INDICTMENT AGAINST SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka's Undeclared War on Eelam Tamils
...in the Shadow of a Ceasefire
The Tamil Centre for Human Rights is the first and the only human
rights organisation which has visited the conflict villages in
the NorthEast where there had been severe human rights violations -
massacres, disappearances, rape, looting, arson arrest, torture during the twenty years of bloody conflict in the NorthEast
and upcountry in the island of Sri Lanka.
Four representatives of TCHR - Ms. Deirdre McConnell – Director
International Programme (United Kingdom), Mr. S. V. Kirubaharan –
General Secretary (France), Mr. Indiran Chinniah (The Netherlands),
Mr. Thambirajah Gengatharan (Switzerland) and many other local
representatives of TCHR participated in the recent six week study
mission to Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Vanni, Jaffna, Kandy,
Hatton, Nuwara Eliya and Colombo.
"During the twenty years of bloody war in the NorthEast, more than
70,000 Tamils have been killed, thousands have disappeared,
thousands have been raped, billions worth of properties have been
destroyed and damaged...The Sri Lankan Government's justification
is that these happenings are inevitable in a theatre of war.
Does the international community accept the stand taken by
Sri Lanka? In a theatre of war, does International Humanitarian Law allow
attack on public places like Universities, Schools,
Libraries, Hospitals, Churches, Temples, Market places, etc?
International Humanitarian Law describes such attacks as War Crimes and Crimes against
Humanity..."
Contents
Fact-finding / Study Mission
Situation in Colombo
Constitutions &
Mandates
Overnight Bills
Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)
National Police Commission (NPC)
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka – HRCSL
International news agencies
Visit to East
People recall some incidents after the CFA
The Tamil
Muslim problem-a new phenomena
Karuna was discharged
Batticaloa
Seven disabled cadres killed
LTTE political office closed in Batticaloa
Special Task Force (STF)
The modus operandi of the STF
17,500 Widows
Mahiladythivu-Kokadichcholai
A Retired Principal relates his experience
January 1987
Survivors’ eye witness accounts of Massacres in Batticaloa
Pullumalai Massacres
Mahiladythivu-Kokadicholai
massacres
Survivor of Prawn breeding farm massacre
Survivors of Mahiladythivu, Kokadicholai
massacres
Thonni Thaddamadhu Massacre
Sithanddy Massacre
Vantharumoolai Massacre
Punanai Massacre
Pendukalchenai Massacre
Udumpankulam Massacre
Adapallam Massacres
Veeramunai Massacres
Sathurukoddan Depot Massacre
Col. Karuna?
Child soldiers in Batticaloa
Colonisation
in Batticaloa
Tamil-Sinhala populations in the Eastern province, 1827-1981
Tamil and Sinhala populations in the Batticaloa district, 1827-1981
Amparai
Tamil and Sinhala population in the Amparai district, 1963-1981
A few noteworthy massacres in the Amparai district
Visit to Trincomalee
Internally Displaced People
Defunct Saiva (Hindu) temples in Trincomalee
1986 massacre in Thampalakamam
1998 massacre in
Thampalakamam
Some massacres in the Trincomalee district
Kanthalai massacre
Sampur, Muthur
Sampalthivu
Thamplalakamam (Forest)
Mullipothanai
Peruveli Manatchenai Refugee Camp
Pankulam
Trincomalee (Iruthyapuram)
Disappearances during Col. Thenekoon’s tenure
Colonisation in Trincomalee
Encroachment on Tamil's paddy fields by Sinhalese
Tamil and Sinhala populations in the Trincomalee district, 1827-1981
Geysers in Kanniya
Visit to Vanni
Education
Meeting with Mr Ilankumaran – Education Council
State and Private schools in the North East
Standardisation
Technical Colleges
Tamil Eelam Police
Meeting with Mr Nadesan - Head of Tamil Eelam Police
Mr. Nadesan's concerns
Mass graves in Kilinochchi
Discovered un-identified skeletons
Discovered identified skeletons
Tamil Eelam Judiciary
NESOHR
Saiva Temples
Post Traumatic Stress
Welfare Centres
Kandaruban Arevucholai - Children’s Home
Lt. Col. Navam Arivukkoodam
Chencholai Children’s Home
Vettimanai – Victory home
Malarcholai
Niraimathi Illam
Senthalir
Kurukulam Children’s home
TRO
Recollections from an artist’s memory about a massacre
Saved from two suicidal attempts
Gathering information by some staff of INGOs
Visit to Jaffna
Internally Displaced People
Sorrowful stories of displacement
Military Zones in Jaffna
Christian churches
Navaly Church
Muslims in Jaffna
Fishing restrictions
Journalist Nirmalarajan Mylvaganam
Nirmalarajan's family went quietly – BBC
Jaffna Library
Free and fair election
Meeting with Editor of Namathu Eelanadu
Plantation Tamils
Trade Unionist Mr O. A. Ramiah
Leader of Up-Country People Front (UPF)
Disenfranchisement
Nutshell - Plantation workers in Ceylon/Sri Lanka
Internal rift in the EPDP
Concluding Comments
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations used
TCHR Contact Address
Fact-finding / Study Mission
The Tamil Centre for Human Rights is the first and the only human
rights organisation which has visited the conflict villages in
the NorthEast where there had been severe human rights violations -
massacres, disappearances, rape, looting, arson arrest, torture during the twenty years of bloody conflict in the NorthEast
and upcountry in the island of Sri Lanka.
Four representatives of TCHR - Ms. Deirdre McConnell – Director
International Programme (United Kingdom), Mr. S. V. Kirubaharan –
General Secretary (France), Mr. Indiran Chinniah (The Netherlands),
Mr. Thambirajah Gengatharan (Switzerland) and many other local
representatives of TCHR participated in the recent six week study
mission to Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Vanni, Jaffna, Kandy,
Hatton, Nuwara Eliya and Colombo.
The TCHR delegation met with many members of the civil society –
lawyers, religious leaders, journalists, women’s groups, NGO
representatives, academics, parliamentarians and civilians including
victims of war.
Everyone with whom we met and spoke, requested us to withhold his or
her name and address in our reporting for obvious reasons, except
the people in Vanni. In fact, some of the people whose names were
published in our last reports had been warned by some government
authorities.
Terminologies used in this reporting were expressed orally by the
people whom we met.
In the past, there had been reports of fact finding missions by a
few foreign human rights organisations. Those reports were written
after visiting Colombo the capital of Sri Lanka, Kandy, Beruwela and
other tourist locations where there is no ethnic conflict.
TCHR representatives have travelled from Maha Oya in the East to
Kankesanthurai in the North through every village and town. We have
visited Puttalam, Chilaw, Negombo, Colombo and Upcountry.
Situation in Colombo
During our stay in Colombo we met many NGO representatives,
parliamentarians, academics and media personnel.
In Colombo, we saw vehicles being checked by the Police and the
other security personnel in the evenings. Three wheelers known as
“autos” were frequently checked by the Police. Our cab (taxi) was
stopped on two occasions in Colombo by the Police. The Police
enquired from the driver in Sinhala about us and the destination of
the vehicle.
In Colombo Fort, all the roads close to the President's residence
are closed to public use. This is a commercial area where Central
bank and other prominent banks are situated.
Local public transports were overloaded with commuters hanging on at
the foot boards of buses and trains.
We were told that the conditions of public transport have worsened
since the nationalisation of transport. Ministers get their job for
their own betterment but not to improve public transport. Ministers
enact laws to achieve their own ulterior motives and not to improve
the living condition of the people.
Near old Parliament, Gale Face Green is like open carnival in the
nights. It is over-crowded and people enjoy fresh air at the beach
of the Indian Ocean.
In Colombo, people were in panic after President Kumaratunga's
interview to the United Press International (UPI) on 16 August 2004.
In that interview the volatile President had the effrontery to issue
an indirect challenge to the LTTE that she is prepared to meet the
LTTE militarily. Her statement seems to be highly unwarranted and
premature, especially at a crucial juncture when the Norwegian
delegates were shunting off from country to country to uphold the
cease-fire environment and to explore ways and means of recommencing
the peace process.
Colombo, Sri Lanka, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Sri Lankan President
Chandrika Kumaratunga has cautioned the separatist Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam that she would order troops to march into
the rebel-controlled areas if the internecine war between the
guerrillas were to endanger the country's stability. Such action
would amount to a violation of the two-year-old Norwegian
brokered cease-fire. (Excerpts - Interviewed by Ravi R. Prasad
of United Press International)
Since the present government came into power, the earlier tactics
of lobbying the international community have started again, said a
Lawyer in Colombo.
This involves calling for various seminars, meetings and conferences
through some institutions in Colombo and using those occasions to
carry out the government’s lobbying. At the end of these meetings,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs will throw a cocktail party and give
his final brain washing talk, said the Lawyer.
He further said he has his doubts about the meeting on "Peace in Sri
Lanka" which took place on 20 August 2004, in Oslo, Norway. When one
looks at the people behind this meeting, one could easily understand
who sponsored it! The speakers were the usual "Pied-Pipers". They were silent during the UNP regime, now they have
got an opportunity again.
Constitutions & Mandates
Many lawyers, academics and others in Colombo told us that within a
short period, Sri Lanka has seen three new constitutions, but none
has taken the ground reality into account.
When then Ceylon was given independence by the British in 1948, the
first constitution came into effect, and it was known as the
post-independence constitution. It was superseded by the
1972
Republican constitution which re-named Ceylon as “Sri Lanka” and
declared Buddhism as the state religion. This constitution deprived
the Tamil people in the island of the minimum protection that was
provided for in the previous constitution. Then
again in 1978, when
the Presidential system was introduced in Sri Lanka, a fresh
constitution replaced the 1972 one. This conferred immense
executive powers to the President.
In Sri Lanka, every political party claims to have a madate.
However only a few mandates are endorsed by the people.
Unfortunately the mandates do not go well with each other. This
creates a very delicate political situation. Here we would like to
high-light some of the mandates which the people from civil society
whom we met, discussed with us.
* The United National Party (UNP) claims that the people have given
them a mandate to form a government but that party’s grudge is that
its political right was denied.
* Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) claims that it has a mandate to
safeguard Sinhala Buddhism from any sort of conversion and to
build-up Sri Lanka as a Sinhala Buddhist country.
* Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have the people’s mandate to
assert that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are the
sole representatives of Tamils and that any future political
negotiations by any government should be only with the LTTE.
* President Chandrika says that United Party Freedom Alliance (UPFA)
has been given a mandate to re-start negotiations with the LTTE. She
also claims that she has another mandate to use her executive
presidency to restart the war, if the necessity arises.
* The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) though a part of UPFA government
says that it has the mandate to oppose any negotiations with LTTE
and to any political solutions to the island’s ethnic problem.
* The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) says that it has the mandate
to play a part in any negotiations on political matters in the
island.
* The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) says that it has the mandate to
join any government party of its choice to upgrade the life style of
the plantation workers who are also known as estate workers.
There are so many more confusing mandates claimed by other political
parties.
Overnight Bills
At the moment many bills were brought to parliament by the ruling
party and the people consider those bills as over-night raids on
people. Out of those many bills, two bills seem to be rather
controversial.
The one which is known as the "Anti-conversion bill" which is aimed
at preventing Sinhala Buddhists from being converted to
Christianity. Most of the people whom we met, including Buddhists,
strongly believe that this bill will bring religious disharmony in
Sri Lanka.
In fact, this bill is in violation of Article 18 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 18 of the
International Covenant of Economic Social Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
and many other International laws.
The second bill introduces special identity cards for local,
provincial, general and presidential elections in the future. Many
political parties and individuals belonging to civil society and
organisations are against this bill and they argue that those who
drafted it have "ulterior motives".
They say that the National Identity Card (NIC) system which is in
practice now is enough to identify voters. They further said that
this special new identity card system for the elections will only
disenfranchise displaced people from the North East as well as the
Plantation Tamils. It is also believed that this would lead to
further malpractices by the authorities, would involve a massive
cost and would serve no purpose. This special identity card system
would violate many an international law.
Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)
One of the subjects spoken of widely by civil society in Sri Lanka
is the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). This Act was
introduced on 19 July 1979 by the then President J. R. Jayewardene
as a temporary oppressive measure to use against the newly born
Tamil militancy in the North East of the island.
Under the PTA, the police and other security forces have the power
to arrest anyone, search their houses without warrant and detain
anyone for a period of eighteen months without trial. During which
period, the victim undergoes severe torture by the Police and other
forces. Thousands of Tamils fall victim to this act and there are
still people in detention and serving long term jail sentences with
no scope of a fair judicial proceeding.
"Today this temporary bill (PTA) brought to curb terrorists acts is
now 25 years old and the so called militants metamorphosis into
fully fledged freedom fighters is an undeniable truth" said a human
rights lawyer in Colombo.
Civil society in the North East and in Colombo is demanding that the
government repeal the PTA. In the mean time, some International
institutions and certain sections of the civil society in Colombo,
mostly Sinhalese, are advocating amendments to this act, which would
include a provision that children be exempted. In other words these
international institutions still want the PTA to be in use. This Act
has inflicted abominable suffering on Tamils.
National Police Commission (NPC)
The National Police Commission (NPC) appointed on 24 December 2002
has no provision to take legal action against any police officers
below the rank of an inspector.
There are two different arguments on the lack of this provision.
One, the acts of torture is carried out mostly by the officers below
the rank of an Inspector and the NPC has no provision to take any
action against them. Police inspectors and police personnel holding
them ranks above are the real culprits. They should take
responsibility for acts of torture committed by the police.
On the whole, NGOs feel that there should be an independent
Commission on torture for all categories of officers in all forces
because torture is rife in Sri Lanka.
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka - HRCSL
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka was established in March
1997 under the Human Rights Commission Act No. 21 of 1996.
The HRCSL has failed to realise that the violation of human rights
has neither a deadline nor an expiry date. The present political
atmosphere permits anyone to travel anywhere and gather information
and carry out investigations into the violations which had taken
place in the past.
The HRCSL has failed in its duty towards the NorthEast of the
island. Hundreds of complaints which were made in the past by the
people from the NorthEast, still have not been entertained by the
NRCSL. But ironically the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka came
out with a report about Child soldiers in the East. (Batticaloa in
February 2004)
"HRC Chairperson, Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy said a
fact-finding mission sent to the East recently by the HRC
purports to claim that child abduction is rife in the region.
The team held extensive discussions with the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the parents of the children who
had been abducted by the LTTE.
"We are convinced that child recruitment and child abductions
continue to take place in the east after the ceasefire
agreement. This is one of the most disturbing elements since the
signing of the ceasefire," Coomaraswamy told The Sunday Leader.
(Excerpt – The Sunday Leader of 08 February 2004)
Human Rights activist (DC) in the East told us that "Batticaloa
town is not the only place in the East, it includes Amparai,
Trincomalee and hundreds of villages where horrendous human rights
violations have taken place.
A Lawyer (PR) in Batticaloa told us that "for the HRCSL, human
rights violations means only ‘Child soldiers’. This idea is unduly
manifested to discredit the LTTE. The HRCSL is a mouth-piece of the
government".
A school teacher (LR) from Batticaloa said "the HRCSL was
established to carry out propaganda against the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam - LTTE. It became so obvious when they published their
report about the recruitment of child soldiers, which the HRCSL says
exists in the East - ignoring all the other violations suffered by
the Tamil people in the same area. They have funds and manpower to
investigate about child soldiers, but nothing is done about the
other violations that take place in the same area".
He asked us whether the HRCSL has taken any effort to investigate
the massacres, rapes, looting and what not which have been carried
out by the security forces in Batticaloa and other places. What have
they done so far about twenty years of state terrorism against the
Tamil people and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)? Are the
foreign funders aware of the hidden agenda of the HRCSL?"
A Priest (MG) in Batticaloa told us that "the government has found a
Tamil as the Chairperson to the HRCSL to inform the world that it is
headed by a Tamil like the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.
These are matters for analysis", he said.
A Human rights activist (DC) from Trincomalee told us to "look at
the prominent people working at the HRCSL. In the past they all,
including the chairperson of the HRCSL, justified the state
violations internationally and ignored the human rights violations
faced by the Tamils.”
Many members of the civil society in the East told us that the HRCSL
has never visited any of the villages controlled by both the army
and the LTTE in Batticaloa. They write reports after visiting only
the town, staying in luxury hotels, meeting only those who are
amicable to them and those who could provide them with information
to serve their purpose.
The HRCSL sends letters to Tamils in Sinhala. TCHR is in possession
of such a letter. In fact, the Paris principles are totally ignored
by the HRCSL.
Witnesses to the horrendous human rights violations from NorthEast
are still living and waiting to relate their stories. But neither
the international organisations nor the HRCSL is ready to listen to
them, compensate them or even bother about them.
Large sums of foreign and local funds are used by the HRCSL and
other international organisations to pursue the subject of child
soldiers.
"Why does the HRCSL have such double standards? What has it done
for the victims of the twenty year war? Did it take any interest to
list those victims? If it does it would have to go against the Sri
Lankan security forces for which it is not ready", said a school
teacher (LR) in Batticaloa.
The HRCSL branch in Jaffna never dealt with issues like HSZs,
disappearances, the Chemmani mass grave, massacres, violence against
women, loss of public properties like school, churches, temples,
etc. It deals only with petty complaints about the police.
It is obvious that the National Commission on Human Rights of Sri
Lanka has only a selective application on Human Rights, especially
in the NorthEast. In fact, its functions are mingled with politics.
International News Agencies
A journalist (VG) in Jaffna told us that, "All the international
news agencies and the representatives based in Colombo are dominated
by Sinhalese. Therefore the information spread to foreign countries
is biased. It is always against the Tamils and the LTTE. They
indirectly support the government’s propaganda against the Tamils’
political aspirations. The truth remains mute in this country".
A Lawyer (YS) in Jaffna told us that "many foreigners do not know
the differences between the Tamils and Sinhalese. When a Sinhalese
correspondent reports for a foreign press on the political situation
in Sri Lanka, he/she gives his/her biased opinion. This opinion is
accepted as a correspondent’s report from Colombo. But this is
actually a Sinhalese point of view. The international community
perceptions are based on lack of true information".
Visit to the East
When we were travelling through the Eastern province we saw numerous
military camps and check points. There were many new check points in
the East. We saw Sri Lankan Army, Navy, Air force, Police, STF and
Home guards in the Trincomalee and Batticaloa areas where they are
involved in joint operations.
Due to twenty years of military operations, hundreds of acres of
paddy lands remain uncultivated, with grown up bushes on both sides
of the road.
Wherever you see a Home Guard battalion you can be sure that those
areas have Sinhala settlements in the Tamil areas.
Many lands legitimately owned by Tamils in the East have been
forcefully acquired by the government and Sinhalese. In Batticaloa
and Trincomalee many acres of such land have been confiscated from
the Tamils. They are left wondering as to where they should lodge a
complaint regarding this illegal encroachment.
People recall some incidents after the CFA was signed
In April 2002, the Sri Lankan Navy attacked the Tamil and Muslims
civilians who were diving for crustaceans/shellfish at Vakarai.
Three people were killed in this incident.
On 09 October 2002, when people demonstrated protesting against the
STF for assaulting the LTTE cadres in Kanchirankudah in Amparai
district - the STF opened fired at the demonstrators killing seven
and injuring fourteen.
Following the Kanchirankudah incident, there was a demonstration in
Trincomalee on 11 October 2002 and a grenade was thrown at the
demonstrators by Army personnel in the guise of civilians. In that
incident, three protestors were killed and twelve others injured.
The government maintains a divide and rule policy as far as the
Muslims and Tamils are concerned. In our discussions with both the
communities, we gathered that the government is the one that
masterminds the division between these two communities. In order to
achieve this task, the state uses several tactics. One method is to
create confusion among the Muslims and Tamils, which always results
in bloodshed.
The Tamil-Muslim problem - a new phenomena
"The Tamil-Muslim problem is a new phenomena which never existed
earlier in this country", said a Muslim trader in Kathankuddy,
Batticaloa. "If you go through the history, you will see that we
(Muslims) had several violent clashes with Sinhalese in the past. In
every community you find extremists. It is true that some of our
people (Muslims) helped the STF and Army in harassing and killing
Tamils here. Even some Tamils helped the Army to kill their own
people. It is the government that creates problems among us. We are
Tamils, we want to live in peace with our Tamil brethren like
before".
The harassment of journalists continues in Batticaloa. After the
assassination of renowned journalist Mr. Nadesan, other journalists
too have received death threats and as a result many have fled
Batticaloa.
When we met some of the lecturers in the Eastern University in
Batticaloa, they explained to us how and why their colleague Mr.
Kumaravel Thambyaiah was killed on 24 May 2004 by Karuna's group.
Mr. Kumaravel Thambyaiah (48), a senior lecturer and head of the
Economics department of the Eastern University, was shot dead at his
home in Gnanasooriyam Square in Batticaloa town by (then known as)
unidentified gunmen. Mr.Thambyaiah was from the village of Aasikulam
in Vavuniya. Mr. Thambayiah was forced out of Batticaloa due to the
harassment he had received at the hands of Karuna's friends. He had
later returned when normalcy had returned in Batticaloa.
Karuna was discharged
On 06 March 2004, the LTTE Commander-in-charge of Batticaloa, Karuna,
was discharged on charges of financial irregularities and
questionable conduct, says LTTE. When the LTTE leadership became
aware of these irregularities, they summoned Karuna for an inquiry.
Fearing reprimand and possible disciplinary action, Karuna ignored
the orders from the leadership.
Soon after he was expelled from the LTTE, Karuna became the most
trusted person of the Sri Lanka military machine. Since then all the
nefarious activities of Karuna and his few colleagues were very well
supported by the Sri Lankan military intelligence, including several
killings in Batticaloa and Colombo. Those killings have no trace and
no arrests were made.
There are Sinhala political parties which are against any negotiated
settlement for the ethnic problem. Many Sinhalese owned media and
the Sri Lankan security forces began to support all acts of murder
perpetrated against LTTE members by Karuna and his colleagues.
The Colombo based Sinhalese owned, "Island" English newspaper
reported on August 1, 2004 that "…………..The only law he (Karuna)
broke when Karuna threw the gauntlet at the Sooriya Thevan was the
Tiger law. Therefore assisting Mr Karuna was/is not illegal,
according to the law of the land".
Killings are taking place in Batticaloa and Colombo with the help of
the Sri Lankan military intelligence. The "Island" newspaper is
openly encouraging and justifying them as legal killings by Karuna.
"When these sorts of media are in Sri Lanka how can we expect these
killings to be stopped?", asked a journalist (VS) working for a
Tamil news paper in Colombo.
Batticaloa
Our visit to Batticaloa was a frightening and risky one. We visited
both areas – the government controlled areas as well as the LTTE
administrated areas.
Batticaloa abounds with security forces. Every hundred yard there
was a large battalion of STF personnel either moving about on shanks
mare or taking positions. All the check-points were manned by the
STF and one saw many different types of military vehicles. The
pervasive military presence in Batticaloa gave signals to the public
that war may break out at any time.
A few days before our arrival in Batticaloa, the killings of LTTE
cadres Sellathurai Jegathesan (Bawa) and Nagalingam Jeevarajah
(Yoga) of the political wing took place, on 20 August, at Pullavi
bend which is between Panichengkerni and Mangkerni. They were shot
dead in a government controlled area between two check-points of the
Sri Lanka army - close to the Kayankerni Army Camp . The female
member who escaped without injury told the reporters, that the Army
soldiers at the checkpoint had clapped hands and ridiculed her.
Several similar types of killings have taken place in the government
controlled areas of Batticaloa, at close proximity to the Sri Lanka
Army or STF camps. But investigations into these killings have not
made any breakthrough.
Seven disabled cadres killed
Down the road to Mullaamunai, we passed the house where seven
disabled LTTE cadres had been living in Ponnaankanichenai, and where
they had been shot dead in cold blood on 25 April 2004 by Karuna's
colleagues. This house is located in a straight road, just 1.5 km
away from Vavunathivu Army camp. Vavunathivu Army camp is the only
one which is in the LTTE administrated area in Batticaloa.
LTTE political office closed in Batticaloa
The Sri Lanka Army, Special Task Force (STF), Police, Navy, Air
force and Home Guards are in full operation in Batticaloa. Tension
prevails in Batticaloa and the LTTE political offices in Batticaloa
and Valaichenai are closed down due to lack of security.
Special Task Force (STF)
The Special Task Force (STF) was formed in 1983 by the then
President J. R. Jeyawardena who meticulously selected personnel from
the Police, Army, Navy and Air force personnel already in service.
They underwent and still undergo the most advanced training. Special
Air Service (SAS) teams provided specialized training to the STF.
The STF was started to prevent the merger of the NorthEast at any
cost. This task was assigned to the then President’s son Ravi
Jayewardene. A huge budget was allocated to the STF to have a free
hand operation in changing the demography of East, especially
Batticaloa.
In 1987, the STF had taken over full control of the Batticaloa
region from Kiran, right down to Potuvil in the South and were
deployed in several camps. The STF dominated the ground in the
Batticaloa and Amparai region.
According to the people of Batticaloa and the Citizen committees,
thousands of Tamils were evacuated forcibly by the Special Task
Force Commandos (STF) in Batticaloa and Amparai districts.They destroyed thousands of acres of farms, cattle, boats and
fishing nets in the villages.
One of the STF personnel said to an English newspaper in Colombo
that
"In our hearts, they're still terrorists...... Peace has not
made a difference to us. We still have the same responsibilities and
we constantly have to be prepared for war at any time. We were
trained to fight and we are ready".
(Sunday Leader – 18 July 2004)
The modus operandi of the STF:
1 – Once they arrest someone, they take that person to the seaside
and make that person to dig a hole in the sand. Then they put him in
alive and cover him with sand up to his neck. They then pour petrol
or diesel or kerosene on his head and set fire.
2 – When a person is arrested, they stack a few used tyres around
his body and set fire to the tyres.
3 – The soldiers fill empty petrol/diesel drums with water and hold
the arrested person’s head submerged in water for a certain length
of time. In some instances they mix chilli powder with the water.
4 – They strip the clothes of the person and apply chilli powder on
all his/her sensitive parts especially on the private parts. They
also crush men’s genitals with pliers.
This sort of torture still exists. Other security forces in Sri
Lanka also use the same modus operandi.
17,500 Widows
As a result of the military operation, there are more than 17,500
widows in the Batticaloa and Amparai districts. They all have lost
their bread-winners and are pushed to a very difficult life. Several
of them have been raped by STF, Army, Sinhala thugs and home guards
into which Muslim thugs are also recruited.
Many of the widows are traumatised and are leading abnormal lives. The people in Amparai and Batticaloa are still living in utter fear
that if the war starts again, they would fall victims of the STF,
Army and others.
Mahiladythivu-Kokadichcholai
Kokadichcholai is an area surrounded with paddy fields. Some fields
were not cultivated due to military presence in that area. We
visited Batticaloa during the harvest season. Wherever there was no
paddy harvest, we saw big bushes on both sides of the roads.
It was a festival season of the Sivan temple of Kokadichcholai.
Kokadichcholai consists of Mahiladythivu, Arasathythivu, Porathivu,
Pondukalchenai, Illupadychenai and Mavaddychenai.
Kokadichcholai was subjected to constant military operations and two
big massacres took place in this area. The Army camp at Eluvankarai
known as Manmunai camp is just a kilometre away from Mahiladythivu.
A Retired Principal relates his experience
We met a prominent person in the village of Mahiladithivu. He had
taught in many schools, in Kandy, Kalutara, Colombo, Nuwera Eliya,
Polonnaruwa and other places. Born in Mahiladitivu, his wife is from
a nearby village. He was the Principal in a government school, and
retired in 1990.
The Special Task force used to visit him, he told us. They spoke to
him several times and Tamil Mercenaries were employed to interpret.
He was in Kalutara during the 1956 anti-Tamil riots. He and many
others came from there to Kokkodicholai with government protection.
During the 1950s and 1960s Sinhala colonisation took place in the
Maha Oya area. Sinhalese thugs, armed with shotguns, came in jeeps
and tractors and set fire to peoples’ houses in the Kokkodicholai
area in villages such as Maruadmunmari and Panichaddimunmari. He
described how people attempted to resist the colonisation. During
that time the bridges were made of timber pillars, so the Tamils
removed the bridges to prevent the thugs entering Kokkodicholai.
The Sinhala thugs caused irrigation problems in the fields. Poultry
and dairy farms were also affected. Thugs came in tractors and shot
the grazing goats, cows, bulls belonging to the Tamil people. They
would then take the meat of the slain animals to Badulla market and
sell them. This is a case of economic oppression, as well as
downright theft.
The retired teacher further said, “If they could take our
hard-earned money and the fruits of our labour with impunity, it is
better to continue our struggle to save ourselves from them.
State terrorism had started, it was already expanding its
militarization in the East, in Batticaloa and other places. The
purpose of the military camps was to safeguard the Sinhala thugs and
settlers in our land.”
In October 1986, the Sri Lankan army had set fire to certain houses
and had assaulted the people. It was during festival time of
Thanthonrey Sivan temple at Kokadichcholai that the army told people
to line up along the road. They were targeting the men. Even the
priests were beaten. About hundred people were forced to walk to
Kaladi camp, fifteen kilometres away, through Valairrovu, on tarred
road under the hot sun. One of the prominent men in that village who
liked to smoke cigars was forced to eat a cigar to humiliate him in
front of all others.
The arrested people were forced by the STF to shout slogans, “We
don’t want Tigers!”. Then all of them were subsequently locked up.
January 1987
The October 1986 treatment earned the enmity of the people, the
retired principal explained and many more started joining the LTTE.
The Sri Lankan army cordoned off and searched the schools. Children
escaped and joined the LTTE. During that time no-one knew of
Pirabakaran or the LTTE but they joined because their lives were in
danger. At that time people in Kokadicholai had no clear knowledge
of the struggle.
Children thought it was better to go and die in war defending their
people, than to get killed by army soldiers in their own homes.
On 28th of January 1987, about twelve soldiers were air dropped
nearby, by helicopter. They started walking towards South of
Kokkodicholai, Manapetti Road. They arrived at 5a.m. They shot a
village council member and several other people. They dumped the
bodies in the well at the Education office. Another man who went to
visit his paddy field, was told to sit next to a well. They shot him
dead and he fell into the well. This happened to several people.
The son of a local Doctor, Dr Kandasamy, was arrested. The father
went to look for his son and he too, disappeared. To this day
neither of them has been found. The Sri Lanka army came especially
to shoot down people.
The “Serendib Seafood Company” at Kokkodicholai was run
by Americans. Professionals and educated youths below 30 were
working there. People went to the factory, thinking the army would
not go there. The army went to the prawn factory, cut the barbed
wire and brought the people from the factory to the Methodist
church. All of them were shot dead, only six survived. Then the
bodies were loaded onto the tractor. The tractor was driven to a
spot and unloaded. Petrol was poured over the bodies and they were
unceremoniously burnt to ashes.
Soon after this incident the army was stationed in Sarasvathy
Vidiyalam and the Pillayar, Amman Temple. This school and the temple
are in the village. The army looted everything from the temple,
including the beating drums used at holy festival times. They beat
the drums in the evening. Nothing was left.
In the meantime they arrested the chairperson of the village council
and other important people in order to prevent the leaking of this
news to the outside world. For fifteen days, they had no food.
Mr. Anthony Mutthu, the then Government Agent (GA) came with
newspaper reporters. He was warned by the soldiers that if the truth
was told, he would be in trouble. So they could not come out with
the truth of the incident.
There was no electricity. All the prawns from the factory were
airlifted by helicopter to Colombo and government VIPs enjoyed the
Batticaloa prawns. In the presence of the army you cannot do
anything. All these incidents were narrated by the elderly retired
principal.
Several times he had to vacate his house. His house was damaged and
large section of it was destroyed four times. In August 1986
Kokodicholai was targeted by aerial bombing. Six artillery shells
were fired from the nearby army camp. Bombs fell in several places,
including his house, destroying part of it. They all escaped to a
nearby village.
The Government Agent wanted to complain about all these events in
the area but had been warned by the STF that it would be against his
interests to do so, and may cost him his job. So nothing happened.
In December 1990 the Kokkodicholai Sri Lanka army camp was
established. By this time the army had moved from the school. They
took the furniture and clothings from the houses of the people who
had fled to safer places.
Tamil mercenaries from PLOTE Mohan’s group visited the houses. The
Sri Lankan army would come and go, and in between, the Tamil
mercenaries would come asking for money and goods. They were armed.
One day he agreed to give them 500 rupees. They said it was not
enough and insisted to give them more.
The army would go by tractor to get provisions from some other
place. On 12 June 1991 one person was killed in a landmine. (Refer
to eye witnesses' account of the survivors of massacres - Page - 15)
Looting and arson took place. In 1991 the army commander-in-charge
was Kupel Seneviratne.
The following question was put to the principal: Since you are in
Batticaloa, what is your opinion about the accusations made against
child soldiers?
"To my knowledge I never saw or heard of children joining as "Child
soldiers". Even if it did happen before, it was in many forms, like
vocational training and so on but not to go to the war front.
Recently a child opposite to my home wanted to join the LTTE, and
went to try but he was sent back home because he is under age. The
accusations have no meaning. In that case, are these people going to
agree that all the military victory by the LTTE in the past were
achieved with the power of child soldiers. It is a shame on foreign
trained government soldiers".
His concern is for the future generation. He was very sad that Baba
– Sellathurai Jegathesan was killed on the 20th August. He said,
Baba was a good person who encouraged the people to follow codes of
conduct.
He told that a few years back an LTTE cadre Nissar was killed in a
claymore attack. That had happened in the LTTE administrated area.
He said, he had heard that this was done by PLOTE-Mohan and his
group. They are Tamils working with the Army.
At the end, he sadly said "If the war starts, this area will be like
a desert and we may not be alive".
Survivors’ eye witness accounts of massacres in Batticaloa
Here we publish some eye witnesses' accounts by survivors of a few
massacres which have taken place in Batticaloa. We could not get any
information at all about many massacres because there were no
survivors to relate the story.
Pullumalai Massacres
Pullumalai is a traditional Tamil village in Batticaloa, in an area
where the government started settling Sinhalese people. Since 1983,
the STF Sinhala thugs and home guards have made attempts to chase
away the Tamils, more than seven times.
In Pullumalai, there are many water tanks (reservoirs) which serve
irrigation purposes. Pannichaddykulam, Kalpothanaikulam,
Thumpalachenaikulam, Velikakandykulam and Pullumalaikulam are some
of the favourite ones.
Every time when there was an attempt to destroy Pullumalai, the
people fled to Urugamam, Kithul, Marampalam and Sinnapullumalai.
No-one knows what happened to more than four hundred- 400- families
in Pullumalai. They have been missing since 1983. There is nobody to
trace these families or to find out as to what actually happened to
them.
There are about a hundred and fifty widows finding it difficult to
manage their livelihood. The destroyed Saiva (Hindu) temples,
Christian churches and schools still stand as witness to the
genocidal atrocities perpetrated on this village.
Mr. SS has been displaced to Urugamam. He related his eye witness
account of the killing of his brother and his wife.
“In June 1983, nearly fifty five Tamils houses were set on fire
after they were looted by the Army and the Sinhala thugs. We all
escaped to Mungilmalai. But soldiers came and arrested us there.
During that time my brother's wife (sister-in-law) was pregnant. The
soldiers raped her in front of my brother. Soon after raping her,
they cut her stomach with a knife and took the baby out of the
stomach. Also they shot dead my brother. On the same day at the same
spot they killed another six people. Altogether nine (9) people were
killed in this incident (1).”
“In 1999, the army arrested many youths and men in Pullumalai saying
that they were taking them for an inquiry. When the relatives went
and enquired from the Army camp, the soldiers had told them to come
on the following day and a few days passed like this.
One day a soldier told the relatives that they had released all the
thirteen (13) arrested people in the forest (2). But the relatives
didn’t go to the forest on the same day fearing that they may be
killed there. When they went into the forest on the following day to
search for those arrested – they smelt odour of decomposed human
bodies coming from one corner of the forest. When they reached that
spot, they found the arrested youths and men hacked to death. Their
mutilated bodies were thrown into ditch. As they were scared to stay
in the forest, they left the bodies as they were and came back to
their village.”
“In 1998, fourteen (14) youths went fishing (3) in a nearby Tank. As
they didn’t come back after fishing, the members of the family went
in search of the youth and found all fourteen (14) youths hacked to
death near the Tank.” said Mrs. KR who lost her husband and her sons
in these killings.
An elderly man Mr. MK, told that he lost his daughter, son-in-law
and four grand children – three boys and one girl in the killings
carried out by the STF in Pullumalai. An Army camp was established
in 1986 in the village. Since then many houses were set on fire and
there were frequent killings and rapes in this village.
He further said that, every time when the soldiers of STF and home
guards come into their village, they hack to death and shoot men of
certain age and rape women. “Children were torn into pieces. When
they take a girl or women to a covered area, we could hear the
screaming of the women. All the soldiers jointly rape the
unfortunate victims. Sometimes they shoot the women after raping
them and sometimes very strangely their lives were spared. They take
the men to the camps, and soldiers torture them to death. This is
the life of the Tamils in Pullumalai. Now there are only a few
Tamils left in this village and we are at the edge of being chased
away from here.”
Mr. JP related another massacre which had taken place on 9 July
1990. “By about 1.00 o'clock in the afternoon, the STF soldiers in
large numbers came in trucks and lorries and surrounded our village.
About 40 to 50 of us ran into the forest of Kulaveddy and
Oddaithandy. When we were in the forest we heard the sound of
continuous firing in our village. We waited until evening. When the
firing stopped it was dark, we came back to our village. It was a
nightmarish experience. We saw fifty five (55)people shot and hacked
to death by the soldiers (4). The women were raped and killed. Even
the babies were ruthlessly shot dead. Many houses were looted and
set on fire.”
In January 1985, the soldiers went into Pullumalai Pillayar temple
and took nine (9) men into custody. After a few days, the soldiers
went to the same temple and took the priest of the temple and
another nine people (10) working in the nearby shops. Until today
nobody knows as to what happened to those people or their
whereabouts (5).
In January 1985, the soldiers went into the village and shot dead
seven (7) men (6) including one government Surveyor. On the same day
many houses were looted and set on fire. Some women were raped by
the soldiers.
In 1986, they arrested eight 8 men from this village (7). They all
were shot dead in front of the Pullumalai Pillayar temple and their
bodies were burnt with tyres, in front of the same temple.
In 10 November 1986, a hundred and three - 103- people were shot and
hacked to death (8) by the soldiers. Women were raped, houses were
looted and set on fire.
Mahiladythivu-Kokadicholai massacres
Survivor of Prawn breeding farm massacre
The Prawn breeding farm was just a few metres away from
Mahiladythivu junction. This project was managed by Americans. The
workers in this farm worked on shifts.
This project was brought to an end on the 28th of January 1987 after
the killing and burning of a hundred and thirty seven (137) Tamils
by the STF. The victims were from Muthalaikudah, Munaikaddu,
Mahiladithivu and Ampilanthurai. About twenty six workers in this
farm were also killed in this massacre.Two survivors of this massacre and workers in this farm were able to
relate their eye witness account :
Mr. RS was a security guard in this farm. He related his eye witness
account of the massacres.
“That particular morning, three helicopters were hovering around the
area. People from Muthalaikudah, Munaikaddu, Mahiladithivu and
Ampilanthurai were panic-stricken and started coming to our farm
thinking that nothing would adversely happen in the farm because it
was managed by Americans.
One of the STF buffaloes (armoured vehicle) came and stopped in
front of the farm. As soon as they arrived, soldiers started
shooting at the people who were entering the farm. Farmer,
Narayanapillai was the first victim.
Some small boys were working in our farm on casual basis to chase
the birds away from the prawns. They were also shot dead by the STF.
As they were shooting indiscriminately at the crowd in the farm, I
started running towards the back yard. One soldier was shooting and
shouting at me not to run. But I ran through the canals and I
escaped to Kannakaadu.
Mr. DS was a driver in this farm. He related his emotional eye
witness account of this massacre:
“We all were under the impression that nothing would happen in the
farm. But the soldiers started shooting at us demanding us to stay
in a line. Then they ordered all of us to get into a tractor
(trailer) which belonged to our farm. Some were assaulted and shot
at.
When all got into the tractor, as I was the driver of that vehicle,
I was ordered by the Commander to drive with twenty (27) seven
workers in the farm. I drove the tractor up to the nearby junction.
In the meantime all the valuable items in the farm like water pump
and other equipments were removed by the soldiers.
Many were severely assaulted and some were pleading for their
release. At the junction, one soldier assaulted me and pushed me
down from the driving seat. Then he drove the tractor along with 27
workers from the farm towards Muthalaikudah. In a few minutes, we
all heard continuous firing for few minutes. All the 27 people were
shot dead and their bodies were stacked inside the tractor.
The group of soldiers in the junction, walked into every house and
brought the people our to the junction.
Then they brought the tractor with 27 bodies and ordered me to get
into the trailer and stand on the bodies. Now the time was past
12.00 noon. They parked the tractor at a bend in a covered area.
Then I was ordered to get down from the trailer.
Around 1.00p.m., they started bringing four people at a time and
each one was asked to get into the trailer and stand on the bodies
and then all were shot dead inside the trailer. At one stage the
trailer was full of bodies. Immediately they cleared some of the
bodies from the trailer and stacked the bodies in a nearby market
building.
By that time another vehicle came to that spot. The man who came in
the vehicle was calling the soldier who was leading the massacre as
"Kodithuwakku". Then they both had some discussion. The man who came
in the vehicle is one "Senivaratne".
Latter all the bodies were re-loaded into the trailer and tied-up
with a rope. All together hundred and thirty seven (137) bodies were
in the trailer. During that time it was a little dark and I took
that opportunity and ran away from the spot. They chased me calling
"driver" "driver". but I escaped from the murderers. They couldn’t
catch me.
I don’t know what they did with those bodies. But I heard that they
had established a camp at Kalchenai on the same day.”
Survivors of Mahiladythivu, Kokadicholai massacres
In Kokkadicholai we managed to meet a lady whose gave witness to a
Commission concerning the Kokadicholai massacres. Her statement was
published in the "Virakesari" newspaper of July 1991. She was a
primary school teacher from Mahiladitivu. She lives just near the
Methodist church junction where a monument was erected in memory of
the "Kokkodicholai massacre victims".
When we asked her to relate her tale, she and some elderly men from
Mahilathivu started relating their tragic tale.
They said that on 12 June 1991, a tractor belonging to the Sri
Lankan soldiers was struck by a land-mine and one soldier died on
the spot. Immediately, the army started firing from the nearby army
camp and everyone in the vicinity started running for shelter.
She was coming alone on her bike from the direction where the land
mines blast had taken place. She said that she thought that the army
suspected that she had laid the mine. When she saw the army, she
fell from her bike and started running towards her hut. She ran
about 25 yards till she was targeted by a soldier who shot at her in
both the legs. She fell down and lost consciousness. They left her
to die. The incident took place around 12.45 p.m.
She remained lying there unconscious, unaware of all the other
incidents that took place on that day. Round about 6.00 p.m. she was
found by an elderly lady who was looking for her daughter. She
remembers asking for water, and gaining consciousness at that point.
Everyone else had run to other villages. Some ran towards
Muthalaikuda and sought shelter in a school. One group of the Army
went to Muthalaikuda and took some men with them. Some women gave
their jewellery trying to prevent the army taking their husbands and
sons, but they took all of them into a rice mill and burned them
along with many others. All together hundred and thirty two -132 -
men and women were massacred inside the mill. Then they burned those
bodies with diesel and all sorts of things. We were so sad to look
at those bodies because some babies who were still breast-feeding
were also victims of these killings.
Another group of soldiers set fire to nearly 400 houses in
Mahiladitivu and the surroundings. All the houses in those areas
were full of paddy bags. They even burned the paddy and forced men
into the houses that were burning and some men were burnt alive. The
houses, paddy bags and the bodies were in flames.
Women and girls were raped in front of their parents and husbands.
Teachers and children in the nearby school were also raped.
One teacher is still going through the traumas of the rape. She
could not get married. A young girl who was raped still refuses to
pass through this part of the village, due to the traumatic memories
which still scare and disturb her psychologically. She still faints
at the sight of the army.
When some survivors of these killings were taken to Polonaruwa
hospital for treatment, the staff had refused to treat those
patients because they were Tamils. Some of course died because they
were not provided medical treatment in time.
All the furniture were looted from their houses. Anyone seen in the
village was shot at by the Sri Lankan soldiers.
Since then life has been very difficult for the primary teacher. She
finds it difficult and painful even to get to the toilet. Two bullet
scars are visible on each of her legs, indicating where the bullets
entered and left her body. For two years she had been bedridden in
hospital unable to get up.
When she was asked to give evidence to the Commission set up to
investigate the Kokkodicholai massacre, she was threatened by the
army several times that she would have to face serious consequences
if she did so. The Army tried to kill her, she said. She was even
threatened in the hospital to give a false confession to the
Commission that she was caught in cross-fire. She insisted, it was
the army which had shot at her. She identified the army personnel
who shot at her.
One of her brothers was killed by the STF in 1987. Another brother
has been arrested three times and had been tortured in the Boosa
army camp.
At the end, we asked what the outcome of the Commission was.
Nothing, the army is still killing and raping people with impunity,
we were told.
The commission is an eye wash to the outside world, the local people
said.
Thonni Thaddamadhu Massacre
Pannichaikerny river is running across Thonni Thaddamadhu village.
It is not very far from Vaherai. This area is very famous for paddy
harvesting.
Like in the cases of the other massacres previously described, this
village was also ransacked by soldiers and ten (10) people were
killed in the village on 27 May 1987.
Mrs. TP and Mrs. VM. related their eyewitness account of the
massacres at Thonni Thaddamadhu.
“On the 27th May 1987, the soldiers from Mavaddy odai, Vammyvedduvan,
Kathiraveli and Vaharai came in their trucks to Pillayar Temple.
They arrived in the small hours of the morning and while they were
walking they started firing at the people. Whoever were caught by
the soldiers were hacked to death and their bodies were burnt.
When a young woman saw the soldiers moving forward, she started to
run carrying her two children, the Army immediately shot at her and
the two children were thrown into the fire. A family was completely
wiped out. Their bodies were burnt.
Only a few of us who ran away from the village escaped from the
soldiers. All others were killed.”
Sithanddy Massacre
Murugan temple at Sithanddy is a famous temple. Most of the people
in this village are farmers and owners of dairy farms. The
Santhamadu river runs across this village.
Whenever the soldiers cordoned this village, people sought shelter
in the Murugan temple.
Mr. NK related his eyewitness account of the massacres at Sithanddy.
“On the 20th of July 1990, as the army had rounded up our villages –
as usual, the people from Sithanddy and the village of Mavaddyvempu
sought shelter at the Murugan temple. There were Tamils who work
with the army who had also come with the soldiers.
As soon as the Army entered the temple, they demanded us to line up.
Then they selected eighty (80) men and went away. The relatives
pleaded with the soldiers to release them. But they refused and took
all the 80 men with them.Then again, they came on the 27th and selected another fifty seven
(57) men and took all of them in an army vehicle.
Those arrested were not released. The family members went to the
army camp after two days to enquire of the whereabouts of their
relatives. The soldiers simply replied that they did not take anyone
into detention.
In fact, the army tied the hands behind the backs of all the hundred
and thirty seven people and took them in to a Sinhala village. The
army told the Sinhalese that they had brought 137 Tigers and then
shot all of them dead them in front of the Sinhalese people. Then
they took all the bodies and buried them somewhere. Until today none
knows what happened to the bodies”
Vantharumoolai Massacre
This massacre is also known as the Eastern University massacre. As
the army from Valaichchenai camp went into the villages of
Vantharumoolai, Sungankerny and Karuvakkerny, the people ran into
the Campus for protection. The lecturers at the campus provided
protection for them and hoisted a white flag in front of the
University.
One of the lecturers Mr. VG related his eye witness account of what
happened in the campus and the massacre.
“As soon as the army went into the villages of Kondayankerny,
Sungankerny and Karuvakkerny they started shooting and hacking the
people to death. Wherever they killed people, they lost no time in
burying the bodies. The soldiers were equipped with a Bulldozer
which made it very easy to bury the bodies.
In those three villages – they arrested forty eight (48) people and
took them to Valaichchenai main road. There they shot dead all 48
people and buried their bodies in the compound of a private land.
In seven days, the campus was full of fifty-five thousand - 55,000 -
refugees. On the eighth day, the army walked into the campus
ignoring our white flag. Some Tamils and Muslims collaborating with
the army also came with the army.
As soon as they entered the campus they asked us as to who were
staying here. We told them the people from Valaichchenai and
Arumugathan colony were there.
While he was talking to us, two empty buses came to the campus. The
soldiers ordered the people to come in a line and with the help of
those collaborators - they selected hundred and thirty eighty 138
youths from the camp. All were ordered to get into two buses. All
the parents and family members started pleading and screaming. But
they were all taken to an unknown destination.
We prepared the names and addresses of all 138 people who were taken
by the army. Later we went to all the army camps and inquired about
the whereabouts of the 138 people. But the army said that they were
not aware of those people.
As I was away from my house for a long time, I went to my house in
Valaichchenai through narrow lanes via the beach. Unfortunately I
was also arrested by the army and taken to Navaladdy camp. In the
camp, Capt. Ratnamal recognised me. He was studying with me. At this
camp, I saw another thirteen - 13 - people from my village whose
hands were tied behind with rope.
After three days the Commander in charge of the camp came there
smoking a cigarette and a soldier untied the hands of all 13 people.
The commander gave his smoking cigarette to all thirteen to smoke.
Then their hands were tied again. The commander told them in broken
Tamil, that they all are Tigers.
The soldiers were drunk and they started dancing for a Sinhala song
condemning the LTTE. In the meantime, some soldiers who came armed
with Axes, Iron bars and batons started beating all the thirteen
people. For few minutes, they were screaming and blood was bleeding
from their whole body. Some heads were broken into pieces, some
hands and legs were cut off – within a few minutes there was no
noise. All 13 were hacked to death. Then they put all the bodies in
a pit and burned those bodies with tyres and firewood.
From this incident I presume that the same thing must have happened
to all 138 people who were arrested in the campus. In Navaladdy
camp, there were a lot of pits. If these pits are excavated the
number of people who were killed in this camp could be discovered.
Later they asked me and another person to go and sleep in a room.
How can I sleep, after seeing the cold blooded massacre. I couldn’t
have a wink of sleep the whole night.
During my stay in that camp, I had seen some Muslims coming into
that camp with their hats on. Then they removed the hats and went
with the army for various activities against the Tamils in those
areas.
I was on tenterhooks for nearly nine days in that camp. Then I was
released with a warning that I should not disclose those matters to
anyone outside. They warned me not to disclose those things to
anyone and that I would face the same consequences, they said.
Soon after my release, I went along with my colleagues to
Kondayankerny camp to find out as to what had happened there. There
we saw a pit covered and by the side of the pit, there were ladies
cloths including several bras. Also we saw children’s cloths. Then
we knew, what had happened there for the women who were taken into
custody. It is believed that forty eight - 48- people were buried in
this camp! Even now it is not too late to re-open this pit to see
how many bodies were buried there.
To my knowledge, the killings continued for a week in the villages
of Sithanddy, Kondayankerny, Vantharumulai, Iyankerny, Sathurukoddan
and Karuvakerny. Hundreds of people were killed. There are few
survivors who are eye witness to these killings. But they are scared
to reveal these secrets to outsiders. They were warned by the
soldiers not to disclose anything to anyone. If they did so, they
would face the same fate.
One Lt. Killad was the person who master-minded all these killings.
Now he is a Captain. I know, how he killed one Jeyaveran who is
known to me. That camp was next to a mosque. Jeyaveran’s head was
hit against the mosque wall. As he was not killed, he brought a big
baton and killed him by hitting him on his forehead.
At Oddumavaddy bridge, many were hacked to death by the soldiers
with the help of some Muslims. If some one can get hold of Muslims
at Oddumavaddy, you can get the whole truth of these massacres. The
name of these perpetrators, the names and number of victims, the
places where the offences were committed etc.
He concluded by saying that one day all these mass graves will be
opened and it will be proved to the world that thousands of Tamils
were hacked to death in Batticaloa by the Army.”
Mrs. PT, told that her son, brother, son-in-law and her 65 years old
uncle were killed in Vantharumulai by the army.
Punanai Massacre
Punnai is a border village not very far from Vahaneri tank. There
are a lot of dairy farms as well as vast greenery for cattle
grazing. There were many attempts to annex this village with
Polonaruwa district. In the meantime settling Sinhala families in
this village had also started. About 1000 acres of land had been
colonised with Sinhalese. A Buddhist temple had also been built in
this village.
In 1990, the Army and the Home guards looted and destroyed all the
shops and farms in this village. More than two hundred Tamil
families had been displaced in the neighbouring villages of Kallady
Veddai. About forty families had come back and started their life in
the village.
The names of many Tamil villages had been changed into Sinhala
names. Mylanthanai was renamed as "Sithapura" and Munianddykaddai as
"Ravethana". Army camps were established in these villages to
protect the Sinhala settlers.
Mr. YP and Mr. KG related their eye witness accounts of the
massacres that took place in their villages.
“The soldiers from the camp of Karaddyvachakulam came into our
village on the 9th of August 1992. They rounded up the people from
three different areas and brought us to one place. They set fire to
the houses. In the mean time they took all the knives, axes, clubs
which were at our homes. As soon as we arrived at a particular
place, we heard a sound of firing. All of us started running.
Immediately the soldiers started attacking us with knives, axes,
clubs, etc.
I was running with my two children towards a dairy farm, but the
soldiers started firing at us. I left my children and wife and ran
into the forest. Some of us reached Kallady veddai via forest. There
we told the Grama Seveka (Village council officer) what was
happening in our village. He informed the Red Cross about it, said
YP.
The following day, the Red Cross personnel came and requested one of
us to accompany them to the village. All refused to go with the Red
Cross, eventually I agreed to go with them hoping that I could find
out the whereabouts of my wife and children.
While we were going in a Red Cross van to our village, we were
stopped by the Army Commander at Batha road. The Commander told the
Red Cross that they cannot enter the village due to lack of security
in that village. The Red Cross personnel argued with the Commander.
After several wireless communications, we were allowed to go into
our village.
As the village looked deserted we returned from there. All we saw
was pools of blood.
While we were returning the Commander told us that there is no-one
in the village and asked me whom I was looking for? I told him that
I was looking for my wife and children. Then he showed us a lorry
and asked me to find out whether my wife and children are among the
dead bodies loaded in that lorry. I went and had a look. There were
thirty six 36 dead bodies of persons who were hacked to death. I
couldn’t find my wife’s and children’s bodies among those. I was
screaming and crying.
During that time I saw a vehicle coming from Karaddyvachakulam. A
Judge from the courts came in that vehicle. He asked us whether
anyone had come from that village. I said that I was from that
village. The judge took me to a side and asked me, who and who were
missing from my family and he also asked me whether I had seen any
of their bodies there? I told him that everyone was known to me and
that my wife and children were not among the bodies. Then the lorry
was taken to Karaddyvanchankulam Camp and all the bodies were
unloaded. There were many bodies of children.
Then the Judge went and spoke to the Commander and told me, that the
Commander has sent nine seriously injured people to Polonaruwa
hospital.
The Judge asked me whether I want to take those 36 bodies with me. I
told the judge that everyone in the village has gone as refugees to
other villages and that it was very difficult to locate them.
Therefore, I requested him to do the needful.
Immediately all the bodies were re-loaded into the lorry and taken
to a nearby area. A bulldozer was brought in and a large pit was
dug. All the bodies were dumped into the pit and set fire after
pouring diesel on them.
The following day, I went to Polonaruwa hospital looking for my wife
and children. Going to Polonaruwa is another long story. In the
hospital, I went in to all the wards looking for my wife and
children. But I couldn’t see them in any of the wards. Then I gave a
bribe of fifty rupees to a Nurse working in the hospital and she
immediately took me to the Children ward. There I saw my children
were treated for the injures. Then I inquired about my wife and I
was told that some injured people were transferred to Peradeniya
hospital in Kandy.
It took about fourteen days for me to trace my wife in the
Peradeniya hospital”, said YP.
“Actually everything was manipulated by the Army. They send their
first batch of soldiers to round us up and kill us. Then the other
batch came pretending to save us from the massacre. The Judge tried
his best to do something. As a result of his initiative, there was
an identification parade. Twenty four soldiers were identified by
the people. But nothing happened.
First the case took place in Mineriya courts, then it was
transferred to Batticaloa courts and eventually it was transferred
to Colombo. This was a tactic they used to prevent us giving
evidence. Most of the people here are very poor. How we can afford
to travel to Colombo to attend this case? This is the justice you
get from the Sri Lankan government,” said KG.
Pendukalchenai Massacre
The neighbouring villages of Pendukalchenai are Tharavai, Kulavil,
Nappathavil and Puleepainthavil. They were surrounded by many army
camps. As there were frequent attacks on the people by the soldiers
– most of the people were displaced to different areas. Those who
were determined to stay in their village, used to stay at home
during the day time and go to Pendukalchenai river side to spend
their night.
Mrs. PT who lost her husband and children was stabbed five times by
the soldiers. She related her eye witness account of the massacres
that took place at the river side of Pendukalchenai.
“On 30 June 1995, at about 4.00 clock in the morning, the soldiers
came to the river-side and started to fire at us. My husband,
children and many others were killed in this incident. They all were
killed in their sleep. Soon after they stopped shooting at us, they
came at us with their knives.
I was facing down pretending that I was also killed. They started to
stab all the dead bodies. They stabbed me five times. I saw the army
seated on the branches of the trees. As I was bleeding from the stab
wound, I started shouting at the army to kill me as well. One
soldier came and hit me with his boots. They were at this place
until 6.00 o'clock in the evening.
Soon after the army left the place, our people from the village came
to the river side. It was horrible, I lost my husband and my three
children in this incident. I am unable to relate more. Please find
justice. Our people are killed for nothing. The army is doing
whatever they like, who is asking them to do it?”
Udumpankulam Massacre
Udumpankulam is in Thirukovil G.A. Division, in Amaprai district.
Soon after independence from the British in 1948, the first Prime
Minister of then Ceylon started his Sinhala colonisation scheme in
Amparai.
Amparai is under the full control of the STF. They loot and destroy
houses. They rape and kill women. Hundreds of men were hacked to
death by the STF and buried in pits.
There are about seven thousands widows (7000) living in Amparai
district.
Ms. TK who was a victim of rape and eye witness to the massacres
that took place in the paddy field of Udumpankulam, related her
story. It was on 19 February 1986, that the following incident took
place.
“In the night, the Army which came from Kondavedduvan camp rounded
up all the people working in the paddy field. Then they started
shooting the men and raped five of us. We pleaded with the soldiers
not to do anything to us. But they all raped us, in line in the
paddy field itself. As we couldn’t bear-up the pain, gradually we
lost consciousness.
After an hour or so we recovered and ran into a cave of a mountain.
From there we saw the soldiers covering all the bodies with paddy
sacks and dried grass and setting fire to those bodies.
After two days Akaraipattu Citizen committee President Mr. Ahamad
Lebbai, General Secretary S. T. Moorthy, Deputy President Rev. Fr.
Philip, Batticaloa Citizen committee President Rev. Chandra Fernando
and accompanied by press reporters came to the paddy field. The air
in that area was laden with repellent smell of decomposing bodies
and they saw bodies half burnt. They found that there were sixty six
- 66 - people massacred.
They took photographs of all the bodies. They recorded our
statements as well. Even Kalawana Member of Parliament, Mr. Sarath
Muthugama spoke about this massacre in the parliament but all those
efforts were of no avail. There is no justice here. No compensation
was paid either to members of the family of the victims or to us who
were raped by the soldiers.”
Adapallam Massacres
Adapallam is one of the villages in Amparai district. The four
frontiers of Adapalam are sea, river and paddy fields, it is not
very far from Ninthavoor. These areas are under constant
surveillance of the STF and killing, raping, torture and looting are
commonplace there.
No-one has any proper records of the people raped and killed in this
village. These have been happening since 1983. The number of victims
is in hundreds.
Mrs. KK who lost her mother, son, daughter, sisters and a
brother-in-law in the hands of the STF, related her story:
“My three daughters went with my brothers and others by a CTB bus to
Colombo on 21 November 1990. They were going to Colombo to attend my
sister's wedding. On their way, they were stopped at the check point
at Malwathai – they all were checked and allowed to proceed. This
CTB bus was driven by one Mr. Tharmalingam
When they reached the Valuthapiddy STF check point, my son,
daughter, mother, two sisters, brother in law and four others were
asked to get down from the bus and board a white van, saying that
they will be released after inquiry. That was the end of the story
of all the ten (10) people. Until today none knows what happened to
them.
We went everywhere to trace them. We went to STF camps, Army Camps,
Police stations, CID in Colombo, Government Agent’s office. At last
we were told that "None of them are alive. They were killed by
unidentified persons”
One of the STF Commanders asked us to go to Kachcheri (Government
Secretariat) and register our relatives as killed by unknown
persons’. They said that they would give us compensation, I wanted
to tell him that "I know the killers", but as I want to live a
little longer, I kept silent.
Who wants this money? The money is given only if we register the
cause of death as killed in "Cross-fire" or “by the LTTE " or by
"Unknown killer". These are utter lies. The STF is killing the
people here.
The STF would have been worried that the CTB driver Mr. Tharmalingam
may disclose the facts about the arrests of the 10 people to
someone. Later the driver, Mr. Tharmalingam was also killed by the
STF”.
Mrs. PR whose husband was killed by the STF related her story:
“The STF started rounding up all the Tamil villages and taking all
the men into custody. Down the road and lane the soldiers opened
fire. On 2 August 1990, they rounded up our village and took five
men (5) including my husband. They took five of them near the school
and shot them dead.
They rounded up Ninthavur, Thiraikerny and Adapallam and took forty
five (45) men to their camp and killed them. Those who escaped from
the soldiers ran to a school in Karathivu. The soldiers came to this
school as well. Here they shot dead seven (7) men in front of many
others. They took some people with them but nothing is heard of them
since then.
If anyone is interested in knowing about the STF killings in this
area, they have to only count the number of widows in Nithavur,
Oluvila, Karathivu, Veeramunai, Thiraikerney and Adapallam. This
will give at least half the number of people killed by the STF here”
Veeramunai Massacres
Since 1954 this village has been subjected to continual attacks by
thugs with the backing of the Sinhala politicians. There were
instances people of this village have being chased out by the
Sinhala settlers. The Tamils who moved away from this village are
living in Veeracholai, Valathapiddy, Mallkaithivu and Malwathai for
nearly thirty six years.
On 20 June 1990, the soldiers rounded up people of Veeramanunai and
its surrounding villages Valathapiddy, and Veeracholai and demanded
everyone to assemble in the compound of a temple. The soldiers
selected fifty-six (56) men and killed them then and there. This
incident took place in front of the members of their families.
Temple at Veeramunai 20/06/1990 56
On 28 June 1990, thirty seven (37) men were shot and burned in
Samanthurai (Malaikaddu).
Samanthurai
Malaikaddu 28/06/1990 37
Kondaivedduvan
29/06/1990 56
School at
Karathivu 04/07/1990
12
School at
Karathivu 10/07/1990
11
Army from
Malwathai camp 16/07/1990
08 Raped and killed
On 26 July 1990, the army which came from Vedduvan army camp
arrested eight 08 men from Malwathai, Veramunai, Kalathipuram and
Puthunagar. Until today none knows what happened to them.
26/07/1990 08
On 08 August 1990, the army soldiers along with Sinhala and Muslims
home guards hacked to death eight 08 Tamils and dumped their bodies
in a well.08/08/1990 08
On 11 August 1990, the people in Veeracholai, Valathapiddy and
Mallkaithivu vacated their villages and moved to Mandoor. On their
way to Mandoor, people were stopped by soldiers at Savalkaddai Army
camp eighteen 18 people were hacked to death.
11/08/1990 18
On 12 August 1990, the soldiers and the Muslim home guards went into
the village of Konddavedduvan and set fire to the houses after
looting the houses. In the meantime, they hacked to death twenty
five Tamils and set fire to their bodies.
12/08/1990 30
Many people who were injured in this incident were admitted to
Amparai general hospital. The soldiers removed all those people from
the hospital and killed them.
Amparai Hospital 12/08/1990 number killed uncertain
Sathurukoddan Depot Massacre
Sathurukoddan is not very far from Batticaloa town. This village
comprises Pannichaiaddy, Pillayaraddy and Oorani.
Mrs. SS who lost almost all her relatives – 35 blood relations in
the Sathurukoddan Depot Massacre related her story. This massacre
took place on 9 August 1990.
“On a Sunday evening, the army and the Muslim thugs rounded up our
village and took thirty-five (35 ) people including three
handicapped teenagers. The Muslim thugs started assaulting the
people.
On the previous day, some of our people knew that the army was going
to round-up Pannichaiaddy and Pillayaraddy. In order to escape from
this round up, many people from here went to Kuddyeruppu. Then the
soldiers took ten 10 people from Kuddyeruppu.
They brought everyone near Pillayaraddy. There were about hundred
and eighty five 185 people. They took everyone to a covered area in
Vincent Depot. Then we couldn’t see anything. But we heard people
were shouting and screaming. In between we heard a few firings.
After a few minutes we saw the flames in full swing. Until the
morning, the bodies were burning. They had shot and hacked to death
hundred and eighty four - 184 - people. Those who were taken on a
pretext that they would be released after an inquiry, were in
flames.
For a few days, no-one was allowed to go near the depot. After a
week, we went to the army camp and enquired about the whereabouts of
the members of our family. They said that they never came to our
village and they never took anyone. What else can we do other than
asking the army? There is no guarantee that this will not happen
again. So I decided to move to Karadianarou for my safety.
There is only one survivor. He saw everyone being cut with big
knives and thrown into the fire. When he was cut with a knife by a
soldier, he fell down and pretended to have died. But before he was
thrown into the fire, he got up and ran away. They couldn’t catch
him. He is somewhere in this region, meet him. He will tell you more
stories.
Col. Karuna
When we were in Batticaloa, we were thinking how we should address
Karuna's name to the people – whether it should be as Colonel Karuna
or as Mr. Karuna. On many occasions when we said to the people as
"Col. Karuna", they insisted that we should say as "Traitor Karuna"
but not as "Col. Karuna".
"Karuna's trick of spreading regionalism didn’t work here. It is not
important whether you are from Batticaloa or Trincomalee or Jaffna
or elsewhere. We Tamils should be united to safeguard our historical
homeland from Sinhala domination. This should be the priority of
every Tamil in this land", said a History teacher in Batticaloa.
Child soldiers in Batticaloa
During our last visit in December, we met several members of the
civil society in Jaffna especially to discuss the issue of child
soldiers. We met several representatives of the civil society,
parents and victims of war and others. We also witnessed many
debates, arguments, eyewitness accounts, etc on the subject of child
soldiers in Sri Lanka.
A civil society organisation in Jaffna gave us a list of 96 persons
from the Jaffna district who said they had volunteered to join the
LTTE between November 2002 and June 2003, but were sent back home by
the LTTE on the grounds that they were not accepting any volunteers.
(Please refer to -
http://www.tchr.net/econ_soc_volunterst_list.htm )
According to the members of the civil society in the North East, the
subject of Child soldiers was a one-sided story which has copious
media coverage in the Colombo racist media.
According to some academics in Sri Lanka, this issue is taken up by
organisations, which “do” human rights as “Business”. Such informed
persons continue to say that “the more you pay, the more they
exaggerate and highlight”.
Residents of the North East complained that those who raised the
Child soldiers issue now in Sri Lanka, never uttered a word about
what really happened to the people, including the children, in the
North East. They said fathers had either been killed or were in
prison; mothers and sisters had been either raped or killed; houses
and schools had been destroyed by aerial bombing or shelling and
undamaged schools are still occupied by Sri Lanka soldiers.
Furthermore, an economic embargo had been imposed on the Tamil
regions for more than a decade resulting in massive ongoing health
problems and the conditions in which internally displaced people (IDPs)
live are still deteriorating.
Release of
under age youth by the LTTE (2004)
Until March
2004 - 998
April - 269
May - 1300
Voluntarily sent home
July -
34 (Kilinochchi)
August - 24
(Kokkadicholai)
Total - 2595
"Many Sinhalese and some local NGOs are not bothered about what is
happening to the Tamils in this country. But, they raise the child
soldier issue to discredit the LTTE. They know very well that they
can spread all sort of fictions against the LTTE and convince the
international community, said a human rights activist DC in Colombo.
A school teacher LR told us "this UNICEF should have been active ten
years ago in the North East. It is too late, after all the damages
have been done successfully to the Tamil children, the Sri Lankan
government has allowed the UNICEF and other institutions to talk
about the child soldiers here".
Colonisation in Batticaloa
The colonisation started by colonising Sinhalese in the Tamil
regions in the border villages. But now it has spread to important
cities and towns.
Prof. Kallinga Gunaratna was the person who drafted the plan for the
Sinhala colonisation. Now Amparai is given the Sinhalese name of "Thikamadullai".
A leading human rights lawyer in Colombo told us that, since the
independence from British, the Sinhalese governments have had a
covert programme for settling Sinhalese families in the Tamil
regions. They have done it successfully in Amparai, Trincomalee and
other places.
Since 1827 - Tamil and Sinhala populations
in the Eastern province
(Table is shown on a language basis)
|
Year |
Trincomalee District |
Batticaloa District |
Amparai District |
| |
Tamil Speaking |
Sinhala Speaking |
Tamil Speaking |
Sinhala Speaking |
Tamil Speaking |
Sinhala Speaking |
| 1827 |
99.24% |
0.53% |
99.62% |
0.00% |
|
|
| 1881 |
93.82% |
4.66% |
93.27%
|
4.75% |
|
|
| 1891 |
93.89% |
5.06% |
93.2% |
5.21% |
|
|
| 1901 |
91.8% |
5.05% |
92.34% |
5.21% |
|
|
| 1911 |
93.4% |
3.76% |
92.95% |
3.74% |
|
|
| 1921 |
93.95% |
4.53% |
93.12% |
4.56% |
|
|
| 1946 |
87.8% |
9.87% |
92.55% |
5.83% |
|
|
| 1953 |
85.5% |
13.11% |
87.64% |
11.52% |
|
|
| *1963 |
79.25% |
19.9% |
95.6% |
3.35%* |
70.22% |
29.34% |
| 1971 |
78.61% |
20.7% |
94.49% |
4.49% |
69.47% |
30.18% |
| 1981 |
74.4% |
24.92% |
95.95%
|
3.21% |
62.03% |
37.64% |
| (Until 1962,
Batticaloa District included Amparai) (After 1981
no census was taken in the NorthEast) |
A few noteworthy massacres of Tamils in the Amparai district
No.
Date Place of
incident Killed
Remarks
10/06/1956 Amparai
150 During anti-Tamil
riots
19/02/1982 Udumpankulam
103 While threshing
paddy in field
17/05/1985 Narpaddimunai
23 Abducted - killed
11/02/1990 Fancy House
Kalmunai 111
51 men and 60
women raped
and killed
12/06/1990 Karathivu
Refugee camps 35
youths arrested in
a round-up and
killed
12/06/1990 Viramunai & Sammanthurai
Temple 85 youths killed in
the temple
13/06/1990 Ninthavoor
64 youths arrested in
a round-up and
killed
24-25/06/1990 Akkaraipattu
Methodist Church >
Alayadivempu Thirunavukkarasu Vidyalam > 104
rounded-up in a
refugee camp
|
