Bishop Rayappu
Joseph - Mannar
"...On
the 23rd of December, consequent
to a claymore mine attack on the
Navy at 100 Houses-Scheme at
Pesali in the Mannar island, the
the Navy went on a rampage and
besides attrocious cruelties,
assaults and other human rights
violation let out by them, on
the poor innocent civilians of
the same place, they had
liquidated four civilians
including a three years old
child. Responsible eye
witnesses, on the morning of the
24th Dec. had managed to creep
in to the house where these four
were staying and had seen a
whole lot of blood in the room.
There is also
an eye witness who had seen a
white van parked in front of
this house on the 23rd for two
hours. Later, when we were
allowed to visit this village
along with the SLMM on the 25th
morning, for the first time
after the incident, the
witnesses told me that the blood
had been completely wiped out
and there were found burnt three
pieces of human bones and flesh
in that room. We believe that
these four civilians had been
killed in that room, were moved
away and were disposed of,
elsewhere. There is no sign of a
big fire in that room. This can
be seen even today.The victims
are: 1. Mrs Jude Sugathy
(Theresa) Croos 31 yrs and her
son Jude Arokiyathass Fernando 3
yrs ( D.B 22.09.2002) ;
Mr.Emmani Croos 45 yrs and his
wife Mrs Emmani Anthonikkam
Croos 45 yrs.
When Mrs
Suganthy Croos and her husband
with two of their children were
having their luch at 1.55 noon
on the 23rd Dec., 2005, at their
home as above, they heard the
mine blast. Consequently they
heard the Navy firing and as
their house is located along the
main road, they left their
house, the husband with the
elder child and the wife with
the younger child. The wife had
told her husband that she would
get in to the neighbouring house
as there was a couple there and
she ran in. The husband went
further to the last house on the
lane with his child and stayed
there and was able to escape the
sad fate of his wife and his
younger child."
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1. Claymore attack On Friday
December 23rd, at 1.30 pm, the second
vehicle of the three vehicles carrying Sri
Lankan Navy sailors back to their base in
Talaimannar was hit by a claymore mine. The
attack occurred in Pesalai when the bus was
passing through the �Hundred House Scheme�.
The Sri Lankan Navy camp in Talaimannar is
located about two kilometres from this
housing scheme. Thirteen soldiers died in
the attack and many more were wounded.
2. Retaliation Uninjured soldiers in the other two
vehicles immediately started spraying bullets towards the housing
scheme. Panicky occupants of the houses in the �Hundred Housing
Scheme� started to flee in all directions. Following account is
based on the statement given to us by a family member of one of the
victims and the descriptions of the attack given by several other
residents who faced the Sri Lankan Navy revenge attack.
3. The Statement:
The fleeing As people started to run, Suganthy picked up
her younger child aged 3, and her husband, Fernando, picked up their
older child aged 5. Fernando told Suganthy, �Let us run and if we
die, let us die together�. They began to run. Suganthy�s house was
on the road side between the location of where the Navy vehicle got
hit by the claymore and the Navy vehicle that was traveling a few
metres ahead. Suganthy is an asthma patient and she found it
difficult to run carrying the toddler. At this time Suganthy saw
that the couple next door was still in their home, standing at their
door steps. This couple next door was not about to run like everyone
else. Suganthy told Fernando, �I will wait with them, you run
further�. She tore her hand off from Fernando�s and ran into the
house of Anthoniamma and Emanuel Cruz. That was the last time
Fernando saw his wife and child.
The Cruz couple, whose house at which Suanthy took
refuge, have four children, eldest of them is 14 years old. These
children had gone to another house to watch television with their
friends. The parents, worried about what could happen to their
children did not want to run away, and they stayed in their home.
Fernando ran on and stopped about five houses further down and
stayed there. After that, no one knows what exactly happened to
Suganthy, her baby and the Cruz couple. The beating and the sexual
assault
One woman resident states, �The fleeing people were
stopped by the Sri Lankan Navy and the women were forced to sit on
the hot sand with their face to the sand. The Navy soldiers then
asked the young women crude sexually motivated questions. They also
dropped their trousers in front of the women. It was so unbearable�.
The men were taken to another side and they were all
beaten. There were all together about 42 men who were beaten. Both
men and women were then forced to sit there for several hours.
Navy men came to the house where Fernando (Suganthy�s
husband) had taken refuge with their older five year old boy. The
Navy men picked up the five year old boy by his collar and was about
to beat him. Fernando instinctively put his arm to take the blow.
The Navy men had then turned to the father and said, �Are you so
brave and strong that you can stop us?� They then severely attacked
the father. Fernando sustained severe injuries on his arms, legs,
and hips as a result of the attack. He was unable to walk.
Refuge in the church and the missing people
Around 6.00 pm the priest from the village church
arrived and rescued all of the residents sitting on the sand and
took them to the church. The Navy did not release nine men.
When the villagers arrived at the church they realized
that several people were missing. Everyone thought the missing
people would have run further and took refuge in the adjacent
villages. The church priest searched for the missing people in the
other villages, found some of them and brought them back to the
church. Suganthy, her baby and the Cruz couple were still missing.
Suganthy�s relatives looked among the injured civilians
admitted to the hospital for the missing four people. There they saw
a pregnant mother who was hit in the stomach with a gun by the Navy
men.
The nine men
On the second day, Saturday December 24th, the Bishop of
Mannar (Bishop Rayappu Joseph), talked to the Navy and got the nine
detained men released. It was around 12.00 pm on Saturday when they
were released. Residents said those nine men, when they returned,
did not look like they were humans, they were attacked so severely,
their skulls were broken, their hands and legs were broken. The
state in which they came back was beyond belief.
Search for the four people
On Saturday, no one was allowed to go back into the
village. The Navy however, allowed the Assistant Government Agent
(AGA) for the district to go through the village but she was not
allowed to go inside any houses. The Navy stopped them from stepping
off of the road. The Navy only allowed the AGA to go down the road
to the adjacent villages to look for the missing people. The AGA
looked through the other villages and came back and said the four
missing people were not to be found.
The residents encouraged the AGA to ask for permission
from the Navy to go inside houses to look for the missing people.
The AGA took three more of her officials and went to look in the
houses. Those who came described what they saw as follows, �It�s
hard to describe what we�ve seen, it�s really cruel. There is a lot
of blood that has run from inside a house, outside, and down the
front steps of the house. The verandah is covered in blood. Because
there was so much blood, we couldn�t step into the house. The blood
on the steps is still there. We found the hands of a small child
just outside the house and a chunk of flesh inside the house among
the ashes�.
Among the burnt remains
Everyone by now realized that the four people are no
more. The Navy did not allow anyone into the houses for sometime and
they must have cleared out the place during that time. They have
just missed to remove the child�s hand and the chunk of flesh that
the AGA and her three officials saw on Saturday.
The third day, Sunday December 25th, which was Christmas
day, the Sri Lankan Navy pulled back, and allowed the people to go
to their homes. Fernando was the first one to be there with his
younger brother. The others soon joined him. The ashes in the house
were still there. The hand and the chunk of flesh had been removed.
They could see that some attempt had been made to wash up the blood.
They searched among the ashes. Fernando immediately recognized the
green skirt that his wife was wearing. It was halfburnt. In one area
there was dried blood in a puddle, which the Bishop took pictures
of. Only the Bishop was allowed to take a camera. They found
Suganthy�s national ID (Identity Card), her army ID, and her bank
account book as she must have run with her purse and these things
were in her purse. Her homeowner�s identity card was also there.
They submitted all of these things to the police. The
National ID of Emanuel Cruz was also there.
Theft and burning
The people were also saying that there had been some
theft. The Navy actually stole jewels from the women and there was
25,000 Rupees missing from one home. About seven houses had been
burnt badly. Furniture and mattresses were heaped in these houses
and were set alight. They completely burnt one of the large shops in
the village. Monday
By Monday, December 26th, the entire village had
collected the remains of their belongings and left the village.
Fernando was also admitted to the hospital on Monday. On Tuesday,
the family members of Fernando took some offerings to the house, as
part of the funeral ritual. They placed the food at the steps and
within two minutes of doing this, the Navy men were there. The
family members felt threatened.
People were absolutely scared at the time of the
incident. On the second or third day after the incident the Navy was
still carrying out its search operations and the entire village was
in a state of fear.
4. The Inquiry
On Sunday, December 25th, two officials from the Sri
Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Bishop of Mannar Rev. Rayappu
Joseph, and Rev. Fr. Wincent Parick, the parish priest from the
church where resident took refuge, visited the house where the burnt
human remains were found. Mannar Police were given the job of
conducting investigations.
It is revealing to note that none of the people who
faced the Sri Lankan Navy attack on December 23rd expect anything to
come out of the police investigations.
Dr N Malathy (NESOHR Secretary)
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