By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA, March 13 - Both sides in Sri Lanka's conflict may have committed war crimes and must suspend fighting to let thousands of civilians escape, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Friday.
Warning that the loss of life may reach "catastrophic levels", she urged the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels to suspend hostilities to allow evacuation of up to 180,000 civilians trapped on the northeastern coast.
Pillay said the government had repeatedly shelled the designated "no-fire" zones for civilians and also cited reports that the separatist guerrillas were holding civilians as human shields and had shot some as they tried to flee.
"Certain actions being undertaken by the Sri Lankan military and by the LTTE may constitute violations of international human rights and humanitarian law," Pillay said in a statement issued in Geneva.
"The world today is ever sensitive about such acts that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity," added the former U.N. war crimes judge, who grew up in a poor Indian neighbourhood in Durban as a member of South Africa's Tamil minority.
Sri Lanka's military has encircled the LTTE Tamil Tigers in a mere 37 sq km (15 sq miles) of the island nation's northeastern coast and is fighting to deal a death blow to a civil war that has raged off and on since 1983.
More than 2,800 civilians may have been killed and more than 7,000 injured since Jan. 20, according to a range of credible sources, Pillay said. Many had been inside the "no-fire" zones.
Hundreds of children were believed to be among the dead.
"The current level of civilian casualties is truly shocking and there are legitimate fears that the loss of life may reach catastrophic levels, if the fighting continues in this way," Pillay said.
"The brutal and inhuman treatment of civilians by the LTTE is utterly reprehensible and should be examined to see if it constitutes war crimes," she said. (reporting Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Jonathan Lynn)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
124 comments:
["Both sides in Sri Lanka's conflict may have committed war crimes and must suspend fighting to let thousands of civilians escape"]
The problem here is the definition of "escape". The U.N. defines escape as being locked up in a militarized concentration camp by the Sri Lankan government for up to 3 years, where you will be raped and murdered. As long as "escape" means anything short of complete freedom of movement, Tamils cannot agree to it.
Also, don't forget that the UN acts in the interest of member states and not necessarily people.
Our problem is that killing of Tamils is not against the interest of any state.
This issue propped up several times during Tsunami reconstruction work etc.
Here is a simple test:
Who has veto power at UN? Countries with capacity to kill the most number of people i.e. highest number of nuclear warheads. Might is right is UN's slogan.
Ferociously heavy battles ensued between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan Security Forces (SF) in many areas in Vanni including Chalai and Thevipuram area.
A group of troopers from the 53 division, special force troopers entered in the LTTE controlled Puthukudiyirupu area has been encircled by the defending LTTE fighters and they were completely cutoff from the main 53 Division suffered close to one hundred SF troopers.
Meanwhile, SF troopers fired heavy volume of artillery shells towards the civilian 'safe zone' and tried to move close the zone.
Heavy fighting also reported in Visuvamadu area, where LTTE fighters infiltrated into the area controlled by the 57 division behind the 58 division and reports indicates mounting casualties among the SF troopers in the area too.
Past few weeks, the sources in Vanni said, LTTE counter attacked the Sri Lankan Security forces in many fronts and killed large numbers of SF troopers and while inflicted injuries to unprecedented level of SF troopers, and fighting continue to rage between LTTE and SF, sources added.
AKA,
is this today's news?
First person who needs to be tried for war crimes is Karuna for the thousands of disappearance deaths in the east. In fact I think he was already tried in Eelam court, and is awaiting sentencing any day now.
yes m.g.k
news from TNS
According to the informed sources in Colombo, hundreds of parents, loved ones and children were surrounded the Sri Lankan Security Forces headquarter in Naranpitiya, Colombo urging Army HQ to let them know of the fate of their loved ones in the SF in Vanni area, as fighting between the Sri Lankan Security Forces (SF) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) become bloody and casualties are mounting to unprecedented level among the SF troopers in Vanni.
A Sinhalese 75 year old mother speaking to TNS reporter in a village in the South of Sri Lanka said, his son joined the Sri Lankan Army 3 months ago and he is missing in action in the Vanni war front for past many weeks, and she believe her son is still alive.
“My heart is saying he’s still alive,” said the mother of four.
For every week he’s been missing, she has donated a cow to her temple; donate cooking stuff to temple for breakfast and lunch for disabled children.
She hopes her good deeds will bring him home. “I pray every morning and every night,” she said. “I don’t do anything to hurt others. I believe he will come home.”
Another lady from the same village who spoke with TNS reporter said that her son was killed on February 7th in Mulaitivu area.
“I lost my son because of this senseless war with LTTE. One soldier who came to his funeral promised me to visit us often. But after a week he lost his leg. We do not know what to do, except pray for them,” she said.
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankan soldiers from mostly poverty-stricken rural youth from Southern Sri Lanka joined the forces due to mostly lack of jobs in other sectors in the country. They were sent to fight with the LTTE in tens of thousands but thousands of them have been killed many thousands of the soldiers badly wounded on the front lines in the Vanni area despite the Sri Lanka claiming decisive victory over the LTTE nearing.
The Current President Mahinda Rajapakse, his brother, Defence Secretary hardliner, Gotabaya Rajapakse and hardliner and Army Commander Sarath Fonseke have sought to hide the civilian casualties in the Vanni area, it has also covered up the soldiers’ death toll by eliminating independent journalist in the country, a political observer on Colombo told TNS.
Government minister was on the record saying that over 3000 Sri Lankan SF troopers were killed from October 2008 to December 2008. But, the bloody phases of the war is continuing in the Mulaitivu since January 2009, where government continue to claim the war is ending in days while the casualties among the SF forces are mounting at unprecedented level, according to some sources at the rate of 100s per day.
The unexceptionally high casualty among the SF troopers shows the Sri Lankan government’s utter disregard for human life in the country. While the government and its pro media in the South of Sri Lanka routinely describes the dead soldiers as “war heroes,” their parents, wives, daughters, sons and loved ones are suffering deeply as they are loosing their bread winners. Theses people strongly believe that their government is hiding the truth from them about the real casualties among the SF troopers in the war in Mulaitivu.
Despite the escalating toll among Sri Lankan soldiers, the LTTE fighters, as well as civilians in tens of thousands hawkish Sri Lankan President and his Army Commander have declared there will be no let up in the military offensive and pressing ahead with the Violence. Sri Lanka continuous rejected calls for a “Ceasefire” from international governments even after the UN, Rights groups and International Committee of the Red Cross reported that thousands Tamil civilians were dead, thousands had been injured by artillery attacks and a humanitarian disaster was looming for a over 300,000 civilians trapped by the conflict.
any guess sla casualty for the past weeks?
are the tigers retreating back to the forest area or goin to make a stand for it...previously badri suggested PTK would be the finalbattle place...
I am starting to think that Badri is a SLA spy just like Mahen. If not why would he want to publish this sort of a article. Specially see the last paragraph. The headline is cleverly disguised to draw the attention of diaspora, but as I read the article it is clear that this stupid lady is putting most of the blame on LTTE.
rajan...its not like that..
she had to said it..because other UN official stated that without actually verifying it on the battleground...it is typical of UN..
she has to follow their statement too..
the lady had no choice...
if she blames only government...
others will argue she is a ltte supporter..
"We have very clearly stated that we have not at any time fired at the no-fire zone," said Mahinda Samarasinghe, the minister for disaster management and human rights.
He said Pillay should have appealed to the rebels to let the civilians go.
"We are perplexed and dumbfounded that the real issue has not been commented on," Samarasinghe said.
HEY DUMB GUY..SHUT UP..
DONT TALK SHIT..
aKa can you in future plz quote the source
Air raids reported in Ambalavampokanai. SLAF doesn't target areas within a mile of SLA positions because of their inaccuracy, e.g Muhamalai '06-'08.
ROY,
HE SAID ITS FROM TNS..
I posted this article because it is the farthest the UN has ever gone in condemning the Sri Lankan government. The UN has always condemned the LTTE, so that is nothing new, but their stand against the government is new.
Of course I don't agree with their conclusion of blaming the LTTE for the situation, but at least their shift in stance against the government is a start.
CHECK THIS OUT ...
Why Political Dynasties Flourish?
http://desicritics.org/2009/03/13/101902.php
Fighting reported in Koppapiluva. This area is south east of PTK; a forest meets paddy fields area.
This is where the Feb. 3rd preemptive strike was launched.
Peter once again strikes out with half-witted nonsense. He really should take some time to decipher exactly why nobody wants to rescue the LTTE from annihilation.
"Our problem is that killing of Tamils is not against the interest of any state."
On the contrary, any state with a sizeable Tamil population would have such an interest. These include not only Canada, Australia, and the European countries where the Tamil diaspora far outnumbers the Sinhalese, but most notably India the regional power which has 70 million Tamils and virtually zero Sinhalese.
In fact Dayan Jayatilleka had written on this very topic how the Sri Lankan state had lost the propaganda war:
Are we being encircled globally just as we have encircled Tigers locally?
"Here is a simple test:
Who has veto power at UN? Countries with capacity to kill the most number of people i.e. highest number of nuclear warheads. Might is right is UN's slogan."
China and Russia support Sri Lanka, but the other nuclear powers- US, UK, France, and India- do not. India had intervened once to save the Tamils and learned its lesson. The EU sent CFA monitors who ultimately were attacked by the LTTE (leading to the EU ban).
The Rajapaksas have simply realized that they don't have to play by the rules as long as the LTTE is more unpopular in the int'l community than they are.
I hope I have dropped enough hints for Peter to solve this little puzzle how the uncivilized conduct of the iyakkam has led to this current situation.
"First person who needs to be tried for war crimes is Karuna for the thousands of disappearance deaths in the east. In fact I think he was already tried in Eelam court, and is awaiting sentencing any day now."
This takes the cake as far as dumb comments made by LTTE supporters is concerned, unless Badrinath is really Mahen as some of us suspect.
We're waiting to hear the verdict, Badrinath.
{{
The problem here is the definition of "escape". The U.N. defines escape as being locked up in a militarized concentration camp by the Sri Lankan government for up to 3 years, where you will be raped and murdered. As long as "escape" means anything short of complete freedom of movement, Tamils cannot agree to it.
}
hehe nice,...
{{
First person who needs to be tried for war crimes is Karuna for the thousands of disappearance deaths in the east. In fact I think he was already tried in Eelam court, and is awaiting sentencing any day now.
}
"ealam court", what the fuck is that,.. in your dreams bro,..
and also "any day" that you are talking about never comes, remember that,...
{{
"As long as "escape" means anything short of complete freedom of movement, Tamils cannot agree to it."
}}
this sentence should be changed as follows;
1.
As long as "escape" means anything short of complete freedom of movement(slavery-in LTTE dictionary), LTTE cannot agree to it.
or
2.
As long as "escape" means allowing people to go to Government Controlled land, Tamils can agree to it.
if you are thinking something else than that you are not a real Tamil person, coz you know the real truth (but dont wanna accept that) ,..
Can someone tell me why LTTE is incapable of killing three war criminals-MR,GR,and SF?
If they allowed "Pillaiyan" and "Karuna" free for last 3 years, LTTE lacks the resources to do it. Let alone leaving DD for more than a decade shows their further misery.
Lol!
Even Sir Wijayapala has come to Puligal.
I think his a-se has sored after all the rapes by Asithiri.
I don't think Karuna is a thuroki; he is just a visaran who fell for the trap of material luxury. Better he stays alive and loses all respect he ever had than dies.
Even in Trinco many of my friends would have felt bad in Karuna was bumped off back in '04. But now, because he has shown his true colors, there are no disagreements about how he should be dealt.
Pillaiyan was a nobody and remains so. Only a matter of months before he goes in the same path as his predecessor Varatharajaperumal.
Anyone who thinks Badrinath as Mahen is dumb as Mahen.
Badrinath's findings on the govern's fake propaganda has taken a new level which defence.lk,tamilnet.tv and other govern propaganda mouth pieces are simply worried of it. Mahen is simply a pure dumb arse as any Sinhala moda who only can come up with a poll like he posted on his blog that tore his mask apart.
Bhairav, I second you on that. Even if Badri is a Sinhalese person, he is a very clever one.
Mahen was as stupid as the guys who run DefenceLK. I think many of us were in on him back in November and wrote our doubts in Tamil, which he obviously didn't pick-up on.
Anyway, I think it is essential for us to read and discuss statements from UN and other organizations of states, regardless of their bias. Unless we know what they are saying, we will not be able to counter them.
["Better he stays alive and loses all respect he ever had than dies."]
But what about Karuna sending his fighters in LTTE uniforms into LTTE checkpoints and murdering LTTE low level cadres who he had no disagreement with? What he has done is unforgivable. If he had a disagreement with LTTE leaders, then he should have fought them. But his killing of people who used to help him and feed his own fighters is the lowest thing anyone could have ever done. For example the disappearance murders in the east. The people he was murdering where the people who used to risk their lives to help him a few years before.
Another point is the only reason the Sri Lankan army is in the Vanni is because the east was betrayed by Karuna. The east was always the buffer zone that kept the army from entering the North in full force. By handing the east over to the Sri Lankan army, it allowed the government to send a full scale assault on the Vanni. Karuna also betrayed all of the camp locations, military strength of LTTE, etc. I feel he is single handedly responsible for the present situation. Such a traitor will probably be punished by the people one day.
[But his killing of people who used to help him and feed his own fighters is the lowest thing anyone could have ever done.]
Well, what about the two dozen TMVP Tamil cadres gang raped a TRO Tamil woman and killer her later on some years back in East?
Peter, for this heinous crimes, whether the perpetrator is Tamil or Sinhalese, they should be brought into justice and punished accordingly- best could be burn them alive in public place.
Karuna is a coward, rapist and criminal but warrior.
Yeah, another thing that really bothers me about Karuna is how he made his Tamil followers engage in atrocities to his own Tamil people. It was understandable when the Sinhalese raped and killed Tamils, but when Karuna's people did it, it is unexplainable.
"best could be burn them alive in public place."
I think he should be skinned alive.
Rajapaksa again lowers the number of civilians in LTTE held areas:
"He said there were about 50,000 to 70,000 people still remaining in a very small area held by the LTTE"
Last week a defence.lk article said there were only 40,000 civilians in LTTE held areas. Now today Rajapaksa says 50,000. It's clear they want to project the number of civilians lower and lower. Everyone knows there are going tobe thousands of people who don't make it to the IDP camps after screening.
Guys, when you look at it logically, only a handful of guys left with Karuna. Remember, they had to flee out of East after the Easter Friday offensive.
Some say Karuna was deputy head of LTTE.
But, LTTE has leader and under him wings like Intel, Land Forces, Sea Tigers, Finance etc.
Each wing then has district level leaders. Karuna was land forces leader or Batti-Amparai district. Remember, Karuna has nothing to do with Trinco.
He had no access to intel; Col. Keerthi was Batti-Amparai intel head at the time. He had some influence in other departments like Political, which was under Lt. Col. Kousalyan.
But remember, all district level leaders of all wings remained with LTTE.
We had two military units from Batti-Amparai: Jeyanthan and Anbarasi. Jeyanthan Unit still remains in tact and Col. Jenarthanan came with us. Col. Nilaveni went as far as Colombo under instruction from our intel and came back to expose Karuna. Anbarasi Unit was dissolved by Karuna but was reformed. Only set back was with Vinothan Unit which disintigrated a little.
Now on the issue of our loses, I think direct Indian involvement is perhaps more to blame than Karuna. Remember that the ships were sunk with Indian intel. If we had all the weapons we had bought, the story would have been different.
So whatever blame we put on Karuna, Congress Party deserves 100 times more.
Again, I am not against punishment for what Karuna has done. But I don't think LTTE should do it.
Karuna has been fully exposed. People of the East, that is none armed cadres, will deliver what he deserves with what ever sharp objects they can find.
Karuna could have been forgiven if he just left and didn't fight either side. But he chose money and power over his own people. I feel sorry for him also, because once upon a time he was a good person willing to die for his people, but the war changed him and he became what he is.
Sri Lanka!! Stop The WAR
Sri Lanka!! Stop Killing Civilians
Save those 330K innocent people.
Genocide evident
Peter mentioned
"... Asithiri ..."
Mentioning this a$$hole of an individual should never occur here or in any other blog. He is a prime example of a racist. He should not only be expelled from the Sinhalese race he should be expelled from the human race.
People with attitudes like his, both Sinhalese and Tamil, are the reason that this war has raged for the past twenty five plus years.
Guys,
What happened to "Ilanthiraiyan" who is native of Batticoloa? Is he executed by LTTE for his collaboration with GoSL?
Ilanthiriyan is an accomplished military commander. In these times, it makes so sense to have him answering phone calls. He has been assigned military duty and has gone to Amaparai along with Col. Ram and Col. Ramesh.
Only Ilamparithy and Nadesan speak to the media nowadays. That doesn't mean everyone else is dead.
Anyways, senior most person from Batti is Karikalan. If there was a ever a mistake, it was when he was replaced with Karuna to please some Muslims.
UN fears Sri Lanka 'war crimes'
BBC
Peter, you believe that there will be some significant turnarounds by LTTE in next few days? Records show that they might withdraw into East while leaving the people into SLA's hands. When you have only 20 km^2, the odds are in favor of SLA.
Guys,
did you all listen to Yogi's comments ?
SH,
What about Yogi? Did he say anything interesting ?
from what i can guess from his comments..
it doesn't look like Tigers are going to withdraw from 20k area. they are going to hold on.
Yogaratnam Yogi? Can you post a link please?
its in yaal. you can listen.
http://www.yarl.com/forum3/index.php?showtopic=53998
pulikalinkural has too.
According to some, US Navy's pacific ocean fleet has hands on the LTTE's three sinking arms ships.
Bhairav,
As hard to believe it may be, there are stuff that Tigers still haven't used. Any non-state entity has to tred cautiously; that's what they've been doing all this time. SLA getting access to the 300, 000 people, many of whom are heroes' families, by fighting conventional battles as they have done so far is an impossible event.
Remember, some of these families were brought to Mulaitheevu by boat when Tigers withdrew from East. After going through all that effort to safely evacuate them, Tigers will not be handing over civilians on a silver platter to the Sinhalese.
Regrettably, when Sinhalese use long range projectiles at identified civilian targets, people will die. That is unfortunate, but can not prevented by means other than kicking out the Sinhala forces all together.
Guys,
Yogi's interview is a must listen. Several shells exploding in the background as he was speaking. Again, he highlights the plight of stateless people vis-a-vis the UN. That is something we all have to note: every world body, including UN, acts in the interest of member states.
To be or not to be?
UN is a puppet of US; after all US is the prime contributer to UN. They can prosecute the war criminals in Ruwanda and Congo but Israel.
Tamils' strength is Tamils. We need lots of contribution from TN Tamils.
Yes, I listened to Yogi's speech, good one.
Shells exploding, but Yogi’s speech continues with conviction and without panic. Wonderful people !
True. There isn't a flicker in his voice.
Yogi and his brother Lt. Col. Ponnamman were private students at London University who finished their studies only to go back home and join the struggle.
There is always a qualitative difference between those of us who fled in fear and the ones that went back to face the enemy.
Ponnamman died in the accidental explosion near Navatkuly. My school days buddy Kedills thileepan also died in that accident. We lost how many people in this struggle. MR thug family thinks that by killing innocent tamil civilians that they can solve this problem. Now begging (according to BBC) IMF. Kaddakedda elliya inam than stinkalese.
Fuck all you useless sons of bitches stinkafuckinlease.
I was watching this video that was posted on youtube but was later deleted but as you know I'm a tamilan (and a smart one indeed). My friend didn't close the website he watched it in so the cached files are still in the temp folder. So my friend took a video of it on his camera and now we have the hard copy of that video.
I had an erection watching that video, I saw tigers pulling out dead bodies of stinkalese. There were blood all over the fucking truck (stinkalese blood). Man, the tigers pulled them out like they were like fuckin garbage bags. That was one of the best video I ever saw in my life. If people want to see the video, please ask me in one the following comments, and I'll upload on rapidshare and send it to all you.
I really enjoyed watching it. It was one of the best scenes of all time.
Sup people, I'm back. Its nice to see a whole horde of stinkala modayas coming to this blog to rant their fears. Funny.. don't u stinkalese have dw, dn and most of all the super duper 100% awesomely non-fake defence.lk?
Lots of things happening in the warfront and its good to see that the stinkalese are back on board trying to settle their nerves by reading comments from asswipes like gayan and his fudgepackin bro, tharu22... hmm havent seen him since the creation of accounted logins. My guess is that he prolly doesnt know where to get one.
Well anywayz, the UN is basically the US. So they will talk trash till the Tigers are finally out of the terrorist list. Heh, that will happen once we get some heavy battle progress such as the recapture of k'nochchi within the coming weeks.
The oddusudan attack video gave me a boner too. Finally some justice for those who kill the innocent. God is always there, and he wont be watching this stinkala shiet for much longer. Even the triple gem will come on our side.
Leaving religion aside, you can see how desperate the stinkala govt is getting with every passing day. More bullshit reports and like fights where they killed Tigers in the hundreds of the 400 remaining Tigers. Bullshit deadlines of the "defeat of terrorism". In all reality, the stinkala govt is starting to realize that the international attention will get to them soon and as such they would like to rush and 'try' to defeat the Tigers. Unrealistic, but its better for the Tigers as haste makes waste and the Tigers patience is paying big dividends. Let us wait with faith and rally behind our boys.
Viva la Eelam!
stinkalese,
The accidental explosion happened when they were preparing for an attack on the Navatkuli army camp. A year later Ponnaman's father was beaten to death by IPKF.
So many of our brightest have given themselves in this struggle.
Another great one of that era was Pandithar.
Guys,
I think we should create a website in memory of all our fallen heroes. All the way from Shanakar to now.
Just thinking about my buddies from '80s: so many stories, so many lives for one dream.
Confirmed: Ranjith Appa alive and well. DefenceLK story was yet another lie. LTTE won't release statements because if they start a trend they'll have to release one everyday.
Not many people know that four of his kids are martyrs. When some even complain about one poraali per family, this man gave five of his children for the struggle.
Peter,
If you see day before yesterday eelanatham, black tigers took the photo with VP before the mission. This shows that they are not in panic. It is true that civilians situation is horrible, worse than animals. If you hear Yogi's speech, you must have noticed that he talks cool and calm and explains the reality. Earth is not flat. 'Enkalukkum Kalam Varum'
Yes, patience is a virtue and it pays well. 2 and a half years of the attrition from the sla. Do you really think that the Tigers have no plan whatsoever?
Let the stinkala population bask in their 'victories' while our brave warriors make their way behind these pompous fools and give them a rude awakening. Several commanders have been repeating again and again for us to keep our faith. For when the time comes, everything will make sense and the world will witness our bravery, intelligence and determination of our beloved Tamil people.
Our own homeland is the only solution and we will stop at nothing to achieve it.
Tamilanin thaagam Tamileela Thayagam!
Viva la Eelam!
Gayan, where are you pussy.
I hope you are not dead. We need some kind of entertainment. If you are not here then what else or who else will we talk about.
I'm guessing you are Tharu22, cause lately I haven't seen any comments from him. Either that pussy got scared of us or was too computer illiterate to create an account.
Bottom line is:
---------------------------------------------
STINKALESE SOLDIERS ARE FIGHTING FOR MONEY
THEY WILL RUN AWAY FROM A BATTLE FOR THEIR LIFE
THE TIGERS ARE FIGHTING FOR NO MONEY
THEY WILL RUN TOWARDS A BATTLE TO TAKE YOU LIFE.
---------------------------------------------
If UN is genuine, It should send monitors to Vanni and witness the atrocities committed against the Tamil People .
Why Sri Lanka Sinhela government deliberately not allowing any independent Journalists? The irony is LTTE is not oppose to that and it welcomes the UN monitoring mission.
If it allowed an independent monitoring in Vanni, it is afraid that the whole truth will come out to light, once the truth is hidden successfully hidden then Rajapaksa regime can easily make up stories that suit their agenda which is suppress any Tamils voice for EQUALITY. The Sinhela racist ( Sinhela only ) nationalist who are led by Rajapukka thinks if it can eliminate LTTE, Tamils will be at the mercy of Sinhela, then they can have their way on Tamils.
Wow you guys are so sure...
I don't doubt the LTTE's methodic and strategic behaviour. It's rather I think the LTTE is short manpower beyond all else. If they had an extra 10,000 cadres in any time of the past two decades the war would have been over. The best the LTTE can do now is drag this out as long as they can, and force a stalemate...
[The accidental explosion happened when they were preparing for an attack on the Navatkuli army camp. A year later Ponnaman's father was beaten to death by IPKF.]
Ponnaman who was considered as second in command then played cricket with U-19 Jaffna Hindu team the day before he was killed in that accidental explosion in Navatkuli. I was watching him play cricket from the upstairs of Jaffna Hindu Hostel, and unusually half a dozen bodyguards followed him everywhere he went. He and Yogi were former students of Jaffna Hindu and Ponnamman played cricket for JHC school team in his schooling years.
Jaffna Hindu produced many heroes in this struggle, and there were many unsung heroes, of them, i remember one, Ravikumar,who belonged to 89 A/L, popular cricketer in all of Jaffna then, holder of 7D and C in O/L, joined LTTE in IPKF time and killed in some mysterious battle, his younger brother was my classmate who also popular cricketer for St.Johns team, set the record in Central/St.Johns big match by scoring massive century. Another one, Kaandipan, who was younger brother of Keadils - LTTE commander of "thenmarachi" then - was ASP of Jaffna Hindu College prefect team and LTTE commander of Jaffna in IPKF time, killed in motor cycle accident in Jaffna. Mind you, he was LTTE's Jaffna district commander while he was schooling at JHC. Somehow IPKF found out his connection, so they came on cordon and search on our hostel premises around 4 in the morning, that time I wake up bit early- it wasn't unusual to wake up early since the regular morning washing bell starts at 5 am - and found out the moving objects in the hostel premises, then it did not take long to find out who they were, the message had been passed to Kandipan who was sleeping in one of our hostel dormitory rooms- thank god, he escaped. If one of us did not wake up early, he would have easily caught while sleeping. Until that incident, I had no idea that he was LTTE's jaffna commander that time.
BHAIRAV,
ITS VERY UNFORTUNATE OF LOSING SO MANY OF SMART BRAVE LEADERS..
:(
Reality,
""ealam court", what the fuck is that,.. in your dreams bro,.."
Therein lies the problem- the Eelamoids are in a delusional dream world.
AND SINHALOIDS ARE WALKING IN HELL..
Tamil Eelam Leader V. Pirapaharan Speaks about Ponnamman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhxwBgnkVtQ&feature=channel_page
trust no one
remember karuna
in the mean time have fun
WAR is FUN
mgk, yes, i hope the peace comes quickly.
Vannian, thanks for the link!
"Even if Badri is a Sinhalese person, he is a very clever one."
Badri is certainly more clever than Peter, which unfortunately isn't a great compliment to Badri...
It's rather unfortunate that Peter has forgotten quite a bit about Karuna after his fall from grace. To refresh his memory, Karuna was the sole representative of the LTTE military wing to participate in the int'l-sponsored peace talks, an honor extended only to Jeyam after it was clear that the LTTE would gain nothing more from negotiations. Here is what the late D. Sivaram had to say about Karuna:
Karuna was the overall commander of the LTTE's defensive operations and counter offensives against Jaya Sikurui. It was Karuna who commanded the LTTE forces that drove the army out of the Vanni.
It was the greatest honour Prabhaharan could have bestowed on any of his commanders.
There is little doubt that Pottu Amman, Nadesan, and Thamilendhi were quite unhappy with Thalaivar's special attention for the blue-eyed boy from the east. If they actually had evidence for a long time that Karuna was crooked, why did they wait until after the Eastern Warlord had made a high profile by representing the LTTE?
The LTTE's golden rule used to be that you can skim as much as you want from the iyakkam as long as you deliver the goods. Karuna's story is not very different from that of KP's downfall after Thamilselvan and Castro carried tales of LTTE International's corruption to Thalaivar- the difference being that Thalaivar learned his lesson after the Karuna debacle and only demoted KP, instead of idiotically summoning him to the Vanni.
"I don't think Karuna is a thuroki; he is just a visaran who fell for the trap of material luxury."
Good thing that Karuna was an isolated case. It's not as if any of the "heavyweights" in the LTTE command (at least from what I've seen in the photos) had also fallen into that trap.
On that topic I have a question for the Eelamoids- how come none of you had any clue that Karuna was going to jump ship in March 2004???? Especially those of you who pretend to have some inside scoop into the LTTE's decision making???
"I think it is essential for us to read and discuss statements from UN and other organizations of states, regardless of their bias. Unless we know what they are saying, we will not be able to counter them."
You're not really doing a great job countering them so far. Take Poopalapillai's laughable attempt to refute Neistat for example. That dude seriously needs a spin coach. One of you should tell him that lying about everything will actually set you back than if you were to lie only about a few unverifiable things.
"Ilanthiriyan is an accomplished military commander. In these times, it makes so sense to have him answering phone calls."
Hmm.. I hope Peter isn't suggesting that Thalaivar had no sense to have Marshall serving as spin-doctor instead of leading the troops.
So what did Ilanthiraiyan accomplish, other than getting some girl pregnant?
"That is unfortunate, but can not prevented by means other than kicking out the Sinhala forces all together."
... so why don't you save the civilians by kicking us out?? Because you can't?
"Confirmed: Ranjith Appa alive and well. DefenceLK story was yet another lie."
That's a relief- Thamilendhi's more useful alive than dead.
"Now on the issue of our loses, I think direct Indian involvement is perhaps more to blame than Karuna. Remember that the ships were sunk with Indian intel. If we had all the weapons we had bought (wije is LMAO), the story would have been different."
We'll send our thanks to the widow of Rajiv Gandhi for flushing your hard-swindled earnings to the bottom of the sea. Pretty interesting how much they're supporting us despite our friendship with Pakistan- revenge is a bitch isn't it???
wijayapala,
PLEASE GO TO DW...THEY ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO ANSWER ALL YOUR DOUBTS IN A WAY THAT GRANTS U SELF SATISFACTION..
Dear m.q.k.
"AND SINHALOIDS ARE WALKING IN HELL.."
Hey, that's not a very respectful way to refer to the ithayabhoomi!
That reminds me- here's a great song demonstrating the current state of the Eelam struggle
wijayapala,
DONT TAKE EVERYTHING LITERALLY..
ithayabhoomi..
HELL FOR SINHALOIDS..
HEAVEN FOR US..
CANT BLAME U FOR BEING HERE SINCE THERE IS NO UPDATE ON DW...
So Wijayapala setting aside the LTTE, what is your view of Tamil nationalism?
If we are to get some help from TN politicians this is the time. All main TN politicians don't give a shit about Tamils and will use our cause only for personal gains. Once the elections are over they will not care for the plight of Tamils at all untill the next election. We need to get together and force them for something drastic before the elections
Guys,
What's the latest from Wanni?
The accidental explosion happened when they were preparing for an attack on the Navatkuli army camp..
The welder was my neighborhood guy.
it would have been a turning point if it was successful.
:((
[wijayapala said...
"Now on the issue of our loses, I think direct Indian involvement is perhaps more to blame than Karuna. Remember that the ships were sunk with Indian intel. If we had all the weapons we had bought (wije is LMAO), the story would have been different."
We'll send our thanks to the widow of Rajiv Gandhi for flushing your hard-swindled earnings to the bottom of the sea. Pretty interesting how much they're supporting us despite our friendship with Pakistan- revenge is a bitch isn't it??? ]
India (& IC) will give them back to the ltte as follows: India gives so many soft-loans (will not be paid by the sl). SL buys weapons using this and IMF loans, sends them to Vanni and hand-over to ltte. LTTE has already made good use of 6 arti-guns and 1000s of shells over 10-15 hours recently, in addition to capturing truck loads of other weapons. hopefully more to be supplied to the LTTE in this way :-)
Mahinda(n) R.
Clinton concerned over Sri Lanka 'safe zone' deaths
8 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday to express her "deep concern" over mounting deaths in a government safe zone, a US official said.
Clinton told him that Sri Lankan troops "should not fire into civilian areas of the conflict zone" and urged him to allow humanitarian groups full access to people in need, said a State Department spokesman, Gordon Duguid.
The secretary called Rajapaksa to "express the United States' deep concern over the deteriorating conditions and increasing loss of life" in the government-designated zone in the country's north, he said in a statement.
Last month the government in Colombo asked men, women and children to move to a stretch of coastline as troops advanced on rebel positions in the north in a bid to crush all remaining pockets of resistance by Tamil Tiger rebels.
"The secretary stated that the Sri Lankan Army should not fire into the civilian areas of the conflict zone," according to Duguid who was replying to a question from AFP about the substance of the phone call.
Earlier this month, New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged the military had "repeatedly and indiscriminately" shelled densely populated areas and hospitals inside the war zone.
Government forces have pushed Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels into a shrinking strip of land in the northeast and have said they hope to completely crush the guerrillas by April.
But tens of thousands of civilians are trapped behind the front line, according to relief agencies.
Duguid said Clinton "urged the president to give international humanitarian relief organizations full access to the conflict area and displaced persons camps, including screening centers."
With the exception of the International Committee of the Red Cross, aid agencies face many restrictions in their efforts to transport food and supplies to civilians caught up in the conflict.
Clinton "offered immediate and post-conflict reconstruction assistance," the statement said.
She also condemned the rebel actions toward civilians.
Human Rights Watch has accused the Tamil Tigers of holding civilians as "human shields," preventing people from leaving the areas under their control and forcibly recruiting children to fight the army.
Duguid said Clinton urged Rajapaksa to "devise a political solution" to the conflict.
"The United States believes that a durable and lasting peace will only be achieved through a political solution that addresses the legitimate aspirations of all of Sri Lanka's communities," he said.
"We call on the Sri Lankan Government to put forward a proposal now to engage Tamils who do not espouse violence or terrorism, and to develop power sharing arrangements so that lasting peace and reconciliation can be achieved."
All these concerns are the same as before. No one talks about supplying food and medicines to those civilians. They do not also ask for UN/ICRC monitors and media to be allowed to witness the slaughtering of civilians by genocidal SLA.
mahinda,
YOU ARE RITE, FOR MONTHS VARIOUS PARTIES ISSUES SIMILAR STATEMENT..
BUT SL JUST IGNORES IT..
[mahinda,
YOU ARE RITE, FOR MONTHS VARIOUS PARTIES ISSUES SIMILAR STATEMENT..
BUT SL JUST IGNORES IT..]
Actually not issuing such "concern" statements can be better for Tamils. When such statements are issued the full interpretation is as follows: "We know exactly what is happening. We'll do anything more than issuing "serious/deep/... concern" statements. We'll not ask the SL to have UN/ICRC monitors or media to be allowed to witness the slaughtering. We'll only ask the LTTE to release the civilians and lay down weapnos. We'll also support IMF loans up to 2 bil to support SL-governments policy goals (of which #1 is the genocide of Tamils. IMF stated exactly as "to support SL-governments policy goals" when asked by "Inner City Press"), it oes on like this ...
It makes us wonder whether the US/EU also fully support the genocide of Tamils!!
Mahinda
correction:
it goes on like this ...
another correction:
... We'll NOT do anything more than issuing "serious/deep/... concern" statements. ...
Re: Hilary
I guess Mr.Menon shut the door for Tamils by paying the visit to capital hill where he would have made some good spin stories. As you know, Americans are less traveled folks around the world when it comes to G8 nations. If they do not have any stakes in any of the foreign conflicts, they will take the next of its strategic partners' stand, in this case, they have India who is obviously running the proxy war against Tamils in SL.
Hey guys, it's your friendly friend Theepan.
I came across this nice video, the one where i had loads of cum all over. This is the attack on SLA's where the body's got popped and dropped. Them soldiers were a joke for a tigers. Basically it was like target practice. There was one section of the clip where one of the tigers took shots just randomly inside the truck. You should see the amount of bodies that fell out with blood. Enjoy this.
http://rapidshare.com/files/209007079/Dead_tamils_piled_up.mpg.html
Video Specifications:
Size: 180 MB.
Content: Gruesome scenes of gunfire on stinkalese pussy soldiers.
The file is named as "Dead tamils piled up" in order to attract stinkalese fuckers to watch the video on other sites. But honestly, there is no virus nor anything bad (no porno).
Dear editor, Badrinath, if you find this video too offensive and that I have crossed my limits, you can gladly remove me from the blogs and no hard feelings.
But I honestly think these stinkalese mofo's deserve it.
And one more thing to all of the people who wondered where TURTLE G went, no need for that cauz I am him. Since "Comment as" function changed, I was tempted to use my name, but no worries.
~Turtle G~ Respect!.
Just a reminder for everyone:
The FBI WILL contact you for what you post here and on other internet forums. Never accidentally refer to the LTTE as "we", since no one here is actually a member of the LTTE. Always choose your words carefully so that you do not end up in trouble. Do not let your emotions cause you to accidentally write something that may get you in trouble.
Badri,
How long do u think the civilian Population can stay there in nightmarish conditions without Food,Medicine in the wake of Shells all over ?
What is going to be tbe critical time that will make tigers to decide one way or another ?
Navindran, how many rupees to the US dollar?
["What is going to be tbe critical time that will make tigers to decide one way or another ?"]
It's a very difficult decision to make, but ultimately its in the interest of the people to stay in LTTE held areas.
If the 300,000 civilians go to the government IDP camps, there may be up to 10,000 youth who disappear and are murdered. By staying back in LTTE held areas, there will be several thousand people killed (so far around 3,000) but it is in the interest of the people and the country.
Even if the LTTE were to not allow the civilians into government held areas, still it would be for their own protection and for the welfare of the people. Those who die under these circumstances are martyrs for the cause of Tamil Eelam.
Badri (whoever you are..), I thought that FBI is very busy talking to Talibans...
However, I should tell here that I found finally some blog where Tamil’s struggle is seriously discussed with dignity and bringing in some unforgettable memories. Even in Yarl, I found comments sometimes disgusting. Please keep up allowing free speech to all ….
All the pansies who talk about child soldiers should have been in our homeland in the '80s to witness how the Sinhalese thugs targeted our youths and made them turn from bookworms to warriors in just months.
Talking of Jaffna commanders, Pandithar was possibly the best one ever. Even in his teens, he would put most adults to shame with his Tamil.
The only Jaffna commander I didn't like that much was Col. Kiddu. He was very innovative -first anti-air craft attack, first flight, built-up Diaspora base, etc. - but he had a very short temper.
Brig. Tamilselvan replaced him and did a better job connecting with the people.
Pulenthi Amman was also a brilliant commander. I think Rajiv's fate was decided on the day Pulenthi Amman died.
Quite a lot of differences between what AFP(Washington) says and the GOSL version parroted by foreign and local Srilankan reporters on Hilary’s call to MR...
Kappal Otiya Thamilan !
Whether “Vannaga Mudi” reaches Mullaitivu coast or no, it will show the UN and IC that what they couldn’t do, Tamils have at least tried…..
I bow my head to those Tamils who organized this historical event.
http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/562478.c0b740ea114
Guys,
Above pictures were taken from the LankanPimps website.
They are picking random huts/shelters to label as LTTE positions and others as civilian ones to claim that there are armed cadres present in the 'safe zone'.
Another interesting point is that they are identifying shallow bunkers in 'safe zone' as LTTE positions. People in 'safe zone' build bunkers because the area is getting bombed by the Sinhalese.
If the safe zone is not getting bombed, even if the LTTE is there, why would they need bunkers? Isn't it extra effort and waste of resources to build bunkers in an area that isn't getting bombed? Of course, the concept of logic is beyond the grasp of Sinhalese.
I am positing this here, because we ought to be ready to counter these allegations when they appear on DefenceLK.
Note: There isn't a single armed person or military item in the photos. Trucks and shelters are randomly identified as belonging to LTTE.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
No amount of shouting or crying on blogs such as these, no amount of pleading on sites like TamilNut is going to make one iota of a difference to the military operations or the outcome of those military operations. Don't you all agree?
These blogs are not even worth the "paper they are written on". Totally useless in terms of opinion forming or leveraging any real action one way or the other. They are good as forums where we all can come and express our own views and/or just mess about. I am sure that is the sole aim of this blog (and other like this). The only website that is talking some sort of sense right now is TamilNet.TV!
The GOSL is hell bent (and rightly so) on wiping out the LTTE terrorists. Anyone who is against terrorism would not hinder that process or think it is not the least wrong thing to do right now.
Here's to victory of SLDF! Down with the Terrorists. Peace to all peace-loving people of Sri Lanka.
{{
STINKALESE SOLDIERS ARE FIGHTING FOR MONEY
THEY WILL RUN AWAY FROM A BATTLE FOR THEIR LIFE
THE TIGERS ARE FIGHTING FOR NO MONEY
THEY WILL RUN TOWARDS A BATTLE TO TAKE YOU LIFE.
}
first Sinhala soldiers are run for their lives, I agree with that, they ran through kilinochchi, mullative, Elephant-pass, ptk and lots of more cities for their lives as well as lives of other sri lankans(all sinhala, tamil, muslim)
then tamils are fighting for no money(may be killing is fun for them and also the money that you guys gave to LTTE gone to built multi story houses-under ground for LTTE leaders, swimming pools etc)
finally LTTE run towards the fight to sacrifice their lives but not for tamil people only for luxurious lives of LTTE leaders(fortunately not for long)
Same Perera,
Dimwit! Thanks for the email. I am deeply concerned.
Would you like a longer reply in classic monotone?
"Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troop transport along A 9 which commenced last week has been suspended with immediate effect, as a precautionary measure to prevent possible attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the sources said."
I was wondering when they would realize the A-9 is an impossibility. In fact it is more expensive than sending people by ship, because it requires constant helicopter gunship escorts. If they ever sent buses of soldiers without a helicopter escort, it would be a massacre that they can't afford
How attractive a target is 600 to 700 soldiers packed in unarmored buses with little protection. Even if they send them with a few APCs in front, those will be taken out with mines, leaving the buses vulnerable to an ambush.
The A-9 can never seriously be used for troop transport, unless they are ready for a huge loss of soldiers.
BREAKING NEWS
First ever photo
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=28718
Peter's sermonizing continues...
"All the pansies who talk about child soldiers should have been in our homeland in the '80s to witness how the Sinhalese thugs targeted our youths and made them turn from bookworms to warriors in just months."
There lies the irony- the Eelam struggle lost its original moral legitimacy by resorting to foul methods such as conscripting poor children and suicide bombing (among other things). If the LTTE had not gone down this path, the world would be taking a far tougher stand against the Rajapakses.
However, a good argument could be made that the LTTE could never have survived after 1989 without climbing on the backs of Tamil children, given that few adults wanted to enlist and they were suspect after the massive desertion suffered during the IPKF war.
"Talking of Jaffna commanders, Pandithar was possibly the best one ever."
That's pretty hard to substantiate- he didn't exactly live very long to prove himself.
"The only Jaffna commander I didn't like that much was Col. Kiddu. He was very innovative -first anti-air craft attack, first flight, built-up Diaspora base, etc. - but he had a very short temper."
What you call "short temper" was an acute mental disorder. Interesting how Thalaivar couldn't find anyone else to fill that position. Did Mahattaya help or hurt the LTTE by arranging for Kittu's "accident" and subsequent departure from Sri Lanka?
இலங்கை இராணுவம் பிடித்து வைத்துள்ள இடங்களில் புலிகள் மீண்டும் ஊடுருவி வருகின்றனர்.
இலங்கை இராணுவம் பிடித்து வைத்துள்ள இடங்களில் தற்போது விடுதலை புலிகள் மீண்டும் ஊடுருவி வருகின்றனர். இதனால் இலங்கை படையினர் குழப்பம் அடைந்துள்ளனர்.
விசுவமடு, யாழ்ப்பாணம், கிளாலி உள்ளிட்ட இடங்களில் இராணுவத்தினருக்கும், புலிகளுக்கும் இடையே சண்டை நடந்துள்ளது. குறிப்பாக, விசுவமடு பகுதியில் இராணுவ பீரங்கித் தளத்தை தாக்கி தகர்த்த விடுதலை புலிகள், அங்கிருந்த 50-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட வீரர்களை கொன்று விட்டனர்.
புதுக்குடியிருப்பு, விசுவமடு பகுதிகளில் கடந்த சில நாட்களாக விடுதலை புலிகள் நடத்திய கடுமையான தாக்குதலில் 700 படையினர் கொல்லப்பட்டும், 500-க்கும் அதிகமான படையினர் காயமடைந்தும் உள்ளதாக கொழும்பில் பெயர் குறிப்பிட விரும்பாத இராணுவ உயரதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.
இராணுவத் தரப்பில் பெரும் உயிர்ச்சேதம் ஏற்பட்டு வருவது குறித்து அதிபர் ராஜபக்சே கவலை அடைந்துள்ளார். இந்த உயிர்ச்சேதம் குறித்து அறிக்கை சமர்ப்பிக்குமாறு இராணுவ தளபதி சரத் பொன்சேகாவுக்கு ராஜபக்சே உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளதாக தெரிகிறது.
மேலும், விசுவமடுவில் படையினருக்கு ஏற்பட்ட கடுமையான இழப்புகள் தொடர்பாக போர்க்களத்தில் உள்ள படை உயரதிகாரிகளுடன் ராஜபக்சே நேரடியாக தொடர்பு கொண்டு விசாரித்ததாகவும் கூறப்படுகிறது.
இதற்கிடையே, வன்னி பகுதியில் இலங்கை இராணுவம் நேற்று நடத்திய தாக்குதல்களில் 57 தமிழர்கள் பலியானார்கள்.
அதே சமயத்தில், புதுக்குடியிருப்பு பகுதியில் நடந்த சண்டையில் 41 விடுதலை புலிகளை கொன்று விட்டதாகவும், ஏராளமானமான ஆயுதங்களை கைப்பற்றி இருப்பதாகவும் இலங்கை இராணுவம் கூறியுள்ளது.
tamilwin
Just to add to what aKa has posted.
On Saturday morning a police/CDF post near Kokkumoddau on Vilapathu forest border was attacked. Two CDF were believed killed. No casualties to Tamil side.
Badrinath,
"Yeah, another thing that really bothers me about Karuna is how he made his Tamil followers engage in atrocities to his own Tamil people."
So you condemn the LTTE's killings of Rajini Thiranagama, Anandarajah, Mr. and Mrs. Yogeswaran, and countless others? Do you condemn Prabhakaran's murder of Alfred Duraiappah in 1975- the first political murder of a Tamil by a Tamil???
"But what about Karuna sending his fighters in LTTE uniforms into LTTE checkpoints and murdering LTTE low level cadres who he had no disagreement with?"
Despite your previous foolish comment about "Eelam court," I am willing to give you credit for appreciating the incredible setback to the LTTE caused by Karuna's departure (which is unfortunately beyond Peter's comprehension, possibly due to a Jaffnacentric mentality). However, you seem to have forgotten that Karuna had originally agreed to stop fighting, and it was the LTTE who broke the understanding:
The LTTE betrayed the terms of its understanding with Karuna when it executed erstwhile commanders of Karuna who surrendered. The witch hunt for Karuna loyalists and the arrest of over 200 cadres suspected of having supported the Karuna revolt has worsened the situation. The fate of these cadres taken to the Wanni for interrogation is unknown.
The tigers were unwilling to even let Karuna loyalists seek safety elsewhere. Ex - tiger cadres considered Karuna loyalists were killed mercilessly in many parts of the East and Colombo. The most horrible massacre was in Kottawa. Eight persons including Karunas treasurer Kuganesan and chief bodyguard Castro were drugged and then massacred in cold blood as they lay in their beds and mats in a stupor. The tigers are now shouting about the cowardly killing of Kausalyan. If one is to talk about cowardly killings the Kottawa massacre has no equal.
The tigers talk of treacherous killings in the context of Kausalyans murder. Again it must be pointed out that the LTTE cannot take moral high ground on this. The treacherous killing of Karunas brother Sivanesathurai alias Reggie as he was sleeping by someone he thought was trustworthy is a glaring example. So too was the killing of Satchi master in the Batticaloa jail by a man who had wormed his way into his confidence. The killer had done menial tasks like massaging Satchis feet and pouring water for bathing etc. Treacherous killings are a tiger hallmark. If the Karuna faction is now doing it then one can only say that both are same "mattaigal " (husks) soaked in the same "kuttai" (puddle).
The LTTE also talks of unarmed cadres being killed at a time of ceasefire in a government controlled area as being reprehensible. Certainly that is true. Again the tigers are the people who started this practice. Nearly 200 unarmed activists belonging to groups like the EPDP, EPRLF and PLOTE were killed in Government controlled areas including Colombo. People who kept silent about this killing spree have suddenly found their voices when LTTE gets a taste of their own medicine.
Against this backdrop Karuna loyalists had no choice other than to throw in their lot with the security forces. It was sheer survival.
||::CeylonDefence::||
Click here
I guess it is relatively dull in Wanni front lines for last 24 hrs, so it is in a way good that we do not hear any civilian casualties.
further proof of latest ltte gains...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITQp4tBMBT0
hyper link for above video
A protest was initiated by the Sri Lankan nurses, for not utilizing their services by the Indian doctors, functioning at the temporary hospital constructed at Pullmottai vicinity in treating the injured people who had moved from Vanni. Sri Lankan Nurses Association informs that a special nursing team had been brought from India to assist the doctors which cannot be accepted.
The Association alleges the temporary hospital was selected by the Indian government at Pulmottai area forcibly and the Sri Lankan nurses are ignored, at this instant, who had been contributing their
services massively to the effected northern people.
The Sri Lankan Nurses Association further quoted that unregistered Indian nurses are employed for this services.
The humanitarian crisis facing more than 250,000 Tamils in Vanni, Northern Sri Lanka is reaching unprecedented catastrophic proportions and yet the International Community (IC), especially the United Nations (UN), remain largely silent, more concerned with appeasing the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) than ensuring that an adequate quantity of humanitarian relief reaches those starving and dying in the War Zone.
These civilians, abandoned by the government that claims to represent them, are left without basic food, medicine, shelter, medical care and clothing and are being subjected to intense, indiscriminate bombing and shelling by the GoSL Armed Forces. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that over 2000 civilians have been killed and more than 7000 injured in 2009.
The GoSL has banned international and local media from accessing the Vanni since January 2007 and also in September 2008, ordered the UN and international non-governmental organisations (iNGOs) out, thus depriving the 250,000 civilians of adequate humanitarian assistance. These actions also removed the last independent, impartial third party witness to the war crimes that the GoSL is committing and ensured that only the GoSL’s version of events are available to the world during their ‘Programme of Genocide of the Tamils’.
Food Needs
UN agencies have estimated the number of people now in Vanni to be about 200,000, while the Government Agent (GA) and local NGOs that work there give a figure of 250,000. However, the GoSL has instructed the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to limit its food supply to Vanni to meet the needs of only 70,000. The last WFP shipment that reached the Vanni shores on 1st March carried 50 metric tons of food, which on the basis of a daily need of 0.5 kg per person would suffice to feed only 100,000 people for a day.
WFP sent in a mere 40 Mt on 26 February and 153 metric tons on 19 January when the amount of food needed to feed the actual population of 250,000 is 875 metric tons per week.
Over the past one year the civilians in Vanni have not been getting adequate food rations due to the restrictions, embargoes and delays enforced by the GoSL. In particular, during the last 3 months less than 8% of the food / medical needs have been allowed in to Vanni by GoSL.
Shelter,
Most of the 250,000 displaced civilians are now living under trees or in makeshift shelters because the GoSL has banned the transportation of shelter materials.
WASH (Water, Sanitation and Health)
Water - The ‘new safe zone’ unilaterally declared by the GoSL has less than 10% of drinking water needed for the 250,000 IDPs. The area lies between a brackish lagoon and the ocean and as a result the amount of potable ground water available from wells is small.
A lack of fuel for the bowsers and the water pumps is also hampering water collection and delivery.
Sanitation
75% of IDPs do not have toilets and must defecate in public areas, resulting in the spread of disease. GoSL has banned all construction materials to the area since early 2007 - as a result building of temporary toilets is almost impossible.
Health
All the Hospitals and Primary Healthcare Centres in Vanni have been displaced or destroyed by bombing and shelling. HRW has recorded more than 20 attacks on hospitals and other medical facilities. In addition, the government has not sent the 4th quarter drugs for 2008 and the 1st quarter drugs for 2009. Currently, Matallan Temporary Hospital is the only hospital functioning in a partially completed school with 3-4 doctors and 15 nurses.
Mattallam Temporary Hospital does not have any medicine remaining.
The following are either completely or close to being exhausted:
* Antibiotics * IV’s * Anesthetic drugs * Blood * Other medical supplies
Diseases related to overcrowding, poor nutritional intake, a lack of sanitation and exposure to the elements are becoming prevalent:
Chickenpox outbreak
Respiratory diseases
Diarrhoea - 6 children have died
4 Pregnant women have died as a result of complications which would have been easily treated had there been proper health facilities and medicine.
Psycho-social
Most of the IDPs have been severely traumatized due to continued shelling and bombing and have seen family members and friends killed or brutally injured by GoSL attacks Shelter,
Most of the 250,000 displaced civilians are now living under trees or in makeshift shelters because the GoSL has banned the transportation of shelter materials.
For more information please visit: www.vannimission.org
Post a Comment