Media & Tamil Struggle: Stories that the Indian Media were Reluctant to Publish

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INDICTMENT AGAINST SRI LANKA
Censorship, Disinformation & Murder of Journalists

Some Stories that the Indian Media
were Reluctant to Publish

Savitri, 1 July 2000

".... in most cases the media present news and events in a manner that not only agrees with the views of the powerful, but actually supports their domination.... the maintenance of order is the key idea to be examined in the media... in earlier times violence and the threat of physical force was used to maintain order. But today control is pursued through very different avenues; most effectively.... through cultural control, or ‘controlling the common sense’.... A class is hegemonic not so much to the extent that it is able to impose a uniform conception of the world on the rest of society, but to the extent that it can articulate different visions of the world in such a way that their potential antagonism is neutralised..."(The Media, Framing, and the Internet - John Harrington)

Amnesty Follow Up Urgent Action Appeal on Torture & Extra Judicial Killing - June 2000

"... According to reliable sources, Ganesh Chandrakanthan was badly tortured on the day of his arrest, 4 June. He was seen being carried out of the police station and put into a jeep around 3pm on 5 June. His left hand appeared to be broken. On 7 June, police told Ganesh Chandrakanthan's family that he had been killed by a grenade he had set off at the time of his arrest.The police refused to release the body unless his relatives signed a Statement confirming that Ganesh Chandrakanthan was a member of the armed opposition group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The relatives refused. The body was subsequently buried by police in the Kantalai cemetery. His relatives were not present at the time of the burial..."

Amnesty Appeals & Sri Lanka Continues to Torture... - June 2000

"... five labourers were arrested on 4 June in Trincomalee district, ... The men's parents tried to visit them the next morning, but police chased them away. The next day, Kantalai police were seen taking Poopalaratnam Arulramesh to his house, together with Sinnathamby Pradeepan. Both men appeared to have been badly tortured: Sinnathamby Pradeepan was bleeding from his mouth and had open wounds on his shoulders, and Poopalaratnam Arulramesh had difficulty walking.... Torture has been widespread in Sri Lanka for many years. Amnesty International has obtained many testimonies of torture, corroborated by medical certificates..."

More than five hundred civilian casualties due to bombing and shelling by Sri Lankan security forces says Mannar Bishop...- June 2000

"...I am given to understand that the attitude of the armed forces is that 'it is better to kill the people than allow them to go into the LTTE controlled areas'...I am also informed that people who are compelled to live within the bunkers are helpless and starving. According to this source the number of civilian casualties in the Madduvil area is more than 500. This type of massacre is witnessed to be extending to other areas of Thenmarachchi as well..."

Tamil detainees sexually abused & tortured by Sri Lanka says study in British Medical Journal, Lancet... June 2000

"....Medicolegal reports were written by 17 doctors that supported the allegations of torture in Sri Lanka made by 184 Tamil men who had been referred during this period. ... Of the 184 men, 38 (21%) said they had been sexually abused during their detention. Three (7%) of the 38 said they had been given electric shocks to their genitals, 26 (68%) had been assaulted on their genitals, and four (9%) had sticks pushed through the anus, usually with chillies rubbed on the stick first. One said he had been forced to masturbate a soldier manually, three had been made to masturbate soldiers orally, and one had been forced with his friends to rape each other in front of soldiers for their "entertainment"..."

Sri Lanka security forces shoot dead 9 children from an orphanage reports British Refugee Council...- May 2000

"Sri Lankan security forces shot dead nine children and wounded 20 others, in Batticaloa town on 17 May... The children, from an orphanage in Ayithiyamalai, were accompanied by Parish Priest Jeyachandra on a visit to view decorations in the town to celebrate Buddhist Vesak Day. ...the security forces fired at the van carrying the children, despite the plea of Rev Jeyachandra, “Please don’t shoot the children; shoot me instead”... the priest was also shot and wounded. The government Media Centre accused the LTTE of inflaming ethnic passions in the district, but failed to mention the shooting of the children. References to the killing of the children in newspapers have been censored...

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says Sri Lanka jets bombed fishing village of Pallikuda, near Pooneryn and five members of one family died immediately... - May 2000

"...On the afternoon of May 12th, jets bombed the fishing village of Pallikuda, near Pooneryn. Five members of one family died immediately, including two children aged three months and two years. Doctors at Mallavi Hospital provided treatment for eleven other victims of the bombing, including four who required life-saving operations. Three of the total were children, one of whom, age seven years, lost an arm. Further treatment was hindered by a critical shortage of medical supplies, especially emergency surgical items, dressing materials and antibiotics. Five patients needing post-operative care were transferred to Vavuniya hospital, a difficult journey that takes at least six hours..."

Sri Lanka's notorious Special Task Force (STF) go on a rampage in Batticaloa says British Refugee Council, Sri Lanka Monitor... - April 2000

"...Angered by posters welcoming the fall of Elephant Pass, members of the police Special Task Force (STF) ran amok in Manmunai and Kirankulam in Batticaloa District on 25 April, entering houses and attacking civilians..."

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture says torture is committed with impunity in Sri Lanka... - April 2000

"...Anthony Krishnaveni, 22, after her arrest in September 1998, was repeatedly tortured, which included beating on the head with a cricket bat... (in the case) of another Batticaloa resident chillie powder applied to his eyes has impaired his sight - his head was covered with a plastic bag dipped in petrol and his toe nails were pulled out..."

Dreaded white vans, the hallmark of Sri Lanka military death squads, reappear in Vavuniya... - March 2000

"...legal requirements such as issuing receipts and informing relatives within 48 hours of arrest, are not observed by the security forces...In Vanni’s Kilinochchi area, three skeletal remains were discovered in a shallow grave on 21 March. Forty two other skeletal remains have so far been found, most of them in Ratnapuram and Uruthirapuram..." says British Refugee Council Sri Lanka Monitor