Jaffna Report

by Commission for Justice and Peace, June 17, 2008

Jaffna   Peninsula

17th June -   2008

GENERAL

• The President of the Union of the Jaffna District Fisheries has made an urgent appeal to the Non Govt. Organisations functioning in the district to provide relief for the 2,800 fishing families from Gurunagar, Passayoor and Columbuthurai who are facing death from starvation due to ban on fishing consequent to the attack in the lagoon on 28th May.  Most of the families which were existing on a hand to mouth existence had been badly hit and as such they require urgent relief in the form of dry food rations. 
• On account of the ban and restrictions on fishing imposed in the Jaffna District more than 70,000 persons from 17,000 fishing families have been severely affected according to the President of the Jaffna District Fishermen Cooperative Societies Union. 
• Cost of living and poverty in the district has risen to  a very high state.  In a senior secondary school, the students in a certain class were begging their teachers to arrange to provide the normal noon meals provided by the INGO to be given very early as they were about to faint as they went to sleep the previous night on empty stomach filling it with water.
• Diabetic patients attending the clinic in the Teaching Hospital are facing a dilemma as the hospital laboratory personnel send away the patients calling for blood tests without assigning any reasons.  Most of the patients who are normally old and poor cannot afford to get these test reports from the private laboratories.  

FOOD, NON-FOOD ITEMS & RELATED ISSUES

• Prices of most of the essential food items continue to increase and the consumers in the district are finding very difficult to make ends meet.

MPCS – Multi Purpose Cooperative Shop

DISPLACEMENT

• Displaced life of people in the areas of Mandaitivu, Allaipitty, Mirusuvil and Eluthumattuval are still continuing.

INJURIES, KILLING, SURRENDER AND DISAPPEARANCES

•  Nadarasamoorthy Ketheeswaran (28) from Pannakam, Chulipuram was kidnapped by armed men in uniform at 10.40 p.m. on 11th June while he was staying at Sharmila Lodge, Kotehena, Colombo , kidnappers have used a white van with registration no. 56-5674.
• Two youth who had earlier surrendered to the Human Rights Commission for protection from murder threats and were in protective custody of the department of Prisons were waylaid by an armed gang and were shot dead on 13th June while they were transported by the prison vehicle to the Point Pedro prisons.  Armed gang had hijacked a van having bound the driver.  The driver was found in the van which was left on the road.  Selvarajah Leptinraj (17) and Thangarajah Sulosan (17) both of Karaveddy were the murdered youths.  Father, mother and a brother of Leptin were kidnapped by white van during the month of May.  Jerome Raguparan (21) was wounded in the firing as he was also travelling in the van.
• A person of 34 years with his wife of 33 years and daughter of 4 years from Urelu, Chunnakam have surrendered to the Human Rights Commission of Jaffna on the 16th for protection from murder threats.

CURFEW HOURS:

• Curfew hours have been changed in the Jaffna peninsula since 7th June 2008.  Curfew has been imposed from 7 p.m. till 5.00 a.m.  the following day in the Jaffna district.