TAMIL CENTRE FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS (TCHR)
LE CENTRE TAMOUL POUR LES DROITS DE L'HOMME (CTDH)
Head Office
9, Rue des Peupliers
95140 Garges les Gonesse
FRANCE
Tel/Fax : 33-1-40 38 28 74
Branches
Australia,
Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, U.K.
Contents
Appeal 2
Situation
Report
Children 4
Education 6
Hospitals and Medicines 9
Internal Refugees and Food
Situation 12
MSF on Embargo and Malnutrition 14
Fishing and Agriculture 15
Colonisation 17
Violence Against Women 18
Military Harassments 19
Gange rape
and massacre (Since 1995)
Floating bodies in Colombo 20
Massacre in the Kilali sea 21
Nachchikuda Massacre 21
Kumarapuram Massacre 22
Nagar Kovil School Children
Massacre 25
Navaly St. Peter's Church Massacre 25
Sterilisation
on Tamil population 27
Summary
Report
Human Rights Violations 29
Annexes 42
ÏSri Lanka - The FactsÓ
16th
March 1998
Honorable
Mr. Chariman and members
54th
Session
Commission
on Human Rights
United
Nations
Geneva
Switzerland
Honored
Sir,
Tamil Centre for Human Rights wish to place before
you the appeal and situation report on Sri Lanka on the occasion of your fifty
fourth session.
We wish to place before your Esteemed Honors our
latest situation Report on the violations of human rights and denial
fundamental freedoms perpetrated by the Sri Lankan Government and its armed
forces on innocent Tamil civilians, whose hereditary land in the North and East
of Sri Lanka have been plundered, devastated and destroyed by long years of war
and military occupation.
The Sri Lankan Government's genocidal war in the
North and East against the Tamils, has escalated to such an extent that the war
wearied Tamil civilian population is facing untold hardships for its survival
and denial of their basic rights particularly the right to life. There are
growing symptoms of widespread famine and disease strickening the Tamil Nation
due to the Government's persistent refusal to maintain supply of food, medicine
and other essential goods into the occupied territory. While the little that is
siphoned at irregular intervals are also blocked by the army reaching its
destination.
There is now an imminent danger of infectious
dieseases among the civilian population as the result of the lack medicine,
equipment and medical care for the past several months. Under-nourished
children, expectant mothers and old people have fallen malaria. Malnutrition
and exposure are added elements that are to the are also contributory factors
in raising the mortality rate in these regions.
All the fervent plea to the Sri Lankan Government for
relief on humanitarian consideration from responsible Government officials,
international relief agencies and non
governmental organizations have fallen on deaf ears! Added to all these difficulties,
the Government's interdiction of local and international news reporters from
entering regions under army occupation is further aggravating the situation.
However, traverlers from these regions to Colombo, the capital have reported
vast increase in arrests, detention, disappearances, torture, rape,
extra-judicial killings and other crimes that had been committed by armed
services.
Since 1995, military operations code-named Leap
Forward, Riversa, Rivil Kirana, Seda Pahara, Sathjaya, Singing Fish, had caused
the displacement of more than one million civilians from their permanent homes.
The recent military operations code-named Edibala and Jayasikuru had wreaked
irreparable damage and destruction to several town and villages in the Vanni
region. The town of Omanthai, Nedunkerni, Mankulam, Puliyamkulam, Oddusuddan
and Puthukudiyiruppu had to face the brunt of the recent military operations
that caused wanton destruction to life and property.
We had submitted thousand of affidavits to the
Working Group on enforced or Involuntary Disappearances for necessary action.
The response from the Sri Lanka Government is extremely minimal.
This state of affairs remains unchanged even today,
the position was same last year too as has been confirmed by statements made by
the US delegation and NGOs to the 54rd Session of the UN Commission on Human
Rights. The situation is worse now than last year.
We appeal to the Commission to note that ongoing
conflict and disregard for human rights observance by the security and police
forces continue to cause great suffering to the Tamil people.
We do sincerely hope that the 54th Session
of the Commission would take positive steps to bring about a change over its
treatment of civilians, by Sri Lankan government by your direct intervention in
the form of a Resolution.
S. V. Kirubaharan
General
Secretary
TCHR
- Head Office
TAMIL CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT
9, Rue des Peupliers, 95140 Garges les Gonesse,
FRANCE
THE SITUATION REPORT
The US
State Department's country report on Sri Lanka, January 30, 1998 says :
1 - There
is a significant problem of child prostitution in certain coastal resort areas.
The Government estimates that there are more than 2,000 active child
prostitutes in the countrybut private groups that claims that the number is
much higher. Many of these prostitutes are boys who sell themselves to foreign
tourists........
2 - In the
first half of 1997, the police recorded 1,633 cases of crimes against children,
a decrease from 3,687 crimes in the first half of 1996.
3 - Close
to 26,000 children are known fully employed (in 1997), compared with
approximately 20,600 in 1996.
4 - 19,123
children between the ages of 10 and 14 were fully employed. This included
15,495 males and 3,628 females. Additional thousands of children (estimates
ranges from 50,000 to 100,000) are believed to be employed in domestic service.
CHILDREN IN THE NORTH-EAST
Young childen
have been critically wounded in
many parts of North-east due to Sri
Lankan artillery attack on residential ares. The shelling - as usual aimed at
surrounding Tamil villages. Random shelling from Sri Lankan military camps
occurs every day in the Tamil northeast.
Many children
died when they accidentally picked up a grenade left by the Sri Lankan
army in many places in Jaffna.
Sri Lanka's military forces in Jaffna are regularly
interfering with children on their way to school and subjecting them to
interrogations. School-bound children are singled out by soldiers and then
taken away to cells without even the presence of adults they know. It is a
frightening ordeal for these youngsters many of whom are afraid to make the
journey to school. Children are also included in the army's regular round-up
operations in Jaffna, held daily now in two to three places at once. The Sri
Lankan military has no regard for the stress this is engendering in the young.
Round-ups, interrogations and intimidation have become a way of life for the
new generation of Tamils who find themselves at the mercy of the Security
forces.
34,000
CHILDREN ARE BEGGING IN THE STREETS
Sri Lanka's Additional Government Agent for
Kilinochchi, Mr. Rasanayagam, has admitted to a gathering of educationalists
and the general public that 34,000 Tamil children in Vanni are either begging
on the road or are reduced to doing menial work for a pittance. School-life has
been totally disrupted by the Sri Lankan government's ongoing military
operations on the Tamil homeland.
ORPHANED CHILDREN
Hundreds of Tamil children orphaned in attacks by Sri
Lankan forces are on the streets begging for their livelihood. These children
whose parents have been killed by Sri Lankan air and artillery fire are fending
for themselves and begging door-to-door for food. Elderly people who have lost
their close relatives in Sri Lankan attacks are also destitute and reduced to
begging to stay alive.
Jaffna has been led to an extremely worrying situation
with regard to education. It is
estimated that some 14,000 children between year 2 and year 5 are not being
sent to classes because parents feel the peninsula is neither safe
enough under military rule, nor are there any facilities available for their
children .
While the government depicts internationally an image
of equal treatment given to Tamils and Sinhalese, a drastic shortage of teachers
in Tamil areas has come to light. 5000 teacher vacancies in the northeast
have gone unfilled due to the government's deliberate withholding of funds.
Meanwhile, schools in Sinhala areas are amply staffed, indeed sometimes over-staffed.
This confirms that the Sri Lankan government
continues to be a Sinhala government committed only to the welfare of the
Sinhalese.
Schools damaged by military operation in the North
The military in Jaffna have
taken over two American Christian mission schools, private houses and many
other religious building to make way for a new military camp in Valigamam
west at Navali in Jaffna. The areas of
Navali north, east and south also fall under this camp's command.
BOOKS
DENIED TO TAMIL STUDENTS
Sri Lanka's education department has kept back 60% of
the school books it is obliged to give to Tamil school children in the North.
Even the small amount that has arrived has come half a year too late, rendering
the scheme virtually meaningless. Headmasters and teachers are in a quandary
about how to distribute the meagre supply among the hard-done children.
VANNI
Mullaitivu's student population has soared to over
50,000 after an influx of families
displaced from a series of recent Sri Lankan military operations. More than
half the student population are in fact displaced people. The educational
authorities in Mullaitivu have been unable to cope with the increase and
educational standards are dropping rapidly as a result.
Goverment has stopped students in Mullaitivu from obtaining school uniforms, textbooks
and exercise books, which are supplied free to schools in Sinhala areas. Also,
more than 75 school buildings have had to be converted into welfare centres for
the displaced.
NO
SCHOOLING FOR 60,000
School is now a luxury to many children in Vanni,
with 61,904 Tamil children not even having the means to attend, after suffering
constant displacements. The military, however, continues its trauma-inducing
artillery attacks on Tamil towns and creates an environment where there is not
the physical nor mental security for children to attend school. Tamil schools
have also frequently been specifically targeted by artillery and aerial bombing
by the military.
KILINOCHCHI DISTRICT 30,077
MULLAITIVU DISTRICT 25,286
MANNAR DISTRICT 4,157
VAVUNIYA DISTRICT 2,384
BATTICALOA-TRINCOMALE
The Sri Lankan army is forging plans to take over
certain Tamil schools in Batticaloa in order to make army camps out of them.
Schools on the Senkalady-Badulla road (Batticaloa) have already been earmarked
and as usual there have been no efforts to relocate the students. But Tamil
residents of the densely-populated areas of Karadiyanaru and Siththul are makin
have vacated since living close to a Sri Lankan army camp.
In Batticaloa, male and female students as well as
teachers are being taken routinely. They are placed strategically around army
checkpoints to provide cover to soldiers..
Dozens of Tamil schoolgirls from Batticaloa have been
arrested by police during an
inter-school sports competition held in Trincomalee. The Sri Lankan Security
forces are notorious for ill-treatment and sexual abuse.
DEAD BODY
OF A SCHOOL BOY
Residents have found the dead body of a school boy
dressed in his school uniform 300 yards from the office of the assistant
government agent of Vavunathivu in Batticaloa. It has been confirmed that this
body is that of one of the boys who
were arrested recently by the Security forces. Others fate remains unknown.
A Tamil school teacher in Santhiveli in Batticaloa
was arrested in August by Army in Kiran bridge. The teacher known as
Kirupakaran, he is 23 years old and taught at the Santhiveli Sidthi Vinayagar
Vidyalayam.
JAFFNA
Three more Tamil undergraduates at Jaffna university
have been reported missing, according to the student union. A text distributed
by members of the union says all efforts to trace the missing boys have ended
in failure. No one doubts that they were taken by Sri Lankan security forces
who are occupying Jaffna and fears are now growing for their lives. Two of the
missing students are from the Arts faculty, the other from the Science faculty.
Owing to staff and student shortages, lack of medical
equipment and intimidation from armed forces, Jaffna university's medical
faculty is on the verge of closing. With Sri Lankan military officials
occupying room numbers 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, and 24 students and teachers fear to
enter the building. Civilian life everywhere in the peninsula has become
totally disrupted since the capture of Jaffna ane its in 1995. The Island's
once one of the best medical faculities in the early 80s and 90s is on its last
legs.
The University of Jaffna has sustained damages
amounting to sixty five million Sri Lankan rupees (over one million US dollars)
between October 1995 and April 1996 said officials of the University.
LANDMINES
IN SCHOOLS
The Military in Jaffna has refused to clear landmines
buried by them in and around Jaffna schools. Thousands of landmines literally
crowd the area and have made school children and teachers extremely nervous.
Though teachers have complained to the occupying military and asked for the
landmines to be removed, no favourable reply has been forthcoming. Two of the
most badly affected landmine sites are the Jaffna Stanley College Grounds and
the Jaffna University playing fields, where the military buried several landmines
Schools in Thenmaradchy in Jaffna have one of the
lowest attendance rates anywhere in the island. Most of those who have
Îdisappeared' after arrest by the army in the peninsula are students, with a
large number of teachers also missing. School turn-out here is so low that at
least three schools have been closed down for lack of attendance - Kerudavil
Saraswathy school, Sarasalai mixed school and Eluthumadduval Tamil mixed
school. <More
Details>
MILLTARY
WILL CLOSE DOWN SCHOOLS IN JAFFNA !
A senior Sinhalese military officer has told a
meeting of Tamil headmasters and teachers in Jaffna that he is ready to close
down Ïany or allÓ of Jaffna's
schools if teachers ignore his tough new directives. Warning that Ïdisobedience
would not be toleratedÓ he gave out the military's new instructions -- Ïdue homage must be paid to the Sri
Lankan lion flag, and the Sinhalese national anthem must be sung daily in
classrooms by both students and teachers.Ó He added that Tamil teachers and
students must bare their heads in respect when passing military camps or sentry points. Registers of student attendance must be
submitted by hand to the nearest military camp for their perusal; students
absent for three days must be reported to military officials; no school
functions can take place without permission from the military or without
military officials as guests to Ïgrace the occasionÓ. If these orders are not
followed, he said, Ïpunishment will be drastic!
On 15th August 1997 the military in
Jaffna has arrested three heads of prominent schools, to disrupt education in Jaffna. Troops were
recently sent in to arrest the Vice Principal of Point Pedro Hartley College, and
the heads of two other important schools in Vadamaradchy. It is clearly a
systematic crackdown on the Tamil educational establishment in Jaffna by the
military. <More
Details>
HOSPITALS
AND MEDICINE :
DEMOLISHED
HOSPITALS
The Murunkan provincial hospital and Nanaddan central
hospital - both situated along the Vavuniya-Mannar road - have been forced to
close permanently after being bombed to ruins by Sri Lankan forces. The Staff
at the two hospitals fled along with residents to nearby refugee camps which
remain overcrowded and inadequately supplied. Meanwhile, the hospitals of
Silavathurai, Marichchukaddy, Thiruketheesvaram and Periamadhu have been lying
desolate for ages due to earlier Sri Lankan military operations.
Two Tamil women have been arrested by
Sri Lankan troops for trying to take medicines into the Tamil Vanni region. The
two women were stopped at the dreaded Thandikulam military checkpoint - gateway
to the Vanni - after soldiers searched their vegetable baskets and found
medicines.
The Sri Lankan government has supplied only a tiny fraction of the money
needed to repair the Jaffna hospital that was bombed by the armed forces say
the hospital authorities. The military caused 70 Million rupees worth of
damages to the hospital by bombarding it during its operation to capture Jaffna
in 1995.
THARMAPURAM
Tharmapuram hospital is functioning with only one
qualified doctor. It is said to receive up to 700 patients a day, but can only
accommodate 75. It is reported that some days the same doctor travels to all
three hospitals in Kilinochchi district - Tharmapuram, Ramanathapuram and
Vaddakachchi - because the staff situation is so bad.
POONERYN
Meanwhile Pooneryn hospital, which had been functioning
only two days a week, has had to stop its services altogether for lack of
medical staff and supplies. Local Tamil people have become stranded without any
sort of care. Sri Lanka uses denial of food and medicines to Tamil areas as a weapon to force Tamils to give in to its
military forces.
MULLIATIVU
19,045 outdoor patients and 1540 indoor patients were
treated in Mullaitivu's district hospital in May 1997 alone, reflecting the
massive increase in diseases affecting Mullaitivu's medicine-starved
population. The smaller Mulliyawallai hospital treated 5000 patients in the
same period.The diseases are spreading uncontrollably due to shortage of
medicines.
In September 97, 19,608 patients were treated. In a
day, an average 654 patients attend the hospital. Of this figure, 42 on average
are admitted to wards for treatment. 125 babies were delivered at this hospital
in September, while 120 surgical classes were also attended. There has been a
steep rise in the percentage of babies dying immediately after childbirth and
malnutrition among pregnant mothers in Vanni.
The Sri Lankan military in Vavuniya has
blocked an ambulance's passage to Mullaitivu district, part of the large Tamil
Vanni region which remains free from Army occupation.. It has been forced to
make do with a vehicle belonging to the Red Cross while the army withholds
their ambulance.
PATIENTS SLEEP ON FLOOR
Mulankavil
hospital has only one qualified doctor to treat thousands of patients. There
are no night-time staff. Only nine hospital beds have been provided and many
patients with serious conditions are having to sleep on the floor.
Sri Lanka has blocked transport of a
much-needed electrical generator to the Akkarayan hospital. The generator can
produce 2.1 KW of electricity and was donated by FORUT. But military officers
in Vavuniya have turned it away and are refusing to let it through to the
Vanni. Akkarayan hospital has been in darkness for many years.
PULIYANKULAM
Sri Lankan forces bombed Puliyankulam
hospital and surrounding homes killing at least three Tamil civilians. The
hospital has been badly damaged to the point where it cannot function. Beds,
medicines and other facilities have been destroyed.
AKKARAYAN
Sri Lankan army has carried out a savage artillery raid
on a hospital at Akkarayan in Kilinochchi
killing four civilians. The attack happened on Tuesday (15-07-97) . Sri
Lankan army based at Kilinochchi, Elephant Pass and Nedunkerni have been
intensifying attacks on schools and hospitals. Artillery shells pierced through
Akkarayan hospital's staff quarters killing a staff-member Antony Kanapathy
(47), his father-in-law Raman (70), his wife Ketharny (43) and his son
Umasankar (14).
The hospital's deputy health officer, Mahalingam
Senthilnathan (40) is badly wounded together with four others: K. Vethakumar
(25), A. Karuppan (56), K. Kirushanti (60) and Thavarasa Maheswari (29).
A record number of 21,350 patients were treated in
Akkarayan hospital in Vanni in September 97. 2,066 of these patients were treated
for malaria, 781 patients were warded, 77 babies were born (30 died in the same
month).
MULLIYAWALAI
5,627 Tamil patients were treated in
Mulliyawalai hospital in August alone. 948 of these people had malaria, 400 had
dysentery and 1296 suffered from high fever. It is unlikely that this
institution can function much longer under the strain caused by the
government's medical embargo.
JAFFNA
Manthikai hospital, one of Jaffna's
biggest - is without any X-ray technicians. Patients requiring X-rays have to
be transferred all the way to the Jaffna base hospital. Even here, only three
out of the necessary twelve X-ray technicians are present. Moreover, the Jaffna
base hospital remains ruined after it was shelled to bits by Sri Lanka's
military forces during the 1995 military invasion of Jaffna.
LANDMINES IN HOSPITAL
Hospital staff in Jaffna hospital discovered a cloth bag containing landmines
in one of their wards. A mortar shell which was still active was also
discovered a week ago in the hospital. It is believed the army uses such
devices to scare off civilians from using the hospital. More than six wards in
Jaffna hospital are reserved for the exclusive use of the Security forces.
VIRUS FEVER
The outbreak in Jaffna of an unknown viral
fever is causing concern among local Doctors.
At the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, 75% of patients - 120 in all - are now
suffering from it. 20 are children. A pregnant Tamil woman who had also
contracted the virus died immediately
after giving birth.
BATTICALOA
The army commander for Batticaloa has banned mobile
medical services to Tamils living outside army occupied areas. Areas like
Vavunathivu, Pattipallai and Kerativu are largely dependent on these mobile
medical services since no government hospitals are found there. The mobile
services have been stopped since 21 July.
KATHTHANKUDY
The government's total neglect of Kaththankudy
hospital in Batticaloa district has made the dilapidated building almost
unusable. The hospital is not stocked with any medical supplies, receives no
funds and has not been maintained for several years. The building requires
urgent attention. Patients who arrive here are normally advised to travel to
the main Batticaloa hospital.
MANNAR
Adampan hospital in Mannar district takes more than 100 patients a day in the outpatients department. In September 1997, a total 2,085 patients were treated, of which 300 had malaria, 535 dysentery, 450 respiratory disease, 400 rashes and itches and 400 minor wounds. There is a big shortfall in the number of hospital staff. <More Details>
INTERNAL
REFUGEES AND FOOD
The UNHCR has not yet made any meaningful steps to
press Sri Lanka into easing its embargo to refugee areas. The inactivity of the
UNHCR over the past two years has been astounding. As the situation stands,
even drinking water is running low for the families who have found themselves
stranded in refugee camps or strewn along roadsides in Vanni.
Sri Lankan security forces have evicted many
displaced Tamils from a German-funded refugee shelter in Mandoor and turned it
into a new base for themselves. The shelter had been built with money given by
Germany for the task of housing Tamil people displaced by Sri Lankan military
offensives in the island's east.
And with foreign journalists blocked from the
war-zone, the government has secured the necessary blindfold with which to
pursue what is fast-dawning as a genocidal policy against Tamils. While the
humanitarian emergency reaches the same proportions as occurred in Zaire, the
government deliberately blocks the passage of relief - even temporary shelter -
to families made homeless by the offensive.
The Trincomalee's Tamil fishermen - who made up one third of the area - are now in refugee camps both here and in South India. More than 2000 Trincomalee fishermen are in Tamil Nadu. The ones in Sri Lankan detention camps in Trincomalee are subject to government regulations which ban them from engaging in fishing.
38 NGOs
KEPT OUT OF BATTICALOA
In September 97, 38 NGOs serving in several parts of Batticaloa district have
been ordered by the government to cease all humanitarian operations. This
immediately follows a government order banning NGOs from assisting people in
the areas of Batticaloa. The only two agencies now allowed to function in the
areas are the ICRC and the French medical team, MSF. But even these have been
strictly ordered not to undertake any activities other than health services.
NGOs
ACKNOWLEDGE THE CRISIS
The Sri Lankan government, a signatory to the Geneva
Conventions, is failing to uphold its international duty as defined by the
humanitarian law of armed conflict - i.e., to protect Tamil civilians from the
effects of its military operations. On the contrary, by cutting all food-links
to Vanni Sri Lanka has demonstrated that crippling civilians is becoming more
and more integral to its overall strategy..
UNHCR, ICRC, OXFAM, CARE and MSF agreed unanimously
in a meeting that the Tamil refugee crisis unfolding in northeast Sri Lanka is
spiralling out of control. They also acknowledged not enough was being done to
care for the starving Tamil families displaced by successive military
operations. Over half a million Tamils are homeless and hungry. Uprooted and
disorientated, these people have no means of supporting themselves and are
dependent on food coming from outside the Vanni. It is this dependency which
the government is exploiting by blocking food-transit to the entire region.
INADEQUATE
FOOD SUPPLIES
Food allowed through by the government to Vanni's
non-displaced permanent residents is also inadequate. For 1996 only 2,464
lorries were permitted to travel to Mullaitivu district alone out of a needed
4,440 lorries which was almost a 50% reduced. Up to June 1997, out of the
officially allowed 2,297 lorries, only 726 have actually been let through to
Mullaitivu. .
FOOD ITEMS DESTROYED
29 lorry loads of food stuff going to Tamil people in Mullaitivu were
destroyed in the rain as the army insisted
on unloading it in the open ground to examine it. The food stuff composed of 18 lorry loads of flour, 10 lorry
loads of sugar and one lorry load of rice had been purchased in Vavuniya by the
Mullaitivu secretariat when heavy rain fell.
The army manning the check point at Parayanalamkulam - the present entry
point to Vanni - ordered the goods to be unloaded in the open grounds exposing
it to the elements.
STARVATION
IN BATTICALOA
Almost 400,000 Tamils in the island's east are on the
brink of starvation following the government's denial of food relief to 12
divisions of the Batticaloa district. The area's Tamil population in the past
relied on food stamps issued by the government but these have been
strategically withdrawn.
Since January 1997 the ICRC was stopped from carrying food to the residents of Vaharai in
Batticaloa. The 17,000 people there have been without any food for over two
months.
MANNAR
The displaced Tamil population in Mannar district is
without food rations, shelter or drinking water. They have no employment
opportunities nor can they fend for themselves. Mannar district lacks adequate
facilities to cater to these thousands of refugees, since it is mainly an
underdeveloped area and depends mainly on fishing for its economy. Even fishing
families are badly affected since fishing rights in the region have been
curbed. The prevailing feeling among the displaced people here is one of
resignation to what they see as a fate worse than death. The Sri Lankan
government is responsible through bombing and shelling for rendering these
people homeless and ruining their chances of a normal life.
CALL FOR
URGENT FOOD RELIEF
Kilinochchi's government agent has appealed to the
government to supply a 4-month backlog of Ïdistress food rationsÓ denied to
4133 displaced Tamil people (993 families) in his district.. 8473 patients were
treated at the hospital for high fever recently, 4305 for malaria and 601 for
dysentery. In June alone, a total of 25,025 people were treated here. 23 people
died for lack of medicines. Sri Lanka's health ministry, though fully informed
of this state of affairs -- especially the needs of the newly displaced -- has
done nothing to ease the medical embargo applied to the Vanni region.
NO
REHABILITAION FOR JAFFNA
Several millions of rupees worth of rehabilitation
work earmarked by International humanitarian organisations have not been
undertaken by the government in Jaffna, revealed. After the army captured the
area, government appealed for funds to rehabilitate Jaffna and many
international organisations, had allocated funds for the purpose but the Jaffna
people have not received any benefits.
MSF DOCTORS
ON EMBARGO - MALNUTRITION
Doctors of the French aid agency MSF operating in the
Mallavi hospital say they cannot provide a proper service to patients because
of the Sri Lankan government's medical embargo to the Vanni. In June, more than
17,000 patients had to be treated at Mallavi hospital for severe illness caused
by the food and medicine! However, these patients did not receive adequate
treatment because of the scarcity of medicines.
Mr. Salim Malik, MSF Co-ordinator and his report says
that after exhaustive study he found malnutriton has taken a firm grip on the
inhabitants of Mullikulam and Palamoddai. Due to the repeated pattern of
poverty and neglect people are
extremely vulnerable to life-threatening disesaes like pneumoina and dysentery.
Infrastructural and medical facilities are non-existent and the people have no
purchasing power. Mr. Malik's report points out that children are the worst hit
by this situation.
Salim Malika (MSF co-ordinator) says that 50% of the
children she tested were affected. Food and medicines are urgently needed in
the camp. For the last 5 months, no food relief has been supplied to the
inmates of this sprawling refugee camp located in Madhu in Mannar district. <More
Details>
The Sri Lankan navy has become notorious around the North-east
coastal waters for its indiscriminate shooting of ordinary fishermen.
Paddy cultivation in Batticaloa is almost at a
standstill now that Security forces are
systematically bombing Tamil areas without regard for the area's ecology.
Batticaloa, which used to be described as the island's granary. Sri Lankan
military forces regularly shell paddy fields making workers too afraid to
venture there, and military vehicles generally run over paddy lands.
The Sri
Lankan navy allows only Sinhalese fishermen to fish in Eastern waters around
Eastern coastal areas. It bars Tamil
fishermen completely from fishing in high seas while providing escorts for
Sinhalese fishermen. Tamils and
Moslems have been confined by
the navy to shallow waters where the catch is considerably less. Shallow-water
fishing involves a further hazard too - the navy is known to regularly fire
upon and kill Tamil fishermen who fish close to the shoreline. Sri Lanka's
policy towards other communities and makes ridiculous its claim that all ethnic
groups can expect equal treatment.
Life is made harder by the fact that the fishermen
are not given any food relief by the government to compensate for this terrible
injustice. The waters around the peninsula's seven islands - Karaitivu, Pungudutivu,
Nainativu, Eluvaitivu, Velanai, Kayts, Analaitivu Delft, and Nedunthivu - are
open only to day-time coastal fishing and, even then, fisherman are not allowed
to use boats and must wade in full view of the army.
FISHING AND
FARMING RIGHTS
Tamils living in Mutur in Trincomalee are being
progressively restricted from fishing and cultivating, by orders from the
military.
Jaffna's farmers cannot cultivate their fields
properly or take their produce to market because occupying Sri Lankan forces
have erected huge walls preventing the movement of people across the three
districts of Valigamam, Vadamaradchy and Thenmaradchy. The army construct walls
which effectively imprisons people within their districts have also ruined
choice cultivable lands. Farmers' fields have been lost and their houses
dislocated due to the building of these walls.
The army
commander in charge of Thenmaradchy in
Jaffna has banned the cultivation of over 100 acres of rich paddy lands either
side of the Navatkuli Thanankilapu highway. Farming activity in Varani,
Idaikurichi, Karampaikunchi, Navalkadu, Maseri and Vadavarani has been severely
disrupted, with heavy restrictions placed on ploughing time and diesel
limitations put on tractors. Permits must be obtained from the army before
visiting paddy lands.
APPEAL TO
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Mullaitivu district's Fishermen's Co-op Societies
Union has made a fervent appeal to the human rights group Amnesty International
to prevail on the Sri Lankan government to stop attacking Tamil fishermen. The
union asks Amnesty to highlight their plight to the rest of the world. In the
most recent incident, Sri Lankan Kfir bombers raided fishing areas of
Mullivaikkal in Mullaitivu on 13 May. Seven fishermen were killed and three
badly wounded. Valuable fishing equipment -- including fibre-glass boats,
fishing nets and tackle -- was destroyed or damaged. It remains to be seen
whether Amnesty takes up further the case of these fishermen.
COCONUT TREE FOR BUNKERS
In
the past the Jaffna peninsula's inhabitants tapped the underground water
resources and made the land productive. Recent surveys suggest that more than
200,000 hardy plamyra trees have been cut down for making bunkers and security
fences by the Security forces. Similarly more than 3,500 acres of coconut lands
have been laid to waste in Jaffna peninsula.
NO
INSURANCE FOR TAMIL FISHERMEN
The military ban on fishing in the North-East coast
has slashed the income of fishermen in
Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna and Mannar and made insurance schemes out of
their reach. Tamil fishermen cannot insure themselves under the various schemes
available to fishermen living in Sinhalese areas, because they cannot afford a
monthly premium, having instead to rely on a hand-to-mouth existence. The banks
in the North-east do not provide distress loans to these fishermen because
there is no guarantee of repayment.<More
Details>
COLONISATION :
The
situation in Trincomallee is witnessing a renewed wave of Sinhala colonisation
in areas where Tamil fishing families are being driven out and Sinhala fishing
families brought in by the government to dilute the Tamil majority there.
The Sri Lankan military is settling Sinhalese
people in formerly Tamil-inhabited areas of Trincomalee, having evicted Tamils by
force from their homes. The entire Tamil region from Morawewa to Trincomalee
(Peeniyadi, Ravananstreet, 6th mile post, Kanniya, Nellari, Veppamkulam,
Pankulam and Moraweva Pillaiyar Koviladi)
has been devastated by the destruction of Tamil property due to army
activities.
A Vihara has been built in he Tamil villages of
Peeniyady, Mihunthapuram and several facilities are provided to the Sinhalese
settlers. St. Joseph's church which used to be regularly attended by Tamils at
7th mile post has been converted to an army administration base. On the
road leading from Habarana to Trincomalee, the
army has settled Sinhalese people on both sides of the road.
Fifteen Tamil families who have lived in Akkaraipattu
in Batticaloa for the last 25 years have been ordered by a Sri Lankan court to
leave immediately. The decision forms part of a well-established pattern
of driving the people out of their and
making the area available to Sinhala settlers.
Women
in the North-East of the Island are badly affected by the 15 year long war.
Several of them are victims of rape and torture. Even though there is a woman
as the head of the state in Sri Lanka, the rights of the women are not
protected!
Due
to shortage of soldiers in Sri Lankan
Army even 10 months preganant women are
employed as soldier! (Sunday Times
of 03 September 1995)
There
are numerous Tamil widows in the
North-east. The government does not have any widow scheme for women who have
lost their husbands during the military operations.
Sterlisation
is widley practiced among the plantation Tamils in order to control the birth
rate of the Tamil population.
Sri Lankan women employed as domestic helpers in the
Middle East are obligeded to pay big
sums of money to government officials to obtain their Passports and
clearance. There is no government
sponsored welfare scheme for the women working in the Middle East.
STUDENTS
AND TEACHERS RAPED
On 15/7/97 a Tamil school girl in Araly South in
Jaffna - on her way to school was dragged by two Sinhala soldiers to a secluded
spot where she was beaten senseless and raped. She was admitted to Jaffna teaching hospital with severe
injuries.
On 16/7/97, a 20-year old teacher, Krishnapillai
Santhirakala, was gang-raped by the Army soldiers between her workplace and her
home in Karanavai in Vadamaradchy. The girls are brutally raped in retaliation
for refusing marriage offers from members of the armed forces. Sri Lanka's
commanding officers have not responded to the local people's protests about
such incidents.
On
5/9/97, six year old baby Palanthi - of
Atchuvely in Jaffna was gang raped by
the Sri Lankan Army at an Army check
point. The girl was admited to the
Jaffna teaching hospital in a critical condition.
On 16/10/97,
Mrs. Thanganayaki - (49) of Amparai was
raped and murdered by the Sri Lankan police and home guards.
Many
other rape cases were reported in North-East!
MILITARY
HARASSMENTS
The government appointed Human Rights Commission to
eye wash the International community is based in the Army camp in Palaly in
Jaffna. This is to prevent civilians from making complaints to this commission.
On September 5th a group of Sri Lankan
soldiers entered the Welser football ground in Batticaloa town and attacked the
players and spectators with rifle butts and iron rods.
In Vavuniya, 12,000 (Four thousand families) Tamil
civilians have been held in 14 different military camps since September 1996.
Each family is confined to an area of 10 sq.ft. They are frequently taken away for interrogation.
In the village of Karaithuraipattu in Mullaitivu
district, nearly 170 civilians have been killed in the past 7 years in Army shelling and aerial raids.
According to the Mullaitivu Government Agent's (GA)
monthly report to Colombo, between May
13 and June 28, 40 Tamil civilians lost
their lives and 35 were seriously injured as a result of Army and Airforce
attack on the densely populated civilian areas in Mulliativu district.
In the past ten months 31 bodies of Tamils civilians have been found on the road
side of Vavuniya. They are vicitimes of the Sri Lankan Army at Vavuniya.
In Jaffna, the military commander has ordered Tractor owners that all the Tractors must be
brought to the Army camp every evenings for parking. The Tractors which are not
parked in the Army camps will be confishcated by the Army!
In September 97, the statue of Sankiliyan, the last
Jaffna King was destroyed by the Army in Jaffna. The Army in Jaffna also
obstructs any attempts by the public to repair this statue.
In Jaffna, since 1990, nearly 8554 civilians have
been killed and 2620 injured by the Security forces. No one was paid
compensation by the government!
The Army soldiers manning the check points in Colombo
have given standing orders to the Tamil shop keepers to provide them free meals three times a day with alcohol. The
complaints made to the Army commander and the government authority was
completely ignored.
90,000
HOUSES DESTROYED IN BATTICALOA
In 1997, more than
90,000 Tamil homes have been demolished by Sri Lankan military forces.
Since 1995, Batticaloa's Tamil residents have received no state allocations to
restore their dwellings. What is more, 620 civilians killed by military
assaults in Batticaloa, 300 injured and 18,000 made jobless due to army action.
5000 HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN BATTICALOA
Since 1990, over 5000 human rights violations against
Tamil civilians have occurred in Batticaloa at the hands of armed forces and a
handful of Tamil and Muslim army-collaborators. Figures compiled by independent
sources reveal that of the 5000 abuses, 90% have been committed by the army.
The offences include rape and murder of women, illegal imprisonment, extortion,
extra-judicial killings and kidnapping for ransom.
Tamil Centre for Human Rights
Centre
Tamoul Pour Les Droits De L'Homme
24,
Hawthrone Road, Cambridge, Ontario N1S 3G9, Canada
GANG RAPES AND MASSACRES :
Even since Jaffna was captured by Sri Lanka terrorist
forces, gang rapes and massacres were done by them behind the rigid censorship
provided by Sri Lanka government to cover-up the crimes. Krishanthi was one of
the school girls gang raped and killed.
".... The teenager, Krishanthi Kumarasamy,
disappeared after she was detained at a checkpoint in Jaffna on 7 September.
Her mother, a 16-year-old brother and a neighbour were also detained when they
went to the checkpoint later to look for her. Their mutilated bodies were
discovered in a nearby salt pit a month later. The killings have focused
attention on allegations of human rights violations by the predominantly
Sinhalese army that is fighting Tamil rebels who want an independent homeland.
The case is also being seen as a measure of the government's commitment to
protect Tamil civilians in the Jaffna Peninsula, which the army captured
earlier this year from Tamil guerrillas. The nine soldiers and two policemen
who were manning the checkpoint in Jaffna were arrested soon after the bodies
were discovered. The government, anxious to appear impartial, said it would
punish the guilty. ...."
- Hong Kong Standard Asia/Pacific(December 2, 1996)
FLOATING BODIES OF TAMILS IN
COLOMBO
Tamil civilians in their office in the capital and dumped
the mutilated bodies in lakes over the last three months, officials said
Wednesday.
``They were taken in on suspicion of being rebels,
but no investigation had been done to confirm their guilt,'' police Chief
Wickremasinghe Rajaguru told a news conference. Instead, the victims, who
ranged in age from 30 to 40, were taken to the Special Task Force headquarters
in the capital, and held for five or six days before they were killed, he said.
The victims were Tamils abducted from cheap hotels or while travelling in the
capital, Colombo, he said. Police have detained thousands of minority Tamils in
Colombo, the capital, since Tamil rebels broke a three-month cease-fire and
resumed their 12-year-old civil war. Most of the Tamils arrested have been
released after their identities were established. The Tamil guerrillas are
fighting for a homeland in the north and east, claiming widespread
discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. More than 36,000 people have been
killed. Human rights activists have repeatedly expressed concern over the
disappearance of minority Tamils while in police custody, executions without
trial and arbitrary arrests. Ten police commandoes, a soldier and seven
civilians have been arrested in the stranglings of the Tamils. ``The victims were
thrown into an unused toilet with plastic handcuffs around their necks, which
strangled them to death,'' said T.V. Sumanasekera, head of the police criminal
investigation department. Police are trying to establish the motive for the
crime, but ruled out personal gain since in one case, a victim's jewelry was
returned to family members.
MASSACRE IN THE KILLAI SEA :
Attack on fleeing civilians continues; Dead bodies
are lying along the streets In an attempt to trap as much civilians as possible
Sri Lankan armed forces are unleashing a terror campaign against the fleeing
innocent Tamils civilians in Jaffna peninsula. Large number of human bodies and
body parts are lying along the roads leading to Kilali sea shore. Their
bicycles tied with their few belongings are also lying beside their dead
bodies. A refugee who escaped from Madduvil area and arrived in Kilali sea
shore on 22-04-1996 morning said that he saw 3 people dying when shells
exploded among a crowd of fleeing civilians during the night of 21-04-1996. He
said others quickly buried their mutilated bodies close by and proceeded
towards Kilali.
NACHCHIKUDDA MASSACRE
By NIRESH ELIATAMBY
Associated Press Writer