The Magistrate court in Mannar has ordered a comprehensive report to be submitted on the Sathosa mass grave in the Mannar district. A total of 318 bodies, including that of 18 children, were discovered at this mass grave in May 2019, when construction work was being carried out at the local supermarket Sathosa, near the A14 highway by construction workers. Subsequently, excavations were carried out with the Officer of the Missing Persons acting as an independent observer. According to the report on mass graves and failed exhumations by the International Truth and Justice Project “among the...
Fitch Ratings have warned of continued risk despite Sri Lanka's domestic debt restructuring plan, as the agency doubts external creditors' approval. Highlighting the risks, the agency pointed out that it is still unclear whether the government’s proposal has received the support of the country’s external creditors. “If not, the risk of further domestic debt restructuring could linger, resulting in further instability for the banking sector.” The DDO plan approved by parliament last Saturday excludes banks’ holdings of Sri Lankan rupee-denominated treasury securities, which according to Fitch...
22 Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were arrested by Sri Lanka's Navy for alleged illegal fishing, have brought before Kayts Magistrate Court. Whilst the Magistrate Court initially sentenced 21 of the fishermen to 18 years in jail, the Court has extended this to 21 years. This was with the exemption of a fisherman aged on 16th on bail worth 10,000 rupees and all charges against him were dropped. The 22 fisherfolk were arrested on June 21st, by the Sri Lankan Navy that was patrolling near Delft island. They were produced to the Kayts Magistrate court the following day by the Department of Fisheries...
The first anniversary of the death of Vageeshwari Nathan, the mother of Tamil political prisoner Parthiban Vigneshwaranathan, was commemorated on 6th July at her house in Tirunelveli. Nathan, who passed away at the age of 77 last year, had been protesting for the release of her son for the past 28 years. The commemoration ceremony was attended by her surviving relatives, as well as members of the Voice for the Voiceless organisation. The organisation's leader said that "in order for Vageeshwari Amma's soul to rest in peace, not only her son Parthiban Vigneshwaranathan but all Tamil political...
Tamil villagers in Mullaitivu are demanding release of their land by the Sri Lankan military and have marched one army camp to another in Keppapilavu. The protest took place on Thursday with demonstrations detailing how the ongoing military occupation of their land has threatened their livelihood and raising concern over the military's plundering of the land's natural resources. The military occupation of land in the Tamil homeland has been a long-standing issue. While the Sri Lanka government has made policy-level decisions to release lands occupied by the military, the implementation has...
On July 5, Eelam Tamils across the world remember and mourn the sacrifices made by the LTTE's elite women and men, the Black Tigers. “Karumpuli Naal” marks the sacrifice made by the first Black Tiger, Captain Miller, or Vallipuram Vasanthan, 36 years ago. In 1987, he attacked a Sri Lankan Army garrison in Nelliyadi in the Jaffna district, by driving a small truck with explosives into it. Forty Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in the attack.
'Karumpuli Naal' or 'Black Tigers Day' was marked in Jaffna and Mullaitivu today. Black Tigers Day marks the sacrifice made by the first Black Tiger, Captain Miller, or Vallipuram Vasanthan, 36 years ago. At the University of Jaffna, students and the general public offered flowers, lit lamps and observed a moment of silence to remember the lives of the elite force that sacrificed their lives during the armed conflict. A commemoration event was also held in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu to mark the day. A lamp was lit and flowers were laid to pay tribute to the hundreds of Black Tigers that...
A group of residents from Keppapulavu, Mullaitivu protested in front of the District Secretariat Office on June 28th, demanding to be included in a government welfare program. The program provides financial assistance to people living in poverty, but the protestors argue that they have been excluded because their lands are still being occupied by the military. The protestors blocked the entrance to the District Secretariat office and chanted slogans demanding that they be given the same benefits as other people living in poverty. The District Secretariat K. Kanageshwaran ushered the...
File photograph Sinhala Buddhist monks continued their worship Mullaitivu Magistrate Court Judge, Hon. T. Sravanarajah conducted a field visit to the Kurunthurmalai site, following the second court hearing regarding the ongoing illegal construction of a Buddhist temple at the site.
The Attorney General's department conducted a field visit to the Kurunthumalai site on June 21st, along with a team of prosecutors. The visit was in response to the ongoing dispute surrounding the site, which has been targeted for land grabs by Buddhist monks with the assistance of the Sri Lankan police, military, and Department of Archaeology. The Kurunthumalai site is home to the Athi Aiyanar Kovil, a kovil which locals claim has been in existence for centuries. In recent years, however, the site has been gradually taken over by Buddhist monks, who have built a Buddhist temple on the site...