“Tamils have consistently made it clear that a unitary constitution and a provincial council system within the confines of a unitary constitution are incapable of fulfilling their political aspirations... There can be no doubt that a Tamil political party with a Tamil Nationalist dispensation can never run a provincial council autonomously, something that even Tamil parties aligned with the Government could not achieve.”

“That the people want to use elections as a vehicle through which they could express their anger and frustration against the oppression being meted out against them is understandable. On the one hand, while elections might be an opportunity to demonstrate such opposition and anger, on the other hand it is important to also take into account the political costs of taking part in an election.”

“The Tamil people will never allow the bartering away of their political fundamentals for the sake of attaining an  immediate political strategic objective – that of preventing a Government backed Tamil political party capturing the provincial council in the Eastern Province.”

1.    The present unitary constitution and the provincil council system within such confines should be rejected. The 13th amendment cannot be even considered to be a starting point towards achieving a political solution.

2.    The North and East are the traditional homelands of the Tamil speaking peoples. Any political solution should recognise a merged North and East as the relevant territorial unit. The confidence of the Muslim people should be sought to make this a reality. It is important that the Muslims and Tamils realise that working together is essential to safeguard the existence of both communities.

3.    A permanent political solution can only be attained by recognising the right to self determination of the Tamil people and by recognising Tamil Nationhood. There is no point in a political process that refuses to acknowledge the above.

4.    Despite four months since passing the Geneva resolution injustices and oppression against the Tamil people have not reduced, rather they have increased. The land grab project continuing unabatted, Tamil political prisoners continuing to linger in prison, lack of any progress in tracing missing persons, the continuous destruction of the economic and cultural fundamentals of the Tamil nation, the ever increasing role of the military in the daily lives of the Tamil people, the ever increasing interference into the independence of different sectors of life including education, higher education, health, agriculture and fisheries, the conversion of high security zones into permanent high security zones (including the Sampur High Security Zone), a significant number of Tamils continuing to live as displaced people in IDP camps, the continuous neglect of the livelihood of those resettled are examples of these injustices and oppressive practices. Further there is no progress in holding accountable those responsible for the genocide and war crimes committed against the Tamil people. The International Community has to realise that solutions to these problems cannot be found using the LLRC report as a road map. Both the report and the action plan have been designed to hoodwink the International community and to buy further time. The International Community has to realise that such time is being sort to provide space for the Government to complete its project of destroying the existence of the Tamil people.

"It is very important that our rejection of the provincial council system and a demerged North and East is clearly communicated to the International Community."

“But I must tell you, very rarely do we get cases where abuse is committed by force, violent abuse… where, let’s say,  a girl is dragged into some place and raped. Those cases are very rare and we need to view them very seriously.”

“In a situation not like that we see that the boy is about 18 and the girl is about 15… All those cases are also reported as cases of child abuse. But actually those are not cases where any sort of violence is involved.”

Speaking at the International Cuban Solidarity Day held in Colombo, the minister for housing and construction, Wimal Weerawansa said, 

“The country which is the most insecure in this world is US. They live with an insecure mentality. That is why the American police have imprisoned five Cuban patriots while labelling them as terrorists when those people have done nothing wrong.”

See more from Minister Weerawamsa here:

US will take over Sri Lanka warns Weerawamsa (05 Jun 2012)

SL Minister: ‘Americans are trying to kill me’ (20 March 2012)

SL Minister urges boycott of Google (13 March 2012)

TNA MP and TELO political coordinator, Sivajalingam, was arrested and detained by the Sri Lankan Army on Thursday for remembering the massacre of political prisoners at Welikade prison during the 1983 pogrom, reported TamilNet. 

Posters had been put up remembering the 54 Tamil prisoners that were killed by their Sinhala inmates, including TELO leaders, Kuddimani and Thangathurai. 

According to TamilNet Sivajalingam was later released at Nelliyadi but warned 'not ‘antagonize’ the military officers of the SL military'. 

See here for full story on TamilNet.

"When you start deporting, then this problem will ease for us,"

"Sending just one man back from Australia will not help. More than 1500 Sri Lankans have landed in Australia in the last six months. What are you going to do with them? Screen them one by one?"

“It [the request] is the international equivalent of an urgent legal injunction.’

“We assumed that the threat came from Sinhalese extremists.”

“We were at different times made aware of the threats, and also had access to highly classified information on the situation in Sri Lanka.”

“Throughout the whole time in Sri Lanka we were aware that we were vulnerable. Sri Lanka is probably the only place where we are vulnerable precisely because we are Norwegians.”

“It may have been [for me], it is impossible for me to know. I perceived it as a warning to Norway.”

“Tamils do not have equal rights,”

“That question is still unsolved and if unresolved, the conflict will break out again in new forms in the future.”

Paramilitary operatives are reportedly intimidating and threatening voters in the district of Batticaloa, TamilNet reported.

Voters have been threatened that they will be driven out of the area if they are found to be voting for the TNA (Tamil National Alliance) party at the forthcoming election to the eastern provincial council.

The armed men under the direction Pillayan’s TMVP, a constituent of the ruling party, UPFA (United People’s Freedom Alliance), have been roaming the village of Vaakarai, where over 7,500 Tamils are eligible to vote in the elections.

Paramilitaries have been using intimidation tactics to influence the outcome of elections since 2008 according to the TamilNet report.

The group is also thought to be behind several robberies in the area. Despite several complaints, no action has been taken against those responsible.

The first Tamil asylum seeker to be deported from Australia since the end of the 2009 massacre, Dayan Anthony, has withdrawn all claims of torture and mistreatment by Sri Lankan authorities , immediately after being released from 16 hours of interrogation in Sri Lankan police custody.

Mr Anthony was released from Sri Lankan police custody and was presented at a media conference, warning of the ‘dangers’ of getting involved with people smugglers.

Despite being made to attend a media conference immediately after 16 hours of interrogation, Mr Anthony insisted that he had been ‘well-treated’ by the Sri Lankan police custody.

Mr Anthony initially said he had been kidnapped and tortured in 2009 after being forced into one of Sri Lanka’s infamous white vans, and was seeking asylum in Australia before his deportation.

Speaking to a UN special rapporteur on torture last year, he gave credible evidence of torture and claimed that he still suffered pains from the incidents.

Under the gaze of the Sri Lankan authority, Mr Anthony has fully withdrawn all claims of torture.

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Anthony said, “I don’t have a back problem, I don’t have psychological problems. I’m okay. I feel okay.”

He went on to say, that Australia was a racist country and the white Australia policy remained a truism.

The Australia Tamil Congress spokesman, Dr Bala Vigneswaran, conveyed deep concern at the current situation, stating that it was obvious that Mr Anthony had been coached by Sri Lankan officials during the marathon interrogation.

Speaking on the issue he said, "They coach people before they put people to public media. It should look obvious to normal thinking people, that this sounds fishy.”

“When you read through the lines, you can see there are issues. And why would you need 16 hours for interrogation, if the person is making up stories?”

The spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul, said the sudden withdrawals by Mr Anthony of his past claims were ‘suspicious’.

Ian Rintoul echoed the Australian Tamil Congress’ view. Rintoul said, “I think it’s fairly clear that any recantation is a result of duress”

Mr Anthony was deported from Australia amidst grave concerns about his safety and mental stability, with several human rights organisations condemning the decision.

Ceylon Petroleum Corp, the Sri Lankan state-owned oil company, failed in its appeal to have a London court ruling over turned.

The ruling last year ordered the company to pay $162 million plus interest for non-payment of dues to Standard Chartered Bank.

The company appealed against the ruling; however government officials announced on Friday that this had failed.

"It has been reported that the order is against us," the island nation's Attorney General Palitha Fernando told Reuters.

"First of all we have to see what the order was, then we are looking at (the) possibilities of appealing in the House of Lords."

Ceypetco refused to make hedging payments to five banks including Standard Chartered, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, reported Reuters.

The company, which imported around 26 million barrels of crude oil, costing $2 billion in 2007, was required to hedge its purchases.

The price crash in 2008, which saw oil prices drop from $147 to $40 in five months made Ceypetco liable for hedging payments to the banks.