Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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'These four should be put in jail' - Ganesan accuses NPP of hypocrisy
Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) leader Mano Ganesan has accused the National People's Power (NPP) government of hypocrisy over the arrest of Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), pointing to NPP politicians who had themselves circulated songs glorifying the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during election campaigns. Sangeethsan, known…

Farmers in the North-East protest against military banning of agricultural work

Jun 10, 2014
A collection of agricultural organisations in the North-East of Sri Lanka participated in demonstration and hunger strikes in protest of army actions to stop farmers from working in the Vaddamadu region, reports the Uthayan.
“Sri Lankan defence forces warned us against farming our lands when we tried to farm the land in the manner in which we had done in previous years,” said a farmer to the Uthayan.

Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict begins today

Jun 9, 2014
Updated 12:20 BST

 
Photograph Tamil Guardian

The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict opened in London today, co-hosted by the UK's Foreign Secretary, William Hague and the Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie. 

Follow our Twitter account for live updates throughout the day - @TamilGuardian

UK, US urge Sri Lanka to cooperate with international inquiry at opening of 26th UNHRC session

Jun 9, 2014
The US and UK urged Sri Lanka to cooperate with the upcoming international inquiry led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as the UN Human Rights Council's 26th session opened today.

Addressing the Council, the US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Keith Harper thanked the Office of the High Commissioner for leading on the inquiry.

“We urge the Sri Lankan government to cooperate fully with the investigation, including granting access to investigators, and preventing retaliation against those who provide information to the High Commissioner’s office,” Harper said.

Protesters in Colombo condemn Modi-Jaya for 'Indian interference'

Jun 9, 2014
Photograph Tamilwin

Time to shatter culture of impunity'

Jun 9, 2014
Updated 13:20 BST


Photograph: Tamil Guardian


The time has come to 'shatter the culture of impunity' over sexual violence in conflict stated the British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Angelina Jolie earlier today.

Speaking at the opening of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, currently underway in London, the Foreign Secretary stated that “ending sexual violence was a moral issue for our generation” adding,
“We know how few of these crimes have ever been punished and because of impunity they continue today, in Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic to name just a few examples... We want the summit to shatter the culture of impunity for sexual violence, to increase support for the survivors and change the situation on the ground for the most affected countries."

See his full address here.

He was joined by the Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Angelina Jolie, who reiterated that the end of an armed conflict does not mean violence does not occur. Jolie stated,
“Other survivors live in countries where war is over, but the peace has brought no justice and as an international community we are responsible for that. We need to shatter that culture of impunity and make justice the norm not the exception for these crimes."

Eelam Tamil refugee camp torched in India

Jun 9, 2014

A petrol bomb attack on a refugee camp occupied by Tamil refugees has left over 35 houses destroyed.

The attack on Sunday in Thiruvarangulam, Pudukottai district, came after local villagers started claiming the land and threatened the refugees to leave the camp, the Times of India reported.

No one was injured in the attack.

SL will not endorse British-led ‘Declaration of Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict’

Jun 9, 2014

The Sri Lankan government will not attend the high-profile summit on sexual violence in London, nor will it sign the “Declaration of Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict” as it could be used against the country, said External Affairs Minister GL Peiris, reported The Island.

SL rejects appointment of OHCHR probe team

Jun 9, 2014

Sri Lanka has “vehemently rejected” the appointment of the OHCHR team to conduct the probe into war crimes, reported Colombo Page.

The Ministry of External Affairs is reported to have said that permission for the team to enter the island would not be granted.

UK, US urge Sri Lanka to cooperate with international inquiry at opening of 26th UNHRC session (10 June 2014)

British Minister 'disappointed' with Sri Lankan absence at summit

Jun 9, 2014


British Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds has said that the UK is “disappointed” Sri Lanka chose not to endorse a British initiative to tackle sexual violence in conflict.

Sexual violence against Tamils ‘systematic’, ‘part of policy framework’ - Yasmin Sooka

Jun 9, 2014
Photograph SL Campaign

Yasmin Sooka, co-author of the UN Panel of Experts report into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka and the 'An Unfinished War: Torture and Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka 2009—2014' report, called on Tuesday for international action to stop ongoing sexual violence by the security security forces against Tamils, which she stressed was "not random" but "systematic".

In an interview with the Tamil Guardian during the global summit on 'End Sexual Violence in Conflict' taking place in London this week, Ms Sooka stressed that five years after the war, sexual violence "is still happening in Sri Lanka and we have to draw attention to it so we can put a stop to it".

"I was shocked by the witness statements and the testimonies, because the kind of things that were done, were so depraved," Ms Sooka said of her experience of collecting evidence for the 'An Unfinished War' report, published earlier this year.

“There was no distinction that was drawn between men and women,” she added.

The report included 40 testimonies of rape and torture in Sri Lanka since the end of the armed conflict in 2009, some of which are to be read out by celebrities including M.I.A. and Bianca Jagger at an event on Wednesday aimed at raising international awareness about sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Pointing to the lack of prosecutions of military personnel in Sri Lanka and the background of systematic acts of sexual violence against Tamils, she said, "one cannot but then draw the inference that it's actually being encouraged and that it's part of a policy framework."

Acknowledging the clear ethnic division between perpetrators of sexual violence, Sinhala military personnel, and the victims, who were almost invariably Tamil, Ms Sooka said there was an obvious power imbalance in Sri Lanka.

"There is a power dynamic structurally. The military is in control and you will remember in the report we wrote as the [UN] Panel of Experts, we talked about the [Sinhala] triumphalism,” she said. “Obviously annihilating the Tigers has created that sense of triumphalism and clearly it finds expression in the fact that Tamils in Sri Lanka are a vanquished group."


UN must probe charge of genocide

Commenting on whether the abuses amount to a genocide of the Tamil people, Ms Sooka said,
"I do think that when the [forthcoming OHCHR] inquiry takes place they will need to probe this question because many Tamils have often spoken about the fact that this is a genocide, and that it has genocidal tendencies - the way in which this war prosecuted.”
"I think all of us in the Panel that were confronted with this question have always raised that there is a real need for a proper investigation when it happens to test this issue [genocide]."
Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict begins today
UK, US urge Sri Lanka to cooperate with international inquiry at opening of 26th UNHRC session
Protesters in Colombo condemn Modi-Jaya for 'Indian interference'
Time to shatter culture of impunity'
Eelam Tamil refugee camp torched in India
SL will not endorse British-led ‘Declaration of Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict’
SL rejects appointment of OHCHR probe team
British Minister 'disappointed' with Sri Lankan absence at summit
Sexual violence against Tamils ‘systematic’, ‘part of policy framework’ - Yasmin Sooka
Hague to investigate Tamil asylum seeker torture reports
Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict begins today
UK, US urge Sri Lanka to cooperate with international inquiry at opening of 26th UNHRC session
Protesters in Colombo condemn Modi-Jaya for 'Indian interference'
Time to shatter culture of impunity'
Eelam Tamil refugee camp torched in India
SL will not endorse British-led ‘Declaration of Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict’
SL rejects appointment of OHCHR probe team
British Minister 'disappointed' with Sri Lankan absence at summit
Sexual violence against Tamils ‘systematic’, ‘part of policy framework’ - Yasmin Sooka
Hague to investigate Tamil asylum seeker torture reports