In the current context, in particular, the apparent renewed systematic practice of enforced disappearance and the killings of Red Cross workers, it is critical that the Commission and IIGEP not be portrayed as a substitute for robust, effective measures including national and international human rights monitoring.

Reporters have been stopped from visiting Tiger-held areas since August 2006 for what the government says are security reasons.

Abductions, killings and robbery have become regular incidents in Sri Lanka. The telltale symptoms of a broken down rule of law and a system that has failed to address it. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has issued several statements in the past expressing its concern over the widening gap between the fact and fiction in Sri Lanka.

Relatives of those missing after being abducted mourn at a recent protest in Colombo. Photo TamilNet

The fact is that there is no semblance of rule of law in Sri Lanka whereas the fiction of governance is projected. Rule of law has broken down to such a state that people look at their law enforcement agencies with suspicion. The fear of suspicion has crept into every facets of human life. No body is certain of anything. This is reflective in the day-to-day human conduct. A capital city that gets deserted by early in the evening is nothing but a visible symptom of enormous fear that has engrossed the society.

The recent abduction of the Sri Lankan Red Cross workers and the recovery of their bodies with gun shot wounds is the latest in the series of incidents that has fortified peoples’ fear. The very fact that often the law enforcement agencies itself are being blamed or suspected for such gruesome incidents shows the extent to which the system has broken down. As of today, even police officers are not immune from fear of abduction and insecurity.

A policing system that is corrupt to the core and a judiciary which has made a mockery of justice alienated the people from their administrators. What Sri Lanka is witnessing today is the collapse of the centre, a wilt within the core. Justice institutions within the country have become non-functional as far as an ordinary person is concerned. Even professional communities like the lawyers have succumbed to this fall.

A government that cannot address these problems do not have a right to claim that they are in power. What was reflected time and again from various sources within the government in the past few years is the utter unwillingness and helplessness of the government to deal with the breakdown of rule of law in the country. Every imaginable pivot of administration and governance was let to be manipulated for personal and short-term gains and the imbalance within the system has reached a level that it cannot be set straight anymore.

In circumstances of complete chaos arising out of the absence of rule of law often the people look to the centre – government – to reinstate law and order. The life in the capital city is what the people in such circumstances look up to witness the presence of relative safety. However, in Sri Lanka life in the capital itself has become dangerous. Abductions in Colombo have become so regular that people have started referring to abductions in casual conversations as a hazard that they have to live with like their police.

Abduction is a crime that requires meticulous planning and execution. It often requires the involvement of more than one person and plans to meet contingencies. This is because crimes of such nature are hard to be kept hidden and is difficult to avoid prosecution. The ease with which such crimes of serious nature is committed in Sri Lanka indicates the there is nothing much to be concerned about for the perpetrators and that crimes of such nature does not anymore require any planning.

Indeed what is reflected in Sri Lanka today is the result of the absence of sensible planning and execution of ways and means to address the downfall of a justice system. What was done instead was trying to cover holes of imperfection and ineptitude with darkens of lies and deception of varying nature. Lies and deceptions practiced at the highest order to satisfy the greed of a few persons. This is not however what the people in Sri Lankan deserve. They deserve an honest administration that is willing to bring back sanity to the day-to-day affairs of life that is now challenging their existence as a civilised society.

There is no place within the country that could provide these though, neither are there any capsule solutions. The possible recourse is through the intervention of the international community that has recently expressed its interest in addressing these issues in Sri Lanka. This could be possible by facilitating a process by which an interim administration could be put in place in Sri Lanka to address immediate concerns of the country, particularly concerning issues of law and order.

Corpse of a Tamil youth with gun shot wounds

27 May

● SLN soldiers confiscated all outboard engines belonging to Neduntheevu fishermen while allowing passenger transport by boat between Kurikaduvan in Punkudutheevu to Neduntheevu. Neduntheevu residents trapped in the Jaffna peninsula for three days were able to return to the islet. SLN commanders summoned fishermen for a meeting and accused residents of not providing vital information on impending attack by the Tigers and of failing to co-operate with the troops. The Commanders then ordered all fishermen to handover the outboard motors to the SLN camp.

26 May

● Eighteen elite STF commandos were wounded when the STF launched an offensive into LTTE controlled Kudumpimalai (Thoppigala) jungles. 18 STF personnel were wounded in LTTE mortar and artillery attack.

● Unknown men in a white van, pretending to be CID officers, took away a trader, Nadarajah Swaranathan, 43, in Dehiwela, Colombo, according to complaints made by his wife to the Dehiwela police.

● The SLA and police arrested eleven Tamil civilians in a cordon and search operation in Poonagala estate, Bandarawela. The operation was conducted on a tip off that several LTTE cadres had infiltrated in the tea estate.

● Unidentified persons shot and killed a mother of six children, Mahendran Thankeswary, 45, of KaliKoyil Veethi in Kathtankudi, Batticaloa, when she went out on a personal errand.

25 May

● Fourteen Tamil civilians aged between 18 and 26 were arrested in Wennapuwa, Puttalam, in a cordon and search operation by the SLA. All were employees at a local shoe factory and are natives of Hatton and Pussellawa. Among them four are women.

● The ICRC Batticaloa representative handed over the bodies of six LTTE combatants shot dead by the SLA on Wednesday in Eravur, Batticaloa. The SLA said it had shot and killed seven who launched a hand grenade attack on its troopers as they were engaged in a search. One body was handed to the dead man's mother from Thalavay, who identified her son's body. Two of the LTTE combatants killed were females.

● The SLA command at Palali extended the nightly curfew into the next morning in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna. The announcement did not say how long the extended curfew hours would continue.

● Unidentified armed men opened fire on the SLA sentry post in front of Chavakachcheri Divisional Secretariat, Jaffna, within the SLA HSZ, killing a trooper and seriously injuring another.

● Three Tamil traders arrested by Wellawatte Police in a lodge in Colombo on January 27 with a consignment of wristwatch batteries were released on a report from the Attorney General that they did not commit any offence, after four months in detention under the Emergency Regulations. Nithiyanandam Mayuran, 32, Gopalan Senthooran, 28, and Gopalan Gangatharan, 24, owners of business establishments in Thirunelveli, Jaffna, had gone to Colombo to buy goods in short supply in Jaffna.

24 May

● The Sea Tigers attacked Delft islet off the Jaffna coast, inflicting heavy losses on the SLN (see separate story).

● Two SLA soldiers were reported killed in Mesalai, Thenmaradchi, Jaffna. The killings, not officially confirmed by the SLA, took place a day before an SLA trooper was killed and another injured in attacks by unidentified armed men in Thenmaradchi.

● A SLA soldier succumbed to his injuries and six people, including three soldiers, were injured after a bomb attack targeting a bus carrying SLA soldiers through the capital Colombo. The bomb, attached to a bicycle, was detonated near the main entrance to the Colombo port. The dead soldier was identified as Corporal Nanayakkara.

● A female IDP and her brother were killed on the spot when a SLA DPU triggered a claymore mine targeting their motorbike near Kunchukulam on the Vavuniya-Mannar border. The two siblings, Nathiya Selvarajah, 22, and her 24-year-old brother, Kobi Selvarajah, were on their way from Nadankandal to Kunchukulam to check their vacated house.

● Four people, including a child and two women, were shot dead by a home guard at Keppitgollawa in Anuradhapura. One of the women killed was the wife of the home guard, who fled after the shooting. Police began a search operation to apprehend the home guard.

● The courts released four Tamils who had been arrested and held under the Emergency Regulations on the basis that there was no evidence against them. Velupillai Rajkumar, 21, and Gnanaseelan Gajendran, 21, natives of Jaffna, had been arrested in Jaffna. Separately, Kanthasamy Ravichchandran, 36, of Kaarainagar in Jaffna and Tharmalingam Thirukumaran, 26, of Vavuniya had been detained since March 30.

● A young Tamil mother taken into custody in Colombo two weeks previously on suspicion of being a member of the LTTE was released when the prosecution told the court there was no evidence to implicate her in any offence. Fort Police took Alagarajah Koushalya, 27, of Vepankulam in Vavuniya into custody with her three-year-old child in a cordon and search operation as she was in possession of three SIM cards for a cell phone in her handbag.

● Kandy Police town took four Tamil youths, natives of Vavuniya, Walapane, Ginigathena in Kandy, and Mahiywa into custody. All except the youth from Vavuniya were not in possession of national identity cards at the time of arrest. The youth from Vavuniya was visiting his sister but was found in another town and was taken into custody to find out the reason for his visit to Kandy.

23 May

● Ganeshan Ushananth, 30, a former employee of Jaffna Secretariat presently living in Colombo, was reported missing since Sunday, when he went to a shop near his residence. The father of one from Anaikoddai, Jaffna, who was working at a church in Colombo, had been receiving death threats on his mobile phone, his wife told the Colombo office of the SLHRC as she reported his disappearance.

● Sri Lanka security forces conducted a cordon and search operation in Anuradhapura town and arrested about 23 Tamil civilians, from lodges and rental houses. Most of them are said to be natives of Batticaloa and Vavuniya, while some are natives of Badulla.

● Twenty-five Tamil civilians were arrested in a cordon and search operation by Sri Lanka security forces at Uddapu, a traditional Tamil village in Chilaw. One is a Jaffna native and another is from Trincomalee. Six civilians were natives of Thampalakamam, a Tamil village in Trincomalee and eighteen are residents of Uddapu. All were taken into custody as they failed to prove their identity and provide satisfactory reason for their stay in location.

● The police claimed three LTTE cadres and a SLA trooper were killed and a STF trooper injured in Chavukkadi, Thalavai, Eravur, Batticaloa. The SLA and STF had been conducting a search operation in the Chavukkadi coastal area after receiving a tip-off of LTTE presence, and a clash erupted during the search, the police said. The police claimed that many LTTE combatants were injured in the fight and that 6 claymore devices, 4 T56 rifles, mortars, rounds, machine guns, pistols and many hundreds of thousand rupees were recovered.

22 May

● The body of Thiruchelvam Thiruparan, 19, from Chunakam, was found dumped in shrub land near an Electricity Power Plant in the Jaffna suburb. He had gone missing in Chunakam while taking food to his father who works at the power plant. Thiruparan, who had been receiving continuous death threats, had obtained permission from the SLA to travel to Colombo with the view to escape death. He was killed two days after the travel permit was granted. He is the latest in a series of young men from the Inuvil and Chunakam areas who were killed within three days of obtaining permission to leave the peninsula.

● Six Tamil youths were taken into custody in Anuradhapura, on an anonymous tip that they were taking photographs of Anuradhapura police station with their mobile phone cameras while hiding in a bush. The arrested are said to be natives of Valaichchenai, Vaharai, and Batticaloa.

21 May

● Kayts police recovered the body of a EPDP member hacked to death at the beach in Naranthanai north in Kayts, an islet of Jaffna. Chithiravel Shanthakumar alias Vastin, 30, who left the office of EPDP Kayts the previous morning had been missing since then.

● Relatives told the SLHRC that two men from Karaveddi, Jaffna, had been missing since April. Sithamparapillai Vimalaraj, 17, a student on his way to his relatives house on April 25 by bicycle had gone missing in Charachalai, Thenmaradchi. Finansco employee, Krishnapillai Vivekanandan, 31, went missing on April 30 while he was on his way by motorcycle from his home at Karanavay north, Karaveddi, to his workplace.

● Four fishermen from Mannar, arrested by the SLN in Neduntheevu seas, were released unconditionally after being produced in the courts. The SLN arrested the fishermen and confiscated their boat on the charge that they had entered Neduntheevu seas without permission. The fishermen explained that they lost control of their boat due to the rough seas, and were set free. Another five fishermen who disappeared in the area have yet to be found.

● The body of Ananda Rajendran, 28, of Udaperadeniya, Peradeniya, was recovered from a drain in Peradeniya, Kandy.

● Mahendran Krishnaraj, 19, a fisherman was shot dead by gunmen in Kaluvankerni, Eravur, Batticaloa, while he was riding to his employer's house on his bicycle. Krishnaraj, who lived with his elder sister, was on his way after dinner to his employer so that he could go fishing with him early next day.

● Sivalingam Indran, 31, a fisherman and a father of a child of Kaluvankerni, Eravur, Batticaloa, has been missing since he left for Kathankudi on his motor cycle with money to buy a van. Relatives allege he was abducted by the Karuna Group, which has camps in Batticaloa.

An increase in abductions and disappearances have forced resettled families from the Thiriyai area in Trincomalee to flee their homes.

At least fourteen individuals have disappeared or been abducted from the traditional Tamil village in the east since October last year, according to reports submitted to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) by civil groups.
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At least four Tamil civilians are reported to have been abducted or disappeared from the village in May. Since then several resettled families have left Thiriyaai village, reports say.

One village in the region around Thiriyai, Kalampathai, is completely empty, after all 86 Tamil families resettled in the area fled, leaving their newly rebuilt houses.

The houses had been constructed as part of a resettlement project, with a Non Government Organisation (NGO) responsible for the construction. Each house cost nearly six hundred thousand rupees, according to reports from the region.

Of the 190 families resettled at Kattukulam, another village near Thiriyai, 140 have left, with only about fifty families still remaining in the village. This is from the estimated 385 families who lived in Kattukulam before 1990.

About 242 families were resettled in Thiriyai village itself, but only 62 families now remain in the village.

The program to resettle this area commenced after the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 2002 between the then Sri Lankan government and the LTTE.

Red Cross representatives paid homage to S. Shanmuganathan and K. Chandramohan, two Red Cross workers whose bodies were found a day after they were abducted in Colombo by Sinhalese speaking armed men who claimed to be policemen. Photo TamilNet

Gunmen claiming to be police have abducted and shot dead two Tamil Red Cross employees in Sri Lanka, barely a week after the country pledged greater security for aid workers.

The deaths are the worst attack against aid workers here since the massacre of 17 French charity workers last August.

The Geneva-based charity said the bullet-riddled bodies of Sinnarajah Shanmugalingam, 38, and Karthigesu Chandramohan, 28, were discovered late Saturday in the central town of Ratnapura, hours after they were abducted from the main railway station in Colombo.

"The two were part of a group of six aid workers brought from Batticaloa (in the island's east) for a training programme related to tsunami relief work last week," Sri Lanka Red Cross director general Neville Nanayakkara told AFP.

"Some people in civil clothes said they were from the police and wanted to see the identity cards of the six workers," Nanayakkara said. "They took away two of them saying it was for further questioning."

He said they were alerted to the bodies found in Ratnapura after a local television channel on Saturday night showed images of unidentified victims found in the area.

Nanayakkara said he had informed the island's defence secretary and police chief about the missing aid workers early Saturday, but there was no response.

The defence ministry said people who "claimed to be from the (police) Criminal Investigations Department," had abducted the aid workers in a white van and added that police were investigating.

Separately, the head of the Sri Lanka Red Cross in Batticaloa, Mr Vasantharajah, told the media that after completing the training program on Thursday and Friday, the group had gone to the Fort Railway station to take the train to Batticaloa.

A group of Sinhala speaking men had examined their Identity cards and taken Shanmuganathan and Chandramohan in a white van for "questioning," according to the other four members of the group.

The leader of the aid workers had told the men that the two did not know Sinhala volunteered to help with the questioning, but the men declined the offer.

Shanmuganathan joined the Red Cross in 1997, is from Vilavettan, Vavunatheevu, while Chandramohan, from Kaluwankerni, had been with the Red Cross from 1999.

The Officer in Charge of Kiriella Police, Mr Vijetunge told the media that the bodies will be transferred to the Colombo Red Cross headquarters after post mortem examinations.

The killings came on the same day that President Mahinda Rajapakse met with relatives of more than 100 people who had gone missing in recent months.

Rajapakse told relatives that 90 percent of the cases reported as abductions and disappearances were linked to domestic disputes, his office said in a statement before the killings of the Red Cross workers were reported.

"He explained that neither the government nor the security forces had any necessity to carry on illegal acts of abduction and that the government always acted in keeping with the law," the statement said.

The deaths in August of the local workers for the French charity Action Against Hunger in the northeastern town of Muttur were blamed by Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on the military, a charge denied by defence authorities.

The case is now being investigated by a special presidential commission under international supervision, but international observers have said the inquiry is flawed and criticised delays that have resulted in the inquiry stalling.

The Liberation Tigers destroyed Sri Lanka Army, leaving 82 combatants dead according to both sides last Sunday as the island's main aid donor, Japan, was set to launch a fresh peace bid.

The LTTE said they launched commando attacks along a broad front in Vavuniya and Mannar districts.

LTTE cadres at a mortar position they destroyed as they overran SLA bases in Vavuniya Photo LTTE

They captured armoured vehicles and heavy weapons after destroying long-range guns belonging to the military. They also said they destroyed seven gun positions.

The Tigers also released pictures of a Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier and bases they captured. Heavy weapons such as medium machine guns, AK-LMGs, 40 mm grenade launchers and 60 mm mortars were among the weapons seized by the Tigers.

The Tigers said they killed at least 30 security personnel in a five-hour battle to capture several gun positions and military detachments. They also said they had recovered 16 bodies by last Sunday evening.

They also admitted to loosing 18 LTTE cadres in the action.

Military sources in Vavuniya told TamilNet at least 20 SLA troopers were killed, 40 wounded, an ammunition dump destroyed in Pampaimadu, and that the Tigers seized a big haul of weapons in their raid.

The Defence Ministry said heavy fighting raged in the area, but claimed that the military had beaten back a LTTE offensive by killing at least 52 Tiger cadres. Officials also admitted to 35 soldiers being injured.

Tiger spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said that the LTTE had established a forward defence line in areas previously held by the military following the commando-style attack which began Saturday night.

"The LTTE troops are consolidating their positions in the recaptured area," Ilanthiriyan said in a statement. He said a military artillery unit was also "completely destroyed."

Sporadic artillery exchanges continued in Vavuniya district, which borders LTTE territory, both sides said Sunday. Residents and officials said they had heard heavy shelling since Saturday night.

3 June

● The LTTE destroyed a SLA artillery launch pad and seized military hardware, including a Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier, as they attacked the SLA FDL along the Mannar-Vavuniya border (see separate story).

● The LTTE counter-ambushed a SLA DPU inside their territory in Palamodai on the Vavuniya Mannar border. The DPU unit suffered casualties and withdrew leaving behind a dead body, four claymore mines and a T-56 rifle.

● The SLA and police conducted search operations covering Grandpass, Fort and Maradana areas in Colombo city, Western Deputy Inspector General of Police Rohan Abeyawardene said. Private houses where persons from north and east provinces and upcountry are staying were subjected to careful search.

● The bodies of two Tamil Red Cross workers from Batticaloa, who had gone to Colombo for a training program were abducted Friday by men claiming to be Sri Lanka Police, were found in Ratnapura (see separate story).

● The SLA fired artillery from the bases in Palali, Vadamaradchi and Thenmaradchi into LTTE controlled territory. Several populated civilian areas shook due to the heavy fire.

● Fishermen from Valvettithurai to Point Pedro along the northern coastal areas of Jaffna Peninsula were barred by the SLA from going out fishing. Fishermen who set out to fish in the morning were asked to return home.

● Subramaniam Santheepan, 30, a postmaster and a father of two, was shot dead in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, by armed men who followed him on a motorbike. Santheepan, from Mirusuvil North, was riding his motorbike with his wife and two children when he was shot.

2 June

● The SLA withdrew from a fresh ground operation towards Kudumpimalai (Thoppigala) when the LTTE put up stiff resistance amid two aerial bombardments by the SLAF, LTTE military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said. The SLA troopers were moving out of Mavadiyodai Bridge, on the route linking Badulla Road with Kudumpimalai jungle. Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo claimed that they had attacked two LTTE camps, but the Tigers said their positions were intact.

● The LTTE and SLA fought heavy artillery duels along the Thenmaradchi FDL in Muhamalai, but neither the SLA nor the LTTE officially released information on casualties or injuries. However, reports said SLAF helicopters flew at least three trips transporting dead and injured soldiers to Palali military base. The intense artillery exchange occurred amidst wide speculation that a large scale war is about to break out at along the northern FDL.

● Anti-aircraft guns were installed in police stations and major security detachments in Mannar, Talaimannar and Murunkan. Trained operators were also posted to the stations and detachments. Colombo instructed the police stations and security detachments to be on red alert against possible air strikes by the LTTE air wing.

● More than sixty Tamils were arrested during a search operation by the police in Mt Lavinia, Ratmalana, Wellawatte, Bambalapitiya, Mattakuliya, Kirilapone and Kohuwela areas of Colombo. SSP for Colombo Central region, Ajith Fonseka, said twelve special branch police groups participated in the search and most of the arrested were from the northeast and Hill country areas. Those who proved their identity and provided satisfactory reasons for their stay in the location were released after preliminary inquiry.

● Seven Tamil civilians were arrested in Uddapu, Chilaw, in SLA search operation.

● The police recovered bodies of four unidentified persons in the south of Sri Lanka. Two bodies were recovered at Wellawaya in Sabragamuwa, one body at Walakande in Matale, and the fourth at Madawachchi. The body recovered at Walakande was found with severe head and body injuries caused by very sharp instruments, while the other three bodies were found with gunshot injuries.

1 June

● The SLA and police arrested 12 Tamil civilians during a search operation in Wattala. The majority of the arrested are natives of the north east. Police said they were taken into custody when they failed to prove their identity by producing national identity cards and other legal documents.

● Attackers shot and killed a SLA soldier and a homeguard who were riding a motorbike in Thiruvegama, Kebitigollawa, which is south east of Vavuniya.

● An accidental bomb explosion killed three STF troopers in Thampaddai, Akkaraipattu, Amparai.

● Businesses and banks in Kaluvanchikudi, Batticaloa, shut down protesting against robberies at twelve business centres within three days. Armed men broke into the businesses and robbed jewels, goods and money during three consecutive nights.

31 May

● DNA testing confirmed that a mutilated torso found in the Pungkudutheevu sea on March 14, packed in a military sand bag, belonged to the disappeared Catholic priest Rev. Fr. Jim Brown. Earlier a medical legal officer confirmed that blood samples from Fr. Brown's parents and the torso had been sent to a Colombo hospital. Rev.Fr. Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown, 34, parish priest of Allaippiddi and his aide Wenceslaus Vincent Vimalan, 38, disappeared on August 20, 2006, after being interrogated by SLA soldiers at Mandaitheevu checkpoint.

● The owners of lodges in Colombo were ordered to send Tamils staying at lodges back to their native places in the north and east (see separate story).

● A Tamil civilian from Vavuniya, arrested in Colombo on May 24, was released after the prosecutors admitted there was no evidence against him. Kollupitiya police arrested Emmanuel Nesarajah, 39, a father of two and a carpenter, while he was walking along a road near the Presidential House. He told the police he had gone to Colombo in search of employment.

● Armed men lobbed hand grenades at SLA troopers and Karuna Group members jointly engaged in a cordon and search in Valaichenai, Batticaloa, injuring two troopers. The SLA troopers killed a youth, identified as Mahendran Gajendran, 27, when they returned fire. The SLA claimed the youth was a LTTE member and that a T56 rifle was recovered from him.

● A combined SLA and police search operation in Battaramulla, Talangama, resulted in the arrest of twelve Tamil civilians who were taken into custody as they failed to provide satisfactory reason for their stay in the location.

● Six people were killed when two three-wheelers transporting paramilitary Karuna Group personnel from Amparai to Poththuvil were ambushed at Inspector Eattam in Poththuvil. The attack took place in the wake of internal strife within the Karuna Group, and after 8 personnel of the breakaway Pillayan Group reportedly went missing in Polonnaruwa, allegedly at the hands of Karuna cadres.

30 May

● Tiran Alles, publisher of the Sinhala weekly Mawbima, was arrested by the TID, taken into custody from a private hospital in Colombo. Mr. Alles had been Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority when Mangala Samaraweera was the Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation. Formerly a strong ally of President Mahinda Rajapakse, he became a political enemy following the dispute between the President and former Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi.

● An abandoned auto rickshaw with a suspicious parcel inside, found close to a Buddhist Shrine in the Fort area, Colombo, caused panic during the evening peak traffic time. SLA soldiers and policemen rushed to the site blocking traffic, but the bomb disposal squad discovered a number of bricks inside.

● Twenty Tamils were arrested in a cordon and search operation in Ratmalana and Mt. Lavinia areas of Colombo.

● The SLA and police arrested ten Tamil civilians in a cordon and search operation in Tissamaharagama, in Matara. The police said they were taken into custody as they failed to prove their identity and the cause for their stay in the location.

● A civilian, identified as Balasubramaniam, was killed in Iyakkachchi, north of the Elephant Pass, as the SLA intensified artillery shelling, hitting the houses in the village.

● More than one thousand SLA troopers and police officers launched an intensive cordon and search operation in Jaffna, covering Koddadi and Navanthurai coastal areas.

● The LTTE said they confronted a contingent of SLA troopers who attempted to advance through the LTTE defence line in Madu. The SLA suffered casualties and fled the battleground carrying their own casualties, Irasiah Ilanthirayan, the military spokesman of the Tigers told media. Sri Lanka military spokesman in Colombo, Brigadier Samarasinghe, told the press that five SLA troopers were killed in action in Madu. There were no LTTE casualties, according to the Tiger spokesman.

● Three SLAF bombers targeted a civilian area in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaiththeevu, for a second day, injuring a 7-year-old girl named Nilaxana.

● Uyilangkulam checkpoint, gateway to LTTE controlled territory from Mannar, was reopened after a one-week closure, and a large number of civilians travelled across the divide soon after the opening. Farmers and fishermen transported their produce from LTTE held territory to Mannaar town. The SLA said the Uyilangkulam checkpoint will be opened on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only.

29 May

● The SLA and police conducted cordon and search operations in several parts of Colombo following a claymore attack the previous evening targeting a bus carrying STF personnel from Ratmalana in which eight were killed and 35 injured. Kotahena, Borella, Wellawatte, Bambalapitiya, Mount Lavinia, and Pettah areas were subjected to the search. Four suspects were taken to Ratmalana Police station for further interrogation.

● One person was killed and two injured when two SLAF fast attack crafts bombed Puthukudiyiruppu in Mullaiththeevu twice. Meyyaappillai Alaku, 56, a mother of three from from Chinna Chalampan, Oddusudan, was killed and I. Irasiah, 50 and Neelakandan Jegatheeswari, 26, from Karainagar, Jaffna, were injured. The attack targeted a civilian area and resulted in damage to 12 houses, while children from a school 75 meters from the attack site narrowly escaped.

● The president of the Kalmunai Auto Drivers' Union was shot by gunmen on a motorcycle. Two men used a T56 rifle to kill Illayathamby Shanthakumar, 40, a father of two, at a shop close to his house in Kalmunai, Amparai. Shanthakumar had previously had acrimonious exchanges Karuna Group members on union related issues, and locals speculate that this had a bearing on the killing. Athambawa Jabar, 38, who was nearby at the time of the shooting, sustained serious injuries.

● Brigadier Smarasinghe claimed that nine LTTE fighters were killed in a confrontation in Manal Aru (Weli Oya).

● Gunmen abducted Mylvaganam Vigneswaran, 20, and Kunasekaran, 32, both from Karupola village in Aaraiyampathi east, Kathankudi, Batticaloa. A Karuna Group office is near the Aaraimpathi STF camp, and Karuna Group members allegedly ride the motorcycles through Karupola regularly.

● Armed men opened fire on troopers at the Madduvil SLA camp in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna, killing two. The exchange of fire lasted nearly ten minutes and the SLA arrested a 14-year-old boy during a search soon after the fire fight.

● Two youths arrested by the SLA on charges of possessing claymore mines were produced before the courts in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, where they maintained that they were innocent and that the SLA had planted the mines to incriminate them. Kumaru Thayananthan, 18, of Varani, Thenmaradchi, and Arumugam Kamlatheepan, 19, of Manthuvil, Thenmaradchi had been arrested the previous day.

● The relatives of three fishermen from Analaitheevu Island reported at the Jaffna office of the SLHRC that the men have not returned after going fishing on May 17. Jeganathan Jeyanthan, 24,Velautham Thevan, 30, and Thangarasa Jegan, 22, allegedly left for fishing in a catamaran and since there was heavy rain and strong winds on that day, relatives expressed fear that the men may have encountered trouble with their boats.

28 May

● Armed men in a white van took Mahendran Matheeskumar, 25, from his house in Mattakuliya, Colombo. The men first questioned Matheeskumar, who was outside his house speaking on his mobile phone. Then they took him away, saying he will be released after interrogation, his mother complained to the Civil Monitoring Committee, a Colombo-based human rights watchdog.

● A bomb exploded in Ratmalana near the domestic airport, targeting a military vehicle carrying STF troopers. Eight were injured and 35 injured in the blast which targeted a vehicle carrying STF troopers traveling from Katukurunte training base to Kadawatte STF camp.

● SLA soldiers on security duty along the A9 highway in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna, between Kodikamam and Chavakachcheri, were attacked by armed men. Local residents said they saw injured troopers being taken in military ambulances.

● Three civilians were killed in a bomb explosion near the well in a house compound at Poonthodam in Vavuniya. One body was found inside the well and the other 50 meters from the well. The third victim succumbed to his wounds while being rushed to:niyaa hospital. Kumarasamy Sureshkumar, 32, a father of two children, Chandran Thanushan, 26 and Satheeskumar were the men killed.

● A Tamil youth, Weeramalai Jegan, 29, was found dead in his paddy field at Kattaikadu, Munthal, Chilaw.

A Tamil woman pleaded with President Mahinda Rajapakse (not in photo) to find her loved one when the President met last Saturday with over 100 relatives of people who had gone missing in recent months to discuss their plight. Extra judicial killings and abductions continued on the island, amid allegations of involvement by government forces and poilcemen. Photo STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images

Two weeks ago, a group of businessmen received a fax messages purportedly from a foreign company, saying one of its representatives was due in Sri Lanka to talk business.

The fax message to the businessmen said they had been recognized as leading figures in the trade and that the visiting representative would meet them. The businessmen were naturally impressed and eagerly awaited the visit. They were given a contact mobile number and told to seek an appointment. Accordingly, some of the businessmen had responded and sought an appointment. They were told the foreign representative would be staying at a hotel in Dambulla because of the security situation in Colombo.

The scenario became a little suspicious when two businessmen who sought appointments and went to Dambulla were turned away – one because he was accompanied by his wife and the other because he had sent his secretary and manager instead of himself.Undeterred by this, apparently because the prospects were so attractive, another businessman went to Dambulla and was thrilled when he got an appointment.

The businessman was met in the lobby of the hotel by a person who claimed to be the local agent of the foreign representative. He said they could proceed in the businessman’s jeep to meet the representative, apparently in another hotel. A gang armed with T56 automatic rifles stopped the jeep and forced the businessman and the so-called local agent to get into a van and the chill ran down the businessman’s spine when he realized that it was one of those notorious white vans.

A Sunday Times investigation revealed that the businessman was forced to put his head on his lap and driven to a secret place where his abductors demanded a staggering Rs. 50 million for his release.

It turned out to be three days of horror with the businessman first pleading he could not raise such a huge amount, but the torture increased till the abductors finally settled for about half that amount.

This came after the businessman was allowed to give telephone calls to his family and partners to raise the money. Arrangements were made for the cash to be brought in a brief case and left at a lonely place where some members of the gang would pick it up. The businessman was then released somewhere in the Kandy district and told where he could find his jeep. According to investigations, other possible victims who received the same fax message escaped because they had suspicions about the manner in which the appointments were worked out in Dambulla.

The victim and the would-be victims are, however, afraid and unwilling to even make a complaint to the police because of possible reprisals. They are even afraid to speak to the media but only tell their horror story to family members and close friends.Our investigations also reveal that the fax message was sent to businessmen who were known to be doing well in the trade and thus quite wealthy. Apparently the aim of the gang was to get a big ransom and questions are now being raised as to how and from where the gang got the information about the assets and the profits of the businessmen in this trade.

One possible source is a state agency.

The ransom demands to this group of businessmen are part of a countrywide crisis involving abductions, ransom demands and even killings.

The crisis has drawn international attention and condemnation with world human rights groups painting a grim picture of Sri Lanka.

In one of the recent cases, a timber merchant from Panadura was abducted and a ransom of Rs. 10 million demanded. His wife made a complaint to the police and the merchant was released the next day but he is not saying anything about whether the ransom was paid while the police also claimed they do not know how he was released.

Deputy Inspector General N.K. Illangakoon, acting police spokesman had tried to record a statement from the merchant but he was reluctant to do so and police were not sure whether he had paid any ransom for his release.

In many cases where ransom had been paid after abducting businessmen, they had reportedly been warned not to talk to the police or the media.

The trend has created fear and panic among the business community and many are reported to be making arrangements to go overseas with their investments and families.

One businessman told The Sunday Times he was leaving with his wife and children even without informing the principals of the schools where they were studying.

Several businessmen warned that if the dangerous trend was not effectively checked, the economy would suffer a major blow.

Explaining the position of the police, DIG Illangakoon said they could not act effectively because the victims were apparently afraid or unwilling to make complaints or give details. He said that wherever complaints were made and details given, the police were able to track down some of the gangsters.

But the businessmen say their fears are valid because in many cases, the victims had recognized some of the gangsters as former police or military personnel or even personnel still in service.

One victim provided evidence to this claim by saying that his abductors had stopped the jeep, some distance from security forces checkpoints, and got clearance after one or two of the abductors walked up to the checkpoint and showed some identity cards.

Tamils in Colombo "without a valid reason" are being sent back to their villages, Sri Lanka's police chief said last Friday.

Hundreds of Tamils, many from poor rural areas, live in boarding houses in Colombo while they work, search for jobs or seek employment abroad.

Many Tamils in Colombo complain they are being deliberately targeted by the security forces, detained and searched as the military conflict with the LTTE heats up.

"Because there is no a special label to identify an LTTE terrorist and a civilian, we took the decision to send them back to their villages after they finished their work here in Colombo," Inspector General of Police Victor Perera told a news conference.

"Some people who have arrived in Colombo do not have a valid reason to stay," he added.

"Anybody can come to Colombo, there is no restriction. But they can't stay loitering in Colombo. We have decided to provide transport facilities for them to go back to their own villages."

The police instructed the owners of 68 lodges in Pettah to expel Tamil tenants to their ‘native places’ within 24 hours, warning that the military would step in to force the evacuation if they failed to comply.

Chief Inspector Jayaratne summoned the lodge owners last Thursday on short notice to convey the warning.

Individuals in Colombo for medical treatment, individuals waiting to go abroad for education or employment, families in Colombo to meet with family members visiting from abroad and those with military clearance are among more than 5000 Tamils who were instructed to vacate the lodges, according to lodge owners in Pettah.

"Even those who were scheduled to leave Colombo to India on Sunday were not allowed to stay in the lodges after Friday," a lodge owner told TamilNet.

"Are you from North, go back to Vavuniya. Are you from Hatton, go back to Hatton," Inspector Jayaratne told the lodge owners, stating he had clear instructions from higher authorities.

The move comes after two suspected Tamil Tiger bomb attacks in the capital in a week and a string in recent months. Officials suspect that Tiger cells are installed in the capital and seeking to stage attacks, AFP reported.

But the planned restriction on Tamils rang alarm bells.

"If a democratic society takes this course of action, it is unacceptable because it is clearly a serious violation of their human rights," said Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council.

"This is a very harsh decision."

"This is the first time such a thing has been spoken about officially, so it suggests the conflict is deteriorating," he added. "This is a new low."

While Tamil political parties expressed their objections, police Saturday moved in to check the identity of inmates living in lodges before deciding whether they would be allowed to remain in Colombo or face immediate eviction to their villages, The Sunday Leader reported.

Police said that lodge occupants with no proper identity would be ordered to move. Tamils in possession of regular identity cards living in lodges and in rented houses in Colombo say they live in fear that they may be arrested anytime if the police feel suspicious.

Muttiah Pillai, a lodge owner in Pettah said “There are families and individuals coming from the north-east areas and from the hill country. Some come for medical treatment, some for studies, while others come to obtain visas and a few to earn little money... We can’t believe why they are doing this to all Tamils, he said.

Though his hometown is in Jaffna, Mr. Pillai has lived in Colombo since 1966.

According to him, police claimed there were 250 suspected LTTE cadres in Colombo and it was difficult to find them because of the numbers of Tamils living in the lodges of Colombo.

S.B. Yoganathan, another lodge-owner in Pettah said that people coming to Colombo from the north and east had to get the clearance from the Army. A copy of this clearance note was needed to stay in the lodges he said.

“There are many Tamil youth desperately wanting to go abroad but haven’t any financial support. They are unable to find jobs either in Colombo or in their hometowns. Due to this some of them come with agreements with unregistered agencies and have no proof that they are hoping to go abroad. Ultimately these youngsters end up in jail as suspects” he said.

S. Sridhar, a lodge owner in Pettah said that most of the families stay in Colombo for long periods, as they were either too afraid to go back to their home towns, or faced delays in obtaining passports and at times when either breadwinner of the family or a child is hospitalised over a long period of time.

Colombo District MP Mano Ganeshan, speaking on the crisis said the problem faced by these people should be seen as a humanitarian crisis. He demanded that authorities treat Tamils as human beings and not as cattle.

“With the support of the UNP, we are watching the situation closely and hope to take up this issue in Parliament” he said.

Following complaints of the police enforcing an eviction order on lodgers in Colombo, UNP MP’s Ravi Karunanayake and Lakshman Kiriella visited the Pettah police and held discussions regarding the issue.

However when Mr. Karunanayake confronted the IP of the Pettah police station, he claimed that there had been an overreaction to a comment, The Sunday Leader reported. He claimed it was impossible to evict nearly 10,000 persons to catch a suspect or two.