Peasaalai villagers mobilize against genocidal land grab in Mannaar

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=37016

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 January 2014, 07:52 GMT]
The Tamil Catholic people of the coastal village of Peasaalai in the north-west of the Mannaar island on Thursday took to the streets in protest against the genocidal land grab by the occupying Sinhala military. The protest took place when the SL Navy brought land surveyors to measure a land belonging to the 600-year-old church in their village. The occupying Navy, which is already stationed in the one-acre coconut palm grove, is now trying to permanently seize the land from the church. The people of the village mobilized against the move and blocked the surveyors from measuring the land despite the harassment by the occupying navy video-filming the people amidst the deployment of a large number of SL navy sailors at the site.

Sri Lanka’s Northern Council seeks international war crimes probe

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/lankas-northern-council-backs-international-probe-into-war-crimes/article5623473.ece

Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution on Monday calling for an international probe into the war crimes allegedly committed during the country’s ethnic conflict.

The resolution was proposed by NPC member M.K. Shivajilingam of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which formed the NPC administration after winning the 2013 provincial elections.

The resolution comes less than two months before United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay is due to submit a written report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the progress made by Sri Lanka in fixing accountability for alleged war crimes.

Stephen Rapp was briefed on structural genocide at Bishop's House in Jaffna

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=36968

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 January 2014, 17:06 GMT]
After having caused massive deaths and disappearances on the Tamil civilian population during the times of war, the Sri Lankan State now continues to commit acts of structural genocide in the Tamil land. This aims at causing demographic and identity change, ethnic subordination and dilution of Tamils political power, the Bishop of Mannaar Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph told the visiting US diplomat on Wednesday. The visiting delegation was primarily interested in the details of the ‘war crimes’ during the final months of the war, according to Mannaar Bishop. Mr Rapp was told that an international investigation was necessary, not to punish any individual, but to create a conducive environment, which would in turn cause an attitudinal change on the part of the Sri Lankan State.

An attitudinal change on the part of the Sri Lankan State is necessary for a realistic post-conflict reconciliation to take place. One cannot expect this attitudinal change without first creating a conducive environment through the delivery of justice, was the opinion of Bishop Rayappu. 

8 years on and still no justice for ‘Trinco 5’

http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=9632

Today marks the 8 years since the murder of five Tamil students, committed by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force, whilst they spent an afternoon on the beach in Trincomalee. 

Photograph: TamilNet

The five slain students, who were all 21-years-old when killed, are:

Manoharan Ragihar (22.09.1985)

Yogarajah Hemachchandra(04.03.1985)

Logitharajah Rohan (07.04.1985)

Thangathurai Sivanantha (06.04.1985)

Shanmugarajah Gajendran(16.09.1985)

To this day, no-one has been brought to justice for the murders.

Earlier this year 12 people, including an Assistant Superintendent of Police, were remandedover the killings. To date, none have been brought to trial. Instead, 2013 saw Kapila Jayasekara, who reportedly spearheaded the executions, promoted to DIG in the Amparai district.

See a report by Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) into the murders, which indicates Jayasekara was present during the incident, with 6-7 armed masked soldiers, here.