A protest was held outside the Kilinochchi District office calling for the immediate release of Jaffna University students along with civilians who are in detention centres.

Protesters shouted slogans and carried placards that said “release Jaffna University students immediately” and “Military get out”. 

Tamil National Alliance MP Suresh Premachandran, TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and other politicians from other political perties were present.

See the report from Uthayan here.

The home of the youth coordinator for the TNA on the islets in Jaffna has been targeted by a grenade attack, reported TamilNet on Tuesday.

Nishanthan, who is a former EPDP member, said he escaped the attack as the grenade hit a tree outside the house.

The young politician left the pro-government EPDP after discovering fraud in the municipal council of Jaffna, where he was elected for the EPDP.

For more details see report on TamilNet here.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) expressed ‘severe dissatisfaction’ with the comments made in Parliament by TNA leader Sampanthan.

The TNPF questioned why, if the TNA did not demand complete demilitarisation in the North-East, had TNA parliamentarians participated in protests calling for withdrawal of the army and signed a statement demanding demilitarisation in New Delhi in August 2011.

TNPF went on to accuse the TNA of acting falsely for the sake of winning the support of the Tamil people, and asserted that as parties forming the alliance and other TNA parliamentarians had not spoken out against Sampanthan’s statements, they must be assumed to agree with them.

Criticising Sampanthan for ‘undermining the Tamil people’s liberation struggle’ by portraying to the LTTE as terrorists. The TNPF stated that Sampanthan’s comments ammounted to justifications of the ‘war on terror’ argument offered up by the Rajapakse regime.

Extracts from the press release:

“Tamils see the Sri Lankan Army, which is 99% Sinhalese, as an occupational army. Reason being, this army is the prevalent tool employed in the Sri Lankan state’s scheme to destroy the existence of the Tamil nation.”

“Mr Sampanthan’s comments emphasising the reduction of military presence rather than demilitarisation is a sign of support for those forces that yearn to break the spirit of Tamil nationalism.”

“To the TNPF, it is irrelevant whether there are 150 soldiers or 150000 soldiers stationed. Rather than the question of how many soldiers, we are concerned more importantly by what mandate has been given to their presence in the Tamil homelands. This is our party has stuck by the justified stance that all military must withdraw from native Tamil regions.”

“Today’s most urgent need is to free the Tamil people of the constant destruction they face at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army. Instead of doing that, the TNA has done something which would push [the nation] irretrievably into the clutches of the military.”

“That [the LTTE] were destroyed by their own lack of human rights and democracy are not comments spoken out of the ignorance of long-experienced politician Sampanthan. Rather they are opinions expressed to fulfil the agenda of the anti-Tamil nation forces which he depends on.”

“At a time when a UN report has caused close global scrutiny of the conduct of Sri Lanka in the war, Mr Sampanthan has created an opportunity for Rajapaksa to again escape the possibility of an international investigation, as well as seeming to attempt to destroy the Tamil people’s few constructive opportunities in the current global atmosphere.”

The Ceylon Petroleum Company has stated that Sri Lanka still has not been able to obtain any crude oil from Iran, despite being granted a waiver from US sanctions.

Speaking to the Sunday Times Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Managing Director L.E. Susantha Silva said that despite the waiver, banks still refused to open letters of credit and insurance companies would not provide any cover for ships to transport the oil.

He further said that Sri Lankan banks were too afraid of being blacklisted by the US to risk opening up letters of credit.

His comments come after the United States announced they granted Sri Lanka a further waiver from sanctions against Iran as they reduce imports.

He said,

“After June (when the first waiver was granted), we had only one shipment from Iran,”

"The problem was that we couldn’t open letters of credit and there was no insurance; so ships couldn’t travel”.

Whilst seven students are reported to have been released today, three students are believed to have been arrested and detained at Joseph camp in Vavuniya, notorious for reports of torture.

Tamils in London protested on Monday against the on-going intimidation and arrest of Jaffna University students.

The protest, organised by British Tamil Forum (BTF), was held outside the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 10th December to coincide with International Human Rights Day.

The Canadian MP for Kitchener Centre, Stephen Woodworth, reiterated his concerns over the human rights situation in the North-East, drawing attention to the recent incidents at the University of Jaffna.

In a statement, Woodworth said:

“Parliamentarians have the responsibility to make it our first priority to raise our voice in support of every person’s fundamental human rights,”

“I would like to extend my thoughts and prayers towards all those that have been affected by the latest violent attacks and I urge the international community to call on the Sri Lankan Government to put in place measures to ensure the protection of human rights.”

Indian officials have expressed concerns about recent moves by Sri Lanka which increased duty on Indian vehicle import into the country.

Sri Lanka has increased the duties for imports of vehicles from India, while giving exemptions to imports from Japan, reported the Sunday Times last month.

The paper also reported that a Chinese company was given clearance to set up a car plant.

A spokesperson for the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said Sri Lanka has nearly doubled the import tax on vehicles manufactured in India, and if reports about the Chinese plant proved correct, vehicles could be imported into India tax free due to the South Asian Free Trade Agreement.

“This effectively means the Chinese company setting up a plant in Sri Lanka can export automobiles to India at zero import duty. If that happens, we will be hit from all sides,” said a SIAM official.

The Indian government has said it will attempt to work through diplomatic channels to bring down import duties.

“India is mulling various options to deal with the situation. One of the options is to approach purely diplomatically, and request the Sri Lankan Government because it is a win-win situation if they cut down the tariff,” Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, Rajeev Kher told reporters in Delhi.

“Sri Lanka is a very important market as far as cars and commercial vehicles are concerned. Obviously, we are concerned about it. We believe that the very substantial rise in import tariff in Sri Lanka is going to adversely affect our car exports to that country,” he added.

Over 13% of Indian cars are exported to Sri Lanka. The Indian vehicle industry is reported to have now scrapped plans to organising a car exhibition on the island.

Meanwhile, the Indian government said in a statement it is conducting military training exercises with the Sri Lankan Army and “is pursuing an approach keeping in view all aspects of national interest”.

“Short-term and long-term training programmes, in technical and non-technical streams are conducted for Armed Forces personnel of foreign countries including Sri Lanka,” said the statement.

8 Tamil Nadu fishermen were injured after yet another attack by the Sri Lankan Navy, allegedly taking place off the coast of Talaimannar.

The fishermen alleged that the Sri lankan Navy personnel fired shots in the iar before proceeding to snap nets on at least 5 boats. The fishermen have now returned to Rameswaran and with some admitted into hosiptal.

The attacks come as the Sri Lankan Navy celebrated its 62nd anniversary. On their website they announced that they remained,

"committed to defend the Motherland, being the “Golden Fence around the Nation” with the noble resolve of “Country first” foremost in its mission, fortified with honesty, discipline, loyalty and professionalism."

Bruce Haigh, a former Australian diplomat who served in Sri Lanka and a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal, has written, slamming Australia for being complicit in the genocide of Tamils and called for the country to cut sporting ties with the country.

His comments come as the Sri Lankan cricket team begin their tour of Australia. 

Extracts have been reproduced below. See the full piece here.

"Who would have thought that in 17 years, Australia could have gone from being a leading champion in the global fight to end the racial discrimination of apartheid to siding with the corrupt and venal government of Sri Lanka in the genocide of Tamils."

"Australia has become complicit in the genocide of Sri Lanka's Tamil minority. Asylum seekers that arrive in Australia are being given no opportunity to make a statement of claims. Acting on the advice of the Sri Lankan government, they are being returned to Sri Lanka on the basis that they have no claims. Any claim they make is regarded as spurious."

"Six hundred Sri Lankan asylum seekers have been removed from Australia since August. Refugee advocates refer to what is occurring to the asylum seekers as refoulement."

"Refoulement is against Australian and international law. It occurs when a state or organisation returns an asylum seeker or refugee to a place, ''… where his (sic) life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion''. The avoidance of refoulement is a basic tenet of refugee law." 

"The issue for Australians to ponder is this; the object of cruel political expediency may be people without citizenship at the moment, but how long will it be before some among us might be declared a threat to state security and targeted and persecuted for perceived political gain. Given what is occurring at the moment, it is not much of a jump."

"The Sri Lanka cricket team are touring Australia until January 28. The season kicks off in Canberra and includes Tests in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney, plus one-day games. There was a time when Australia boycotted sport, in particular cricket, with countries that abused human rights, including South Africa and Zimbabwe. Why are we playing cricket with Sri Lanka?"

Australians call for a boycott of the Sri Lankan national cricket team’s tour of Australia due to the country's poor human rights record, reported the Brisbane Times.

The Tamil Refugee Council and Refugee Action Collective in Victoria have been pushing for a boycott ahead of the first Test, due to take place this week.

In an open letter, both groups stated,

“There will be a stain of injustice that won’t wash out of cricket whites if the human rights abuses of the ruling Sri Lankan regime pass unremarked,”

Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Australia, Mr Samarasinghe, dismissed the calls for a boycott as unworthy of attention, claiming that those calling for boycotts had vested interests.

The two refugee organisations defended their action, stating,

“Sporting boycotts have been important in building international pressure against cruel regimes and human rights abuses before. There is no good reason Sri Lanka should escape this pressure.”

The United States has granted extensions on waivers of US sanctions placed on Iran to 20 countries, including Sri Lanka.

The waivers, originally granted in June, mean that these countries will not be hit with penalties by the US, as they continue to reduce their imports of iranian oil.

Other countries who were granted extensions on waivers include China, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and Taiwan, Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Japan.

Announcing the waivers, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said,

"The message to the Iranian regime from the international community is clear: take concrete actions to satisfy the concerns of the international community through negotiations with the (five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany), or face increasing isolation and pressure."