Encroachment of government lands in Batticaloa Tamil areas

Ma’nmunai Southwest Divisional Secretariat has informed the Deputy Secretary to President Rajapakse confirming the illegal colonization of government lands in Batticaloa district in Eastern Province where Tamil people live predominantly. Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Ariyanenthiran had already brought the issue of illegal colonization to the President and his Deputy Secretary had called for reports from the three Government Agents (GAs) in Eastern Province.

Ma’nmunai Southwest Divisional Secretariat in relation to the directive of the Deputy Secretary to the President submitted the following report to Batticaloa district GA and a copy of it has been sent to President’ Deputy Secretary.

The following is the English translation of the above letter:

From: Divisional Secretariat

Ma’nmunai Southwest 11.11.2009

To: The Government Agent

Secretariat

Batticaloa

Encroachment of government lands

With reference to your letter of 3.11. 2009

Encroachment of government lands in Kevu’liyaamadu in Kachchakkodi Village Officer area under my divisional administration has been taking place from September. Instructions were issued to stop this illegal occupation of government property was given to the Officer-in-Charge of Vakkialla police station on 11.09.2009.

No action being taken, the encroachment has continued and now there are 170 illegal settlements and some of these are permanent structures. This area is heavily guarded with sentry posts and the encroachments continue with the assistance of the former Village Officer when this area was annexed to Uka’nai Divisional Secretariat.

Some of the encroached lands have already been allocated to Sinhalese and Tamils.

Though the Sinhalese people whose lands had been encroached no action has been taken.

[Full Coverage]

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Resettling Tamils silently expelled from Champoor in Trincomalee

Following the election of Maithiripala Sirisena as new Sri Lankan President, the uprooted families from a section of the 5th Division and 7th Division of Champoor situated along both the sides of Champoor main road, started to clear their lands for resettlement. Their lands, seized by Colombo under the so-called ‘Special Economic Zone’ (SEZ) were to be handed over to a Chinese-owned corporate. The occupying Sri Lanka Navy was blocking the uprooted Tamils from resettling in their lands. Despite the ‘regime change’, the Sri Lanka Navy occupying Champoor and the Sri Lankan Police have chased away the 162 families, who were clearing their plots to prepare for resettlement in the 1,430 acres of lands appropriated by Colombo under the so-called SEZ. Officials from Colombo accompanied by SL military Tamil National Alliance (TNA) politicians in Trincomalee are under pressure from the Sampanthan polity not to voice against Colombo at this juncture as the TNA is collaborating with Mr Maithiripala Sirisena’s regime on a number of issues, including the future governance of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC), the uprooted people from Champoor told TamilNet. The campaigners of Mahinda Rajapaksa regime promised resettlement to a section of uprooted Champoor people if they were prepared to vote for Mr Rajapaksa. The uprooted people demanded that they should be allowed to enter their lands first in order to consider voting for Rajapaksa. But, within a few hours after the elections, Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment officials accompanied by SL Navy officers and SL Police came to their temporary huts instructing the people to move away from their lands. The EPC members of the TNA have also been requesting the people to relocate peacefully without protest, the uprooted people said. The people were told that the TNA leaders wanted to give a few more days to the new government in Colombo. However, two weeks have passed without a proper response from the Sri Lankan authorities and the TNA politicians, a representative of the displaced people in Champoor told TamilNet on Saturday. The uprooted Champoor people were not allowed to resettle even in the lands that are outside the boundaries of the so-called HSZ and SEZ. The officials who came from the Board of Investment and the SL military officers were telling the people that the uprooted would only be allowed to resettle under an official resettlement scheme and not on their own. In the meantime, 22 families that have resettled in their lands situated near Kaa’li temple at Champoor have refused to move away from their lands as their lands do not come under the High Security Zone or Special Economic Zone. [DIVIDER] TamilNet: 24.01.15 Resettling Tamils silently expelled from Champoor in Trincomalee

Protests erupt in Jaffna against continued militarisation, unemployment

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An unexpected change of power in Sri Lanka is good news for democracy

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Pope Francis at Madu: ‘Our Lady remained always with you’

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Also Read: 03.04.2008 The temporal and spiritual conquest of Tamils: Mahinda’s book of dreams * * * Full text of the address by Pope Francis at Madu follows: Dear Brothers and Sisters, We are in our Mother’s house. Here she welcomes us into her home. At this shrine of Our Lady of Madu, every pilgrim can feel at home, for here Mary brings us into the presence of her Son Jesus. Here Sri Lankans, Tamil and Sinhalese alike, come as members of one family. To Mary they commend their joys and sorrows, their hopes and needs. Here, in her home, they feel safe. They know that God is very near; they feel his love; they know his tender mercy. There are families here today which suffered greatly in the long conflict, which tore open the heart of Sri Lanka. Many people, from north and south alike, were killed in the terrible violence and bloodshed of those years. No Sri Lankan can forget the tragic events associated with this very place, or the sad day when the venerable statue of Mary, dating to the arrival of the earliest Christians in Sri Lanka, was taken away from her shrine. But, Our Lady remained always with you. She is the mother of every home, of every wounded family, of all who are seeking to return to a peaceful existence. Today we thank her for protecting the people of Sri Lanka from so many dangers, past and present. Mary never forgot her children on this resplendent island. Just as she never left the side of her Son on the Cross, so she never left the side of her suffering Sri Lankan children. Today we want to thank Our Lady for that presence. In the wake of so much hatred, violence and […]

Resettlement meaningless without guarantee against structural genocide in East

Governments may come and go, but the State of Sri Lanka gets strengthened in its genocidal project whether there is war, peace or talk of ‘change’, comment the resettled women of Mu’raa-oadai village, situated 5 km south of Vaazhaich-cheanai town in Batticaloa district. 400 houses have been destroyed. Two temples are damaged. Almost all the resettled families are women-headed households, poorest of the poor. The women of the village say: “It is only when we have permanent security from future genocide, we can breath the air of freedom.” The SL military has vacated last year from the village. But, a Buddhist statue and a ‘sacred’ Bo tree are still threatening the villagers who are haunted by the mere existence of the symbols of structural genocide. Mu’raa-oadai was completely destroyed after facing a brutal onslaught of genocide between 1985 and 1995. Following the Ceasefire agreement between the Colombo government and the Tamil Tigers in 2002, the village was secured back for civilian resettlement. Even after the Eastern Province was fully seized by the SL military in 2007, the Sri Lankan State continued its genocidal occupation of the village till the last year. 400 houses and two Saiva temples have been destroyed. The Sinhala military has exploited whatever remained in the village. Almost all the families are women-headed households. “What we got during the past years for our so-called resettlement was only 12 sheets for roof and 8 bags of cement to the construction of our houses,” A. Krishnamma, who lost her husband in the war told TamilNet. The ‘resettled’ hut of Mrs Krishnammaa, who is a mother of two Apart from the Buddhist temple and the Bo tree standing as the threatening symbols, the wild elephants brought from the jungles of South into the jungle in the Eastern province enter the village killing people, the villagers say. “There is no potable water. There is no electricity. Dark jungle. But, it is our land. It was where my house was situated. So, I am staying here. We were living here for ages. It was here my mother was living. She was shot and killed by the Muslims. The Indian military that entered into our house shot and killed my husband. Later, we were displaced. For years we were living on the other side close to our village. I came back as I wanted to come to my house in my land. Karuna Ammaan [defected from the LTTE and became a paramilitary with a minister post in the SL government] came with a promise that he would give us a tube well. But, nothing of that sort happened,” Krishnamma says. “Before the destruction, we lived here without flooding. But, now we are also affected by flooding, as the Sri Lankan military which was stationed here had dug out sand from our lands. Most of the houses were heavily flooded. It never happened in this way before,” she complained. “It is said there is a new President elected with the promise of change. Will that happen?,” she questioned. “Our immediate need is potable water, electricity and resumption of livelihood. We will wait and see what happens,” she added. “We left behind all our goods at the house when we were chased out of our village. When lived here, there were five coconut trees. Now, everything is gone. The environment is gone. Our village has become a desert land.” As genocide and structural genocide are in the ideology of the State in Colombo and the Powers that back it, unless there are fundamental changes in people of the land having their State, the decades of the resettlement, rehabilitation experience of Eastern Eezham Tamils is not likely to change, commented social activists having long familiarity with the region. The private land used by the SL military and abandoned last year has been fenced off by the owner of the property at Mu’raa-oadai [DIVIDER] TamilNet: 13.01.15 Resettlement meaningless without guarantee against structural genocide in East

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KP and Karuna have to be tried – Fonseka

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Ananthy urges Pope to see genocide, get answers from local, international players

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At the LLRC sittings in Mannar, the Bishop of Mannar, Rev Dr Rajappu Joseph, boldly established the fact that a total of 146,679 people had gone unaccounted for in the final stage of the war in 2008 and 2009. I also approached all possible international avenues that were created when the UN committees analysing the UN failure and the latest OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka created through the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) process in Geneva. With a special mandate from the Northern Provincial Council in March 2014, I raised the awareness of UN Human Rights Council by addressing the 25th session in March 2014 four times. However, we are yet to receive any proper response from the Sri Lankan government authorities. Five years have elapsed since we last saw our family members and relatives, who were handed over to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in front of our eyes, with the facilitation offered by Rev Fr Francis Joseph, our beloved priest who came to help the people at a critical juncture. We placed our hope in Fr Francis Joseph as he was a witness attached to the Church. During the last days of the genocidal war, on 17 May, 2009, we passed into Vadduvakal in Mullaithivu and reached a place called Selvapuram, an area that had been already seized by the SLA. On the following day, the SLA announced through megaphones that they will provide amnesty if those who were attached to the LTTE earlier surrendered themselves. Hence, former Principal of St. Patrick’s school, and principal of Kilinochchi English school, Rev. Francis Joseph, took our family members to surrender to the SLA as requested by the family members. There were many women, pregnant mothers, and children who were part of this organized surrender. There were not only former combatants, but humanitarian workers, rights activists and officials involved in the civil services of the de-facto administration run by the LTTE. Their family members were also among those surrendered. Still, we are not told the whereabouts of our kith and kin, who were taken in military buses to undisclosed locations on that fateful day. As you are aware Rev. Fr. Francis Joseph also went with them and never returned. As a member of the Northern Provincial Council and as one of the affected victims, I urge Your Holiness to reach out for us in demanding a clear answer from the Sri Lankan Government and its military on what had happened to Rev Fr Francis Joseph, the hundreds of our family members and relatives who were taken into SLA custody on 18 May, 2009. The officers of the United Nations were involved in suggesting the surrender providing assurances that the security of those surrendered would be looked after by the UN agencies. Likewise, the Co-Chair Countries of Tokyo Donor Conference on the peace process, which were the USA, the European Union, Norway and Japan, were also advising the Tamils to go into the SL military controlled territory. Indian government was also telling the same. Your Holiness, all these countries are also responsible to give us an answer. I am personally imploring Your Holiness to help my three daughters and myself to establish the whereabouts of my […]

Sri Lanka votes out Rajapaksa – Channel 4 News

Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa, a man accused of presiding over multiple war crimes, has lost his bid for a third term as Sri Lanka’s president. Mr Rajapaksa conceded defeat to Maithripala Sirisena, his one time close ally, on Friday morning and is reported to have promised a smooth transition of power. Seen by many as a hero after his government crushed terror group the LTTE at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Mr Rajapaksa had confidently called the election two years early. However, he had not counted on Mr Sirisena to defect to Sri Lanka’s opposition – a move which united opposition parties against Rajapaksa and rallied parts of the population against perceived nepotism and corruption. Rajapaksa had held power since 2005, and in 2009 oversaw the defeat of the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers. The Tamil Tigers were a brutal terrorist group who employed child soldiers and pioneered the use of suicide bombers. In that victory, and shown in footage first aired by Channel 4 News, the army is accused of shelling and bombing civilians and other atrocities. The UN has estimated that 40,000 civilians died in the final weeks of the war. Since then there have been continuing allegations of human rights abuses against the Rajapaksa government such as enforced disappearances. However, it was not the government’s human rights record – which is being investigated by the UN – that is the main reason for Rajapaksa’s defeat. The main plank of Mr Sirisena’s (pictured, above) election campaign was an end to corruption and nepotism in the government. He had vowed to remove the Rajapaksa family from office – Rajapaksa and his three brothers all hold positions in government and it is thought his son was being groomed for power. Rajapaksa had altered Sri Lanka’s constitution, allowing him to be elected to a third term and keeping him immune from prosecution – a move that new President Sirisena has vowed to reverse. Tamil vote The close run election saw Mr Rajapaksa maintain his popularity with the country’s majority Sinhala population but lose out to a wave of support for his opponent from minority groups, especially the oppressed Tamil population focused on the country’s north. Mr Sirisena was declared the victor after securing 51.3 per cent of the vote, compared with 47.0 per cent for Mr Rajapaksa. Tamil voters, many of whom had declined to vote in the previous election because of no viable candidate, turned out in high numbers to vote Mr Rajapaksa out. However, Mr Sirisena is not predicted to bring any great changes to improve the lives of Tamils. He, like his defeated opponent, rejects the UN investigation into war crimes allegations, has pledged that senior commanders accused of such war crimes will not face legal action, and will not reduce the military presence in northern Sri Lanka. He was also acting defence minister at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war. US Secretary of State John Kerry was quick to welcome the successful election and commended Rajapaksa for accepting the verdict of the nation’s 15 million voters. "I look forward to working with President-elect Maithripala Sirisena as his new government works to implement its campaign platform of a Sri Lanka that is peaceful, inclusive, democratic, and prosperous," he said in a statement. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Sirisena to congratulate the new leader of "a close friend and neighbour". [DIVIDER] Mr Sirisena is expected to be sworn in at 6pm local time (12:30pm GMT) in Colombo’s Independence Square. Sri Lanka votes out Rajapaksa – Channel 4 News

Modi congratulates Sirisena for election as Lanka President

(PTI) Reaching out to President-elect of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated him on his electoral victory and said he looked forward to working with him to take the bilateral ties to a new level. Modi first called up Sirisena and then wrote a letter to him, hailing his win and expressing India’s continued solidarity to Sri Lanka’s peace and development. "I spoke to Shri Maithripala Sirisena and congratulated him. [DIVIDER] fullstory