The killings of three Tamil men last week, who the Sri Lankan military claims were attempting to revive the LTTE, has spread terror amongst the Tamil population. The culmination of weeks of heightened military activity in the North-East, including mass arrests, interrogations and widespread house to house search operations, the killings serve as a collective warning and reminder to the Tamil people of the state's response, capability and preparedness to curtail any Tamil resistance. As public executions do else where, the killings seek to enforce control through violence and fear. Under the guise of counter terrorism measures, the Sri Lankan state is terrorising the Tamil population, on a scale not seen since the end of the armed conflict. Inducing fear, which disintegrates not only Tamil political space, but also social space, is the primary goal.
The Tamil woman whose body was found yesterday in a well in Visvamadu has been named as 32 year old T. Rajasulosana. Rajasulosana was found, floating in a well with lacerations on her neck, after barking dogs led to villagers discovering blood on the ground, which led them to discover the body, locals told the Tamil Guardian.
The Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, Sharon Hodgson, said she withdrew from a planned trip to Sri Lanka over the government’s refusal to cooperate with an international inquiry as mandated by the UNHRC last month. The trip was called off after a senior Labour figure intervened, causing the two Labour MPs, Ms Hodgson and Stephen Hepburn to pull out and leaving the remaining MPs no choice but to cancel the trip, Channel 4 reported last week. “I have a long-standing interest in seeking justice for those who have been the victim of war crimes and human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, and was a co-signatory to a letter in 2010 calling for an independent, international inquiry into them," Ms Hodgson said.
The leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband wished the British Tamil community as they celebrated Chiththirai Thiru Naal, praising the "many positive contributions British Tamils have made to this country’s social, cultural, political and economic life”. Mr Miliband said his party remained “deeply concerned” by the plight faced by many Tamils and “ongoing perpetration of human rights violations”, and called on the British government and others to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan authorities.
The body of a Tamil woman was recovered from a well in Jaffna on Sunday, reported the Uthayan , making it the second such case in the last few days. The woman was identified as 22-year-old Jeromy Conselita, from Gurunagar, Jaffna. Warning - some viewers may find this distressing
A minibus driver was assaulted by Sri Lankan army soldiers last night in Jaffna, reports Uthayan . The driver, Thurairasa Mahenthirarasa suffered severe injuries and was taken to Jaffna hospital for treatment. According to the paper, Mr. Thurairasa was involved in an altercation with two men late last week, who he felt was blocking the path of his minibus. It later transpired that these two men were plain clothed military officers.
Writing in Conservative Home on the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister, Hugo Swire, said the UK had "real concerns" about Sri Lanka, the Commonwealth Chair. Stressing the importance of upholding Commonwealth values, Mr. Swire wrote, "Let us take values first. The Commonwealth Charter, agreed in 2012, is historic: the first ever declaration of our common values in a single document. But, frankly, implementation is patchy. We have real concerns in Sri Lanka , the Commonwealth’s Chair in Office, where there has been very little...
An independent journalist who wrote for the Tamil daily newspapers, Virakesari and Thinakurral, was attacked by two unidentified men in Jaffna on Monday, reports Global Tamils News and Uthayan .
Canada is suspending over $10 million funding of the Commonwealth Secretariat over on-going human rights concerns in Sri Lanka, condemning Sri Lanka's role as Commonwealth chair. In a statement announcing the funding cut, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said the country would be reallocating its funding for the next two years, so long as Sri Lanka remained chair. " We can no longer justify providing additional funding to an organization that turns a blind eye to human rights abuses, anti-democratic behaviour and religious intolerance in its member states " , said Mr. Baird.
A day after Sri Lankan security forces shot dead three Tamil men , who they allege were attempting to re-launch an armed struggle, the country's special envoy for human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, claimed the incident was "clear evidence" of the need for military in the North. According to the PTI Minister Samarasinghe told Buddhist monks in Kandy on Saturday, "We were asked and criticised about the presence of the military in the north and the need to scale down its presence by the international governments at the Geneva UN Human Rights Council...We explained to them the need to keep the military going as it was a decision for a sovereign government to take in view of the national security needs," "Yesterday's incident was clear evidence of that," he added.