Amnesty International said the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has ‘deteriorated dramatically’, as it also warned of a 'human rights meltdown' across the world.

In its 2007 report on human rights released in the last week of May, Amnesty said of Sri Lanka: “Unlawful killings, recruitment of child soldiers, abductions, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations and war crimes increased...Hundreds of civilians were killed and injured and more than 215,000 people displaced by the end of 2006...A pattern of enforced disappearances in the north and east re-emerged. There were reports of torture in police custody; perpetrators continued to benefit from impunity.”

On the issue of child soldiers, Amnesty said: "At least 50 children a month were recruited as soldiers in the north and east. According to UNICEF, the UN Children's Agency, by mid-2006 there were still 1,545 under-age fighters in LTTE forces.

"In June over 100 children were reportedly recruited in government-controlled areas in the east by the Karuna group. In November, a special adviser to the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict reported that government forces had been actively involved in forcibly recruiting children to the group."

The report said the Human Rights Commission "reported 419 enforced disappearances in Jaffna for the first half of 2006. A local non-governmental organization recorded 277 abductions from April to September. Disappearances and abductions were attributed to several forces, including the security forces, the LTTE and the Karuna group."

The disappeared list included, Father Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown, a Catholic priest from Allaipiddy, and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas who went missing after crossing a navy checkpoint in August on Kayts Island.

It was feared they had been taken into custody by navy personnel, Amnesty said. Recently a body discovered in the seas north of Jaffna has been positively identified as that of Father Brown.

Over 215,000 people were displaced in the north and east as a result of renewed fighting, and at least 10,000 fled to India, Amnesty said.

The report added that although camps of tsunami affected people were well funded, "people displaced by the conflict often lacked electricity, transport and proper sanitation. Concerns remained about this disparity of treatment."

Amnesty also warned of a global 'human rights meltdown' as powerful governments and armed groups were deliberately fomenting fear to create an increasingly polarized and dangerous world.

Amnesty called on governments to reject the 'politics of fear' and invest in human rights institutions to maintain the rule of law at national and international level, as it present the report in London.

'Just as global warming requires global action based on international cooperation, the human rights meltdown can only be tackled through global solidarity and respect for international law,' Amnesty's secretary-general, Irene Khan said.

'Through short sighted, fear-mongering and divisive policies, governments are undermining the rule of law and human rights, feeding racism and xenophobia, dividing communities, intensifying inequalities and sowing the seeds for more violence and conflict,' said Khan.

'The politics of fear is fuelling a downward spiral of human rights abuse in which no right is sacrosanct and no person safe.'

The report singled out that so-called war on terror and the invasion of Iraq, with their 'catalogue of human rights abuses,' as having created deep divisions that cast a shadow on international relations.

Scarred by distrust and division, the international community was too often impotent or weak-willed in the face of major human rights crises in 2006, whether in forgotten conflicts like Chechnya, Colombia and Sri Lanka or high profiles ones in the Middle East, the report said.

Recently four year old Madeleine McCann from Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared from the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in which she was sleeping with her siblings whilst her parents had dinner less than 50 meters away.

Since then we have seen endless footage of two young individuals whose pain, sadness and fear for their daughter’s safety can not be described nor imagined. One only has to see Gerry and Kate McCann’s faces to know that every moment since that night has been a living nightmare for them.

11 days after the incident the reward offered to anyone with information leading to Madeleine’s safe return reached £2.5 million. The generosity of the individuals who have contributed to this fund and every other that has taken time to help in some way is a display of human kindness at its finest. Once again we have united as a nation to show our support, courage and strength. We did this after little Jamie Bulger’s brutal murder, the 2004 Tsunami and 07/07 and we will continue to do this as future tragedies take their place in history.

Yet there is something very uncomfortable and disconcerting about the media’s reaction to Madeleine McCann. As each day passes, it is becoming harder to ignore the imbalance of their reporting. Why has precedence been given to one child and her family over the countless others in this world who are locked in endless slavery, abuse, torture and poverty?

The media say they report News. Surely it is the media that has driven the news over the past 13 days. The momentum of this front page 24/7 reporting has created a void which is not backfilled by any measured reporting of an issue that affects thousands of children every day of every year. Once again the media have failed to give voice to the poor.

In a report by Human Rights Watch published in January 2004, the report details child abductions in Northern Uganda as one of the most flagrant examples. ‘The Lord’s Resistance Army has abducted an estimated 10,000 children since mid 2002. These children are forced to fight against the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces, raid villages for food, slaughter civilians, and abduct other children. Children who try to escape are killed, typically by other children who are forced to beat or hack the victim or be killed themselves’.

Around Easter this year the plight of children slaving on Cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast so that we can effortlessly eat Easter eggs was given some media attention albeit very minimal. A survey in 2002 by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture found that 284 000 children were working in hazardous conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa. Many of these children were trafficked. Imagine Wembley Stadium filled three times over. This is how many children’s lives are at stake.

Why has this not been drummed, hammered and stamped into our conscience by the media with daily headlines and graphic accounts of these children? Their names, their age, their smiles, their tears. We hear nothing. We see nothing. Why are we not reminded every day that bonded labour, warfare and child prostitution is an everyday reality for so many of the world’s children?

There is no doubt that there is a lot of money being given to aid children whose human rights have and are being violated. There are many selfless and generous people in our world and every bit counts. And there is no question of the validity of the reward to bring Madeleine home. Everyone wants this beautiful little girl to be safe and back in her parents’ arms again.

It is unfortunate that the media has isolated this heart wrenching story and have failed to frame it within a global context. Every child is priceless and most importantly every child is equal. As human beings we have a moral duty to remember the thousands of invisible children who we will never ever hear about every time we think, hope and pray for Madeleine McCann.

A Sri Lankan court has refused to allow the police to perform forensic tests on bullets recovered from eleven victims killed in Allaipiddy on May 13, 2006, citing the time lapse.

The officials had wanted to test fire weapons obtained from the SLN and compare them to the bullets recovered from the victims.

The CID claimed that such an examination would shed some light in identifying those involved in the killing of the eleven civilians, including eight from the same family.

Citing the fact that more than a year had passed since the killings and that many of the naval personnel at the Karainagar Naval base had since been transferred to other locations, the Kayts Magistrate refused to allow the police to proceed.

He also mentioned that the weapons used during the killing would most likely be different to any currently being used, and comparing these bullets will likely fail legal scrutiny, and thus would not serve any purpose.

However, the magistrate went on to specify that if any civilian could identify those involved in the killings, then the bullets from the weapons of those identified could be compared with the bullets from victims' bodies and subjected to forensic examination.

Stressing the critical legal need to have an identification parade, the Kayts magistrate adjourned the trial until June 25.

He also directed the police to arrange for an identification parade of the SLN troopers who served in the area during the Allaippiddi massacre.

On May 13, 2006, unidentified gunmen, widely believed to be SLN soldiers, entered the home of Sellathurai Amalathas in Allaipiddy and opened fire. Eight people were killed on the spot, including a four-month-old baby and four-year-old boy. Another person died later in hospital. On the same night, another two civilians were also killed, allegedly by the same group of gunmen.

Following the recent murder of another journalist in Jaffna by suspected Army-backed paramilitaries, the Journalists Union in the peninsula has appealed to the international community to defend media freedom in Sri Lanka.

Despite international media watchdogs’ disquiet over threats to Sri Lankan journalists, paramilitaries are openly threatening media workers and civil society activists in the northern peninsula, reporters say.

The journalists appeal was supported by an appeal to the government signed by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Sri Lanka’s largest Tamil party.

In a petition to the United Nations’ Secretary General dated May 9, the Jaffna journalists pleaded for the international community to act to protect media freedom.

“The pen is being silenced by the gun. We ask the entire world why they are silent?” the letter said.

It urged the international community to “take action … rather than merely publish annual reports about journalists’ untimely deaths.”

“We media personnel make this request to the world at large,” the letter said. “We humbly ask you to take measures to save journalists’ lives and protect democracy in Sri Lanka.”

The Jaffna-based Tamil News Information Centre (TNIC), a registered association of established by academics, lawyers, former parliamentarians and senior journalists said Army-backed paramilitaries are systematically targeting Tamil journalists.

Journalists critical of government policy and those reporting on activities of the paramilitaries, are being named and openly threatened on the Army-run radio station in Jaffna, it said.

Some of those named on the Army radio have subsequently been shot dead in the garrison town.

The TNIC, among other civil society organisations in Jaffna, has been involved in probing abductions of youth and social activists in Jaffna and releasing gathered information and evidence to media.

The Jaffna journalists’ petition was handed over to UN officials on May 7, after a protest march in Vanni to condemn the most recent killing of a Tamil journalist, Selvarajah Rajivarman.

Rajivarman worked for the Uthayan newspaper, whose staff and offices have repeatedly been attacked by Army-backed paramilitaries, including those from the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP).

The EPDP is a parliamentary ally of President Rajapakse and its cadres operate alongside the Sri Lankan military in counter-insurgency against the Tamil Tigers.

EPDP members were suspected in the murder of journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan in 2000 and last year's murder of the three Uthayan employees, the international watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) said in a statement on May 1.

Rajivarman as the second journalist to be killed in a government-controlled area in the past few weeks and is the third member of TNIC to be killed in Jaffna the past few months.

The organization lamented the killings were continuing “despite all the complaints and pleas made to Human Rights Commission, Sri Lankan Police and International Human Rights organizations regarding the public threat issued to TNIC workers.”

Last month RSF criticized the Sri Lankan government for contributing to the climate of terror.

"The impunity reigning in the east and north encourages the militias and death squads to continue their human rights violations. The government, several of whose members regularly threaten the press and human rights activists, is partly to blame for this violence," RSF said.

"The people who murder journalists in Sri Lanka feel so well protected that they carry out fresh murders to mark the anniversaries of their preceding ones," RSF said.

A 31-year old Norwegian citizen of Tamil origin has been reported missing since March 31, after he was questioned by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vavuniya.

Sounthararajan Thambirajah, who has lived in Norway since 1993, had gone to Sri Lanka last year to get married but was trapped in Kilinochchi when violence broke out in August 2006.

Mr. Sounthararajan crossed into Sri Lankan government controlled territory at the end of March this year, a Norwegian daily reported on May 13.

Mr. Sounthararajan has family members in Norway and they have been in continuous communication with the Norwegian mission in Sri Lanka, Klassekampen, the first media to break the story, reported.

The family and Norwegian embassy officials have been working hard to discover Mr. Sounthararajan’s whereabouts, the paper said.

There were some indications that he had been arrested by Sri Lankan authorities until around April 12, the paper quoted the family as saying.

The family had remained tight-lipped until recently as they had been attempting to secure Mr. Sounthararajan’s release. It was only after the failure of all their efforts that the family allowed Tamil activists in Norway to go public, reports said.

There has been no official documentation of the arrest.

The Klassekampen paper quoted Norwegian Foreign Ministry official, Kristin Melsom, as saying that the Norwegian authorities were monitoring the disappearance closely.

However, the Embassy had refused to go into details "due to the nature of the case," the paper said.

The case was a "serious issue" for the Norwegian Embassy and the Embassy officials were continuously briefing the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, the paper reported.

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Oslo had also been approached by the Norwegian authorities two weeks ago, the Klassekampen reported.

This is the first report of a Norwegian national missing in Sri Lanka in a long time, the paper said.

The Tamileelam Child Protection Board has urgently requested the parents of children under 17 who had joined the LTTE and yet to be released, to contact it, with the intention of identifying and releasing underage LTTE cadres.

In an announcement published on May 8 in Eezhanaatham, the Tamil daily circulated in LTTE controlled areas, the Board said it had been “expeditiously reuniting children born in 1990 and after with their parents,”

“The Board is acting on the basis of information received from parents and other organizations, and from the data collected by the Board,” it said.

The advertisement called for “all parents who have children born in 1990 and after, and yet to be released from the organization [LTTE], to provide the details of their children” to a contact in Paravippaagnchaan, Kilinochchi, so that they could be identified and released.

“The Tamileelam Child Protection Board has been responsible for the execution of the provisions of the Tamileelam Child Protection Act 2006 which came into force in January 2006,” the announcement states.

“As one of the main functions, the Board identifies under-age recruits, obtains their release, and reunites them with their families,” it added.

The Tamileelam Child Protection Act No. 03 of 2006 outlaws the enlisting of children under 17 years in Armed forces and makes participation of under 18-year olds in armed combat illegal.

The legislation enacted by the Tamileelam Legislature Secretariat, and which became effective on October 15 2006, brings into law measures to protect the rights and well-being of children from inception through to adolescence.

The Act, containing 83 sections, makes education compulsory up to grade 11, mandates registration of all births, outlaws enlisting of children under 17 years in armed forces, makes participation of under 18-year olds in armed combat illegal, and proscribes all forms of child labour.

Human rights officials dismissed reports in Sri Lankan papers that 200 children had been handed over by Jaffna parents to protect them from being abducted by the Liberation Tigers.

Officials at the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commissions (SLHRC) called the story in the Daily Mirror newspaper a blatant lie.

The Daily Mirror had reported that parents in Jaffna “handed over some 200 children” to the SLHRC and they “are now accommodated in a special building in Jaffna following a court order”.

Jaffna SLHRC officials also criticised the paper for false reporting, saying the member cited in the article is a Sinahalese who used to be part of the organisation but is no longer in Jaffna.

The news story was written in a language giving an impression that the said official is still attached to the SLHRC Jaffna office, they said.

The paper quoted former Supreme Court judge Dharmasiri Jayawickrama, as telling the media “these children, whose parents had feared that they would be abducted by the LTTE, are being cared for by Prisons officials.”

The building where the children are now accommodated is fast becoming inadequate and the HRC is looking for a new building, the paper reported him as saying.

Nothing of this nature has ever happened, SLHRC officials in Jaffna said.

They admit that more than 72 youths and young family men have sought safety with them and been placed in protective custody in Jaffna prison.

But the Jaffna officials say these men have sought their protection fearing that they could be abducted or killed by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the paramilitary cadres collaborating with them.

13 May

● A Buddhist monk who worked for peaceful coexistence among ethnic communities, was shot and killed in Trincomalee. Venerable Nandaratena Thera, the Chief Priest of the Mahadiulwewa Buddhist Rajamaha Vihare in Morawewa, Trincomalee, had participated in many events, including Pongu Tamil in 2005 in the eastern port town. The assassins went to the Vihare by motor cycle, called the priest out and fired at him, fleeing the scene immediately after the shooting. Morawewa and Mahadiulwewa were earlier known as Muthalikulam and Maha Vilankulam in Tamil. Both were traditional Tamil areas until successive governments implemented state aided colonization schemes in Trincomalee. Both villages are now Sinhalese dominated and their names have also been changed from Tamil into Sinhala.

● The SLA imposed restrictions on the sale of fuel in Mannar district. Fuel stations in Mannar town were ordered to sell a maximum of five litres of diesel to each vehicle and three litres of petrol to each motor cycle on any given day. Residents are allowed buy five litres of kerosene per day for domestic purposes. The fuel stations were further instructed not to sell fuel in plastic containers.

● More than 600 SLA soldiers cordoned off a large area in Kaithady, Jaffna, and conducted house-to-house search. Local residents were asked to remain inside their houses until the operation was completed. Locals were body searched and national identity cards for young men and women were examined. No one was arrested during the operations.

● SLA troopers on night patrol shot dead a security guard at Chandilipai, Jaffna. The SLA claimed they shot Nagarasa Wijayakumar, 32, a family man from Manipai, employed as a night security guard at the Divisional Secretariat, when he failed to stop at their command and tried to flee. They also said they recovered a hand grenade from his body.

● Armed men shot dead a youth at his house in Kanakipuram in Akkaraipattu, Amparai. Murugesupillai Ananthan, 22, a labourer and the father of two, was called out of his house and shot.

● SLA troopers opened fire on civilians fishing in a lake at Thampanam Veli, along the Chengkaladi-Badulla road in Batticaloa, seriously wounding a youth from the refugee camp at Aiyangeani village in Eravur. His father narrowly escaped injuries. Saravanapavan Pirabu, 18, is an IDP, displaced from Pankudaveli, in LTTE held territory, when the SLA launched offensives on his village. He and his father Nesathurai Sarvanapavan, 37, had been fishing in the lake when they were fired at. Many civilians from villages like Koduvamadu and Thampanam had to flee their villages as the SLA established new camps in these areas.

12 May

● The body of a youth, estimated to be about 25 years, was found along V.H Lane in Irupaalai East, Jaffna. The body had several gunshot wounds to the head and upper body, and was dressed in black trousers and a brown shirt. Residents speculated that the youth was killed in another location and the body dumped at Irupaalai. They added that sounds of vehicular activity were heard late the previous night from that location.

● Armed men in a white van forcibly abducted a youth from Vaddukoddai, Jaffna. Rasalingam Nagarajah, 22, originally from Thoppukadu, Karainagar, was abducted from his temporary residence in Vaddukkoddai, in the presence of his father.

● A postman working at the Kaithadi post office disappeared on his way to work by bus. SLA troopers had taken postman Subramaniam Sivatharsan, 28, for investigation the previous day and he was released after being severely tortured. The troopers confiscated his motor cycle and his National Identity card before releasing him, forcing him to take the bus to work the next day, during which time he disappeared.

● Regular prayers and religious functions in Hindu Temples in Velanai, Kayts, and in the other Jaffna islets in general, have come to a standstill following the killing of the main priest in one temple and the arrests of the chief priest and custodian of another temple in Velanai by the SLN in late April, early May. Hindu priests who attend to the temple poojas and serve as key social facilitators for religiously conservative residents of rural Tamil villages, are increasingly fearful of the harassment and ire directed against them by the SLN, and are refusing to attend to temple activities. Many priests have relocated to other areas, fearing for their lives. Ratnasabapathy Aiyar Somaskantha Kurukkal, 60, chief priest of Mudippillaiyar Hindu Temple was shot dead by SLN soldiers on 30 April. Subsequently, on May 3, SLN soldiers arrested the chief priest and the Trustee Board Chairman of Perunkulam Muththumaariamman Hindu temple at Velanai following alleged discovery of ammunition at the temple premises.

11 May

● Sivaraj Paheerathan, a Jaffna University student kept in remand since his arrest on August 18, was released by the Colombo Chief Magistrate following a report from the Attorney General that there was no evidence to charge him under the Emergency Regulations or to detain him under the PTA. Paheerathan was taken into custody from the office of the Jaffna University Students Union, in the premises of Jaffna University, during a cordon and search operation by the SLA in the area. The SLA claimed he was in possession of leaflets issued by an organization called Peoples Liberation Army at the time of arrest. Later he was handed over to the Kankesanthurai Police, from where he was airlifted to Colombo.

● Armed men in a white van forcibly abducted a disabled family man from Kalaivani Road in Pandaitharippu, Jaffna. Theiventhiran Ragunathan, 36, of Vadaliyadaippu, had been living with relatives after being displaced from his home due to SLA offensives.

● Gnanaseelan Asokan, 24, of Nallur, Jaffna went missing on May 11 after going to Nallur temple to pray.

● An auto driver who disappeared on May 4, after going to Kokkuvil SLA camp for interrogation, was released by the SLA after being severely tortured in detention. Thurai Tharmalingam, 38, is from Raasa Veethi, Kalviyangkaadu, Jaffna. Kokkuvil SLA camp officials had earlier denied that they arrested Tharmalingam when approached by his wife.

● SLA troopers distributed notices listing the names of principals of leading schools in Jaffna town and some students, branding them members of the LTTE. The notice warned those listed that they would be killed if they failed to give up "terrorist activities." It was signed by a group calling itself 'Tamil Alliance to Save Sri Lanka'.

● The Colombo Chief Magistrate ordered remand until May 17 for a Jaffna Tamil woman charged with failing to register her name with Wellawatte Police. Ms Balasubramaniam Wimala Indra of Jaffna had travelled to Colombo and stayed with relatives in Wellawatte while waiting for documents that would enable her to travel to Germany. During a cordon and search operation she was taken into custody when she failed to produce the registration of her presence in the area with Wellawatte Police. When she was produced in court after 21 days in remand, the Terrorist Intelligence Department argued that she should be remanded until the investigation against her is completed. The Magistrate said that the police had informed her orally and in writing that the woman is suspected to be involved with terrorist activity and that therefore she did not have the authority to discharge the woman or release her on bail.

● Gunmen shot and killed a Samurthi officer at Nattpiddimunai in Kalmunai, Amparai. Yogarasa Thivaharan, 38, a father of one, was rushed to hospital in a critical condition but succumbed to his injuries. Originally from Karaitheevu, Thivaharan had married at Nattpiddimunai and was employed at the Samurthi Tamil Section in Kalmunai. The gunmen called him out of his house and shot him dead.

● A fuel station in Valaichennai, Batticaloa, owned by a Tamil business man, was attacked by a mob of more than 200 Muslims. The station is near the local railway station and is in an area regularly patrolled by Sri Lankan armed forces. The mob attacked the fuel station soon after Friday prayers and caused damages estimated to be more than Rs.500,000. SLA soldiers and traffic policemen were on duty at the time of the incident and Valaichennai police station is 150 metres from the petrol station. The owner, G. Somakanthan, said that even after he reported the impending attack to Valaichennai police, the police did not come to his aid. Only after he informed Batticaloa police chief, did the police intervene to bring the situation under control, he said.

● Three MiG-27 fast attack aircrafts belonging to the SLAF dropped 12 bombs in two sorties on Kaively Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaitheevu, causing damage to civilian residences. Two MiG-27s had dropped eight bombs in the same area the previous day. Local residents trained in safety measures escaped injuries by taking refuge inside bunkers during the air-attacks. Five houses were damaged by the two air attacks. Two 100kg gravity bombs fell near the house of a local resident, Suresh, who was hiding inside the bunker with his two children and escaped unhurt. More than 500 students in nearby Kaively Ganesha Vidiyalayam also scattered and took refuge inside school bunkers at the sound of the aircrafts.

10 May

● Two SLAF MIG fighter jets bombed Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaiththeevu. The MIG bombers flew at a very low altitude, causing panic among the villagers at Karnan Kudiyiruppu.

● Forty-five youths, placed in the protective custody in Jaffna prison after they sought protection fearing death from SLA soldiers and SLA-backed paramilitaries, were produced at Jaffna Magistrate Courts, and are to be released due to deteriorating hygiene conditions in the prison. 34 were released on surety bail of a relative, while nine did not want to leave the safety of the prison. Another two were not allowed bail as there are police cases filed against them.

● Armed men shot dead a building contractor in his house at Puthukkudiyruppu, Valaichennai, Batticaloa. Illayathamby Thayan, 37, a father of two from Puthukkudiyruppu, had worked as a building contractor for more than ten years and his wife is a Samudri Officer at Mangeani village.

● The EPDP paramilitary group led by Siva, operating from a SLA camp at Valaichennai fishing harbour in Batticaloa, is demanding that building contractors in Valaichennai provide bricks, sand and cement to build SLA sentry posts. Some contractors have been called to the EPDP office and had money demanded from them, while others have been threatened in their homes at nights for not complying. Two contractors have left Valaichennai to live in Batticaloa town, fearing for their lives.

● An attacker threw a hand grenade at a refugee camp at Saratha Vidyalayam in Manchaththoduvay, Kathankudi, Batticaola, injuring ten civilians, including four women. The incident occurred as civilians in the refugee camp were watching television outside their tents. The victims have been identified as Kanapathypillai Arasaratnam, Velayutham Segar, Sivarasa Nirmala, Sivarasa Suthagar, Packiyarajah Kalaimathy, Thiyagarajah Sivarasa, Mailvaganam Malini, Sabapathy Rajanikanth, Sinrasa Sinnathamby, and Sasikaran Viyakumar. Nearly 200 families displaced from Muthur and Sampur areas in Trincomalee currently live in temporary tents in the camp.

9 May

● The bodies of five youths, suspected to be paramilitaries belonging to a breakaway faction of the Karuna Group, were recovered buried in Kiran, Eravur, Batticaloa. One of the bodies was identified as that of Sinthujan alias Johnson Jeyakanthan, 31, a key Karuna Group operative. On the same day, gunmen shot and killed Johnson, 56, Sinthujan’s father, at his house in Kalvanchikudi, Batticaloa. P. Sumanathas, another suspected Karuna Group operative, was also abducted from his house in Kolaavillai, Amparai, and killed.

● A Sub Inspector attached to the Vellaaveli STF camp was killed during an attack aimed at SFT troopers in a security patrol in Vellaaveli, Batticaloa. M. P. De Silva, 41, succumbed to his injuries at hospital.

● Armed men in unnumbered vehicles abducted a Tamil youth travelling in a Muthur-to-Batticaloa bound bus

● Five workers were killed and another four injured when a boiler exploded in a rice mill in Saainthamaruthu, Kalmunai, Amparai. Three died on the spot and later two succumbed to burn injuries. A Ceylon Electricity Board transformer near the mill was also badly damaged in the explosion.

● Armed men shot dead Kalikutty Ramanan at Raja-Ela in Kanthalai, Trincomalee.

8 May

● Three men armed with T56 rifles forced their way into the house of Thavarasa Sujitharan, 19, along Kodikaamam-Point Pedro road at Yaththaalai, Varani, Jaffna, and shot him dead at point blank range. Sujitharan tried to escape running inside a room and locking himself but the killers forced open the door and sprayed him with bullets. Sujitharan’s house is in a SLA HSZ where the 52nd Brigade Base is also located.

● The TNA parliamentary group said they would join a peninsula wide school boycott if four Jaffna district high schools students, abducted by armed men the previous Friday, were not released. A consortium of private educational institutions in Jaffna had already urged the abductors to release the students and accused the SLA of complicity in the abductions. A number of student organizations appealed to the students for a peninsula wide boycott of schools, warning that the boycott would continue indefinitely until the students are released.

● Unidentified men in white vans abducted two Tamil youths, both natives of Jaffna, from Colombo. One youth was abducted from a telecommunication centre in Wellawatte. He had been staying in a house at Kalubowila, south of Colombo city. In the second abduction, armed men had dragged the youth from his house at Mayfield place in Kotahena, put him in a vehicle and sped away.

● Vavuniya Police said they shot dead a man, alleged to be a member of the Liberation Tigers, near Pandarikulam Amman temple road in Vavuniya. Two youths opened fire at the police, and one was killed and the other escaped when the police returned fire, the police said.

● The LTTE said they repulsed another Sri Lankan offensive along the Vavuniya Mannar border. The Tigers recovered a dead body of a Sri Lankan trooper and claimed to have seized military hardware, including an AK-LMG, following an intense fight that lasted for 30 minutes. Two LTTE fighters were killed in action. The Sri Lankan troopers, who launched the offensive towards Kurichuddakulam, west of Thampanai, were forced to withdraw after sustaining heavy casualties.

● Marimuththu Kanakamma, a mother of seven, was wounded when two SLAF bombers attacked Karnankudiyiruppu in Puthukkudiyiruppu.

7 May

● SLAF bombers dropped bombs over a fuel storage at Vaddakkachchi, Kiliniochchi. The fuel storage belonged to the Chamber of Commerce of Private Businesses in Kilinochchi. Some houses located in the vicinity of the fuel storage were also damaged in the air strike.

● LTTE officials handed over the bodies of five SLA soldiers, killed in action during a SLA offensive the previous day, to a delegation of the ICRC at Vaddakkandal, where the LTTE Mannar district political secretariat is located. The ICRC delegates then handed the bodies to SLA officials at Uyilangkulam army check point in Sri Lanka government held territory. One AK-LMG, 40 mm rocket gun with shells, seven T-56 automatic rifles, a claymore mine, RPG ammunition, 28 hand grenades and 11 bullet-proof jackets, different ammunitions and military equipments were seized by the Tigers following a search operation in the area.

● All Eravur business establishments, government schools, government offices, and banks shut down demanding the arrest of the arsonists who burnt three shops the previous morning. A consortium of mosques, Muslim organizations, and the Jamiyathul Ulama Board in the area organized the protest. Security was strengthened with a large number of police and STF personnel stationed along the main roads.

● Masked armed men shot dead Poopalapillai Chelvanayagam, 52, a labourer and father of four, outside his residence in Sooriyapuram, Kaluvanchikkudi, Batticaloa, and then fled the scene.

● Gunmen shot dead Mammangam Rasakumar, 30, an IDP employed as a shop assistant, in Koralankerni, Eravur, Batticaloa.

● SLA soldiers cordoned off and search large residential areas in Kokuvil east, Jaffna. Potpathi road, Medical Faculty road, Ka'lngkarai Road, Railway Station Road, and Temple Road areas were subjected to house-to-house search. Youths were subjected to severe interrogation.

● Armed men opened fire on the SLA Udupiddi junction camp and its sentry posts, positioning themselves between Udpuiddi junction and the road to Vathiri in Vadamaradchchi, Jaffna, blocking the road for public traffic. The fire fight lasted nearly fifteen minutes, and the attackers escaped after the exchange of fire.

● Jaffna University students boycotted lectures protesting against unlawful entry by armed men into the campus the previous Saturday morning, who destroyed memorial photographs of students killed in the conflict and stole funds raised by students to support the refugees in the east. Students from all faculties on campus joined the protest.

● TNA Jaffna parliamentarians and Jaffna Technical College (JTC) students made a public appeal calling for the immediate release of four high school students who went missing the previous week. The parliamentarians said failure to free the students, and postponing the creation of an environment conducive to learning, would result in mass protests and demonstrations by the public and student community. The SLA in Jaffna, anticipating student agitation in reaction to the abduction, deployed troopers in large numbers in front of Jaffna schools, conducting checks and blocking outsiders entering the schools.

● The SLA conducted cordon and search operation in Thiriyaai, Trincomalee, following an attack on a group of SLA soldiers the previous night in which one soldier was injured.

● Armed men shot dead a Tamil youth at Manatcheanai, in government held Muthur south, Trincomalee. A group of armed men in a white van dragged S. Sasitharan, 29, out of his house, and fired at him.

● SLA soldiers and police personnel evacuated all employees of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), and conducted an extensive search of the premises after they received a tip off from an unidentified source that a bomb was about to detonate within the offices. Roads leading to the CMC office and its surroundings were temporarily closed for traffic and civilian movements till the search operation was over. Nothing suspicious was found.

Two ‘death notice’ has been issued to students and educational staff across Jaffna, including those at many of the leading schools and Jaffna University.

The second notice listed details of Jaffna University staff and students on a “death list”, and gave "Final Warning" to those involved in "terrorist activities."

It accused those listed of aiding and abetting the Liberation Tigers and was signed by a group calling itself the ‘Tamil Alliance to Save Sri Lanka’.

It was distributed by a group of armed men who had stormed the premises late in the night on May 13. They had put up posters and left pamphlets in Tamil with the title ‘last warning’ issued to some 323 students and staff including the Vice Chancellor and professors of the University.

It was also allegedly being passed around by SLA troopers. However, the SLA denied involvement in the distribution of the notices.

The University campus notice followed an earlier one on May 9, listing mainly school students and principals. The Jaffna Hindu College’s principal was one of four principals on the list.

The notice branded those listed as being members of the Liberation Tigers and warned that they would be killed if they failed to give up "terrorist activities."

“This amnesty is offered because you are students but if you continue to participate in hand grenade attacks, claymore attacks and other such activities, the death sentence passed on you will be carried out without any delay,” said the notice, which was also signed by the ‘Tamil Alliance to Save Sri Lanka’.

Meanwhile, Jaffna Campus safety officers complained to the Vice Chancellor that members of SLA and Sri Lanka’s Military Intelligence division have been entering the Campus and assaulting the security officers during work hours.

Schools were already being boycotted by students demanding the release of four high school students abducted on May 4.

That protest had paralyzed all the schools and educational institutions in the peninsula. But even the few students who attended some of the schools went home when news of the notices spread across the Jaffna district.

The Jaffna University campus was already closed as a result of a previous dispute and is expected to remain closed until the latest threat is addressed by the security forces hierarchy in Jaffna.

Normalcy is impossible until abducted students have been released, a delegation of dignitaries told the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander in Jaffna.

"The immediate release of the abducted students is the only way to bring Jaffna peninsula educational activities back to normalcy," Jaffna Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Savundaranayagam told had said in a special meeting last Wednesday, TamilNet reported.

However, when TamilNet reported the story, the bishop wrote to the Army Commander, denying he had spoken to TamilNet.

“I am writing to you regarding the news item that appeared in the “Tamil Net” on 17th May 2007,” the Bishop wrote.

“The entire news item is said to have been given by the Bishop of Jaffna Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Savundaranayagam. After my return from Palaly I had not spoken to any news media. Hence I deny totally the report ascribed to me by the “Tamil Net”,” he said.

TamilNet, while standing by the story, amended the headline to remove any suggestion that the details of the meeting were conveyed to the agency by the Bishop himself.

“At the press meet, attended by several reporters, Bishop remained silent, and only the other participants to the meeting with the Commander talked to the reporters,” TamilNet corrected.

“TamilNet story was pieced together from two of these attendees and sources close to the Bishop,” the agency said.

The meeting between the Peoples Committee for Peace and Goodwill (PCPG) and SLA Jaffna Commander Maj. Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri inside the Palaali High Security Zone (HSZ) had lasted for more than two hours.

Former Jaffna University Vice-chancellor Prof. P. Balasundarampillai and Mr. S. Paramanathan, representative of the Federation of Public Organizations participated in the meeting the meeting with the SLA Jaffna Commander.

The discussions focussed on the aggravating situation in Jaffna peninsula caused by the abduction of four high school students and the death notices issued to Jaffna University staff, students and some principals of schools allegedly by SLA troopers.

"The educational activities of Jaffna University, resumed after much effort, face the risk of stalling completely due to the death threats made to the University community and unless immediate action is taken matters will worsen," the Rev. Bishop allegedly told the SLA Commander.

The attendees also explored ways to remedy the situation.

TamilNet also noted that it understood why the Bishop felt compelled to write his letter.

“TamilNet wishes to point out that residents in Jaffna district are living in an open prison where abductions, torture and killing have become rampant, and the counter insurgency campaign by the SLA has reached a stage where no private citizen's life is safe,” the agency wrote.

“In this climate of fear, TamilNet understands the reasons for the letter from Bishop who would be under tremendous pressure not to criticize the military.”

Fear and turmoil continue to grip the Jaffna peninsula due the disappearance of and increasing number students disappear, and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) allegedly responds by threatening to censor reports on the abductions.

At least 10 students have been reported missing, another two confirmed as having being killed and at least 2 students released after being tortured by Sri Lanka’s Military Intelligence division in the past two months alone.

Another small number of students also continue to be officially detained by the Sri Lankan forces and other students have sought the protective custody of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC).

Combined with students not attending school from fear over what could happen while they are out of the house, these incidents have severely reduced the number of students attending educational institutions in the Jaffna peninsula and worsened the already poor educational state of the region.

Four high school boys disappeared on May 4. Three boys from Jaffna Hindu College, and another from St John’s College were all taken from their homes by armed men arriving in white vans – generally believed to be either Sri Lankan military personnel not wearing uniform or paramilitary cadres working alongside Sri Lankan military intelligence – who broke into houses and abducted some of the boys in the presence of their parents.

"I strongly condemn the SLA personnel intimidating the Jaffna media not to publish any news of the student agitation calling for the immediate release of the four students," S. Gajenthiran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna parliamentarian said.

“This is a gross violation of the freedom of the press,” he added.

“The SLA again intimidating media persons after the recent killing of journalist Selvarajah Rajitharan is highly deplorable,” the MP noted.

A consortium of private educational institutions in Jaffna had urged the abductors to release the students and accused the SLA of complicity in the abductions.

A number of student organizations also appealed to the students for a peninsula wide boycott of schools, and the students responded by staying away in droves.

However, anticipating student agitation in reaction to the abductions, the SLA in Jaffna had deployed troopers in large numbers in front of schools and were conducting checks and blocking outsiders entering the schools.

On April 23, a student from Jaffna Technical College disappeared while on his way to college.

Also in April, two students had sought protection from the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC), saying they feared for their lives. An 18-year-old claimed that armed men in white vans came to his house several times during the night, with the intention of abducting him. A 16-year-old said his father had been summoned to the SLA civil administration office and ordered to hand him over to the SLA.

Another 16-year-old student and his family sought protection with the SLHRC on April 19, after the boy’s brother had been arrested the previous week. The family had been harassed by the SLA after the arrest, and they feared for their safety.

On April 16, a Jaffna University undergraduate student was released after being detained and severely tortured by Sri Lankan Military Intelligence. He was pushed out of a white van alongside a road three days after he disappeared.

And another University student was released on April 10, again after being tortured. The Arts faculty student had been waylaid outside his home and abducted by Sri Lankan Military Intelligence personnel the previous day. He was interrogated and tortured in a military camp before being dumped out of a white van alongside a road.

And on March 31, a 19-year-old student disappeared after leaving his house at Colombuthurai in Jaffna to take care of some personal errands.

Meanwhile, on Saturday May 5, armed men in civil clothes forcibly entered the Jaffna University campus, injuring the security guard.

The gang had remained inside and the vicinity of Jaffna campus for several hours and allegedly destroyed memorial photographs of students killed in the conflict.

The men also allegedly stole funds raised by the students to support refugees in the east.

The following Monday Jaffna University students boycotted lectures protesting against the invasion.

The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that students from outside the Jaffna peninsula are allegedly considering leaving the region.

Jaffna University administrative officers have expressed concern that another exodus would only further worsen the academic situation, and could even bring into question the viability of the institution. The University Senate held a special meeting last Friday to discuss the abductions and the death threat issued to staff and students.

As far back as January, the Jaffna University Students’ Union had been appealing to Sri Lankan government authorities and the international community to ensure the safety of students.

The statement also called on the authorities to create a “safe, free and conducive atmosphere” for educational activities in the Jaffna district and urged them to take steps to investigate the whereabouts of those who had been abducted.

In that month, a Hartley College student and a Velayutham Boys’ School student, both from Point Pedro, also disappeared. Their parents have been reported as saying they suspect the SLA of being behind the disappearances.

The University Student’s Union also noted that between August 2006 and January, one undergraduate, two technical college students, and five secondary school students had been killed, in addition to the abduction and disappearance of many other students.

The Sri Lanka Army’s refusal to open the Omanthai checkpoint, on the main A9 route between LTTE controlled territory and Vavuniya town, is endangering the lives of the sick, LTTE officials charged.

"The SLA is adamantly against opening of the A9 land route but we continue to make efforts to have the A9 opened so that people are given the freedom to travel," LTTE Vavuniya political head, Gnanam told TamilNet after discussions with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Friday.

A large number patients in need of urgent medical treatment are being prevented from getting help due to the SLA closure of the A9, he explained.

Several lorries loaded with commodities are also stuck at the checkpoint, he said.

“We are ready to re-open the checkpoint, but we can’t do it until ICRC agrees,” military Spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe told the Daily Mirror Friday.

“Therefore we asked ICRC to take up the matter with the Tigers as thousands of people are suffering,” he said.

The ICRC urged both the military and the LTTE to guarantee the security at the Omanthai checkpoint to facilitate free civilian movement.

“Discussions are underway with both parties on finding ways to resolve the issue which is creating a major problem,” ICRC spokesman Davide Vignati said.

On Thursday morning, the ICRC temporarily withdrew from the Omanthai entry and exit point following heavy shelling in the vicinity.

Kilinochchi hospital faced a crisis when the SLA closed the entry-exit check point at Oamanthai, as patients scheduled to be taken to Vavuniya for urgent treatment could not be transferred.

Three infants, including a one day old, are under artificial breathing, and need immediate medical attendance, hospital officials said.

Twelve children below the age 12, and six pregnant mothers have to be taken to Vavuniya for treatment not available in Kilinochchi, but cannot travel, they added.

Swaminathan Selvasothy, 35, of Navvi, Vavuniya, injured in SLA shelling Thursday and waiting for treatment, is an example of those waiting to travel for medical treatment.