SLA checks more than 10,000 during Batticaloa curfiew
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the police searched and checked more than 10,000 Tamils , 4,000 houses and more than 50% of the vehicles in Batticaloa district, during the joint search launched, clamping a 12-hour police-curfew Saturday, Police media spokesman, Ranjith Gunesekara said. Read more
SLN arrests 26 persons in Northern seas seeking refuge in Tamil Nadu
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) arrested 26 persons, including a 6-months-old infant, who were trying to escape on boats on their way to Tamil Nadu seeking refuge. Civilians took the perilous journey to escape continuing artillery barrage and bombings of civilian settlements in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territories in Vanni. When the arrested refugees were produced before the Point Pedro magistrate Sunday, the Magistrate ordered the refugees to be placed in the Rehabilitation Camp. Read more
Court reserves order on admissibility of Tissanayagam “confession”
The Colombo High Court Friday reserved its order for December 5 on the Voire Dire inquiry on the admissibility of the purported confession made by Sunday Times journalist J.S.Tissainayagam to the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). When the case was taken up on Friday for further submission before High Court Judge Ms. Deepani Wijesundara the State Counsel and the Defence Counsel made oral submissions, legal sources said. Read more
Floods in Jaffna peninsula claim 6 lives, leaves devastation
Six people died and 268,038 persons belonging to 73,523 families were severely affected by the torrential downpour and gale-force winds that plagued the peninsula in the past four days, according to statistics released by A. Sivasamy, the Additional Government Agent (AGA) Jaffna. 6,689 houses have been totally destroyed while 14,820 have been partly damaged, the statistics revealed. Electricity supply and telecommunication services will take at least a week to get back to normalcy, the officials of the respective services in Jaffna said. Meanwhile UN agencies in the peninsula are taking steps to provide relief supplies to the displaced and affected persons. Read more
Tamil farmer shot dead in Batticaloa
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a Tamil farmer Saturday around 9:30 p.m in Ka’luvaangchchikudi police division at his house in Ward 12, Kuruma’nve’li area. This is the first killing after a 12-hour police-curfew was clamped down in Batticalao district, taking place just after three hours after the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) cordon and search operation during the curfew, the sources added. A Special Task Force (STF) camp is located 200 m from the site of the killing. Read more
Male body found in a pond in Thenmaraadchi
Kodikaamam police recovered Saturday a male body with gunshot injuries floating in a pond in Va’ra’ni in Thenmaraadchi on information given by local residents. The victim appears to be between 30 to 35 years of age, the police said. Read more
Colombo’s cluster bomb attack on civilians in Vanni challenges international norms
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers that attacked the hamlet of Internally Displaced Persons bordering Piramanthanaa’ru and Uzhavanoor in the early hours of Saturday have deployed Russian made ODAB-500 PM cluster bombs in their indiscriminate attack that killed three civilians, including a child, eyewitnesses told TamilNet’s Vanni correspondent on Saturday. Seven children were among the wounded. Colombo’s use of cluster bomb comes as more than 100 countries are scheduled to meet in Oslo on Wednesday to sign a treaty banning the use of cluster bombs. Read more
INGOs to receive marching orders in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO – The long standing conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and INGOs turn from worst to disaster as the government decides to kick out three INGOs from the Island nation, according to informed government officials. Read more
Legal profession under threat in Sri Lanka
Hong Kong, China — In recent months, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has passed several resolutions regarding lawyers who have come under attack. One such resolution concerned an attorney who had been subjected to intimidation and threats in a case involving the assassination of a client who was pursuing cases against the Sri Lankan police on allegations of bribery and torture. Read more
International media, human rights watchdogs lopsided – Jaffna MP
“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. Read more
