Statistics of
Tsunami disaster and twenty years of war
in the island of Sri Lanka
(TCHR is an independent Human Rights organisation – not affiliated to any Tamil Federation or Association)
An Appeal to The United Nations Commission on Human Rights
Un appel à Nations Unies Commission des droits de l'homme
14 / 03 / 2005 -- 22 / 04 /2005
LOGO
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR
Centre Tamoul pour les droits de l'Homme - CTDH
Centro Tamil para los Derechos Humanos
(Established in 1990)
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR
Centre Tamoul pour les droits de l'Homme - CTDH
Centro Tamil para los Derechos Humanos
(Established in 1990)
Website : www.tchr.net
TCHR participation in United Nations World conferences and meetings
* The Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR), officially participated in the NGO forum of the UN World Conference Against Racism – WCAR in Durban, South Africa, from 28 August to 1 September 2001. TCHR held an information stall including an exhibition at the forum. The TCHR representatives also attended the main WCAR conference held in Durban, 31 August to 7 September 2001. (http://www.tchr.net/reports_wcar_detail.htm)
* In 1993, the TCHR held an information stall and a photo exhibition on human rights violations, in the United Nations 2nd World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria, from 14-25 June.
* TCHR has participated in meetings of Treaty bodies and has submitted reports to the same.
Fact finding missions to the North East of the Island of Sri Lanka
* May 2003 (http://www.tchr.net/report_studymission_2003.htm)
* December 2003 – addendum report (http://www.tchr.net/report_studymission_2003add.htm)
* July-August 2004 (http://www.tchr.net/reports_visite_2004.htm)
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Contents
Appeal 04
A comparison between the affected North East and South & West 06
Sri Lanka Army is strengthened with Tsunami aid 07
US $ 150 million arms deal with Iran
2862 children orphaned in the North East
Victims and damage caused in the North East (Table) 08
Damage to the fishing industry in the North East (Table)
Neither the Parliament nor the cabinet has been consulted 09
Aid hijacked by political extremists
Blow to compensation – BBC 10
Hinduism and Islam were evils!
More than 30 years of emergency rule in Sri Lanka 11
26 years of Prevention of Terrorism Act
Arrest, Killings, Disappearances, Rapes, etc 1956-2004 (Table) 12
30 arrested without warrant and held incommunicado - AI
Amnesty International on Sri Lanka’s torture
Thousands of people detained without charge 13
5,489 prisoners were in IPKF custody
Detainees systematically tortured
Torture remained a serious problem
Arrest / Torture 1983-2004 (Table) 14
Arrest and detention of suspects 15
Mass arrests & torture of Tamils in Colombo
Over 18,000 arrested under ER and PTA in 2000
Genocide 1958 16
Several killed after emergency declared in Jaffna
Continued attacks on Civilians
Chunnakam massacre and extra judicial killings
Killings 1983-2004 (Table) 17
Injured 1983-2004 (Table) 18
Some killings - Indian Peace Keeping force (IPKF)
150,000 residents had fled 19
IPKF collected all the dead bodies and burnt
20,000 refugees share three or four toilets
IPKF deliberately killing dozens of unarmed civilians
Massacre of 63 civilians in Valvettiturai 20
Over 1,000 civilians killed in three years bombing
Bodies of 21 Tamils found in Colombo
55,000 died in Sri Lanka’s civil war 21
They killed over 20,000 Tamil youth – President Kumaratunga
13,379 civilians died due to Economic embargo
60,000 – 100,000 deaths in two decades
Massacres and killings of Tamils (List)
Amparai district 22
Batticaloa district
Trincomalee district 23
Districts of Mullaithivu, Kilinochchi, Mannar and Jaffna 24
01
680 Tamils disappeared
Over 30 bodies were dumped
43 people are known to have disappeared
Disappearances 1983-2004 (Table) 25
More than 300 disappeared in six months 26
Fate of 656 disappeared in Jaffna remain unknown
648 disappearances reported
122 killed, 73 disappeared in two months 27
13,000 disappearances, 8500 widows, 6000 orphans in the East
Investigations on 700 disappearances should be made public
Disappearances in Vavuniya
Rape
Women reluctant to give testimony 28
Women raped by soldiers
Gang rape by eight soldiers
150 Tamils raped by Sinhala law enforcers
Rape 1983-2004 (Table) 29
Horrific statistics on rape 30
8500 widows in the East
25,000 widows in Jaffna district
Over 25,000 Tamil refugees 31
500,000 Tamils became refugees in their own homeland
5000 Indian Tamils fled to refugee camps
Secretary General Boutro Ghali appealed for assistance
110 Tamils die in refugee camps
Displacement 1983-2004 (Table) 32
300,000 displaced in Vanni 33
60,000 refugees in five camps around Madhu church
More than 61,904 displaced children unable to attend school
Campaign in schools to encourage children to join the Army
Campaign against disappearance of children 34
UN CESCR express concern about 800,000 displaced
4000 school children demonstrated in Batticaloa
Internal displacement is not a new concept to Tamils
400,000 displaced in Vanni
Over 20,000 displaced in March 1999 35
15,000 seek refuge in schools and temples
22,450 refugees without adequate facilities
160,000 forced out of homes
Around 1.5 million people displaced 36
Refugees in India
Registered IDPs in 2002
1371 children affected by malnutrition 37
270,000 displaced children
Children and women affected by armed conflict
Arrest, Killings, Disappearances, Rapes, etc 1956-2004 (Table) 38
(Outside North East and before 1983 in the North East)
Disability (as of May 2003) 39
02
Destruction of Jaffna Public Library 1981
More than 50,000 homes destroyed by IPKF
80% of the houses damaged in Jaffna
More than 1560 Hindu temples destroyed 40
75 Hindu temples closed
Churches and Temples 70 schools destroyed – 15000 children unable to attend school
75 schools defunct
Shortage of 4650 Tamil Teachers 41
Schools in the North East
Poor state of education in the North East
Estimated number of landmines (April 2003)
Villages where land mines are suspected 42
Facts and figures of 20 years of war
TCHR summary (names, dates, place of incidents, etc) (From July 2004) Arbitrary arrest / Detention 43
Extra judicial killings / summary executions 44
Enforced or involuntary disappearances 48
Rape / torture and others
03
1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland.
Distinguished Sirs / Mesdames,
We, in TCHR, bring our concerns as usual to this august Human Rights forum, regarding the situation in Sri Lanka, our main focus at present. We also include certain relevant aspects of the massive human tragedy caused in Asia by the giant tsunami waves on 26 December last year. Sri Lanka is one of the countries most severely affected by the natural disaster.
The Memorandum of Understanding and Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was signed more than three years ago, with the facilitation of the Royal Norwegian Government, introducing new hopes for a durable settlement to the longstanding bloody conflict on the island.
The spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding holds that by alleviating the suffering of the Tamil people, conditions of normalcy could be created in which peace talks could begin.
It is sad to note that although the ceasefire has created normalcy in the seven Southern provinces, normalcy does not exist for the people in the North East. Blatant discrimination against the Tamil people has been the same, prior to the tsunami and after it.
The consistency with which the Sri Lankan military and the government have violated the CFA is shocking.
Violating CFA article 2.2, the Sri Lankan army continue to occupy temples and churches in the North East. In violation of 2.3 school buildings are still occupied by the Sri Lanka army. All such occupation should have been withdrawn in July 2002. In cases where the army has vacated premises, “High Security Zones” were immediately built nearby, thereby occupying again civilian homes and buildings in the traditional Tamil homeland.
Members of the civil society in the North East are asking, “ ‘Security’ – for whom? Certainly not the security of local Tamil people”. They refuse to talk of “High Security Zones”, but rather “Militarised Zones.” The situation of IDPs remains critical. They are prevented from resettling in their own homes due to the militarised zones which have taken over their land.
In breach of CFA article 2.1 and 2.5 people are harassed at checkpoints. Over the last year the incidence of harassment, rape and sexual assault of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan armed forces has increased. There are more Sri Lankan soldiers now in the Jaffna Peninsula than there were before the CFA. While oppression continues and basic daily reality is filled with fear and dread – where is the hope for a just peace?
Fishermen are still severely restricted in pursuing their livelihood, they are persistently harassed and intimidated by Sri Lanka Navy and armed forces.
In serious violation of article 1.8 of the CFA, the government has not disarmed paramilitaries nor ensured they leave the North East. On the contrary, these paramilitaries working with the Sri Lanka armed forces have been responsible for many recent assassinations in the East, of human rights activists and political activists, causing terror and destabilisation.
Post-tsunami, eyes were focussed on the situation in Sri Lanka, waiting to see if the tragedy would bring together the parties to the conflict, in joint relief and rehabilitation work. The shocking unfolding horror of the thousands of dead bodies which had to be buried in mass graves, then the thousands of survivors, in their grief and distress in desperate need of food and shelter, seen in media world-wide, touched people everywhere. Despite hollow assurances to the international community that they were treating all victims equally, the Sri Lanka government and military prevented aid flowing swiftly to the North East.
04
UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, who visited Sri Lanka soon after the tsunami struck, requested to visit the most affected areas, which are in the North East. He was prevented from doing so by the government of Sri Lanka. It is a pure violation of the UN Charter, Chapter XV, Article 100.
Foreign dignitaries visited only the South and West, with the exception to Prince Charles of the UK and Ministers from Norway, Singapore and Sweden. Fishermen who spoke to Prince Charles in the East confirmed that more than two months after the tsunami struck they had still received no aid from the government.
The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation - TRO and the LTTE organised the relief and rescue operation, in the North East. Their timely response, their highly organised and efficient approach and their co-ordination with all, including government agents, were praised by non-governmental and inter-governmental organisations, media and everyone who witnessed their work. They helped victims belonging to all communities, discriminating against no-one.
It is disturbing that the Sri Lankan government seems to be concentrating more on the purchasing of new arms than working out joint mechanisms with the LTTE for delivering aid and rehabilitation support to the victims in the North East.
Our attached report contains tables showing statistics relating to the victims of the tsunami disaster, as well as statistics on the human rights violations perpetrated prior to the war and during the 20 years of armed conflict.
Why are the Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka treated so differently even at a time of natural disaster?
There is an urgent need for the International Community to take bold steps in urging the government to respect the human rights of all in the island and to take up the Peace process, and to resist the temptation to fan the flames of racism and discrimination which were the cause of the island’s ethnic conflict in the first place.
Honourable Sir,
You, being the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, have the responsibility of ensuring that Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka are treated with equality in all aspects by the government of Sri Lanka.
Please request the international community to ensure that the relief aid sent by them to Sri Lanka to the victims of Tsunami is equally distributed to the people who are from worst affected North East as well.
We appeal to you to take immediate action during this session of the commission on human rights.
Thank you,
Yours sincerely
S. V. Kirubaharan
General Secretary
05
Tsunami giant waves disaster
11
February 2005 - “You are reintroducing Emergency
Regulations (ER) to wage on the Tamil people so that you can cling on to power.
The emergency is not for the south. It is for oppressing the Tamil people in
the northeast with an iron fist as you did in the past. You need war to stay in
power. It is the only way for you to deal with the political and economic
crisis in which you are engulfed today. You killed Kousalyan to provoke the
Tigers to war. You expect the Tigers to rise to the bait”, said Mr.
Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni, addressing
President Kumaratunga’s government during the debate on Emergency in
Parliament.
"Your designs to secure 4.5 billion dollars in aid by hoodwinking the world with phoney peace talks failed miserably. But the Tsunami disaster was a windfall for your crisis ridden government. It is filling your coffers with money to run the state and stay in power. Clearly, you want to strengthen the army with Tsunami aid. The first thing you did after the Tsunami was to send a committee to buy arms abroad. Then you buy a warship for the Navy. You do not care for the plight of the people. Singhalese protested against not receiving Tsunami aid on your independence day. It shows that you are neglecting even Singhalese who were afflicted by the disaster", Mr. Adaikalanathan said.
He pointed out that the Sri Lankan authorities were fabricating accusations against the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) to prevent it from delivering humanitarian aid to the people in the northeast.
"The Emergency is also aimed at barring the TRO from working for our Tsunami afflicted people", he said.
"You take our patience for military weakness. You are, as always, making a big mistake. We are ready for war just as we are ready to work peacefully for a political settlement in a united country. I warn you, if war is what you want, the Tamil people will fight on until we achieve Thamil Eelam", the MP asserted, winding up his address.
Cabinet Spokesman of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's
Freedom Alliance government Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that
"the LTTE has been behaving extremely well and in a matured manner in the
phase of the recent killings", expressing his hopes that the recent
killings would not disrupt the government's discussions with the LTTE.
US $ 150 million arms deal with Iran
16
January 2005 - Sri Lanka is to buy over USD 150 million of arms
from Iran, the Sunday Times reported. A high-powered Sri Lankan military
delegation led by Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda left for Tehran
that week to conclude the deal which was outlined when President Chandrika
Bandaranaike Kumaratunga went to Iran in November last year, the paper said.
"Sri Lanka will procure military hardware and oil on concessionary terms. The deal is said to be worth over US $ 150 million," the Sunday Times said.
"The delegation is to take a look at the wide variety of military hardware available. The Army has identified its requirements after a delegation visited Iran earlier. The Navy and the Air Force will check on requirements. Thereafter the services procurements are to be incorporated in an agreement," the paper said.
Tsunami - 2862 children orphaned in North East
01 February
2005 - About 2862 children have been orphaned in the northeast province
due to December 26 tsunami, states Ms N.R.Ranjini, Director, Provincial
Department of Social Services and Child Care, in a report sent to the Chairman
of the National Child Protection Authority.
07
The number of children who lost both parents in the Tsunami disaster is 737.
District wise breakdown is:
Ampara 162 Batticaloa 406 Trincomalee 35
Mullaithivu 94 Kilinochchi 01 Jaffna 39
The number of children who lost either mother or father is 2125:
Amparai 954 Batticaloa 699 Trincomalee 32
Mullaithivu 393 Jaffna 47
Neither the Parliament nor the Cabinet has been consulted
to rebuild the nation in the aftermath of the tsunami
- Minister of Small and Rural Industries
22 January 2005 - Major coalition partner of her Freedom Alliance government, radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), mounting an all-out attack against President Chandrika Kumaratunga's leadership said that the call by the government leadership for national unity was an "empty ballyhoo".
Describing the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government's leadership as the "emperor without clothes', a senior member of the JVP, who is also the Minister of Small and Rural Industries, K.D. Lal Kantha has urged the people not to expect the present government leadership to rebuild the nation and also "not to expect the 'big people' to tell them this home truth".
According to Colombo-based media reports, Minister Lal Kantha, has made these remarks while speaking at a discussion held at the Tower Hall Theatre with members of the Chambers of Commerce, small and micro industrialists, bankers and university lecturers to seek suggestion on how to rebuild the tsunami-hit nation.
"It might be possible to rebuild a town or two enlisting contractors with fanfare. But certainly it will not help in rebuilding the nation. There should be a well-designed national action plan to rebuild the nation, to usher in national revival, to rise from the ashes of the tsunami disaster. But does the government have such an action plan," the JVP Minister has asked.
Pointing out that the government leadership has miserably failed to maintain with any degree of credibility the unity achieved with much difficulties to form this government, Minister Lal Kantha, has asked how one could expect such a leadership to bring together more political parties or reach a wider national consensus.
Highlighting the bottom line that neither Parliament nor the Cabinet has been consulted in the effort to rebuild the nation aftermath the tsunami natural disaster, the JVP Minister has said that nobody knew as to who was answerable at such a situation.
Aid hijacked by political extremists
By Andrew Gilligan In Sri Lanka, Evening Standard
13 January 2005 - Foreign aid in parts of Sri Lanka is being hijacked by an avowedly Marxist political party which has been accused of refusing to distribute relief to non-members.
In Weligama, on the stricken south coast, the Evening Standard saw how flood victims were being manipulated.
Two international aid workers, from the French charity Telecoms sans Frontier are providing free satellite phone calls for the town whose landlines were destroyed.
People eager to enquire about missing family or tell relatives they are safe, are crowding to enter the compound. But first they must show their identity cards to members of the People's Liberation Army, the JVP - extremists responsible for political murders in the Eighties and Nineties.
09
The JVP officials write down everyone's details. JVP banners hang over the compound where Telecoms sans Frontier are working, branding it as an operation not of an international aid agency, but of the JVP.
Next door, the JVP is recruiting.
"Look what we have done for you," a JVP worker says to a reluctant local. "We have given you a free phone call to your family and we are bringing aid." Pascal, the Telecoms san Frontier worker manning the satphones, denies the JVP hijack saying: "They lent us a place to work and tables and chairs, that's all."
In fact the furniture has been taken from nearby buildings and the premises "borrowed" from the shopkeeper who owns them.
There are other "JVP" help centres every few miles. They dispense medicine and food and are staffed by party members in JVP T-shirts. Water-tanks provided by local charities and water companies have been spray-painted "JVP".
At the Sri Sudarshna Ramaya refugee camp local people confirmed they had to sign up to the JVP before receiving aid. Puspa Punchihawa, flooded out of her seaside home, said: "Nobody refused."
Death certificates: blow to compensation
(BBC Sinhala service – 31 January 2005)
Government will introduce new legislation setting out revised criteria to issue death certificates to thousands missing after the tsunami, a senior minister said.
The cabinet of ministers instructed justice minister to prepare the legislation as soon as possible, minister of public administration Amarasiri Dadangoda told BBC Sandeshaya.
Under present legislation in Sri Lanka a disappeared person will not be issued with a death certificate for seven years from the incident.
More than 30,000 confirmed dead and nearly half a million were made homeless in Sri Lanka after December 26 tidal waves hit the country while thousands more are missing.
Minister Dodangoda however expressed hope that the government would introduce new legislation "within the next couple of weeks that would shorten the time frame to issue death certificates". (Excerpt)
Non-Buddhist religions like Hinduism and Islam were evils!
-- Minister of Buddhist affairs, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
While the mass of people north and south were struggling to feed themselves and find shelter, the minister of Public Security, Law and Order and Buddhist affairs, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, made the openly chauvinist comment: "Although most temples in those districts were devastated by tidal waves, Buddha statues in temples were unharmed". He claimed this was proof that non-Buddhist religions like Hinduism and Islam were evil!
This is how the initial genuine attempts made by the Sinhala and Tamil masses to work together are being undermined by racist, communal politicians like him in the south.
The LTTE has reported that several lorries sent by TRO (the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation of the LTTE) to the eastern district of Trincomalee were hijacked by the Sinhala chauvinist JVP (People's Liberation Front).
The situation got even worse when the government decided to ban UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, from visiting affected areas in the North-East. Annan told the government that he was on a humanitarian and not a political visit. However he was refused permission to travel. (Excerpts- SOCIALIST-UK, The Socialist 15 January 2005)
10
Twenty years of war
State of Emergency
More than 30 years of emergency rule in Sri Lanka
* The Sri Lankan constitution (article 155) and the Public Security Ordinance (No 25 of 1947) empower the President to declare a state of Emergency.
* Emergency rule in Sri Lanka has continued since 1971, except for brief intervals.
* From independence in 1948, up to the end of June 2000, the island has been under Emergency rule for 9,825 days (nearly 27 years out of 53 years of independence).
* The People’s Alliance government re-introduced Emergency in January 2005.
26 Years of PTA
In July 1979 the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was introduced in Sri Lanka. The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary provision) Act No. 48 of 1979 gives wide powers to the police and the Minister of Defence to arrest and detain Tamils for a period of 18 months at a stretch without being produced in courts. This Act gives a free hand to the Security forces to arrest, detain, torture, rape, kill and dispose of bodies with impunity.
* * * * *
30 arrested without warrant and held incommunicado
'In April and May 1981 some 30 members of the Tamil minority were arrested without warrant and held incommunicado following a bank raid in Neervely in which two policemen were killed. On 30 April and 11 June Amnesty International expressed its concern to President Jayawardene about these reports and urged him to allow all detainees immediate access to lawyers and relatives. At the end of 1981, 22 were still held without charge or trial in Panagoda Army camp; five in solitary confinement.
(Excerpts - Amnesty International Report, 1982)
Amnesty International on Sri Lanka’s torture
Allegations
that torture occurs in Sri Lanka have long been of concern to AI. Over the past
five years, however, the organization has received consistent reports, many in
the form of sworn affidavits, which lead it to conclude that the practice is
widespread and persistent Torture is used particularly against political
detainees, some of whom have died as a result, and also against criminal
suspects. The following types of torture have been reported to AI :
* prolonged hanging upside down while being beaten all over the body, sometimes for the duration of one night and sometimes with the head tied in a bag in which chillies were burning, making the victim feel close to suffocating;
* prolonged beatings especially on the soles of the feet while lying stretched out on a bench or while hanging by the knees from a pole;
* beatings on the genitals and other parts of the body with sticks, batons and sand-filled plastic pipes;
* insertion of chilli powder in the nostrils, mouth and eyes and on the genitals;
* electric shocks;
* insertion of pins under fingernails and toenails and in the heels;
* insertion of iron rods in the anus;
* burning with cigarettes;
* mock or threatened executions. (Excerpts – Amnesty International, October 1985)
11
Thousands of people detained without charge
"Thousands of people were detained without charge or trial, and dozens 'disappeared' following arrest by the Sri Lankan security forces and by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) deployed in the northeast. The fate of hundreds who had disappeared in previous years remained inadequately investigated. There were many allegations of torture.
Emergency Regulations were amended to permit the disposal of bodies by the police. There were widespread reports of extra judicial killings by Sri Lankan security forces, who were among those granted immunity from persecution retroactively for offences committed 'in good faith'." – (Excerpts - Amnesty International Annual Report, 1989 for period January to December 1988 )
5,489 prisoners were in
IPKF custody
In August the Indian authorities reportedly said that 5,489 prisoners were in Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) custody. Members of the EPRLF and other Tamil groups regularly arrested and detained LTTE suspects... Both the IPKF and groups allied with them reportedly tortured prisoners. Indian troops regularly beat prisoners and subjected them to electric shocks. Dozens of prisoners were reportedly killed in custody. (Excerpts - Amnesty International Annual Report, 1990 for period January to December 1989)
Detainees systematically tortured
''(During 1991) Hundreds of people were extra judicially executed and several hundred disappeared. Torture of detainees was common. In the east of the country suspected LTTE members were seized, abducted and killed by men in plain clothes who were believed to be connected with the security forces. Victim's bodies were left in public places often in a mutilated state.
In April (1991) a number of headless bodies were found in Batticaloa: at least one was accompanied by a notice claiming responsibility signed by the 'Black Cobras'. In Trincomalee town dozens of abductions were carried out by unidentified men believed to be associated with the army, Muslim Home Guards and armed members of Tamil groups opposed to the LTTE who operated alongside government forces were also held responsible for disappearance and other violations. (Excerpts – Amnesty International, 1991)
Torture remained a serious problem
"Torture remained a serious problem.. Members of the security forces continued to torture and mistreat detainees and other prisoners, both male and female, particularly during interrogation.
Although the number of torture reports was somewhat lower than in previous years in the Colombo area, the situation in Eastern Province did not improve. Torture also emerged as a problem in the newly recaptured Jaffna Peninsula. In November a Supreme Court judge stated publicly that torture continued unabated in police stations in spite of a number of judicial pronouncements against its use. Pro-government Tamil militants in the east and north, directly responsible to the security forces, also engaged in torture.
"Methods of torture included electric shock, beatings (especially on the soles of the feet), suspension by the wrists or feet in contorted positions, burning, near drowning, placing of insecticide, chilli powder, or gasoline-soaked bags over the head, and forced positions. Detainees have reported broken bones and other serious injuries as a result of their mistreatment' – (Excerpts, U.S. Department of State, Sri Lanka Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1996)
13
Arrest and detention of suspects
"The authorities continue to breach Emergency Regulations in arrest and detention of suspects.
Many held in custody allege torture. In a fundamental rights application to the Supreme Court, S Ganesh, 18, currently held in Colombo Magazine prison says he was tortured at a police station. The Court has ordered a medical examination. Egamparam Nirmalanathan, 18, arrested in Batticaloa on 27 October also alleges that he was subject to severe torture at the Kurumanveli STF camp. (Excerpts - British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, April 1997)
"In late May the Human Rights Task Force (HRTF) recorded over 810 Tamil detentions in Colombo and Kalutara prisons and at the police headquarters. Colombo human rights agency the Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality (MIRJE) says that cordon and search, random arrests and house-to-house searches take place almost every day. According to MIRJE many more Tamils are currently held in police stations.
Vadivel Vethanayagam who refused to give his lorry to a police inspector was arrested in December and is held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Mr Vethanayagam says he was tortured and his three year-old daughter was also detained at the Crime Detection Bureau for two months.
Velsamy Vigneswaran, held in Colombo Magazine prison alleges in a fundamental rights application to the Supreme Court that he was arrested on 7 February and brutally tortured. Student Thiraviyam Sutharshan, 22, arrested on 25 January in a refugee camp in Vavuniya alleges he was hung by his legs and beaten by the Army. Over 70 people were arrested in the Hill Country town of Kandy in a search operation on 20 May. Police say many of them were unable to produce their national identity cards and proof of police registration. Under current Emergency Regulations all residents must register with the police. MIRJE says only Tamils are checked for registration.
Hill Country resident Palaniyandy Kanagasivam’s wife Mallika says in a fundamental rights application that her husband, arrested on 9 January, was sent illegally to a rehabilitation centre when he refused to sign a prepared confession. She also says that her daughter Thamilvani is detained at the Kandy police station since January and forced to sign a confession under threat of torture. (Excerpts - British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, May 1997)
Over 18,000
arrested under ER and PTA in 2000
More than 18000 persons, mostly Tamils, were arrested under the draconian Emergency Regulations (ER) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) last year said a senior human rights worker in Colombo. "The press in Colombo reported 13514 arrests under the ER and PTA from January to November 2000. More than forty percent of the arrests under the ER and PTA are not reported by the press here. So the real figure would be not anything less than eighteen thousand," Mr. N. Kandasamy, co-ordinator for the Centre for Human Rights and Development in Colombo said. At least 2500 Tamils are being held in various detention centres now, according to him. "They are all political prisoners" Mr. Kandasamy said.
"Our delegates visited 3329 prisoners held under the ER and the PTA last year", Mr. Harasha Gunawardena, media officer of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Colombo. (Excerpts - Local news paper – 14 February 2001)
15
Killings
Genocide 1958
On the night of May 25, 1958, one of the most heinous crimes in the history of Ceylon was carried out. Almost simultaneously, on the Government farms at Polonnaruwa and Hingurakgoda, the thugs struck remorselessly. The Tamil labourers In the Polonnaruwa sugar-cane plantation fled when they saw the enemy approaching and hid In the sugar-cane bushes. The goondas wasted no time. They set the sugar cane alight and flushed out the Tamils. As they came out screaming, men, women and children were cut down with home-made swards, grass cutting knives and katties, or pulped under heavy clubs.
"...The time has come for the whole Sinhala race which has existed for 2500 years, jealously safeguarding their language and religion, to fight without giving any quarter to save their birthright... I will lead the campaign..." – (J.R.Jayawardene, Sinhala Opposition Leader reported in Sri Lanka Tribune, 30 August 1957 - later President of Sri Lanka)
"(In 1958) passing cars and trains were stopped by mobs and their (Tamil) occupants butchered, houses were burnt with people inside and there was widespread looting." (Excerpts - Walter Schwarz: Tamils of Sri Lanka, Minority Rights Group Report 1983)
Several
killed after emergency declared in Jaffna
"On the 11th of July 1979.. President Jayawardene appointed his nephew Brigadier Weeratunga, as commander of the security forces in Jaffna... On the same day, a state of emergency was declared in Jaffna, and a Public Security Ordinance gave the police and armed forces the power to dispose of dead bodies without an inquest.
On the night of the 14th of July, six Tamil youths were taken from their homes - three were never seen again. The mutilated bodies of two others were found the next day, and the sixth youth died later in Jaffna prison hospital. By this time a Prevention of Terrorism Act had been brought into operation. (Excerpts - Amnesty International - July 14, 1979)
Continued attacks on civilians - July/August 1981
"(The) August (1981) incidents of violence centred on three specific areas: the gem mining area of Ratnapura, Negombo near the capital city of Colombo, and the plantation towns in central Sri Lanka. Before the violence was brought under control, at least 10 Indian Tamils had been killed; numerous Tamil shops and businesses burned, and more than 5000 Indian Tamils had fled to refugee camps.
It was widely reported that attacks in Negombo as well as an attack against passengers on a Jaffna to Colombo train were made by organised gangs. Tamil sources stated that it could not be ruled out that people close to the government were behind the organised violence.
They also claimed that the police and the army did not intervene to prevent
attacks until the declaration of the state of emergency many days after the
attacks began."(Excerpts - Virginia Leary: Ethnic Conflict and
Violence in Sri Lanka - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the
International Commission of Jurists, July/August 1981)
Chunnakam massacre and extra judicial killings - 1984
"In the past two months at least 100 Tamils in the northern province of Jaffna have been killed by security forces. All 'terrorists', but this is contradicted by the accounts of every independent observer who has visited Jaffna.
One typically disturbing incident occurred on the 28th of March, when air force
personnel opened fire in the market place at Chunnakkam, a town about 8 miles
outside Jaffna. Eight Tamils were shot dead and 22 others were wounded”. (Francis
Whelan, London Times 7 May 1984)
16
"Amnesty International was concerned about reports of random killings of non combatant Tamil civilians by members of the security forces. It also remained concerned about the detention of Tamils... it continued to receive reports of widespread torture of detainees. Several reports of deaths in custody, allegedly as a result of torture or shooting were received..."
(Amnesty International Annual Report, 1985 for period January to December 1984)
* * * * *
"In respect of the killings on 28 March 1984, Amnesty International has concluded that there is strong evidence that the seven people shot dead in Chunnakam and the one man later shot dead at Mallakam died as a result of deliberate random shootings by air force personnel" – (Excerpts - Amnesty International Report, June 1984)
* * * * *
Some killings of Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF)
150,000 residents had fled
"India forbids journalists from entering the combat zone, and no independent confirmation of the situation in Jaffna was available. Reports from officials and refugees said two thirds of the city's 150,000 residents had fled or sought refuge in schools, Hindu temples and public buildings." – (Excerpts - International Herald Tribune, 21 October 1987)
* * * * *
IPKF collected all the dead bodies and burnt
On the morning of 22 October 1987, Dr. Sivapathasuntharam, who had unknowingly came into hospital premises attempted to save his injured co-workers, was killed by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) army personnel who were on guard. The next day the IPKF collected all the dead bodies and burnt all the bodies at the back of the mortuary.
A total of 68 innocent Tamils were killed during this particular barbaric offensive of the IPKF. This number included three Doctors, three nurses, seventeen co-workers at the Jaffna hospital and others were the patients admitted to the hospital.
* * * * *
20,000 refugees share three or four toilets
"Tens of thousands of refugees are living in appalling conditions in makeshift camps in Jaffna, according to a senior Sri Lanka Red Cross official, despite claims by the government of President Junius Jayawardene and the Indian Army that the town is returning to normal, 'it is a ghost town. The streets are deserted. Thousands of people are living in temples because they are afraid to go back to their homes. They have no electricity. They need everything - clothes, medicine, even candles and matches. Many buildings have been destroyed. I saw three or four dead bodies on the streets'.
20,000 refugees
share three or four toilets. It is a similar story in the Tamil eastern coastal
provinces. Hundreds of buildings in Trincomalee have been destroyed... the
countryside is just as ravaged as the towns. He (the Red Cross Official) said
that he was describing what he had seen as accurately as possible in the hope
that international publicity would help the victims." –
(Excerpt - Sunday Times, 8 November 1987)
* * * * *
IPKF deliberately killing dozens of unarmed Tamil civilians
"After its forces entered Sri Lanka on 30 July, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was increasingly accused of raping Tamil women and of deliberately killing dozens of unarmed Tamil civilians, among them elderly people, women and children...in several cases there was eye witness evidence that the victims were non combatants shot without provocation.
19
Several dozen Tamil women, some of whom needed hospital treatment, testified
that they were raped by IPKF personnel. A local magistrate in the north
reportedly found the IPKF had been responsible for seven cases of rape in
December." – (Excerpts - Amnesty International Annual Report,
1988 for period January to December 1987)
* * * * *
Massacre of 63 civilians in Valvettiturai
On 2 August 1989, the so called Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) deliberately killed 63 Tamil civilians in Valvettiturai in the Jaffna Peninsula in a massacre that was later described as India's Mylai.
The local Citizens Committee has identified 52 bodies and says that over 120 houses were burnt - making it by far the worst atrocity alleged against Indian troops in the two years they have been in Sri Lanka.
Almost a fortnight after the event, a smell of charred remains hangs over Velvettiturai. Of the 15,000 people perhaps half have left in fear or despair. Many who remain are distraught over the loss of relatives or belongings and uncertain how to begin again or where. (Excerpt - Mr Selvendra, Valveltiturai Citizens Committee)
Over 1,000 civilians killed in the
three years bombing of Jaffna
'"Daily life in Jaffna is conditioned by the distant drone of aircraft engines and the run to the bunkers behind almost every house. Over 1,000 civilians have been killed in the three years bombing of Jaffna and almost 1,500 have died from gruesome injuries. Another 1,000 children died needlessly in 1992 because Jaffna hospitals lack basic drugs and medical equipment to save them…
At 8 am on 26 July, out of the blinding blue of Jaffna's skies, two Sri Lankan air craft dropped four bombs behind Thirunelveli Dairy Farm killing Shanmugam, trader, and his four grandchildren. His house was completely destroyed and four others badly damaged. At midday on a second bombing run at Kopay six civilians including three schoolboys died and eight were injured close to the Irupalai Aluminium factory building. A Hindu temple and a young girl sheltering there were smashed to pieces.
There were no warnings, no air-dropped leaflets announcing operations. Why should there be? After all, no one is watching. There will be no international protest or outcry.
The Sri Lankan air force lacks the technology and advanced intelligence to pinpoint legitimate targets. The LTTE for all their ingenuity lack anti-aircraft defences. When defence sources say two LTTE arms factories were destroyed in another air raid on 30 July in Vaddukkottai, it means Jaffna student Thayaparan Muhunthan, 20, was blown apart and ten others including two-year old Sunthararam badly injured.'' - (British Refugee Council publication Sri Lanka Monitor, July 1993)
Bodies of 21 Tamils found around Colombo
"The case relating to the 1995 murder in custody of 21 Tamils, whose bodies were found in Bolgoda and other lakes around Colombo, was struck off the court roll by Colombo Chief Magistrate Munidasa Nanayakkara on 13 March as neither the accused nor the Attorney General’s representative was present. The 22 Special Task Force (STF) members arrested in connection with the killings in September 1995 and released on bail three months later had allegedly returned to active duty. Those killed included Naresh Rajadurai, a video shop owner in Colombo’s Wellawatte suburb.
Over 300 Tamils were arrested in Colombo on 2 April in search operations. Tamil MP Joseph Pararajasingham says 1,700 Tamil youths are currently in detention suspected of LTTE links. Eighty eight youths arrested in May 1996 in Jaffna were recently found to be held at the Youth Rehabilitation Centre in Wiravila in Hambantota District, 85 miles south of Colombo. The youths say in a letter to Mr Pararajasingham that they were assaulted after arrest and forced to sign confessions in the Sinhala language. None of them has been produced before a court.
20
Eighty nine others also arrested in Jaffna and sent to Colombo in December 1996 are expected to be produced before the Anuradhapura courts in early April. In late March, a Colombo magistrate ordered the release of Mariyanayagi Peter arrested on 24 February and detained. She had come to Colombo from the north to join her husband abroad.
Addressing the 53rd Session of the UN Human Rights Commission in March, Tamil Congress leader Kumar Ponnambalam said there was total disregard of the principles relating to arrest and detention in Sri Lanka and Tamils were tortured and confessions manufactured. There has been a startling increase in gang-rape, involuntary disappearances in the north-east and in Colombo and in cases of extra-judicial executions. Mr Ponnambalam was detained briefly at the Colombo airport on his way to the UN Sessions in Geneva and documents on torture removed from him. (Excerpts - British Refugee Council - Sri Lanka Monitor, March 1997)
55,000 died in Sri Lanka's civil war -UNDP
"Around fifty five thousand people have died so far in the civil war in
Sri Lanka" far more than those killed in political and communal violence
in Pakistan (since 1995) and India (1954-94) says a UN report. The report
'Human Development in South Asia 1999' was prepared and released by the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP).
"Ethnic and religious minorities are often faced with limited opportunities for economic and political empowerment (In south Asia). More than three thousand people have been killed in politically motivated violence in Karachi since 1995. Between 1954 and 1994, there were approximately fifteen thousand communal riots in India which resulted in 13301 casualties. Around fifty five thousand people have died so far in the civil war in Sri Lanka. (Excerpt –UNDP, August 1999)
“They killed over 20,000 Tamil youth” -- President Kumaratunga
“..........They (previous government) killed over 20,000 Tamil youth. They burnt them alive; they poured petrol on them, and burnt them alive in pogroms against the Tamil people” (Excerpts, CNN Q&A on 30 October 2001)
13, 379 civilian died due to Economic embargo
November 2001 - According to a press report in Vanni, thirteen thousand
three hundred and seventy nine civilians died in the Kilinochchi and
Mullaithivu districts due to the economic embargo imposed by the Sri Lankan
government from 1990 to 1999.
Most of the deaths, destruction of civilian property and mass displacement took place after the People's Alliance came to power in 1994. Four thousand eight hundred and seventy nine civilians died in the Mullaithivu district between 1994 and 1999 due to the direct impact of the economic embargo on the Vanni, particularly due to the severe restrictions on medical supplies.
The report further stated the present population of the Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu 332, 000. About four percent of the population, 13, 379, in these two districts died from 1990 1999 because of the embargo and operations of the Sri Lanka army.
Estimates range from 60,000 to 100,000 conflict-related deaths in two decades of fighting.
“64,000 people have died in 18 years of civil war in Sri Lanka as the Tigers fought with government forces.” (Times On Line, April 11, 2002)
“The (Bishop of Jaffna) said the Sri Lankan army had killed 70,000 Tamil civilians... bombed places of worship, destroyed property and displaced families.”(Guardian Weekly, April 18-24, 2002)
21
Massacres and killings of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Security forces
Amparai district
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR/CTDH Email : tchrgs@hotmail.com / tchrdip@hotmail.com
Date Place of incident No. Killed
10/06/1956 Ampara 150
19/02/1982 Udumpankulam 103
17/05/1985 Narpaddimunai 23
19/02/1986 Udumpankulam 66
11/02/1990 Fancy House Kalmunai 111
12/06/1990 Karathivu Refugee camps 35
12/06/1990 Viramunai & Sammanthurai Temple 85
13/06/1990 Ninthavoor 64
24-25/06/1990 Akkaraipattu Methodist Church >
Alayadivempu Thirunavukkarasu Vidyalam > 104
30/06/1990 Pottuvil 132
18/07/1990 Chavalkkadai 32
08/07/1990 Central Camp 18
06/08/1990 Thiralkkerni 54
16/09/1990 Chavalkkadai 4
24/09/1997 Amparai 08
04/01/2003 Addalaichenai 2
7000 widows in Ampara
(Many more to be included)
Batticaloa district
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR/CTDH Email : tchrgs@hotmail.com / tchrdip@hotmail.com
Date Place of incident No. Killed
June 1983 Pullumalai 09
January 1985 Pullumalai 26
17/07/1986 Pullumalai 08
10/11/1986 Pullumalai 103
09/07/1990 Pullumalai 55
12/09/1998 Pullumalai 14
18/01/1999 Pullumalai 13
19/02/1986 Akkaraipattu 102
28/01/1987 Mahiladythivu-Kokadicholai (Prawn farm) 137
12/06/1991 Mahiladythivu-Kokadicholai 132
27/05/1987 Thonni Thaddamadhu 10
20/07/1990 Sithanddy 80
27/07/1990 Sithanddy 57
07/10/1990 Vantharumoolai 138
Kondayankerny camp 48
09/08/1992 Punanai 36
30/06/1995 Pendukalchenai 15
21/11/1990 Adapallam 10
02/08/1990 Adapallam 05
22
22/09/1990 Ninthavur, Thiraikerny and Adapallam 45
20/06/1990 Veeramunai (Temple) 56
28/06/1990 Samanthurai Malaikaddu 37
29/06/1990 Kondaivedduvan 56
04/07/1990 School at Karathivu 12
10/07/1990 School at Karathivu 11
16/07/1990 Army from Malwathai camp 08
26/07/1990 Vedduvan army camp 08
08/08/1990 Malwathai 08
11/08/1990 Mandoor 18
12/08/1990 Konddavedduvan 30
09/08/1990 Sathurukoddan Depot 184
11/12/1997 Market Place in Batticaloa 05
17/05/2000 Batticaloa (near Buddhist temple) 19
(Many more to be included)
Trincomalee district
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR/CTDH Email : tchrgs@hotmail.com / tchrdip@hotmail.com
Date Place of incident No. Killed
11/11/1985 Kanthalai massacre 06
27/11/1985 Sampur, Muthur 22
26/10/1985 Kaddaiparichan 25
26/06/1986 Sampalthivu 15
28/06/1986 Thamplalakamam (Forest) 34
09/07/1986 Mullipothanai 11
16/07/1986 Peruveli Manatchenai Refugee Camp 44
31/12/1986 Pankulam 08
1990 Disappearances +1000
(During Col. Thenekoon’s tenure)
13/03/1991 Trincomalee (Iruthayapuram) 1
18/04/1995 Nachchikuda Massacre 30
01/02/1998 Thampalakamam 08
11/02/1996 Kumarapuram Massacre 24
16/03/1996 Nachchikuda 16
04/10/2000 Muttur (Poomarathaddysenai) 08
(Many more to be included)
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR/CTDH Email : tchrgs@hotmail.com / tchrdip@hotmail.com
Date Place of incident No. Killed
02/01/1993 Massacre in the Killaly sea(I) 52
05/12/1993 ICRC refugee camp – Jaffna 40
11/07/1995 Navaly St. Peter's Church Massacres 165
22/09/1995 Nagar Kovil School Children Massacre 71
18/02/1996 Poonaithoduvai in Kilinochchi 11
03/03/1996 Muthumariyamman Temple – Jaffna 07
20/04/1996 Massacre in the Killay Sea (II) 42
23
03/06/1996 Puttur – Jaffna 08
24/07/1996 Mallavi Town - Mallavi, Vanni 09
31/07/1996 Puthukudyiruppu – Kilinochchi 10
25/09/1996 Kilinochchi town – Kilinochchi 05
25/09/1996 Puthumurippu – Kilinochchi 05
26/09/1996 Vavunikulam – Kilinochchi 04
27/09/1996 Konavil – Kilinochchi 04
29/09/1996 Akkarayan – Kilinochchi 04
29/01/1997 Ponnalai Bridge in Jaffna 09
17/07/1997 Nedunkerni – Vanni 08
15/08/1997 Vavunikulam - Church – Vanni 09
11/08/1997 Mullaitivu (Manthuvil) 40
27/01/1998 Jaffna Coast – Jaffna 09
26/03/1998 Vaddakkachchi in East Paranthan 08
10/06/1998 Suthanthirapuram in Mullaitivu 32
15/09/1999 Mullaitivu 22
20/11/1999 Maddhu church – Mannar 38
19/05/2000 Kaithaddy (Home for the aged) 15
19/12/2000 Mirusuvil 08
(Many more to be included)
* * * * *
Disappearances
680 Tamils disappeared
"The continuing conflict in northern and eastern Sri Lanka exacted a heavy price from the civilian population. The police and armed forces continued to kill non combatant Tamils. Of particular concern were reprisal killings by the security forces and reports that Tamil suspects taken into custody were shot or tortured to death and their bodies disposed of in secret. By the end of 1987, over 680 Tamils had reportedly 'disappeared' since 1983 and no substantive attempts had been made by the government what had happened to them." (Excerpt - Amnesty International Annual Report, 1988 for period January to December 1987)
Over 30 bodies were dumped
"Hundreds of people in north-eastern Sri Lanka have reportedly 'disappeared' after being detained by Sri Lankan security forces since 21 June 1990. Bodies, some of which have been identified as those of prisoners, have been dumped in several places. In Kalmunai, over 70 people were reportedly detained and then 'disappeared' after the soldiers reclaimed the town from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Over 30 bodies were dumped in a burnt out shop in Kalmunai, including the body of 23 year old Chandrikumar, who had been earlier taken by the security forces. In Vavuniya on the 13th or 14th June, government forces reportedly shot and killed defenceless civilians about 15 bodies were found on the road. Hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes as fighting intensified: in early August there were over 300,000 refugees in Jaffna District alone and fears of food shortages".
(Excerpts - Amnesty International Report, 10 July 1990)
43 people are known to have 'disappeared'
"At least 43 people are known to have 'disappeared' following arrest by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). The majority of the 'disappearances for which the IPKF were reportedly responsible occurred in the Jaffna District in October and November 1987, the period of the main IPKF offensive on Jaffna town" – (Excerpt - Amnesty International Sri Lanka Briefing, 19 September 1990)
24
More than 300 disappeared in 6 months - U.S. state Department
"Disappearance at
the hands of the security forces increased alarmingly, especially in the east
and north, though some occurred in Colombo. In excess of 300 individuals are
believed to have disappeared on the Jaffna Peninsula in the second half of the
year, and more than 50 elsewhere in the country throughout the year. As with
extrajudicial killings, the exact number was impossible to ascertain due to
censorship of news about security force operations, and lack of access to the
north and east." (U.S. Department of State, Sri Lanka Country Report
on Human Rights Practices for 1996)
Fate of 656 disappeared in Jaffna remain unknown
"Tamil
MP A Thangathurai told Parliament in early May that disappearances in Jaffna
are continuing and called for urgent government action to end growing fear and
uncertainty among the peninsula’s population.
The fate of 656 people disappeared in Jaffna last year remain unknown. The Jaffna Organisation of the Parents of the Disappeared says in a petition to President Chandrika Kumaratunge in late May that there are witnesses to the arrests of the disappeared by the Army. Over 500 members of the organisation demonstrated before the Jaffna government secretariat on 12 May. (British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, May 1997)
648 disappearances reported
The level of “disappearances” in Sri Lanka has hit a new high, Amnesty International warned as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights examined the country's human rights record.
Coinciding with the Sri Lankan Government's pledge at the Commission that “full rigours of the law will be bought to bear” on the perpetrators of human rights violations, Amnesty International submitted more than 400 cases of “disappearances” to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga asking her to bring those responsible to justice.
Since the security forces regained control over the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka between late 1995 and early 1996, the total number of "disappearances" reported to the organization has reached 648 the highest number since 1990.
"That more than 600 'disappearances' can occur in one year despite the government's claim that it is addressing the problem is outrageous. This highlights the need for action to be taken now -- to prevent these violations from continuing," Amnesty International said.
There is a clear pattern of the security forces resorting to "disappearances" in reprisal for attacks on the security forces by members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In one incident which occurred on 19 July 1996, the day after the LTTE attacked the Mullaitivu army camp, at least 40 young men "disappeared" after they were rounded up by army personnel in Kaithady, and surrounding villages in the Thennamarachchi Division.
They were allegedly taken to Navatkuli army camp but when relatives went to make inquiries, they were not given any information. Amnesty International fears that they may have been massacred.
"The situation is reminiscent of the mid-1980s," Amnesty International said. "Between 1983 and mid-1987, we recorded 860 'disappearances' in the area, nearly all of whom are still unaccounted for. Now we have 600 in one year."
Amnesty International is calling on the president to allow international and national observers, including the UNWGEID, to visit Jaffna and assist the government in enforcing measures to bring an end to "disappearances".
"While the government has taken some measures to bring an end to 'disappearances', torture and other human rights violations, there is obviously a need for more vigorous action," Amnesty International said. (Amnesty International - Index: ASA 37/10/97 News Service 62/97 11 April 1997)
26
122 killed 73 disappeared in two months in Kilinochchi
The
Confederation of People's Organisations, based in Vanni, compiled a list of 122
Tamil civilians who had been murdered by Sri Lankan troops operating in the
vicinity of Kilinochchi town and its surroundings in two months.
73 other civilians had disappeared in the region.
Most of the dead had been shot or killed with knives, and their bodies subsequently mutilated. The bodies were often found by roads in the area.
The Sri Lankan army captured Kilinochchi and the surrounding area in late 1996, following a major operation which displaced the 200,000 Tamil residents of the area. Most of those killed or disappeared had returned to the area to inspect their abandoned homes and property. (Local Media – 30 August 1997)
13,000 disappearances, 8500 widows, 6000 orphans in the East
(Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Member of Parliament)
"Thirteen thousand people have disappeared in the Eastern Province since 1990. There are 8,500 widows in the East of whom 70% are between 18 and 21 years [old]. There are 6000 orphans," said Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP Joseph Pararajasingham at a meeting held this week at the Ramakrishna Mission in Colombo organised by the Past Pupils of Northeast District Schools Organisation.
Speaking at a seminar on education in the Eastern Province, Mr. Pararajasingham said that education could progress only when peace is established.
He said that 60% of the schools in the Eastern Province have been destroyed and that teachers cannot be punctual because of severe transport difficulties in the region.
"At present there is a shortfall of 3,500 teachers in the Eastern Province, but there are indications that the Government is making efforts to recruit 400 teachers. This is too little too late. Two hundred million rupees is needed to repair school buildings in the east."
"A merged north-east is the final goal. But it has to fulfill the aspirations of the Muslims too. Only autonomy and a homeland will be a final solution to this problem [a solution] that has been eluding us for 40 years" said Mr. Pararajasingham. (Excerpt - April 1998)
Investigations on 700 disappearances should be made public
Investigations into more than 700 "disappearances" should be made
public The Government of Sri Lanka should promptly make public and disseminate
widely the findings of an investigation into more than 700
"disappearances" reported in 1996 in Jaffna, northeast Sri Lanka,
which the investigation panel presented to President Chandrika Kumaratunga
yesterday, Amnesty International urged. (Excerpt – Amnesty
International, 23 April 1998)
Disappearances in Vavuniya
In a letter
sent to the President of Sri Lanka, Amnesty International urged investigations
into an increasing number of "disappearances" reported over the last
two weeks in northern Sri Lanka.
Seven people who were last seen in the hands of security forces in Vavuniya between 10 and 16 August have "disappeared", bringing the total number of "disappearances" in that city to nine this year. In addition many people have reportedly been held in secret detention for up to two or three weeks and subjected to torture.
These "disappearances" have taken place in the context of a general deterioration in human rights following the introduction of emergency regulations in May 2000. The regulations increase the risk of secret detention and "disappearances". (Excerpts – Amnesty International, August 31, 2000)
27
Rape
Women reluctant to give testimony
"Amnesty
International has documented several cases of rape by members of the security
forces. Because many women are reluctant to give testimony about their
treatment by the security forces, Amnesty International believes that these
testimonies represent only a fraction of a widespread pattern of human rights
violations.
In those cases reported to Amnesty International, the authorities took some initial action against the alleged perpetrators. However, the organization does not know of any member of the security forces who has been brought to justice on charges of rape. (Excerpt – Amnesty International, September 1996)
Women raped by soldiers
"Allegations of ill-treatment of women and extra-judicial executions are also being made against the security forces. Reports say that three women were raped by soldiers at their home in Manthuvil on 1 August." (Excerpts - British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, August 1996)
"Vanni MP S Shanmugnathan says a number of women at the Poonthottam school camp have been sexually abused by the police. A woman who was raped has been admitted to the Vavuniya hospital. Pregnant women have been denied access to the hospital and one woman has died in labour" – (Excerpts - British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, November 1996
Vavuniya – Gang rape by eight Sinhala soldiers
"A young Tamil woman detained along with thousands of other Tamils in Vavuniya has died after being violently gang-raped by eight Sinhala soldiers guarding the camp.
Doctors at Vavuniya hospital say she arrived in a traumatised state and passed away while she was being admitted. Such instances of assault have been rising alarmingly especially on young women who are powerless in the face of armed Sinhala soldiers answerable to no one. The unfortunate victim in this case was one of the 13,000 Tamil travellers forcibly stopped by the army from going to other parts of the island and now imprisoned in unhygienic detention camps in Vavuniya. – (Local news paper - 22 November 1996)
150 Tamils raped by Sinhala 'law enforcers' in 1996
Human rights activists claim more than 150 women, mostly minority Tamils, were raped by police and armed forces personnel last year.
In the past few months the nation has been outraged by a series of sex offences, followed in some instances by the death or disappearance of victims. Security forces are allegedly behind the incidents, which are widespread in the war-ravaged north and east.
Rights groups and mainstream Tamil political parties are now up in arms over the alleged rape of five women by policemen in Colombo's suburbs.
Politicians and rights agencies have made repeated demands for investigations of the large numbers of rapes allegedly committed by officials entrusted with enforcing law and order.
In June, a 45-year-old woman, accused of pushing drugs, was gang-raped in a police cell. Her lawyers claimed the victim could not pick out her assailants as they were not in the identification parade. An angry magistrate lambasted the policemen dealing with the case for being "inefficient, inactive and attempting to cover up for their bestial brother officers". (Excerpts - South China Morning Post, 11 January 1997)
28
Horrific statistics on rape
TCHR established that; a Tamil woman was raped every 16 days; a Tamil woman was gang-raped and murdered every two months; a girl-child was raped every three months and a woman was brutally murdered every six months because she resisted the advances of a Sri Lankan soldier. These horrific statistics are based on documented cases. Real figures are believed to be considerably higher.
Now, since the Ceasefire Agreement has been in place, the situation for Tamil women is improved, however the situation is far from satisfactory.
In October last year a 42 year old women living in Vavuniya went to graze her cattle and never returned home. Her body was found near the local Sri Lanka army camp. The post-mortem revealed that she had been raped and strangled to death. Sri Lanka navy personnel in Nedunthivu, Jaffna, attempted to rape a mother of four children in December 2002, while she was praying in church. Two Sri Lanka army soldiers forcibly broke into a woman’s home in j Ganesapuram, Vavuniya, and attempted to rape her in January 2003. (Excerpts from TCHR press release – International Women’s Day 08/03/2003)
8500 widows, 6000 orphans, 13,000 disappearances, in the East
(Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Member of Parliament)
"Thirteen thousand people have disappeared in the Eastern Province since 1990. There are 8,500 widows in the East of whom 70% are between 18 and 21 years [old]. There are 6000 orphans," said Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP Joseph Pararajasingham at a meeting held this week at the Ramakrishna Mission in Colombo organised by the Past Pupils of Northeast District Schools Organisation.
25,000 widows in Jaffna district
14 March 2003 – In fifteen administrative divisions in Jaffna district, there are 25,773 widowed women. The official figures are given below.
The list is according age wise:
· Under 16 years 9
· 17-30 years 937
· 31-50 years 7,989
· 51 years and over 16,838
The figures according to administrative divisions:
Nedunthivu 187 Uduvil 1,554 Chankanai 1,924 Pallai 290 Karaveddy 1,750 Nallur 2,571 Maruthankerni 306 Sandilipay 1,753 Thenmaradchi 3,368 Kayts 487 Point Pedro 1,836 Unregistered 4,538 Velanai 554 Kopay 1,893 Tellipallai 852 Jaffna 1,910
30
Displacement
Over 25,000 Tamil refugees
"In 1958) hundreds of persons, primarily Tamils, were killed in this first episode of communal violence. Over 25,000 Tamil refugees were relocated from Sinhalese areas to Tamil areas in the North. The government was criticised for failing to declare a state of emergency early enough..." – (Excerpts - Virginia Leary: Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists, July/August 1981)
500,000 Tamils became refugees in their own homelands
"The exemplary Indian Army fought with one hand tied behind its back and the result was that 500,000 Tamils became refugees in their own homelands. The exemplary Indian Army was sparing in its use of heavy artillery, but sustained artillery shelling destroyed more than 50,000 homes in the Jaffna Peninsula. And Prime Minister Rajeve Gandhi would have his members of Parliament believe that the Indian Army acted with 'outstanding discipline and courage' accepting sacrifices 'for protecting Tamil civilians'. (Excerpt - Indo Sri Lanka Accord and the Tamil National Struggle, Nadesan Satyendra, 1988)
5000 Indian Tamils fled to refugee camps - July/August 1981
"The) August (1981) incidents of violence centred on three specific areas: the gem mining area of Ratnapura, Negombo near the capital city of Colombo, and the plantation towns in central Sri Lanka. Before the violence was brought under control... at least 10 Indian Tamils had been killed, numerous Tamil shops and businesses burned, and more than 5000 Indian Tamils had fled to refugee camps. (Virginia Leary: Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists, July/August 1998)
Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali appealed for assistance
"UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali has appealed for assistance for up to 400,000 people fleeing bitter fighting between the LTTE and advancing troops in Jaffna. Boutros Ghali on Friday called on `all concerned to facilitate relief assistance to the affected population by humanitarian organisations,' spokesman Juan Carlos Brandt said in New York. ``Reports of the massive displacement of the civilian population in northern Sri Lanka are a source of deep concern to the Secretary General,'' he added, and said the United Nations was following the situation closely.
* * * * *
A senior Government official in Kilinochchi 320 kilometres North of here, said nearly 60,000 refugees had poured into the area from Jaffna and the total would reach 300,000 soon. “More than 10,000 people are streaming in every day”, said the official, Thillai Natarajah, speaking in the Government held town of Vavuniya. “Most people are housed in school buildings and temples. “But the situation is getting desperate,'' he said. ”Many of those were drenched in rain and without a second set of clothes.'' He added that there were food shortages. (AFP, 4 November 1995)
110 Tamils die in refugee camps
The death of 110 people admitted to the Mallavi and Puthukudyiruppu hospitals in Kilinochchi District, in December is a grim indication of the deteriorating health facilities for 450,000 refugees in the Vanni. Most of them are from Jaffna, displaced when the Army captured the peninsula in December 1995. The deaths were caused by malaria, septicaemia and typhoid. A senior government officer in the Vanni says that most could have been saved with adequate medicine, medical equipment and hospital space. Despite the Defence Ministry’s assurance to NGOs, restrictions on medicines and food continue. Government officers say medicines for the six months from October 1996 where sent to the Vanni in late January but for many people they may have arrived too late. (Excerpts - British Refugee Council - Sri Lanka Monitor, January 1997)
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"On 13 May 1997 the Sri Lankan armed forces launched a large-scale military operation in the north of the country. Ground troops, armoured vehicles, artillery and air support were employed with the aim of re-opening a supply route to the Jaffna peninsula across the LTTE-controlled Vanni region, as well as recovering some of the rebel-held territories in the area. The ICRC calls for greater respect for international humanitarian law.
Prior to the offensive and once hostilities had resumed, an estimated 20,000-30,000 civilians abandoned their homes, thereby increasing the large population of internally displaced people in the region. Over the last two years 40 per cent of the population in the Vanni, roughly 300,000 people, have been displaced. (Excerpts - Update No. 97/01 on ICRC activities in Sri Lanka, 30 May 1997)
"Over 60,000 refugees in five camps around the Madhu Church in Mannar District are suffering without adequate food and medicine. NGOs warn that the situation may reach a crisis point as more and more refugees pour into the area fleeing the fighting in the Vanni.
Visitors say it is not uncommon to find children with signs of malnutrition. The camps, assisted by international refugee agency UNHCR, receive only half their food requirements from the government.
Colombo newspaper Sunday Times says that at least six deaths are reported every month at Madhu hospital as a result of malnutrition and lack of medicines. Malaria, diarrhoea and typhoid in the camps cannot be controlled because of in sanitary conditions and lack of water. (British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, October 1997)
More than 61,904 displaced children unable to attend schools
More than
61,904 Tamil children are not having the means to attend, after suffering
constant displacements. The military, however, continues its trauma-inducing
artillery attacks on towns and creates an environment where there is no
physical or mental security for children to attend school. Schools have also
frequently been specifically targeted by artillery and aerial bombing by the
military.
Children unable to attend schools – Districts
Kilinochchi 30,077 Mullaithivu 25,286 Mannar 4,157
Vavuniya 2,384
(Excerpt from local Tamil news paper, 12 October 1997)
Campaign in schools to encourage children to join the Army
"The security forces are
campaigning in schools, to encourage 15 year old school children to join the
army. When I comment on this, they call me a traitor. If it is so, is Foreign
Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar also a traitor, who is campaigning in foreign
countries saying that LTTE is recruiting children to their forces?", asked
Opposition Leader Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe in the parliament on 07 May 1998.
He pointed out that the Army has launched a campaign in schools to recruit school children into the army while Mr. Olara Otunnu, UN Special Representative on Children in Armed Conflict is visiting the country. (Excerpt from local Tamil news paper, 08 May 1998)
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Campaign against 'disappearance' of children
Amnesty International in its "South Asia-Action for Children" campaign launched on 22 April 1998, campaigned against the 'disappearance' of children after being detained by Sri Lanka's security forces. The campaign statement declared.
The government must make clear to state officials that they are bound in their duties to safeguard the rights of children, and that past, present and future violations of these rights will not go unpunished. (Excerpts - Amnesty International Appeal - Sri Lanka: Children "Disappeared" AI Index ASA 04/03/98)
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, at its 25th meeting held on 13 May 1998 declared:
"7.The Committee expresses its grave concern regarding the situation of an estimated 800,000 displaced persons, many of whom have been living in temporary shelters for the past 15 years, because of the armed conflict, and who lack basic sanitation, education, food, clothing and health care. It is reported that Tamil families who were forced by the military to leave their ancestral villages in the Welioya region are among these displaced persons.
8. The Committee is alarmed by the results of an independent survey estimating the incidence of under nourishment of women and children living in these shelters to be as high as seventy percent. (Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the Report submitted by Sri Lanka under Articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant - E/C.12/1/Add.24, 13 May 1998)
4000 school children demonstrated in Batticaloa
Over 4000 school children demonstrated Saturday in Paduvankarai, the western hinterland of the Batticaloa district, demanding that the Sri Lankan Government, among other things, stop the war and lift the economic embargo on this region.
The students also demanded that schools be allowed permanent buildings. (Excerpt from local Tamil news paper, 05 June 1998)
Internal displacement is not a new concept to Tamils
Internal displacement is not a new concept to Tamils. There have been cycles of displacement of Tamils following the anti-Tamil riots in 1956, ’58, ’77, ‘81 and ’83. In the past few years, several Sri Lankan military offensives have displaced over several hundred thousand people.
The displaced have regularly sought refuge in relatively safer areas of the island, staying with family, friends or in schools and temporary camps. The lucky ones were able to flee abroad.
|
Year |
1957-58 |
1983 |
1986 |
1990 |
1997 |
|
Refugees |
12,000 |
15,000 |
205,000 |
50,000 |
1 million |
400,000 displaced in Vanni
"There are an estimated 400,000 displaced persons in the Vanni-jungle region in the north of Sri Lanka that is largely under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - LTTE. (Excerpt – US committee for Refugees, 16 December 1998)
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"Over 20,000 people were displaced in March following three Sri Lankan Army operations in the northern Vanni, to secure territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Around 4,000 permanent residents of these areas and another 10,000 refugees fled north to Mulankavil, Thunukkai and Vinayagapuram. Reports say, some have found refuge in schools and others are living in the open without any relief.
In early March, the Vanni Citizens Committee handed to the UNHCR office in Mallavi, another petition addressed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan regarding the suffering of civilians in the region. (Excerpts – British Refugee Council publication Sri Lanka Monitor, March 1999)
Over 15,000 people fled from Oddusuddan seeking refuge in schools and temples in Puthukudyiruppu, 11 miles north. According to Vanni Government Agents (GA) over 9,280 refugees were accommodated in ten schools. Heavy monsoon rains have brought further misery to the fleeing refugees. Two (reservoirs) tanks in Kilinochchi overflowed in early December displacing over 250 more families. (Excerpts - British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, December 1998)
"Tamil refugees in camps in Army controlled Vavuniya, who fled the fighting in the Vanni are suffering without sufficient food and adequate facilities. There are currently 22,450 refugees in six camps, including 9,170 in Poonthottam and 7,780 in Sithamparapuram. Many among the refugees have spent over four years in the camps.
"Malaria is continuing to cause concern in the Vanni, because of the difficulties in carrying out preventive measures. During 1997 and 1998, 53% of the 430,240 malaria patients in Sri Lanka were in Mullaithivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna districts. But 80% of the 177 deaths due to malaria were in these districts. Government Anti-Malaria Campaign Director Dr Punsiri Fernando says many deaths in the Vanni were caused because of lack of facilities for proper medical treatment.
Hospitals in the Vanni have suffered for many years without adequate medicines due to government restrictions. In 1999, the Mallavi hospital in Mullaithivu District treated 158,300 people, including for malaria, septicaemia and diarrhoea. Hospital authorities say 142 people died in the hospital. Of the 299 children born in the hospital in 1999, 166 were underweight. Press reports quoting Norwegian agency Redd Barna say under nutrition among children in Sri Lanka was 37% but in the Vanni it was as high as 67%" (Excerpts - British Refugee Council, Sri Lanka Monitor, February 2000)
160,000 forced out of homes – ICRC
Heavy fighting between the armed forces and the LTTE in the Jaffna peninsula in
late May, forced approximately 160,000 people out of their homes, the ICRC
revealed in its latest newsletter. Of them, some ended up in 136 welfare
centres set up in Waligamam and Point Pedro. The rest stayed with their friends
and relatives, the ICRC said.
Apart from them, over 3000 people had crossed the Jaffna lagoon and taken refuge in the Wanni. Among them were 70 civilians wounded in the crossfire.
The ICRC has also supported the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society to provide health care for these newly displaced people. Over 5000 patients were treated, the newsletter said adding that the ICRC was instrumental in helping the displaced persons and their loved ones to keep in contact through its radio network. (Excerpts – The Island 03 September 2000)
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Around 1.5 million people displaced
Almost 8 percent of the total Lankan population 1.5 million has been displaced, giving Sri Lanka a prominent spot in the global refugee map, while the country also received 30 asylum seekers in the first quarter of 2001, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Colombo.
It added : “An estimated 1.5 million Sri Lankan out of a total population of 19 million are displaced. Of these some 800,000 persons are internally displaced with remainder living as refugees or refugee like situation in India, Europe, Australia and Northern America. More than 250,000 Sri Lankan have sought asylum in Europe alone in the past two decades. Up to 400,000 Sri Lankan mostly Tamils are estimated to be currently residing in Canada.
There are also significant numbers of Sri Lankan refugees in India where an estimated 66,000 refugees are accommodated in camps. The agency said that the displacement represents an enormous cost in terms of loss of human potential within Sri Lanka.
“In Europe, Sri Lankan asylum applications more than doubled from 4,000 applications a year during the period 1980-1983 to an average of 14,000 applications a year during the period 1984-1999. An estimated per cent of Sri Lankan asylum applications in Europe were lodged in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. In contrast to the thousands of Sri Lankan who are provided refuge around the globe, Sri Lanka receives only a small number of asylum seekers in need of international protection. At the beginning of 2001 a total of 30 refugees and asylum seekers were registered by UNHCR in Colombo” it added.
In Sri Lanka, it has been estimated that over 800,000 people have been displaced due to the ongoing conflict in the North East of the country. (Excerpt “The Weekend Express” 23-24 June 2001)
Refugees in India
Arrived:
June 1983 - July 1989 134,053
After 25th August 1983 122,000
Returned :
24 December 1987 - 31 August 1989 25,585
After 20th January 1992 54,188
Special Camps
on 31st May 2000 66,464
Registered IDPs in 2002
District No. of Housing Members of the
Units Family
Ampara 1,055 4,144
Batticaloa 5,563 22,425
Trincomlee 4,262 16,470
Vavuniya 19,754 77,395
Mannar 12,115 49,798
Mullaithivu 29,824 116,661
Killinochchi 27,166 112,861
Jaffna 97,317 339,440
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1371 children affected by malnutrition
24 February 2003 - During a seminar on the issue of nutrition held recently in Vanni, health officials in Pooneryn in Kilinochchi district informed that of the 3299 children of under 5 years in the region, 1371 are affected by malnutrition.
270,000 displaced children
Access to education for the 270,000 displaced children is undermined by the recurrent nature of displacement itself, which make it difficult for regular school attendance. Other factors include malnutrition, poverty, lack of teachers and unavailability of schools, which are occupied by IDPs (Save the Children-UK, May 2000).
Children and Women Affected by Armed Conflict
(UNICEF - Colombo, Sri Lanka - September 1999)
Over 614,000 persons are currently internally displaced in Sri Lanka today, although it is difficult to give precise estimates due to the rapidly fluctuating situation. Out of an estimated 900,000 children in the North and East 300,000 children have been displaced and approximately 270,000 remain displaced to day. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) constitute the most depressed community group of the conflict.
Jaffna
The population in the Jaffna district has been reduced from its 1995 figures of 738,788 to the present estimate of 497,347. It is estimated that approximately 280,000 are under the age of 18.
The region continues to be economically and physically marginalised from the rest of the country. Fishing affected by security restrictions. Female-headed households are the worst affected. The number of registered widows is 19,000.
The Vanni
The population of Vanni in mid 1997 was estimated to be around half a million. Following several military operations it decreased to through displacement to 367,367 as at March 1999. This number comprises around 289,779 IDPs. New displacements take place whenever there are military operations.
According to the education department, non-attendance in many schools is said to be over 30%.
Although the Government distributes food rations to the uncleared areas, in 1998 the supply was cut by about 40%, most directly affecting the displaced populations in Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu districts. The supply of food items is also subject to embargoes and manipulation, especially during periods of active operations between the two parties.
Eastern Province
The three districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara with a population of around 1.2 million in 1998 are estimated to include around 60,000 IDPs living in 22 welfare centres.
District neighbouring conflict areas : the ‘border villages’
Puttlam, Mannar and Anuradhapura districts are adjacent to the conflict areas in the north and east and continually face the threat of sporadic attacks.
Currently there are around 95,600 displaced persons in and around these districts. 56,900 persons are in welfare centres and 38,700 persons live with hose families who themselves have been poverty stricken.
37
(As of May 2003)
Hearing/ Other
Vision speaking Leg/hand physical Mental
District defects defects defects defects defects
Jaffna 8,943 2,917 2,794 5,465 1,602
Mullaithivu 5,023 1,117 2,105 3,001 754
Killinochchi 3,444 923 1,369 1,905 438
Vavuniya 1,749 534 786 1,268 392
Mannar 1,206 414 600 942 190
Batticaloa 248 99 200 213 65
Trincomalee 151 74 101 163 27
Ampara 70 40 45 10 28
* * * * *
Destruction of Jaffna Public Library - 1981
"A large group of hold (estimated variously from 100-200) went on rampage on the nights of May 31-June 1 (1981) and June 1-2 burning the market area of Jaffna, the office of the Tamil Newspaper, the home of the member of Parliament for Jaffna and the Jaffna Public Library... the destruction of the Jaffna Public Library was the incident which appeared to cause the most distress to the people of Jaffna... the 95,000 volumes of the Public Library destroyed by the fire included numerous culturally important and irreplaceable manuscripts... The government should lead a major national and international effort to rebuild and develop the Jaffna Public Library destroyed by arson by police in June 1981. Such an effort would evidence the respect the government for the cultural rights of the Tamils, help to remedy a serious injustice done to the Tamil community and contribute to restoring Tamil confidence in the government." (Excerpts - Virginia Leary: Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists, July/August 1981)
More than 50,000 homes destroyed by IPKF
"The exemplary Indian Army fought with one hand tied behind its back and the result was that 500,000 Tamils became refugees in their own homelands. The exemplary Indian Army was sparing in its use of heavy artillery, but sustained artillery shelling destroyed more than 50,000 homes in the Jaffna Peninsula. And Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi would have his members of Parliament believe that the Indian Army acted with 'outstanding discipline and courage' accepting sacrifices 'for protecting Tamil civilians'. (Excerpt - Indo Sri Lanka Accord and the Tamil National Struggle, Nadesan Satyendra, 1988)
80% of the houses damaged in Jaffna
"In a petition to the visiting Colombo Anglican Bishop Kenneth Fernando in early July, the Jaffna NGO Consortium says that Jaffna people face enormous difficulties in day-to-day life.
Military operations have damaged 80% of the 176,300 houses in the peninsula. Over 17,000 houses have been completely destroyed.... A number of houses and schools are occupied by the Army. People complain that a large number of trees, including coconut and palmyrah trees providing livelihood, are being cut down for military use.
39
A UN mission to Jaffna in June recognised the need for settlement assistance. UN agencies are providing Rs 133 million ($2.6 million) for rehabilitation, education and health projects. A number of governments and international NGOs will promote health and agriculture. Reconstruction is proceeding at a slow pace. According to reports it takes four months to transport goods by ship to Jaffna. Permits from the Defence Ministry are always delayed and costs of shipping have considerably increased in recent months.
The Jaffna hospital lacks ventilators, oxygen and beds and doctors are finding it difficult to treat patients seriously ill. Reports say the mortality rate in the Premature Baby Unit rose to 46% in June primarily due to equipment shortage. Jaffna University’s Dr N Sivarajah says landmines kill or seriously injure at least ten people every month and has called for action to remove landmines before implementing reconstruction programmes." (Excerpts - British Refugee Council Publication Sri Lanka Monitor, July 1997)
More than 1560 Hindu temples destroyed
More than 1560 Hindu temples have been damaged and rendered useless while 240 Hindu temples have been totally destroyed due to ongoing war in the North and east, according to the memorandum forwarded to the director general of the UNESCO by the Hindu Religious Priest Organisation of the North East Province.
Organisation further alleges that most of the Tamil and Sanskrit Scriptures, both printed and in manuscript, stone and metal figures have been destroyed.
The memorandum sent to UNESCO includes annexures giving detailed particulars of Hindu shrines destroyed during the 14 year conflict. (31 March 1998)
75 Hindu temples closed
June 2000 - Ten churches and 75 Hindu temples are closed in Thenmarachchi division. Eight temples, including the Sivan temple at Chavakachcheri, have been damaged (British Refugee Council, June 2000).
Churches and Temples
Twenty years of bloody war in the North-East, 2076 Hindu Temples and 299 Christian churches in the North were damaged and destroyed in Aerial bombings and shelling. (February 2004)
70 schools
destroyed-15000 children unable to attend school
At least 70 schools in the Vanni region have been either destroyed or closed down due to ongoing 'Operation Jayasikuru' by the Sri Lanka Army said the Teachers Union in Karathuraippattu, Kilinochchi district.
More than 15,000 school children are unable to attend school as a result, said the union in a press statement. (Excerpt from local Tamil news paper, 09 October 1998)
75 Schools defunct
More than 75 schools functioned at Thenmaradchchy are now defunct due to the present war situation. The Zonal Education Department for Thenmaradchchy is presently functioning at the Nelliayady Maha Vidyalayam. Government Teachers serving in Thenmaradchchy do not have the facilities to perform their duties as a majority of the schools are closed due to lack of physical facilities. (Excerpts from "The Weekend Express" - 8-9 July 2000)
40
Shortage of 4,650 Tamil teachers - 74 schools are occupied by the army
The shortage of Tamil medium teachers is 4,650
Over 74 schools in the north-east are occupied by the security forces
A further 160 schools, including 130 primary schools are unable to function because they are near military installations or lie within security zones. (May 2003)
Schools in the North East
1,989 Schools in the North East 1,817 Schools are functioning at present
Schools functioning in the 8 districts are as follows : (1817)
Jaffna 402 Mannar 94 Kilinochchi 90 Mullaithivu 95
Vavuniya 181 Trincomalee 248 Batticaloa 307 Ampara 400
The schools closed temporarily are : (172)
Jaffna 85 Mannar 21 Kilinochchi 4 Mullaithivu 10
Vavuniya 12 Trincomalee 23 Batticaloa 13 Ampara 4
The student population exceeds : 650,000
(Government source - damaged to school buildings and furniture not given - 2002)
Poor state of education in North East
Over two hundred schools are non-functional in the North and East and approximately 65,000 children are not attending schools, an assessment by the UNICEF said.
The assessment has covered Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mullaithivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara in the North and East and the adjoining areas in the districts of Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Moneragala.
There is a high drop-out rate averaging around 16% against a national average of 4%, it said adding that at present there is a 25% scarcity of teachers.
"A total of Rs. 1 billion is required for school rehabilitation", it said.
Under the UNICEF's "Every Child in School Initiative" it says that strategies have been planned and developed to get every child in school as well as to keep them in school for at least during the critical 5-14 year period of compulsory education.
Non-formal education for out of school children has been identified as a critical issue in all areas and thus will be given special attention in terms of both strengthening existing systems as well as expansion, it said. It also says that psychological intervention will be integrated into the education system to support children especially those who have emotional and psychological problems in the aftermath of the conflict. (Daily Mirror – 9 January 2003)
Estimated number of landmines: (April 2003)
Jaffna Peninsula over 500,000
Vanni and surrounding regions over 1.5 million
41
(May 2003)
No. Villages De-mined Families to be settled
District Villages Village after de-mining
Trincomalee 07 02 number unconfirmed
Vavuniya 75 14 3,606
Mannar 38 02 1,418
Mullaithivu 127 21 6,767
Killinochchi 92 30 6,408
Jaffna 93 12 19,314
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR/CTDH Email : tchrgs@hotmail.com / tchrdip@hotmail.com
54,053 Tamils have been killed in the North-East of the Island. This number is three percent (3%) of the total Tamil population of the Island. In other words, an average of nine (9) Tamil have been killed every day; or for every 50 Tamils living one had been killed.
25,266 Disappeared in the North East and Colombo.
500,000 Tamils have sought political asylum in Europe and other countries. This is 16% of the Tamil population
250,000 Tamil children's education affected due to either the destruction of school buildings through aerial bombings/artilery shellings or conversion of school buildings into military camps.
60,000 Families have lost their bread winners. More than 40,000 women are war widows.
300,000 Tamil houses destroyed in the North-East in aerial bombings and artilery shellings.
2375 Buildings of religious places, such as Churches and Temples have been destroyed in aerial bombings and artilery shellings.
(TCHR - Information accumulated from affidavits, academics, local news papers, religious heads, NGOs and others – CHR March 2005 )
42
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR
Centre Tamoul pour les droits de l'Homme - CTDH
Centro Tamil para los Derechos Humanos
(Established in 1990)
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