Evidence of Sri Lankan 'war crimes' emerge

Channel 4 News showed video footage claiming to show Sri Lankan forces executing Tamils earlier this year.

Just three months after the Sri Lankan government declared the country liberated from the Tamil Tigers, video footage has emerged apparently showing government troops summarily executing Tamils, Jonathan Miller reports for Channel 4..

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said it was filmed in January - when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone.

The Sri Lankan High Commission denied that the Sri Lankan armed forces carried out atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamil community. The High Commission said that they were only engaged in a military offensive against the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan government launched a large scale military offensive in January capturing the Tamil Tiger held town of Kilinochchi. The army then steadily pushed the rebels into an small area of the north-east.

Channel 4 warns that there are extremely disturbing scenes in the report from foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller.

The Sri Lanka High Commission responding to the video said: "The High Commission has noted that in many instances in the past, various media institutions used doctored videos, photographs and documents to defame the Sri Lankan government and armed forces. Therefore, we request you to verify the authenticity of the video footage before the telecast".

Manik Camp

India should stop war, instruct Colombo to talk to Tigers - BJP Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 12:37 GMT]
A senior leader of BJP, a major national political party of India, visited Friday Thol. Thirumavalavan, the VCK President who is on a fast-unto-death demanding the Central government of India to stop the war being waged by Colombo against Eezham Tamils. The BJP politician, Vaithiyalingam, a member of the party's national general council, declared that India, which is a powerful country in the region, cannot sit back and watch without doing anything to stop the genocidal war in Sri Lanka and added India should be specific in demanding ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam.

Another BJP politician Kasi Muthu Manickam also addressed the gathering.

A neo-Buddihst monk from the Dalit community addressed the gathering. He condemned Sri Lanka and said it was a shame to call Sri Lanka a Buddhist country. Religious representatives from the local Muslim Jamaat also visited Thirumavalavan and donated money to the campaign.

Thirumavalavan's fast has entered 3rd day and his doctors were concerned of blood pressure and sugar levels, sources in Chennai said Saturday.

The fasting VCK leader thanked the BJP politicians for visiting him and expressing solidarity to his campaign said that the BJP politicians' solidarity, despite the ideological difference between Hindutva BJP and the secular and Dalit VCK, showed the genuineness of the cause he was representing.

The BJP in Tamil Nadu has recently staged protests in support of Eezham Tamils.

The BJP, in alliance with several other parties, was in power from 1998 to 2004 with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister. The February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement was mooted, shadow-managed and supervised by Vajpayee's Advisor Brajesh Mishra, reports revealed in Indian media last year.

The CFA signed in February 2002 was unilaterally withdrawn by the Sri Lanka government in January 2008.

Ruthless Genocidal Sri Lankan Army blocks gateway to Vanni civilians for 5th day

[Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 16:22 GMT]
A woman, wounded in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombardment on 01 January succumbed to her wounds Monday night and other patients in need of urgent medical transport from Puthukkudiyiruppu to Vavuniyaa with ICRC escort remain blocked for days despite repeated attempts to access the road, which remained under Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery fire, as reported earlier. In the meantime, officials at the Government Agent's office in Vavuniyaa told media that the SLA has turned away humanitarian convoys despite their repeated attempts. Civilians in Vanni are refused essential supplies and refused critical medical transport, in violation to Geneva Conventions.

The officials in Vavuniyaa, responsible for facilitating humanitarian supplies to civilians in Vanni, complained that the SLA had turned away their convoys despite their repeated attempts, at least five times, since Thursday.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson with the ICRC told journalists in Colombo that they were unable to provide escort to the humanitarian convoys due to the security situation. The ICRC spokesperson also admitted that the movement of wounded civilians remained blocked as the ambulances heading for Vavuniyaa from the conflict zone were halted due to the closure of the roads.

Sri Lanka Air Force attacks convent in Vanni, deploys cluster bombs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2008, 07:40 GMT]Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed a convent named Holy Cross Convent, located on Paranthan Mullaiththevu Road, 600 meters away from Paranthan junction Tuesday night around 10:30 p.m., a day before Christmas. TamilNet correspondent who visited the site Wednesday morning witnessed that the attacked premises was marked with Red Cross on the roof. The nearby church also sustained damage. The SLAF deployed cluster munitions in the bombardment, residents who fled the site said. 85 cows of a herd a few meters away from the convent were killed in the attack.

Karaichchi North Co-Operative society building located between the junction and the convent was also attacked by the SLAF bombers, causing the remaining civilians to flee the area. Paranthan has been bombed in more than five sorties by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers causing civilians living near the convent to flee the area. The indiscriminate bombardment has also targeted shops and other commercial establishment in Paranthan and Kumarapuram. SLAF bombed Paranthan three times Tuesday night and twice Wednesday morning, at 7:30 a.m. and around 9:00 a.m.The bombers also attacked Kugnchup-paranthan where heavy fighting has erupted Wednesday morning.