The parties [to the conflict] should be reminded that they are under international legal obligations to enable unimpeded access to civilians' - Jan Egeland, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Several governments around the world have tried to rebut criticism of how they handle detainees by claiming they are only following the U.S. example in fighting terrorism, the UN special rapporteur on torture said Monday.
Manfred Nowak said that when he criticizes governments for their questionable treatment of detainees, they respond by telling him that if the United States does something, it must be all right.
Liberation Tigers handed over 74 bodies of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in black body bags Thursday evening in Kilinochchi. Another soldier's body was taken to Kilinochchi Thursday evening.
"The (main) handover took place on Thursday evening at 8pm local time at Omanthai checkpoint on the A-9 road," said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which acted as intermediary.
The Liberation Tigers and Sri Lankan government blamed each other Friday for a flare-up of the conflict in Amparai.
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) troopers launched a pre-dawn offensive into Liberation Tigers territory in Amparai Thursday, the LTTE said. "The STF ground troopers have moved in 6 km into our territory inside Kanchikudicharu," said LTTE Amparai District Political Head S. Jeya.
Sri Lanka has banned imports of remote-controlled toy cars, boats and planes because of fears the Tamil Tigers could use them as bombs, a senior military official said last Tuesday.
"You get remote-controlled planes and cars which can be operated on the road. If it gets into the wrong hands, they can bring a small toy, send it underneath a vehicle and blast it," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Police imposed a curfew in Kattankudy as two days of clashes between religious factions resulted in damage to over 30 houses and a number of vehicles. Orthodox Muslims and an Islamic sect that preaches pantheism clashed on October 2 and 3, damaging 32 houses and a van and burning down 3 motorbikes.
Germany has officially frozen any new aid for projects in Sri Lanka in a bid to put pressure on the government and the LTTE to get back to peace talks.
The arrest of a Tamil youth, Poobalapillai Kantharajah, 26, from Batticaloa, on September 29, shed light on an abduction and extortion racket that has plagued the eastern city for some time.
Amid an intensifying civil war, the Sri Lankan defence authorities have set out tough new guidelines for the media, which amount to de facto censorship of reporting on military activities.
A five-member International Mission on Press Freedom visited Colombo from October 9 to 11 at the invitation of leading media institutions and organizations in the country.
Internally displaced civilians from 23 villages from Muthur East, SLA controlled areas south of Muthur, and 20 villages from Eachilampattu, Veruhal area, have sought refuge in Vaharai area, rendering the area densely populated with 61,000 civilians.
The LTTE claimed last Saturday (October 7) that it had blunted a Sri Lankan offensive in Vaharai, on the border between Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts in Eastern Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Monday declared the merger of the northern and eastern provinces, effected in 1987 as part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, "null and void and illegal."
The move defied explicit calls by international backers of the Norwegian peace process, including India, for Sri Lanka to refrain from moves which would inflame tensions and undermine a negotiated settlement.
