Guards stand outside a Birtish immigration detention centre where Tamil refugees on a hunger strikeare asking the authorities to consider the dangers they face in Colombo before deporting them.

The health of several of the dozens of Tamil asylum seekers on hunger strike at British detention centers is deteriorating rapidly with some being rushed to hospital, detainees and lawyers said Friday.

 

However, enforced deportations from the centers are continuing regardless of the now weeklong protest, they said.

 

Pointing out that Britain has cautioned her citizens against traveling to Sri Lanka, the hunger strikers want the authorities to halt forcible returns of asylum applicants. They also want Tamils to be taken off Britain’s asylum processing ‘fast track’ so as to allow sufficient time for appeals against deportations to be conducted.

 

A hunger strike against enforced removal to Sri Lanka begun earlier this month by Tamil asylum seekers at one British holding centre has spread to other locations.

 

There have been isolated protests in the past, but not on this scale. At least one asylum seeker has attempted suicide.

 

The first recent hunger strike began on July 9 when two Tamils at one location refused to eat unless deportations are stopped.

 

But there are over seventy people on hunger strike now at seven locations.

 

28 people are on hunger strike at the Harmonsworth Immigration Removal Centre in London along with 23 others at Oakington in Cambridgeshire and 10 at Haslar, Hampshire.

 

Small groups of Tamils are on hunger strike at other locations, detainees say.

 

Pointing out that Britain has cautioned her citizens against traveling to Sri Lanka, the hunger strikers and immigration lawyers want authorities to halt the forcible deportations of asylum applicants to Sri Lanka.

 

The protestors also want Tamil applicants to be taken off Britain’s asylum processing ‘fast track’ so as to allow sufficient time for appeals against deportations to be conducted.

 

They cite the cases of several Tamils who had either been arrested or ‘disappeared’ after being forcibly deported.

 

One youth, Sivaruben, who was deported on July 18, was arrested at Colombo airport. His parents are being refused access to the prison.

 

Sivaruben’s case spurred other inmates at Harmonsworth to join Tamil protestors elsewhere on hunger strike.

 

Two other Tamils deported recently are known to gone missing from their residences in Colombo within weeks of arriving back in Sri Lanka, inmates quoted relatives there as saying.

 

Inmates say the fate of several others is unknown as they (inmates) do not know their relatives to contact.

 

Despite the hunger strikes, the deportations from Britain are continuing, protestors and immigration lawyers said Friday.

 

People are being taken to planes in handcuffs screaming, an inmate on hunger strike told TamilNet Friday. Three people from one location were deported last week.

 

One Tamil man seeking asylum was deported Thursday, even though his wife and 4 year old child are in UK (not in detention), others said.

 

Several others are being prepared for deportation as scheduled and have been told to make arrangements with their lawyers.

 

At one location, Harmonsworth, immigration offices have warned asylum seekers they would be put on planes regardless of their protest.

 

“They tell as we will be sent back regardless of whether we eat or not,” an inmate at Oakington Reception Centre said.

 

“The doctors who check our health are also telling us to give up and return to Sri Lanka,” he said.

 

“There is simply no human sympathy in these places,” he said. “We are kept like criminals. What have we done wrong in this country to be locked up like this?”

 

At another location, Haslar, the immigration officers are simply ignoring the hunger strikers, inmates said.

 

Doctors are checking the protestors’ condition and urging them to abandon their protest and return peaceably.

 

“Many of us have been held here for a long time. They won’t tell us the status of our applications, but we are locked up,” one inmate said.

 

“Sometimes we get letters about our cases that won’t make clear what will happen to us. They refuse appeal after appeal, telling us all the time we will soon be sent back.”

 

“We are in a constant state of tension and anxiety. It is a form of mental torture,” he said.

 

One youth, Sujeevan, attempted suicide this week soon after receiving his latest monthly status report, fellow inmates said. He was taken to hospital and is being held in isolation, they said.

 

They said following weeks of anxiety, the report simply didn’t indicate whether he would be sent back or allowed to remain.

 

Protestors interviewed by local media say they are seeking asylum in UK to escape the killings and human rights abuses in Sri Lanka that Britain and other Western countries have condemned.

 

Pointing out that Britain is amongst the countries that have recently cut aid to Sri Lanka in protest at rights abuses by the security forces, the asylum seekers say they are seeking sanctuary in Britain only until the island’s conflict is resolved.

 

“We are not fortune seekers. Tamils are being killed every day there. We will definitely go back home if there is peace, we want to be allowed to stay till it is safe,” one asylum seeker told local radio.

 

The Tamil Lawyers’ Association (UK) has urged the British authorities “to suspend all deportations of Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka and give primacy to safety of asylum seekers.”

 

In a press release issued this week, the Association pointed out that Britain has cautioned against travel to Sri Lanka.

 

The Association also quoted the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, as urging that all asylum claims of Tamils from the North or East should be favourably considered.

 

They also cite the UNHCR as arguing that where the individual does not fulfil the refugee criteria under the 1951 Convention, “a complementary form of protection should be granted in light of the prevailing situation of armed conflict and generalised violence in the north and east.”

 

Meanwhile the protestors say they will continue their hunger strike until the Home Office (Britain’s Interior Ministry) changes its policy on ‘fast tracking’ and deporting Tamils to Sri Lanka.

 

“Those of us in here will not give up our hunger strike,” an inmate at Harmonsworth said.

 

“People who return [to Sri Lanka] are being killed like animals there, they are being killed on the roadside. It is better to die with dignity here.”

 

In a peace rally attended by nearly one thousand American Tamils from several states across the United States in front of the Capitol Building, in Washington D.C. Monday last week from noon to 3:00 p.m., the participants said: "We, the Tamil Americans, hereby proclaim that Eelam Tamils constitute a Nation. We resolve that our struggle to establish the right of Tamil people to Self-Determination, and to establish self-rule in the territories Tamil people have made their home for centuries will continue until our goal is achieved," in a declaration released to the press at the conclusion of the rally.

 

"We appeal to the legislators, the Administration and the people of the United States who fought and won their freedom to empathize with the Tamil people, and help to establish our right to Self-Determination from the remnants of the Sinhala colonial State," the declaration further said.

 

Mrs Kandaswamy, 80, braved 200 mile bus-ride to attend the rally from New Jersey. She said she had stood in front of the Parliament in Canberra in 2003, in front of Britain's Houses of Parliament in 2005, and that she is happy stand in front of the Capitol Building with her adult son at the rally today.

 

Expatriate Tamils, including a large contingent of second generation American Tamils, from far-away states including Florida, Ohio, California, and Boston, and from several other states attended the peace rally.

 

Participants carried colorful placards, wore sun-visors and T-shirts carrying the message of peace and the right of Tamil for self-determination, and shouted slogans throughout the rally.

 

American Tamil travelled from far and wide to the US capital, Washington DC, to express their support for Tamil Eelam. Photo TamilNet

Tamil youth group which has organized a pre-, post-rally congressional lobbying campaign, read messages of support from several Congresspersons between the speeches by International Human Rights Lawyer, Karen Parker, New York Attorney Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Ellyn Shander, a Medical Doctor from New Canaan, Connecticut who had visited the NorthEast to provide care and grief counseling to the tsunami survivors, and several others to the participants.

 

Chris Gaston, Senior Aide to Congressman Rush Holt from New Jersey met with the contingent that attended the rally from the Congressman's home state.

 

Ms Parker said: "Because of the right to self- determination, the Tamil areas belong to the Tamils. It is their land. The civilian government and the military force - the LTTE - have a right de jure (by law) to this State. Tamils presence in their own land is not de facto and their government is not a de facto one.

 

"The Sri Lankan government’s occupation of part of the historic Tamil Eelam is de facto. They are there by the clear facts on the ground but they don’t have the legal right to it," Ms. Parker added.

 

The declaration read at the conclusion of the rally also noted that 100,000 Tamils have died and more than a million have been internally displaced during the struggle, and that Tamils did not participate in Sri Lanka's 1972 and 1978 constitutions which "institutionalized discrimination" and "denied Tamils effective role in decision making process."

 

Thousands protested in Colombo in support of the new ‘National Congress’ and opposing the government’s economic and rights records

Thousands of opposition activists and ruling party dissidents in Sri Lanka commemorated the signing of an alliance pact by holding the first of a series of anti-government rallies over high living costs and alleged human rights violations.

 

But the government dismissed the rally, saying it had no reason to be concerned over ‘meaningless rallies”.

 

Meanwhile, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga spoke out against the government for the first time, charging that its actions were against the interests of the country.

 

 

Former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera led the dissidents in Colombo last Thursday in a massive show of force with a rally starting at Colombo's Campbell Park and winding its way to the nearby Hyde Park.

 

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) also provided activists for the rally, marking a deal between the party and the ruling group's dissidents to mount a challenge to President Mahinda Rajapakse's government.

 

The estimate of the crowd at the first public show of strength of the Congress varied from 50,000 to 100,000.

 

Political and diplomatic observers in the Sri Lankan capital believe that it is an impressive start, reported The Hindu.

 

The new-born “National Congress” vowed to establish a new order in the island nation.

 

The Congress, forged by the UNP led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party – Mahajana Wing (SLFPM) leader Samaraweera, intends to mobilise all like-minded parties and individuals to fight against the policies of the Rajapakse Government.

 

The activists denounced the government over its human rights record as well as for the high living costs.

 

The leaders at the rally charged Mr. Rajapaksa with manipulating the 2005 presidential election by influencing the Tamil Tigers with monetary inducements. The contention of the Opposition is that the LTTE gave a call for boycott of the poll at the last minute as part of deal with Mr. Rajapaksa.

 

"When the last UNP government was (very) close to bring the LTTE leader to the negotiations table, the government was dissolved suddenly" said S.B Dissanayake, UNP chief organiser, addressing the protest rally.

 

"No ethnic conflict in the world has been solved by military means. Not even the East Timor issue in Indonesia nor the Irish problem. All these were solved by power sharing" Dissanayake said.

 

"The cost living today is unbearable. This war is not going to help" he said.

 

"We worked so hard to bring this government to power-day and night. Minister Jeyaraj Fernandupulle has now become the top communicator for this government!" Samaraweera said.

 

"I thank all the SLFP MPs who helped to organize this rally," he said.

 

The former Minister arrived with "large cut-outs of SLFP pioneer SWRD Bandaranaike", news reports reported.

 

 

The UNP and SLFPM had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the previous week.

 

The MoU said the parties want to protect human rights and democracy, fight corruption, strengthen the economy and end the country's more than two-decade-old civil war.

 

Samaraweera was a political foe of Wickremesinghe's until he was fired from the Cabinet in February. Last month, Samaraweera joined the opposition, saying the hawkish president was taking the country in an "extreme direction."

 

As per the arrangement, in the event of the combine capturing power, Mr. Wickremesinghe would be the Prime Minister and Mr. Samaraweera is to be designated as Deputy Prime Minister.

 

The pact also provides for sharing of ministerial portfolios between the two parties.

 

 

The rally was the first in a series challenging the government and cames after Rajapsakse said he will not hold snap elections despite the pressure mounted by dissidents.

 

Rajapakse ruled out snap elections and early dissolution of parliament, claiming that his ruling coalition was commanding a ''comfortable majority'' in the 225-member House with more oppositions legislators defecting to the government.

 

Rajapakse said he was keen that the current parliament serve its full six-year term. It was elected in April 2004, while the president came to power in November 2005.

 

Addressing a political rally at Nawalapitiya in the central Kandy district, Rajapakse said, “There will be no parliamentary polls till 2010 and the presidential poll till 2011.”

 

"I am not interested in calling a snap election," the president said July 22 on the sidelines of his first public rally in Nawalapitiya.

 

Refuting the allegations by the Opposition parties that his government was so fragile that it depends on the 17 breakaway members of the opposition parties to survive, the President said his government did not face the risk of fall.

 

''With the military victory of capturing the entire Eastern province from the LTTE, we can easily go in for a quick election now and win handsomely,'' Rajapakse said.

 

"But I don't want to go for another general election and spend $18 million to conduct that election," he said.

 

''Instead, I can use the money for development projects in the East,'' he said, adding that the government has undertaken a 180-day rapid development programme to rebuild the war-ravaged Eastern province.

 

"I can build a few more roads with that money. We have a stable government and I want other parties too to unite and move forward," he added.

 

Local media reports had speculated that Rajapakse may opt for an early election to capitalise on the government’s recent military successes in the East.

 

 

In response to the National Congress protest, the ruling combine has planned to host a series of meetings all over the nation to educate people on the achievement of the Government in the “liberation of the east” by ousting the Tigers and various other “pro-people” programmes.

 

The Rajapakse Government also put a brave face declaring that it had no reason to be concerned over “meaningless rallies with narrow political objectives”.

 

Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle claimed at a news conference the day before the rally that the President who obtained a “great victory over the LTTE” was not going to lose sleep over such demonstrations.

 

The government attempted to portray the alliance as a grouping of political elements jealous of the military successes.

 

Separately, the dissident group within the UNP which joined the Rajapaksa Government in January questioned the MoU reached between the UNP and the SLFPM.

 

Dissident UNP member and Minister of Media Lakshman Yapa Abeywadana told a news conference that his group had already legally challenged the validity of the MoU.

 

 

Meanwhile former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, hit out at the policies of the Rajapakse Government as being inimical to the interests of the country.

 

The newly-formed National Congress led by Wickremesinghe and Samaraweera was the need of the hour, she said.

 

In a letter to Samaraweera, Ms. Kumaratunga said, “The stated objectives of the Alliance seem to reflect the essential need of the hour. I have believed for a long time that the country’s problems can be solved effectively, only through a Grand Alliance of all honest, patriotic forces.”

 

In her first elaborate public statement through the letter on the Rajapaksa regime, Ms. Kumaratunga complained that the SLFP had changed several important policies which were followed since 1993 and lead the country to “great, new heights”.

 

“This is a style, wholly alien to the SLFP.”

 

She recalled that her Government in 1994 succeeded to a great extent in bringing into the Government or to support the Government, all parties representing the minority groups, and all major parties, except the UNP and the JVP.

 

“I made continued efforts to bring the UNP too, to work with us. So, I am very glad to see that the UNP and an important section of the SLFP, have agreed to work together in a formally constituted Alliance.”

 

Ms. Kumaratunga said the “strange new policies” that were being implemented with regard to the economy, the Tamil question and rampant corruption would not resolve the prevailing problems in any of these spheres and might even worsen the situation to a point of no return.

 

 

 

WHILE the Sri Lankan government 'celebrates' the 'liberation' of the east, observers predict that the conflict, and the humanitarian crisis in Tamil areas, will only deteriorate.

 

In the east many of the displaced have been able to return home, although aid workers fear some may have been sent back against their will. However many have not returned

to their traditional homes, and others continue to move, citing local insecurity and fears of armed groups.

 

Tamil residents have been stopped from returning to what used to be the LTTE areas in

Sampur, near the strategic northeastern port of Trincomalee as the area has been declared a high security zone for the military.

 

"The residents are still stuck in camps," one Western aid worker told Reuters. "The fear is that it could eventually amount to ethnic cleansing."

 

The Sri Lankan military is also blocking shipments of cement, steel, fuel and other items from reaching LTTE territory, Reuters reported.

 

This has forced aid groups to shelve post-tsunami housing projects as well as plans to build schools and hospitals in the Tamil areas most impacted by the war and the 2004 tsunami. And NGOs are to be closely supervised in the east, with the Sri Lankan military announcing that regional authorities will be “supervising” all development work by NGOs in the region. In the north, the shortage of food and essential items is biting hard, with rising levels of acute malnutrition being seen in Jaffna.

 

Livelihoods and markets have been disrupted by conflict and displacement, the closure of a major highway, and security-related restrictions on farming and fishing, IRIN reported.

"Food assistance for the internally displaced and other vulnerable groups has been in short supply for months," the agency said.

 

The Jaffna District Government Agent, K. Ganesh, says 51% of the Jaffna population, who are dependent on farming, have had their productivity impacted by the lack of fertilizer and no access to farmlands, which have been declared security zones.

 

Another 9% are impacted by the fishing restrictions, with estimates that their production is 10% of the pre-conflict levels.

 

About 165,000 people in Jaffna are highly reliant on food assistance, including internally

displaced people (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups.

 

The Sri Lankan Commissioner General of Essential Services says it provides government food to 45,000 of these IDPs and vulnerable people and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is responsible for 120,000 more.

 

But WFP says it has been a challenge to meet its food-assistance goals for Jaffna.

Meanwhile, along with civilians, aid workers are continuing to be targeted, with a field officer of the Danish Refugee Council, an international humanitarian organization

in Jaffna, being shot dead last week. Arumainayagam Alloysius, 26, had been with the Halo Trust, another INGO, but had switched to the joined the Danish agency when the Halo Trust discontinued its work in the peninsula recently. More than 13 Halo

Trust staffers have been either killed, abducted or gone missing in the recent past.

The economy has weathered serious storms in the first half of the year. The continuing rise in oil prices, a

deteriorating security situation, a high rate of inflation and tight monetary policies have all affected the performance of the economy. It has also affected expectations that determine investment decisions.

 

Therefore the downturn in economic performance in the first quarter of this year, though slight, was not unexpected. Since these conditions not merely prevailed but accentuated after the first quarter, the downtrend in economic performance is expected to have continued into the whole of the first half of the year. The Central Bank’s optimistic prediction of a 7.5 per cent growth for 2007 is unlikely.

 

 The Central Bank’s optimism on the economy has not been dampened by these facts. It expects the economy to grow by 7.5 per cent this year on top of a 7.4 per cent growth last year. This is indeed a high expectation of economic growth in the context of the unfavourable external and internal conditions. The Central Bank’s optimism is based on a good performance in industry and services in the first quarter and expectations of a continuation of the trend in the rest of the year. In the first quarter industry grew by 7 per cent and services by 7.1 per cent yielding a growth of 7 per cent in the non-agricultural sectors.

 

Agriculture that has declined in the first quarter is expected to decline in the second quarter as well. Tea production has fallen by about 20 per cent in the first four months of the year and the Maha paddy harvest was lower. Since agriculture’s contribution to GDP is only 16 per cent, the improved performance in industries and services is expected to offset the adverse developments in agriculture. Although there is an expectation that fisheries will grow this year too, though not by the massive extent it did last year owing to the recovery after the tsunami, even a modest growth expectation would be hard to realise given the unstable security situation in the North and East. Last year’s massive growth in fisheries contributed much to the robust growth in agriculture.

 

One of the worst affected sectors of the economy is tourism, whose plight is not quite captured by the statistics as other foreign visitors, official delegations and business visitors are included in the statistics on tourist arrivals. Tourist arrivals and tourist earnings have declined by around 20 per cent according to official statistics. In fact the impact on the hospitality trade and its backward linkages are much more serious that what these figures suggest. Except for some of the Colombo hotels where most business visitors stay, the other holiday resort hotels are virtually empty. The low hotel rates being offered to locals is clear evidence of this. The downturn in tourism has adverse backward linkages well beyond the hospitality trade, affecting gem and jewellery trade, suppliers of produce by hotels, handicrafts manufacture and transport services for tourists. These adverse developments have affected the services sector that too has shown signs of reduced momentum. The impact on services too may take time although some services may grow to offset at least to some extent the decline owing to the economic shocks that the economy as a whole is facing.

 

Industrial production has increased by 6 per cent so far this year. However, industrial output has also been affected adversely though not necessarily captured adequately by the statistics. This is owing to many of the adversely affected industries being small and medium scale industries whose downturn is only indirectly captured as there is a time lag in figures on some areas of industrial production. The higher costs of credit and lesser availability, higher costs of fuel, as well as a slowdown in domestic demand that appears inevitable in the context of rising prices is not likely to boost industries catering to local demand.

 

Agricultural output has fallen due to other reasons, the weather being as usual the foremost factor. The Maha harvest this year is estimated as much lower. Perhaps other food crops too have suffered. The Tea output has fallen a significant 20 per cent that may not be caught up later in the year. The growth in rubber production that has been boosted in recent years by higher prices continues to rise. In the first four months it increased by nearly 15 per cent. This uptrend is likely to continue during the rest of the year though its impact is rather small on economic growth as it contributes much less than 1 per cent to GDP.

 

There is clear evidence that production in several sectors of the economy was affected by the prevailing security conditions and the tight money policy. The performance of the first half of the year is likely to show further signs of economic slowdown. What is disturbing is not the statistic of a slower growth but that the factors affecting growth adversely appears to be here for sometime and the economy’s performance this year is likely to fall quite significantly. While inflation will continue spiralling upwards the economy will spiral downwards. If however the monetary policies succeed in curbing inflation somewhat it is likely to be at the expense of investment and growth. Some of these impacts will not be seen immediately as they are more likely to affect growth after a time lag of 6 to 12 months.

 

The important issue is not the slight decline that the statistics indicate. It is the factors behind those statistics. The fact is that the war and the security situation are once again setting back economic progress and the attainment of higher rates of growth. Substantial development of the economy is being retarded.

 

There are the sectors directly affected by the terrorist acts that are visible such as the hospitality trade, but then there are many other areas that the terrorist activities have affected adversely. These include investment, foreign inflows of funds for portfolio investment and retardation of project implementation. The indirect impacts on the economy arise from the high rate of inflation, the consequent tight money policies that are affecting the supply and cost of credit, and the depreciation of the currency that is raising import costs of raw materials and other inputs. The higher inflow of remittances is continuing to be of help. Foreign borrowing is restraining further depreciation of the currency but heaving a burden for the future.

 

Time will tell whether the scenario sketched here would unfold or whether the optimism of the Central Bank would hold. In the interests of the country, we hope the Central Bank would be proved correct in the fullness of time.

●        A SLA Major and five soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the Kudumpimalai (Thoppikkal) jungles when SLA troops confronted LTTE fighters.

●      The body of a 24 year old SLA trooper was discovered near the FDL at Eluthumaduval. The body did not have any gunshot injuries but blood was found coming out of his nose and ears, leading to speculation that trauma due to extended physical training caused the death. The trooper was fortifying the FDL at the time of his death, but, mystery continues to surround his death.

 

5 July

 

●        Two Tamil youths were shot dead by STF troops in Mukalikadai, Pottuvil, Amparai. Police claimed the STF lay an ambush on a tip off that LTTE cadres were moving from Kanchirankuda through Mukalikadai. The police contacted the ICRC and SLMM to hand over the bodies to LTTE, but the LTTE has not commented on the incident.

●        3 soldiers were killed in the North when fighting erupted along the Vavuniya-Mannar border area.

●        10 soldiers were wounded in fighting between Pampaimadu and Uyilangkulam.

●        15 LTTE fighters were killed in the fighting along the FDLs in Vavuniya according to Sri Lanka military officials in Colombo.

●        The SLA arrested three Tamil civilians in a cordon and search operation in Gampaha town. Police said the arrested men failed to provide valid reasons for staying in Gampaha. The detainees are being questioned by the Terrorist Intelligence Division.

●        A Tamil youth, a resident of Jaffna town, was arrested while he was traveling to Anuradhapura by train from Colombo.

 

4 July

 

●        Michael Rajan, the owner of a bakery at Tharapuram, Mannar, was abducted as he was transporting his morning bread to his shop. The abductors allegedly telephoned his wife and demanded Rs. 5m for his release. Threats to and extortion of money from local traders by paramilitaries had been on the decline in recent weeks in Vavuniya, but seem to be reemerging.

●        A Karuna Group paramilitary member was killed and two EPDP paramilitary members wounded when the two groups, attached to the Kommathurai SLA base in Chengkaladi, Batticaloa, clashed. The Karuna Group has been harassing the EPDP, against carrying out campaign activities in Batticaloa district for the last two months. Five Karuna group personnel entered the premises of the EPDP camp, charged grenades and fired at their house, wounding two EPDP personnel. SLA troopers providing security to both camps had to fire at the attackers to control the fight.

●        Arumugam Kirubakaran, 25, a Hindu priest and resident of Vinayakapuram, Thirukkoyil, went missing after he left home riding his bicycle towards the Pillaiyar temple in Vinayakapuram. His bicycle is also missing.

 

3 July

●        Men armed with pistols shot and injured a police constable in front of Jaffna courts, as he and a fellow policeman reported for duty at the Courts premises.

●        Three SLA troopers were killed when assailants triggered a claymore mine in Kalvi Road, Vavuniya. The soldiers were attached to the newly established SLA camp in Mathakuvaitha Kulam. The troopers were on their way to take a bath in the local irrigation tank when the claymore mine was triggered.

●        Ms. Tharumarasa Conseira, 38, from Allarai north in Mesalai, Jaffna, has been reported missing since February 24. She went missing as she was returning home after medical treatment at Jaffna Teaching Hospital, according to a complaint made by her mother at the SLHRC. Her mother suspects Conseira was arrested or abducted on the way home in a bus along Jaffna-Kandy road. Conseira's mother said her daughter's husband and relatives were trapped in Vanni with the closure of the A9 last year.

●        Kaaththaankudi Police arrested two Tamils at Navatkuda, Batticaloa, and chanrged them with possessing detonators and wires. Mrs. Malarvizhi Mahendrakumar, 37, and Kanthasami Vazhirajan, 30, both of Mariyamman Kovil Road, Navatkuda, were subjected to severe interrogation. The police claimed they recovered the detonators and wires after searching their houses following a tip off.

●        Ms. Kathiravelu Pushparanee, 60, who lives near Jaffna University campus, complained to the Jaffna SLHRC that she was tortured by SLA troopers who forcibly entered her house in Thirunelveali. She also filed complaints with the SLMM and ICRC offices in Jaffna. SLA troopers tortured five other young women relatives, including her daughter, demanding information about a youth, Pushparanee said. She sought protection from the SLHRC, saying SLA troopers confiscated the National Identity Cards of the five women and ordered them to report at Urelu SLA camp. The SLMM office, when approached to verify the complaint, declined to comment on the incident.

●        Assailants hurled a hand grenade at the house of a trader in Goodshed Road, Vavuniya. The explosion did not cause injuries or damage to any property, but police suspect it is linked to a ransom demand on the trader.

 

2 July

●        A youth from Sivan Koayiladi, Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, was admitted to hospital in serious condition after he attempted to commit suicide by taking poison. Visuvaratnam, 22, had been arrested by the SLA two days previously and was subjected to severe torture. Relatives said he was hung upside down and severely beaten, and that he had severe torture marks to his upper body and face. SLA soldiers confiscated his national ID card, released Visuvaratnam few minutes before the start of the curfew and ordered him to report again to the camp on two days later, but he attempted suicide instead.

●        Several hundred SLA troopers entered Chankanai, Jaffna, during the early morning curfew hours and searched areas covering Vadukkodai, Chithankerni, Mavadi and Chulipuram. Vehicular traffic was blocked from entering or leaving the affected areas during the search. Government servants traveling to work and school children were severely affected by the operation.

●        More than 100 people were investigated and 25 of them arrested in a large scale cordon and search operation by the SLA and police in the plantation districts, in the predominantly Tamil areas of Talawakelle and Bogawanthalawa. Five of the arrested are from Jaffna and the others are residents of up country.

●        Armed men shot dead Markandu Krishnapillai, 37, in Kaluvankeni, Batticaloa. Krishnapillai was visiting his sister when armed men called him out of the house, shot him dead, and fled on a motorbike.

 

The close relationship between the militaries of Sri Lankan and the United States was once again demonstrated with two Sri Lankan air force cadets being selected to attend a leadership program in the US.

 

Sir Lanka is one of a few countries permitted to nominate candidates each year for the U.S. Service Academy Program. Sri Lanka is even more unique in that it is one of the very few countries that receive a full tuition waiver for the four-year degree program.

 

Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) cadets were selected for a four-year program designed to develop leadership skills and motivational training at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado, a US Embassy press release said.

 

Mr. James Moore, the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Missions, while presenting the documents to the selected cadets, said that the appointments “signify the close training relationship between our two militaries.”

 

Mr. Moore presented the documents to Viludani Yatawara - the first Sri Lankan woman cadet officer to get selected to the program - and to Chamara Wijesinghe.

 

“The United States Air Force Academy offers a four-year program of instruction and experience designed to provide cadets the knowledge essential for leadership and the motivation to serve as Air Force career officers,” the press release said.

 

“Each cadet graduates with a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as a Pilot Officer in the Air Force.”

 

“Cadets Yatawara and Wijesinghe were nominated by the SLAF after several competitive interviews and a physical aptitude examinations,” it added.

 

Their applications were subsequently forwarded to the US Air Force Academy by the U.S. Embassy.

 

“The two Sri Lankans competed against eligible candidates from 29 other countries for a limited number of seats allocated for international applicants,” the press release noted.

 

“As a result, the Sri Lanka Air Force will now have three cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy; one officer gained admission last year. In addition, Sri Lanka presently has two cadets at U.S. Military Academy at West Point,” the press release said.

 

Yatawara thanked the U.S. Government for offering her the rare opportunity, while Wijesinghe said that he was happy and proud to have been selected for this prestigious and competitive program.

 

Fisherman Aloysius Premathas with his son Premkumar who lost both legs in the SLAF bombing of his village. Photo TamilNet

We are originally from Mayiliddi in Valigaamam west, Jaffna. My ancestors had been relatively well off fisher folk.

 

Driven from our home by an SLA offensive in 1990, we lived temporarily in Chunnakam.

 

Then we were forced to leave the Jaffna peninsula by the SLA's Sooriyakathir offensive in 1994.

 

I had to leave everything I owned behind.

 

Having no where to go, we spent our lives under the trees and in school buildings in Kodikamam for six months.

 

We sought refuge at Alampil in Mullaiththeevu but from there too we had to flee from the shells launched from the SLA camp in Mullaitheevu, ending up at Oddusuddan in interior Vanni.

 

At Oddusuddan, 40 km west of the shores, I was struggling to find employment. My family had to beg to survive.

 

When Mullaiththeevu SLA camp was overrun by the Liberation Tigers in 1997 we returned to Alampil again, where I resumed fishing and was able to feed my family.

 

We were slowly overcoming our economic hardship when tragedy struck again.

 

The 2004 December tsunami washed away all of our belongings. Luckily all members of our family survived.

 

After the tsunami, we moved inland to Mulliyavalai. Again, it was hard for my family, dependent on handouts as I could not fish.

 

From there we were again relocated in the interim refugee camp at Alampil.

 

Now this last bombing has again smashed our hopes of returning to a normal life.

 

When I was returning to our hut for lunch, I saw my son Premkumar going to the fishing vaadi, which is about 100 meters from our hut.

 

My wife served me lunch but before I had had a mouthful, there was a deafening explosion and my wife shouted that a Kfir had struck.

 

I shouted at my family to run to the bunker.

 

I got into the bunker with my family and looked at the place from which the explosion was heard – it was near the fishing vaadi.

 

I blacked out. When I recovered, I saw the vaadi enveloped in smoke.

 

I ran to see if my son was alright.

 

For a few seconds – though it felt longer – there was no sound from inside the vaadi.

 

Then I heard my son’s voice. He was crying for help.

 

I had no thought of the Kfir still above or anything else. I just ran and found my son.

 

He was lying in a pool of blood. His right leg was missing. No human being should see his or her child in such a state.

 

My wife, running to the scene, fainted.

 

During the ceasefire period I managed to put Premkumar at St. Charles School in Jaffna in the hope of educating him. He was doing well in his studies.

 

But recently it has been more and more dangerous for Tamil youths to stay in Jaffna. So we told him to come back home.

 

Premkumar is my eldest child. The next Pratheeskumar is thirteen, daughter Mary Pirameela is nine and Yarl Mannan is six years old.

 

I do not know how we are going to provide them the necessities all children have the right to have.

 

Premkumar is my eldest son. I had hoped he would carry me in my old age. Now, though he is only fifteen, he has to be carried by me. He is crippled for life.

 

Funeral of two civilians killed by Sri Lankan air force bombing.

Two civilians were killed and eleven injured when a SLAF Kfir fighter jet bombed a fishing hamlet in the Mullaitheevu district.

 

The SLAF bombardment on civilian target occurred while the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka was in Kilinochchi to meet with the head of the LTTE’s political wing.

 

Flying at low altitude, the Kfir bomber targeted fishermen and their families as they were sorting fish on the shore near the Church of Velankani, Alampil, and dropped two bombs on them.

 

 

P. Premkumar, 15, lost both of his legs in the attack.

 

Dias Arulsan, just a year old, was also among the wounded, as was his four-year-old sister Alaiyarasi.

 

The others injured were identified as S. Sarathkumar, 12, K. Thusyanthini, 10, S. Tharsan, 18, K. Sivarasa, 39, J. Veathanyagam, 46, T. Poomani, 52, D. Thiyagarajah, 67 and N. Alfred, 67.

 

Premkumar and Tharsan were in such a serious condition that they were transferred to Kilinochchi hospital.

 

One-year-old Dias Arulsan was among eleven civilians injured when the jet bombed a fishing village. Photo TamilNet

Two huts belonging to brothers Nakamuththu Sinnnarasa and Nakamuththu Kiddinan were destroyed in the attack.

 

A civilian settlement of 1200 IDP fisher families, including those who relocated from Mayiliddi, Jaffna, is located 300 meters from the attack site.

 

Mullaiththeevu Government Agent Ms. Imelda Sukumar said she had received a report from an area official in Karai Irapattu who verified that the SLAF bombardment was a at a solely civilian target.

 

The funeral of the two civilians killed took place last Thursday.

 

Both bodies were kept at a Community Development Centre of Alampil for the public to pay their last respects, and were later buried at the Mullaiththeevu Christian Cemetery, with hundreds of people attending the funerals.

 

The bodies of Tamils shot dead in execution-style are often found along roadsides, like these four men whose bodies were discovered in Vavuniya. Photo STR / AFP / Getty Images

 

14 July

 

●        16 SLA soldiers were killed and 45 wounded when LTTE forces put up stiff resistance against a two-pronged offensive by the SLA in the Mannar-Vavuniya border area. Four dead bodies of SLA soldiers were recovered by the Tigers. Three LTTE fighters were killed in action. A Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier was destroyed and the Tigers recovered a Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher, three T-56 rifles, ammunitions and military hardware. Fifteen of the wounded SLA soldiers had limbs amputated. “The soldiers were locked into heavy fighting along a Forward Defence Line, which they believed was a crack in enemy lines,” a SLA official in Vavuniya, who did not wished to be named was quoted as saying. “The soldiers were forced to confront an apparent trap,” he said. The LTTE is yet to release details of the SLA offensive.

●        Lathayini Arunachalam, 25, an employee at a private bookstore, was riding her bicycle from her home in Nunavil towards her workplace in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, when gunmen riding on a motorbike shot her dead.

●        Chavakachcheari police recovered the body of Velayuthapillai Pirapaharan, 30, with hands tied behind his back and with seven gunshot wounds to his body, in Vembirai, Thenmaradchi, along Puththoor-Meesaalai road, in Jaffna. Originally from Madduvil North, he was married and living in Manthuvil. His relatives said that he was abducted after he left home for his daily prayers at a nearby temple on Friday.

●        Several SLA soldiers are feared killed and many injured during sustained exchanges of artillery fire across Thenmaradchi FDLs in Jaffna. The Sri Lankan military has not officially released casualty figures but reports said many bodies have been transferred from Palaali to Colombo during three days of bombardment, and several troops have been admitted to Palali Military Hospital.

 

13 July

 

●        Subramaniam Jeyanthiran, 19, was shot dead by gunmen inside the Jaffna HSZ. He had earlier received death threats from the SLA and was held in protective custody of Jaffna prison through the Jaffna SLHRC, but was recently released from custody on his own request. His national identity card was confiscated by the SLA soldiers during a cordon and search operation in Kurunakarand he had been directed by the soldiers to report to the Chinnakadai Jaffna camp at one end of Martin Road. Whilst on his way to the SLA camp the SLA soldiers at the sentry point had ordered him to proceed through Martin Road where he was shot.

 

12 July

 

●        Hundreds of SLA soldiers and policemen entered the premises of the TELO district office in Vavuniya and shot and killed a TELO member, Thiyaaku, alleging he was attempting a lob a grenade at them. Initial reports said a grenade was seen on the chest of the dead body. Military officials in Vavuniya claimed that they had located a T-56 rifle, four Police uniforms, a pistol, 3 walkie-talkies, an anti-personnel mine and 300 bullets. Three TELO officials were taken to the police station following the ransack operation. TELO offices are normally provided police security.

●        A SLAF Kfir bomber was damaged in LTTE anti-aircraft cannon fire over the Vavuniya FDL. The LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said that the bomber was damaged in the cannon fire by the Tigers and parts of the damaged aircraft fell inside the Tiger territory. The SLAF aircraft crash landed into SLA territory. However, SLAF officials in Colombo said all their aircrafts were safe.

●        A claymore device was triggered targeting a high officer of SLA 52nd Division traveling in a pick-up through Thumpalai area in Point Pedro, Vadamaradchi, Jaffna. The seriously injured officer was rushed to Palali Military hospital. Maniam Kanapathipillai, 51, a teacher of Point Pedro Sivapragasam Maka Viththiyaalayam, returning after prayers at the temple, happened to be passing the site of attack on bicycle and died due to shock. The attackers, waiting in ambush for the officer, had activated the claymore device which was hidden along the road.

●        Police constable W. M. Wijeyasinge, 24, attached to Karaithevu STF in Amparai, died when his gun accidentally went off while he was cleaning it. The constable succumbed to the gunshot at Kalmunai hospital.

 

11 July

 

●        Several hundred SLA soldiers cordoned off and searched Pasaiyor, Kurunakar, Thirunakar, Koyathodam and surrounding areas. SLA soldiers confiscated residents’ National ID cards and ordered them to assemble at the Pasaiyoor playground, where the villagers were paraded in front of masked men. Most of the women and children were allowed to return home, while more than 100 men were still being interrogated several hours later. Details of anyone arrested at the end of the operation were not known.

●        SLA soldiers cordoned off and searched areas in Inuvil and Maruthanamadam in Jaffna, harassing undergraduates from Jaffna University on their way to lectures at the Fine Arts Faculty. Students were subjected to intense questioning and body search. House to house searches were conducted by the SLA soldiers throughout the morning and vehicular traffic was affected. Office workers and students attending schools also suffered delays.

●        Viyagarasa Vaseekaran, 30, a young family man, was shot dead at his house in Kopay by armed men alleged to be members of the SLA intelligence wing and SLA-backed paramilitaries. The intruders forced open the front entrance to the house and shot the man. Vaseekaran’s body also bore marks due to severe beating, and burn marks from cigarette butts. Local residents who approached the house on hearing screams were allegedly beaten back by men identified as belonging to a paramilitary group.

●        Two civilians were killed and eleven injured when a SLAF Kfir fighter jet bombed fishermen on shore near the Church of Velangkani in Alampil, Mullaitheevu.

●        Nearly 100 families recently resettled in Kokkaddichcholai, Batticaloa, started relocating to safer areas due to recent killings and disappearances, Batticaloa TNA MP Mr. Ariyanarenthiran said. As a result of a number of killings, civilians recently resettled in Kokkaddichcholai have started leaving the area to safer places, the MP said. Adequate protection has not been provided for these resettled families, he said, adding: “Since the Sri Lanka Army conducts search operations during mid night and early morning, these families continue to live in fear.”

●        Muhammad Mahroof, 40, and Hachchi Muhammad Gaffoor, 38, both residents of Kaththankudi, Batticaloa, were injured when unknown persons hurled a hand grenade while they were standing near the Kaththankudi Police station. The police and SLA cordoned off the area and conducted a search following the incident, but no-one was arrested.

●        Thiyagarajah Vasikumar’s body was discovered with gunshot wounds in Kalviyangkadu, Jaffna. The body bore several injuries which medical officers at the Jaffna Teaching hospital confirmed as inflicted due to torture. Vasikumar was forcibly dragged out of his home by armed men and his body, with his hand tied behind his back, was recovered with several cut injuries.

●        Three Jaffna high schools students, forcibly abducted on 4 May from their homes by armed men, were released near their homes .They were held captive for 69 days before being brought to their homes in a white van. They were released on the condition that they will not divulge any information to the media and have been threatened with death if they failed to adhere to the condition. The students confirmed they were abducted by SLA troops but refused to provide any information about where they were kept captive. Suntharalingam Yasotharan, 17, from Thirunelveali and Nagarajah Venukanthan, 19, from Brown Road Jaffna were attending Jaffna Hindu College in Mathemetics and Arts Division respectively. Kugarajan Kannan, 19, of Kasthuriyaar Road, Jafna was attending GCE (A/L) Mathemetics section at St. John's College. No details of several other missing students missing since January are known.

 

10 July

 

●        Five people, including Tamileelam Health Service personnel and civilians, were killed in a claymore mine attack by a SLA DPU inside Vanni, at Kilavankulam, near Mangkulam. Kandasamy Vadivanathan, 41, a worker from the Road Development Authority on road construction work along the A9, was wounded in the attack.

●        A SLA road patrol unit and a group of men exchanged fire near Arasadi in Karavedi, Vadamaradchi, Jaffna, which has been the site of several earlier skirmishes. The firefight lasted for more than 10 minutes, but details of injuries or casualties are not known. The attackers escaped after the firefight.

●        Sri Lankan Police, in a cordon and search operation in Kathirkamam in Uva, arrested 18 civilians, including 14 Tamils staying in Kathirkamam, for not having valid documents to establish their identity. Kathirkamam has been a place of pilgrimage and religious sanctity since prehistoric times, being the location of a Hindu temple.

●        Manikkampodi Sivalingam, 40, a father of five recently resettled in Manmunai South West (Paddippalai), Batticaloa, has gone missing after going to fish in Pulukunavai Tank. Three persons including a woman were killed and two others have gone missing from recently resettled Paduvaankarai region in Batticaloa district.

9 July

 

●        A SLA deserter lead a Sinhala mob that shot dead a Muslim boy and seriously injured two other Muslim youths in the Western Province village of Ambalanduwa. Mohammed Faizal, 18, was killed when the Muslims where attacked as they opposed a group of extremists attempting to place a Buddha statue near a Mosque in their village, in the Panadura division of Kalutara.

●        Sri Lankan Police carried out a search operation in Polgolla, Kandy, arresting four Tamil youths for not having valid documents to prove their identity and for failing to provide valid reasons for their stay in Kandy. Two are from Galaha and the other two are from Nawala, Matale and from Kundasale, Kandy.

●        A search operation in Mirihana, Nugegoda, Colombo, resulted in five civilians, including one Tamil, being arrested for failing to prove their identity.

 

In an interview with the Reuters, the leader of the LTTE’s political wing, Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan, declared that the organisation would target major military and economic structures in the future with an aim of crippling the island’s economy.

 

He also told the Norwegian envoy that the co-chairs had failed to pressure the Sir Lankan government over its human rights abuses.

 

“Our targets would be in the future major military and economic structures of the government of Sri Lanka,” Tamilselvan said speaking to Simon Gardiner from Reuters Friday.

 

“They will be targets which help the government sustain its military operations and military rule,” he added.

 

Mr. Tamilselvan citied air raids by the Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) on March 28 on oil storage facilities in Kolonnawa and Muththuraajawala in the suburbs of the capital Colombo as examples of type of attacks the LTTE will be carrying out in the future, with the aim of destabilising the island’s economy.

 

“For instance (our) attack on the oil installations. That is one of the targets that will cripple the economy of Sri Lanka as well as the military capability of Sri Lanka, so such will be the tactic,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

 

The LTTE targetted Sri Lanka’s main international airport and the adjoining military base in July 2001, destroying 13 aircrafts. Photo Sena Vidanagama / AFP / Getty Images

Separately, in a meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar in Killinochchi Thursday, Mr. Tamilselvan pointed out that the Sri Lankan government was spending aid money received from donor countries on projects supporting Sri Lanka's military infrastructure, including construction of roads in militarily strategic areas.

 

The 2-day Norwegian visit, described by the ambassador as routine, came following a long break due to the Sri Lankan government blocking foreign diplomats from visiting the LTTE leadership in the Vanni.

 

During the meeting, Mr. Tamilselvan told the Norwegian delegation of the Tamil people’s disillusionment with the donor co-chairs for failing to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan state on fundamental humanitarian issues that are critically affecting their day-to-day lives.

 

“Denial of basic humanitarian needs requires equal and urgent attention, besides addressing selected human rights violations by the Sri Lankan state” TamilNet reported Mr. Tamilselvan as telling Mr Brattskar.

 

The LTTE political wing leader was reported to have cited key issues affecting the Tamil people, including the continued closure of the A9 highway, the only land route to Jaffna peninsula, the resettlement of tens of thousands of internally displaced refugees in the East, and the establishment of a new High Security Zone designed to evict Tamils from their traditional areas in Trincomalee as some of the serious grievances the co-chairs have failed to take up with Sri Lanka.

 

In the interview to Reuters, Mr. Tamilselvan said the Tigers had no faith in a bid to forge a consensus devolution proposal for minority Tamils through the All Party Representative Committee (APRC).

 

“After closing all the avenues for the other party to participate in meaningful negotiations, the government inviting (us) to attend talks is meaningless,” Mr. Tamilselvan said.

 

He further ruled out peace talks with President Rajapakse, saying his regime, disregarding the ceasfire agreement in place, has captured LTTE administered regions in the eastern province through military offensives which saw tens of thousands of Tamils being displaced due to indoctrinate aerial and artillery bombardment.

 

“Peace is not possible with this president, because during this president's term we find a euphoria, celebration, jubilation over the so-called victory in the east. Under such a person peace is not always possible.”

 

Referring to the announcement by the Sri Lankan government of plans to celebrate the capture of Thoppigala jungles west of Batticaloa town in Colombo on July 19, Mr. Tamilselvan said it would not last very long.

 

“We can only say that Thoppigala and the jungles the government is now gloating about as if they had captured a new country or a state or something like that, is not going to last very long.”

 

“Let the Tamil people live in their traditional homeland,” Mr. Tamilselvan said.

 

“Leave the Tamil people without any military occupation or persecution. That will be the day when there is no war.”

 

Liberation Tigers fighters staged a training exercise at a secret location in Vanni Friday to demonstrate their conventional war skills.

 

And for the first time ever, reporters attached to major news agencies were invited to view the fighters training.

 

The drill took place early in the morning amidst the backdrop of an announcement by the Sri Lankan government that they had captured the Thoppigala jungles, which the government says was the last bastion of LTTE in the eastern province.

 

LTTE leaders speaking to reporters said the exercise was intended as practice for coming attacks on nearby government positions.

 

According to the Associated Press, many of the fighters were dressed in the customary striped fatigues of the LTTE. Others wore olive green uniforms with ammunition vests.

 

The training ground was a vast plain of white sand, dotted with small patches of brush. Rusting bullet cases lay on the ground, signaling it has been used before, but not recently, the Associated Press reported.

The aim of the exercise was to capture a mock heavily fortified Sri Lankan army position.

 

“The main objective on the battle front is how to destroy the enemy's battle tanks and armoured vehicles,” LTTE fighter S. Kadalarasan told Reuters as his fellow fighters fired.

 

Fifty caliber heavy machine guns from the other side of the sandy plain at a line of bunkers, razor wire and targets to pave the way for fighters to advance and capture the mock fortification.

 

“If I blow up their vehicles, I will be happy because the enemy is coming to suppress and oppress and kill our innocent civilians, so I will be happy to attack the enemy and kill them,” Kadalarasan further told Reuters.

One wing of the assault was made up of female fighters, rushing forward with Chinese-made T-56 assault rifles, and firing into shallow bunkers to kill imaginary enemies, advancing in threes with mutual cover fire, reported Reuters.

 

The LTTE trainer, Lieutenant-Colonel V. Nishanthan Master a specialist trainer in offensive and defensive tactics, who coordinated the drill told reporters the assault strategy demonstrated will soon be used in a real operation against Sri Lankan troops.

 

“We have gained experience through battles and of course we have read books about strategies and tactics,” Nishanthan Master told Reuters, as he marshaled fighters through the exercise.

 

He told reporters who were in Vanni to observe the drill, that LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan had given him works by the likes of ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu and books on the Napoleonic wars to read.

 

In addition to battle experiences and books, Hollywood blockbuster movies like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Black Hawk Down’ also have been used as inspiration for military strategies in the past, Nishanthan master revealed.

 

“There are a lot of movies that have been translated into Tamil, and we have also taken a lot of strategies from those,” he told Reuters.

 

According to the agency, fighters are also shown Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies to learn kung fu moves -- as well as some lighter relief like cartoons and children's films such as ‘Finding Nemo’.

 

“I also yearn for a normal life. But I am here and giving training because we need to expel the oppressors,” said Nishanthan Master.

 

“Definitely we will drive the Sri Lankan armed forces from our homeland and we will create Tamil Eelam. I have not an iota of doubt.”

 

“Once I have fallen, another hand will come and take this RPG,” Kadalarasan said after saying a Tiger oath following the training session, showing the glass vials containing white cyanide he wears around his neck like all fellow fighters, reported Reuters.

 

“If we are badly wounded and the enemy is going to capture us or we are about to pass out, then only we bite as a last resort,” he said smiling.

 

“In order to keep our secrets and not be tortured by the enemy -- the cyanide capsule is the solution.”

 

Commenting on the Sri Lankan military claims that it has captured the Thoppigala jungles in the Eastern province, Nishanthan Master said “Gaining territory is not victory, it is a false hope. We will again come out and attack (the government).”

 

The LTTE told reporters who visited Vanni that they have simply switched from conventional warfare to guerrilla tactics in the east, and they still maintain a large swath of territory in the north that they run as a virtual state.

 

5000 Tamils called on the UK to apply pressure on Sri Lanka over its human rights abuses.

Nearly five thousand British Tamils demonstrated Saturday in central London, calling on the UK to apply pressure to halt human rights abuses by Sri Lanka’s security forces and to recognize the right to self-determination of the Tamil people.

 

The rally in Trafalgar square was organized by councilors of Tamil origin in the London area.

 

The protestors were addressed by two UK parliamentarians, Mr. Keith Vaz (Labour) and Mr. Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrats) and two MPs of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Mr. K. Sivajilingam and Mr. Chandrakanthan Chandra Nehru, as well as some of the organizing councilors.

 

The rally was held at the famous London landmark between 11.30 a.m. and 3p.m.

 

Among the councilors who addressed the event were Ms. Sasikala Suresh, Mr. Thaya Idaikadar, Mr. Yogan Yogarajah and Ms. Eliza Mann.

 

The speakers condemned the ongoing human rights abuses against Sri Lanka’s Tamils by the security forces there and urged the British government to pressure the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse to halt the atrocities.

 

Some speakers appealed to the international community to recognize the Tamil people’s right to self-determination, saying self-rule was the only way to safeguard their wellbeing.

 

Thousands of people attending the rally signed a petition addressed to the British government.

 

A resolution passed at the event declared:

 

“On this day, the 14th of July 2007, we, the many thousands who have assembled in London's Trafalgar Square, have come together to severely condemn the ethnic cleansing, killings, abductions, torture and other human rights abuses that the Sri Lankan Government is carrying out against the Tamils of the island as well as those who tell the truth about the state's vicious activities and those who come to the aid of the Tamils.

 

“In one voice, we declare that the only way the language, lands and culture of the Eelam Tamils, as well as their basic rights, may be safeguarded, is through the establishment of the independent state of Tamil Eelam, as the Tamil people so emphatically demanded in 1977.

 

“Witnessing the widespread ethnic cleansing and torture and human rights abuses occurring in Sri Lanka today, we reiterate that remains the only choice for the Tamil people, and we reaffirm our continuing and wholehearted support for this cause - the establishment of Tamil Eelam.

 

“We ask that the countries of the world that respect truth and justice, the United Nations and similar organisations that represent these countries, and human rights organisations, to condemn the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Sri Lankan Government.

 

“We ask that they see the injustice of dismissing as so-called terrorism this legitimate and just struggle for our people’s freedom from racial oppression.”