EXTERNAL AI Index: ASA 37/14/85 Distr:
SC/PO/CO
Amnesty International International Secretariat 1
Easton Street
London WC1X 8DJ, United Kingdom
16 October 1985
This circular contains the texts of letters
which Amnesty International wrote on 7 June 1985 to the
President of Sri Lanka, J R Jayewardene, and
on 10 July 1985
to the Minister of National Security, Mr Lalith
Athulathmudali, about allegations of
extrajudicial killings and reports of
"disappearances" during May 1985.
The letters refer to renewed reports that
during May 1985 over 100 unarmed Tamil civilians
were killed by members of the security forces in
reprisal for the killing of their own men, and
also to reports of "disappearances" between 16
and 18 May 1985 of 63 young Tamil men who were
reportedly taken away from their homes in the
Eastern Province of Sri Lanka by Special Task
Force personnel and allegedly shot dead in
custody, although government officials deny their
arrest.
The letters give details about alleged
extrajudicial killings of over 100 unarmed Tamil
civilians in the following incidents:
- The killing on 15 May 1985 of 48 Tamil
passengers travelling on a ferry boat from
Delft to Nainativu, allegedly in reprisal for
the deaths of 146 mostly Sinhalese civilians in
Anurahapura killed by unidentified men alleged
to be Tamil extremists. Reports received by
Amnesty International allege that navy
personnel killed the passengers, but these
allegations are denied by the government.
Amnesty International's letter of 10 July 1985
to the Minister of National Security gives an
eye-witness account by one of the ferry
passengers, who identified one of those
participating in the killings as belonging to
the Nainativu Island Naval Camp. (Since the
letter was written, Amnesty International has
received further detailed evidence about the
incident which leads it to conclude that navy
personnel were involved in the killings.)
- The killings of about 75 civilians,
including women and children, reportedly killed
by army personnel in and around Valvettiturai
on 9 May 1985, allegedly in retaliation for the
reported killing by Tamil extremists of an army
major the same day in Karaveddi.
- The killing of at least five Tamil
refugees in an army camp at Anuradhapura on 17
May 1985 by a Sri Lankan soldier, allegedly in
reprisal for the killing of 146 Sinhalese
civilians on 14 May. (These latest killings
were not officially denied by the
government.)
The letters also give details about 63 young
men who have "disappeared" in the Batticaloa area
allegedly after having been taken away by Special
Task Force Personnel between 16 and 18 May 1985.
According to several reports in the foreign
press, they were shot dead after having been
ordered to dig their own graves. Their bodies are
reported to have been subsequently dug up and
cremated in secrecy by Special Task Force
Personnel.
In its letters to the government Amnesty
International expressed its concern that no
effective measures have been taken to halt the
incidence of extrajudical reprisal killings, of
which many well documented cases have repeatedly
been brought to the government's notice. Amnesty
International renewed its appeal to the Sri Lanka
Government to take effective action to halt the
incidence of extrajudicial killings alleged to
have been carried out by Sri Lanka security
forces personnel, including the setting up of
full and impartial enquiries by an independent
body into each of the incidents, the findings of
such enquiries to be published in their entirety.
Amnesty International also requested the
government to institute an immediate inquiry to
establish the whereabouts, or what happened to,
the 63 young Tamils who "disappeared" in the
Batticaloa area between 16 and 18 May 1985.
As of the end of September 1985, Amnesty
International had not received a reply to either
of these communications to the Sri Lanka
Government. It has now decided to make public the
texts of the two letters concerning these
incidents.
Text of a
letter from Amnesty International's Secretary
General
to His Excellency President J.R Jayewardene,
dated 7 June 1985
The tragic events of the past weeks,
including the killing of at least 146 mostly
Sinhalese men, women and children in
Anuradhapura by unidentified men alleged to be
Tamil extremists, have further increased the
heavy burden on Sri Lanka's security forces
charged with maintaining law and order and the
protection of the lives and safety of all Sri
Lanka citizens.
Amnesty International wishes to reiterate
that it condemns torture and executions of
prisoners by anyone, including groups opposing
the government. Amnesty International is
gravely concerned at renewed reports received
during recent weeks that over 100 unarmed Tamil
civilians may, once more, have been killed by
members of the security forces in reprisal for
the killing of their own men.
Our organisation has also received
disturbing reports that 63 young Tamil men were
taken away from their homes in the Eastern
province by police commandos belonging to the
Special Task Force on 16 and 17 May 1985 and
were subsequently shot dead while in custody,
officials now reportedly denying their arrest
and being unable to inform relatives of their
whereabouts. I refer in particular to the
following reports received by Amnesty
International and to the details of these
incidents which have appeared in the foreign
press:
- 63 young men belonging to the Tamil
community, in the age group of 18-25 years,
were allegedly arrested and killed in the
Batticaloa area between 16 and 18 May 1985,
some of them allegedly after torture. Among
these, four young Tamils were allegedly taken
away from the village of Ilupadichenai by
Special Task Force personnel, beaten and taken
to Koduwamadu and there shot dead; 23 young men
were reportedly arrested by Special Task Force
personnel from the village of Pdaipattimunai
and shot dead.
According to the most detailed report about
these allegations which has so far been
published, in The Daily Telegraph, London, 25
May 1985, the 23 young men were arrested in the
village at 5 a.m. on the morning of 17 May 1985
by Special Task Force commandos, and several
others were arrested from nearby areas. At
about 9 a.m. the same morning, six jeeps and a
lorry are reported to have driven between 30
and 40 arrested Tamil men to a lonely beach
about 400 yards north of the cemetery of
Kalmunai. They were ordered out of the
vehicles, some of them reportedly receiving
orders to dig separate graves. According to
this and other reports in the foreign press,
Special Task Force personnel lined up the Tamil
men in their custody in front of them and shot
them dead. It is also reported that acid was
poured over the faces of the bodies. According
to the The Daily Telegraph report, between six
and eight commandos of the Special Task Force
returned to the place of the incident at 5.30
p.m. on 18 May 1985, dug up the bodies and
transported them to Punani in the Batticaloa
district, where they were reportedly cremated
by them in secrecy.
According to reports in the foreign press,
the Special Task Force command has strongly
denied the allegations that its members
arrested and shot detainees in custody, but the
Minister of National Security is reported to
have stated that an enquiry has started.
Amnesty International has the names of 29
persons reported to have been taken away by the
Special Task Force from Naipattimunai and other
areas and who have since "disappeared"; fears
have been expressed that they were in fact
killed while in custody of Special Task Force
personnel in circumstances described above.
The following are from Naipattimunai:
1. Kanagaratnam Thangavel, 24 years old
2. Mailvaqanam Parameshwaran, 24 years old
3. Sathasivam Thangathurai, 24 years old
4. Veerakuddi Thanqavel, 25 years old
5. Eliathamby Jeevarajah, 24 years old
6. Thanqathody Pushparajah, 24 years old
7. Kulasekaram Selvanayagam, 25 years old
8. Thambimuthu Packiarajah, 22 years old
9. Alagiah Kopalasingham, 20 years old
10. Varatharajan Varatheswaran, 22 years
old
11. Thuraiappah Nadarajah, 27 years old
12. Thambirajah Thiruchelvam, 25 years old
13. Arumugam Nadesamoorty, 29 years old
14. Sivanatham Kulasekaram, 22 years old
15. Kanapathipillai Nesathurai, 26 years
old
16. Balasutharam Uthayakumar, 19 years old
17. Mailvaganam Sotheeswaran, 22 years old
18. Rasiah Kurukkal Sivalinqasarma
19. Thuriappah David
20. Eliyathamby Selvanayaqam
23 Gunaratnam Muraleetharan
22. Gunaratnam Suthakaran
23. Thambirajah Vivekananthan
24. Kanaqasooriyam Gopalasinqham.
The following are from Chenaikudiyiruppu:
25. Arampan Thamilvanan
26. Kasipathy Sivakumar
27. Samithamby Pathmapillai
The following are from Thurinilavanai:
28. Ratnam Jayachandran
29. Samithamby Krishnapillai
- On 15 May 1985, the day following the
shooting of at least 146 mostly Sinhalese
civilians in Anuradhapura by-unidentified men
alleged to be Tamil extremists, 48 Tamil
passengers on a ferry from Delft to Nainativu
were killed by unidentified men. The Tamil
United Liberation Front has alleged that navy
personnel may have carried out the killings in
retaliation for the killing of 146 Sinhalese
civilians the previous day. The Ministry of
National Security has denied any involvement by
government personnel in the killing of the
ferry passengers, but has stated that the
incident "is being investigated".
According to a report in The Times, London,
23 May 1985, the Minister of National Security
stated that a naval Chief of Staff had
conclusively shown that no naval personnel
could have been involved in the killings of
passengers on the ferry boat, but he did not
give grounds for the official's findings.
Amnesty International has the names of the
following persons reported killed in this
incident. Especially in the absence of a full
impartial investigation by an independent
authority, substantial fears remain that they
may have been victims of extrajudicial killings
by navy personnel:
1. Nirmalathevy Pasupathy, 20 years old
2. Negenthiram, 32 years old
3. Manivannan, 15 years old
4. Mariamma Pathinathan, 49 years old
5. Nimili, 18 years old
6. Yogarajah, 16 years old
7. Sathasivam, 35 years old
8. Yogini, 14 years old 9. Jesunayagam
10. K Jesuthasan, 46 years old
11. K Sathasivam, 61 years old
12. P Sornammah, 40 years old
13. Sadayal Govindan, 44 years old
14. N Thevasagayam Pillai, 44 years old
15. V Kanagalingam, 36 years old
16. S Anthonipillai, 40 years old
17. N Kandiah, 44 years old
18. Sinnavan Anthony, 65 years old
All the above are from Delft.
19. I Chinnaiah, from Gurunagar
20. A Kusalakumari, from Vadaliadaippu
21. Sasikala Thanapalasingam, 3 years old
and
22. Kanaqammah Ramanthan, both from Koddaoi
23. C Thillainathan, from Kayts
- About 75 civilians, mostly young men but
also reportedly including women and children,
were reportedly killed by army personnel on 9
May 1985 in and around Valvettiturai, allegedly
in retaliation for the alleged killing by Tamil
extremists of an army major the same day at
Karaveddi. According to reports received by
Amnesty International, about 40 people were
taken away from Udupiddy, Polikandy and
Valvettiturai and killed at two places near
Valvettiturai Hospital. In one incident, at the
Bathing Ghat, 12 young men were reported to
have been lined up, their hands tied behind
their back and shot at point blank range. In
the other incident, twenty five young men
allegedly had their arms tied, were taken to
the Community Centre Reading Room, and were
then subsequently killed in an explosion. The
Minister of National Security has reportedly
denied these reports.
Amnesty International has details of 42
persons who were reportedly killed by the armed
forces in the Valvettiturai area on 9 May
1985:
1. N Sivagnanam, 20 years old
2. S Thanabalasingam, 34 years old
3. J Masilamany, 32 years old
4. R Senthiltheepan, 32 years old
5. R Bagawatsingam, 30 years old
Bodies concerned with the protection of
internationally guaranteed human rights have
repeatedly requested that the government
establish impartial investigations by an
independent authority whenever substantial
allegations are made.
However, to Amnesty International's
knowledge, no investigations of such nature
have been ordered to be carried out into any of
the many well documented reports of
extrajudicial killings which Amnesty
International has brought to the notice of your
government since 1981. In those rare instances
where a ministerial enquiry was ordered to be
held into allegations of extrajudicial killings
(such as was the case when the government
ordered a ministerial enquiry into allegations
of five extrajudicial killings by the security
forces in the Mannar area on 11/12 August
1984), to Amnesty International's knowledge,
the outcome has not been published.
Whereas Amnesty International is aware of
reports that a number of security forces
personnel have been dismissed from service in
connection with allegations of extrajudicial
killings, no criminal prosecutions are known to
have followed in any case. Nor have the
relatives of such victims of extrajudicial
killings, to Amnesty International's knowledge,
been granted compensation by the government,
although such compensation was announced for
the victims of alleged killings by Tamil
extremists.
Your Excellency, recent reports in the
international press and detailed reports
received by Amnesty International underline the
international community's growing concern about
allegations of extrajudicial killings and
"disappearances" by members of the Sri Lanka
security forces. Amnesty International urgently
appeals to you to ensure that effective
measures will speedily be taken to halt any
such abuses. A personal call by Your Excellency
to all members of the security forces,
unequivocally condemning torture and
extrajudicial killings of unarmed civilians and
announcing that those violating the prohibition
of torture and extrajudicial killings will in
future invariably be brought to justice, could
be an important initiative to halt further such
human rights abuses.
In respect of the incidents described in
this letter, I respectfully request that Your
Excellency's government immediately order full
scale impartial enquiries by an independent
body into the allegations of extrajudicial
killings on 9 and 15 May and publish the
outcome of such enquiries in their
entirety.
In respect of the 63 persons who have
"disappeared" in the Batticaloa area between 16
- 18 May 1985, and who are reported to have
been taken away by the Special Task Force of
the police, Amnesty International requests that
your government take immediate steps to
establish their whereabouts or what happened to
them and inform the relatives accordingly. In
view of the repeated allegations that the
arrested men were shot dead by the Special Task
Force while in their custody, Amnesty
International respectfully requests that an
impartial enquiry be established forthwith to
investigate these allegations in full. Amnesty
International also requests that the government
ensure that those against whom evidence emerges
of involvement or responsibility for human
rights abuses be brought to justice.
Such measures, I believe, would contribute
to meeting the mounting international concern
about reported human rights abuses by the
security forces and would underline the
government's stated commitment to protect the
right to life and the right not to be subjected
to torture of all Sri Lanka citizens.
Text of
a letter from Amnesty International's
Secretary General
to His Excellency The Hon Lalith Athulathmudali,
Minister of National Security, dated 10 July
1985
You will recall that I wrote to you on 7 June
conveying a copy of a letter I wrote the same
date to His Excellency President Jayewardene,
enquiring about recent incidents which had
taken place between 16 and 18 May 1985 in
Batticaloa, on 15 May on a ferry boat
travelling between Delft and Nainativu and on 9
May in and around Valvettiturai.
As stated, Amnesty International is well
aware that these latest reports of
extrajudicial killings by security forces
personnel, which allegedly took place in the
circumstances described in my 7 June letter to
His Excellency the President, have been denied
by yourself or other government officials.
However, in view of the seriousness of the
human rights abuses alleged and the conflicting
reports about the nature of events which took
place on those dates, Amnesty International
requested the government to establish an
impartial investigation by an independent body
- whose findings should be published in their
entirety - to investigate these allegations of
extrajudicial killings by security forces
personnel. Such a body should also investigate
reports that dozens of young men in the
Batticaloa area, reported to have been arrested
by Special Task Force personnel, have
"disappeared", officials now reportedly denying
knowledge of their arrest or whereabouts.
To Amnesty International's knowledge no such
impartial investigation by a body independent
of the government has been carried out into any
of the reports referred to in my 7 June letter.
The absence of government initiatives to
establish such type of investigations, can only
increase concern that extrajudicial killings
may have occurred.
Given the nature of the concern expressed by
Amnesty International, our organization was
surprised to note an observation you are
reported to have made in the Island on 16 June
1985. Asked about reports by Amnesty
International of killings in Valvettiturai and
Delft, referred to above, you are reported to
have replied that
"Amnesty International is well known as an
organization that rushed to print without a
judicious examination of the facts......"
In respect of the allegations, described in
detail in our 7 June letter to His Excellency
the President, that in Valvettiturai 25 young
men were taken with their hands tied to a
community room and killed in an explosion by
army personnel you have reportedly stated
"Nobody has made a complaint". In respect of
the events in Delft described on pages 3 and 4
of Amnesty International's 7 June letter to His
Excellency the President, you are in the same
Island article of 16 June reported as saying
that "There is no evidence to show who was
responsible".
Amnesty International welcomes recent
assurances given by His Excellency the
President and also reported, in the same Island
article, to have been given by yourself, that
"If a crime has been committed, it has to be
investigated." May I respectfully again suggest
that such investigations be conducted
impartially by an independent body and that the
details given in Amnesty International's 7 June
letter to His Excellency the President be made
the subject of such an investigation.
In respect of the allegations that navy
personnel may have been responsible for the
killings of unarmed Tamil passengers travelling
on 15 May on a ferry boat between Delft and
Nainativu, I would like to draw your attention
to the account, which Amnesty International
received after writing to His Excellency the
President, of a survivor who gave details of
how the killings took place and identified one
of those participating in the killings as
belonging to the Nainativu Island Naval Camp.
According to this account:
"We boarded the government launch
"Kumudini" at about 7.45 a.m. on 15 May
1985...........
On the said day when the boat had proceeded
towards Nainativu Island for about half an
hour, it was ordered stopped by some men who
came in a fibre glass boat. About six men
boarded "Kumudini" while about two remained
in the fibre glass boat which they tied on to
"Kumudini". The six men who boarded
"Kumudini" had rifles as are carried by naval
and army personnel. All of them were dressed
variously in blue longs or shorts and
T-shirts. However, the blue longs and shorts
worn by them made me realise that these men
were navy personnel.
All the passengers and crew were ordered
to enter the forepart of the boat and ordered
below deck there, leaving the aft section and
the driving cabin completely free. All the
pasenqers thus forced into the aft section
were made to repeatedly shout out their
names, status, locality and where bound to.
One man pointing out a gun shouted out such
an order in broken Tamil. If anybody lowered
his voice the man would threaten to shoot him
unless he raised his voice. As the passengers
were made to shout in this manner, one from
the crowd of passengers was called at a time
and led into the aft section.
I nor the others in the fore section knew
what was happening to each person who was led
away in this manner owing to the din created
by the forced shouting of passengers. After
about 12 persons had been called into the aft
section in this manner we heard the report of
a gun and I saw a body falling overboard and
being washed alongside the boat. I was able
to see this as I was standing...........
When it came to my turn I went towards the
aft section. On approaching it I saw blood
all over and the cut pieces of human bodies.
At this juncture I shouted and refused to
move. I was then hit on the head and I fell.
I felt that I was dragged and cut on my head
by some kind of a hatchet. I received further
injuries on my stomach and legs and fell
between the boards of the bottom of the boat.
I pretended to be dead and lay there. I felt
further bodies falling over mine and the
cries of distress of men and women.
About 45 minutes later I heard the fibre
glass boat being started and going away......
Of the men who were engaged in this attack I
was able to identify one of them as a navy
personnel whom I have seen in the said area
and is from Nainativu Island Naval Camp."
You may recall that Amnesty International
has repeatedly commented on the fact that the
government has announced that disciplinary
action has been taken in respect of service
personnel allegedly responsible for human
rights violations, and in the Island report of
16 June 1985 you are quoted as saying that
disciplinary action has been taken against 300
service personnel, who had their services
terminated. In that context Amnesty
International would greatly appreciate
receiving details of individuals against whom
such action has been taken, on what date they
were dismissed, and, if possible, would like to
be informed of the reasons for their
dismissal.
However, as is clear from the latest
allegations of human rights violations detailed
in my letter of 7 June to His Excellency the
President, in spite of the measures taken by
the government so far, allegations of many
extrajudicial killings continue to be made. In
line with its experiences in other countries,
Amnesty International has, therefore,
repeatedly urged the Sri Lankan government that
steps to discipline security forces personnel
and halt the incidence of extrajudicial
killings should include wherever possible
bringing to justice those responsible for such
human rights abuses. Amnesty International has
also suggested that a government initiative
addressed to all security forces personnel
unequivocally condemning torture and
extrajudicial killings of unarmed civilians
would be an important indication that the
government will no longer tolerate any such
human rights abuses.
Amnesty International is greatly encouraged
that no allegations of extrajudicial killings
by security personnel have been made regarding
the most recent weeks. Our organization is well
aware of the difficulties which security forces
personnel must face when confronted with
repeated armed attacks on their own members,
but Amnesty International believes that if
adequate measures, such as those it has
recommended, were now to be implemented, the
future incidence of human rights abuses could
be prevented.
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