.04.09 69 percent kids malnourished: Vanni health officia..
    10.04.09 Stop shelling say Co-chairs, attack continues amid..
    09.04.09 Carnage continues in Vanni
    08.04.09 SLA attacks kill 129 civilians, 282 wounded in ‘sa..
    08.04.09 SLA bombs child nutrition centre in safety zone, 2..
    07.04.09 Colombo turns firepower onto ‘safety zone’
    07.04.09 Threat of starvation haunts “Safe Zone” families
    06.04.09 Medical official reports on pattern of shelling in..
    05.04.09 Mangled bodies, torn limbs litter Safe Zone – medi..
    05.04.09 SLA intensifies attacks on Safe Zone, 71 civilians..
    04.04.09 Recognize our freedom: Vanni civilian leader
    03.04.09 SLA attacks kill 90 civililans within 3 days, 195 ..
    03.04.09 Eyewitness reports horrific experiences at makeshi..
    02.04.09 SLA fired artillery shells create havoc inside saf..
    31.03.09 SLA fires cluster shells, 45 civilians killed, 120..
    31.03.09 SLA attacks kill 88 Tamils, including 21 children ..
    30.03.09 SLA attacks kill 53 civilians inside ‘safety zone’..
    29.03.09 ‘Global order’ experiments with body and mind of V..
    28.03.09 179 civilians including 76 children killed within ..
    26.03.09 SLA attacks kill Mullai DS officials engaged in hu..
    26.03.09 SLA attacks hospital, 5 patients killed, 11 wounde..
    26.03.09 Carnage continues, 131 civilians including 32 chil..
    24.03.09 62 civilians killed, SLA, SLAF step up attacks on ..
    24.03.09 SLA attacks kill 128 civilians in 48 hours
    22.03.09 42 civilians killed, 80 wounded in Vanni Saturday
    21.03.09 SLA shelling kills 102 civilians within 3 days ins..
    17.03.09 84 killed, 182 wounded in SLAF attacks, shelling o..
    17.03.09 18 civilians reported missing in ‘safe-zone’ borde..
    17.03.09 ‘Safe zone’ under encircling fire, 137 killed in 3..
    15.03.09 Makeshift-hospital struggles without medicines
    15.03.09 Shelling doesn’t spare even babies in wombs
    15.03.09 Civilian casualties mount as intense bombing and s..
    13.03.09 SLA shelling targets relief supplies and hospital,..
    13.03.09 SLA shelling targets humanitarian supplies in ‘saf..
    12.03.09 SLA shelling kills 82 civilians inside ‘safe zone’..
    12.03.09 50,000 families affected by floods in ‘safe zone’
    11.03.09 SLA shelling kills 133 civilians including 49 chil..
    10.03.09 Sri Lankan cluster shelling kills 129 civilians wi..
    10.03.09 Colombo’s shelling carnage of flood-hit civilians,..
    09.03.09 Shelling amidst mini-cyclone and lashing rains, th..
    07.03.09 Sri Lankan attacks kill 208 civilians within 72 ho..
    06.03.09 Doctors warn severe shortage of medicines in Vanni
    06.03.09 Acid test for international actors
    06.03.09 Only 2.2% of humanitarian supplies reached Vanni i..
    05.03.09 Perpetrating civilian starvation is violation of a..
    05.03.09 SLA fires cluster shells near hospital, scores wou..
    05.03.09 Diarrhea claims 13 lives in Vanni within 14 days
    04.03.09 SLA shelling kills more children, carnage in ‘safe..
    04.03.09 ICRC worker killed in SLA shelling
    04.03.09 SLA in killing spree in the ‘safety zone’, 73 kill..
    04.03.09 Shell landed on a civilian saves others
    04.03.09 Deputy ZDE of Mullaiththeevu dies of shock from sh..
    03.03.09 RDHS confirms 13 hunger deaths, urges officials to..
    03.03.09 SLA shells hospital environs, 13 killed including ..
    03.03.09 Skin rash breaks among children in Vanni
    03.03.09 Vanni IDPs starving due to acute shortage of food
    02.03.09 SLA shelling kills 122 within 3 days in Mullaithth..
    02.03.09 Hunger claims lives in Vanni
    02.03.09 Colombo killed 700 children in 2 months – LTTE Rad..
    28.02.09 Newborn babies bereft of milk, humanitarian situat..
    27.02.09 Downed SLAF aircraft was engaged in carpet-bombing
    24.02.09 Heavy fighting in PTK, civilians trapped in SLA ba..
    24.02.09 Children vulnerable to SLA shelling in new ‘safe z..
    22.02.09 50 Tamil civilians killed, 130 wounded within 48 h..
    21.02.09 13 civilians killed, 70 wounded in SLA barrage Fri..
    21.02.09 SLA barrages Mullaiththeevu after Tiger air attack..
    19.02.09 30 families wiped out in massive attack Wednesday,..
    18.02.09 Massive air attack on civilian targets, scores kil..
    18.02.09 SLA artillery fire hits new ‘safety zone’, 108 kil..
    16.02.09 260 killed, SLA shells and boxes civilians, preven..
    16.02.09 Colombo uses firebombs setting ablaze civilian tar..
    14.02.09 75 feared killed in SLA shelling, elders home
    13.02.09 Herding people by terror: Intense shelling, dead b..
    10.02.09 Relentless shelling expels civilians from ‘safety ..
    08.02.09 80 killed, 200 wounded, carnage continues inside ‘..
    08.02.09 More than 180 killed in Sri Lankan bombardment wit..
    07.02.09 SLAF bombs Ponnampalam hospital, 61 patients kille..
    05.02.09 SLA attacks ‘safety zone’ using short-range mortar..
    05.02.09 Hospital attacked, 7 killed, dozens wounded
    04.02.09 Deliberate massacre, not ‘crossfire’ killing Tamil..
    02.02.09 SLAF bombers attack Vanni, deploy cluster bombs
    02.02.09 Nurse killed in Udaiyaarkaddu hospital, ICRC staff..
    02.02.09 More than 5,000 shells fired on ‘safety zone’, cas..
    02.02.09 SLA fires MBRL rockets on IDP camp, several feared..
    02.02.09 SLA shells PTK hospital, 9 killed, 15 wounded
    01.02.09 Civilian casualties rise, SLA, SLAF attacks contin..
    01.02.09 Shelling hits hospital, ICRC shocked
    31.01.09 Artillery-fired cluster shells, aerial bombing on ..
    31.01.09 SLA shelling continues on ‘safety zone’, Colombo r..
    30.01.09 Only international-sponsored ceasefire can lead to..
    29.01.09 Artillery barrage kills 44 civilians, 178 wounded ..
    28.01.09 Brutal attack on civilians, assurance to Mukherjee..
    28.01.09 46 more civilians killed Tuesday, few wounded surv..
    28.01.09 Hospitals, ambulances hit by shelling, hundreds ki..
    27.01.09 300,000 civilians face hunger, Colombo, abettors r..
    27.01.09 Norway breaks silence, condemns war
    27.01.09 Dead bodies decomposed beyond identification – med..
    27.01.09 Artillery barrage continues on ‘safety zone’, no s..
    26.01.09 Targeting civilians in safety zone, premeditated w..
    26.01.09 ‘Biased UN official misleads humanity, safely sitt..
    26.01.09 More than 1,000 wounded, Mullai RDHS urges IC to s..
    26.01.09 TNA seeks IC to stop carnage, urges medical help t..
    26.01.09 More than 300 civilians feared killed, people blee..
    26.01.09 Does IC know no human dignity of civilians, asks a..
    26.01.09 100 civilians feared killed, countless wounded, ar..
    25.01.09 SLA shelling kills 22 civilians, wounds 60, target..
    24.01.09 12 civilians killed, 87 wounded, SLA continues art..
    23.01.09 ‘Safety zone’ shelled again, 5 civilians killed, 8..
    23.01.09 Artillery barrage continues, 3 killed, 33 wounded
    22.01.09 2 medical staff wounded in artillery barrage on ho..
    22.01.09 Military was provided with exact coordinates of ho..
    22.01.09 Hospital bombed, 5 killed, 15 wounded
    22.01.09 66 civilians killed within 3 days – Mullai RDHS
    22.01.09 SLA attacks civilians in ‘secure zone’, several ki..
    21.01.09 IC urged to act on humanitarian grounds to safegua..
    20.01.09 Unprecedented civilian carnage in Vanni
    18.01.09 Vanni civilians under deadly siege
    18.01.09 Artillery barrage kills several civilians, dozens ..
    18.01.09 Sri Lankan shelling kills 4 civilians, children am..
    17.01.09 Catholic priests appeal to UN to intervene in Vann..
    16.01.09 5 civilians killed, 7 injured in Sri Lankan artill..
    16.01.09 Jaffna Bishop urges SL President to stop bombardme..
    16.01.09 Humanitarian tragedy in Vanni enters deadlier phas..
    16.01.09 “Which norms of liberal democracy preclude IC atte..
    13.01.09 Doctors call for attack free zones surrounding dis..
    13.01.09 Humanitarian tragedy unfolds in Vanni
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=28924

  228. Rajapaksa Brutal dictatorship is exploiting All in Sri Lanka!!

    Sri Lankan poor are starving while the huge amount – 200 billion rupees have been splashed out on Sri Lankan Military

    Rajapaksa's election promises gone with the wind !!

    His ruling party, United People’s Freedom Alliance which had lavished promises prior to April general election including a monthly increase of 2500 rupees to public servants, on the contrary, has increased the price of essentials like fuel, flour, milk products and other services hitting the common man who had been already struggling to make ends meet.

    The Sinhalese people, kept under the spell of the ‘Victory’ of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime over the Tamils and the propaganda of 'Mahinda Chintana', but are becoming frustrated by the reality of spiralling prices of essential utility items while Rajapaksa regime is calculating ways to to benefit economically by playing the 'geo-political' card with the powers that are locked in a corporate race.

    One cannot help being reminded of the French princess who told starving people to ‘eat cake if they do not have bread’ as Sri Lanka Prime Minister Saturday told people to eat more rice as the solution to wheat price. He added that the price of wheat flour and bread should be further increased so that many people would turn to eating rice

    The UPFA government had earlier cited the war as the cause of increasing prices but the prices keep soaring even after the end of war an year ago. 200 billion rupees have been allocated to Sri Lankan Defence Ministry in the annual budget of 2010, which is to be submitted in the SL Parliament shortly.

    The main opposition party alleges that 110 millions rupees had been spent on the recent International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards ceremony. This kind of unnecessary and excess spending ultimately hurts the poor people of the country.

    The price of flour, the basic requirement for daily consumption, has been increased by Rs. 10.50 bringing the price up to Rs. 73.50 from Rs. 63.00 Consequently, bakeries have started selling a loaf of bread weighing 400 grams at Rs. 44.00 from earlier Rs. 40.00

    Among the many, plantation workers who consume food made of wheat flour for all three meals of the day are the hardest hit by the price hike.

    Meanwhile, the price of Shell gas has been increased by Rs. 219 and Laugh gas by Rs. 325 citing reason the price increase in the world market on May 6.

    Besides, in June the prices of two essential items have been increased. The price for 400 g milk powder has been increased by Rs. 19 and one kilogram milk powder has been increased by Rs. 48. According to the increase, 400 g milk powder has been increased from Rs. 225 to Rs. 244. One kilogram of milk powder has gone up to Rs. 598 from Rs. 550.

    The increase of prices of essential items causes terrible hardship to poor people, patients, children and babies. Meanwhile, Health Ministry in a survey said fifty percent of the children in the north and east are malnourished. The survey has further revealed that children from 12 months to 35 months old are underweight.

    Like other essential food items, the transport is also considered as essential by the ordinary masses. The transport fees also have been increasing monthly. The President of the Private Bus Owners Association recently pointed out that the transport charges have been increased at least 10 times since 2002.

    The increase in the bus fare has been fixed according to the price structure based on the increase of prices of twelve items including fuel, tyre, and tube, he said.

    The president of the association said he is planning to increase the bus fare by five or seven rupees as the authorities concerned have not provided subsidy to private bus sector.

    Meanwhile, opposition politicians in South, who blame large scale corruption in government sectors such as Land, Health, Transport and Resettlement ministries as the main hurdle against improving the economy

  229. SPUR (Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka Inc)
    SPUR (Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka Inc)
    Reg: A003 0777 M
    P.O. Box 4066, Mulgrave VIC 3170, Australia
    Phone: (+613) 9795 7143 Fax: (+613) 9795 7142
    25 June 2010

    CONFIDENTIAL

    To : Mr. Anders Hjertstrand
    Chief of OIOS Internal Audit Division
    Geneva Office

    cc : Ms. Rachel Roy
    Senior Auditor
    UNHCR Audit Service
    Geneva

    Date : 18 May 2010

    Subject : Request for Urgent Investigation and Action on the UNHCR/CORI Report on Sri Lanka
    We would like to kindly request you to investigate and take appropriate action against the UNHCR officials concerned with the commissioning of the Country of Origin Research and Information (CORI), a British company, for the preparation of the UNHCR Sri Lanka Country Report of April 2010. The Report contains questionable and blatantly misleading information leading to misconceptions about Sri Lanka, a long standing Member of the United Nations.

    In this regard, we wish to draw your attention to the following observations for your appraisal and action:

    1. On perusal of the company profile and the skills/experience of the Country of Origin Research and Information Company, a prudent and a responsible Organization such as the United Nations and UNHCR should have had more than one reason to conclude their unsuitability and lack of capability. By commissioning such an outfit, the responsible officers have undermined UNHCR’s credibility, its responsibility and accountability to the United Nations Members, while through such a careless and negligible action, United Nations funds have been improperly used and/or wasted.

    2 The contents in the report are misleading with a number of half truths, leading to a serious loss of confidence of the competence of UNHCR in accepting such a report and the direct irreversible damage caused to the image of Sri Lanka.

    We wish to point out the following specific errors with regard to the information collection methods and facts in relation to the concerned report:

    » The sources of information covered in the report are questionable and in some cases highly partisan and cannot be considered as credible. The report quotes BBC in many instances and one needs to question again and again the credentials of BBC as a reporter or repository of information on Sri Lanka. BBC’s role and its reports on Sri Lanka in the present context since the LTTE’s defeat have come into questioning by the Sri Lankan Government and independent reviewers in Sri Lanka and this factor had been either ignored or skipped the scrutiny of the compiler. The reports on the inadequacies of BBC reporting and presentations have been the subject of many inquiries by the British institutions themselves. BBC sources are accessed nearly 50 instances in this report.
    » Dependence on The Times on-line-UK and the International Crisis Group for some crucial information makes the report biased, especially in the absence of responses of the Sri Lankan Government and Sri Lankan Human Rights Ministry and other relevant institutions. The report even quotes Jeremy Page of The Times of UK, who is a well known journalist using sensational stories for the consumption of followers of the LTTE and their fronts. The International Crisis Group which is another source for the report cannot be considered as an impartial organization vis-à-vis Sri Lanka as its attempt to include Sri Lanka, based on very weak reasons as a R2P case, is well known.
    » The breakdown of the sources of information as cited in the report are as follows:
    » Total number of source references – 835 approximately.
    1.
    1.Western sources – more than 90% and the bulk from the USA.
    2.Sri Lankan sources – 101 (Approximately 85 of these are about Government statistical data. In regard to views and interpretations of incidents discussed, the sources accessed are mainly the Centre for Policy Alternatives and International Centre for Ethnic Studies, two well-known NGOs in Sri Lanka which have been supporting directly or indirectly the virulent anti-Sri Lanka campaigns, including the mythical homeland theory of the LTTE.
    The above facts prove that the British company opted to follow a very easy and simple method to gather and put together a report without any responsibility towards UNHCR as they lacked the competence and the skills required to identify the applicable information to handle the task contracted for.

    1.The omission or incorrect information pertaining to important facts in the report has led the United Nations, UNHCR, Member States and their agencies and also the non-state actors to conclusions which undermine the recognition of the true state of affairs in Sri Lanka. Some instances are indicated below:
    2.Omitting to mention the established historical records of settlement of people in Sri Lanka while misleading the readers that ‘both Sinhala and Tamil settlements existed in Sri Lanka from 3rd Century BC’.
    3. No mention had been made of the destructive policies adopted by the colonial rulers and the impact it had on the politics of modern Sri Lanka while reporting the rule of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English.
    3 The report says that the since the Independence politics of Sri Lanka was dominated by tensions between the Tamils and the Sinhalese and discusses the growth of Sinhala nationalism while omitting the claim of Tamil politicians for 50-50 representation before independence and the formation of the Illankai Tamil Arasu kachchi (Tamil State Party) in 1949.

    1.The report fails to recognize the long-term impact of Tamil political developments since Vaddukodai Resolution of 1976, the legacy of the Indian intervention and the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement.
    2.The report lacks comprehensiveness as it lumps the elected accountable Sri Lankan Government with the LTTE, an armed terrorist group, and the LTTE being given the benefit of the doubt with regard to the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. It should be noted that the LTTE leader himself subsequently claimed responsibility for the assassination of Mr. Gandhi.
    3.The comments on the breakdown of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002, to say the least, are blatantly false.
    4.The report depends on the Human Rights Watch for its narrative on the last stages on the last stages of the war against the LTTE. The information borrowed by CORI is not only incorrect but contradicts even a report commissioned by the United Nations itself!
    We also enclose herein a copy of an article written by Dr Rajiv Wijesinha, Minister of Parliament of Sri Lanka on this report, focussing on the inaccuracies and the misleading nature of the information churned out by the CORI Report.

    We request your urgent attention to initiate an investigation into the selection of the selection of CORI to compile this report and subsequent acceptance of the same by UNHCR, which we consider as a serious dereliction of duty and an act of gross negligence, bordering on deliberately defaming a Member State.

    We are forwarding a copy of our letter to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka and to the media for their information and action.

    Thanking you

    Ranjith Soysa
    SPOKESPERSON

    cc: Mr. Antonio Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees

    Mr. Udo Janz, Director and Special Adviser to the High Commissioner

    Mr. Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, Senior Policy Adviser

    United Nations Ethics Office

  230. Plight of babies born and unborn
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29024
    A 20-days old baby succumbed to injuries of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Sunday in the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa’lan within the safety zone. Recently, a pregnant mother whose abdomen was torn open and in the condition of the hand of the foetus coming out was admitted to the hospital, after the SLA shelling. Meanwhile, as a result of the food shortage, children were seen standing in a long queue to receive gruel from a distribution centre run by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation on the Easter Sunday noon. The photos published here are self explanatory, but we caution readers of their strong content.

    Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War Crimes of Colombo
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=31753

  231. ”Karunanithy and his Crocodile tears for Sri Lankan Tamils”

    Strangely, millions of Tamils are thinking that Karunanidhi is honest and sincere with respect Tamil, Tamils and their rights.

    Almost all are dead wrong.

    This kind of thinking is imbibed in us because Karunanidhi has accidentally become the Torch bearer of the Dravidian Movement.

    Let me slightly digress.

    What is the goal of the Dravidian Movement?

    To promote socially backward and oppressed people into mainstream and thereby to nurture an egalitarian society.

    Please understand dravida nadu was never, never, the true goal of the movement.

    All who supported Dravidian Movement first wanted was a social transformation.

    One dimension of such transformation was thinking took the center stage; such a political stand needed virulent people to lead and reach one and all of the society to bring about transformation as wanted by the leaders of Dravidian Movement.

    Karunanidhi was a virulent young man then, and he exactly fitted that requirement.

    So he was able to rise, rise and rise above than every other moderate and well meaning leader until he designated himself as the Torch bearer of the Dravidian Movement and its political offshoot, the DMK.

    During the course of his rise, he was able to negate the competition ruthlessly.

    Since he is the head of Dravidian (or Tamil) movement and has excellent oratorical/literary skills (and a wily politician) everyone thinks he will protect and nurture Tamil, Tamils and their rights

    . Alas, Oratorical/literary skills are not enough to make one as a leader of the nation or community or its aspirations, especially if such skills are blessed on a self centered man.

    The amazing and sorry sides of a democracy is that such people are given blank cheque by the community to decide its course; in this case it was Eelam Tamils.

    Yes, he has amazing literary skills; one would remember his words about TN during early 70s – “Kozhunthu Vitteriyum nerippu valaithukul koluthappadatha karpooram” – meaning “A Camphor inside a fire ball”.

    What a choice of Words!

    TN had no liquor shops then whereas all the nearby states of India had liquor flowing well.

    He then described TN so (but later he admitted and opened liquor shops).

    So no wonder most of us who think about the well-being of Tamil community can easily be swayed by Karunidhi’s words and get cheated squarely!!

    In the 21st Century, especially post 90s after karunandhi successfully erased his challenge within the DMK (ejecting Vaiko) ensured the second and third rung leaders are his only family members. DMK men will remember that from ‘96, Senior Maran was given respect to the same degree that was accorded to Karunanidhi within the Party as insisted by him.

    So my dear Tamil community please do not get swayed by this Karunanidhi. He is conducting Semmozhi Maanadu.

    Semmaozhi can be alternatively thought as sivantha mozhi, meaning language in red.

    Blood is red. Eelam

    Tamils blood was pouring and it is red all over in north east of Srilanka.

    Without moving his little finger what is the point in he having this event?

  232. Mr Karunanithi is celebrating his success in the name of Tamil conference and spending millions of rupees, at the same time, Tamils, the very oldest Tamils race is being killed, Tamils are being forced to marry with Sinhalese, Tamils language and culture is being erased by a brutal racist regime in Sri Lanka just 20 miles from Tamil Nadu!

  233. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister says that SL has the mechanism to conduct its own investigations.

    If that is so, what happened to the Udalagama Commission which was appointed to investigate the murder of the students in Trincomalee ?

    Murders of the 17 French charity workers ?

    Where are the reports of those investigations?

    As the Govt. is unable to provide answers to these question s, the international community‘s confidence in the Sri Lankan Government is eroded.

  234. On the death anniversary of the Great Micheal Jackson, I could only remember this song sung by him "You are not Alone" when I see posts of following nature !!

    Russia, China and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have expressed their reservation and displeasure at the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of a panel of experts to advise him on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the External Affairs Ministry said yesterday.

    External Ministry sources said the two countries and NAM President had communicated their stance on the three-member panel to the Sri Lankan Government through the Minister of External Affairs.

    Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement issued on Thursday said the United Nations Chief should have consulted the Security Council or the General Assembly before taking a decision on this matter.

    “What worries us is that this decision was taken without considering the position of a sovereign state and a member of the UN,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

    http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/fr…

  235. In 1948 Tamil population was 30% !!!!!

    Has Tamil women never given birth to a child in 62 yr.

    We can see that , the Sri Lankan government has been doing ethnic cleansing very successfully for 62 yr, since 1948. !!!

  236. Sri Lanka’s Wartime Abuses

    According to a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a non-

    governmental organization headquartered in Belgium, between 30,000 and

    75,000 people died as the Sri Lankan military bombed and shelled Tamil

    civilians

    Capitalizing on Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, Rajapaksa

    used the China card not only in India, but also to virtually compel the United

    States to overlook the immense civilian casualties in the anti-LTTE war. For,

    like India, the United States is also wary of China’s growing influence in Asia

    and the world.

    This explains Rajapaksa’s arrogance !!!

    Likewise, while the Tamil diaspora has been active in Europe, Canada, and

    Australia –- and also in the United States –- lobbying to bring Rajapaksa to

    book for war crimes

    Colombo plans to appoint an independent panel to look into atrocities in Sri

    Lanka. In what appears to be tokenism, the Sri Lankan government formed the

    Learned and Reconciliation Commission – allegedly comprising of members

    handpicked by Rajapaksa – to examine the country’s civil war since 2002.

    The European Union recently announced temporary withdrawal, starting in

    August, of preferential tariff benefits on imports to Sri Lanka, citing human

    rights concerns. A press release by the EU stated, “This decision follows an

    exhaustive investigation by the European Commission, which identified

    significant shortcomings in respect of Sri Lanka’s implementation of three UN

    human rights conventions relevant for benefits under the scheme.”

    Rajapaksa he seems not serious about rehabilitating the displaced Tamils

    and the IDPs who have been resettled are living in abject conditions.

    http://www.fpif.org/articles/sri_lankas_wartime_abuses?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+FPIF+(Foreign+Policy+In+Focus+(All+News))

  237. UN official barred in Sri Lanka

    THE HEAD of a UN panel probing alleged war crimes during Sri Lanka’s civil war has criticised a Colombo decision to block him from entering the country.

    Former Indonesian attorney-general Marzuki Darusman is leading a team advising UN chief Ban Ki-moon on possible war crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s 37-year separatist war that ended last year.

    ”Everybody loses out if we cannot go to Sri Lanka. It will make it harder for the truth to be unearthed,” Mr Darusman told the BBC. The UN panel was to probe allegations Tamil civilians and surrendering rebels were killed by government troops.

  238. Bhavanidash Says:
    June 26th, 2010 at 8:16 am

    In 1948 Tamil population was 30% !!!!!

    Whee did U get this stats from ?????????? Tarzan's book ???

    Don't spread lies !!!

  239. From the time of independence from the British in 1948 the Sinhalese who got the power, had been trying to reduce the minority Tamils by killing them of 62 yr

    This ultimately resulted in the genocide of 40000 Tamil civilians and the scorching and sacking of Vanni a part of the Tamil Homeland of its entire population. The whole world watched this happen and remained mute over this tyranny. Still the world did not understand that entire Vanni was torched and not a civilian remained when the army advanced carpet bombing by various means; multi-barrel guns, cluster bombs and fire bombs and napalm. This sort of demolishing of the entire habitation of a race never happened in history except in Alexander’s time, 100 s years ago

    Unless economic sanctions and political isolation is brought against the Sinhalese government they will not deliver a peaceful solution to the Tamils or any other minorities in Sri-Lanka. The Sinhalese as pointed out by the author of this article had already planned colonizing the TH of Tamils and reducing their power of political representation in their parliament. They are also economically and socially reducing them to be paupers. When a race loses its language, its homeland and political representation it is bound to die.

  240. On the death anniversary of the Great Micheal Jackson, I could only remember this song sung by him "You are not Alone" when I see posts of following nature !!

    Russia, China and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have expressed their reservation and displeasure at the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of a panel of experts to advise him on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the External Affairs Ministry said yesterday.

    External Ministry sources said the two countries and NAM President had communicated their stance on the three-member panel to the Sri Lankan Government through the Minister of External Affairs.

    Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement issued on Thursday said the United Nations Chief should have consulted the Security Council or the General Assembly before taking a decision on this matter.

    “What worries us is that this decision was taken without considering the position of a sovereign state and a member of the UN,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

    http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/fr…

  241. On the death anniversary of the Great Micheal Jackson, I could only remember this song sung by him "You are not Alone" when I see posts of following nature !!

    Russia, China and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have expressed their reservation and displeasure at the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of a panel of experts to advise him on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the External Affairs Ministry said yesterday.

    External Ministry sources said the two countries and NAM President had communicated their stance on the three-member panel to the Sri Lankan Government through the Minister of External Affairs.

    Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement issued on Thursday said the United Nations Chief should have consulted the Security Council or the General Assembly before taking a decision on this matter.

    “What worries us is that this decision was taken without considering the position of a sovereign state and a member of the UN,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

    http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/fr…

  242. From the time of independence from the British in 1948 the Sinhalese who got the power , had been trying to reduce the minority Tamils by killing them of 62 yr

    This ultimately resulted in the genocide of 40000 Tamil civilians and the scorching and sacking of Vanni a part of the Tamil Homeland of its entire population. The whole world watched this happen and remained mute over this tyranny. Still the world did not understand that entire Vanni was torched and not a civilian remained when the army advanced carpet bombing by various means; multi-barrel guns, cluster bombs and fire bombs and napalm. This sort of demolishing of the entire habitation of a race never happened in history except in Alexander’s time, 100 s years ago

    Unless economic sanctions and political isolation is brought against the Sinhalese government they will not deliver a peaceful solution to the Tamils or any other minorities in Sri-Lanka. The Sinhalese had already planned colonizing the TH of Tamils and reducing their power of political representation in their parliament. They are also economically and socially reducing them to be paupers. When a race loses its language, its homeland and political representation it is bound to die.

  243. can't do anything with these Russians an Chinese

    Sri Lanka’s strong ally and permanent UN Security Council member Russia has lashed out at United Nation Secretary-General Ban ki-moon over the appointment of a controversial panel of experts on Sri Lanka.

    Russia has faulted the UNSG for not consulting the Security Council or the General Assembly before appointing the panel at issue.

    The UNSG’s panel, Russia says, has been appointed without regard to the position of a sovereign state and member of the UN.

    Full Release of the Russian statement on the appointment of the panel of experts on Sri Lanka:

    Moscow has taken note of UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon’s decision to appoint a UN panel of experts to investigate war crimes during the period of the campaign against the Tamil Tigers. As follows from UN sources, this panel is not a fact finding or investigation mechanism, but is designed solely to advise him on accountability issues relating to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

    In doing so, the UN Secretary-General as chief administrative officer of the United Nations should apparently have asked the opinion of the Security Council or the General Assembly on this matter. But this has not happened. What also makes us cautious is the fact that this decision was taken without regard to the position of a sovereign state and a member of the UN – Sri Lanka. As is known, they in Sri Lanka have already begun their own investigation process at national level (the Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation with a mandate to review all aspects of the conflict). As follows from the statement made on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka by the External Affairs Ministry of that country, and the statement of its Minister of Information, Sri Lanka "regards the appointment of the Sri Lanka Panel of Experts as unwarranted and unnecessary and contrary to the position of a UN member state." Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who visited Sri Lanka a few days ago, as we understand, was aware of this position of Colombo.

    We believe that the primary responsibility for investigating the events that occurred in the past in Sri Lanka lies with its Government and that the newly appointed UN panel of experts, which, as follows from UN Secretariat statements, does not intend to visit Sri Lanka, will not take any steps that would complicate the investigation being conducted by the authorities of Colombo.

  244. On the 17th of June, the UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, Lynn Pascoe, announced at a press conference the decision to investigate war crimes in Sri Lanka. This had been deliberately planned to coincide with the V-Day parade so as to belittle the victory over the terrorists.

    This week, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, has appointed a panel to advise him on alleged war crimes during the last phase of the war. It is obvious that the whole episode is to please the countries who are giving refugee status to terror backers and who, during the Humanitarian Rescue Operation, offered to give asylum to LTTE leaders and rescue them.

    Sri Lanka has rejected the allegations outright and considers the appointment as a violation of sovereignty, prejudicial to its own probe. Further, the government regards the appointment of experts as an unwarranted and unnecessary interference with a sovereign nation. Independent observers have also questioned the neutrality of the three nominees as in the past some of them had been involved in Sri Lankan affairs and therefore they could be prejudiced.

    The UN and these countries putting pressure on Sri Lanka were deaf and blind to the terror activities unleashed by the LTTE during the last three decades. Some countries molly-coddled them while others gave them VIP status because of their funds and votes to political parties.

    The Under-Secretary General, during his recent visit, would have seen the changes in the country, especially in the North and the East, where the people’s lifestyles have returned to normal. For instance, the children, who were gun-toting one year ago, are now attending schools and sitting for public exams. Parents are assured that there is no recruitment to the 'Childs-brigade'.

    Marriage, which is a basic human right, was denied to combatants during the LTTE regime. Among others, now they enjoy this privilege as well. A few weeks ago, 53 couples went through a traditional wedding ceremony attended by ministers, government officials and by Indian film artistes.

    The LTTE cadres are being rehabilitated, given training in skills such as drivers, technical hands, sewing in textile factories, etc., and thus they have been reintegrated to the society to be useful members of the community.

    It is one year since the war and there had been no terror attacks and assassination attempts by suicide bombers in the south and there is peace in the country.

    But these are of little importance to the UN and the countries putting pressure on it. They valued more the bogus cease-fires and the fake peace makers who wanted the war and terrorism to be reactivated. So some groups are frustrated that their plans did not materialise. The UN and countries backing its move are guided by hearsay evidence of LTTE backers, forged videos, photos, images and one-sided reports of Human Rights Agencies.

    In this connection, the UN should make a note of the following observation made by the Japanese Peace Envoy, Yasushi Akashi, "…It is not for other government's or international organisations to dictate to Sri Lanka as to what it should be doing in the highly complicated and sensitive areas of post war reconciliation.."

    Thus it is obvious that the UN is bickering with small developing countries like Sri Lanka. With the failure of the League of Nations and the birth of the UN, people in the world had hope. But as the June 21st The Island Editorial says, "… At this rate, the day may not be far off when we will have to save the world from the UN! "

  245. Sri Lanka says the recent removal of US and NATO Forces Commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal, following a spat with US President Barack Obama, revealed the absurdity in the US position with regard to General Sarath Fonseka, now facing charges both in military and civilian Courts.

    An authoritative government official says the firing of the war veteran over a recent Rolling Stone article, which portrayed General McChrystal and his aides as dismissive of the US political leadership and its strategy in Afghanistan is evidence of US double standard.

    Quoting recent wire services reports on the dispute, the official speaking on the condition of anonymity pointed out that President Obama had called McChrystal’s conduct unbecoming of a commanding general, while asserting that it undermined the civilian control of the military that is at the core of their democratic system.

    Lakshman Hulugalle, Director General for Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said that those who regularly preach to us of how to run our affairs should study the McChrystal affair. He said; "Unceremonious dismissal of the general exposed their duplicity and unreasonable attitude towards Sri Lanka."

    Another official pointed out that the US policy as well as that of the EU and some other countries articulated by various senior officials, including their South Asian Affairs Assistant Secretary Robert Blake, former Ambassador in Colombo, is hostile towards Sri Lanka. The official said that the international community had repeatedly demanded a fair trial for General Fonseka who challenged President Mahinda Rajapaksa at January 26 presidential election and went to accuse Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering the massacre of surrendering LTTE cadres on the Vanni (east) front.

    Responding to a query by The Island, the official said that a section of the Colombo-based diplomats had played politics with the Fonseka issue as part of their overall strategy to undermine Sri Lanka.

    Government sources said that a section of the UNP and the JVP-led Democratic National Alliance which championed the former Army Chief’s case, too, should see the double-standards adopted by the international community when dealing with an issue affecting a smaller country. But there were instances when the US and its allies had treated even India in a similar humiliating way, sources said, referring to the US refusal to hand over a key terrorist suspect wanted by New Delhi in connection with the Mumbai massacre in 2008.

    The US is yet to accede to India’s request to let them question a Chicago man who had pleaded guilty to scouting targets for the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

    David Coleman Headley pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court to making surveillance videos in preparation for the siege of India's financial capital and for involvement in a plot to attack a Danish newspaper over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

    As part of his plea deal, Headley will not face execution if he continues to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors' terrorism investigation.

    Sri Lankan officials said that the Rolling Stone’s article was revealing as to what the US Afghan command felt of the political leadership and some of its bungling officials.

  246. After a 30-minute meeting with the president at the White House, it was announced that General McChrystal would be standing down. His former boss, General David Petraeus, will replace him as commander of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Barack Obama has said he was sad to lose General McChrystal, but as Commander in Chief he would not tolerate division in his team. Gen McChrystal has apologized for the interview, given to Rolling Stone magazine, saying ‘it was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened’. We don’t see much difference to this and the case of Retired Gen Sarath Fonseka in Sri Lanka, who made an interview to The Sunday Leader. Gen McChrystal criticized the administration officials, including his Commander in Chief, President Obama. Gen McChrystal is lucky to be spared from a court-martial for the betrayal of his boss. I believe his apology saved him from this.

    The General clearly overstepped his mark here and was extremely fortunate not to be tried under military law. In the meantime, it is an accepted fact that the situation in Afghanistan has become extremely dangerous and casualty figures are on the rise. The 300th British casualty was reported recently, whose forces were inspired by a new slogan ‘For the queen and the country’ during Gordon Brown’s rule. The British people will not forgive Tony Blair who got them into this war. He is minting money going around lecturing while the NATO troops and Afghan people are dying unnecessarily.

  247. We read that the LTTE terrorist lobbies in the West have succeeded:

    1. Getting the UN to attempt an inquiry about alleged abuses of human rights during the war;

    2. EU to suspend preferential tariff for Sri Lankan exports.

    Human Rights inquiry

    No self respecting Government will agree to any inquiry that is tainted ab initio by signs of persecution by the West to satisfy the requests of the Tamil Terrorist Diaspora. It is transparent that these terrorists groups have used their illegally obtained drug money to influence this investigation.

    The UN must first commence investigations in the Gaza, Afghanistan and Iraq before turning to Sri Lanka. The crime that Sri Lanka has committed is the total annihilation of the world’s most deadliest terrorist group, whose leader, the megalomaniac Prabhakaran, was not second to Pol Pot.

    It is also opportune for the UN to first investigate the activities of the Human Rights Commissioner whose views have obviously been tainted by her Tamil background.

    EU

    We must all congratulate President Mahinda Rajapaksa for totally rejecting the EU demands for the restoration of tariff concessions. No self respecting Government should be allowed to be black mailed in this way.

    Sri Lanka should stand on its own and not be dictated to by any other country.

    Three decades back, the writer, with two others, prepared the blue print for Sri Lanka’s First IPZ (Industrial Promotion Zone). At that time, we did not crave for tariff concessions but the selling point was our inexpensive and highly productive labour.

    It was pointed that Sri Lanka should start with garment industries but move away within the maximum period of ten years to light industry following the example of Singapore, Taiwan and Korea. Regretfully, the then Government did not encourage the diversifying of our industries.

    The writer in his capacity as Permanent Secretary Industries and Chairman Ceramic successfully negotiated and established Sri Lanka’s most productive export based industries with Noritake of Japan and with Danto Wall Tiles. We did not seek tariff or got concessions.

    Full marks to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for not only decimating the LTTE but also not giving into Western blackmail.

    Most Sri Lankans are with you.

  248. "He must be over the moon, don’t you think?"

    "What moon are you talking about? All I know is it’s Poson Full Moon here today, and that’s a big event."

    "I mean Ban Ki-moon; the Big Moon in New York. Don’t you think he must be over the moon by now?"

    "How can moon be over the moon? It seems he is more moonstruck than over it."

    Moonstruck or not, he has got his Committee of Experts to advice him, so he must be doing the Korean equivalent of a tango, possibly with Louise Arbour of the ICG. They must be feeling really great.

    Guess what this Committee of Experts will be advising him about?

    Obviously, something he knows nothing about. In this case it is Sri Lanka, and the last stages of the war to defeat LTTE.

    But, does he not have a Resident Representative of the UN in Colombo, and so many other UN Organisations over here to advise him, or is it that he does not trust them?

    Who knows? Moon insists he needs advise, and he has to wait for the first anniversary of the defeat of the LTTE to a appoint a committee to improve his knowledge about Sri Lanka and the end of that bloody war; just like the European Union, waiting a similar length of time to impose conditions to continue GSP plus for Sri Lanka.

    Now don’t tell me there was conspiracy between the UNSG and the European Commission against Sri Lanka, or were they only acting in collusion?

    Who knows? But we learn that there are queues already forming outside the UN Headquarters in New York of those ready to teach Ban Ki-moon about what he is so eager to learn.

    Who is lining up so fast?

    Surely you can guess by now. There is Human Rights Watch heading the line, followed by the IGG, David Milliband is eager to get ahead of Louise Arbour and HRW. There are the producers of fake videos of Channel 4, Jeremy Page from the Times London who never stepped onto Sri Lanka but gave blood curdling reports about Menik Farm from across the Palk Strait. They are to be joined soon by Keith Vaz from the UK House of Commons, who must be feeling comfortable at the size of the brown paper envelope in his pocket, gratefully given by the Eelam Tamils of the UK, and some other members of the Commons who will also be glad for the chance for some extra buckshee, when the LibDem-Con Government has presented a very harsh budget with expenditure cuts all round.

    Sounds like quite list of tutors for Ban Ki Moon.

    That’s not all. There is also a whole list of Sri Lankan journalists of one sort or another, now said to be living in exile in the West, some of who contributed to making the Channel 4 video and other misinformation, whom are said to be negotiating terms under which they will come over to educate Ban Ki-moon.

    You mean something like witness protection?

    No. It is negotiations on financial benefits from such education, or private tuition, as it is usually referred to here. With most of them living in the Euro Zone, where the value of the Euro is fast dropping and the economies are shrinking, they are looking for substantial support from UN resources to live in more comfort in self-exile through the munificence of Ban Ki-moon.

    They say he has tried it, but he is not so computer savvy. Also, he gets stumped by place names such as Kebitigollewa and so many Sinhala and Tamil place names unfamiliar to him and also unpronounceable by him that comes up describing LTTE atrocities. He would rather those instances of LTTE atrocities, and especially records of how the Tigers fired from behind at Tamil civilians fleeing them for freedom in the last days of the war, be not brought before him.

    So why doesn’t he take some drugs that result in selective amnesia, to help him forget that atrocities of the LTTE and only lend his ear to those who are ready to talk of alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan troops, and the responsibility an answerability of the Sri Lankan State?

    Who knows he may have tried. We have no access to his medical records, including that of his psychiatrist. They must he very interesting.

    Why do you say that?

    Because he has not appointed any committee of experts to advise him on Guantanamo, which even Obama wants to close down but is unable to do so. And he sees no need for any experts to advise him on what is happening in Afghanistan just now, or even in Pakistan.

    Do you think he prefers ignorance about such matters involving Human Rights and War Crimes – dammit he had no experts advising him of Abu Ghraib either.

    Exactly; he must be thinking of the value of such ignorance, in his bid for election to a second term.

    Well, it just looks as if we must change our familiar line about ignorance, to read as "Ignorance is Moon" .Plenty of bliss for Ban Ki-moon indeed.

  249. By removing General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama may have tried to show that he is not a softie.

    The sacking of the general followed his inflammatory remarks to the Rolling Stone magazine. In the article headlined 'Runaway General', McChrystal and his aides ridiculed Vice President Joe Biden, called Obama's national security advisors 'clowns' and questioned the President's ability to act independently and decisively.

    On Wednesday morning, Obama summoned him to the White House, but did not meet him. Instead, the President announced he was accepting McChrystal's resignation and replacing him with General David Petraeus, the former US commander in Iraq and McChrystal's superior.

    Addressing a White House news conference Obama said: "War is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or a president."

    These tough words were directed as much at McChrystal as they were at the President's critics.

    President Obama, under fire for being too nice to British Petroleum, the company that is responsible for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, grabbed the McChrystal affair to send a message to the American people that their commander-in-chief could get tough if the situation warranted such a stance.

    However, the toughness with which he handled the McChrystal affair is unlikely to shield him from criticism arising out of the BP oil disaster, which some analysts describe as one of the biggest environmental crimes in the planet's history. His actions against BP so far have been mediocre. They are wrapped in too much civility. Shamus Cooke, a trade union activist, in a recent article headlined "Is Obama BP's poodle?', wrote that Obama doesn't challenge BP because he's on its payroll. To back his claim, he cited a May 5, 2010 Reuter report which said: "During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC (Public Affairs Committee) and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records."

    With the manner in which the US administration is handling the oil disaster threatening Obama's re-election prospects in 2012, he is under pressure to protect his presidency from being slammed as lacking the resolve or courage to act decisively in times of crisis. Similar criticism caused President Jimmy Carter's election defeat in 1980.

    Apart from Obama's political survival, the McChrystal affair also tries to cover up the sham in Afghanistan where the US military has been struggling for nine years to defeat the few thousand strong Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

    The administration's Afghan policy lacked clear direction or vision, largely due to differences between Obama administration officials and McChrystal, the highly decorated officer who is known for his military feats, the most spoken about among them being the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. In October last year, McChrystal embarrassed Obama by publicly questioning the administration's reluctance to commit more US troops to Afghanistan. Although, advisors urged Obama to fire McChrystal then, he did not do so. He met McChrystal aboard Air Force One, the president's official aircraft, during a visit to Copenhagen, agreed to send more troops and sorted out the dispute without acting like President Harry Truman.

    Unlike Obama, Truman in 1951 removed General Douglas Macarthur during the height of the Korean War. This happened when the highly-decorated World War II hero disregarded the administration's policy of not extending the Korean War to China and sent an ultimatum to Beijing without consulting the President. Truman saw Macarthur's action not only as a violation of the US constitutional principle that made the military subservient to the civilian leadership but also an attempt to usurp the President's authority to make foreign policy. He was replaced by General Mathew Ridgway.

    In December last year, Obama made a significant speech outlining his administration's Afghan policy. The speech came after he held ten crisis-meetings with top officials. Responding to McChrsytal's request, Obama agreed to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan but gave him an 18-month deadline to finish the job and bring the troops home.

    Since the deadline was set, the US troops have intensified their military operations, killing more civilians than enemy combatants in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan. Wikileaks, the whistleblowers' website, said this week that it would release video footage showing how civilians were killed in US military operations in Afghanistan.

    McChrystal's troops launched their biggest military operation in nine years in Afghanistan's Helmand province which was then becoming a graveyard for occupation troops, especially for the British. The operation was hailed as a major success as it drove the Taliban forces out of the province. McChrystal then planned a similar operation in Kandahar, the Taliban's stronghold. But this operation was put off several times in view of a series of setbacks.

    This month alone, some 76 US and NATO troops have died, making June the deadliest month for occupation forces this year. Meanwhile, the Taliban have returned to Helmand, the province from which not so long ago McChrystal drove them away in a much-publicised military operation. The Taliban also come to Kabul whenever they want. Weeks ago, they fired rockets at a venue where Afghan President Hamid Karzai was holding an elders' jirga or conference.

    If these setbacks were not enough, a congressional report this Monday revealed that a US supply chain paid millions of dollars to warlords to ensure the safety of their trucks. But the warlords paid part of the money to the Taliban and bought their assurance that they would not attack the supply trucks. The report said the Pentagon was thus indirectly financing the Taliban to the tune of $2 million a week.

    It is into this mess, Obama is sending Gen. David Petraeus. The so-called embedded US media claim that his policy of surge has succeeded in bringing the insurgency in Iraq to a controllable level. But the ground reality shows Iraq is not yet safe. Every month, at least 300 people die in clashes or explosions. Even yesterday 12 people died in three suicide blasts.

    With Iraq still a mess, Petraeus is not naïve to adopt for Afghanistan the same strategy that he adopted in Iraq. Afghanistan is different. Its terrain is different. Its people are different. With one third of Obama's 18-month deadline set in December last year passed, the United States' Afghan policy appears to be in disarray. The criticism McChrystal and his men levelled at the Obama administration in the Rolling Stone magazine shows that there were two versions of the official Afghan policy — one interpreted by the White House and the other by McChrystal's military at ground level. With McChrystal's departure, the administration is now free to implement its version largely interpreted by Vice President Biden, who has been an opponent of the surge policy preferred by McChrystal.

    The Biden camp is reported to have called for more air strikes, accelerated training of Afghan forces and the use of US special forces troops to strike against insurgents across the border in Pakistan. This is again a recipe for more civilian deaths and suffering in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

  251. United National Party (UNP) front-liner Sajith Premadasa yesterday blamed the United Nations and the European Union for the dispute that had arisen with Sri Lanka, saying it could cause local and international repercussions. He also blamed the government for giving the UN and the EU an opening to intervene in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.

    He commented on the ‘List of Actions’ or conditions laid down by the EU to consider the extension of GSP+ facility beyond August 15.

    Mr. Premadasa said the EU had no business laying down conditions and creating a dependency culture as far as relations between Sri Lanka and the EU are concerned.

    “Sri Lanka is in no way subjugated to various declarations and proclamations by international institutions. Sri Lanka is an independent and sovereign nation and no longer has colonial masters to tell its people how to govern this country and how to live their lives,” Mr. Premadasa said

  252. Rajapaksa Brutal dictatorship is exploiting All in Sri Lanka!!

    Sri Lankan poor are starving while the huge amount – 200 billion rupees have been splashed out on Sri Lankan Military

    Rajapaksa’s election promises gone with the wind !!

    His ruling party, United People’s Freedom Alliance which had lavished promises prior to April general election including a monthly increase of 2500 rupees to public servants, on the contrary, has increased the price of essentials like fuel, flour, milk products and other services hitting the common man who had been already struggling to make ends meet.

    The Sinhalese people, kept under the spell of the ‘Victory’ of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime over the Tamils and the propaganda of ‘Mahinda Chintana’, but are becoming frustrated by the reality of spiralling prices of essential utility items while Rajapaksa regime is calculating ways to to benefit economically by playing the ‘geo-political’ card with the powers that are locked in a corporate race.

    One cannot help being reminded of the French princess who told starving people to ‘eat cake if they do not have bread’ as Sri Lanka Prime Minister Saturday told people to eat more rice as the solution to wheat price. He added that the price of wheat flour and bread should be further increased so that many people would turn to eating rice

    The UPFA government had earlier cited the war as the cause of increasing prices but the prices keep soaring even after the end of war an year ago. 200 billion rupees have been allocated to Sri Lankan Defence Ministry in the annual budget of 2010, which is to be submitted in the SL Parliament shortly.

    The main opposition party alleges that 110 millions rupees had been spent on the recent International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards ceremony. This kind of unnecessary and excess spending ultimately hurts the poor people of the country.

    The price of flour, the basic requirement for daily consumption, has been increased by Rs. 10.50 bringing the price up to Rs. 73.50 from Rs. 63.00 Consequently, bakeries have started selling a loaf of bread weighing 400 grams at Rs. 44.00 from earlier Rs. 40.00

    Among the many, plantation workers who consume food made of wheat flour for all three meals of the day are the hardest hit by the price hike.

    Meanwhile, the price of Shell gas has been increased by Rs. 219 and Laugh gas by Rs. 325 citing reason the price increase in the world market on May 6.

    Besides, in June the prices of two essential items have been increased. The price for 400 g milk powder has been increased by Rs. 19 and one kilogram milk powder has been increased by Rs. 48. According to the increase, 400 g milk powder has been increased from Rs. 225 to Rs. 244. One kilogram of milk powder has gone up to Rs. 598 from Rs. 550.

    The increase of prices of essential items causes terrible hardship to poor people, patients, children and babies. Meanwhile, Health Ministry in a survey said fifty percent of the children in the north and east are malnourished. The survey has further revealed that children from 12 months to 35 months old are underweight.

    Like other essential food items, the transport is also considered as essential by the ordinary masses. The transport fees also have been increasing monthly. The President of the Private Bus Owners Association recently pointed out that the transport charges have been increased at least 10 times since 2002.

    The increase in the bus fare has been fixed according to the price structure based on the increase of prices of twelve items including fuel, tyre, and tube, he said.

    The president of the association said he is planning to increase the bus fare by five or seven rupees as the authorities concerned have not provided subsidy to private bus sector.

    Meanwhile, opposition politicians in South, who blame large scale corruption in government sectors such as Land, Health, Transport and Resettlement ministries as the main hurdle against improving the economy

  253. SPUR (Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka Inc)
    SPUR (Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka Inc)
    Reg: A003 0777 M
    P.O. Box 4066, Mulgrave VIC 3170, Australia
    Phone: (+613) 9795 7143 Fax: (+613) 9795 7142
    25 June 2010

    CONFIDENTIAL

    To : Mr. Anders Hjertstrand
    Chief of OIOS Internal Audit Division
    Geneva Office

    cc : Ms. Rachel Roy
    Senior Auditor
    UNHCR Audit Service
    Geneva

    Date : 18 May 2010

    Subject : Request for Urgent Investigation and Action on the UNHCR/CORI Report on Sri Lanka
    We would like to kindly request you to investigate and take appropriate action against the UNHCR officials concerned with the commissioning of the Country of Origin Research and Information (CORI), a British company, for the preparation of the UNHCR Sri Lanka Country Report of April 2010. The Report contains questionable and blatantly misleading information leading to misconceptions about Sri Lanka, a long standing Member of the United Nations.

    In this regard, we wish to draw your attention to the following observations for your appraisal and action:

    1. On perusal of the company profile and the skills/experience of the Country of Origin Research and Information Company, a prudent and a responsible Organization such as the United Nations and UNHCR should have had more than one reason to conclude their unsuitability and lack of capability. By commissioning such an outfit, the responsible officers have undermined UNHCR’s credibility, its responsibility and accountability to the United Nations Members, while through such a careless and negligible action, United Nations funds have been improperly used and/or wasted.

    2 The contents in the report are misleading with a number of half truths, leading to a serious loss of confidence of the competence of UNHCR in accepting such a report and the direct irreversible damage caused to the image of Sri Lanka.

    We wish to point out the following specific errors with regard to the information collection methods and facts in relation to the concerned report:

    » The sources of information covered in the report are questionable and in some cases highly partisan and cannot be considered as credible. The report quotes BBC in many instances and one needs to question again and again the credentials of BBC as a reporter or repository of information on Sri Lanka. BBC’s role and its reports on Sri Lanka in the present context since the LTTE’s defeat have come into questioning by the Sri Lankan Government and independent reviewers in Sri Lanka and this factor had been either ignored or skipped the scrutiny of the compiler. The reports on the inadequacies of BBC reporting and presentations have been the subject of many inquiries by the British institutions themselves. BBC sources are accessed nearly 50 instances in this report.
    » Dependence on The Times on-line-UK and the International Crisis Group for some crucial information makes the report biased, especially in the absence of responses of the Sri Lankan Government and Sri Lankan Human Rights Ministry and other relevant institutions. The report even quotes Jeremy Page of The Times of UK, who is a well known journalist using sensational stories for the consumption of followers of the LTTE and their fronts. The International Crisis Group which is another source for the report cannot be considered as an impartial organization vis-à-vis Sri Lanka as its attempt to include Sri Lanka, based on very weak reasons as a R2P case, is well known.
    » The breakdown of the sources of information as cited in the report are as follows:
    » Total number of source references – 835 approximately.
    1.
    1.Western sources – more than 90% and the bulk from the USA.
    2.Sri Lankan sources – 101 (Approximately 85 of these are about Government statistical data. In regard to views and interpretations of incidents discussed, the sources accessed are mainly the Centre for Policy Alternatives and International Centre for Ethnic Studies, two well-known NGOs in Sri Lanka which have been supporting directly or indirectly the virulent anti-Sri Lanka campaigns, including the mythical homeland theory of the LTTE.
    The above facts prove that the British company opted to follow a very easy and simple method to gather and put together a report without any responsibility towards UNHCR as they lacked the competence and the skills required to identify the applicable information to handle the task contracted for.

    1.The omission or incorrect information pertaining to important facts in the report has led the United Nations, UNHCR, Member States and their agencies and also the non-state actors to conclusions which undermine the recognition of the true state of affairs in Sri Lanka. Some instances are indicated below:
    2.Omitting to mention the established historical records of settlement of people in Sri Lanka while misleading the readers that ‘both Sinhala and Tamil settlements existed in Sri Lanka from 3rd Century BC’.
    3. No mention had been made of the destructive policies adopted by the colonial rulers and the impact it had on the politics of modern Sri Lanka while reporting the rule of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English.
    3 The report says that the since the Independence politics of Sri Lanka was dominated by tensions between the Tamils and the Sinhalese and discusses the growth of Sinhala nationalism while omitting the claim of Tamil politicians for 50-50 representation before independence and the formation of the Illankai Tamil Arasu kachchi (Tamil State Party) in 1949.

    1.The report fails to recognize the long-term impact of Tamil political developments since Vaddukodai Resolution of 1976, the legacy of the Indian intervention and the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement.
    2.The report lacks comprehensiveness as it lumps the elected accountable Sri Lankan Government with the LTTE, an armed terrorist group, and the LTTE being given the benefit of the doubt with regard to the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. It should be noted that the LTTE leader himself subsequently claimed responsibility for the assassination of Mr. Gandhi.
    3.The comments on the breakdown of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002, to say the least, are blatantly false.
    4.The report depends on the Human Rights Watch for its narrative on the last stages on the last stages of the war against the LTTE. The information borrowed by CORI is not only incorrect but contradicts even a report commissioned by the United Nations itself!
    We also enclose herein a copy of an article written by Dr Rajiv Wijesinha, Minister of Parliament of Sri Lanka on this report, focussing on the inaccuracies and the misleading nature of the information churned out by the CORI Report.

    We request your urgent attention to initiate an investigation into the selection of the selection of CORI to compile this report and subsequent acceptance of the same by UNHCR, which we consider as a serious dereliction of duty and an act of gross negligence, bordering on deliberately defaming a Member State.

    We are forwarding a copy of our letter to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka and to the media for their information and action.

    Thanking you

    Ranjith Soysa
    SPOKESPERSON

    cc: Mr. Antonio Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees

    Mr. Udo Janz, Director and Special Adviser to the High Commissioner

    Mr. Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, Senior Policy Adviser

    United Nations Ethics Office

  254. ”Karunanithy and his Crocodile tears for Sri Lankan Tamils”

    Strangely, millions of Tamils are thinking that Karunanidhi is honest and sincere with respect Tamil, Tamils and their rights.

    Almost all are dead wrong.

    This kind of thinking is imbibed in us because Karunanidhi has accidentally become the Torch bearer of the Dravidian Movement.

    Let me slightly digress.

    What is the goal of the Dravidian Movement?

    To promote socially backward and oppressed people into mainstream and thereby to nurture an egalitarian society.

    Please understand dravida nadu was never, never, the true goal of the movement.

    All who supported Dravidian Movement first wanted was a social transformation.

    One dimension of such transformation was thinking took the center stage; such a political stand needed virulent people to lead and reach one and all of the society to bring about transformation as wanted by the leaders of Dravidian Movement.

    Karunanidhi was a virulent young man then, and he exactly fitted that requirement.

    So he was able to rise, rise and rise above than every other moderate and well meaning leader until he designated himself as the Torch bearer of the Dravidian Movement and its political offshoot, the DMK.

    During the course of his rise, he was able to negate the competition ruthlessly.

    Since he is the head of Dravidian (or Tamil) movement and has excellent oratorical/literary skills (and a wily politician) everyone thinks he will protect and nurture Tamil, Tamils and their rights

    . Alas, Oratorical/literary skills are not enough to make one as a leader of the nation or community or its aspirations, especially if such skills are blessed on a self centered man.

    The amazing and sorry sides of a democracy is that such people are given blank cheque by the community to decide its course; in this case it was Eelam Tamils.

    Yes, he has amazing literary skills; one would remember his words about TN during early 70s – “Kozhunthu Vitteriyum nerippu valaithukul koluthappadatha karpooram” – meaning “A Camphor inside a fire ball”.

    What a choice of Words!

    TN had no liquor shops then whereas all the nearby states of India had liquor flowing well.

    He then described TN so (but later he admitted and opened liquor shops).

    So no wonder most of us who think about the well-being of Tamil community can easily be swayed by Karunidhi’s words and get cheated squarely!!

    In the 21st Century, especially post 90s after karunandhi successfully erased his challenge within the DMK (ejecting Vaiko) ensured the second and third rung leaders are his only family members. DMK men will remember that from ‘96, Senior Maran was given respect to the same degree that was accorded to Karunanidhi within the Party as insisted by him.

    So my dear Tamil community please do not get swayed by this Karunanidhi. He is conducting Semmozhi Maanadu.

    Semmaozhi can be alternatively thought as sivantha mozhi, meaning language in red.

    Blood is red. Eelam

    Tamils blood was pouring and it is red all over in north east of Srilanka.

    Without moving his little finger what is the point in he having this event?

  257. Mr Karunanithi is celebrating his success in the name of Tamil conference and spending millions of rupees, at the same time, Tamils, the very oldest Tamils race is being killed, Tamils are being forced to marry with Sinhalese, Tamils language and culture is being erased by a brutal racist regime in Sri Lanka just 20 miles from Tamil Nadu!

  258. Breaking News !!!
    The State Dept. spokesperson yesterday responded to a couple questions on the UN war crimes panel at a press conference –

    —————————

    QUESTION: The Sri Lankan Government has refused to give visas to the independent panel appointed by the UN on human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Are you in touch with the Sri Lankan Government on this issue? What’s your take on that?

    MR. CROWLEY: I’ll take the question as to whether we’ve had a particular discussion on this subject. Certainly, as we’ve stressed in Sri Lanka many times, it has – there’s an important opportunity here to change its relations with its population and subgroups within its population. Human rights is an essential element of Sri Lanka’s future and it should take the opportunity, cooperate broadly, and establish a new dynamic and relationship with its people.

    QUESTION: Do you think at this point of time it’s right for the UN to go in and have its own investigations?

    MR. CROWLEY: That’s a matter for the UN.
    ———————————————————————-

    we are grasping at straws here……

  259. Deadliest attacks
    Attack Date Location Death toll Sources
    2006 Digampathana bombing October 16, 2006 Digampathaha, Dambulla North Central Province (Army Personal) 92–103
    Kebithigollewa massacre June 15, 2006 Kebithigollewa, Northern Province 66
    Gonagala massacre September 18, 1999 Gonagala, Eastern Province 54
    Dehiwala train bombing July 24, 1996 Dehiwala, Western Province 64
    Central Bank bombing January 31, 1996 Colombo, Western Province 91 [4]
    October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres October 16, 1995 Villages in eastern Sri Lanka 120
    Kallarawa massacre May 25, 1995 Kallarawa, Eastern Province 42
    Palliyagodella massacre October 15, 1991 Palliyagodella, Eastern Province 109 [5][6]
    Kattankudi mosque massacre August 4, 1990 Kattankudy, Eastern Province 147 [7]
    Aranthalawa Massacre July 2, 1987 Aranthalawa, North Central Province 35
    Habarana bus massacre April 17, 1987 Habarana, North Central Province 127 [5][8]
    Anuradhapura massacre May 14, 1985 Anuradhapura, North Central Province 146 [4][6]
    Kent and Dollar Farm massacres November 30, 1984 Kent and Dollar Farm, Mullaitivu 62
    Suicide Air Raid on Colombo February 20, 2009 Colombo, Western Province 2
    The following incomplete list is constantly being updated. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.
    [edit] 1983
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    July 23 Black July: 13 soldiers are killed in an LTTE ambush in Jaffna, sparking anti-Tamil riots that cause the death of approximately 4000 Tamils across Sri Lanka during four days, in what would be later labelled as Black July. Jaffna, Jaffna District 13 13 [9][10]
    [edit] 1984

    1984 marked the intensification of the war between the Tamil separatists and the Sri Lankan government, as well as the first reports of civilian massacres by the LTTE.
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    November 11 Dollar Farm massacre: A group of armed LTTE cadres attacked the Dollar Farm village in the night and massacred at least 33 civilians including large number of children and women. Mullaitivu District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka 33 33 [11]
    November 30 Kent Farm massacre: LTTE terrorists launched their second night raid targeting the Kent Farm village and massacred 29 civilians, including women and children, looted their belongings and set fire on to their houses. Mullaitivu District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka 29 29 [11]
    December 1 Kokilai massacre: LTTE cadres kill eleven Sinhalese civilians in the fishing village of Kokilai. Kokkilai, Mullaitivu District 11 11 [5]
    December 31 LTTE members kill 4 Tamil civilians and dump them outside of Batticaloa for refusing to fight for the group. Altogether 30 Tamil civilians were killed for similar reasons in 1984. Batticaloa, Batticaloa District 30 30 [12]
    [edit] 1985

    1985 marked a major escalation of hostilities. For the first time the LTTE attacked a major Sinhalese majority town killing 146 unarmed civilians. The impact of this attack was felt across the island and received world wide attention.
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    January 20 22 soldiers and 10 civilians are killed in a train explosion set off by the LTTE. Colombo, Western District 33 33 [13]
    May 5 Wilpattu Village Massacre: A group of armed LTTE terrorists raided an ancient Sinhalese village in Wilpattu in Anuradhapura district killing 18 villagers including women and children. Wilpattu, Anuradhapura District 18 18 [14]
    May 14 Anuradhapura massacre: LTTE gunmen shoot dead 146 Sinhalese civilians and injure 85 others as they were praying at a sacred Buddhist shrine in Anuradhapura. Anuradhapura, Anuradhapura District 146 146 [9]
    May 14 LTTE cadres shoot dead 18 Sinhalese civilians in the Wilpattu forest reserve while they are fleeing from the massacre of 146 civilians earlier in the day (see Anuradhapura massacre). Wilpattu forest reserve 18 18 [5]
    May 30 LTTE cadres shoot and kill five Sinhalese civilians in the villages of Mahandapura And Dehiwatta. People of these villages had previously received numerous threats from the LTTE associates. This massacre was part of a series of massacres aimed at displacing Sinhalese from the North East of Sri Lanka. Mahandapura and Dehiwatta 5 5 [15]
    June 4 Dehiwatta Village Massacre: Over 100 LTTE terrorists armed with sharp weapons butchered 15 villagers of Dehiwatta in Polonnaruwa district on their sleeping mats. Majority of the victims were women and children. Dehiwatta, Polonnaruwa District 15 15 [14]
    June 11 13 Sinhalese civilians are shot dead by LTTE gunmen in Dehiwatta. Dehiwatta 13 13 [5]
    August 2 LTTE cadres shot dead three Sinhalese Buddhist monks and three civilians, while they were worshipping at the Ruhunu Somavathiya Temple. Thrikonamadu, Polonnaruwa 6 6 [5]
    August 14 Aranthalawa Village Massacre: A group of armed LTTE terrorists raided a Sinhalse village at Aranthalawa , in Ampara district . The LTTE butchered 7 villagers. Aranthalawa, Ampara District 7 7 [14]
    August 18 Namalwatta Village Massacre I: A group of LTTE terrorists armed with sharp weapons hacked 7 villagers. Namalwatta, Trincomalee 7 7 [14]
    November 7 Namalwatta Village Massacre II: LTTE cadres raided Namalwatta village for the second time and executed 10 villagers including women and children. Namalwatta, Trincomalee 10 10 [14]
    December 20 Six Madhu pilgrims, abducted by the LTTE on 12/12/85 were executed. Mannar, Mannar District 6 [5]
    [edit] 1986
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    February 2 Kantale Village massacre: A group LTTE terrorist armed with small arms and swords raided Kantale village and killed 19 civilians. Kantale, Trincomalee District 19 [16]
    February 19 When refugees from Serunuwara, Dehiwatta were being escorted by army personnel along Ella/Kantalai road, LTTE exploded a mine killing 35 civilians and four army personnel. Sittaru Kantalai, Trincomalee District 39 [5]
    May 3 Air Lanka Flight UL512: LTTE bomb explodes aboard Air Lanka flight carrying mainly French, British and Japanese tourists killing 21 (including 13 foreigners – of whom 2 British, 2 German, 3 French, 2 Japanese, 1 Maldivian and 1 Pakistani) and injuring 41 on Bandaranaike International Airport. Katunayake, Western Province 21 [5][17]
    May 5 Kinniya Village massacre: A group of LTTE terrorists slaughtered four civilians. Kinniya, Trincomalee District 4 4 [16]
    May 25 Mahadivulwewa Village massacre: LTTE cadres shot dead 20 Sinhalese and set fire to 20 houses. Mahadivulwewa, Anuradhapura District 20 20 [5][16]
    June 2 Trincomalee 3rd Mile post: LTTE terrorists armed with fire arms, swords, and knives stormed civilian houses at 3rd Mile Post, Trincomalee and butchered 10 civilians, including women and children Trincomalee 10 [16]
    June 4 Andankulam Village massacre: LTTE terrorists attacked Andankulam, a Sinhala village, 17–20 civilians, including Ven. Bakamune Subaddalanakara Thero, were killed. Andankulam, Trincomalee District 17–20 17–20 [5][16]
    June 11 Trincomalee Two bombs exploded by LTTE almost simultaneously in two buses in front of the Bank of Ceylon and in close proximity to the SP office along Inner Harbour Road. They were on their way to Kantalai and Colombo respectively. 22 people were killed in the explosions; 75 others were injured. Trincomalee 22 [5][16]
    June 21 Wilgamwehera Village massacre: LTTE terrorists stormed Wilgamwehera hamlet in Trincomalee district and butchered 9 civilians including children. Wilgamwehera, Trincomalee District 9 [16]
    June 25 Bomb exploded in a vehicle by LTTE killed 16 Sinhalese. Sittaru, Kantalai 16 16 [5]
    July 8 Monkey Bridge Village massacre: LTTE cadres shot dead 15 Sinhalese villagers. Monkey Bridge, Trincomalee District 15 15 [5][16]
    July 9 Mollipothana Village massacre: LTTE terrorists armed with swords, machetes and clubs stormed Mullipothana village during night hours killing 16 civilians, largely women and children were killed. Mullipothana, Trincomalee District 16 [16]
    July 13 Pavakkulam Village massacre: Four LTTE cadres who had come in a jeep to tract No.16, Pavakkulam, killed eleven civilians (two Sinhalese and nine Tamils). Pavakkulam, Trincomalee District 2 9 11 [5][16]
    July 19 Beruwil & Wadigawewa Village massacre: Over 100 armed LTTE terrorists armed with sharp weapons, clubs and small arms stormed Beruwil and Waigawewa villages. 17 villagers were killed including women and children. At least 5 others suffered serious cut wounds Beruwil & Wilgamwehera, Trincomalee District 17 [16]
    July 19 LTTE cadres shot dead twelve Sinhalese villagers. Wadigawewa, North Central Province 12 12 [5]
    July 22 LTTE cadres exploded a land-mine on a civilian bus, killing 32 Sinhalese civilians and injuring 20 others. Mammaduwa, Vavuniya District 32 32
    July 24 A bomb exploded inside a bus proceeding from Vavuniya to Anuradhapura; killing 13 passengers and injuring 40 others. 13 [5]
    July 24 About 50 LTTE cadres entered Damana, a Sinhalese village, and killed nine persons; another 13 were injured. Damana, Central Province 9 [5]
    September 17 Massacre in the Sugar crops: LTTE cadres entered block No.4 Sugar Corp., Kantalai and ten civilians were shot to death. Kantalai, Trincomalee District 7 1 2 10 [5]
    September 17 Wadigawewa Village massacre: After massacring 10 villagers in Kantale, the same terrorists group attacked the village of Wadigawewa. 12 villagers including women and children were killed Wadigawewa, Trincomalee District 12 [16]
    [edit] 1987

    * February 7: Arantalawa, Ampara: LTTE cadres killed 28 villagers by slashing their necks.[5]
    * March 7: Awarantalawa, Vavuniya: LTTE exploded a land-mine where troops were proceeding, killing seven soldiers, four NAF soldiers and six civilians.[5]
    * March 22: Serunuwara Horowpathana: LTTE cadres shot dead 26 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * April 16: Habarana, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 127 Sinhalese civilians , including 31 police and security force personnel who were travelling in buses to Trincomalee.[5][8]
    * April 21: Central Bus Stand, Pettah: LTTE operatives exploded a bomb, killing 113 civilians, two policemen and a soldier; 298 others were injured.[4]
    Further information: Central Bus Station Bombing
    * April 21: Jayanthipura Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 15 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * May 29: Kadawathmadu, Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres shot dead seven Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * June 2: A bus carrying Buddhist monks in Arantalawa was stopped by the LTTE who then killed 32 Buddhist monks (including Chief Priest Ven. Hegoda Indrasara) who were passengers of this bus. Only one monk survived this massacre. This was the first massacre of Buddhist monks in modern Sri Lankan history.[18]
    Further information: Aranthalawa Massacre
    * June 11: Veppankulam Trincomalee Private van No. 38 Sri 496 proceeding from Horowpathana to Trincomalee was blasted by a pressure mine by LTTE, killing one soldier and 13 civilians.[5]
    * June 12: Godapotta, Medirigiriya Polonnaruwa: About 175 villagers had gathered to discuss a new temple. LTTE fighters surrounded the temple and attacked them, killing eight villagers and a soldier. Six persons were injured.[5]
    * July 5: In the first ever suicide attack by the LTTE Black Tigers "Captain Miller", drives a small truck laden with explosives into a Sri Lanka Army camp in Nelliady, Jaffna peninsula, killing himself and over 50 Sri Lankan soldiers.
    * October 6: Batticaloa: LTTE cadres shot dead 18 Sinhalese civilians.[5]
    * October 6: Sagarapura, Kuchchuveli Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 27 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * October 6: Thalawai Eravur: LTTE cadres shot dead 25 Sinhalese settlers.[5]
    * October 6: Valaichchenai Batticaloa: The night-mail train from Batticaloa was stopped by LTTE cadres and 40 Sinhalese passengers were killed.[5]
    * October 7: Pottuvil Monargala Road: LTTE cadres shot dead 25 Sinhalese passengers, who were traveling by bus. They also killed five motor-cyclists who came along the same route.[5]
    * October 10: Gantalawa Kantalai: LTTE cadres shot dead ten Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * October 15: Ella, Kantalai Road, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 14 Sinhalese passengers traveling on two lorries.
    * October 16: Pulimodai Trincomalee: LTTE cadres stopped a private bus, took out Sinhalese persons and killed eleven of them including three policemen.[5]
    * October 19: Kalkudah Batticaloa: Private bus 23 – 1182 transporting Tamil passengers got caught on an LTTE land-mine, killing 40 persons and an IPKF soldier[5]
    * November 9: Maradana Colombo: LTTE operatives exploded a bomb in a vehicle: 23 civilians killed, 106 were injured, 15 were shot dead.
    * November 11: Kalkuda, Batticaloa: Seven Sinhalese persons selling fish were shot dead by the LTTE.[5]
    * November 12: Cheddikulam, Vavuniya: A van transporting passengers was blasted by an LTTE land-mine explosion, killing twelve Tamil persons and 13 PLOTE members.[5]
    * December 15: Devalagodella, Polonnaruwa: The LTTE attacked Devalagodella and Somavathiya village, killing nine villagers.[5]
    * December 22: Morawewa, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres abducted five Sinhalese and a Tamil, who were fishing in Morawewa Tank and subsequently killed them.[5]
    * December 31: Mahadivulwewa Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead ten villagers and burnt 15 houses.[5]

    [edit] 1988

    * March 2: Morawewa, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 14 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * March 11: Suhadagama Horowpathana Anuradhapura: A group of LTTE cadres attacked a private bus, 22 Sri 2218, at Suhadagamaw with small arms and grenades, killing 19 passengers and injuring nine others.[5]
    * March 14: Galmitiyawa, Kantalai: LTTE cadres shot dead 13 Sinhalese villagers at Galmitiyawa.[5]
    * March 15: Kivulkade, Morawewa, Trincomalee: Two groups of LTTE operatives entered the village and killed seven Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * March 17: Deegavapiya, Damana, Ampara: LTTE cadres hacked to death 13 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * March 22: Pudukulam, Vavuniya: Between ten and 15 LTTE cadres attacked the Sinhalese village and killed six villagers. Another three were injured.[5]
    * March 22: Medavachchi-kulam Vavuniya: LTTE cadres shot dead nine Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * March 29: Wewalketiya: A LTTE bomb exploded inside CTB bus 29 Sri 9037 Anuradhapura which was proceeding from Horowpathana to Medavachchiya, killing nine passengers and injuring 14 others.[5]
    * March 31: Saindamaradu, Kalmunai: LTTE cadres attacked the village, killing ten Muslims and seven Tamils.[5]
    * April 8: Horowpathana, Meegaswewa, Anuradhapura: LTTE gunmen killed 14 Sinhalese.[5]
    * May 1: Sittaru Kantalai, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres exploded a land-mine on a CTB bus killing twelve Sinhalese, nine Muslims and five others, who were not identified.[5]
    * July 28: Ethawetunawewa, Weli Oya: LTTE operatives hacked to death 16 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * August 16: Trincomalee (opposite Clock Tower): LTTE cadres exploded a bomb, killing sixe Sinhalese, two Muslims, one Tamil and a soldier; 19 persons sustained injuries.[5]
    * August 25: Marawila, Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres killed eleven civilians by cutting their necks.[5]
    * September 10: 16th Colony, Central Camp Ampara: LTTE cadres shot dead seven Sinhalese and four Tamils.[5]
    * October 9: Mahakongaskada Medavachchiya: LTTE cadres shot dead 44 Sinhalese villagers and set fire to eleven houses.[5]
    * November 14: Paniketiyawa, Gomarakadawela Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 28 Sinhalese, including two security force personnel.[5]

    [edit] 1989
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    January 17 Maharambekulam Village massacre 9 9 [19]
    February 2 Bogamuyaya Village massacre 11 11 [5][19]
    February 11 Dutuwewa Village massacre Dutuwewa, Polonnaruwa District 37 37 [5][19]
    February 11 Singhapura Village massacre Singhapura, Sri Lanka 6 6 [5][5][19]
    February 27 Borawewa Village bloodbath Borawewa, Polonnaruwa District 38 38 [5][19]
    August 17 Nochchikulam Village massacre: An IDE explosion, killing eight civilians and injuring four others. Nochchikulam, Vavuniya District 8 [5]
    [edit] 1990
    See also: Massacre of police officers in Eastern Sri Lanka in June 1990

    * June 10: The LTTE signals the breakdown of ceasefire talks by overrunning police stations located throughout the North East of Sri Lanka. The LTTE massacred most of the 400 to 600 police officers captured after they had surrendered to the LTTE during this attack.[20]
    * June 10: Over 400 unarmed police officers are shot dead by the LTTE in Police Stations across eastern Sri Lanka.[21]
    Further information: Massacre of police officers in Eastern Sri Lanka in June 1990
    * June 15: 11 soldiers are killed in Kalmunai by the LTTE and their bodies are desecrated.[22]
    * July 23: Veeracholai, Batticaloa: LTTE cadres killed eight persons, thought to be Muslims and hanged them on trees.[5]
    * July 24: Damminna, Aralaganvila Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres hacked to death eight Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * July 25: Wan Ela, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres hacked to death nine Sinhalese villagers who were cutting firewood.[5]
    * July 26: Thammannaelawaka Medavachchiya: LTTE cadres hacked and shot to death 19 Sinhalese and set fire to 30 houses.[5]
    * July 30: Akkaraipattu Batticaloa: LTTE cadres shot dead 14 Muslims in the town.[5]
    * July 31: Podankadu, Peraru, Kantalai: Ten Tamil civilians were killed by unidentified gunmen.[5]
    * August 3: Over 30 Tamil Tiger cadres attacked four Muslim mosques in Kattankudy in Batticaloa district, killing at least 147 Muslims who were praying in the mosques.[23]
    Further information: Kattankudi mosque massacre
    * August 5: Mulliyankadu, Ampara: LTTE cadres killed 17 Muslim farmers working in a paddy-field.[5]
    * August 6: Ampara: LTTE cadres killed 33 Muslim farmers working in a paddy-field.[5]
    * August 7: Bandaraduwa, Uhana, Ampara: About 40 LTTE cadres went to a Sinhalese village and killed 30 Sinhalese and injured four.[5]
    * August 8: Navagamuwa, Anuradhapura: LTTE cadres attacked a Sinhalese village and killed seven civilians; four persons were injured.[5]
    * August 11: Division 3 & 6 Eravur LTTE cadres attacked Div. 3 & 6, Eravur, killing 116 Muslims and injuring 20 others.[5]
    * August 13: 15th Mile Post, Pulmoddai, Weli Oya: Twenty-five civilians who were travelling in a lorry from Negombo at Kokuvil were ambushed by LTTE cadres, who killed 14 of them.[5]
    * August 13: Awarantalawa Vavuniya A Muslim village adjoining a Sinhalese village was attacked by LTTE cadres; nine Muslims and one Sinhalese were killed. Three others were injured.[5]
    * September 13: Poonani, Batticaloa LTTE cadres hacked to death seven Muslim civilians and injured one.[5]
    * September 19: Vellamundal, Puttalam: LTTE cadres killed 23 Sinhalese and set fire to eleven houses at the fishing village.[5]
    * September 21: Pudukudiyirippu Ampara: LTTE cadres attacked the village killing 15 Muslims and injuring eleven.[5]
    * September 30: Peraweltalawa, Maha Oya, Ampara: LTTE cadres hacked to death nine Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * October: The LTTE expelled, within 48 hours, 80,000 Muslims living under their control in the northern districts of the island: Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaittivu, and Mannar. Each civilian was only allowed to carry 150 Sri Lankan rupees when they were expelled from LTTE areas.[23]
    Further information: Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna
    * October 2: Vahalkada, Ampara: LTTE cadres shot dead seven Sinhalese.[5]
    * October 11: Arugambay, Ampara: LTTE cadres shot dead nine Muslims.[5]
    * October 23: Thanthirimalai, Anuradhapura: LTTE cadres killed eight Sinhalese and two home guards.[5]
    * November 1: Halambawewa, Sinhapura, Weli Oya: LTTE cadres attacked the village and killed ten Sinhalese.[5]

    [edit] 1991

    * January 23: Bogamuyaya Maha Oya, Ampara: LTTE cadres hacked to death 25 Sinhalese villagers and injured nine others, four subsequently succumbed to their injuries.[5]
    * March 2: At least 19 people, including Sri Lanka's Deputy Defence Minister, Ranjan Wijeratne killed in an LTTE car bomb explosion in Colombo. A further 73 people injured.[18]
    * March 24: Bogamuyaya, Akkaraipattu: Bomb explosion carried out by LTTE at Fish Market Akkaraipattu, killing nine Muslims and injuring 32 others.[5]
    * March 31: Irudayapuram Batticaloa: LTTE cadres shot dead eight civilians at the market in the night.[5]
    * April 3: Keviliya, Foul Point, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres in two boats surrounded several boats and opened fire at the fishermen. Ten dead bodies and eleven injured were found. Sixteen were missing. The missing persons were either taken away or drowned after being shot.[5]
    * April 14: Ethimalai, Monaragala: LTTE cadres hacked to death 17 Sinhalese villagers and injured another.[5]
    * April 20: Niyadella, Okkampitiya, Moneragala: LTTE cadres attacked the village and hacked and shot to death 21 men, women and children.[5]
    * May 19: Erakkamam, Ampara LTTE cadres attacked five Muslims and two Sinhalese persons, whilst they were returning from the paddy-field, killing six persons and injuring one.[5]
    * May 21: LTTE suicide bomber Thenmuli Rajaratnam assassinated former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi while the latter was campaigning for a parliamentary candidate in Tamil Nadu, also killing an additional 13 civilians.[4] Following the assassination, seven suspected LTTE activists committed suicide after being surrounded by police.[24] In June 2006, the LTTE issued a formal apology for this action. However, the Indian government quickly responded saying forgiving Tamil Tigers for the 1991 killing of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi would amount to endorsing their ideology of terror.[25]
    * May 21: Sriperumbudur, India: An LTTE suicide bomber kills former Indian Prime Minister and Indian Opposition Leader Rajiv Gandhi and 14 others.[26]
    * May 20: Malwatta, Sammanthurai, Ampara: LTTE cadres fired on a group of Muslims who were returning from the paddy-field in a tractor; nine Muslims were killed and two injured.[5]
    * June: Colombo: 12 killed and 85 civilians injured after a suicide bombing outside the Joint Operations Command (JOC) building on Flower Road, Colombo 7.[27]
    * June 12: Kokkadicholai, Batticaloa: LTTE Bomb explosion in Manmunai ferry kills ten civilians.[5]
    * June 24: Weligahakandiya Batticaloa: LTTE cadres abducted and killed eight Sinhalese and injured one Tamil.[5]
    * June 27: Lahugala, Ampara: LTTE cadres exploded two claymore mines and opened fire at the passengers of a private bus; 16 civilians were killed and eight wounded.[5]
    * July: The army's Elephant Pass base, which controls access to the Jaffna peninsula, is surrounded by 5,000 LTTE cadres. More than two thousand died on both sides in the month-long siege, before 10,000 government troops arrived to relieve the base.[28]
    * July 6: Pudur, Jaffna: LTTE cadres cut and killed nine Muslims and moved towards the Mahaweli river bank and cut to death another eight persons, injuring four others. One of the injured succumbed to his injuries. Total killed: 16 Muslims and two Sinhalese.[5]
    * July 6: Karapola, Manampitiya, Polonnaruwa: Nine Sinhala fishermen were abducted by LTTE cadres and killed.[5]
    * August 8: Sammanthurai, Batticaloa: Six Muslims farmers killed by LTTE cadres.[5]
    * September 19: Palliyagodella, Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres attacked a Muslim village, killing 13 Muslims and injuring six others.[5]
    * October 24: Iqbal Nagar: LTTE cadres who were in ambush, fired at a civilian van killing three Tamils and three Muslims.[5]

    [edit] 1992

    * January 26: Between Arantalawa and Borapola LTTE mine explosion killed nine civilians in a bus.[5]
    * April 10: Ampara Town: A LTTE bomb exploded in a bus causing the death of 25 civilians and injuring 33 civilians. One policeman was also killed and two army personnel were wounded.[5]
    * April 10: Maharagama: A LTTE car bomb exploded, causing the death of eight civilians; one policeman and 23 civilians were injured.[5]
    * April 29: LTTE cadres kill 69 Muslim civilians including 5 infants. Reprisal attacks by Muslim civilians and homeguards results in the death of 49 Tamil men.[29]
    * April 29: Alinchipothana, Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres attacked the Alinchipothana village, killing 56 Muslims and injuring 15.[30]
    * June 2: 209th Mile Post Ampara: A group of LTTE cadres stopped a bus opened fire, killing 14 civilians, one policeman, and injuring two civilians and one policeman.[5]
    * July 6: Parayankaulam, Vavuniya: LTTE cadres publicly shot dead ten Tamil lorry drivers and a woman, alleging that they had passed information to the security forces.[5]
    * July 15: Kirankulam, Batticaloa: LTTE cadres attacked a civilian bus proceeding from Kathankudy towards Kalmunai, killing 19 Muslims and injuring seven Muslims.[5]
    * July 21: Parangiyamadu, Batticaloa: LTTE cadres stopped a train, ordered the passengers to get down and opened fire at the Muslim passengers: seven Muslims were killed and four Muslims were injured.[5]
    * August 30: Trincomalee Town: A LTTE bomb planted in a private bus at the bus-stand exploded, killing nine civilians and injuring 34 (including four soldiers, two reserve policemen).[5]
    * September 1: Saindamaradu, Kalmunai: A LTTE bomb fixed to a push-cycle carrying an ice-cream container, exploded at the market, killing 22 Muslims and injuring 67 others.[5]
    * September 10: Kiliveddi Point, Trincomalee: LTTE operatives blasted a ferry across Allai Tank and killed 22 soldiers and seven civilians, and injured one soldier and two civilians.[5]
    * October 1: Konwewa Weli Oya: LTTE cadres fired and threw grenades at villagers, killing 15 civilians and injuring nine others.[5]
    * October 15: Palliyagodella Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres attacked a Muslim village and shot and hacked to death 182 civilians (171 of them were Muslims), twelve policemen and eight soldiers; 83 others were injured.[5][6]
    Further information: Palliyagodella massacre
    * November 16: An anti-rebel website claimed that the Sri Lanka Navy Commander Vice Admiral Clancy Fernando and four others are killed by LTTE suicide bomber.[31]

    [edit] 1993
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    May 1 Sri Lanka Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa: Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa killed in LTTE suicide bomb attack at a May Day Rally. Colombo, Colombo District 1 ? ? 1 [4]
    July 25 Janakapura Village massacre: The LTTE raids a Sinhalese village and kills nine civilians by means of stabbing, shooting and blowing up with grenades. Janakapura 9 [32]
    November 10 Attack on Pooneryn army camp: Eight officers and 233 soldiers were declared killed in action in LTTE's attack on the Pooneryn defences. The LTTE also executed 200 soldiers captured during this attack on the Pooneryn army camp. Pooneryn army camp, Pooneryn 241 [20]
    [edit] 1994
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    January 19 Rambewa bus bombing: A LTTE bomb exploded in a private bus carrying civilians from Sripura to Anuradhapura, causing the death of ten Sinhalese civilians and injuring 51. Rambewa, Anuradhapura District 10 10 [5]
    March 16 Kudiramalai Fishing boats Attack: LTTE cadres attacked about ten fishing boats, causing the death of 17 fishermen and injuring three; five fishermen were reported missing. Off Kudiramalai, Puttalam District 17 [5]
    October 24 Assassination of Gamini Dissanayake: Sri Lankan presidential candidate and opposition leader Gamini Dissanayake is killed by an LTTE suicide bomber who explodes herself at a campaign rally in Colombo. At least 50 others were killed in the blast and a further 75 were seriously hurt. Colombo, Colombo District ≈50 ≈50 [9][33][34]
    [edit] 1995

    * May 25: During the Kallarawa massacre 42 civilians including six children are killed by the LTTE in an attack on the Kallarawa fishing village.[35]
    * May 25: LTTE cadres attack a fishing village in Kallarawa, and hack and shot to death 42 civilians (22 males, twelve females and eight children).[36][37][38]
    Further information: Kallarawa massacre
    * August 7: Colombo: An LTTE suicide bomber explodes a suicide rickshaw killing 22 civilians.[31]
    * October 20: Kolonnawa, Colombo: LTTE attacked the oil storage complexes at Kolonnawa and Orugodawatta. At least three suicide bombers fought their way into the tanks and blew themselves up destroying the tanks. LTTE lost four cadres in the action while killing 22 security personnel and destroying diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel and crude oil worth over US $10 million.[39]
    * October 21: Mangalagama: LTTE cadres kill 16 civilians.[36]
    * October 25: Panama: LTTE cadres kill twelve Sinhala farmers.[37][38]
    * November 11: Colombo: A LTTE suicide bomber causes an explosion near the Slave Island railway station resulting in the death of 15 children and two soldiers.[31]
    * November 24: Colombo: An attack by two LTTE female suicide bombers on the Sri Lanka Army Headquarters results in the death of 16 people.[31]
    * December 11: Colombo: Two LTTE suicide bombers blow themselves up at the Army Headquarters, resulting in the deaths of 15 civilians and three soldiers.[31]
    * December 23: The LTTE attacked an army detachment in Batticaloa district, killing 32 troops. Military sources reported that more than 60 rebels were killed.[40]

    [edit] 1996

    * January 31: An attack by the LTTE on the Colombo Central Bank killed 90 and injured a further 1,400 civilians, damaging other buildings in the process. It was the most deadly LTTE attack on a civilian target in the history of the group's operations.[4]
    * January 31: Bombing of Sri Lanka's Central Bank resulting in 91 civilian deaths.[4]
    * March 19: 29 Tamil civilians killed by LTTE, as they were accused of being traitors and giving information to Security Forces.[36]
    * June 11: Lunuoya LTTE kills 14 civilians. According to Amnesty International, this attack was reportedly led by an LTTE member whose family had been killed in communal violence, after the LTTE attacked a police post. The main target of this appears to have been the family of those thought to have been responsible for the killing of this LTTE member's family.[36]
    * July 4: Jaffna: An attack by an LTTE suicide bomber on a Sri Lankan minister results in the death of 25 people.[31][41]
    * July 18: The LTTE overruns the Sri Lanka Army camp at Mullaitivu. The number of killed in action and missing in action Sri Lankan soldiers from this attack was over 1200.[42] The LTTE appear to have burnt alive hundreds of Sri Lankan soldiers who had surrendered during the attack on the Mullaitivu army camp.[43]
    * July 24: The LTTE bombs a passenger train killing 70 civilians.[4]
    * July 24: Dehiwala train bombing where the LTTE exploded 4 bombs on Colombo-Alutgama train at Dehiwala killing between 60[44] and 70 civilians.[4] The technique of simultaneously exploding multiple bombs in several carriages was used during this attack.[44]

    [edit] 1997
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    February 10 Oddaimvadi Village attack: A group LTTE terrorist attacked Oddaimavadi Muslim village in Batticaloa. The terrorists shot 5 civilians to death and wounded 3 others. Oddaimavadi, Batticaloa District 5 5 [45]
    May 12 Morawewa Village attack: LTTE terrorists attacked police station of Morawewa and the village in Trincomalee. The terrorists butchered 5 civilians in this attack. Morawewa, Trincomalee District 5 [45]
    July 2 Erakkandy Village Massacre: Over 100 LTTE terrorists wielding sharp weapons, clubs and firearms stormed Erakkandy Muslim village in Trincomalee and butchered 34 civilians. Erakkandy, Trincomalee District 34 34 [45]
    October 15 1997 Colombo World Trade Centre Bombing: An LTTE bomb exploded at the Colombo World Trade Centre, killing 13 and injuring hundreds. Colombo, Colombo District 13 [6][46]
    [edit] 1998

    * January 25: Four likely members of the Black Tiger squad drove an explosives-laden truck into the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, a major Buddhist shrine, killing seven and injuring 25. The attack took place just days before foreign dignitaries were expected to attend celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of Sri Lankan independence at the temple.[4]
    * January 25: Four members of the Black Tiger squad drive an explosives-laden truck into a major Buddhist shrine, killing seven and injuring 25.[4] The Maligawa is one of the most sacred Buddhist shrines in the world, and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[31]
    * March 5: LTTE is blamed for two bomb explosions aboard buses in Colombo killing thirty-two civilians and injuring 252 others.[4]
    * May 14: A member of the Black Tiger squad jumped in front of a vehicle carrying Sri Lankan Brigadier Larry Wijeratne and detonated explosives, killing the general and two guards. Wijeratne was the commander of Sri Lankan forces in the Point Pedro area of the Jaffna peninsula in the Tamil-inhabited north of the country. Press reports described the assassination as a "serious blow" to the government's efforts in the area.
    * August 29: The LTTE shoot down a AN-24 Lionair Flight 602 with 55 passengers (including 48 Tamils) and crew while it was flying over LTTE held territory. Everyone onboard is killed.[47][48]
    * September: In a massive LTTE offensive 1,500 soldiers are killed (Battle of Kilinochchi), 3,000 wounded and 500 are missing.[49]

    [edit] 1999

    * June 2: Eleven Sinhalese civilians were murdered at Inginiyagala.[50]
    * July 29: An LTTE suicide bomber killed Sri Lankan Tamil MP Dr.Neelan Thiruchelvam along with two others. Six civilians were injured. At the time of his death Dr.Neelan Thiruchelvam was working on a constitutional package aimed at ending the decades long ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.[51]
    * September 18: LTTE cadres massacre at least 50 Sinhalese civilians in three villages in Ampara District.[9][52][53][54]
    Further information: Gonagala massacre
    * November 1: An LTTE attack on an army camp at Oddusuddan results in an SLA defeat with 800 soldiers killed or missing and another 1,200 deserted (See Oddusuddan offensive).[49]
    * December 11 – January 2, 2000: 212 soldiers are killed in heavy fighting. Also another 37 are missing and 2,118 are wounded.[49]
    * December 18: A LTTE suicide bomber kills 23 civilians in attempt to kill Sri Lankan president Kumaratunga at a pre-election rally.[4][55]
    * December 18: In Colombo LTTE suicide bomber Skandaraja Ashoka kills eleven people and retired Sri Lanka Army Major General Lucky Algama.[31]

    [edit] 2000

    * January 5: An LTTE suicide bomber blows herself up outside the office of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka killing 13 civilians and three police officers.[31][55]
    * January 7: An LTTE suicide bomber kills Sri Lankan Industrial Minister C.V. Gunaratne and 24 civilians.[31][56]
    * January 27: LTTE bomb a post office killing eleven and injuring 70.[57][58]
    * March 11: 14 civilians and six police die when four LTTE suicide bombers attempt to assassinate the defence minister. 46 others are injured[31][57]
    * April 22: The LTTE overrun the most important military base in the Northern province, the Elephant Pass base (See Second Battle of Elephant Pass ).[59]
    * May 18: An LTTE bomber killed 23 and injured 70 at a Buddhist temple in Batticaloa during celebrations of the Vesak holiday.[60]
    * May 17: The LTTE detonate a bomb hidden inside an ice-cream box on a bicycle during celebrations to mark the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar, Vesak, killing over 20 people and injuring 75.[61]
    * June 26: LTTE suicide boats sink a chartered private ship M.V. Uhana. Five civilian crew and three navy personnel die.[31]
    * September 15: An anti-rebel website claimed that in Colombo a suicide bomber explodes in front of the main government hospital in Colombo resulting in seven civilian deaths. 28 civilians are injured.[31]
    * October 3: An anti-rebel website claimed that the an LTTE bomb kills parliamentary candidate Mohammed Baithullah and more than twenty others in Muttur. At least 49 others were injured.[62]
    * October 5: An anti-rebel website claimed that in Medawacchchiya, Anuradhapura an attack by an LTTE suicide bomber on the Health and Indigenous Medicine Deputy Minister Tissa Karaliyadda results in the death of seven civilians and injuries to 40 civilians.[62]

    [edit] 2001
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    July 24 Bandaranaike Airport attack: An LTTE 14-man suicide squad attacked a Sri Lanka Air Force base and the adjoining Bandaranaike International Airport. They destroyed many aircraft, crippling the country's economy and reducing tourism. Katunayake, Western Province 7 14 21 [63]
    [edit] 2005
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    August 12 Assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar: Lakshman Kadirgamar, the foreign minister of Sri Lanka and an ethnic Tamil was shot by an alleged LTTE sniper. Colombo, Colombo District 1 1 [64]
    [edit] 2006

    * January 7: A suspected LTTE fishing boat loaded with explosives detonates and destroys a Sri Lankan navy boat as it leaves the port of Trincomalee, killing 13 sailors.[65]
    * March 1: Five civilians die in suspected LTTE mine explosion.[66]
    * April 23: The LTTE kill six Sinhalese civilians including two 15 year old children in the village of Gomarankadawala in the Trincomalee district.[67]
    Further information: Gomarankadawala massacre
    * April 25: A suicide bomber, believed to belong to the LTTE, attempts to kill Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, seriously injuring him while killing eight others and injuring thirty more. The explosives were disguised as the late stages of pregnancy, and the bomber was originally believed to be pregnant, although subsequent medical tests have been inconclusive.[68]
    * May 11: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Sea Tigers attacks and sink one Sri Lanka Navy vessel while seriously damaging another. The attack is ruled as a grave violation of the Cease Fire Agreement by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. In response, LTTE threathened the truce monitors not to be aboard naval vessels.[69] 18 sailors perish on the Sri Lankan patrolboat, and an unknown number of Sea Tiger cadres also die in the attack.[70] The fact that the lives of two Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission monitors on board these ships were endangered by this attack, triggered the European Union decision to ban the LTTE.[71]
    * May 27: The award-winning author Nihal de Silva and seven Sri Lankan tourists were killed by a supposed LTTE land mine in Wilpattu National Park. The explosion took place near Tamil held territory in the northern part of the country. Before a 2002 cease fire agreement, rebels used the park as a hiding place. It is unclear whether the mine was planted before or after the cease fire agreement.[72]
    * May 29: Thirteen farm workers were cut and shot in a village around Welikanda in Plonnaruwa. The government suspected the LTTE were responsible, while the LTTE responded that they had no involvement and that they were falsely implicated. Furthermore, the LTTE condemned this attack.[73][74]
    * May 30: An anti-rebel website claimed that the LTTE cadres kill twelve Sinhalese villagers working at an irrigation canal construction site in Omadiyamadu, close to the uncleared areas of Welikanda in Polonnaruwa district.[75]
    * June 15: The LTTE blow up a civilian bus killing 68, including ten children and three pregnant women. Approximately 60 more are injured.
    * June 15: The LTTE bombs a bus carrying 140 civilians in Kebithigollewa, in northeastern Sri Lanka. The blast results in the death of 68 civilians including 15 school children, and injurers 78 others. It was caused by two claymore mines placed side by side on the bus by LTTE cadres, which spraying the packed bus with millions of ball bearings upon manual detonation.[76]
    Further information: Kebithigollewa massacre
    * June 26: The third highest ranking Sri Lankan military officer, Major General Parami Kulatunga was wounded in an attack by LTTE and died after being taken to the hospital. Two other military escorts and a passerby were also killed.[77]
    * September 18: LTTE cadres massacre ten Muslims at Pothuwil in the Eastern province. The sole survivor of the attack confirms it was carried out by LTTE cadres.[78]
    Further information: Pottuvil massacre
    * October 16: In the deadliest ever suicide attack by the LTTE in Sri Lanka, a suicide bomber in a truck kills 103 sailors on buses going or returning from leave at a transit point and wounds over 150 other sailors. Several civilians may also have died.[79]
    * October 16: In the deadliest suicide attack in Sri Lanka to date, a suicide bomber in a truck kills 103 Sri Lanka Navy sailors on buses going or returning from leave at a transit point and wounds over 150 other sailors. Several civilians may also have died.[80]
    Further information: 2006 Digampathana truck bombing
    * December 1: An LTTE suicide bomber triggers the explosives packed into a vehicle in Colombo as a five car convoy carrying Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse passes by, in an attempt to assassinate him. Secretary Rajapakse escapes unharmed, although two people are killed and 14 others are wounded, mostly civilians who were passing by the site.[81]

    [edit] 2007

    * January 5: Nittambuwa: The LTTE are the only suspects in bomb blast on a city bus carrying more than 80 civilians. The resulting explosion kills six civilians and wounds 63, ten of them seriously. The bus was bombed during the evening rush-hour near Nittambuwa town, 40 km (25 miles) north-east of Colombo.[82][83] It followed a threat issued by the LTTE that they will carry out revenge attacks for air raids by the Sri Lanka Air Force.[84][85][86]
    Further information: 2007 Sri Lankan bus bombs
    * January 6: Peraliya: A suspected LTTE suicide bomber detonates herself inside a Colombo–Matara passenger bus. 16 civilians are killed and more than 50 are injured.[87][88] These attacks on buses appear to be a fulfillment of threats made by the LTTE.[84][89]
    Further information: 2007 Sri Lankan bus bombs
    * February 7: Batticaloa: Rev. Selliah Parameswaran Kurukkal, the head Priest of the Santhiveli Pilleyar Kovil and a father of three, who blessed President Mahinda Rajapaksa during the President's visit to Vakarai four days previously, is forcibly dragged out of his residence and shot dead by gunmen from the LTTE.[90][91][92][93] The gunmen had mentioned that they were from the LTTE and they needed to question the Poosari in connection with the garlanding of the President.[94][95] It is also suggested he had been targeted because he had co-operated with the security forces in order to help civilians flee the fighting around Vakarai.[96]
    * March 9: Puttlam: Eight people who entered the Wilpattu National Park to investigate the grievances of the local population over wild elephant attacks, including the Sri Lanka Army Area Commander, the head Park Warden and three park rangers, are ambushed and massacred by the LTTE.[97]
    * March 26: The LTTE mount their first air strike, bombing a government-controlled military airbase. The attack leaves three killed and 19 wounded.[98]
    * March 29: Tamil Nadu, India: LTTE cadres kill five Indian fisherman off the coast of Tamil Nadu and kidnap twelve others. An anonymous caller initially attempts to blame the incidents on the Sri Lanka Navy.[99]
    * April 1: Eravur, Batticaloa: LTTE cadres massacre six aid workers who were constructing a housing scheme named "Village of Hope" for Tamil children orphaned by the 2004 Asian Tsunami. Another three aid workers suffer serious gunshot injuries following the shooting at close range which took place at 8.15 pm local time.[100][101][102][103]
    * April 2: Ampara: The LTTE bomb a civilian bus in eastern Sri Lanka, killing at least 16 civilians, and wounding 25 others. Among the dead are eleven women, three men and two boys.[104][105][106] Video of the blast scene
    * April 5: Polonnaruwa: In the third attack on civilians in a week, LTTE cadres shoot dead four Sinhalese farmers.[107]
    * April 7: Piramanalankulam, Vavunia: In the second such incident in five days, the LTTE bomb a civilian bus traveling along the Vavuniya–Mannar main road at 7:30 am, killing eight and wounding a further 26 people.[108][109] Video of the blast scene
    * April 12: Avarantalawa, Vavuniya: Suspected LTTE raid a village at around 4:45 pm (local time) and shoot dead seven people, of six women and one man, on the eve of the traditional New Year.[110][111]
    * April 23: Vavunia: The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry claimed that the LTTE cadres A bomb set off by rips through a civilian bus traveling near the town of Vavuniya killing five passengers and wounding 35.[112][113]
    * April 24: The LTTE mount a second air strike on Palaly, the main government-controlled military airbase in Northern Jaffna.[114]
    * April 29: Two fuel facilities were bombed by the LTTE during an air raid which they said was in response to an army strike on their positions.[115]
    * May 24: Colombo: The Sri Lankan Army claimed that it suspects Tamil Tigers exploded an IED fixed on motorbike in Colombo targeting a bus transporting Sri Lankan Army personal killing one soldier and wounding six people, including three civilians.[116][117][118] Video of the blast scene
    * May 27: Thirukkovil: The Sri Lankan Military said Tamil Tiger rebels set off a road side bomb blast blew up a truck, killing the three civilians.[119][120][121][122]
    * May 28: Rathmalana: The Sri Lankan Military and a doctor claimed that the Tamil Tigers detonated a bomb targeting a truck carrying Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force (STF) personnel at Belk Kade junction, in Rathmalana during the evening, killing seven civilians and injureding more than 39 people, including seven STF personal. Amongst dead were one pregnant mother.[123][124][125][126]
    * July 16: Trincomalee: Suspected Tamil Tigers gunned down Eastern province chief secretary Herath Abeyweera at around 5:30 p.m. local time (12.00 GMT).[127][128]
    * August 20: Vavuniya: Sri Lanka military claimed that Tamil Tiger rebels in a jeep opened fire on the police checkpoint in Vavuniya district, killing four home guards including three female guards and one civilian.[129][130][131]
    * September 22: Trincomalee: The Sri Lankan military claimed that suspected Tamil Tigers detonates a mine targeting a bus carrying civilians in Trincomalee district killing the driver of it and wounding two others.[132][133][134]
    * September 27: Jaffna: At least two civilians were killed and about fifteen were injured, including two policemen when LTTE rebels had triggered a road side bomb targeting a police road patrol vehicle at Chunnakam, Jaffna market area around 10.30 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).[135][136][137]
    * October 22: LTTE attacked Anuradapura Airbase destroying more than 20 military aircrafts (See Raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base).
    * November 26: Group of LTTE cadres shot and killed four Sinhalese farmers, including one woman, at Mahawilachchiya, Anuradhapura. For details look Mahawilachchiya massacre[citation needed]
    * November 28: Colombo: A suspected LTTE cadre blows herself up in front of the office of Douglas Devananda, the leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party in an attempt to assassinate him. Devanda escapes unhurt, but his personal secretary is killed and two of his security personnel are seriously injured.[138]
    * November 28: Colombo: An LTTE parcel bomb blows up a Department Store in Colombo killing 20 civilians. Amnesty International have asked the LTTE to comply with international law and halt such attacks.[139]

    [edit] 2008

    * January 1: Colombo: A former minister and a Member of Parliament belonging to UNP for Colombo District T. Maheswaran was shot by a gunman while attending the New Year prayers at Kotahena, Sivam Kovil around 10:35 local time (05:05 GMT) and later succumbed to his injuries at the Colombo General Hospital along with one Hindu pilgrim who was too attending to the prayers.[140][141][142] UNP parliamentarians Johnston Fernando and Dayasiri Jayasekara accused the current government as responsible by saying that T. Maheswaran's plan to reveal Jaffna situation has led to his murder. The government has denied any responsibility.[143] However, The Council on Foreign Relations claimed that LTTE was suspected.[144] To the accusation that Douglas Devananda a cabinet minister and leader of the EPDP political party was involved in his murder and had previously threatened T. Maheswaran, Douglas had denied any responsibility.[145] Later the government of Sri Lanka claimed that the suspected gunmen worked for the state. The suspected gunman was a security guard for Minister Douglas Devananda and for the victim – Maheswaran.[146]
    * January 2: Colombo: A bomb attack outside the Nipon Hotel in the Slave Island district, aimed at a Sri Lankan Army bus, killed at least four people, including a soldier and three civilians, and injured 28 others, Sri Lankan defense and hospital officials said. The Defense Ministry blamed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the attack.[147]
    * January 8: Ja-Ela: A non-cabinet Minister of Nation Building and a Member of Parliament of Sri Lanka, D. M. Dassanayake died of injuries sustained in a roadside bomb attack in Ja-Ela, twelve miles (19 km) north of Colombo along with one of his body guard. The attack injured ten others. LTTE blamed for this assassination.[144][148]
    * January 16: Buttala: A roadside bomb targeting a passenger bus packed with civilians, killing 27 civilians including three schoolchildren and wounding 67 others, 240 km (150 miles) south-east of the capital, Colombo. This attack took place on the same day that a ceasefire ended between the Tamil Tigers and the government of Sri Lanka. Also, after the blast, gunmen had started shooting passengers as they tried to flee. According to the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, the bus was hit by a powerful Claymore-type mine which was packed with explosives and ball-bearings. The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry blames the LTTE.[149][150][151][152][153][154]
    * February 2: Dambulla: A bomb blast was accord on a passenger bus, 150 kilometres (93 miles) north of the island's capital killing 20 people and injuring 50 more. The Sri Lankan government has blamed the LTTE for this attack.[155]
    * February 3: Colombo:A suicide bomber exploded herself at on broad a train at the main railway station in Colombo Fort, killing eleven people and wounding 97 others[156]. Killed in the incident where seven school children of the baseball team of D. S. Senanayake College and their coach[157].[158].
    Further information: 2008 Fort Railway Station Bombing
    * February 23: Mount Lavinia: A bomb went off in a bus in the suburban town of Mount Lavinia, 10 kilometres (six miles) south of the capital of Colombo, wounding at least 18 people including seven women and an 8-month-old infant. Government blamed on Tamil Tigers for the responsibility.[159][160][161][162]
    * February 23: Batticaloa: A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up in east Sri Lanka on Sunday killing two members of a regional political party.[163][164]
    * February 29: Colombo: A suicide bomber exploded himself and wounding seven included three policemen and four civilians, when Sri Lanka Police attempt to search his house during a search and cordon operation by police aimed at flushing out Tamil Tiger rebels seeking to mount attacks in the capital.[165][166]
    * March 2: Vavuniya: A roadside bomb exploded wounding four policemen and six civilians in a northern city of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Military blames the LTTE.[167]
    * March 10: Colombo: A bomb hidden in a roadside flowerpot in Sri Lanka's capital Monday, killing one person and injuring six others, including four children who were on their way to school. Government blamed on Tamil Tigers for the responsibility.[168][169]
    * April 6: Colombo: A suicide bomber killed 14 people at an opening ceremony for a marathon Sunday, including a government minister who was nearing the starting line with a flag and a former Olympian. More than 90 others were wounded in the attack.
    Further information: 2008 Weliveriya bombing
    * April 25: Colombo: A parcel bomb explodes inside a bus in the residential suburb of Piliyandala, killing 24 and wounding 52.[170][171]
    Further information: 2008 Piliyandala bus bombing
    * May 16: Colombo: A LTTE suicide bomber on a motorcycle packed with explosives rammed into a bus carrying a police riot squad, killing 13 people which included 11 police personal and 2 civilians, and wounding 95.[172][173].
    * May 26: Dehiwala: A bomb exploded inside a crowded train in Dehiwala station, killing 8 people and wounding 67.[174] The same place or very close to that place where the LTTE's Dehiwala train bombing in 1996, which resulted 64 deaths and 400 wounded.[175]
    Further information: 2008 Dehiwala train bombing
    * June 4: Wellawatte: A bomb exploded between the railway tracks hit by packed commuter train at 0710 local time between the Dehiwala and Wellawatte railway stations, was injured at least 24 people. The incident happened after one weeks time in the same area, also the Police said that they have captured the two suspects in the same day.[176]
    Further information: 2008 Wellawatte train bombing
    * June 6:
    o Moratuwa: A roadside bomb exploded targeting a passenger bus during rush hour, killing 23 civilians and wounding 80 more. The Sri Lankan Government blames the LTTE.[177]
    Further information: 2008 Moratuwa bus bombing
    o Pollgolla, Kandy: A bomb blast occurred on a passenger bus, killing 2 civilians and wounding 20. The Sri Lankan Government blamed the LTTE.[178]
    Further information: 2008 Polgolla bus bombing
    * June 16: Vavuniya: Suspected LTTE suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated explosives in front of a police office killing 12 policemen including 4 female police constables and wounded 40 others including school children.[179]

    [edit] 2009
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    February 20 2009 suicide air raid on Colombo: The LTTE launched an unsuccessful kamikaze style suicide attack targeting locations in and around Colombo. Colombo, Colombo District 2 4
    February 22 Kirimetiya Village massacre: The Sri Lanka Defence Ministry claimed that 10 people were killed by LTTE Kirimetiya, Eastern Province 10 [180]
    April 12 Mahagodayaya massacre: 9 people were killed including 2 children Mahagodaya, Moneragala district 9 9

  260. Prominent Tamil Leaders Assassinated by the LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists in Sri Lanka
    A T Duraiyappah SLFP Mayor for Jaffna
    A Thiagarajah Ex ACTC MP for Vadokoddai who later joined the UNP
    K T Pulendran UNP Organiser for Vavunia
    A J Rajasooriar UNP Organiser in Jaffna
    Mala Ramachandran UNP MMC for Baticaloa
    Gnanachandiram Ex District Judge, Point Pedro and Government Agent, Mullativu
    C E anandarajah Principal, St Jones College, Jaffna
    B K Thambipillai President, Citizens Cimmittee
    V Dharmalingam Ex TULF MP for Manipay and Father of D Siddharthan, Leader of PLOTE
    Alakasunderam Ex TULF MP for Kopay
    P Kirubakaran Primary Court Judge
    Kathiramalai Sarvodaya Leader
    Vignarajah Assistant Government Agent, Samanturai
    Anthonimuttu Government Agent, Baticaloa
    S S Jeganathan Assistant Government Agent, Baticaloa
    Sinnadurai Assistant Government Agent, Trincomalee
    M E Kandasamy Principal, Palugamam Maha Vidyalaya
    S Siththamparanathan Principal, Vigneswara Vidyalaya, Trincomalee
    S Wijayanadan Distric Secretary, Ceylon Communist Party
    Velmurugu Master TULF Organiser and Citizens Committee Member, Kalmunai
    Rev. Father Chandra Fernando President, Citizens Committee, Batticaloa
    Rajjshankar President, Citizens Committee, Tennamarachchi
    S Sambandamoorthy Ex TULF Chairman, District Development Council, Batticaloa
    V M Panchalingam Government Agent, Jaffna
    K Pulendran Assistant Government Agent, Kopay
    A Amirthalingam TULF Leader and National List MP (see details)
    V Yogeshwaran Ex TULF MP for Jaffna
    Dr (Mrs) Rajini Thiranagama Lecturer in Anatomy at the Jaffna University and co-author of the "Broken Palmyrah" (21 Sptember 1989)
    Ganeshalingam Ex EPRLF Provincial Minister for North and East
    Sam Thambimuttu EPRLF MP
    Mrs Thambimuttu Wife of EPRLF MP
    V Yogasangari EPRLF MP in Madras
    A Thangadurai TULF MP for Trincomalee
    Mrs Sarojini Yogeshwaran TULF Mayoress for Jaffna
    Pon Sivapalan TULF Mayor of Jaffna
    Canagasabai Rajathurai EPDF Member for Jaffna
    Veerahaththy Gunaratnam PLOTE member of the Pachchilaipalli Pradheshiya Sabha (PS) in Jaffna (5 May 1999)
    Razick, Supremo of the EPRLF’s armed wing (30 May 1999)
    Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam Leader of TULF (29 July 1999)
    N. Manickathasan Vice President of PLOTE (Tamil Political party working with the Sri Lankan Government)
    Kumar Ponnambalam President of All Ceylon Tamil Congress (5 Jan 2000) Refer to SPUR Media Release
    Vadivelu Vijeyaratnam Point Pedro Urban Council Chairman (14 Jan 2000)
    Anton Sivalingam EPDP's Municipal Council members in Jaffna (1 March 2000)
    Kanapathipillai Navaratnarajah TELO member of Arayampathi, Batticaloa – on 7 June 2000
    Rajan Sathiyamoorthy Tamil National Alliance parliamentary candidate Rajan Sathiyamoorthy was killed by LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists on 30 March 2004.
    Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar (Foreign Minister in Sri Lanka) 12 August 2005 – Read full details in Special Web Edition
    Kethishwaran Loganathan (54) Deputy Secretary General of Sri Lanka Peace Secratariat, SCOOP (12 August 2006)
    T Maheshwaran Former Minister shot dead on 01 January 2008 (New Years day)
    Minister D M Dissanayake LTTE Tamil Tigers Assassinate Minister D M Dissanayake; 12 people Injured; Another Person killed (03 January 2008)
    K Sivanesan Jaffna TNA MP K. Sivanesan killed in an accidental explosion of a LTTE Tamil Tiger Claymore mine in the LTTE held area (05 March 2008).
    Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorist's Suicide Bomb Attack killing Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and 12 civilians (06 April 2008)
    Rev. Father M. X. Karunaratnam, Chairman of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR), a Catholic priest attached to the Jaffna diocese (20 April 2008)
    Ms. Maheswary Velautham Attorney –at-law and advisor to the Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda shot dead by the LTTE Tamil Taiger terrorists on 13 May 2008 (Details in EPDP).

  261. Thank you UN, AI , Jim McDonald and many others from the bottom of my heart for the UN war crimes panel !! 🙂 🙂 🙂
    ————
    Colombo targeted hospitals and makeshift hospitals.

    When people moved away from Ki’linochchi, its hospital started functioning in the school building at Udaiyaar-kaddu.

    More than two thousand shells were fired on this building by the SLA.

    Ki’linochchi to Tharmapuram, Vaddakkachchi, Visuvamadu, Udaiyaar-kaddu, Puthukkudiyiruppu – until reaching Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal, at an average 50 civilians were killed every day in Sri Lankan attacks. 8000 were already killed before herded into Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal.

    Medical work decimated and workers were shaken at the death of patients, nurses and workers.

    Sri Lanka Government deliberately starved the innocent civilians

    When there were more than 300,000 people at the last stages in the Tamil War, Colombo sent food for only 30,000.

    Important medicines such as anesthetic drugs were not sent.

    Life-saving surgery without anesthesia was a cursing ordeal for the patients as well as doctors.

    Mothers and children standing in queue to receive infant milk food were targeted in the SL shell attacks.

    Without seeing no one could visualize the sorrow of the child that lost the mother and the mother who lost the child.

  262. Bhavanidash Says:
    June 26th, 2010 at 12:21 pm

    ————
    Colombo targeted hospitals and makeshift hospitals.

    Were u there to witness it ???? Don't lie for the sake of good tamil people. You have your own terrorist agendas and we know it. Don't use our Ethnic name to get sympathy from the west. The west is not as stupid as you think. AI is not the west nor representation of west.

  263. In 1948 Tamil population was 30% !!!!!

    Has Tamil women never given birth to a child in 62 yr.

    We can see that , the Sri Lankan government has been doing ethnic cleansing very successfully for 62 yr, since 1948. !!!

  264. Bhavanidash Says:
    June 26th, 2010 at 8:16 am

    In 1948 Tamil population was 30% !!!!!

    Whee did U get this stats from ?????????? Tarzan’s book ???

    Don’t spread lies !!!

  265. On the death anniversary of the Great Micheal Jackson, I could only remember this song sung by him “You are not Alone” when I see posts of following nature !!

    Russia, China and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have expressed their reservation and displeasure at the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of a panel of experts to advise him on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the External Affairs Ministry said yesterday.

    External Ministry sources said the two countries and NAM President had communicated their stance on the three-member panel to the Sri Lankan Government through the Minister of External Affairs.

    Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement issued on Thursday said the United Nations Chief should have consulted the Security Council or the General Assembly before taking a decision on this matter.

    “What worries us is that this decision was taken without considering the position of a sovereign state and a member of the UN,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

    http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/news/front-page-news/14058.html

  266. can’t do anything with these Russians an Chinese

    Sri Lanka’s strong ally and permanent UN Security Council member Russia has lashed out at United Nation Secretary-General Ban ki-moon over the appointment of a controversial panel of experts on Sri Lanka.

    Russia has faulted the UNSG for not consulting the Security Council or the General Assembly before appointing the panel at issue.

    The UNSG’s panel, Russia says, has been appointed without regard to the position of a sovereign state and member of the UN.

    Full Release of the Russian statement on the appointment of the panel of experts on Sri Lanka:

    Moscow has taken note of UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon’s decision to appoint a UN panel of experts to investigate war crimes during the period of the campaign against the Tamil Tigers. As follows from UN sources, this panel is not a fact finding or investigation mechanism, but is designed solely to advise him on accountability issues relating to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

    In doing so, the UN Secretary-General as chief administrative officer of the United Nations should apparently have asked the opinion of the Security Council or the General Assembly on this matter. But this has not happened. What also makes us cautious is the fact that this decision was taken without regard to the position of a sovereign state and a member of the UN – Sri Lanka. As is known, they in Sri Lanka have already begun their own investigation process at national level (the Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation with a mandate to review all aspects of the conflict). As follows from the statement made on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka by the External Affairs Ministry of that country, and the statement of its Minister of Information, Sri Lanka “regards the appointment of the Sri Lanka Panel of Experts as unwarranted and unnecessary and contrary to the position of a UN member state.” Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who visited Sri Lanka a few days ago, as we understand, was aware of this position of Colombo.

    We believe that the primary responsibility for investigating the events that occurred in the past in Sri Lanka lies with its Government and that the newly appointed UN panel of experts, which, as follows from UN Secretariat statements, does not intend to visit Sri Lanka, will not take any steps that would complicate the investigation being conducted by the authorities of Colombo.

  267. On the 17th of June, the UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, Lynn Pascoe, announced at a press conference the decision to investigate war crimes in Sri Lanka. This had been deliberately planned to coincide with the V-Day parade so as to belittle the victory over the terrorists.

    This week, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, has appointed a panel to advise him on alleged war crimes during the last phase of the war. It is obvious that the whole episode is to please the countries who are giving refugee status to terror backers and who, during the Humanitarian Rescue Operation, offered to give asylum to LTTE leaders and rescue them.

    Sri Lanka has rejected the allegations outright and considers the appointment as a violation of sovereignty, prejudicial to its own probe. Further, the government regards the appointment of experts as an unwarranted and unnecessary interference with a sovereign nation. Independent observers have also questioned the neutrality of the three nominees as in the past some of them had been involved in Sri Lankan affairs and therefore they could be prejudiced.

    The UN and these countries putting pressure on Sri Lanka were deaf and blind to the terror activities unleashed by the LTTE during the last three decades. Some countries molly-coddled them while others gave them VIP status because of their funds and votes to political parties.

    The Under-Secretary General, during his recent visit, would have seen the changes in the country, especially in the North and the East, where the people’s lifestyles have returned to normal. For instance, the children, who were gun-toting one year ago, are now attending schools and sitting for public exams. Parents are assured that there is no recruitment to the ‘Childs-brigade’.

    Marriage, which is a basic human right, was denied to combatants during the LTTE regime. Among others, now they enjoy this privilege as well. A few weeks ago, 53 couples went through a traditional wedding ceremony attended by ministers, government officials and by Indian film artistes.

    The LTTE cadres are being rehabilitated, given training in skills such as drivers, technical hands, sewing in textile factories, etc., and thus they have been reintegrated to the society to be useful members of the community.

    It is one year since the war and there had been no terror attacks and assassination attempts by suicide bombers in the south and there is peace in the country.

    But these are of little importance to the UN and the countries putting pressure on it. They valued more the bogus cease-fires and the fake peace makers who wanted the war and terrorism to be reactivated. So some groups are frustrated that their plans did not materialise. The UN and countries backing its move are guided by hearsay evidence of LTTE backers, forged videos, photos, images and one-sided reports of Human Rights Agencies.

    In this connection, the UN should make a note of the following observation made by the Japanese Peace Envoy, Yasushi Akashi, “…It is not for other government’s or international organisations to dictate to Sri Lanka as to what it should be doing in the highly complicated and sensitive areas of post war reconciliation..”

    Thus it is obvious that the UN is bickering with small developing countries like Sri Lanka. With the failure of the League of Nations and the birth of the UN, people in the world had hope. But as the June 21st The Island Editorial says, “… At this rate, the day may not be far off when we will have to save the world from the UN! “

  268. Sri Lanka says the recent removal of US and NATO Forces Commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal, following a spat with US President Barack Obama, revealed the absurdity in the US position with regard to General Sarath Fonseka, now facing charges both in military and civilian Courts.

    An authoritative government official says the firing of the war veteran over a recent Rolling Stone article, which portrayed General McChrystal and his aides as dismissive of the US political leadership and its strategy in Afghanistan is evidence of US double standard.

    Quoting recent wire services reports on the dispute, the official speaking on the condition of anonymity pointed out that President Obama had called McChrystal’s conduct unbecoming of a commanding general, while asserting that it undermined the civilian control of the military that is at the core of their democratic system.

    Lakshman Hulugalle, Director General for Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said that those who regularly preach to us of how to run our affairs should study the McChrystal affair. He said; “Unceremonious dismissal of the general exposed their duplicity and unreasonable attitude towards Sri Lanka.”

    Another official pointed out that the US policy as well as that of the EU and some other countries articulated by various senior officials, including their South Asian Affairs Assistant Secretary Robert Blake, former Ambassador in Colombo, is hostile towards Sri Lanka. The official said that the international community had repeatedly demanded a fair trial for General Fonseka who challenged President Mahinda Rajapaksa at January 26 presidential election and went to accuse Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering the massacre of surrendering LTTE cadres on the Vanni (east) front.

    Responding to a query by The Island, the official said that a section of the Colombo-based diplomats had played politics with the Fonseka issue as part of their overall strategy to undermine Sri Lanka.

    Government sources said that a section of the UNP and the JVP-led Democratic National Alliance which championed the former Army Chief’s case, too, should see the double-standards adopted by the international community when dealing with an issue affecting a smaller country. But there were instances when the US and its allies had treated even India in a similar humiliating way, sources said, referring to the US refusal to hand over a key terrorist suspect wanted by New Delhi in connection with the Mumbai massacre in 2008.

    The US is yet to accede to India’s request to let them question a Chicago man who had pleaded guilty to scouting targets for the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

    David Coleman Headley pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court to making surveillance videos in preparation for the siege of India’s financial capital and for involvement in a plot to attack a Danish newspaper over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

    As part of his plea deal, Headley will not face execution if he continues to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors’ terrorism investigation.

    Sri Lankan officials said that the Rolling Stone’s article was revealing as to what the US Afghan command felt of the political leadership and some of its bungling officials.

  269. After a 30-minute meeting with the president at the White House, it was announced that General McChrystal would be standing down. His former boss, General David Petraeus, will replace him as commander of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Barack Obama has said he was sad to lose General McChrystal, but as Commander in Chief he would not tolerate division in his team. Gen McChrystal has apologized for the interview, given to Rolling Stone magazine, saying ‘it was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened’. We don’t see much difference to this and the case of Retired Gen Sarath Fonseka in Sri Lanka, who made an interview to The Sunday Leader. Gen McChrystal criticized the administration officials, including his Commander in Chief, President Obama. Gen McChrystal is lucky to be spared from a court-martial for the betrayal of his boss. I believe his apology saved him from this.

    The General clearly overstepped his mark here and was extremely fortunate not to be tried under military law. In the meantime, it is an accepted fact that the situation in Afghanistan has become extremely dangerous and casualty figures are on the rise. The 300th British casualty was reported recently, whose forces were inspired by a new slogan ‘For the queen and the country’ during Gordon Brown’s rule. The British people will not forgive Tony Blair who got them into this war. He is minting money going around lecturing while the NATO troops and Afghan people are dying unnecessarily.

  270. We read that the LTTE terrorist lobbies in the West have succeeded:

    1. Getting the UN to attempt an inquiry about alleged abuses of human rights during the war;

    2. EU to suspend preferential tariff for Sri Lankan exports.

    Human Rights inquiry

    No self respecting Government will agree to any inquiry that is tainted ab initio by signs of persecution by the West to satisfy the requests of the Tamil Terrorist Diaspora. It is transparent that these terrorists groups have used their illegally obtained drug money to influence this investigation.

    The UN must first commence investigations in the Gaza, Afghanistan and Iraq before turning to Sri Lanka. The crime that Sri Lanka has committed is the total annihilation of the world’s most deadliest terrorist group, whose leader, the megalomaniac Prabhakaran, was not second to Pol Pot.

    It is also opportune for the UN to first investigate the activities of the Human Rights Commissioner whose views have obviously been tainted by her Tamil background.

    EU

    We must all congratulate President Mahinda Rajapaksa for totally rejecting the EU demands for the restoration of tariff concessions. No self respecting Government should be allowed to be black mailed in this way.

    Sri Lanka should stand on its own and not be dictated to by any other country.

    Three decades back, the writer, with two others, prepared the blue print for Sri Lanka’s First IPZ (Industrial Promotion Zone). At that time, we did not crave for tariff concessions but the selling point was our inexpensive and highly productive labour.

    It was pointed that Sri Lanka should start with garment industries but move away within the maximum period of ten years to light industry following the example of Singapore, Taiwan and Korea. Regretfully, the then Government did not encourage the diversifying of our industries.

    The writer in his capacity as Permanent Secretary Industries and Chairman Ceramic successfully negotiated and established Sri Lanka’s most productive export based industries with Noritake of Japan and with Danto Wall Tiles. We did not seek tariff or got concessions.

    Full marks to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for not only decimating the LTTE but also not giving into Western blackmail.

    Most Sri Lankans are with you.

  271. “He must be over the moon, don’t you think?”

    “What moon are you talking about? All I know is it’s Poson Full Moon here today, and that’s a big event.”

    “I mean Ban Ki-moon; the Big Moon in New York. Don’t you think he must be over the moon by now?”

    “How can moon be over the moon? It seems he is more moonstruck than over it.”

    Moonstruck or not, he has got his Committee of Experts to advice him, so he must be doing the Korean equivalent of a tango, possibly with Louise Arbour of the ICG. They must be feeling really great.

    Guess what this Committee of Experts will be advising him about?

    Obviously, something he knows nothing about. In this case it is Sri Lanka, and the last stages of the war to defeat LTTE.

    But, does he not have a Resident Representative of the UN in Colombo, and so many other UN Organisations over here to advise him, or is it that he does not trust them?

    Who knows? Moon insists he needs advise, and he has to wait for the first anniversary of the defeat of the LTTE to a appoint a committee to improve his knowledge about Sri Lanka and the end of that bloody war; just like the European Union, waiting a similar length of time to impose conditions to continue GSP plus for Sri Lanka.

    Now don’t tell me there was conspiracy between the UNSG and the European Commission against Sri Lanka, or were they only acting in collusion?

    Who knows? But we learn that there are queues already forming outside the UN Headquarters in New York of those ready to teach Ban Ki-moon about what he is so eager to learn.

    Who is lining up so fast?

    Surely you can guess by now. There is Human Rights Watch heading the line, followed by the IGG, David Milliband is eager to get ahead of Louise Arbour and HRW. There are the producers of fake videos of Channel 4, Jeremy Page from the Times London who never stepped onto Sri Lanka but gave blood curdling reports about Menik Farm from across the Palk Strait. They are to be joined soon by Keith Vaz from the UK House of Commons, who must be feeling comfortable at the size of the brown paper envelope in his pocket, gratefully given by the Eelam Tamils of the UK, and some other members of the Commons who will also be glad for the chance for some extra buckshee, when the LibDem-Con Government has presented a very harsh budget with expenditure cuts all round.

    Sounds like quite list of tutors for Ban Ki Moon.

    That’s not all. There is also a whole list of Sri Lankan journalists of one sort or another, now said to be living in exile in the West, some of who contributed to making the Channel 4 video and other misinformation, whom are said to be negotiating terms under which they will come over to educate Ban Ki-moon.

    You mean something like witness protection?

    No. It is negotiations on financial benefits from such education, or private tuition, as it is usually referred to here. With most of them living in the Euro Zone, where the value of the Euro is fast dropping and the economies are shrinking, they are looking for substantial support from UN resources to live in more comfort in self-exile through the munificence of Ban Ki-moon.

    They say he has tried it, but he is not so computer savvy. Also, he gets stumped by place names such as Kebitigollewa and so many Sinhala and Tamil place names unfamiliar to him and also unpronounceable by him that comes up describing LTTE atrocities. He would rather those instances of LTTE atrocities, and especially records of how the Tigers fired from behind at Tamil civilians fleeing them for freedom in the last days of the war, be not brought before him.

    So why doesn’t he take some drugs that result in selective amnesia, to help him forget that atrocities of the LTTE and only lend his ear to those who are ready to talk of alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan troops, and the responsibility an answerability of the Sri Lankan State?

    Who knows he may have tried. We have no access to his medical records, including that of his psychiatrist. They must he very interesting.

    Why do you say that?

    Because he has not appointed any committee of experts to advise him on Guantanamo, which even Obama wants to close down but is unable to do so. And he sees no need for any experts to advise him on what is happening in Afghanistan just now, or even in Pakistan.

    Do you think he prefers ignorance about such matters involving Human Rights and War Crimes – dammit he had no experts advising him of Abu Ghraib either.

    Exactly; he must be thinking of the value of such ignorance, in his bid for election to a second term.

    Well, it just looks as if we must change our familiar line about ignorance, to read as “Ignorance is Moon” .Plenty of bliss for Ban Ki-moon indeed.

  272. By removing General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama may have tried to show that he is not a softie.

    The sacking of the general followed his inflammatory remarks to the Rolling Stone magazine. In the article headlined ‘Runaway General’, McChrystal and his aides ridiculed Vice President Joe Biden, called Obama’s national security advisors ‘clowns’ and questioned the President’s ability to act independently and decisively.

    On Wednesday morning, Obama summoned him to the White House, but did not meet him. Instead, the President announced he was accepting McChrystal’s resignation and replacing him with General David Petraeus, the former US commander in Iraq and McChrystal’s superior.

    Addressing a White House news conference Obama said: “War is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or a president.”

    These tough words were directed as much at McChrystal as they were at the President’s critics.

    President Obama, under fire for being too nice to British Petroleum, the company that is responsible for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, grabbed the McChrystal affair to send a message to the American people that their commander-in-chief could get tough if the situation warranted such a stance.

    However, the toughness with which he handled the McChrystal affair is unlikely to shield him from criticism arising out of the BP oil disaster, which some analysts describe as one of the biggest environmental crimes in the planet’s history. His actions against BP so far have been mediocre. They are wrapped in too much civility. Shamus Cooke, a trade union activist, in a recent article headlined “Is Obama BP’s poodle?’, wrote that Obama doesn’t challenge BP because he’s on its payroll. To back his claim, he cited a May 5, 2010 Reuter report which said: “During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC (Public Affairs Committee) and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.”

    With the manner in which the US administration is handling the oil disaster threatening Obama’s re-election prospects in 2012, he is under pressure to protect his presidency from being slammed as lacking the resolve or courage to act decisively in times of crisis. Similar criticism caused President Jimmy Carter’s election defeat in 1980.

    Apart from Obama’s political survival, the McChrystal affair also tries to cover up the sham in Afghanistan where the US military has been struggling for nine years to defeat the few thousand strong Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

    The administration’s Afghan policy lacked clear direction or vision, largely due to differences between Obama administration officials and McChrystal, the highly decorated officer who is known for his military feats, the most spoken about among them being the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. In October last year, McChrystal embarrassed Obama by publicly questioning the administration’s reluctance to commit more US troops to Afghanistan. Although, advisors urged Obama to fire McChrystal then, he did not do so. He met McChrystal aboard Air Force One, the president’s official aircraft, during a visit to Copenhagen, agreed to send more troops and sorted out the dispute without acting like President Harry Truman.

    Unlike Obama, Truman in 1951 removed General Douglas Macarthur during the height of the Korean War. This happened when the highly-decorated World War II hero disregarded the administration’s policy of not extending the Korean War to China and sent an ultimatum to Beijing without consulting the President. Truman saw Macarthur’s action not only as a violation of the US constitutional principle that made the military subservient to the civilian leadership but also an attempt to usurp the President’s authority to make foreign policy. He was replaced by General Mathew Ridgway.

    In December last year, Obama made a significant speech outlining his administration’s Afghan policy. The speech came after he held ten crisis-meetings with top officials. Responding to McChrsytal’s request, Obama agreed to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan but gave him an 18-month deadline to finish the job and bring the troops home.

    Since the deadline was set, the US troops have intensified their military operations, killing more civilians than enemy combatants in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan. Wikileaks, the whistleblowers’ website, said this week that it would release video footage showing how civilians were killed in US military operations in Afghanistan.

    McChrystal’s troops launched their biggest military operation in nine years in Afghanistan’s Helmand province which was then becoming a graveyard for occupation troops, especially for the British. The operation was hailed as a major success as it drove the Taliban forces out of the province. McChrystal then planned a similar operation in Kandahar, the Taliban’s stronghold. But this operation was put off several times in view of a series of setbacks.

    This month alone, some 76 US and NATO troops have died, making June the deadliest month for occupation forces this year. Meanwhile, the Taliban have returned to Helmand, the province from which not so long ago McChrystal drove them away in a much-publicised military operation. The Taliban also come to Kabul whenever they want. Weeks ago, they fired rockets at a venue where Afghan President Hamid Karzai was holding an elders’ jirga or conference.

    If these setbacks were not enough, a congressional report this Monday revealed that a US supply chain paid millions of dollars to warlords to ensure the safety of their trucks. But the warlords paid part of the money to the Taliban and bought their assurance that they would not attack the supply trucks. The report said the Pentagon was thus indirectly financing the Taliban to the tune of $2 million a week.

    It is into this mess, Obama is sending Gen. David Petraeus. The so-called embedded US media claim that his policy of surge has succeeded in bringing the insurgency in Iraq to a controllable level. But the ground reality shows Iraq is not yet safe. Every month, at least 300 people die in clashes or explosions. Even yesterday 12 people died in three suicide blasts.

    With Iraq still a mess, Petraeus is not naïve to adopt for Afghanistan the same strategy that he adopted in Iraq. Afghanistan is different. Its terrain is different. Its people are different. With one third of Obama’s 18-month deadline set in December last year passed, the United States’ Afghan policy appears to be in disarray. The criticism McChrystal and his men levelled at the Obama administration in the Rolling Stone magazine shows that there were two versions of the official Afghan policy — one interpreted by the White House and the other by McChrystal’s military at ground level. With McChrystal’s departure, the administration is now free to implement its version largely interpreted by Vice President Biden, who has been an opponent of the surge policy preferred by McChrystal.

    The Biden camp is reported to have called for more air strikes, accelerated training of Afghan forces and the use of US special forces troops to strike against insurgents across the border in Pakistan. This is again a recipe for more civilian deaths and suffering in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

  273. United National Party (UNP) front-liner Sajith Premadasa yesterday blamed the United Nations and the European Union for the dispute that had arisen with Sri Lanka, saying it could cause local and international repercussions. He also blamed the government for giving the UN and the EU an opening to intervene in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.

    He commented on the ‘List of Actions’ or conditions laid down by the EU to consider the extension of GSP+ facility beyond August 15.

    Mr. Premadasa said the EU had no business laying down conditions and creating a dependency culture as far as relations between Sri Lanka and the EU are concerned.

    “Sri Lanka is in no way subjugated to various declarations and proclamations by international institutions. Sri Lanka is an independent and sovereign nation and no longer has colonial masters to tell its people how to govern this country and how to live their lives,” Mr. Premadasa said

  275. He’s rubbed half the world the wrong way, jumped the gun, gone against protocol, acquired powers that none of his predecessors enjoyed, thumbed his nose at the General Assembly and the Security Council and acted as though he’s CEO of Global Government and not the chief administrative officer of the UN. Ban Ki-moon is cutting a sorry figure these days.

    The man is half-blind; he could pour over the World Atlas for weeks and not come across names such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza, forget Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib etc. Indeed, when such place-names are mentioned, his feet immediately swell to proportions so considerable that he is rendered immobile. It is natural for a man decapitated in this manner to slip and fall and roll around. He’s consumed enough lies and been exposed so many times that like a compulsive gambler, he’s persuaded to double his bet. And so he blunders along and gets rapped on his knuckles for his pains, now by Russia and now by China.

    Ki-moon wants to help us, we are told. His need is so acute that he’s appointed a panel to advise him on issues pertaining to Sri Lanka. Ki-moon’s representative, making the relevant announcement, categorically stated that the key-word is ‘advise’ and not ‘investigate’. Now he clearly hasn’t briefed his panelists. The chief of the panel, Marzuki Darusman, who was a member of the much-discredited IIGEP which tripped over itself and its words a couple of years ago, has said ‘we will investigate the LTTE also’. Well, we don’t really care, for the LTTE is no longer the threat it used to be, but what worries me is that either Ki-moon hasn’t told him or he, Darusman, has not been listening. It is not about ‘investigation’, Ki-moon has said clearly.

    If it is just chit-chat over coffee or tea among the ill-informed to further confuse a muddle-head, then what’s all this fuss about? It is clear that someone has had his tail stepped on and is thirsting for revenge. Or else, he’s been called a wimp by so many and so frequently that he needs to feel adequate, big enough, capable, potent, virile etc., and is looking around for a country that is too small or too kind to whip his backside in the manner he clearly deserves.

    Fine, Ki-moon, we understand. Yes, we do. We really, really do. You’ve got problems, we understand and hope, once sanity returns to you, that you understand that we have problems ourselves.

    This Darusman, we are told, is upset that Sri Lanka has decided not to recognize the panel and as such sees no reason to roll out the proverbial red carpet. Advisors can do conference calls to Ki-moon. They can chit-chat on Facebook or Skype. They can tweet. They don’t have to come to Sri Lanka to do anything. If they want to consult anyone, they can use the internet or send text messages back and forth. Who are they planning to consult in Sri Lanka? Prabhakaran’s ghosts? Prabhakaran’s apologists? Well, the former can visit Darusman and his pals anytime he chooses. As for the latter category, its membership is ‘internetted’ and I am fairly certain that’s where the bug that’s biting Ki-moon’s behind was ‘Dollied’ (ref Dolly, the first cloned sheep).

    Darusman is upset. He says, ‘Everybody loses out if we cannot go to Sri Lanka, it will make it harder for the truth to be unearthed’. We are talking ASSUMPTION here. The truth is out there. It has a number; 300,000 hostages freed. It has a history; a country that eliminated the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit. There are comparisons and they have names: Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, and other places where the USA and its allies have killed hundreds of thousands of people (there’s PROOF here, unlike in the case of Sri Lanka, where there is WILD CONJECTURE based on NOTHING).

    We are upset too, Darusman. We are upset that you lack intellect, basic intelligence, integrity and the basic language skills necessary to distinguish the difference between ADVICE and INVESTIGATION. What do we have to lose, Darusman? We lost so much in 30 years of being held to ransom and being besieged by terrorism and during this time I would like you to tell me WTF were you doing and WTF you were doing it. You could ask your pal Ki-moon the same, BTW. We lose NOTHING if you don’t come. If you DO come, we lose something, because we’ve already got our quota of bad smells and one more whiff would result in national asphyxiation.

  276. Breaking News !!!
    The State Dept. spokesperson yesterday responded to a couple questions on the UN war crimes panel at a press conference –

    —————————

    QUESTION: The Sri Lankan Government has refused to give visas to the independent panel appointed by the UN on human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Are you in touch with the Sri Lankan Government on this issue? What’s your take on that?

    MR. CROWLEY: I’ll take the question as to whether we’ve had a particular discussion on this subject. Certainly, as we’ve stressed in Sri Lanka many times, it has – there’s an important opportunity here to change its relations with its population and subgroups within its population. Human rights is an essential element of Sri Lanka’s future and it should take the opportunity, cooperate broadly, and establish a new dynamic and relationship with its people.

    QUESTION: Do you think at this point of time it’s right for the UN to go in and have its own investigations?

    MR. CROWLEY: That’s a matter for the UN.
    ———————————————————————-

    we are grasping at straws here……

  277. Deadliest attacks
    Attack Date Location Death toll Sources
    2006 Digampathana bombing October 16, 2006 Digampathaha, Dambulla North Central Province (Army Personal) 92–103
    Kebithigollewa massacre June 15, 2006 Kebithigollewa, Northern Province 66
    Gonagala massacre September 18, 1999 Gonagala, Eastern Province 54
    Dehiwala train bombing July 24, 1996 Dehiwala, Western Province 64
    Central Bank bombing January 31, 1996 Colombo, Western Province 91 [4]
    October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres October 16, 1995 Villages in eastern Sri Lanka 120
    Kallarawa massacre May 25, 1995 Kallarawa, Eastern Province 42
    Palliyagodella massacre October 15, 1991 Palliyagodella, Eastern Province 109 [5][6]
    Kattankudi mosque massacre August 4, 1990 Kattankudy, Eastern Province 147 [7]
    Aranthalawa Massacre July 2, 1987 Aranthalawa, North Central Province 35
    Habarana bus massacre April 17, 1987 Habarana, North Central Province 127 [5][8]
    Anuradhapura massacre May 14, 1985 Anuradhapura, North Central Province 146 [4][6]
    Kent and Dollar Farm massacres November 30, 1984 Kent and Dollar Farm, Mullaitivu 62
    Suicide Air Raid on Colombo February 20, 2009 Colombo, Western Province 2
    The following incomplete list is constantly being updated. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.
    [edit] 1983
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    July 23 Black July: 13 soldiers are killed in an LTTE ambush in Jaffna, sparking anti-Tamil riots that cause the death of approximately 4000 Tamils across Sri Lanka during four days, in what would be later labelled as Black July. Jaffna, Jaffna District 13 13 [9][10]
    [edit] 1984

    1984 marked the intensification of the war between the Tamil separatists and the Sri Lankan government, as well as the first reports of civilian massacres by the LTTE.
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    November 11 Dollar Farm massacre: A group of armed LTTE cadres attacked the Dollar Farm village in the night and massacred at least 33 civilians including large number of children and women. Mullaitivu District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka 33 33 [11]
    November 30 Kent Farm massacre: LTTE terrorists launched their second night raid targeting the Kent Farm village and massacred 29 civilians, including women and children, looted their belongings and set fire on to their houses. Mullaitivu District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka 29 29 [11]
    December 1 Kokilai massacre: LTTE cadres kill eleven Sinhalese civilians in the fishing village of Kokilai. Kokkilai, Mullaitivu District 11 11 [5]
    December 31 LTTE members kill 4 Tamil civilians and dump them outside of Batticaloa for refusing to fight for the group. Altogether 30 Tamil civilians were killed for similar reasons in 1984. Batticaloa, Batticaloa District 30 30 [12]
    [edit] 1985

    1985 marked a major escalation of hostilities. For the first time the LTTE attacked a major Sinhalese majority town killing 146 unarmed civilians. The impact of this attack was felt across the island and received world wide attention.
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    January 20 22 soldiers and 10 civilians are killed in a train explosion set off by the LTTE. Colombo, Western District 33 33 [13]
    May 5 Wilpattu Village Massacre: A group of armed LTTE terrorists raided an ancient Sinhalese village in Wilpattu in Anuradhapura district killing 18 villagers including women and children. Wilpattu, Anuradhapura District 18 18 [14]
    May 14 Anuradhapura massacre: LTTE gunmen shoot dead 146 Sinhalese civilians and injure 85 others as they were praying at a sacred Buddhist shrine in Anuradhapura. Anuradhapura, Anuradhapura District 146 146 [9]
    May 14 LTTE cadres shoot dead 18 Sinhalese civilians in the Wilpattu forest reserve while they are fleeing from the massacre of 146 civilians earlier in the day (see Anuradhapura massacre). Wilpattu forest reserve 18 18 [5]
    May 30 LTTE cadres shoot and kill five Sinhalese civilians in the villages of Mahandapura And Dehiwatta. People of these villages had previously received numerous threats from the LTTE associates. This massacre was part of a series of massacres aimed at displacing Sinhalese from the North East of Sri Lanka. Mahandapura and Dehiwatta 5 5 [15]
    June 4 Dehiwatta Village Massacre: Over 100 LTTE terrorists armed with sharp weapons butchered 15 villagers of Dehiwatta in Polonnaruwa district on their sleeping mats. Majority of the victims were women and children. Dehiwatta, Polonnaruwa District 15 15 [14]
    June 11 13 Sinhalese civilians are shot dead by LTTE gunmen in Dehiwatta. Dehiwatta 13 13 [5]
    August 2 LTTE cadres shot dead three Sinhalese Buddhist monks and three civilians, while they were worshipping at the Ruhunu Somavathiya Temple. Thrikonamadu, Polonnaruwa 6 6 [5]
    August 14 Aranthalawa Village Massacre: A group of armed LTTE terrorists raided a Sinhalse village at Aranthalawa , in Ampara district . The LTTE butchered 7 villagers. Aranthalawa, Ampara District 7 7 [14]
    August 18 Namalwatta Village Massacre I: A group of LTTE terrorists armed with sharp weapons hacked 7 villagers. Namalwatta, Trincomalee 7 7 [14]
    November 7 Namalwatta Village Massacre II: LTTE cadres raided Namalwatta village for the second time and executed 10 villagers including women and children. Namalwatta, Trincomalee 10 10 [14]
    December 20 Six Madhu pilgrims, abducted by the LTTE on 12/12/85 were executed. Mannar, Mannar District 6 [5]
    [edit] 1986
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    February 2 Kantale Village massacre: A group LTTE terrorist armed with small arms and swords raided Kantale village and killed 19 civilians. Kantale, Trincomalee District 19 [16]
    February 19 When refugees from Serunuwara, Dehiwatta were being escorted by army personnel along Ella/Kantalai road, LTTE exploded a mine killing 35 civilians and four army personnel. Sittaru Kantalai, Trincomalee District 39 [5]
    May 3 Air Lanka Flight UL512: LTTE bomb explodes aboard Air Lanka flight carrying mainly French, British and Japanese tourists killing 21 (including 13 foreigners – of whom 2 British, 2 German, 3 French, 2 Japanese, 1 Maldivian and 1 Pakistani) and injuring 41 on Bandaranaike International Airport. Katunayake, Western Province 21 [5][17]
    May 5 Kinniya Village massacre: A group of LTTE terrorists slaughtered four civilians. Kinniya, Trincomalee District 4 4 [16]
    May 25 Mahadivulwewa Village massacre: LTTE cadres shot dead 20 Sinhalese and set fire to 20 houses. Mahadivulwewa, Anuradhapura District 20 20 [5][16]
    June 2 Trincomalee 3rd Mile post: LTTE terrorists armed with fire arms, swords, and knives stormed civilian houses at 3rd Mile Post, Trincomalee and butchered 10 civilians, including women and children Trincomalee 10 [16]
    June 4 Andankulam Village massacre: LTTE terrorists attacked Andankulam, a Sinhala village, 17–20 civilians, including Ven. Bakamune Subaddalanakara Thero, were killed. Andankulam, Trincomalee District 17–20 17–20 [5][16]
    June 11 Trincomalee Two bombs exploded by LTTE almost simultaneously in two buses in front of the Bank of Ceylon and in close proximity to the SP office along Inner Harbour Road. They were on their way to Kantalai and Colombo respectively. 22 people were killed in the explosions; 75 others were injured. Trincomalee 22 [5][16]
    June 21 Wilgamwehera Village massacre: LTTE terrorists stormed Wilgamwehera hamlet in Trincomalee district and butchered 9 civilians including children. Wilgamwehera, Trincomalee District 9 [16]
    June 25 Bomb exploded in a vehicle by LTTE killed 16 Sinhalese. Sittaru, Kantalai 16 16 [5]
    July 8 Monkey Bridge Village massacre: LTTE cadres shot dead 15 Sinhalese villagers. Monkey Bridge, Trincomalee District 15 15 [5][16]
    July 9 Mollipothana Village massacre: LTTE terrorists armed with swords, machetes and clubs stormed Mullipothana village during night hours killing 16 civilians, largely women and children were killed. Mullipothana, Trincomalee District 16 [16]
    July 13 Pavakkulam Village massacre: Four LTTE cadres who had come in a jeep to tract No.16, Pavakkulam, killed eleven civilians (two Sinhalese and nine Tamils). Pavakkulam, Trincomalee District 2 9 11 [5][16]
    July 19 Beruwil & Wadigawewa Village massacre: Over 100 armed LTTE terrorists armed with sharp weapons, clubs and small arms stormed Beruwil and Waigawewa villages. 17 villagers were killed including women and children. At least 5 others suffered serious cut wounds Beruwil & Wilgamwehera, Trincomalee District 17 [16]
    July 19 LTTE cadres shot dead twelve Sinhalese villagers. Wadigawewa, North Central Province 12 12 [5]
    July 22 LTTE cadres exploded a land-mine on a civilian bus, killing 32 Sinhalese civilians and injuring 20 others. Mammaduwa, Vavuniya District 32 32
    July 24 A bomb exploded inside a bus proceeding from Vavuniya to Anuradhapura; killing 13 passengers and injuring 40 others. 13 [5]
    July 24 About 50 LTTE cadres entered Damana, a Sinhalese village, and killed nine persons; another 13 were injured. Damana, Central Province 9 [5]
    September 17 Massacre in the Sugar crops: LTTE cadres entered block No.4 Sugar Corp., Kantalai and ten civilians were shot to death. Kantalai, Trincomalee District 7 1 2 10 [5]
    September 17 Wadigawewa Village massacre: After massacring 10 villagers in Kantale, the same terrorists group attacked the village of Wadigawewa. 12 villagers including women and children were killed Wadigawewa, Trincomalee District 12 [16]
    [edit] 1987

    * February 7: Arantalawa, Ampara: LTTE cadres killed 28 villagers by slashing their necks.[5]
    * March 7: Awarantalawa, Vavuniya: LTTE exploded a land-mine where troops were proceeding, killing seven soldiers, four NAF soldiers and six civilians.[5]
    * March 22: Serunuwara Horowpathana: LTTE cadres shot dead 26 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * April 16: Habarana, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 127 Sinhalese civilians , including 31 police and security force personnel who were travelling in buses to Trincomalee.[5][8]
    * April 21: Central Bus Stand, Pettah: LTTE operatives exploded a bomb, killing 113 civilians, two policemen and a soldier; 298 others were injured.[4]
    Further information: Central Bus Station Bombing
    * April 21: Jayanthipura Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 15 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * May 29: Kadawathmadu, Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres shot dead seven Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * June 2: A bus carrying Buddhist monks in Arantalawa was stopped by the LTTE who then killed 32 Buddhist monks (including Chief Priest Ven. Hegoda Indrasara) who were passengers of this bus. Only one monk survived this massacre. This was the first massacre of Buddhist monks in modern Sri Lankan history.[18]
    Further information: Aranthalawa Massacre
    * June 11: Veppankulam Trincomalee Private van No. 38 Sri 496 proceeding from Horowpathana to Trincomalee was blasted by a pressure mine by LTTE, killing one soldier and 13 civilians.[5]
    * June 12: Godapotta, Medirigiriya Polonnaruwa: About 175 villagers had gathered to discuss a new temple. LTTE fighters surrounded the temple and attacked them, killing eight villagers and a soldier. Six persons were injured.[5]
    * July 5: In the first ever suicide attack by the LTTE Black Tigers “Captain Miller”, drives a small truck laden with explosives into a Sri Lanka Army camp in Nelliady, Jaffna peninsula, killing himself and over 50 Sri Lankan soldiers.
    * October 6: Batticaloa: LTTE cadres shot dead 18 Sinhalese civilians.[5]
    * October 6: Sagarapura, Kuchchuveli Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 27 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * October 6: Thalawai Eravur: LTTE cadres shot dead 25 Sinhalese settlers.[5]
    * October 6: Valaichchenai Batticaloa: The night-mail train from Batticaloa was stopped by LTTE cadres and 40 Sinhalese passengers were killed.[5]
    * October 7: Pottuvil Monargala Road: LTTE cadres shot dead 25 Sinhalese passengers, who were traveling by bus. They also killed five motor-cyclists who came along the same route.[5]
    * October 10: Gantalawa Kantalai: LTTE cadres shot dead ten Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * October 15: Ella, Kantalai Road, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 14 Sinhalese passengers traveling on two lorries.
    * October 16: Pulimodai Trincomalee: LTTE cadres stopped a private bus, took out Sinhalese persons and killed eleven of them including three policemen.[5]
    * October 19: Kalkudah Batticaloa: Private bus 23 – 1182 transporting Tamil passengers got caught on an LTTE land-mine, killing 40 persons and an IPKF soldier[5]
    * November 9: Maradana Colombo: LTTE operatives exploded a bomb in a vehicle: 23 civilians killed, 106 were injured, 15 were shot dead.
    * November 11: Kalkuda, Batticaloa: Seven Sinhalese persons selling fish were shot dead by the LTTE.[5]
    * November 12: Cheddikulam, Vavuniya: A van transporting passengers was blasted by an LTTE land-mine explosion, killing twelve Tamil persons and 13 PLOTE members.[5]
    * December 15: Devalagodella, Polonnaruwa: The LTTE attacked Devalagodella and Somavathiya village, killing nine villagers.[5]
    * December 22: Morawewa, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres abducted five Sinhalese and a Tamil, who were fishing in Morawewa Tank and subsequently killed them.[5]
    * December 31: Mahadivulwewa Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead ten villagers and burnt 15 houses.[5]

    [edit] 1988

    * March 2: Morawewa, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 14 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * March 11: Suhadagama Horowpathana Anuradhapura: A group of LTTE cadres attacked a private bus, 22 Sri 2218, at Suhadagamaw with small arms and grenades, killing 19 passengers and injuring nine others.[5]
    * March 14: Galmitiyawa, Kantalai: LTTE cadres shot dead 13 Sinhalese villagers at Galmitiyawa.[5]
    * March 15: Kivulkade, Morawewa, Trincomalee: Two groups of LTTE operatives entered the village and killed seven Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * March 17: Deegavapiya, Damana, Ampara: LTTE cadres hacked to death 13 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * March 22: Pudukulam, Vavuniya: Between ten and 15 LTTE cadres attacked the Sinhalese village and killed six villagers. Another three were injured.[5]
    * March 22: Medavachchi-kulam Vavuniya: LTTE cadres shot dead nine Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * March 29: Wewalketiya: A LTTE bomb exploded inside CTB bus 29 Sri 9037 Anuradhapura which was proceeding from Horowpathana to Medavachchiya, killing nine passengers and injuring 14 others.[5]
    * March 31: Saindamaradu, Kalmunai: LTTE cadres attacked the village, killing ten Muslims and seven Tamils.[5]
    * April 8: Horowpathana, Meegaswewa, Anuradhapura: LTTE gunmen killed 14 Sinhalese.[5]
    * May 1: Sittaru Kantalai, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres exploded a land-mine on a CTB bus killing twelve Sinhalese, nine Muslims and five others, who were not identified.[5]
    * July 28: Ethawetunawewa, Weli Oya: LTTE operatives hacked to death 16 Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * August 16: Trincomalee (opposite Clock Tower): LTTE cadres exploded a bomb, killing sixe Sinhalese, two Muslims, one Tamil and a soldier; 19 persons sustained injuries.[5]
    * August 25: Marawila, Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres killed eleven civilians by cutting their necks.[5]
    * September 10: 16th Colony, Central Camp Ampara: LTTE cadres shot dead seven Sinhalese and four Tamils.[5]
    * October 9: Mahakongaskada Medavachchiya: LTTE cadres shot dead 44 Sinhalese villagers and set fire to eleven houses.[5]
    * November 14: Paniketiyawa, Gomarakadawela Trincomalee: LTTE cadres shot dead 28 Sinhalese, including two security force personnel.[5]

    [edit] 1989
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    January 17 Maharambekulam Village massacre 9 9 [19]
    February 2 Bogamuyaya Village massacre 11 11 [5][19]
    February 11 Dutuwewa Village massacre Dutuwewa, Polonnaruwa District 37 37 [5][19]
    February 11 Singhapura Village massacre Singhapura, Sri Lanka 6 6 [5][5][19]
    February 27 Borawewa Village bloodbath Borawewa, Polonnaruwa District 38 38 [5][19]
    August 17 Nochchikulam Village massacre: An IDE explosion, killing eight civilians and injuring four others. Nochchikulam, Vavuniya District 8 [5]
    [edit] 1990
    See also: Massacre of police officers in Eastern Sri Lanka in June 1990

    * June 10: The LTTE signals the breakdown of ceasefire talks by overrunning police stations located throughout the North East of Sri Lanka. The LTTE massacred most of the 400 to 600 police officers captured after they had surrendered to the LTTE during this attack.[20]
    * June 10: Over 400 unarmed police officers are shot dead by the LTTE in Police Stations across eastern Sri Lanka.[21]
    Further information: Massacre of police officers in Eastern Sri Lanka in June 1990
    * June 15: 11 soldiers are killed in Kalmunai by the LTTE and their bodies are desecrated.[22]
    * July 23: Veeracholai, Batticaloa: LTTE cadres killed eight persons, thought to be Muslims and hanged them on trees.[5]
    * July 24: Damminna, Aralaganvila Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres hacked to death eight Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * July 25: Wan Ela, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres hacked to death nine Sinhalese villagers who were cutting firewood.[5]
    * July 26: Thammannaelawaka Medavachchiya: LTTE cadres hacked and shot to death 19 Sinhalese and set fire to 30 houses.[5]
    * July 30: Akkaraipattu Batticaloa: LTTE cadres shot dead 14 Muslims in the town.[5]
    * July 31: Podankadu, Peraru, Kantalai: Ten Tamil civilians were killed by unidentified gunmen.[5]
    * August 3: Over 30 Tamil Tiger cadres attacked four Muslim mosques in Kattankudy in Batticaloa district, killing at least 147 Muslims who were praying in the mosques.[23]
    Further information: Kattankudi mosque massacre
    * August 5: Mulliyankadu, Ampara: LTTE cadres killed 17 Muslim farmers working in a paddy-field.[5]
    * August 6: Ampara: LTTE cadres killed 33 Muslim farmers working in a paddy-field.[5]
    * August 7: Bandaraduwa, Uhana, Ampara: About 40 LTTE cadres went to a Sinhalese village and killed 30 Sinhalese and injured four.[5]
    * August 8: Navagamuwa, Anuradhapura: LTTE cadres attacked a Sinhalese village and killed seven civilians; four persons were injured.[5]
    * August 11: Division 3 & 6 Eravur LTTE cadres attacked Div. 3 & 6, Eravur, killing 116 Muslims and injuring 20 others.[5]
    * August 13: 15th Mile Post, Pulmoddai, Weli Oya: Twenty-five civilians who were travelling in a lorry from Negombo at Kokuvil were ambushed by LTTE cadres, who killed 14 of them.[5]
    * August 13: Awarantalawa Vavuniya A Muslim village adjoining a Sinhalese village was attacked by LTTE cadres; nine Muslims and one Sinhalese were killed. Three others were injured.[5]
    * September 13: Poonani, Batticaloa LTTE cadres hacked to death seven Muslim civilians and injured one.[5]
    * September 19: Vellamundal, Puttalam: LTTE cadres killed 23 Sinhalese and set fire to eleven houses at the fishing village.[5]
    * September 21: Pudukudiyirippu Ampara: LTTE cadres attacked the village killing 15 Muslims and injuring eleven.[5]
    * September 30: Peraweltalawa, Maha Oya, Ampara: LTTE cadres hacked to death nine Sinhalese villagers.[5]
    * October: The LTTE expelled, within 48 hours, 80,000 Muslims living under their control in the northern districts of the island: Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaittivu, and Mannar. Each civilian was only allowed to carry 150 Sri Lankan rupees when they were expelled from LTTE areas.[23]
    Further information: Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna
    * October 2: Vahalkada, Ampara: LTTE cadres shot dead seven Sinhalese.[5]
    * October 11: Arugambay, Ampara: LTTE cadres shot dead nine Muslims.[5]
    * October 23: Thanthirimalai, Anuradhapura: LTTE cadres killed eight Sinhalese and two home guards.[5]
    * November 1: Halambawewa, Sinhapura, Weli Oya: LTTE cadres attacked the village and killed ten Sinhalese.[5]

    [edit] 1991

    * January 23: Bogamuyaya Maha Oya, Ampara: LTTE cadres hacked to death 25 Sinhalese villagers and injured nine others, four subsequently succumbed to their injuries.[5]
    * March 2: At least 19 people, including Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defence Minister, Ranjan Wijeratne killed in an LTTE car bomb explosion in Colombo. A further 73 people injured.[18]
    * March 24: Bogamuyaya, Akkaraipattu: Bomb explosion carried out by LTTE at Fish Market Akkaraipattu, killing nine Muslims and injuring 32 others.[5]
    * March 31: Irudayapuram Batticaloa: LTTE cadres shot dead eight civilians at the market in the night.[5]
    * April 3: Keviliya, Foul Point, Trincomalee: LTTE cadres in two boats surrounded several boats and opened fire at the fishermen. Ten dead bodies and eleven injured were found. Sixteen were missing. The missing persons were either taken away or drowned after being shot.[5]
    * April 14: Ethimalai, Monaragala: LTTE cadres hacked to death 17 Sinhalese villagers and injured another.[5]
    * April 20: Niyadella, Okkampitiya, Moneragala: LTTE cadres attacked the village and hacked and shot to death 21 men, women and children.[5]
    * May 19: Erakkamam, Ampara LTTE cadres attacked five Muslims and two Sinhalese persons, whilst they were returning from the paddy-field, killing six persons and injuring one.[5]
    * May 21: LTTE suicide bomber Thenmuli Rajaratnam assassinated former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi while the latter was campaigning for a parliamentary candidate in Tamil Nadu, also killing an additional 13 civilians.[4] Following the assassination, seven suspected LTTE activists committed suicide after being surrounded by police.[24] In June 2006, the LTTE issued a formal apology for this action. However, the Indian government quickly responded saying forgiving Tamil Tigers for the 1991 killing of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi would amount to endorsing their ideology of terror.[25]
    * May 21: Sriperumbudur, India: An LTTE suicide bomber kills former Indian Prime Minister and Indian Opposition Leader Rajiv Gandhi and 14 others.[26]
    * May 20: Malwatta, Sammanthurai, Ampara: LTTE cadres fired on a group of Muslims who were returning from the paddy-field in a tractor; nine Muslims were killed and two injured.[5]
    * June: Colombo: 12 killed and 85 civilians injured after a suicide bombing outside the Joint Operations Command (JOC) building on Flower Road, Colombo 7.[27]
    * June 12: Kokkadicholai, Batticaloa: LTTE Bomb explosion in Manmunai ferry kills ten civilians.[5]
    * June 24: Weligahakandiya Batticaloa: LTTE cadres abducted and killed eight Sinhalese and injured one Tamil.[5]
    * June 27: Lahugala, Ampara: LTTE cadres exploded two claymore mines and opened fire at the passengers of a private bus; 16 civilians were killed and eight wounded.[5]
    * July: The army’s Elephant Pass base, which controls access to the Jaffna peninsula, is surrounded by 5,000 LTTE cadres. More than two thousand died on both sides in the month-long siege, before 10,000 government troops arrived to relieve the base.[28]
    * July 6: Pudur, Jaffna: LTTE cadres cut and killed nine Muslims and moved towards the Mahaweli river bank and cut to death another eight persons, injuring four others. One of the injured succumbed to his injuries. Total killed: 16 Muslims and two Sinhalese.[5]
    * July 6: Karapola, Manampitiya, Polonnaruwa: Nine Sinhala fishermen were abducted by LTTE cadres and killed.[5]
    * August 8: Sammanthurai, Batticaloa: Six Muslims farmers killed by LTTE cadres.[5]
    * September 19: Palliyagodella, Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres attacked a Muslim village, killing 13 Muslims and injuring six others.[5]
    * October 24: Iqbal Nagar: LTTE cadres who were in ambush, fired at a civilian van killing three Tamils and three Muslims.[5]

    [edit] 1992

    * January 26: Between Arantalawa and Borapola LTTE mine explosion killed nine civilians in a bus.[5]
    * April 10: Ampara Town: A LTTE bomb exploded in a bus causing the death of 25 civilians and injuring 33 civilians. One policeman was also killed and two army personnel were wounded.[5]
    * April 10: Maharagama: A LTTE car bomb exploded, causing the death of eight civilians; one policeman and 23 civilians were injured.[5]
    * April 29: LTTE cadres kill 69 Muslim civilians including 5 infants. Reprisal attacks by Muslim civilians and homeguards results in the death of 49 Tamil men.[29]
    * April 29: Alinchipothana, Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres attacked the Alinchipothana village, killing 56 Muslims and injuring 15.[30]
    * June 2: 209th Mile Post Ampara: A group of LTTE cadres stopped a bus opened fire, killing 14 civilians, one policeman, and injuring two civilians and one policeman.[5]
    * July 6: Parayankaulam, Vavuniya: LTTE cadres publicly shot dead ten Tamil lorry drivers and a woman, alleging that they had passed information to the security forces.[5]
    * July 15: Kirankulam, Batticaloa: LTTE cadres attacked a civilian bus proceeding from Kathankudy towards Kalmunai, killing 19 Muslims and injuring seven Muslims.[5]
    * July 21: Parangiyamadu, Batticaloa: LTTE cadres stopped a train, ordered the passengers to get down and opened fire at the Muslim passengers: seven Muslims were killed and four Muslims were injured.[5]
    * August 30: Trincomalee Town: A LTTE bomb planted in a private bus at the bus-stand exploded, killing nine civilians and injuring 34 (including four soldiers, two reserve policemen).[5]
    * September 1: Saindamaradu, Kalmunai: A LTTE bomb fixed to a push-cycle carrying an ice-cream container, exploded at the market, killing 22 Muslims and injuring 67 others.[5]
    * September 10: Kiliveddi Point, Trincomalee: LTTE operatives blasted a ferry across Allai Tank and killed 22 soldiers and seven civilians, and injured one soldier and two civilians.[5]
    * October 1: Konwewa Weli Oya: LTTE cadres fired and threw grenades at villagers, killing 15 civilians and injuring nine others.[5]
    * October 15: Palliyagodella Polonnaruwa: LTTE cadres attacked a Muslim village and shot and hacked to death 182 civilians (171 of them were Muslims), twelve policemen and eight soldiers; 83 others were injured.[5][6]
    Further information: Palliyagodella massacre
    * November 16: An anti-rebel website claimed that the Sri Lanka Navy Commander Vice Admiral Clancy Fernando and four others are killed by LTTE suicide bomber.[31]

    [edit] 1993
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    May 1 Sri Lanka Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa: Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa killed in LTTE suicide bomb attack at a May Day Rally. Colombo, Colombo District 1 ? ? 1 [4]
    July 25 Janakapura Village massacre: The LTTE raids a Sinhalese village and kills nine civilians by means of stabbing, shooting and blowing up with grenades. Janakapura 9 [32]
    November 10 Attack on Pooneryn army camp: Eight officers and 233 soldiers were declared killed in action in LTTE’s attack on the Pooneryn defences. The LTTE also executed 200 soldiers captured during this attack on the Pooneryn army camp. Pooneryn army camp, Pooneryn 241 [20]
    [edit] 1994
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    January 19 Rambewa bus bombing: A LTTE bomb exploded in a private bus carrying civilians from Sripura to Anuradhapura, causing the death of ten Sinhalese civilians and injuring 51. Rambewa, Anuradhapura District 10 10 [5]
    March 16 Kudiramalai Fishing boats Attack: LTTE cadres attacked about ten fishing boats, causing the death of 17 fishermen and injuring three; five fishermen were reported missing. Off Kudiramalai, Puttalam District 17 [5]
    October 24 Assassination of Gamini Dissanayake: Sri Lankan presidential candidate and opposition leader Gamini Dissanayake is killed by an LTTE suicide bomber who explodes herself at a campaign rally in Colombo. At least 50 others were killed in the blast and a further 75 were seriously hurt. Colombo, Colombo District ≈50 ≈50 [9][33][34]
    [edit] 1995

    * May 25: During the Kallarawa massacre 42 civilians including six children are killed by the LTTE in an attack on the Kallarawa fishing village.[35]
    * May 25: LTTE cadres attack a fishing village in Kallarawa, and hack and shot to death 42 civilians (22 males, twelve females and eight children).[36][37][38]
    Further information: Kallarawa massacre
    * August 7: Colombo: An LTTE suicide bomber explodes a suicide rickshaw killing 22 civilians.[31]
    * October 20: Kolonnawa, Colombo: LTTE attacked the oil storage complexes at Kolonnawa and Orugodawatta. At least three suicide bombers fought their way into the tanks and blew themselves up destroying the tanks. LTTE lost four cadres in the action while killing 22 security personnel and destroying diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel and crude oil worth over US $10 million.[39]
    * October 21: Mangalagama: LTTE cadres kill 16 civilians.[36]
    * October 25: Panama: LTTE cadres kill twelve Sinhala farmers.[37][38]
    * November 11: Colombo: A LTTE suicide bomber causes an explosion near the Slave Island railway station resulting in the death of 15 children and two soldiers.[31]
    * November 24: Colombo: An attack by two LTTE female suicide bombers on the Sri Lanka Army Headquarters results in the death of 16 people.[31]
    * December 11: Colombo: Two LTTE suicide bombers blow themselves up at the Army Headquarters, resulting in the deaths of 15 civilians and three soldiers.[31]
    * December 23: The LTTE attacked an army detachment in Batticaloa district, killing 32 troops. Military sources reported that more than 60 rebels were killed.[40]

    [edit] 1996

    * January 31: An attack by the LTTE on the Colombo Central Bank killed 90 and injured a further 1,400 civilians, damaging other buildings in the process. It was the most deadly LTTE attack on a civilian target in the history of the group’s operations.[4]
    * January 31: Bombing of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank resulting in 91 civilian deaths.[4]
    * March 19: 29 Tamil civilians killed by LTTE, as they were accused of being traitors and giving information to Security Forces.[36]
    * June 11: Lunuoya LTTE kills 14 civilians. According to Amnesty International, this attack was reportedly led by an LTTE member whose family had been killed in communal violence, after the LTTE attacked a police post. The main target of this appears to have been the family of those thought to have been responsible for the killing of this LTTE member’s family.[36]
    * July 4: Jaffna: An attack by an LTTE suicide bomber on a Sri Lankan minister results in the death of 25 people.[31][41]
    * July 18: The LTTE overruns the Sri Lanka Army camp at Mullaitivu. The number of killed in action and missing in action Sri Lankan soldiers from this attack was over 1200.[42] The LTTE appear to have burnt alive hundreds of Sri Lankan soldiers who had surrendered during the attack on the Mullaitivu army camp.[43]
    * July 24: The LTTE bombs a passenger train killing 70 civilians.[4]
    * July 24: Dehiwala train bombing where the LTTE exploded 4 bombs on Colombo-Alutgama train at Dehiwala killing between 60[44] and 70 civilians.[4] The technique of simultaneously exploding multiple bombs in several carriages was used during this attack.[44]

    [edit] 1997
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    February 10 Oddaimvadi Village attack: A group LTTE terrorist attacked Oddaimavadi Muslim village in Batticaloa. The terrorists shot 5 civilians to death and wounded 3 others. Oddaimavadi, Batticaloa District 5 5 [45]
    May 12 Morawewa Village attack: LTTE terrorists attacked police station of Morawewa and the village in Trincomalee. The terrorists butchered 5 civilians in this attack. Morawewa, Trincomalee District 5 [45]
    July 2 Erakkandy Village Massacre: Over 100 LTTE terrorists wielding sharp weapons, clubs and firearms stormed Erakkandy Muslim village in Trincomalee and butchered 34 civilians. Erakkandy, Trincomalee District 34 34 [45]
    October 15 1997 Colombo World Trade Centre Bombing: An LTTE bomb exploded at the Colombo World Trade Centre, killing 13 and injuring hundreds. Colombo, Colombo District 13 [6][46]
    [edit] 1998

    * January 25: Four likely members of the Black Tiger squad drove an explosives-laden truck into the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, a major Buddhist shrine, killing seven and injuring 25. The attack took place just days before foreign dignitaries were expected to attend celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of Sri Lankan independence at the temple.[4]
    * January 25: Four members of the Black Tiger squad drive an explosives-laden truck into a major Buddhist shrine, killing seven and injuring 25.[4] The Maligawa is one of the most sacred Buddhist shrines in the world, and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[31]
    * March 5: LTTE is blamed for two bomb explosions aboard buses in Colombo killing thirty-two civilians and injuring 252 others.[4]
    * May 14: A member of the Black Tiger squad jumped in front of a vehicle carrying Sri Lankan Brigadier Larry Wijeratne and detonated explosives, killing the general and two guards. Wijeratne was the commander of Sri Lankan forces in the Point Pedro area of the Jaffna peninsula in the Tamil-inhabited north of the country. Press reports described the assassination as a “serious blow” to the government’s efforts in the area.
    * August 29: The LTTE shoot down a AN-24 Lionair Flight 602 with 55 passengers (including 48 Tamils) and crew while it was flying over LTTE held territory. Everyone onboard is killed.[47][48]
    * September: In a massive LTTE offensive 1,500 soldiers are killed (Battle of Kilinochchi), 3,000 wounded and 500 are missing.[49]

    [edit] 1999

    * June 2: Eleven Sinhalese civilians were murdered at Inginiyagala.[50]
    * July 29: An LTTE suicide bomber killed Sri Lankan Tamil MP Dr.Neelan Thiruchelvam along with two others. Six civilians were injured. At the time of his death Dr.Neelan Thiruchelvam was working on a constitutional package aimed at ending the decades long ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.[51]
    * September 18: LTTE cadres massacre at least 50 Sinhalese civilians in three villages in Ampara District.[9][52][53][54]
    Further information: Gonagala massacre
    * November 1: An LTTE attack on an army camp at Oddusuddan results in an SLA defeat with 800 soldiers killed or missing and another 1,200 deserted (See Oddusuddan offensive).[49]
    * December 11 – January 2, 2000: 212 soldiers are killed in heavy fighting. Also another 37 are missing and 2,118 are wounded.[49]
    * December 18: A LTTE suicide bomber kills 23 civilians in attempt to kill Sri Lankan president Kumaratunga at a pre-election rally.[4][55]
    * December 18: In Colombo LTTE suicide bomber Skandaraja Ashoka kills eleven people and retired Sri Lanka Army Major General Lucky Algama.[31]

    [edit] 2000

    * January 5: An LTTE suicide bomber blows herself up outside the office of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka killing 13 civilians and three police officers.[31][55]
    * January 7: An LTTE suicide bomber kills Sri Lankan Industrial Minister C.V. Gunaratne and 24 civilians.[31][56]
    * January 27: LTTE bomb a post office killing eleven and injuring 70.[57][58]
    * March 11: 14 civilians and six police die when four LTTE suicide bombers attempt to assassinate the defence minister. 46 others are injured[31][57]
    * April 22: The LTTE overrun the most important military base in the Northern province, the Elephant Pass base (See Second Battle of Elephant Pass ).[59]
    * May 18: An LTTE bomber killed 23 and injured 70 at a Buddhist temple in Batticaloa during celebrations of the Vesak holiday.[60]
    * May 17: The LTTE detonate a bomb hidden inside an ice-cream box on a bicycle during celebrations to mark the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar, Vesak, killing over 20 people and injuring 75.[61]
    * June 26: LTTE suicide boats sink a chartered private ship M.V. Uhana. Five civilian crew and three navy personnel die.[31]
    * September 15: An anti-rebel website claimed that in Colombo a suicide bomber explodes in front of the main government hospital in Colombo resulting in seven civilian deaths. 28 civilians are injured.[31]
    * October 3: An anti-rebel website claimed that the an LTTE bomb kills parliamentary candidate Mohammed Baithullah and more than twenty others in Muttur. At least 49 others were injured.[62]
    * October 5: An anti-rebel website claimed that in Medawacchchiya, Anuradhapura an attack by an LTTE suicide bomber on the Health and Indigenous Medicine Deputy Minister Tissa Karaliyadda results in the death of seven civilians and injuries to 40 civilians.[62]

    [edit] 2001
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    July 24 Bandaranaike Airport attack: An LTTE 14-man suicide squad attacked a Sri Lanka Air Force base and the adjoining Bandaranaike International Airport. They destroyed many aircraft, crippling the country’s economy and reducing tourism. Katunayake, Western Province 7 14 21 [63]
    [edit] 2005
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    August 12 Assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar: Lakshman Kadirgamar, the foreign minister of Sri Lanka and an ethnic Tamil was shot by an alleged LTTE sniper. Colombo, Colombo District 1 1 [64]
    [edit] 2006

    * January 7: A suspected LTTE fishing boat loaded with explosives detonates and destroys a Sri Lankan navy boat as it leaves the port of Trincomalee, killing 13 sailors.[65]
    * March 1: Five civilians die in suspected LTTE mine explosion.[66]
    * April 23: The LTTE kill six Sinhalese civilians including two 15 year old children in the village of Gomarankadawala in the Trincomalee district.[67]
    Further information: Gomarankadawala massacre
    * April 25: A suicide bomber, believed to belong to the LTTE, attempts to kill Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, seriously injuring him while killing eight others and injuring thirty more. The explosives were disguised as the late stages of pregnancy, and the bomber was originally believed to be pregnant, although subsequent medical tests have been inconclusive.[68]
    * May 11: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Sea Tigers attacks and sink one Sri Lanka Navy vessel while seriously damaging another. The attack is ruled as a grave violation of the Cease Fire Agreement by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. In response, LTTE threathened the truce monitors not to be aboard naval vessels.[69] 18 sailors perish on the Sri Lankan patrolboat, and an unknown number of Sea Tiger cadres also die in the attack.[70] The fact that the lives of two Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission monitors on board these ships were endangered by this attack, triggered the European Union decision to ban the LTTE.[71]
    * May 27: The award-winning author Nihal de Silva and seven Sri Lankan tourists were killed by a supposed LTTE land mine in Wilpattu National Park. The explosion took place near Tamil held territory in the northern part of the country. Before a 2002 cease fire agreement, rebels used the park as a hiding place. It is unclear whether the mine was planted before or after the cease fire agreement.[72]
    * May 29: Thirteen farm workers were cut and shot in a village around Welikanda in Plonnaruwa. The government suspected the LTTE were responsible, while the LTTE responded that they had no involvement and that they were falsely implicated. Furthermore, the LTTE condemned this attack.[73][74]
    * May 30: An anti-rebel website claimed that the LTTE cadres kill twelve Sinhalese villagers working at an irrigation canal construction site in Omadiyamadu, close to the uncleared areas of Welikanda in Polonnaruwa district.[75]
    * June 15: The LTTE blow up a civilian bus killing 68, including ten children and three pregnant women. Approximately 60 more are injured.
    * June 15: The LTTE bombs a bus carrying 140 civilians in Kebithigollewa, in northeastern Sri Lanka. The blast results in the death of 68 civilians including 15 school children, and injurers 78 others. It was caused by two claymore mines placed side by side on the bus by LTTE cadres, which spraying the packed bus with millions of ball bearings upon manual detonation.[76]
    Further information: Kebithigollewa massacre
    * June 26: The third highest ranking Sri Lankan military officer, Major General Parami Kulatunga was wounded in an attack by LTTE and died after being taken to the hospital. Two other military escorts and a passerby were also killed.[77]
    * September 18: LTTE cadres massacre ten Muslims at Pothuwil in the Eastern province. The sole survivor of the attack confirms it was carried out by LTTE cadres.[78]
    Further information: Pottuvil massacre
    * October 16: In the deadliest ever suicide attack by the LTTE in Sri Lanka, a suicide bomber in a truck kills 103 sailors on buses going or returning from leave at a transit point and wounds over 150 other sailors. Several civilians may also have died.[79]
    * October 16: In the deadliest suicide attack in Sri Lanka to date, a suicide bomber in a truck kills 103 Sri Lanka Navy sailors on buses going or returning from leave at a transit point and wounds over 150 other sailors. Several civilians may also have died.[80]
    Further information: 2006 Digampathana truck bombing
    * December 1: An LTTE suicide bomber triggers the explosives packed into a vehicle in Colombo as a five car convoy carrying Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse passes by, in an attempt to assassinate him. Secretary Rajapakse escapes unharmed, although two people are killed and 14 others are wounded, mostly civilians who were passing by the site.[81]

    [edit] 2007

    * January 5: Nittambuwa: The LTTE are the only suspects in bomb blast on a city bus carrying more than 80 civilians. The resulting explosion kills six civilians and wounds 63, ten of them seriously. The bus was bombed during the evening rush-hour near Nittambuwa town, 40 km (25 miles) north-east of Colombo.[82][83] It followed a threat issued by the LTTE that they will carry out revenge attacks for air raids by the Sri Lanka Air Force.[84][85][86]
    Further information: 2007 Sri Lankan bus bombs
    * January 6: Peraliya: A suspected LTTE suicide bomber detonates herself inside a Colombo–Matara passenger bus. 16 civilians are killed and more than 50 are injured.[87][88] These attacks on buses appear to be a fulfillment of threats made by the LTTE.[84][89]
    Further information: 2007 Sri Lankan bus bombs
    * February 7: Batticaloa: Rev. Selliah Parameswaran Kurukkal, the head Priest of the Santhiveli Pilleyar Kovil and a father of three, who blessed President Mahinda Rajapaksa during the President’s visit to Vakarai four days previously, is forcibly dragged out of his residence and shot dead by gunmen from the LTTE.[90][91][92][93] The gunmen had mentioned that they were from the LTTE and they needed to question the Poosari in connection with the garlanding of the President.[94][95] It is also suggested he had been targeted because he had co-operated with the security forces in order to help civilians flee the fighting around Vakarai.[96]
    * March 9: Puttlam: Eight people who entered the Wilpattu National Park to investigate the grievances of the local population over wild elephant attacks, including the Sri Lanka Army Area Commander, the head Park Warden and three park rangers, are ambushed and massacred by the LTTE.[97]
    * March 26: The LTTE mount their first air strike, bombing a government-controlled military airbase. The attack leaves three killed and 19 wounded.[98]
    * March 29: Tamil Nadu, India: LTTE cadres kill five Indian fisherman off the coast of Tamil Nadu and kidnap twelve others. An anonymous caller initially attempts to blame the incidents on the Sri Lanka Navy.[99]
    * April 1: Eravur, Batticaloa: LTTE cadres massacre six aid workers who were constructing a housing scheme named “Village of Hope” for Tamil children orphaned by the 2004 Asian Tsunami. Another three aid workers suffer serious gunshot injuries following the shooting at close range which took place at 8.15 pm local time.[100][101][102][103]
    * April 2: Ampara: The LTTE bomb a civilian bus in eastern Sri Lanka, killing at least 16 civilians, and wounding 25 others. Among the dead are eleven women, three men and two boys.[104][105][106] Video of the blast scene
    * April 5: Polonnaruwa: In the third attack on civilians in a week, LTTE cadres shoot dead four Sinhalese farmers.[107]
    * April 7: Piramanalankulam, Vavunia: In the second such incident in five days, the LTTE bomb a civilian bus traveling along the Vavuniya–Mannar main road at 7:30 am, killing eight and wounding a further 26 people.[108][109] Video of the blast scene
    * April 12: Avarantalawa, Vavuniya: Suspected LTTE raid a village at around 4:45 pm (local time) and shoot dead seven people, of six women and one man, on the eve of the traditional New Year.[110][111]
    * April 23: Vavunia: The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry claimed that the LTTE cadres A bomb set off by rips through a civilian bus traveling near the town of Vavuniya killing five passengers and wounding 35.[112][113]
    * April 24: The LTTE mount a second air strike on Palaly, the main government-controlled military airbase in Northern Jaffna.[114]
    * April 29: Two fuel facilities were bombed by the LTTE during an air raid which they said was in response to an army strike on their positions.[115]
    * May 24: Colombo: The Sri Lankan Army claimed that it suspects Tamil Tigers exploded an IED fixed on motorbike in Colombo targeting a bus transporting Sri Lankan Army personal killing one soldier and wounding six people, including three civilians.[116][117][118] Video of the blast scene
    * May 27: Thirukkovil: The Sri Lankan Military said Tamil Tiger rebels set off a road side bomb blast blew up a truck, killing the three civilians.[119][120][121][122]
    * May 28: Rathmalana: The Sri Lankan Military and a doctor claimed that the Tamil Tigers detonated a bomb targeting a truck carrying Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force (STF) personnel at Belk Kade junction, in Rathmalana during the evening, killing seven civilians and injureding more than 39 people, including seven STF personal. Amongst dead were one pregnant mother.[123][124][125][126]
    * July 16: Trincomalee: Suspected Tamil Tigers gunned down Eastern province chief secretary Herath Abeyweera at around 5:30 p.m. local time (12.00 GMT).[127][128]
    * August 20: Vavuniya: Sri Lanka military claimed that Tamil Tiger rebels in a jeep opened fire on the police checkpoint in Vavuniya district, killing four home guards including three female guards and one civilian.[129][130][131]
    * September 22: Trincomalee: The Sri Lankan military claimed that suspected Tamil Tigers detonates a mine targeting a bus carrying civilians in Trincomalee district killing the driver of it and wounding two others.[132][133][134]
    * September 27: Jaffna: At least two civilians were killed and about fifteen were injured, including two policemen when LTTE rebels had triggered a road side bomb targeting a police road patrol vehicle at Chunnakam, Jaffna market area around 10.30 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).[135][136][137]
    * October 22: LTTE attacked Anuradapura Airbase destroying more than 20 military aircrafts (See Raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base).
    * November 26: Group of LTTE cadres shot and killed four Sinhalese farmers, including one woman, at Mahawilachchiya, Anuradhapura. For details look Mahawilachchiya massacre[citation needed]
    * November 28: Colombo: A suspected LTTE cadre blows herself up in front of the office of Douglas Devananda, the leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party in an attempt to assassinate him. Devanda escapes unhurt, but his personal secretary is killed and two of his security personnel are seriously injured.[138]
    * November 28: Colombo: An LTTE parcel bomb blows up a Department Store in Colombo killing 20 civilians. Amnesty International have asked the LTTE to comply with international law and halt such attacks.[139]

    [edit] 2008

    * January 1: Colombo: A former minister and a Member of Parliament belonging to UNP for Colombo District T. Maheswaran was shot by a gunman while attending the New Year prayers at Kotahena, Sivam Kovil around 10:35 local time (05:05 GMT) and later succumbed to his injuries at the Colombo General Hospital along with one Hindu pilgrim who was too attending to the prayers.[140][141][142] UNP parliamentarians Johnston Fernando and Dayasiri Jayasekara accused the current government as responsible by saying that T. Maheswaran’s plan to reveal Jaffna situation has led to his murder. The government has denied any responsibility.[143] However, The Council on Foreign Relations claimed that LTTE was suspected.[144] To the accusation that Douglas Devananda a cabinet minister and leader of the EPDP political party was involved in his murder and had previously threatened T. Maheswaran, Douglas had denied any responsibility.[145] Later the government of Sri Lanka claimed that the suspected gunmen worked for the state. The suspected gunman was a security guard for Minister Douglas Devananda and for the victim – Maheswaran.[146]
    * January 2: Colombo: A bomb attack outside the Nipon Hotel in the Slave Island district, aimed at a Sri Lankan Army bus, killed at least four people, including a soldier and three civilians, and injured 28 others, Sri Lankan defense and hospital officials said. The Defense Ministry blamed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the attack.[147]
    * January 8: Ja-Ela: A non-cabinet Minister of Nation Building and a Member of Parliament of Sri Lanka, D. M. Dassanayake died of injuries sustained in a roadside bomb attack in Ja-Ela, twelve miles (19 km) north of Colombo along with one of his body guard. The attack injured ten others. LTTE blamed for this assassination.[144][148]
    * January 16: Buttala: A roadside bomb targeting a passenger bus packed with civilians, killing 27 civilians including three schoolchildren and wounding 67 others, 240 km (150 miles) south-east of the capital, Colombo. This attack took place on the same day that a ceasefire ended between the Tamil Tigers and the government of Sri Lanka. Also, after the blast, gunmen had started shooting passengers as they tried to flee. According to the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, the bus was hit by a powerful Claymore-type mine which was packed with explosives and ball-bearings. The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry blames the LTTE.[149][150][151][152][153][154]
    * February 2: Dambulla: A bomb blast was accord on a passenger bus, 150 kilometres (93 miles) north of the island’s capital killing 20 people and injuring 50 more. The Sri Lankan government has blamed the LTTE for this attack.[155]
    * February 3: Colombo:A suicide bomber exploded herself at on broad a train at the main railway station in Colombo Fort, killing eleven people and wounding 97 others[156]. Killed in the incident where seven school children of the baseball team of D. S. Senanayake College and their coach[157].[158].
    Further information: 2008 Fort Railway Station Bombing
    * February 23: Mount Lavinia: A bomb went off in a bus in the suburban town of Mount Lavinia, 10 kilometres (six miles) south of the capital of Colombo, wounding at least 18 people including seven women and an 8-month-old infant. Government blamed on Tamil Tigers for the responsibility.[159][160][161][162]
    * February 23: Batticaloa: A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up in east Sri Lanka on Sunday killing two members of a regional political party.[163][164]
    * February 29: Colombo: A suicide bomber exploded himself and wounding seven included three policemen and four civilians, when Sri Lanka Police attempt to search his house during a search and cordon operation by police aimed at flushing out Tamil Tiger rebels seeking to mount attacks in the capital.[165][166]
    * March 2: Vavuniya: A roadside bomb exploded wounding four policemen and six civilians in a northern city of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Military blames the LTTE.[167]
    * March 10: Colombo: A bomb hidden in a roadside flowerpot in Sri Lanka’s capital Monday, killing one person and injuring six others, including four children who were on their way to school. Government blamed on Tamil Tigers for the responsibility.[168][169]
    * April 6: Colombo: A suicide bomber killed 14 people at an opening ceremony for a marathon Sunday, including a government minister who was nearing the starting line with a flag and a former Olympian. More than 90 others were wounded in the attack.
    Further information: 2008 Weliveriya bombing
    * April 25: Colombo: A parcel bomb explodes inside a bus in the residential suburb of Piliyandala, killing 24 and wounding 52.[170][171]
    Further information: 2008 Piliyandala bus bombing
    * May 16: Colombo: A LTTE suicide bomber on a motorcycle packed with explosives rammed into a bus carrying a police riot squad, killing 13 people which included 11 police personal and 2 civilians, and wounding 95.[172][173].
    * May 26: Dehiwala: A bomb exploded inside a crowded train in Dehiwala station, killing 8 people and wounding 67.[174] The same place or very close to that place where the LTTE’s Dehiwala train bombing in 1996, which resulted 64 deaths and 400 wounded.[175]
    Further information: 2008 Dehiwala train bombing
    * June 4: Wellawatte: A bomb exploded between the railway tracks hit by packed commuter train at 0710 local time between the Dehiwala and Wellawatte railway stations, was injured at least 24 people. The incident happened after one weeks time in the same area, also the Police said that they have captured the two suspects in the same day.[176]
    Further information: 2008 Wellawatte train bombing
    * June 6:
    o Moratuwa: A roadside bomb exploded targeting a passenger bus during rush hour, killing 23 civilians and wounding 80 more. The Sri Lankan Government blames the LTTE.[177]
    Further information: 2008 Moratuwa bus bombing
    o Pollgolla, Kandy: A bomb blast occurred on a passenger bus, killing 2 civilians and wounding 20. The Sri Lankan Government blamed the LTTE.[178]
    Further information: 2008 Polgolla bus bombing
    * June 16: Vavuniya: Suspected LTTE suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated explosives in front of a police office killing 12 policemen including 4 female police constables and wounded 40 others including school children.[179]

    [edit] 2009
    Date Attack Location Sinhalese Tamils Muslims Death toll Sources
    February 20 2009 suicide air raid on Colombo: The LTTE launched an unsuccessful kamikaze style suicide attack targeting locations in and around Colombo. Colombo, Colombo District 2 4
    February 22 Kirimetiya Village massacre: The Sri Lanka Defence Ministry claimed that 10 people were killed by LTTE Kirimetiya, Eastern Province 10 [180]
    April 12 Mahagodayaya massacre: 9 people were killed including 2 children Mahagodaya, Moneragala district 9 9

  278. Prominent Tamil Leaders Assassinated by the LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists in Sri Lanka
    A T Duraiyappah SLFP Mayor for Jaffna
    A Thiagarajah Ex ACTC MP for Vadokoddai who later joined the UNP
    K T Pulendran UNP Organiser for Vavunia
    A J Rajasooriar UNP Organiser in Jaffna
    Mala Ramachandran UNP MMC for Baticaloa
    Gnanachandiram Ex District Judge, Point Pedro and Government Agent, Mullativu
    C E anandarajah Principal, St Jones College, Jaffna
    B K Thambipillai President, Citizens Cimmittee
    V Dharmalingam Ex TULF MP for Manipay and Father of D Siddharthan, Leader of PLOTE
    Alakasunderam Ex TULF MP for Kopay
    P Kirubakaran Primary Court Judge
    Kathiramalai Sarvodaya Leader
    Vignarajah Assistant Government Agent, Samanturai
    Anthonimuttu Government Agent, Baticaloa
    S S Jeganathan Assistant Government Agent, Baticaloa
    Sinnadurai Assistant Government Agent, Trincomalee
    M E Kandasamy Principal, Palugamam Maha Vidyalaya
    S Siththamparanathan Principal, Vigneswara Vidyalaya, Trincomalee
    S Wijayanadan Distric Secretary, Ceylon Communist Party
    Velmurugu Master TULF Organiser and Citizens Committee Member, Kalmunai
    Rev. Father Chandra Fernando President, Citizens Committee, Batticaloa
    Rajjshankar President, Citizens Committee, Tennamarachchi
    S Sambandamoorthy Ex TULF Chairman, District Development Council, Batticaloa
    V M Panchalingam Government Agent, Jaffna
    K Pulendran Assistant Government Agent, Kopay
    A Amirthalingam TULF Leader and National List MP (see details)
    V Yogeshwaran Ex TULF MP for Jaffna
    Dr (Mrs) Rajini Thiranagama Lecturer in Anatomy at the Jaffna University and co-author of the “Broken Palmyrah” (21 Sptember 1989)
    Ganeshalingam Ex EPRLF Provincial Minister for North and East
    Sam Thambimuttu EPRLF MP
    Mrs Thambimuttu Wife of EPRLF MP
    V Yogasangari EPRLF MP in Madras
    A Thangadurai TULF MP for Trincomalee
    Mrs Sarojini Yogeshwaran TULF Mayoress for Jaffna
    Pon Sivapalan TULF Mayor of Jaffna
    Canagasabai Rajathurai EPDF Member for Jaffna
    Veerahaththy Gunaratnam PLOTE member of the Pachchilaipalli Pradheshiya Sabha (PS) in Jaffna (5 May 1999)
    Razick, Supremo of the EPRLF’s armed wing (30 May 1999)
    Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam Leader of TULF (29 July 1999)
    N. Manickathasan Vice President of PLOTE (Tamil Political party working with the Sri Lankan Government)
    Kumar Ponnambalam President of All Ceylon Tamil Congress (5 Jan 2000) Refer to SPUR Media Release
    Vadivelu Vijeyaratnam Point Pedro Urban Council Chairman (14 Jan 2000)
    Anton Sivalingam EPDP’s Municipal Council members in Jaffna (1 March 2000)
    Kanapathipillai Navaratnarajah TELO member of Arayampathi, Batticaloa – on 7 June 2000
    Rajan Sathiyamoorthy Tamil National Alliance parliamentary candidate Rajan Sathiyamoorthy was killed by LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists on 30 March 2004.
    Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar (Foreign Minister in Sri Lanka) 12 August 2005 – Read full details in Special Web Edition
    Kethishwaran Loganathan (54) Deputy Secretary General of Sri Lanka Peace Secratariat, SCOOP (12 August 2006)
    T Maheshwaran Former Minister shot dead on 01 January 2008 (New Years day)
    Minister D M Dissanayake LTTE Tamil Tigers Assassinate Minister D M Dissanayake; 12 people Injured; Another Person killed (03 January 2008)
    K Sivanesan Jaffna TNA MP K. Sivanesan killed in an accidental explosion of a LTTE Tamil Tiger Claymore mine in the LTTE held area (05 March 2008).
    Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorist’s Suicide Bomb Attack killing Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and 12 civilians (06 April 2008)
    Rev. Father M. X. Karunaratnam, Chairman of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR), a Catholic priest attached to the Jaffna diocese (20 April 2008)
    Ms. Maheswary Velautham Attorney –at-law and advisor to the Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda shot dead by the LTTE Tamil Taiger terrorists on 13 May 2008 (Details in EPDP).

  279. Thank you UN, AI , Jim McDonald and many others from the bottom of my heart for the UN war crimes panel !! 🙂 🙂 🙂
    ————
    Colombo targeted hospitals and makeshift hospitals.

    When people moved away from Ki’linochchi, its hospital started functioning in the school building at Udaiyaar-kaddu.

    More than two thousand shells were fired on this building by the SLA.

    Ki’linochchi to Tharmapuram, Vaddakkachchi, Visuvamadu, Udaiyaar-kaddu, Puthukkudiyiruppu – until reaching Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal, at an average 50 civilians were killed every day in Sri Lankan attacks. 8000 were already killed before herded into Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal.

    Medical work decimated and workers were shaken at the death of patients, nurses and workers.

    Sri Lanka Government deliberately starved the innocent civilians

    When there were more than 300,000 people at the last stages in the Tamil War, Colombo sent food for only 30,000.

    Important medicines such as anesthetic drugs were not sent.

    Life-saving surgery without anesthesia was a cursing ordeal for the patients as well as doctors.

    Mothers and children standing in queue to receive infant milk food were targeted in the SL shell attacks.

    Without seeing no one could visualize the sorrow of the child that lost the mother and the mother who lost the child.

  280. Pro-LTTE diaspora pursue Eelam agenda without any thought about Tamils living in Sri Lanka

    “Innaa Seytharai Oruthal Awar Naana-
    Nan Nayam Seythu Widdal” (Thirukkural –Tamil)

    (Perform a good deed in return, to those who have harmed you, in order to shame them-my translation)

    It is one year since the LTTE was militarily defeated at Nanthikadal, 300,000 victims of this war ended up as ‘Internally Displaced Persons’ in camps and several thousands, both combatants and non-combatants, died. In the past year, Provincial Councils have been elected anew, the President has been re-elected and the general elections have been held for a new parliament.

    In the past year, the people, who were not in the war Theater, have enjoyed peace, sans terrorism. The woes of those who faced the brunt of the war and its brutal end however continue unabated!

    Have we learned our lessons from the war and its brutal end, and done what we should have? Sadly, we have done neither. The victims of the war- principally the Tamils in the Vanni, who paid the price for someone else’s war, became the victims of political chicanery, in the hands of Diaspora Tamils, their politicians, their militant turned democratic groups, the international community and the Sri Lankan government.

    The initial and very welcome approach of the government to meet the needs of the IDPs and resettle them as fast as possible, was blunted by the Tamil Diaspora, Tamil politico- militant groups and the international community. The IDPs are those who survived the war and were the direct victims of everything wrong with that war. In the midst of utter destruction, destitution and wretchedness, they unwittingly also became an instrument to torment the government.

    The Tamil Diaspora and the international community conveniently ignored the fact that a brutal war spanning several decades in a poor country, had just ended. Instead of supporting and urging the government to move fast on IDP resettlement, rehabilitation and re-building issues, everything possible was done to divert its attention to issues of lesser or no concern. The Tamil Diaspora at large, to its eternal shame, did not respond, as it should have to resolve the problems of these IDPs. The victims of their selfish and thoughtless pursuit of Tamil Eelam were abandoned on the doorsteps of their sworn enemy! Vested interests in the Tamil Diaspora had the need to display the IDPs and the issue of the war-dead as their new beggar’s wound, to seek sympathy for their Tamil Eelam project.

    Vested interests in the international community on the other hand needed a stick to make the Sri Lankan government toe their line. It seemed the woes of the Tamils as living and battered humans mattered little to the Eelamites and the bleeding hearts in the international community! This paradox baffles me yet.

    The LTTE was hell-bent on precipitating the last Eelam war and was in no mood to listen to voices of caution. It prepared itself for decisive war during the life of the ceasefire agreement and misused the opportunities that arose during the Tsunami to facilitate relief efforts, to further this objective. The Sri Lankan government met this challenge and threw everything in its power to win the war. It was an opportunity the Sri Lankan government was rightly determined not to miss. These aspects of the genesis of the war and the viciousness of the LTTE and the misery and damage to human life, structures and society it had left in its wake, were conveniently forgotten. The fact the LTTE could be yet lurking in the urban areas and the Vanni jungles to wreak its revenge was conveniently ignored. The fact that the Sri Lankan government and the Sinhala people had not forgotten how the LTTE misused even the Tsunami to prepare for war was also ignored.

    The fact that the Sri Lankan government and the Sinhala people, who were painted as the arch enemies of Tamils, had to overnight become their saving angels, overcoming decades long acrimony, mutual hurt, injury, suspicions, fear and distrust, was not appreciated. However, the Sinhala people and the Sri Lankan government largely proved they were up to this challenge. Yesterday’s enemy became today’s friend. This was proof, if any were needed that we are one people at heart.

    The Sri Lankan government was accused of malafide intent, running Nazi-style extermination camps and deliberately imposing the worst misery imaginable on the displaced in terms of food, water shelter and health care. There were also allegations of rape and torture. The fact that thousands of humans, in the most miserable state, who had seen death and had been near death; who were injured and maimed; who had lost their near and dear; who were starved and just clinging on to life; were given refuge in these camps was conveniently forgotten. The fact that these displaced persons had to be cared for under difficult circumstances and unimaginable constraints, while having to be protected from the devious designs and depravity of the LTTE and its supporters, were also ignored.

    How the tragedy that befell the people of the Vanni was deliberately engineered by the LTTE over several years and accentuated in the last days of the war, were conveniently ignored. These unfortunate people unwittingly became just one more tool in the devious political designs of distant spectators and trouble- makers. The LTTE had once again become more important than the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. The Tamils in Sri Lanka were only incidental in the grand scheme for an LTTE Eelam! This brand of heartless politics is an insult to our humanity.

    Sadly, some people enriched themselves at the expense of the misery of these IDPs. The weak and the poor were condemned to live in the camps, while those who had money and influence, but were guilty in the eyes of the government and the armed forces, were able to buy their way out. Those who had tortured the Tamils in the name of liberation in the last phases of the war also bought their way out, leaving the victims to the mercy of the government. There was money made in building the camps and in the provision of food.

    Tamils preyed on these IDPs. Muslims preyed on these IDPs. Sinhalese preyed on these IDPs. Government officials and officers of the armed services and police preyed on the misery of these IDPs. Tamil politicians and supposed to be ex-militants, preyed on the misery of these IDPs. The pro- LTTE Diaspora preyed the most on the misery of these IDPs. The International community, which did help to some extent, played into the hands of these predators, by diverting the attention of the government from the needs of the living to liability for the dead.

    On the brighter side, people all over the Island, the majority, rallied to help these unfortunates. Every Buddhist temple and Sinhala village collected clothing and food for these unfortunate people. Tamil charities and organizations also came forward to do their mite. The hill country Tamils and Muslims all over the island also did what their resources would permit. However, a majority of Tamils with origins in the north and east, but living in the ‘South’, did not do as much as they should have. They were busy mourning the LTTE and a lost cause! This wave of national sympathy and magnanimity was ignored by the Tamil politicians and the Tamil Diaspora at large. A spontaneous urge for national reconciliation and healing were ignored and a rare opportunity permitted to fizzle out.

    The provincial elections in the east, which preceded the final defeat of the LTTE, have made way for a Provincial Council that is trusted by neither the people nor the government. It is made up of persons who are incapable of rising to the challenges confronting their people. It was a window dressing to placate the international community. The elections to the Jaffna and Vavuniya Municipal Councils held soon after the war ended were similar exercises in cussedness. Men, women and groups who should not have been permitted to exercise any power, are exercising what ever power they are permitted ( mainly to feather their own nests and satisfy their bloated egos), over a people who have been broken to an extent that is difficult to imagine. Most of these persons are unqualified to manage even a corner grocery store!

    The recent general elections have also made way for a distorted, enfeebled and disinterested Tamil electorate to elect men and women who have to answer for many past and present sins. Men and women who have no idea where they should take their people and how, have been elected to lead a people mired in misery and have no time to think of the morrow, except in terms of survival. Men and women who should be in jail for their crimes or are answerable for supporting sheer evil, and rabble rousers who are a curse in any society, have been ensconced as Tamil leaders by the short sightedness of the government. Tamils in Sri Lanka need ‘Visionary and able Giants’ and not ‘War Lords, Common Thugs and Cheap Politicians’ to lead them at this moment in their history.

    The government has failed in its duty in not having disarmed and marginalized the Tamil paramilitary groups soon after the war ended. This has aroused much suspicion among Tamils about the intentions of the government and Sinhala polity. The government has chosen to ignore the gun culture, extortion rackets and the politics of terror that persist among these ex-militant groups. The government has thus delivered a helpless people into the hands of political vultures. This failure has also played into the hands of the pro-LTTE Diaspora. The gratitude the government owes these groups, in return for their services during the war, should not be at the expense of the Tamils. They should be retired to greener pastures, to enjoy what is left of their now useless lives, instead of being foisted on the Tamils.

    The pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora on the other hand are busy pursuing their Eelam agenda unmindful of its consequences on the Tamils yet living in Sri Lanka. They are busy creating the illusion that, what was in every way right under the LTTE has become wrong in every way after its defeat and demise. The illusion that women, who were safe under the LTTE, are no longer safe from sexual harassment is one theme in their arsenal. The fact that women were quite safe in the north and east prior to the advent of Tamil militancy is conveniently forgotten. The fact that female cadres were sexually abused by males in positions of command within the LTTE is of course a subject that will not be openly discussed.

    The other theme is that the general security of the Tamils has deteriorated in the absence of the LTTE, with incidence of kidnapping for ransom, murders and other crimes increasing in the north and east. The Tamil Net is spearheading this propaganda effort, supported by some Tamil politicians and local newspaper outlets. The fact that the LTTE and other so-called liberation movements helped criminalize and lumpenize Tamil society is conveniently forgotten by these purveyors of doom. The crime that is beginning to show its ugly face in the north and east are the result of the activities of Tamil Para-military groups and the residual elements of the LTTE mingling among the people. I suspect there may also be a deliberate attempt to subvert normalcy and development by paid agents of the LTTE.

    The third theme is that Tamil lands in the north and east are being colonized and Sinhalized under the auspices of the government. The fact that the LTTE was instrumental in providing at least part of the reason for mass migration of Tamils, and the death and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Tamils, is conveniently ignored by these purveyors of doom. The LTTE gave more importance to holding real estate than the lives of the people it claimed to represent exclusively. Now we have plenty of land and very few people. If there is a vacuum, air will rush into fill it! Where there is need, there will be supply. Let the Tamil Diaspora return in their thousands to fill the human/ human resource vacuum and use potentially productive lands! Their Eelam agenda and utter indifference to the misery they have caused the people whom they claim to care, defies logic. What I see among the pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora is hypocrisy and chicanery of the worst kind.

    The voices of sanity and decency have to prevail in Sri Lanka. The noise of the extremes -Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim- has to be muted. The stand of the government on issues relating to the Tamils, other minorities and the north and east, should be clearly and unambiguously explained. The government has to be like Caesar’s wife, beyond suspicion. The government should make a visible effort to educate the Sinhala polity on the crisis facing the Tamils as a people and the need to accommodate them as equal partners within the Sri Lankan identity. This is a delicate period in Sri Lanka’s history. Wounds in the social fabric have to heal and a new vision has to unfold.

    This vision has to encompass all the people in Sri Lanka. Individual, group and citizenship rights have to be not only respected, but also strongly defended by the government. The government should not only be fair, but also appear to be so. Justice has to come to the fore in our lives.

    The government has to make the efforts on a war footing to mobilize resources to resettle, rehabilitate and provide livelihood for the internally displaced and war-affected, in a proper manner. The Tamil Diaspora has to rally to this cause whole- heartedly and generously. The government has to make a concerted effort to invest in all facets of development in the north and east, and pave the way for both external and internal inputs. The Tamil Diaspora and other Tamils in the South have to contribute to this effort. A new political leadership has to evolve to carry these efforts forward. Eelam is a long lost cause. Tamils are a realistic people. Let us not waste our time and money pursuing the unattainable and unneeded.

    The government has to implement the 13th amendment and plus (which was promised) through interim and appointed Provincial Councils for the north and east in the first phase. The Eastern Provincial Council should be dismissed and Provincial Councils for the north and east appointed. Men and women of integrity, proven ability and vision should be appointed to these councils. They should function for three to five years before elections are held. These councils should be empowered and supported by the government to carry out the mission of restoring normalcy and developing these provinces. These Interim Provincial Councils should be permitted to function as autonomously as possible within the law, without undue interference from the government and Tamil politicians. We need persons with experience and talent to run these councils initially.

    These councils cannot be the repositories of the remnants of Tamil militancy. The ordinary Tamils in the north and east must see tangible improvements in their lives soon. Words and elections do not mean anything to them now. Democracy of the sort we have in Sri Lanka and particularly in the north and east, do not mean anything to a people, who have no hope for the morrow!

    Appointing competent Provincial Councils for the north and East will win the hearts and minds of the Tamils and show that the government honest about its intentions. The three to five year period proposed would give the time and space for the Tamils to recover and evolve a new political leadership. This period will also give the government and the Sinhala polity the time to accept the north and east as integral parts of the country, and dissipate existing suspicions and lingering doubts. The Tamils will also have the time and space to understand that being part of Sri Lanka, is a better option to an LTTE Eelam. These councils should be up and running properly to convince those Tamils, who yet perceive that they are powerless because of the demise of the LTTE, that the government and the Sinhala polity are ready to grant them a measure of autonomy to manage their affairs more efficiently.

    Security concerns are yet paramount and should be addressed in a sophisticated manner. High security zones should be progressively dismantled. Tamils and other minorities should be recruited and integrated into the armed forces and police. The armed forces and police should become national in their content and cease to be identified as ‘Sinhala’. The resurrection of the LTTE or a similar grouping should be prevented at any cost. However, this should also have at its heart the need to win over the Tamils to the cause of a united (and since insisted on, a unitary) Sri Lanka.

    It is also important that laws are passed making statements and acts that arouse communal passions and seed national divisions, irrespective of the direction they originate, criminal offences of the highest order. Introduction of an equal opportunities law would also be an act in the right direction.

    Tamils in Sri Lanka have to concede the north cannot be their exclusive preserve. Sinhalese who want to live and work in the north and east of their free will, should be able to do so and be welcomed. On the other hand, the government should not as a matter of policy permit state-aided colonization of any sort, unless as part of a nationally accepted plan. Historical claims and counter claims to land and the ownership of the Island are for textbooks and academic discussions. The only undisputed ancestral claim all humans have is for Africa, the cradle of humankind!

    The population distribution prevalent at the time of independence should be the benchmark, while taking into account current circumstances and realities. Sri Lanka is one country and it belongs to all of us. However, the rights and sensitivities of predominant communities in particular areas should be respected. Conditions should be created for Tamils to be proud of their Sri Lankan identity. This should be the challenge for the government and the Sinhala polity in the years ahead.

    Prabaharan’s mother (Mrs. Parvathy Vellupillai), should be brought Colombo and provided the best treatment and health care possible, in the best hospital. This will prove to disaffected Tamils and the world at large that we are yet a forgiving and decent people. She is ultimately an old mother, who has unfortunately lived to see her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren die in the battlefields and the husband pre-decease, who deserves our sympathies. This gesture should be the high note in celebrating the first anniversary of defeating the LTTE.

    I yet remember the late Major Raja Uyangoda telling me in 1987, when I sought his help (at the army camp in Kilinotchchi) to cremate the remains of my mother and brother who had been killed by the IPKF in Navatkuli, “Don’t worry. Your mother is like my mother”. That was the height of chivalry. That was the high point of Buddhism. That was the high point of our- a Tamil and a Sinhalese- being fellow Sri Lankans. That was the high point of our common humanity.

    The time has come for everyone in Sri Lanka to become more civilized and recognize that we are humans first and Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others next. It is my belief that in the long run Tamils and history will be thankful to President Rajapakse for eliminating the LTTE scourge. If he is able to find a durable solution to the communal problems plaguing Sri Lanka for six decades, to the satisfaction of all the peoples of Sri Lanka, he will be thankfully remembered as a notable figure by history.

  281. Bhavanidash Says:
    June 26th, 2010 at 12:21 pm

    ————
    Colombo targeted hospitals and makeshift hospitals.

    Were u there to witness it ???? Don’t lie for the sake of good tamil people. You have your own terrorist agendas and we know it. Don’t use our Ethnic name to get sympathy from the west. The west is not as stupid as you think. AI is not the west nor representation of west.

  282. Amidst media reports indicating that Tamil Diaspora organisations in different countries are still making desperate attempts to keep alive the concept of ‘Tamil Eelam’, suspected pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) elements, for the first time since the military defeat of the LTTE in Sri Lanka in May 2009, allegedly executed a terrorist attack in neighbouring India. In the morning of June 12, suspected LTTE cadres blasted railway tracks at Perani Railway Station in Villupuram District in the Southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu. Passengers of the approaching Tiruchirapalli-Chennai Rockfort Express Train escaped unhurt, because the driver applied emergency brakes in time on hearing a loud explosion. Leaflets condemning the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to India [June 8-11] were found from the incident site, Police said.

    Earlier, on June 8, hundreds of pro-LTTE activists, led by Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader V. Gopalswamy alias Vaiko, waving pictures of slain LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, held protests in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, against Rajapakse’s visit.

    Despite the LTTE’s comprehensive defeat in its own homeland, Diaspora elements and Tamil sympathisers continue to garner support abroad, including in India’s Tamil Nadu, raising vital questions on the future of Tamil radicalism in Sri Lanka.

    Notably, addressing the Emergency Regulation debate in Parliament, Sri Lankan Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne, on June 8, stated that the LTTE was attempting to re-establish itself in the country once again, with the backing of its international network. He stressed the necessity of the Emergency Regulation to thwart these efforts and check funding of the LTTE’s revival by the Diaspora networks. The Prime Minister further stated:
    There are LTTE operatives who are still mingling amongst civilians. During the last month we have arrested 77 diehard LTTE cadres who are believed to have been directly involved in terror activities in the country. Intelligence agencies reported that Tigers who escaped the military campaign last year [2009] were collecting weapons they had stashed away to resume their struggle. LTTE support base internationally remains strong despite them being militarily defeated (sic). LTTE fundraising network is attempting to build apartments and residential complexes in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo and its suburbs for LTTE supporters.

    Significantly, the Emergency was extended by another month. The Island nation has been in a State of Emergency since the assassination of then Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on August 12, 2005.

    Earlier on January 15, 2010, President Mahinda Rajapakse had said that Sri Lanka still faced a severe threat from separatists, though the LTTE has been militarily crushed. The President mentioned threats posed by the LTTE operatives in the Jaffna peninsula, claiming that the area had not been cleared fully, and that LTTE cadres could account for as many as 10 per cent of the total population in the District. The President added that LTTE and its agents would do anything to advance their cause.

    That the Government is still worried about the security scenario in the country is reflected in the allocation of SLR 201 billion (1.8 billion dollars) for defence in 2010, down only marginally from an estimated SLF 210 billion in 2009 and SLR 204 billion in 2008, at the height of the fighting with the LTTE.

    Remnants of the LTTE remain active in countries outside Sri Lanka, with regular reports of arrests on charges of terrorist activities. The most prominent of recent incidents include:

    April 27, 2010: Seven suspected LTTE cadres were arrested in Netherlands along with computers, paperwork, phones, documents, photos, DVDs and 40,000 Euro. “Among the suspects are the leaders of various organisations of Tamils in the Netherlands, which probably play a role in the international network of the LTTE,” the Netherlands Justice Ministry stated.

    March 3, 2010: The German Police arrested six LTTE cadres, including three German nationals and three Sri Lankan nationals, suspected of raising funds for the outfit. The suspects were arrested during raids on eight premises including the Tamil Coordination Committee (TCC), a front organisation of the LTTE, in Oberhausen in Essen.

    December 11, 2009: Authorities in Thailand arrested five people, including an LTTE cadre, for producing and smuggling more than 300 fake European Union passports and other official European documents, officials said.

    Further, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry quoted the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Brazil, A.M.J. Sadiq, as stating that a number of vessels belonging to the LTTE’s shipping fleet, which had hitherto been involved in drug trafficking and gun running, had shifted to the lucrative business of human trafficking.

    Moreover, according to the Malaysian National News Agency Bernama Today, Malaysian Police had arrested a number of key LTTE leaders, among other foreign nationals between August 2009 and March 2010. According to the report, Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein stated that the Malaysian authorities had recently conveyed information on the arrest of the LTTE leaders to Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse.

    Meanwhile, various LTTE leaders residing in US and European countries have clustered into rival factions, with each attempting to project itself as the ‘sole representative’ of the Tamil Diaspora around the world, and to secure access to the vast funds created by the LTTE.

    Soon after the defeat of the LTTE and the death of its chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, the then international head of the LTTE, Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, along with the New York based Lawyer and International legal adviser of the LTTE, Viswanathan Rudrakumaran, formulated the Transitional Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) proposal. On June 22, 2009, just a month after the collapse of the LTTE, Rudrakumaran issued a media release announcing the concept of the TGTE in New York:
    We, the people of Tamil Eelam and its Diaspora… firmly believe that the formation of a Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam is imperative. It is a well accepted proposition in international law that the legal claim to establish a Government in exile arises the more readily when the exclusion of its political leaders is achieved through acts contrary to principles of jus cogens, such as the unlawful use of force, abductions with a view to torture, genocide, war crimes, detention in internment camps or “open prisons,” the rape of women and the kidnapping of children. In this connection, we, the people of Tamil Eelam and its Diaspora, propose to put together a committee for the Formation of a Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam.

    The release claimed, however, “Our program and efforts in this regard are fundamentally democratic.”

    After Pathmanathan’s arrest on August 5, 2009, in Malaysia and his subsequent transportation to Sri Lanka, the task of taking the TGTE effort forward has been shouldered by Rudrakumaran alone. On May 17, 2010, Rudrakumaran disclosed, in a Press statement, that the TGTE would hold its inaugural sessions in the city of Philadelphia in the United States (US) for three days between May 17 and 19, to coincide with the first year remembrance of the military suppression of the LTTE. The communiqué stated that TGTE “will continue its struggle until conditions are created which will enable the Tamils to realize their right to self determination and exercise their sovereignty.”

    Rudrakumaran, who was the co-ordinator of the TGTE formation committee, was elected as its Interim Chief Executive at the meeting, and a seven member Interim Executive Committee (IEC) was also formed. The IEC members included Mahinthan Sivasubramanium, Sam Sangarasivam, Gerard Francis, Selva Selvanathan, Vithya Jeyashanker, Sasithar Maheswaran and Janarthanan Pulendran.

    The TGTE meeting at Philadelphia was the result of a year-long effort by influential pro- LTTE elements of the global Tamil Diaspora to create an organisation representing more than a million Tamils of Sri Lankan origin dispersed in different parts of the world. The TGTE, in a sense, is a re-branded manifestation of the LTTE overseas structure. Like LTTE, its ultimate goal is the creation of ‘Tamil Eelam’. Although it does not unambiguously endorse the LTTE, the TGTE’s commitment towards the LTTE was established clearly at the Philadelphia summit, where LTTE flags waved in profusion, despite the fact that the LTTE is a banned foreign terrorist organization in the US.

    The establishment of the TGTE, however, has done little to stem the internecine conflicts within LTTE Diaspora elements. The struggle to establish control has resulted in a rise of extremist rhetoric and postures, with the TGTE itself becoming more and more hawkish. Although Rudrakumaran is frequently referred to as the new leader of the LTTE in sections of the media, the reality has been somewhat ambiguous. The overseas LTTE structure has been deeply divided since Prabhakaran’s death. Political commentator D.B.S. Jeyaraj divided the successor organisations of the LTTE into three factions, the TGTE, Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and Tamil Eelam Peoples Assembly (TEPA), also known, respectively, as the KP or Rudra faction, the GTF or Father S.J. Emmanuel faction and the Makkal Peravai or Nediyavan faction.

    Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Resettlement, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, a former top LTTE ‘commander’, has also underscored the fact that the Tamil Diaspora was divided and had conflicting views on the so-called TGTE. Muralitharan argues that the Tamil Diaspora would fail to make a significant impact internationally, because of internal dissensions. He identified three principal Diaspora factions – the US-based Rudrakumaran group, the Norway-based Nediyavan faction and the London-based British Tamil Forum.

    Significantly, Thambiah Ganesh and Kuppilan Ravi, believed to be members of the Nediyavan group, were arrested in Paris on June 4, following the death of Ramesh Sivarupan, believed to be a member of the Rudrakumaran faction. Sources indicate that Sivarupan was abducted and taken in a van from his residence in Paris and was later found near his house with injuries, to which he succumbed at a hospital in Paris on June 3. Earlier in the week, the Nediyavan faction had burnt thousands of copies of Thainilam, a newspaper in Paris printed by the Rudrakumaran faction.

    Besides internal differences, there is widespread scepticism about the TGTE exercise. To be, in any measure, relevant to the Tamils, the TGTE would have to have a public presence in Sri Lanka, but has no foothold there, and it is extremely doubtful that it will be able to establish any such presence. As Muralitharan notes, “How can they set up a separate State without the support of the Tamils living in Sri Lanka? …They (the Tamils in Sri Lanka) detest the LTTE for having destroyed them. No pro-LTTE element will get the support of the Tamils to set up a separate State in Sri Lanka now.”

    Meanwhile, there appears to be some urgency in the Government establishment’s efforts to develop the war ravaged areas of North and East. Economic activity in the north has picked up, though, in the long term, development alone will not satisfy Sri Lanka’s Tamils. Basic aspirations for equity and for a restoration of trust and security would have to be met before the country’s ‘Tamil problem’ can be thought of as having been resolved. Colombo has to work out a reasonable political package that will satisfy Sri Lanka’s minorities, something that President Mahinda Rajapakse has repeatedly promised. The Government would also need to take stock of its role in past conflict, in particular, its record of manipulating ethnic tensions for electoral gain. It is significant that the militant Tamil Diaspora was created by the policies and actions of successive Administrations in Colombo.

    The LTTE is still banned in 32 countries across the world, and its Diaspora organisations are yet to secure significant traction abroad, or consolidate linkages with LTTE survivor groupings in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, the aspirations for an independent Tamil Eelam are being kept alive, and extremist activity, while marginal, persists. These impulses will continue to seek opportunities for a future crystallization, and both Colombo and Governments abroad – particularly including India – will have to exercise the utmost vigilance to ensure that a terrorist movement is not able to take root again, even while fullest freedom for democratic engagement is permitted to peaceful Tamil groupings.

  283. He’s rubbed half the world the wrong way, jumped the gun, gone against protocol, acquired powers that none of his predecessors enjoyed, thumbed his nose at the General Assembly and the Security Council and acted as though he’s CEO of Global Government and not the chief administrative officer of the UN. Ban Ki-moon is cutting a sorry figure these days.

    The man is half-blind; he could pour over the World Atlas for weeks and not come across names such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza, forget Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib etc. Indeed, when such place-names are mentioned, his feet immediately swell to proportions so considerable that he is rendered immobile. It is natural for a man decapitated in this manner to slip and fall and roll around. He’s consumed enough lies and been exposed so many times that like a compulsive gambler, he’s persuaded to double his bet. And so he blunders along and gets rapped on his knuckles for his pains, now by Russia and now by China.

    Ki-moon wants to help us, we are told. His need is so acute that he’s appointed a panel to advise him on issues pertaining to Sri Lanka. Ki-moon’s representative, making the relevant announcement, categorically stated that the key-word is ‘advise’ and not ‘investigate’. Now he clearly hasn’t briefed his panelists. The chief of the panel, Marzuki Darusman, who was a member of the much-discredited IIGEP which tripped over itself and its words a couple of years ago, has said ‘we will investigate the LTTE also’. Well, we don’t really care, for the LTTE is no longer the threat it used to be, but what worries me is that either Ki-moon hasn’t told him or he, Darusman, has not been listening. It is not about ‘investigation’, Ki-moon has said clearly.

    If it is just chit-chat over coffee or tea among the ill-informed to further confuse a muddle-head, then what’s all this fuss about? It is clear that someone has had his tail stepped on and is thirsting for revenge. Or else, he’s been called a wimp by so many and so frequently that he needs to feel adequate, big enough, capable, potent, virile etc., and is looking around for a country that is too small or too kind to whip his backside in the manner he clearly deserves.

    Fine, Ki-moon, we understand. Yes, we do. We really, really do. You’ve got problems, we understand and hope, once sanity returns to you, that you understand that we have problems ourselves.

    This Darusman, we are told, is upset that Sri Lanka has decided not to recognize the panel and as such sees no reason to roll out the proverbial red carpet. Advisors can do conference calls to Ki-moon. They can chit-chat on Facebook or Skype. They can tweet. They don’t have to come to Sri Lanka to do anything. If they want to consult anyone, they can use the internet or send text messages back and forth. Who are they planning to consult in Sri Lanka? Prabhakaran’s ghosts? Prabhakaran’s apologists? Well, the former can visit Darusman and his pals anytime he chooses. As for the latter category, its membership is ‘internetted’ and I am fairly certain that’s where the bug that’s biting Ki-moon’s behind was ‘Dollied’ (ref Dolly, the first cloned sheep).

    Darusman is upset. He says, ‘Everybody loses out if we cannot go to Sri Lanka, it will make it harder for the truth to be unearthed’. We are talking ASSUMPTION here. The truth is out there. It has a number; 300,000 hostages freed. It has a history; a country that eliminated the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit. There are comparisons and they have names: Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, and other places where the USA and its allies have killed hundreds of thousands of people (there’s PROOF here, unlike in the case of Sri Lanka, where there is WILD CONJECTURE based on NOTHING).

    We are upset too, Darusman. We are upset that you lack intellect, basic intelligence, integrity and the basic language skills necessary to distinguish the difference between ADVICE and INVESTIGATION. What do we have to lose, Darusman? We lost so much in 30 years of being held to ransom and being besieged by terrorism and during this time I would like you to tell me WTF were you doing and WTF you were doing it. You could ask your pal Ki-moon the same, BTW. We lose NOTHING if you don’t come. If you DO come, we lose something, because we’ve already got our quota of bad smells and one more whiff would result in national asphyxiation.

  284. Ira de Silva London, Canada
    Hon. Ban ki Moon
    U.N. Secretary General
    United Nations
    New York, N.Y.
    U.S.A.

    Dear Sir:

    It was with disgust that I read the news of your action to appoint a panel to advise you regarding the alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law by Sri Lanka in the last stages of the war against the terrorist forces of the LTTE. It is an action which has been taken violating the rights and sovereignty of a member state of the UN. The whole world knows it is illegal, biased and at the instigation of the United States, Norway and other western countries who were the very same countries that pushed the UN in 2009 in their attempt to save the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist group which is recognized the world over and by the UN as the most ruthless terrorist group in the world.

    You have disregarded the fact that it is a standard of international conduct that no extraneous agency has any business in the internal governance of any country. You have violated the trust placed in you as Secretary General to uphold the Charter of the UN by this action as you have acted with complete disregard to the conditions of the UN Charter itself which confers on sovereign, independent states the indisputable right to act on internal issues particularly regarding peace and security.

    Your action has been hailed by the propaganda outlet of the LTTE and of course the U.S. to whom you subjugate yourself. According to Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. supports the panel of experts you have appointed to advise you on accountability issues in Sri Lanka. It is a disappointment that Ms. Rice who approves of a panel being appointed for Sri Lanka has not called for a similar panel of experts to advise you on the accountability issues regarding the U.S. actions in invading Iraq, the hundreds of thousands killed by the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan, the well documented atrocities in those countries by U.S. troops, the continuous bombardment and killing of civilians which are passed off as “collateral damage”, the creation of thousands of refugees to name but a few of the accountability issues that the U.S. has in the world today. The people of the countries being invaded, incessantly bombed by the U.S. will I am sure welcome a “robust accountability process” by the U.S. with the hope that their lives will be spared and allow them to live in peace.

    A news report indicates that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticized you for not asking the opinion of the Security Council or the General Assembly on this matter BEFORE appointing this panel. From that it could be inferred that this action by you is illegal. Further, Sri Lanka has rejected your panel and it appears from a statement issued that you have stretched the truth when you claim that Sri Lanka agreed to such an investigation in the Joint Statement of May 23,2009. According to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Sri Lanka the “Joint Statement of the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General issued at the conclusion of the Secretary-General’s visit to the country on 23rd May 2009 makes no reference to “allegations of violations of international humanitarian law committed during military operations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).” The statement by Sri Lanka was that it reiterated its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in keeping with international human rights standards and Sri Lanka’s international obligations.

    If you disagree with the statement made by Sri Lanka, it would be prudent to publish the so-called joint statement as otherwise you have exceeded the bounds set for the UN by it’s founders in seeking to subject a sovereign country against it’s objections to a trumped up investigation of allegations of violations of human rights while all the while the world is being subjected to daily reports of violations of human rights which you ignore. There are even those connected to the UN such as P. Alston who have the gall to accuse Sri Lanka of war crimes while you do nothing to stop these lies.

    I would like to make a short comment regarding your choice of “experts”. Considering that it is the U.S. that is the prime mover for this panel and is the “power” that guides you at the UN, one press report states that by including an American as one of the panel members, you have added insult to injury! A comment written by a Sri Lankan journalist is as follows: “Now Israel, that ‘chosen’ land, has violated innumerable UN resolutions regarding ‘acceptable international norms in treating those in occupied territories’ unlike Sri Lanka, which carried out the biggest ever hostage rescue operation in remembered history. No UN agency has ever passed any resolution censuring Sri Lanka. On the contrary, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations has formally adopted a resolution commending Sri Lanka for the promotion and protection of human rights. Moon has not been briefed, shame on you, you UN-Chief-Briefers”, courtesy M. Seneviratne. http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/06/25/fea02.asp . The rest of the world is not as blind as you think.

    Your action exposes that the double standard in the world today is now the policy of the UN too. Instead of maintaining the dignity and impartiality of the UN, by your action you have indicated to the world that the UN is also biased, that you as the Secretary General are biased, that individual members rights can be flouted by the so-called western powers and that you will follow their dictates for your personal agenda. It is to be hoped that the rest of the world will make note of your bias, lack of principle, actions contrary to the UN Charter and ensure that when the next Secretary General is appointed that it will ensure that it will be of a person who at least will uphold the Charter of the UN.

    Yours truly,

    Ira de Silva
    London, Canada

  285. Ira de Silva London, Canada
    Hon. Ban ki Moon
    U.N. Secretary General
    United Nations
    New York, N.Y.
    U.S.A.

    Dear Sir:

    It was with disgust that I read the news of your action to appoint a panel to advise you regarding the alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law by Sri Lanka in the last stages of the war against the terrorist forces of the LTTE. It is an action which has been taken violating the rights and sovereignty of a member state of the UN. The whole world knows it is illegal, biased and at the instigation of the United States, Norway and other western countries who were the very same countries that pushed the UN in 2009 in their attempt to save the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist group which is recognized the world over and by the UN as the most ruthless terrorist group in the world.

    You have disregarded the fact that it is a standard of international conduct that no extraneous agency has any business in the internal governance of any country. You have violated the trust placed in you as Secretary General to uphold the Charter of the UN by this action as you have acted with complete disregard to the conditions of the UN Charter itself which confers on sovereign, independent states the indisputable right to act on internal issues particularly regarding peace and security.

    Your action has been hailed by the propaganda outlet of the LTTE and of course the U.S. to whom you subjugate yourself. According to Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. supports the panel of experts you have appointed to advise you on accountability issues in Sri Lanka. It is a disappointment that Ms. Rice who approves of a panel being appointed for Sri Lanka has not called for a similar panel of experts to advise you on the accountability issues regarding the U.S. actions in invading Iraq, the hundreds of thousands killed by the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan, the well documented atrocities in those countries by U.S. troops, the continuous bombardment and killing of civilians which are passed off as “collateral damage”, the creation of thousands of refugees to name but a few of the accountability issues that the U.S. has in the world today. The people of the countries being invaded, incessantly bombed by the U.S. will I am sure welcome a “robust accountability process” by the U.S. with the hope that their lives will be spared and allow them to live in peace.

    A news report indicates that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticized you for not asking the opinion of the Security Council or the General Assembly on this matter BEFORE appointing this panel. From that it could be inferred that this action by you is illegal. Further, Sri Lanka has rejected your panel and it appears from a statement issued that you have stretched the truth when you claim that Sri Lanka agreed to such an investigation in the Joint Statement of May 23,2009. According to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Sri Lanka the “Joint Statement of the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General issued at the conclusion of the Secretary-General’s visit to the country on 23rd May 2009 makes no reference to “allegations of violations of international humanitarian law committed during military operations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).” The statement by Sri Lanka was that it reiterated its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in keeping with international human rights standards and Sri Lanka’s international obligations.

    If you disagree with the statement made by Sri Lanka, it would be prudent to publish the so-called joint statement as otherwise you have exceeded the bounds set for the UN by it’s founders in seeking to subject a sovereign country against it’s objections to a trumped up investigation of allegations of violations of human rights while all the while the world is being subjected to daily reports of violations of human rights which you ignore. There are even those connected to the UN such as P. Alston who have the gall to accuse Sri Lanka of war crimes while you do nothing to stop these lies.

    I would like to make a short comment regarding your choice of “experts”. Considering that it is the U.S. that is the prime mover for this panel and is the “power” that guides you at the UN, one press report states that by including an American as one of the panel members, you have added insult to injury! A comment written by a Sri Lankan journalist is as follows: “Now Israel, that ‘chosen’ land, has violated innumerable UN resolutions regarding ‘acceptable international norms in treating those in occupied territories’ unlike Sri Lanka, which carried out the biggest ever hostage rescue operation in remembered history. No UN agency has ever passed any resolution censuring Sri Lanka. On the contrary, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations has formally adopted a resolution commending Sri Lanka for the promotion and protection of human rights. Moon has not been briefed, shame on you, you UN-Chief-Briefers”, courtesy M. Seneviratne. http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/06/25/fea02.asp . The rest of the world is not as blind as you think.

    Your action exposes that the double standard in the world today is now the policy of the UN too. Instead of maintaining the dignity and impartiality of the UN, by your action you have indicated to the world that the UN is also biased, that you as the Secretary General are biased, that individual members rights can be flouted by the so-called western powers and that you will follow their dictates for your personal agenda. It is to be hoped that the rest of the world will make note of your bias, lack of principle, actions contrary to the UN Charter and ensure that when the next Secretary General is appointed that it will ensure that it will be of a person who at least will uphold the Charter of the UN.

    Yours truly,

    Ira de Silva
    London, Canada

  286. Ira de Silva London, Canada
    Hon. Ban ki Moon
    U.N. Secretary General
    United Nations
    New York, N.Y.
    U.S.A.

    Dear Sir:

    It was with disgust that I read the news of your action to appoint a panel to advise you regarding the alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law by Sri Lanka in the last stages of the war against the terrorist forces of the LTTE. It is an action which has been taken violating the rights and sovereignty of a member state of the UN. The whole world knows it is illegal, biased and at the instigation of the United States, Norway and other western countries who were the very same countries that pushed the UN in 2009 in their attempt to save the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist group which is recognized the world over and by the UN as the most ruthless terrorist group in the world.

    You have disregarded the fact that it is a standard of international conduct that no extraneous agency has any business in the internal governance of any country. You have violated the trust placed in you as Secretary General to uphold the Charter of the UN by this action as you have acted with complete disregard to the conditions of the UN Charter itself which confers on sovereign, independent states the indisputable right to act on internal issues particularly regarding peace and security.

    Your action has been hailed by the propaganda outlet of the LTTE and of course the U.S. to whom you subjugate yourself. According to Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. supports the panel of experts you have appointed to advise you on accountability issues in Sri Lanka. It is a disappointment that Ms. Rice who approves of a panel being appointed for Sri Lanka has not called for a similar panel of experts to advise you on the accountability issues regarding the U.S. actions in invading Iraq, the hundreds of thousands killed by the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan, the well documented atrocities in those countries by U.S. troops, the continuous bombardment and killing of civilians which are passed off as “collateral damage”, the creation of thousands of refugees to name but a few of the accountability issues that the U.S. has in the world today. The people of the countries being invaded, incessantly bombed by the U.S. will I am sure welcome a “robust accountability process” by the U.S. with the hope that their lives will be spared and allow them to live in peace.

    A news report indicates that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticized you for not asking the opinion of the Security Council or the General Assembly on this matter BEFORE appointing this panel. From that it could be inferred that this action by you is illegal. Further, Sri Lanka has rejected your panel and it appears from a statement issued that you have stretched the truth when you claim that Sri Lanka agreed to such an investigation in the Joint Statement of May 23,2009. According to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Sri Lanka the “Joint Statement of the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General issued at the conclusion of the Secretary-General’s visit to the country on 23rd May 2009 makes no reference to “allegations of violations of international humanitarian law committed during military operations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).” The statement by Sri Lanka was that it reiterated its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in keeping with international human rights standards and Sri Lanka’s international obligations.

    If you disagree with the statement made by Sri Lanka, it would be prudent to publish the so-called joint statement as otherwise you have exceeded the bounds set for the UN by it’s founders in seeking to subject a sovereign country against it’s objections to a trumped up investigation of allegations of violations of human rights while all the while the world is being subjected to daily reports of violations of human rights which you ignore. There are even those connected to the UN such as P. Alston who have the gall to accuse Sri Lanka of war crimes while you do nothing to stop these lies.

    I would like to make a short comment regarding your choice of “experts”. Considering that it is the U.S. that is the prime mover for this panel and is the “power” that guides you at the UN, one press report states that by including an American as one of the panel members, you have added insult to injury! A comment written by a Sri Lankan journalist is as follows: “Now Israel, that ‘chosen’ land, has violated innumerable UN resolutions regarding ‘acceptable international norms in treating those in occupied territories’ unlike Sri Lanka, which carried out the biggest ever hostage rescue operation in remembered history. No UN agency has ever passed any resolution censuring Sri Lanka. On the contrary, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations has formally adopted a resolution commending Sri Lanka for the promotion and protection of human rights. Moon has not been briefed, shame on you, you UN-Chief-Briefers”, courtesy M. Seneviratne. http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/06/25/fea02.asp . The rest of the world is not as blind as you think.

    Your action exposes that the double standard in the world today is now the policy of the UN too. Instead of maintaining the dignity and impartiality of the UN, by your action you have indicated to the world that the UN is also biased, that you as the Secretary General are biased, that individual members rights can be flouted by the so-called western powers and that you will follow their dictates for your personal agenda. It is to be hoped that the rest of the world will make note of your bias, lack of principle, actions contrary to the UN Charter and ensure that when the next Secretary General is appointed that it will ensure that it will be of a person who at least will uphold the Charter of the UN.

    Yours truly,

    Ira de Silva
    London, Canada

  287. Since the year 1956 until the advent of Tamil militancy, the Tamil people had been surviving between race riots and as hostages of periodic violence sponsored by the Sri Lankan State. Those who were lucky were able to flee to find refuge in their homelands in the north and the east but the more unfortunate living in the south had to face the wrath of rabid anti Tamil racism with many being massacred and their property destroyed.

    The term “reconciliation” used in calling the new commission; namely, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, designed to deflect the allegations of war crimes and genocide by sections of the international community, is a misnomer just as much as its motives are fraudulent

    However, the commission affords an opportunity to apologists of Sri Lankan war crimes and the racist war, like Akashi from Japan and others who frequently enjoy the lavish hospitality of the Sri Lankan government, to hang on to it in defence of its war crimes and human rights abuses. Indeed, Akashi would be familiar with the manner that the Japanese treated their prisoners of war during the Second World War but certainly not the abhorrent massacres of non-combatant civilians who were citizens of his own country, if there were any, or, for that matter, in any other country. We are glad that the term “Truth” is not part of what the commission would be called as originally intended for the Sri Lankan State is incapable of the truth.

  288. What is now happening in the north and the east in reality are a far cry from any reconciliation!

    The atrocities, the political, economic and cultural oppression of the Tamil people by the military — not permitting the Tamils to resettle in their homes on the pretext of the lack of water facilities and electricity and the need to de-mine their own homes are not without the blessings of the Rajapakse establishment.

  289. Reconciliation Devoid of Conciliation

    Since the year 1956 until the advent of Tamil militancy, the Tamil people had been surviving between race riots and as hostages of periodic violence sponsored by the Sri Lankan State. Those who were lucky were able to flee to find refuge in their homelands in the north and the east but the more unfortunate living in the south had to face the wrath of rabid anti Tamil racism with many being massacred and their property destroyed.

    Thousands of victims went abroad abandoning their homeland and their way of life, making up the critical mass of the Tamil Diasporas now scattered the world over. The atrocities upon them had a profound, lasting, and often a ripple effect on their lives, breaking up their family structures and their ethereal foundations. Very soon will come a time when a Tamil child in Denmark will not be able to communicate with their first cousin in England for Danish would be the only language that they could speak.

    The term “reconciliation” used in calling the new commission; namely, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, designed to deflect the allegations of war crimes and genocide by sections of the international community, is a misnomer just as much as its motives are fraudulent. However, the commission affords an opportunity to apologists of Sri Lankan war crimes and the racist war, like Akashi from Japan and others who frequently enjoy the lavish hospitality of the Sri Lankan government, to hang on to it in defence of its war crimes and human rights abuses. Indeed, Akashi would be familiar with the manner that the Japanese treated their prisoners of war during the Second World War but certainly not the abhorrent massacres of non-combatant civilians who were citizens of his own country, if there were any, or, for that matter, in any other country. We are glad that the term “Truth” is not part of what the commission would be called as originally intended for the Sri Lankan State is incapable of the truth.

    After Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948 no conciliatory measures were taken by the Sinhala leadership to treat the Tamils as an integral part of a Sri Lankan nation. Guided by xenophobic fears, considerations of racism, and unfounded mistrust, the Sinhala body politic, through its majoritarian politics offering the semblance of democracy, went on to alienate the Tamil people not only through discrimination but also by the use of periodic violence against them, emanating even from parliamentary debate inciting violence against them. Every effort of conciliation between responsible Sinhalese and Tamil leaderships was thwarted by violence engineered by the Sinhala polity unleashed on the Tamil people forcing them to abandon any hope of conciliation thus rendering the need in the minds of the Tamils by the 1970s that they should revert to being a separate nation distinguished by their culture, status quo ante 1833.

    What is now happening in the north and the east in reality are a far cry from any reconciliation! The atrocities, the political, economic and cultural oppression of the Tamil people by the military — not permitting the Tamils to resettle in their homes on the pretext of the lack of water facilities and electricity and the need to de-mine their own homes are not without the blessings of the Rajapakse establishment.

    The deliberate naming of streets and villages only in the Sinhalese language is not without Rajapakse’s knowledge. The increasing militarization of the north and the east ruled over as a police State by the military amounts only to adding insult to an already devastated and traumatized people claimed to have been “liberated”, trying to retrace their bearings and heal their own wounds. This does not in any way help in the reconciliation process.

    Instances of rape by the military, abductions and disappearances keep mounting. Almost 10,000 suspected militants taken away from the IDP camps are said to have been summarily executed with no trace remaining. We are often told of youth being rehabilitated while they are, in fact, persons who have had nothing to do with the LTTE militancy arrested willy-nilly and released.

    These are a recipe for the crystallisation of greater hatred for the Government and the Sinhala polity making the conviction for a separate Tamil State and self determination more resolute. The Tamil nation is a secular society as opposed to an ethno-religious entity, embracing all religions but for some strange reason no Tamil is a Buddhist unless one had had aspirations of being the prime minister. To create newly illuminated and glaring Buddhist temples and statues of Lord Buddha like those of Venus de Milo the Aphrodite of the Greek Milos to make a point of triumphalism in the midst of destruction and desolation of the homeless Tamil people and their meager habitation amounts not only to humiliating them but also prostituting the greatest philosopher, the noble Lord Buddha, and his teachings to make a point of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism. Lord Buddha was neither a Sinhalese nor a Sri Lankan.

    It is by an accident of history that Sri Lanka became predominantly Buddhist because the Mauryan king Asoka of India became a Buddhist with the view to expiating his sins of the killing of soldiers on both sides in a war and sending his emissaries to the Sri Lankan king, who was a Tamil, to spread the message of the Buddha. It is not anything like Sri Lanka becoming predominantly Sikh in the present context!

    It is said that the Reconciliation commission is to inquire into the causes that led to terrorism, the lessons to be learnt from this, and the path to reconciliation. Even an eighth grade civics student will tell you that that the main cause that led to “Tamil terrorism” was reaction to the terrorism, periodically and systematically unleashed on the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan State, the inequalities, the disregard for their traditional homelands and discrimination. If one refuses to learn from this, then you are not anywhere near the path of reconciliation but only earning their mistrust if that is of any concern.

    No mention anywhere is made of the role of the Sri Lankan State and the Sinhala body politic in progressively alienating the Tamil people, giving the impression that it it was all their doing.

    The credentials of the commission are, itself, suspect. The Commission is to be headed by the former attorney general whose record in the area of administration of justice when it comes to Tamil issues is far too dubious for any credence to be attached to the commission. He was largely responsible for impeding the course of justice in the special Presidential commission, another sham, appointed to inquire into the wanton killing of 18 Tamils working for the French INGO by the Special Task Force of the military and the killing of the 5 Tamil university students by the security forces in the east of Sri Lanka, making a mockery also of the committee of internationally eminent persons appointed to oversee the working of this commission. They, it would be recalled, disbanded themselves in frustration.

    Also, we are informed that as a state counsel he played a major role in preventing further action into the massacre of more than 50 Tamil remand prisoners suspected of being LTTE persons awaiting a judicial inquiry, tortured and bludgeoned to death by some “patriotic” Sinhalese prisoners, released for this purpose, who were also inmates of the Welikade prison the principal State prison in Sri Lanka, during the 1983 State sponsored Pogrom against the Tamils. Rajapakse could not have got a better chairperson.

    The best that Mahinda Rajapakse can do to help in the reconciliation process is to abstain from shedding crocodile tears in public, internationally and locally, on the present plight and the misery of the Tamil people which only angers them, rendering any spirit of reconciliation increasingly impossible. It would be unwise to underestimate the intelligence of the Tamil people even in their present state of mind.

  290. When the Tamils will get Jusice ?
    14 year old Tamil girl was raped in front of her mother by STF commandos in Baticaloa. Today the STF commandos returned to her house and finished their "job" by murdering the mother for having reported the incident to the police.

    It is disgusting that this woman can tell the police what happened and then be left helpless as those same police come back to her house two days later and murder her.

    That is how Sinhalese treat Tamils who have been victimized, by accusing them of being liars.

    Sinhalese "patriots" have this woman's blood on your hands.

    They are all guilty of this murder, because when she came to the Sinhalese with her story asking for justice, the Tamil was accused her of being a liar and left her to be killed by Sinhalese STF commandos ..

    So when are these Tamil vilctims will get Justice ?

  291. Ira de Silva London, Canada
    Hon. Ban ki Moon
    U.N. Secretary General
    United Nations
    New York, N.Y.
    U.S.A.

    Dear Sir:

    It was with disgust that I read the news of your action to appoint a panel to advise you regarding the alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law by Sri Lanka in the last stages of the war against the terrorist forces of the LTTE. It is an action which has been taken violating the rights and sovereignty of a member state of the UN. The whole world knows it is illegal, biased and at the instigation of the United States, Norway and other western count