Evidence of Sri Lankan 'war crimes' emerge

Channel 4 News showed video footage claiming to show Sri Lankan forces executing Tamils earlier this year.

Just three months after the Sri Lankan government declared the country liberated from the Tamil Tigers, video footage has emerged apparently showing government troops summarily executing Tamils, Jonathan Miller reports for Channel 4..

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said it was filmed in January - when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone.

The Sri Lankan High Commission denied that the Sri Lankan armed forces carried out atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamil community. The High Commission said that they were only engaged in a military offensive against the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan government launched a large scale military offensive in January capturing the Tamil Tiger held town of Kilinochchi. The army then steadily pushed the rebels into an small area of the north-east.

Channel 4 warns that there are extremely disturbing scenes in the report from foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller.

The Sri Lanka High Commission responding to the video said: "The High Commission has noted that in many instances in the past, various media institutions used doctored videos, photographs and documents to defame the Sri Lankan government and armed forces. Therefore, we request you to verify the authenticity of the video footage before the telecast".

Tamils Rallied Toronto, demand Sri Lanka to stop genocide

Tamils jam Toronto, demand Sri Lanka to stop genocide[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 03:14 GMT]More than 100,000 expatriate Tamils crowded downtown Toronto between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday to raise the plight of the more than 250,000 Tamil civilians trapped in the war in Vanni, and subjected to continuous artillery attacks and aerial bombardment by Sri Lanka military. Cries of 'genocide' and accusations of human rights abuses were heard throughout the protest, as the protesters held a giant hand-in-hand human chain that stretched along Bloor, Yonge, Front and across to University Avenue. Police officials said this was the largest ever rally held in Toronto. "Tamil protesters estimated about 120,000 people lined sidewalks in a nearly seven-kilometre human chain along Front St., north up Yonge St. to Bloor St., then west to University Ave. and south again to Front," The Star reported.Toronto Police closed several key streets including York street which was closed both ways from Front to Wellington St West, and Front St. to vehicular traffic in both directions between York and Bay Streets. The busiest area of Toronto was paralyzed by the protest during the rush hour, according to reports."We have had peaceful protests in the past, and we maintained great communication with the organizers, and we have not any problems," P.C. Wendy Drummond, according to a report by City News."Waving the red and gold flags of the Tamil Tigers alongside Canadian flags, the protesters mixed chants for a separate Tamil homeland with calls for the Canadian government to take action to help stop what they call a genocide in their homeland," described Toronto Sun."Literature handed out along the route described the Sri Lankan civil war, which has raged for the past 26 years and resulted in the death of an estimated 70,000 people, as a "humanitarian catastrophe." It requested the international community demand a permanent cease fire and recognize the Tamil State," National Post reported.

40,000 Tamils stage protests in front of EU, UN in Europe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 16:14 GMT]More than 25,000 Tamils, especially youth, across the Europe took to the streets of Brussels on Monday demanding EU to de-proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to allow medicine and food to the civilians besieged by its military in all fronts and to demand the Sri Lankan military to pull out from the Tamil homeland. The organisers blamed the EU's misguided policy on proscribing the LTTE as having tilted the diplomatic balance between the parties, causing the war of aggression against the Tamils by the Sri Lankan state. Meanwhile more than 10,000 Tamils staged a protest in front of the UN office in Geneva.

The Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) across Europe organised the demonstration and rally in Brussels. Protesters arrived in Brussels in 110 buses from Germany, 80 buses from France, 60 buses from London and around 10 buses from other countries. Several thousand also came in cars and using the public transport to Belgium where only 3,000 Tamils live.

The response was overwhelming," said Sujatha Murugathas, one of the organisers from Germany. "As a result the demonstration from Bd du Roi Albert II to European Commission took longer than expected and several roads were jammed. It took more than 4 hours to reach the Head Office of the European Commission, and we struggled to conclude the event before 5:00 p.m. as requested by the Police," she told TamilNet.

The TYO had secured permission to hand over an appeal addressed to the Presidency of the European Union on 20 March. The Police, which initially said only 5,000 protesters were in the city, struggled to control the unprecedented traffic jam resulting in the suspension of traffic on key roads in the area for several hours.The Police, after consulting the EU officials, told the organisers that their appointment with the EU scheduled on 20 March was cancelled and that the protesters could hand over their appeal already on Monday. However, the appointment was later re-negotiated by the organisers who had to promise the conclusion of the protest before 5:00 p.m. Many vehicles decked with large photographs showing the pain and suffering of the Tamils in Vanni killed, maimed and injured in the relentless attacks by the Sri Lanka government were seen moving along with the demonstrators.

The banners and placards carried by the demonstrators displayed the following slogans besides pictures of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V. Pirapaharan.
Stop Sri Lanka’s genocide of Tamils.
Liberation Tigers are our freedom fighters
We want Tamil Eelam.
Lift ban on Liberation Tigers.
Pirapaharan is our national leader. Persons dressed up like Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president and in the attire of Sri Lanka Army soldiers, enacted episodes of the violence they unleash on the Tamils, in the long procession.The protest march called ‘Struggle for Rights’ by the protesting diaspora EU Tamils was one of the other similar rallies conducted Monday in front of UN in Geneva and in front of UN office in the USA, and in Canada where around 120,000 gathered for a human-chain protest in Toronto.

Sri Lanka - Heavy SF shelling Kills 15 Injures 30 including children in Mulaitivu

Sri Lanka - Heavy SF shelling Kills 15 Injures 30 including children in Mulaitivu

G. Vickram - TNS

Mulaitivu - 15 civilians were killed including five children when barrages of shell fired by Sri Lankan Security Forces (SF) from 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday hit Visuvamadu, Udayrakaddu, Suthanthirapuram, and Manikapuram internally displaced civilians in Mulaitivu area. At least 30 civilians also were badly wounded according to the sources in Mulaitivu.

6 shells fell on an area where 25 families were internally displaced and lived together. This attack alone 2 people were killed including a young boy. SF troopers' indiscriminate aerial and shell attacks killed hundreds and many hundreds injured within past few months while displaced over 350,000 including 40,000 children who are living in subhuman conditions.

A catastrophic situation developed in Vanni for these innocent civilians as they are facing annihilation as indiscriminate land, sea, and air attacks on them by the Sri Lankan forces in 400 sq miles Mulaitivu area daily. These people facing severe shortages of food, medicines, drinking water and other basic necessities in this area as severe blockade was imposed upon by the state on them for past many months, an IDP representative said.

India should stop war, instruct Colombo to talk to Tigers - BJP Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 12:37 GMT]
A senior leader of BJP, a major national political party of India, visited Friday Thol. Thirumavalavan, the VCK President who is on a fast-unto-death demanding the Central government of India to stop the war being waged by Colombo against Eezham Tamils. The BJP politician, Vaithiyalingam, a member of the party's national general council, declared that India, which is a powerful country in the region, cannot sit back and watch without doing anything to stop the genocidal war in Sri Lanka and added India should be specific in demanding ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam.

Another BJP politician Kasi Muthu Manickam also addressed the gathering.

A neo-Buddihst monk from the Dalit community addressed the gathering. He condemned Sri Lanka and said it was a shame to call Sri Lanka a Buddhist country. Religious representatives from the local Muslim Jamaat also visited Thirumavalavan and donated money to the campaign.

Thirumavalavan's fast has entered 3rd day and his doctors were concerned of blood pressure and sugar levels, sources in Chennai said Saturday.

The fasting VCK leader thanked the BJP politicians for visiting him and expressing solidarity to his campaign said that the BJP politicians' solidarity, despite the ideological difference between Hindutva BJP and the secular and Dalit VCK, showed the genuineness of the cause he was representing.

The BJP in Tamil Nadu has recently staged protests in support of Eezham Tamils.

The BJP, in alliance with several other parties, was in power from 1998 to 2004 with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister. The February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement was mooted, shadow-managed and supervised by Vajpayee's Advisor Brajesh Mishra, reports revealed in Indian media last year.

The CFA signed in February 2002 was unilaterally withdrawn by the Sri Lanka government in January 2008.

Ruthless Genocidal Sri Lankan Army blocks gateway to Vanni civilians for 5th day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 16:22 GMT]
A woman, wounded in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombardment on 01 January succumbed to her wounds Monday night and other patients in need of urgent medical transport from Puthukkudiyiruppu to Vavuniyaa with ICRC escort remain blocked for days despite repeated attempts to access the road, which remained under Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery fire, as reported earlier. In the meantime, officials at the Government Agent's office in Vavuniyaa told media that the SLA has turned away humanitarian convoys despite their repeated attempts. Civilians in Vanni are refused essential supplies and refused critical medical transport, in violation to Geneva Conventions.

The officials in Vavuniyaa, responsible for facilitating humanitarian supplies to civilians in Vanni, complained that the SLA had turned away their convoys despite their repeated attempts, at least five times, since Thursday.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson with the ICRC told journalists in Colombo that they were unable to provide escort to the humanitarian convoys due to the security situation. The ICRC spokesperson also admitted that the movement of wounded civilians remained blocked as the ambulances heading for Vavuniyaa from the conflict zone were halted due to the closure of the roads.

Ruthless Genocidal Sri Lanka police took ten Tamils into custody

SL Police arrests 10 Tamils in Colombo, 8 in Kandy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 12:51 GMT]
Ruthless Genocidal Sri Lanka police took ten Tamils into custody Sunday morning in cordon and search operations conducted around Fort, Aattupattitheru, and Valaithoddam in Colombo city, sources in Colombo said. The operation was conducted on information received by the police after the explosion at Bankshall Street Saturday afternoon that injured three persons.

The arrested are being detained in police stations and are being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID) of Sri Lanka Police.

Meanwhile, eight Tamil civilians were arrested at Udapusselawa in Kandy district .

Police said they were being interrogated as they failed to prove their identity and justify their presence in the location.

Ruthless Genocidal Sri Lankan Air Forces drops cluster bombs in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 17:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers dropped cluster bombs at Mu'l'livaaykkaal in Mullaiththevu Saturday afternoon around 1:30 p.m., according to the reports from Mullaiththeevu. 

There has been no casualties in the bombardment.