Search operations would continue to arrest the run away from three forces – Gothabaya
Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse stated, continuous search operation would be processed to arrest the run away persons from the three forces. In the context of general amnesty, 1883 persons escaped from the military were released recently. But the operation of finding the absconded soldiers would continue was stated by him.
What are the fundamentals for the next phase of our struggle?
In these pages last week I had stated, our liberation movement had concluded that applying pressures through political and diplomatic means to achieve the national liberation of the people of Tamil Eelam were the most practical and strongest ways forward.
Rajapaksa’s “Final Resolution” of the Tamil Problem and India’s Options
The death of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran, circa May 18, 2009 remains an enigma wrapped in mystery. The exact details of what happened, we may never know. Things have never been what they appeared on surface. Colombo’s media management techniques are a legion. Therefore, peering through a looking glass into the future of Sri Lanka becomes quite problematic.
Free Civilians From Detention Camps – HRW
The Sri Lankan government should immediately release the more than 280,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians held in detention camps in northern Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said today.
The government, in violation of international law, has since March 2008 confined virtually all civilians displaced by the fighting between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in detention camps, euphemistically called “welfare centers” by the government.
The urgency of bearing witness: Conflict may be over, not the battle to reach victims
First they were captives of a conflict in which their freedom and security was thwarted at every turn. Now huge numbers of the Tamil population of Sri Lanka find themselves trapped again, unseen for the most part and wholly unprotected, says the Medical Foundation for the care of victims of torture (www.torturecare.org).
TamilNadu leaders ignores the massacre of Tamils in Sri Lanka – Sivajilingam
Sri Lankan Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M K Sivajilingam has alleged that a few leaders from Tamil Nadu, both at the Centre and State are simply ignoring the massacre of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Addressing a gathering at the inauguration of Tamilar Thanmana Pasarai at Red Hills near Chennai on Sunday, he said that the most shocking thing was the projection of those leaders as the saviors of suffering Tamils in the island nation.
SLA refuses to lift night curfew during Nalloor temple annual festival
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities have rejected the appeal of the Saiva Organizations to lift the night curfew imposed in the peninsula.
The SLA was requested to lift the curfew during the 25-day Nalloor Kanthasuvami temple annual festival, which began on Monday, so that devotees could participate in the festival conveniently, sources in Jaffna said.
500,000 pilgrims expected to visit Madhu Marian shrine
The Sri Lankan government has declared “no limits” on the number of pilgrims allowed to visit the revered Madhu shrine for the August feast of the Assumption.
Around 500,000 are expected to travel to the 400-year-old Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu in Mannar diocese, 220 kilometers to the north of Colombo. The shrine lies in a jungle area where government and Tamil rebel forces fought several battles during the 25-year civil war that the government says ended with the rebels’ defeat in May.
India encircled by China’s string of pearls?
Many in India believe that Beijing is building special relationships with India’s old foe Pakistan and Sri Lanka and is extending its reach down the Indian Ocean.
China’s ‘String of Pearls’ strategy seems to be surrounding India and has given food for thought to many in New Delhi for quite some time now.
End of conflict brings no respite to children from human rights abuses
Despite the end of hostilities, children in Sri Lanka continue to be at risk of forced recruitment, arbitrary detention and other human rights abuses, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (Coalition) said today. In a new briefing to the Security Council Working Group (Working Group) on Children and Armed Conflict, the Coalition urged the Sri Lankan authorities to act immediately to protect conflict-affected children.
