Abductions

[Mathivathanan]

<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>Tigers 'abduct 23 children' </span>

The Tigers had pledged to end child recruitment
Tamil Tiger rebels abducted at least 23 children just a day after freeing 49 child soldiers, according to independent truce monitors in Sri Lanka.
The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said the children were taken from the eastern town of Valachchenai over the weekend.

Three hundred Tamil students from the main school in the area staged a protest, sitting on the main road and blocking traffic all morning.

They said they would repeat their protest - a rare show of defiance towards the Tigers - until their friends were released.

The Tamil Tigers have denied involvement in the abductions, but BBC Colombo correspondent Frances Harrison says it is hard to imagine who else could be behind such a large number of children disappearing.

Fear

The abductions saw several small groups of children taken away. Some children were taken from a school, others from a Hindu temple where religious ceremonies were under way.

Local police say they are finding it difficult to investigate the abductions because parents are too frightened of the rebels to come forward and make an official complaint.

A spokeswoman for the truce monitors, Agnes Bragadottir, said they were trying to arrange a meeting between the Tiger leadership and the Tamil parents in an attempt to secure the release of the children.

The abductions happened barely 24 hours after the Tigers ceremonially released 22 boys and 27 girls at their political headquarters in the northern town of Kilinochchi.

The 49 children are being accommodated at a halfway home in the area set up by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

The UN agency plans to open two more such centres in the east of the island.

The conscription of children is regarded a violation of the truce brokered by Norway, which is trying to secure a political settlement to the island's ethnic conflict which has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asi...sia/3168756.stm

[Mathivathanan]

UNICEF Wakes Up!
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 2.30 P.M Tuesday 7 October. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has issued a statement today, verifying number of cases of child recruitment by the LTTE in Valachchenai. The release stated that UNICEF teams on the ground were working to verify the exact numbers of children recruited and the recruitment of just one child is a serious violation of children's rights. The release added that continued recruitment of children is completely unacceptable and this type of action undermines the work and commitment of the LTTE towards making the Action Plan for Children Affected by War a success. The release also stated that UNICEF is still receiving cases of child recruitment in all districts of the North East and it must be understood that if the reintegration of child soldiers is to be successful then new recruitment has to stop."
Yesterday Parents and schoolchildren protested over the abduction of at least 23 children in eastern Sri Lanka by the LTTE few days after the LTTE opened re-habilitation centers for the ex-child soldiers, heavily funded by UNICEF. The move has come under heavy media criticism. Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority Prof Harendra de Silva also lodged a complaint against the collaboration with number of social workers questioning the justification of the project

http://www.theacademic.org/#10655163550

[Mathivathanan]

U.N. agency demands release of children abducted by Tamil Tiger rebels
Associated Press, Tue October 7, 2003 05:26 EDT . SHIMALI SENANAYAKE - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The U.N. Children's Fund said Tuesday it has demanded that Tamil Tiger rebels immediately release children abducted to be soldiers and called the actions ``completely unacceptable.'' Parents and children protested Monday in eastern Sri Lanka - over the abduction of at least 15 children, said the Sri Lanka - Monitoring Mission, a European team monitoring a cease-fire in the country's civil war. Three were later released.
Military spokesman Col. Sumetha Perera said he had received reports of 20 abductions, including 13 students taken from a school and playground Saturday in Batticaloa, 220 kilometers (140 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.

The reported abductions in Batticaloa took place barely 24 hours after the rebels freed 49 other children under a UNICEF program to demobilize child soldiers.

At a ceremony Friday launching the new program, a senior Tiger leader said the group had abandoned recruiting children.

``If reintegration of child soldiers is to be successful then new recruitment has to stop,'' Chaiban said. ``These abductions are completely unacceptable.''

Human rights groups estimate that the Tamil Tigers used 2,000 to 4,000 children as soldiers during their 19-year fight for a separate state for the island's minority Tamils. About 65,000 people were killed in the conflict before last year's truce.

http://www.theacademic.org/#10655276900

[yarl]

பிபிசி செய்தி நானும் கேட்டனான் .ஆனால் செய்தி நம்பும்படி இல்லை.

செய்திகளை இனம்புரிக்காமல் தனித்துவமாகப்பார்த்தாலே புரியும் செய்திகளில் உள்ள நம்பகத்தன்மையில் ஒரு தர்க்காPதிகூட (லொஜிக்கல் சாத்தியக்கூறு) இல்லை.

முதல்நாள் புலிகள் பிள்ளைகளை
விடுதலை செய்கிறார்களாம் .அடுத்தநாள் கடத்துகிறார்களாம்....

இது நம்பும்படியாகவா இருக்கிறது?

வெளிநர்டு ஊடகங்கள் கூட வரவர நம்பமுடியாமல் போய்விட்டது.

[Mathivathanan]

நன்றி யாழ்.. கடத்தியது உண்மை.. ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடந்தது உண்மை.. அதில் மூவர் திரிப்பி கொண்டுவந்து கையளிக்கப்பட்டது உண்மை.. மீதிப்பேர் விரும்மிபித்தான் வந்தார்கள்என விவாதித்தது உண்மை.. இப்படி பல நமது தளங்களில் வெளிவராத உண்மையிருக்கும்போது வானொலியில் அவர்கள் கூறுவது பொய்.. விரும்பித்தான் போனார்கள் என விவாதமிட்டு அவர்கள் கூற்று பொய்யென செல்லி ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் செய்த தாய்மார் சிலரை நேர்காண முனைந்ததும் உண்மை.. <!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tongue.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tongue.gif'><!--endemo--> இத்தனை உண்மையிருக்கும்போது.. BBC செய்திமட்டும் பொய்யாகுமா..?
பலதளங்ளில் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட அமைப்புக்ள் அதிகாரிகளின் பெயர்கள் விபரங்கள் சகிதம் அத்தனையும் புட்டுப்புட்டு வைத்துள்ளார்கள்.. போய்ப்பாருங்கள்..
<!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tongue.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->

[Mathivathanan]

இது UPDATE மூன்று

Tamil rebel recruitment of child soldiers ``completely unacceptable'': UNICEF, XINHUA
Associated Press, Tue October 7, 2003 09:01 EDT . - - COLOMBO, Oct. 7 (Xinhua)--The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday slammed the continuous recruitment of child soldiers by Sri Lanka - 's Tamil Tiger rebels in the eastern town of Valachchenai country as ``completely unacceptable'' and a serious violation of children's rights.
''UNICEF teams on the ground are working to verify the exact number of children recruited, but the numbers are not the issue-the recruitment of just one child is a serious violation of children's rights,'' Ted Chaiban, representative for the UN agency said in a statement.

UNICEF said that they on Tuesday verified a number of cases of child recruitment by the LTTE rebels in Valachchenai.

''This continued recruitment of children is completely unacceptable and this type of action undermines the work and commitment of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) towards making the Action Plan for Children Affected by War a success,'' Chaiban said.

UNICEF said that they have consistently called for an end to child recruitment and called on the LTTE rebels to immediately release at least 23 children reportedly abducted by them from Valachchenai.

The incident came just two days after the LTTE's release of some 50 children to a transit center in the rebel-held northern town of Kilinochchi on Friday. The LTTE continues to face accusations of recruiting child soldiers for fighting with the government troops despite assurances they made in 1998 to the UN special envoy on children, Olara Ottunu, UNICEF said in the statement.

Copyright 2003 XINHUA all rights reserved as distributed by WorldSources, Inc.
<!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tongue.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->

http://www.theacademic.org/#10655412040

[Mathivathanan]

[size=18]6th October: An Unexpected Turn of Events in Valaichchenai

[size=14]Over the weekend of 4th 5th October, the LTTE conscripted over 40 persons in the area including Valaichchenai, Peththalai and Kalkudah, of whom 17 were from Nahammal School, Kalkudah; Peththalai School and Valaichchenai Hindu College (VHC). The remainder was a mixture of adults and children out of school. The children taken included, Kauthan Satheeshkumar (12 years) of Nahammal School Paasikkudah,V. Pratheepan (13 or 14)of VHC and Nallathamby Kanthan (14) of Nahmmal School. Appendix I contains more names. 4th, Saturday was the great festival of Saraswathy, the goddess of learning, which was celebrated at VHC. Towards evening, after worship ended and food was served, the school children played in the grounds.

It was then, about 5.00 PM that an LTTE conscription team under Thoathiran came to the grounds in a blue van with registration number GF 0295. Thoathiran had his own ideas about paying homage to Saraswathy. Thothiran called children to get into the van to help them push a vehicle that was stuck and left with about 10 captives. Nothing remarkable here for those who knew what was going on in the East these last two years. On Monday 6th, the totally unexpected happened.

The students of the school, about 700 of them, and some parents, protested on the Kalkudah Road, blocking the traffic from 7.00 AM demanding the release of the students. It could not have come at a worse time for the LTTE. It had carefully prepared the ground for Thamilchelvan's ongoing visit to Ireland by a token release of 49 children into a transit camp jointly managed with UNICEF. After the Valaichchenai protest, the world media, from the BBC, broadcast to the world that the LTTE abducted a comparable number of children the very next day! One could hardly blame the LTTE if they suspected a conspiracy, but then who was there for such conspiracies? A ghost?

The LTTE had carefully crushed any potential opposition in the area, which was of special interest to Karuna. He had the popular TULF MP Nimalan Soundaranayagam murdered and now the TULF is deaf and dumb. The only other person there with a significant electoral base is Siva of the EPRLF (V), who was given a prison warrant with the signing of the MoU, which would become a death warrant should he get a little humanly careless. He lives in his party office under police protection and the people fear that meeting him could be too costly.

VHC has been carefully cultivated by the LTTE and has a particular significance for Karuna. The LTTE has used the school regularly as a centre for propaganda meetings for teachers and students from the area, which is under Karuna's brother Reggie. On 21st May 2002, Karikalan inaugurated the Tamil Students Wing in that school with its principal Thavarajah as head, to organize the students and teachers of Batticaloa North as part of the LTTE's machine for propaganda, protests and general violent mobilization. About the turn of the year, a key LTTE spokesman was brought from the Vanni to address staff and students from local schools at VHC about the LTTE's new curriculum. Those who would not toe the line were issued dire threats. Reggie too spoke.

Against this background the protest against the LTTE must have come as a rude shock. It was no doubt triggered spontaneously. How much could after all fascists do to ensure that the ground does not crumble under their tread? As was to be expected (e.g. the Vijitharan protest of 1986), the LTTE's first move was to break up the protest with promises. Even as the protest was under way, LTTE men wearing helmets concealing their identity entered the school discreetly through the back entrance, and negotiated with the parents in the presence of the principal. The principal went to the protesters and reportedly gave an assurance that the abducted students will be released in a matter of days. Around 12.00 PM, the protesters started moving into the school.

Although the protesters are confident of resuming the protest if the LTTE does not keep its word, it is not so simple. By now the LTTE intelligence would be hard at work trying to identify leaders through the principal and teachers whom it has ensnared into its web. In the next couple of days one could expect several individuals to be targeted for fascist-style intimidation at the least.

Fallout from the Valaichchenai Protest

As expected, during the course of the 7th the LTTE's repressive machinery was grinding at full throttle. When the LTTE had called children to get into the vehicle, one boy who was in the company had told the LTTEers that he would follow on his bicycle and had not gone. The LTTE suspected him of having given the alarm that the children had been taken by the LTTE. The LTTE's Economic Development Secretary Nizam called the boy and his father to the Puthukudiyiruppu office and abused them for creating trouble.

Word was also sent to parents and students who were seen to be active in the demonstrations to call at Nizam's office. Some did not go. The others went at different times. Those who went were abused and told that they will not protest if the Army shoots people, but come forward to protest only when LTTE abducts children. One man who lost his son Pradheepan (13 or 14) was the Post Master at Mankerni. Going in search of his son, he saw Jim Kelly Thaaththa and some other LTTEers on the road. He asked them to return his son. When they refused, he attempted to commit suicide, according to local sources. The incident will result in significant pressure of the UNICEF to change its approach to the LTTE. It has already issued a strong statement on the Valaichchenai fiasco.

Whatever the impression the LTTE would like to give the international community, it was unsparing in its efforts to halt the escape of conscripts. An unknown number of parents have been taken hostage in lieu of their escaped children (see cases in Appendix II). They have been sent out to hard labour in pig farms and other LTTE establishments in Tharavai, Kudumbimalai and Kathiraveli. Among the persons in charge of this project are reportedly Tharan of Intelligence, Thirumal and Vairavan.

There is therefore no change in the LTTE's intentions. It is all the time adapting its methods to minimize scrutiny from international organizations. The manner in which it is handling the very young is instructive.

http://www.go2lanka.com/stories/081003.html

[kuruvikal]

பிபிசி செய்தி நானும் கேட்டனான் .ஆனால் செய்தி நம்பும்படி இல்லை.

செய்திகளை இனம்புரிக்காமல் தனித்துவமாகப்பார்த்தாலே புரியும் செய்திகளில் உள்ள நம்பகத்தன்மையில் ஒரு தர்க்காPதிகூட (லொஜிக்கல் சாத்தியக்கூறு) இல்லை.

முதல்நாள் புலிகள் பிள்ளைகளை
விடுதலை செய்கிறார்களாம் .அடுத்தநாள் கடத்துகிறார்களாம்....

இது நம்பும்படியாகவா இருக்கிறது?

வெளிநர்டு ஊடகங்கள் கூட வரவர நம்பமுடியாமல் போய்விட்டது.

ஒரு காலத்தில புலிகள் செய்தி என்றால் கரந்தடிப்படை அது இதெண்டு செய்தி சொன்னவை...பிரிட்டனின் தடைக்குப் பிறகு...BBC யும் தடைக்கு நியாயம் தேடுமே ஒளிய செய்தியில நியாயம் பாக்குமே.....இப்ப பாருங்கோ...உள்ள கழிவுகெட்ட அரசியல்வாதிகளை எல்லாம் தேடிப்பிடிச்சு புலி எதிர்ப்பு பேட்டி கேட்டு போடும் BBC...உதுதான் CNN இன்றையும் கூத்து...தங்கட செயலுக்கு,அவை சார்ந்தவைக்கும எப்படியாவது நியாயம் தேடுவினம்....உவையின்ற நடுநிலைத்தன்மை எண்டது அவைக்கு நல்ல தோற்றம் காட்டுறதே தவிர எங்களுக்கு செய்தி தாறதல்ல...!
:twisted: <!--emo&--><img src='http://www.yarl.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tongue.gif'><!--endemo--> :roll:

[Mathivathanan]

<span style='font-size:19pt;line-height:100%'>உண்மைதான் குருவிகாள்.. தங்கட செயலுக்கும் அவை சார்ந்தவைக்கும் எப்படியாவது நியாயம் தேடுவினம்.. உவையின்ற நடுநிலைத்தன்மை எண்டது அவைக்கு நல்ல தோற்றம் காட்டுறதே தவிர எங்களுக்கு செய்தி தாறதல்ல..!</span>
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