8 years have passed since 7 TRO workers were abducted by Sri Lankan government-backed paramilitaries in Batticaloa. The kidnappings, which took place on the 29th and 30th of January, has not led to a single arrest. The missing aid workers are presumed dead.
Tamils in Australia slammed the three Labor MPs, John Pandazopoulos, Liz Beattie and Marsha Thomson, over their recent visit to Sri Lanka and meeting with the President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The spokesperson of the Tamil Refugee Council, Aran Mylvaganam said, “It was staggering to read that Beattie and her colleagues had ignored a log of war crimes piled high at the United Nations and described Rajapaksa as ’man of courage'.”
Continuing the campaign to increase support for an UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka that calls for an international inquiry, Father S. J. Emmanuel of the Global Tamil Forum called on an old friend in Australia last week, the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. Old friends from previous years in Rome, Father Emmanuel told the Australian Archbishop of the massacres that took place in 2009 at the end of the armed conflict, and the militarisation, colonisation and violence that continues to take place today in the Tamil area of the North-East.
As excavations continued at the site of the Mannar mass grave in Thirukketheeswaram yesterday, two more human remains were discovered, bringing the toll up to 55, reports the Uthayan. Today, skeletal fragments of previously discovered remains were unearthed reported the newspaper . The excavation is set to continue tomorrow.
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence has threatened to investigate the Tamil coalition party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), over the party's links to the LTTE, reports a pro-government newspaper The Island today. Citing a 'senior MoD spokesman', the paper wrote that the investigation would ' focus on the close relationship between the LTTE and the TNA since late 2001, when the political grouping recognised the LTTE as the sole representatives of the Tamil speaking people. Based on the findings, legal action would be taken against TNA members '.
The Sri Lankan navy today , released 69 Indian fishermen that were detained under Sri Lankan court order. The handover was a result of bilateral discussions regarding the fisherman situation held in New Delhi on January 15.
The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) has passed a resolution calling for a monument to be built to commemorate those killed in Mullivaikkaal earlier this week. The resolution, which was passed unanimously, was proposed by the councillor for Mullaitivu, T Raviharan. Noting that thousands had died, he told Ceylon Today, "A monument has not been built to pay respect to the civilians in the Mullaitivu District. Therefore, I decided to bring in a resolution to build a monument remembering all the civilians, who died during the final stages of the war.”
The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed several resolutions on Monday stating that an international investigation was need to investigate the Sri Lankan state's actions against the Tamils which amounted to genocide. Rejecting the government's apparent efforts to date, such as the 'war census', the NPC declared an international investigation was needed to uncover the war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out against the Tamil people. The Council, which was elected with a thundering mandate of the Tamil people in the North, asserted that the Tamil people do not have faith in any...
The body of a 10 year old Tamil boy, who went missing yesterday, was found today in a pond in Naanu Oya, reports Tamilwin . The body was identified as Anthony Robert, who was reported missing by his father yesterday, after he went out to play in the evening after school and never returned.
The body of a 26 year old Tamil man, D. Sasikumar, who worked for the Nuwareliya Council, was found this week reported the Virakesari on Monday. One person, who has not been identified, has been arrested on suspicion of murder.