Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a borough in Montreal, has passed a motion recognising May 18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.  The motion comes as the Tamil nation marks 16 years since the genocide at Mullivaikkal, where an estimated 169,796 people were killed by the Sri Lankan army in the final days of the armed conflict.  Tamil activist Subitha Tharmakulasagaram said the…

13th Amendment must be repealed demands Buddhist monastery

The Sri Lankan government should abolish the 13th Amendment, said, a committee member of one of the two major Buddhist monasteries, the Asgiriya Chapter, reports Ceylon Today.

Internationally guaranteed justice and political solution needed in Sri Lanka says GTF

Work towards representing the Tamil community would not stop until there are international guarantees that the root causes of the conflict in Sri Lanka were addressed, concluded the spokesman of the Global Tamil Forum in a statement to The Island.

Court case of disappeared postponed again

A court case regarding the disappearance of Ezhilan, the missing husband TNA councillor Ananthy Sasitharan, and 5 other men who surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army, has been postponed yet again after the government lawyer had failed to appear at the session.

Families of the disappeared first filed this case in 2009, but since then it has been postponed several times, including being transferred from the Vavuniya High Court to a court in Mullaitivu.
Also see our earlier posts:

Army ‘discovers’ Buddhist archaeological site in North

The Sri Lankan Army has declared it has discovered ancient Buddhist ruins in Kilinochchi, with the area now closed off as a “sacred archaeological site”.

JVP slams Rajapaksa for releasing Indian fishermen

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has condemned the release of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan government at their central committee meeting this week, reported Colombo Gazette.

JVP MP Sunil Handunetti criticised the move stating that the Sri Lankan government was not concerned with any fishermen that India was holding in custody.

Over 18,000 cases submitted for disappearances commission

A much criticised Sri Lankan government commission into disappearances has received over 18,000 submissions regarding missing people, in just three hearings across the North-East of the island.

Student Uprising Day marked by Tamil Eelam FA in Sweden


The death of Pon Sivakumaran, marked as Student Uprising Day, was commemorated in Sweden by the members of the Tamil Eelam Football Association.

The team was attending celebrations of the Swedish National Day, where the Global Tamil Youth League hosted an exhibition, bringing awareness about the ongoing genocide in Sri Lanka.

Sexual Violence in Conflict: Sri Lanka - long history of rape by state security forces

Next week, the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict is due to take place in London, co-hosted by the UK's Foreign Secretary, William Hague and the Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie.

In the run up to the ESVC summit, we revisit the mounting evidence which documents the widespread, systematic and on-going use of sexual violence
by Sri Lanka's military against Tamils, that occurs with absolute impunity.


See our full feature: 'Sexual Violence in Conflict: Sri Lanka'


Krishanthy Kumaraswamy,
18y, gang raped and killed by soldiers on
7 August 1996
 

The use of rape and sexual violence by Sri Lankan armed forces against Tamils, far from being a feature of the last stages of the armed conflict, has been prominent through out the thirty year period of armed conflict, as well previously.

Cases reported before 2009, include the rape of Tamil civilians in the North-East, paramilitary run prostitution rackets in camps and the use of sexual violence as torture in military-run detention facilities.

The incidence of rape by security forces has always remained vastly under reported. In 1996, Amnesty International, in its report, 'Sri Lanka: Wavering Commitment to Human Rights', noted:
Amnesty International has documented several cases of rape by members of the security forces. Because many women are reluctant to give testimony about their treatment by the security forces, Amnesty International believes that these testimonies represent only a fraction of a widespread pattern of human rights violations. In those cases reported to Amnesty International, the authorities took some initial action against the alleged perpetrators. However, the organization does not know of any member of the security forces who has been brought to justice on charges of rape.

Remembering Sivakumaran 40 years on


Four decades on, the sacrifice of Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran on 5th June 1974- the first Tamil student to take his own life in the Tamil struggle against oppression by the Sri Lankan state - remains as relevant now as ever before.

In 1974, years of discrimination and oppression of the Tamil nation reached a new stage when the World Tamil Research Conference of 1974, an acclaimed event that appreciated and furthered Tamil culture, was marred by the brutality of Sri Lankan security forces. The Sri Lankan state was angered after organisers defied Sri Lankan government calls to hold the event in Colombo, and held it in Jaffna between the 3rd - 6th January instead. The violence unleashed by the state’s forces at the event, left nine people dead.

Sápmi defeats Tamil Eelam in closely contested match



The Tamil Eelam football team managed to net their first goals of the 2014 World Football Cup tournament, but succumbed to a 4-2 defeat to hosts Sápmi.

A minute of silence was held before the match, in remembrance of the death of Pon Sivakumaran 40 years ago, while he was detained by Sri Lankan security sources.

Taking on the host nation in a placement match this morning, the Leopards came in searching for their first goal of the tournament. The highly rated Sápmi team, which has the distinction of having had former Norwegian internationals play on their squad , were clear favourites and were always going to be tough to score against.