The Sri Lankan military in Jaffna has evicted more than 279 families from their homes and occupied their land, reports TamilNet. Civil society sources in the north report that military personnel are silently evicting people from their homes in Maathakal, an area that is outside the former ‘High Security Zone’.

See here and here.

The southern capital Colombo has also declared Thiruvadi-nilai and a surrounding perimeter around the coastal spot as a ‘Holy Zone’. Furthermore, the Sri Lankan Navy have refused entry to local people of the area to lands that are not even situated in the ‘Holy Zone’ perimeter. Eelam Tamils are not allowed to visit Thiruvadi-nilai, where a Buddhist stupa was erected at the end of the war. Currently, only Sinhala visitors are allowed to visit the ‘holy zone’.

The SL navy has also occupied vast areas of land, commencing the construction of hundreds of houses along the strip for the families of the military personnel. The region has also been converted to a military cantonment, with the presence of a newly established naval base.

Despite the clearing of land mines, civilians remain unable to return home do the presence of the navy. According to TamilNet, civilians have witnessed the navy planting new landmines in the area.

The events take place amidst the repeated protests of the Maathakal residents against the military land grab.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the Sri Lankan Army's chief, Lt. General Jagath Jayasuriya, gave his take on the army's role in the North-East and rejected any criticism of the army camps as "not anybody else's" problem.

Jayasuriya said,

"It's not correct to say that there is one soldier for every five citizens in the north,"

"Like any other country we have camps and nobody can say a country cannot have camps,"

"Where the army deploys camps is my problem, not anybody else's,"

Defending the army's encroachment on civilian life, he added, 

"The Army is already in the barracks. When we are called upon we go,"

"Like any other army we were engaged in post conflict action to help the government machinery to restore everything back to normal, we are glad to say we have done that in three years."

"Reconstruction work we do it beyond civilian capacity. We do it faster and I'm sure people appreciate it,"

"We got involved in all aspects in the post war and that is the role of any army,"

"Armies are there to fight and restore normalcy. We are going to talk about our experiences and learn from other international military representatives at the seminar"

The British High Commissioner, John Rankin, urged the government to investigate disappearances and resolve the "complex" land issues that remain.

In a statement released on Friday, Rankin said,

"I have seen some of the continuing challenges faced by people after so many years of conflict and displacement. Land issues built up over decades remain complex; some people do not know what happened to lost loved ones; and many women heads of household face difficulties playing the dual roles of bread winner and care provider,"

"I hope post-conflict issues can be further resolved in the context of continuing reconciliation and development processes. The British government will continue to assist in such efforts, in support of peace, security and prosperity for the Sri Lankan people."

Citing a "challenge [to] the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India", the Indian government extended its ban on the LTTE for another two years. In a statement, the home ministry added that the LTTE held a strong anti-India stance and pro-LTTE groups 'continued to foster a separatist tendency' among the Indian masses.

See here and here.

The ministry said that the LTTE’s goal of achieving Tamil Eelam, a separate homeland for all Tamils, along with their enhanced support base in Tamil Nadu was a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.

"The diaspora continue to spread, through articles in the internet portals, anti-India feeling among the Sri Lankan Tamils by holding the top Indian political leaders and bureaucrats responsible for the defeat of the LTTE," the statement said.

The joint secretary, Dharmendra Sharma, added,

"The LTTE continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture as also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals, it is necessary to declare LTTE as an 'unlawful association' with immediate effect."

The ban is now in place till 31st May 2014.

In her continuing campaign to expel Sri Lankan Air Force personnel from India, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has attacked both the Indian government for being meek and DMK president M Karunanidhi's duplicity on the issue.

In a statement made on Friday she had said of Delhi:

"It is regrettable that India, instead of leaping like a tiger is cowering like a mouse before the Sri Lankan government."

See here and here.

The CM went on to express her views on Karunanidhi by saying:

“If he is genuinely concerned about the Tamil race, Mr. Karunanidhi, who is backing the Centre to the hilt, should have urged the Union government to return the Air Force personnel to Sri Lanka.

"[However,] no one would be surprised over the conduct of Mr. Karunanidhi, who would otherwise get things done by threatening the Central government on matters concerning himself and his family, for not doing anything for the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils.”

Uproar continues over Indian training of Sri Lankan Air Force (08 Jul 2012)

Sri Lanka’s second International Defence Seminar will be held from August 8-10 in Colombo, Army Commander Brigadier Jagath Jayasuriya announced on Wednesday.

The conference has been themed ‘Towards Lasting Peace and Stability’ and will focus on ‘post-war 5Rs’ – rehabilitation, re-integration, re-construction, resettlement and reconciliation.

The keynote speaker will be none other than Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who has very recently been in the media spotlight for his rhetoric skills.

Colombo Page said over 100 foreign delegates including former combatants, war-affected communities, political leaders, state officials and academics, from 63 countries are expected to participate.

The Daily Mirror reports that in a press conference on the seminar, Jayasuriya had said:

“No one can challenge or dispute the right of the Army to be serving anywhere in the country. It is their prerogative and area of responsibility.

"The public in Jaffna overwhelmingly support the Army presence and they know very well it is the Army who will come to their help in the event of any emergency.

"I don’t think the Jaffna public would ever dare to allow the Army to move out in any case.”

The first seminar held in 2011 and entitled ‘Defeating Terrorism – the Sri Lankan Experience’, was criticised by human rights organisations.

Human Rights Watch had called on foreign governments to boycott the conference, as it sought to “legitimise the unlawful killing of thousands of civilians”.

Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has announced the imposition of registration fees for news websites in Sri Lanka.

News websites will now be charged Rs 100,000 ($750) for registering and an annual fee of Rs 50,000 ($ 375).

Rambukwella said the new measures are designed to control ‘filth’ that was being published by some websites.

"This is the first step in the process of regulating those who were engaged in publishing filth.

"The legal process takes time. It cannot be done in a hurry."

According to The Island, Rambukwella said the measures are supposed to ensure to protect defenceless individuals from harm.

When questioned about a meeting between President Rajapakse and the editor of one of the websites that was raided recently, the minister said, Rajapakse may have ‘advised’ him.

However, he added that it was difficult for those engaged in character assassination to mend their ways.

Extracts from a report by the Washington Post on Friday:

Three years after the war ended, human rights groups and opposition leaders warn that the country is descending toward dictatorship, with dissent brutally crushed, the media cowed and the minority Tamils, whose insurrection caused the war in the first place, still treated like second-class citizens.

The military still runs northern and eastern Sri Lanka, with locals complaining that its control of every aspect of daily life is deeply intrusive and humiliating, and that anyone who challenge it risks deadly retribution.

Most who have disappeared since the end of the war are Tamils, but also at risk are moderate Sinhalese who raise their voices.

Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris said the accusations about disappearances and intimidation are vastly overblown, a “cloud” thrown up by people who want to claim political asylum abroad.

In March the United States, with India’s backing, sponsored a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council urging Sri Lanka to act on the recommendations of its own reconciliation commission.

The Sri Lankans reacted with anger, organizing almost daily protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Colombo and using state-run media to denounce those Sri Lankans who had testified against the government in Geneva as “traitors.”

Indian attempts to prod Sri Lanka were also rebuffed. India’s Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna emerged from a meeting with Rajapaksa in January saying the president had promised to honor a 15-year-old amendment in the country’s constitution that would give limited autonomy to the Tamil-dominated north.

No sooner had Krishna left the country than Rajapaksa denied having ever made such a commitment, to India’s fury.

The Jaffna magistrate has banned a demonstration protesting against the military’s appropriation of Tamil residents' lands – even though he has no jurisdiction to do so.

According to the magistrate, the demonstration would threaten national security, create dissension among communities and would be risking the normalisation of armed culture.

The TNPF (Tamil National People’s Front) has applied to the Jaffna High Court to overturn the ban.

See TamilNet’s report here.

Journalists, activists and opposition lawmakers have staged a protest against media suppression and intimidation by the Sri Lankan state.

Dozens of protesters gathered in Colombo on Thursday to condemn the recent police raids of websites critical of the government, the alleged attempted abduction of a journalist and the alleged secret police gathering journalists’’ personal information.

The editor-in-chief of the Sunday leader, Frederica Jansz was amongst the protesters, wielding the slogan “unbowed and unafraid”. Only last week, Sri lanka’s defence secretary and brother of country’s president, Gothabaya Rajapaksa said to Jansz “people will kill you” ,whilst hurling other abuse at her, in response to Jansz’s asking questions about his alleged abuse of power.

Speaking to The Guardian, Jansz said that 24 years as a journalist have left her in constant despair with the situation in Sri Lanka.

“The Sri Lankan media has been browbeaten into submission-there is such fear psychosis around the media that practices self-censorship.”

UNP Secretary Tissa Atthanayake, JVP Media spokesman Vijitha Herath, leader of the DPF Mano Ganeshan, Mangala Samraweera, Wickremabahu Karunanayake, and Sandya Ekneligoda, the wife of missing cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda also attended the protest.

Dozens of unemployed graduates protested in Jaffna today at the lack of opportunity for employment in the public sector due to the dominance of UPFA supporters, reported TamilNet on Thursday.

Sri Lankan riot police were deployed to contain the protest and military intelligence officials were seen threatening the demonstrators to abandon the protest.

The protestors reportedly attempted to submit a petition to the Sri Lankan governor, Maj Gen (retd) GA Chandrasiri, however were not allowed to meet the governor to hand over the petition.

Unemployed graduates protest in Jaffna, UPFA dominates public sector employment - TamilNet (12 Jul 2012)

The Tamil National Alliance has laughed off President Rajapakse’s claim that he will hold provincial council elections in September 2013.

“We want to hold elections in September 2013,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa told The Hindu in an interview published on Wednesday.

“We are working towards it [the elections] in a systematic manner.”

Rajapakse blamed the delay on the voting lists, which need to be updated, as the last registers are over 30 years old and most people on the lists are not in the province anymore, according to the president.

He also claimed rehabilitation and resettlement of IDPs and detainees need to be completed, a process that has been going on for over 3 years.

However the TNA dismissed his claims as laughable, saying that the party is ready for an election now.

"What is the problem in the government having an election in the Northern Province at this stage now, when it had a Presidential election, a Parliamentary election and a Local government election in the North," TNA spokesman and Jaffna District MP Suresh Premachandran said to The Island, questioning why the government did not highlight the poll register issue during the previous elections.

"The government will not hold the Northern Provincial elections even after September 2013 as it is aware that the TNA will win and that is the last thing that the government wants at this stage,"

Premachandran also pointed out that the army would not be able to hold on the vast tracts of land it had seized in the Jaffna district if the TNA established a Northern Provincial Council.

Over 11% of the schools in the Northern provinces of Sri Lanka remain closed due to the continued occupation of the Sri Lankan military, said teachers in Jaffna, using statistics from the Northern provincial ministry of education, reported TamilNet.

Aid from foreign NGOs and the Tamil diaspora has been systematically blocked from reaching Tamil educational institutions.

Many alumni organisations from the diaspora were involved in assisting rebuilding of the existing infrastructures, like the construction of new buildings for schools.

However, independent alumni run projects were recently restricted by the colonial military governor of the north. The latest instructions state that school administrations must seek the approval from the Sri Lankan governor in advance to carry out such projects.

Colombo destroys education of Tamil youth in North, teachers complain - TamilNet (11 Jul 2012)