Sri Lanka Air Force attacks convent in Vanni, deploys cluster bombs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2008, 07:40 GMT]Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed a convent named Holy Cross Convent, located on Paranthan Mullaiththevu Road, 600 meters away from Paranthan junction Tuesday night around 10:30 p.m., a day before Christmas. TamilNet correspondent who visited the site Wednesday morning witnessed that the attacked premises was marked with Red Cross on the roof. The nearby church also sustained damage. The SLAF deployed cluster munitions in the bombardment, residents who fled the site said. 85 cows of a herd a few meters away from the convent were killed in the attack.

Karaichchi North Co-Operative society building located between the junction and the convent was also attacked by the SLAF bombers, causing the remaining civilians to flee the area. Paranthan has been bombed in more than five sorties by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers causing civilians living near the convent to flee the area. The indiscriminate bombardment has also targeted shops and other commercial establishment in Paranthan and Kumarapuram. SLAF bombed Paranthan three times Tuesday night and twice Wednesday morning, at 7:30 a.m. and around 9:00 a.m.The bombers also attacked Kugnchup-paranthan where heavy fighting has erupted Wednesday morning.

Ruthless Genocidal Sri Lankan Army Shelling Killed 5-month-old child

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2008, 13:02 GMT]
Two males who went to their agricultural lands in Kanakapuram, a suburb of Ki'linochchi town, were killed in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling Saturday morning around 11:45, medical sources at Ki'linochchi hospital said. A 17-year-old boy sustained injuries in the attack. Meanwhile, a 5-month-old child was decapitated by the shrapnel of a shell that exploded inside the hut of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) on Hudson Road in Vaddakkachchi, near Thakarap-pi'l'laiyaar temple Saturday around 9:30 a.m. The mother of the baby, an IDP from Chinnap-pa'ndi-virichchaan, was wounded.

The child killed was Jeyarooban Ajanthan. His mother wounded in the shelling was identified as 26-year-old Jancy Rani Jeyarooban.

One of the males killed in Kanakapuram was identified as 41-year-old Paalaiya Pulendran, a native of Ki'linochchi who was displaced to Visuvamadu. The other male killed in the shelling was yet to be identified.

The victims had gone to their agricultural lands to unearth cassava roots in their attempt to earn money to safeguard their families.

The youth who sustained injuries at Kanakapuram was identified as Jeyakaran, from Periyaku'lam in Pu'lyampokka'nai. He was being treated at Ki'linochchi hospital.

The dead bodies of the two males killed in Kanakapuram were brought to the hospital in Ki'linochchi town and transferred to Tharmapuram.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fighter jets bombed 6 times in Vaddakkachchi and Paranthan areas.

Condoleeza Rice spotlights Rights violations in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 12:15 GMT]United States Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, Wednesday, awarded the 2008 Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award to Michael De Tar, the chief of the Political Section of our Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for engaging "constructively with Sri Lanka while underscoring our [U.S.'s] human rights," and for proposing the roadmap adopted by the Sri Lankan Government "to induce a paramilitary aligned with the government to begin to release its child soldiers [in the east]." The situation in the East, however, has rapidly deterioted recently with Human Rights Watch accusing the Colombo-backed paramilitaries in the east for thirty murders and thirty abductions during September and October."Secretary Rice presented the "Freedom Defenders Award" to Yulia Latynina, an independent journalist, writer and radio host from Russia, and the "Diplomacy for Freedom Award" to James D. McGee, U.S.'s Ambassador to Zimbabwe during the same ceremony held at the Treaty Room Washington, DC.Rice said that De Tar was "a key actor in the international effort to monitor an official Commission of Inquiry investigating high-profile cases of human rights abuse, and he has responded quickly and effectively when journalists and other activists have been threatened or arrested."The Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), a rights monitoring mission set up to oversee the investigations of rights violations by the local Commission of Inquiry (CoI) terminated its observation mission reasoning that the proceedings of the CoI have not been transparent and did not satisfy basic international norms and standards. The IIGEP blamed the Government of Sri Lanka for "absence of will" in the present Inquiry to "investigate cases with vigour, where the conduct of its own forces has been called into question." Full text of Secretary Rice's speech on Mr De Tar's award follows:"Our diplomatic effort to advance human rights is not just a job for ambassadors, and that is why annually we confer the Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award upon an outstanding officer serving at one of our posts abroad. This year’s recipient is Michael DeTar, the chief of the Political Section of our Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka’s 25-year conflict has escalated over the last two years, triggering a sharp increase in human rights violations by the warring parties – the government, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil [Eelam], and paramilitary organizations. Michael found creative and pragmatic ways to engage constructively with Sri Lanka while underscoring our human rights concerns. Michael helped position the United States to play a leading role in the stabilization and recovery of the conflict-torn Eastern Province, focusing on disarming and demobilizing paramilitaries there. He was also a key actor in the international effort to monitor an official Commission of Inquiry investigating high-profile cases of human rights abuse, and he has responded quickly and effectively when journalists and other activists have been threatened or arrested. The Sri Lankan Government adopted Michael’s proposed road map to induce a paramilitary aligned with the government to begin to release its child soldiers. So using his extensive network of civil society and media leaders, Michael has enriched our reporting on human rights conditions in Sri Lanka. And he has not only reported, he has acted. And so I am delighted to bestow the 2008 Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award on Michael De Tar," Rice said.Meanwhile, in an op-ed column in the Washington Post, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said: "With a new administration and a new vision coming to the White House, we have the opportunity to move boldly to restore the moral authority behind the worldwide human rights movement.The moral footprint of the United States has always been vast. "Our next president has an unprecedented opportunity to lead through example by inspiring and supporting those who would reach for freedom and by being tough and effective with those who would impede freedom's march. All Americans must give him full support."

Sri Lanka in "Genocide Red Alert" watch list

Sri Lanka in "Genocide Red Alert" watch list[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2008, 12:41 GMT]New York-based Genocide Prevention Project in a report to be published Tuesday includes Sri Lanka as one of the eight "red alert" countries where genocide and other mass atrocities are underway or risk breaking out. A comprehensive list of 33 countries is also contained in the report. Tuesday marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nation's convention on the prevention of genocide, and 20th anniversary of U.S's ratification of the treaty. "Red alert" countries include Afghanistan, and Iraq alongside regions currently experiencing genocidal conflict such as Sudan's Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These and Myanmar, Pakistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka all made the list's top eight because they appear in each of the five "expert" indexes.The next 25 "orange alert" countries appear in at least three of the indexes. They include China, Colombia, Philippines and Indonesia as places where ongoing or simmering violence could flare to genocidal proportions."It is possible to identify early indicators of mass atrocity crimes. But what happens now is the international community sees what's going on, gets paralyzed and, if it acts, really only acts after the fact," said Jill Savitt, project executive director.Savitt states three factors that are likely to change the "political will" lacking in the past. First, the stated determination of Susan Rice, U.S. president-elect Barack Obama's choice for U.S. ambassador to the UN, to prevent future genocides after witnessing the after-effects of the 1994 Rwanda slaughter. Second, current discussion around the 60th anniversary of the genocide prevention convention, which calls on countries to prevent and punish actions of genocide.And third, the public "guilt" over what occurred in Rwanda and Bosnia, and what she called public "hunger for a response" to the Darfur crisis, Savitt says.Meanwhile, a task force led by Madeleine K Albright, former Secretary of State, and an advisor to Obama and Clinton, released Monday a report on world genocide threats which will likely be used by the Obama administration as a guide post to prevent developing genocides."Preventing genocide is an achievable goal," the Albright report says. "Genocide is not the inevitable result of ancient hatreds or irrational leaders. It requires planning and is carried out systematically. There are ways to recognize signs and symptoms, and viable options to prevent it at every turn if we are committed and prepared," Washington Post said, quoting from the Albright report.

Tamil Women in protective custody, transferred to Ruthless genocidal Sri Lankan Army detention centre, fear for safety

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 00:40 GMT]The women and children who faced death threats in Jaffna from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and its paramilitary and placed under protective custody through the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission in Jaffna at Kurunakar Rehabilitation Centre have been suddenly moved to the detention camp run by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) inside its High Security Zone in Thellippazhai. The women and children are being denied the opportunity of meeting their family members besides fear for their safety, according to legal sources in Jaffna. They have appealed to the team of Magistrates who visited the camp to relocate them to a protection facility in Jaffna city. Kurunakar Rehabilitation Centre was vacated in order to house persons fleeing from war in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held territories to Jaffna peninsula.Meanwhile, the husbands of the above women, placed in Jaffna Prison had protested against the sudden transfer of their wives by observing a token protest fast.Their fast, however, was given up due to pressure exerted by powerful parties in the government, the sources further said.The women who appealed to the team of magistrates pointed out that the opportunity of meeting their family members and relatives, which they had been allowed to in Kurunakar Rehabilitation Centre, is denied in the SLA detention centre where they are now housed.The husbands of these women in Jaffna Prison suffer from mental depression and fear for their wives and children, the officials of Jaffna Prison said.The inmates at the detention camp of the SLA, located inside the HSZ in Thellippazhai, have been treated as 'suspects' under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), as they were forced to sign a document which stated that they were ex-members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in the past. Although, the new inmates were not subjected to sign a such document, they were being treated as potential 'terror suspects' by the SLA men guarding the detention centre, legal sources that were in contact with the families said.

International media, human rights watchdogs lopsided - Jaffna MP

International media, human rights watchdogs lopsided - Jaffna MP[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 2008, 20:39 GMT]"The Colombo government is embarked upon a killing spree of children and women in refugee camps who are already victims of war, displacement, cyclone and floods. This act of 'state terrorism' is in what way less deplorable than the Mumbai killings, for failing to attract condemnation and action from the International Community," asks Padmini Sithamparanathan, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna. "The so-called international media and human rights organizations are shameless in exhibiting their impotency they have acquired by becoming stooges to the lopsided agenda of the international politics of terrorism which is nothing but geopolitics," she added.

Padmini Sithamparanathan, Jaffna MP
Six days of torrential rains with intermittent gale have caused the death of more than ten, injured hundreds and have displaced hundreds of thousands in Jaffna and Vanni.The people of Vanni especially face untold sufferings, deprived of everything including a guarantee to live. The latest aerial bombing of the Sri Lanka Air Force has targeted a location well known as a refugee camp according to news reports. "This heinous act has resulted in the death and injury of many, most of them, children, women and elderly, who were already suffering the misfortunes of war and nature," the Jaffna MP said. "The international media, which jumps at the slightest occasion to blare about terrorism, is by its silence and biased news reporting encourages the genocidal agenda of state terrorism in Sri Lanka."The US based Human Rights Watch, while pressuring the Colombo government to allow aid groups to help cyclone victims in Vanni, has come out with an unwarranted statement that “the LTTE bears a heavy responsibility for the suffering of the civilian population in the Vanni, by refusing to allow civilians their basic rights to freedom of movement," she said. "What the Human Rights Watch needs to do is seeing that the people get immediate aid in the very place they live. It may not have the guts to do so by pressing the International Community, but this is not the time for it to abet the wishes of the government waging a genocidal war."In its press release the HRW concedes: " Human Rights Watch has previously reported that the Sri Lankan authorities have detained many displaced persons leaving the Vanni, holding them in closely guarded militarized camps near Mannar town. The government claims this is necessary for the safety of the detained civilians themselves, but the families detained in the camps have repeatedly stated their desire to leave; the government’s detention policy violates the rights of these displaced persons to freedom of movement."In such a helpless background what justification is there for the HRW to expect the people to come out of Vanni, the MP asks. "Many civilians are cold-bloodedly killed in the East and a large number of Tamils have been arrested in the South in the recent days. Thousands of Tamils are virtually kept as hostages for a long time in custody of the Colombo government. It is a shame to human rights that Hundreds of Tamils in Jaffna have to voluntarily go into custody to safe life. " The Human Rights Watch itself came out with a statement a few days ago on the escalation of human rights abuses in the so-called 'liberated' East. The human rights organisations privately agree that there is no better place of safety for the people of Vanni.

Padmini Sithamparanathan, Jaffna MP
What guarantee the human rights groups were been able to give the Tamils of the so-called liberated East, or in the other parts of the island outside of Vanni, to justify their call now for the freedom of movement of the people of Vanni, that too at a time when there is an utmost urgency for the aid to reach their doorsteps, asked the MP. It is high time that the International Community and the human rights organisations prevail upon the Sri Lanka government to stop the war, enter into peace negotiations and resolve the human crisis in the island, she said. In the meantime, Brad Adams, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch, while asking the Colombo government on Friday to lift restrictions on UN and other groups to operate in Vanni, has said: “If the humanitarian community can operate in conflict zones like eastern Congo, Somalia, and Iraq, they can operate in the Vanni as well. The government’s argument that the safety of humanitarian workers in the Vanni cannot be guaranteed comes across as more of an excuse to conduct military operations without scrutiny than a statement of concern.”

Ruthless Genocidal Sri Lankan Air Forces bombs refugee camp in Vanni, children among killed, wounded

SLAF bombs refugee camp in Vanni, children among killed, wounded[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 2008, 08:59 GMT]Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers attacked a refugee camp with Internally Displaced People in Naathankudiyiruppu in Kallaa'ru, Ki'linochchi in the early hours of Saturday around 1:35 a.m. Medical authorities at Tharmapuram said three persons were killed. Two, a 5-year-old child and an 80-year-old man died at the hospital. At least 18 wounded civilians, including seven children below 10 years and 7 females, were admitted at the hospital following the indiscriminate bombardment on IDP settlement. Medical authorities described the bombardment as "terrible mid-night aerial attack on refugee camp". The 5-year-old child killed was identified as Sutharsan Sivakumar and the elderly male was identified as Raman Ramasamy. Another person, killed on the spot, was yet to be identified. There could be further dead bodies. Rescue operation was still going on, the sources further said. The wounded were:
5-year-old girl Thayananthan Pavithra
7-year-old girl Rasenthiran Logini
9-year-old girl Aananthan Chithra
10-year-old girl Rasendran Jasintha
10-year-old male Nalliyah Jasinthan
15-year-old male Selvam
16-year-old girl Rasenthran Thavachelvi
18-year-old male Ananthan Velavan
27-year-old female Sivakumar Rajakumary
28-year-old male Rasenthiran
28-year-old female Nalliyah Pusspavalli
33-year-old male Rajendran
35-year-old female Murugesu Rugunudevi
38-year-old female Ananthan Kamaladevi
40-year-old female Kannathas Amirthavalli
55-year-old male Sangarapillai
55-year-old male Nagarajah
75-year-old female Pallaniammah

5 Tamil youths arrested in Chilaw

5 Tamil youths arrested in Chilaw[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2008, 17:31 GMT]The Chilaw police Saturday in a cordon and search operation took five Tamil youths, originally from Jaffna district but working in commercial establishments in Chilaw town, into custody on suspicion. Houses and shops in the town were searched during the operation that commenced in morning and concluded afternoon. The police said the youths were arrested as they failed to prove their identity. The arrested are being detained in Chilaapam police and are being interrogated.

History to abet 'structural genocide'

History to abet 'structural genocide'[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2008, 12:39 GMT]The Colombo government at the height of its agenda for 'structural genocide' of Tamils, considered removing a chapter on the Kingdom of Jaffna in the history textbooks of the school children in Sri Lanka. However, to an opposing question by a JVP member in the Sri Lankan Parliament, the Minister of Education replied on Friday that they had dropped that plan. "The Colombo government has every justification to remove the Tamil Kingdom of Jaffna from the history of Sri Lanka if it wants to concede that Sri Lanka doesn't include the Tamil regions," commented Selvam Adaikkalanathan, the Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian of Vanni. Sri Lankan Education Minister Susil Permajayantha admitted in the Sri Lankan parliament Friday that there was a move to remove the chapter on the Kingdom of Jaffna from the history text book for grade eight, when JVP parliamentarian Bimal Ratanaike registered his opposition for the proposed removal by saying that the chapter would not be a block to the 'Pooneryn victory' and a 'forward march by the Sri Lanka Army to reach Ki'linochchi.' The JVP parliamentarian said that Jaffna Kingdom has been accepted by historians as true fact and that the JVP was opposed to the removal of the chapter. "If the Kingdom of Jaffna had not been recorded by the Portuguese who conquered it in 1618, the Sinhala chauvinism wouldn't have hesitated to completely wipe out the memory of it," Mr. Adaikkalanathan further said.

14 Tamils arrested in Colombo

14 Tamils arrested in Colombo[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2008, 16:08 GMT]The Ruthless Genocidal Sri Lanka Army and police Saturday took fourteen Tamil civilians into custody in a lightning cordon and search operation conducted covering Obeyasekara area in Rajagiriya division in Colombo. The operation commenced early morning around 3:00 a.m. Majority of them arrested are residents of north and east and other upcountry Tamils and had been working several business establishments and staying lodges, according to police sources. They are now detained in the Rajagiriya police station and being interrogated as they failed to prove their identity and justify their presence in the location, police sources said.

Sri Lankan Para Millitary's White van abducts Tamil civilian in Puththa'lam

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 2008, 11:33 GMT]
Armed men who came in a white van abducted an ex-member of Kalpiddi Piratheasa Chapai (Pradeshiya Sabah) at Naavatkaadu in Kalpiddi village in Puththa'lam district Wednesday evening around 6:00 p.m., according to complaints lodged by the victim's relatives with the Police. The victim is J. Clarence, a 45-year-old father of four.

Armed men entered his house and took him by force in the white van amid cries by the family members at the house, according to neighbours.

Police sentry is located by the side of victim's house, they said.

Ruthless Sri Lankan Air Forces bombers attack again civilian targets in Paranthan

Sunday, 2008-11-09 20:07:58]Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked Kumarapuram, a suburb of Paranthan, Sunday around 12:50 p.m., causing injuries to five civilians, including a 2-year-old boy. The day was turned into another disasterous day for the child, Manoharan Vithuran, as the family was preparing to observe the 31st day rituals for their mother, Mrs. Manhoharan, who was killed in the SLAF bombardment on the same locality, 30 days ago. He was rushed to the Ki'inochchi hospital functioning in Tharmapuram and admitted at the Intensive Care Unit, according to TamilNet correspondent who visited the bombed site and the hospital. 72-year-old mother of two, Sellathurai Kamalambal, 63-year-old mother of two, Sivarasa Gowri, both from Kumarapuram, 54-year-old father of four, Nagalingam Sivarasa, from Paranthan 5th canal and a 12-year-old boy Sriskanth Tharangan from Kumarapuram were the other civilians who sustained injuries in the SLAF attack. The wounded were rushed to Ki'linochchi hospital and later transferred to Tharmapuram.

Two of the wounded, including the child, were in serious state, medical sources said. Nine houses were completely destroyed in the attack. Murugan temple at Kumarapuram, several other houses and a shop were damaged in the Sri Lankan air strike. SLAF has targeted Paranthan and its suburbs four times within the last 30 days.

Genocidal Sri Lankan Police arrests Tamil youth in Matale

Police arrests Tamil youth in Matale[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 13:49 GMT]Sri Lanka police arrested a Tamil youth Monday evening at Ukkuwala in Matale division in central province on a report that he has close links with the LTTE, police sources said. The youth is being detained in the Matale police station and is under interrogation as he failed to provide satisfactory reason for his stay in the location, Police sources said.Police added that they have received reports that the youth has been providing sensitive information collected from the area.

Genocidal Sri Lankan Task Forces behind massacre of 5 Tamils in Ampaa'rai - Parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 18:41 GMT]Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos at Kalmunai in Ampaa'rai opened fire on five Tamil youths who were at a liquor shop and attempted to create a story through police that the victims were Karuna cadres, TNA MP K. Pathmanathan said, citing the relatives of the victims. Later, the STF attempted to place the blame on Muslims, but some Tamil Muslim youths who had witnessed the killings had helped to avert confrontation between the Tamil, Muslim communities, the MP said. The five victims were identified as Jeaysekar Thushanthan, 20, Rajakubenthan Yogaprakash, 28, Muthuppillai Sri Sutharshan, 28, Somasuntharam Karthik, 26 and Kathiravadivel Rajakuberan, 26, a married man, all residents of Kurunthaiyadi.Local residents told the MP that a youth witness was also assaulted by the STF commandos, the MP said."The STF had tried to create a story that unidentified armed men had shot five TMVP youths. If the STF suspects someone they should arrest them and investigate whether they are involved or not. Killing them in cold blood exposes the impunity enjoyed by the Sri Lanka military and the continued gross human rights violations," Mr. Patmanathan said."The killing of Tamil civilians should be stopped immediately and the defence ministry should take action to prevent similar incidents taking place in the future," he added.

This is an Example of Genocidal Sri Lankan Propaganda

By David Sabapathy – TNS



COLOMBO: Hindu editor Ram was awarded the Best Journalist of Asia by the Sri Lanka Mass Media Society, a Sri Lankan government-sponsored group to promote excellence in the media.



This is the second award to Mr. Ram by the ruling regime in Sri Lanka. In 2005, Ram received the Sri Lanka Ratna award for his 'exceptionally outstanding and most distinguished service to Sri Lanka in particular and/or humanity in general,' from the then president of Sri Lanka.



His latest Sri Lankan award came on heals of anti Hindu sentiments bursting into anti-media violence by the Tamil nationalist in Tamil Nadu. His long standing anti Tamil and Pro Sri Lanka views are well documented, says an editor in Colombo.




"Camouflaged in the name of Indian national interest, the intellectual venom, sectarian interests, dynastic interests and personal biases sadly making The Hindu into a pro-Sinhala and anti-Tamil media have to be countered socially, culturally and politically on a superior intellectual plane by bringing out public awakening locally and globally," he said.



“These unruly and illegal acts were an expression of intolerance of the newspaper’s criticism of pro-LTTE and pro-Eelam chauvinism in the Tamil Nadu political arena. In our considered editorial assessment, these chauvinistic, pro-separatist tendencies are deeply inimical to the interests of the Indian people,” Mr. Ram said in a statement recently.



He also considered being one of the main architects behind the doom 1983 Indo-Sri lanka accord.

Genocidal Ruthless Sri Lanka's Para Military Killed Family Man

Family man recovered dead, another reported missing in Jaffna
[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2008, 16:24 GMT]
Maanippaay police recovered Monday the body of a family man with assault injuries in a shrub land close to his house in Kaddudai in Maanippaay police division in Valikaamam. He had gone missing since Saturday after leaving home, the police said. Meanwhile, a family man from Colombo is reported missing after sending off his relative by ship from Trincomalee to Jaffna, according to the complaint lodged with Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna by his daughter.

The family man recovered dead was identified as Nagarasa Jeyamohan, 32.

Maanippaay police handed over his body to Jaffna Teaching Hospital mortuary.

The family man reported missing with HRC Jaffna is Manickam Pararajasingam, 55, originally from Thaavadi South in Kokkuvil, presently employed and living in Colombo.

Pararajasigan has not returned either to Colombo or Jaffna, his daughter Vasuki said in her complaint to HRC Jaffna.

How Genocidal Sri Lankan Government is killing Tamils in the Island.

Part 2.


Part 1.