Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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Mannar Urban Council Chairman Daniel Vasanthan has strongly condemned the arrest of Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar under Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), stating that the detention reflects a situation where "Tamils do not even have the freedom to sing". Speaking at a media briefing held at the Mannar Urban Council on Friday, Vasanthan criticised the decision to arrest the…

Politician re-arrested for murder of British tourist

Sri Lankan politician Sampath Vidanapathirana has been re-arrested by police over the murder of British aid worker Khuram Shaikh, after he went into hiding two weeks ago.

Vidanapathirana, who is the Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, was found hiding in a house in Kotte, after an arrest warrant was issued following the suspect breaking his bail conditions.

3 more remains at Mannar mass grave

Three more human remains were found at the site of the Mannar mass grave today, as excavations continued, reported the Uthayan. The latest find brings the total number of remains found to 43.

The mass grave was unearthed when construction workers found two human skeletons on December 20th when digging in Thirukketheeswaram.

SL Navy arrests Indian fishermen

25 Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy earlier today, for allegedly poaching in its maritime territory.

The men were arrested just north of Nedunthivu (Delft), an island off the coast of Jaffna.

The navy’s spokesperson Kosala Warnakulasuriya said they would be handed over to the police at Kankesanturai harbour.

Families coerced into registering disappeared as dead

Families have been encouraged by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) to register their disappeared as dead, reports the Uthayan.

Reports suggest that the TID have set up unpublicised events for families of the disappeared and offered monetary gains and food rations to incentivise families into registering their disappeared as dead.

‘Little progress on rights’ – HRW

Human Rights Watch has stated that “little progress” has been made towards accountability in Sri Lanka and called for an independent international investigation into war crimes abuses, in its 2014 World Report.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch stated,

We do not need a truth and reconciliation commission

Writing in the Sunday Times LK, Kishali Pinto Jayawardene, argues "we do not need a truth and reconciliation commission". Full text of her opinion is reproduced below:


We do not need a truth and reconciliation commission

Despite Sri Lanka’s most disgraceful history with a plethora of demonstrably useless Commissions and Committees established by successive Presidents, it is a matter for considerable astonishment that the Rajapaksa Presidency’s near desperate proposal of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the turn of this year, appears to have found support in some quarters of our society.

TNPF outlines Tamil demands for UNHRC

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) discussed the systematic genocide that Tamils face in a meeting with a Canadian delegation, including Sarah Gills, the Senior Desk Officer for Sri Lanka, Maldives, and South Asian Relations, last week.

In a press release about the meeting, the TNPF reported that after discussing the many actions of the Sri Lankan state that constituted genocide of the Tamil nation, the organisation also laid out their expectations for the next UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva.

Tamil Nadu fishermen protest in Trincomalee

The 111 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were released following their mass arrest by the Sri Lankan Navy last month, are protesting in Trincomalee that their boats and other fishing equipment be returned to them, reports the Uthayan.

Fifteen boats were also seized by the Sri Lankan Navy in December, whilst arresting over 200 fishermen. Some reports said that upto 300 were arrested, with almost two-thirds later released.

Worldwide protests against Australia's detention of 46 refugees

Updated 23:55 GMT

Protests in Australia, as well as outside the Australian High Commission in Tamil Nadu and London today, are demanding the release of 46 refugees who have been detained indefinitely by Australia's Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

We do not trust any mechanism created locally' - Disappearances Committee NE

In a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, and writing on behalf of the Disappearance Commissions North and East, the Northern Province Councillor Ananthi Sasitharan reiterated the call for an international investigation stating "we do not trust any mechanism created locally, which in the past has not delivered justice to the survivors."

See full letter here. Extracts reproduced below:
"Regarding: Seeking UN monitored international independent inquiry into forced disappearances and abductions.

We the committees of the disappearance from the North and East, write to you as representatives of the collective body, that still seek justice. We do not trust any mechanism created locally which in the past has not delivered justice to the survivors.