Sri Lanka and state terrorism
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
Several groups have alleged that there have been instances of state terrorism by Sri Lanka.[1][2]
1971 - Uprising
During the 1971 Uprising by JVP over 15,000 civilians were killed by the combined Sri Lankan Army and the Indian Army without subjecting them to a proper judicial process.
1974 - Tamil conference incident
The fourth World Tamil Research Conference was held in the city of Jaffna between January 3 and 9, 1974, during which due to police action it resulted in the loss of nine lives, the loss of civilian property and more than 50 civilians sustaining severe injuries. The police officers involved were subsequently promoted by the government.[3]
1981 - Burning of Jaffna library
Burning of Jaffna library was due to the actions of a mob sponsored by government agents. The library lost over 90,000 volumes of rare manuscripts, books and journals. The mob also killed 4 civilians in the process.[4]
Photos
1983 - Black July pogrom
Black July is the commonly used name of the pogroms starting in Sri Lanka on July 23 1983. Between 1000 - 3000 Tamils were killed. More than 18,000 houses and commercial establishments were destroyed and a wave of Sri Lankan Tamils sought refugee in other countries. It is seen as the start of full-scale armed struggle between the Tamil millitants and the state of Sri Lanka.
During the pogrom, in Colombo, 53 political prisoners were killed inside a high security prison. No individuals have been convicted of crimes relating to these incidents [5][6]
Photos
1987- JVP Insurrection
During the second JVP Insurrection 1987-89, tens of thousands (est. 60,000) civilians were disappeared [7] or killed by the Sri Lankan Army and other state actors.
1990 - Batticaloa massacre
1990 Batticaloa massacre happened in 1990 when 180[8] Tamil civilians including 5 infants were massacred by the Sri Lankan Army after pulling them from their native villages. Two commissions of inquiry appointed by the Sri Lankan government to inquire into disappearances have investigated this massacre in the villages of Sathurukkondaan, Kokkuvil and Pillaiyaradi have identified and named the perpetrators as Sri Lanka army personnel, including an officer. But so far neither has a Police investigation been conducted nor legal proceedings instituted against those responsible for the massacre.[9]
1995 - Navaly Church bombing
Navaly Church massacre when sixty five Tamil refugees were killed and 150 injured when the Sri Lankan Airforce dropped multiple bombs on a church and surrounding grounds being used to shelter the refugees. Eventually this number would rise to 125 dead as many injured victims succumbed to their wounds later [10]. The Church of St. Peter and Paul in Navaly had earlier been designated as a refuge by the government and Tamil civilians had been encouraged to take shelter there.[11].The Sri Lankan Airforce claimed this to be collateral damage resulting from its lack of precision munitions.[citation needed]
1995 - Nagerkovil central school bombing
Nagerkovil central school massacre happenedd on 22nd September 1995, during ongoing military operations, the Sri Lankan Air Force bombed the Nagerkovil Central School on the Jaffna peninsula. This resulted in the immediate death of 40 Tamil civilians, of which 34 were elementary school age children, over 150 others were injured, and many more eventually succumbed to their wounds [12].
1996 - Kumarapuram massacre
Kumarapuram massacre took place at the Tamil village of Kumarapuram in the district of Trincomalee on 11 Februrary 1996. According to several survivors interviewed by Amnesty International, 24 Tamil civilians, including 13 women and seven children below the age of 12, were killed by Sri Lankan Army soldiers from the 58th Mile Post and Dehiwatte army camps, accompanied by Home Guards from Dehiwatte. [13].
Photos
2006 - Allaipiddy massacres
Allaipiddy massacres is a series of massacres starting on May 13, 2006. A total of thirteen Tamil civilians were killed in a spate of incidents on Kayts Island, a small islet off the northwestern coast of the Jaffna Peninsula that is strictly controlled by the Sri Lanka Navy, which has a major base there. Amnesty International[14] has received credible reports that Sri Lanka Navy personnel and armed cadres affiliated with the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, a Tamil political party that is opposed to the LTTE, were present at the scene of the killings.[15].
Photos
2006 - Mannar massacres
2006 Mannar massacres is a series of unfolding massacres all attributed to the Sri Lankan millitary forces.
Church attack
Survivors and witnesses of attack accused Sri Lankan Army for storming and then indiscriminately shooting and lobbing grenades inside the church where hundreds of Tamils were taking shelter[16]. The shootings killed five people in the village and injured over forty, four of these were Tamil fishermen found shot execution style still clutching their identification cards.[17] While many witnesses implicate Sri Lankan government forces, the Sri Lankan government says the responsibility for the casualities lies with Tamil rebels and denies accusations that it deliberately targeted civilians.[citation needed]
Murder of family
A family of four including two children were massacred in the village of Vankalai by the Sri Lankan millitary.[18]
2006 - Murder of Trincomalee students
Five Tamil high school students playing by the beach were briefly detained and then shot dead by the members of the Special Task Force, a paramilitary commando unit of the Sri Lankan military. The official inquiry into this incident is still undergoing and STF personnel have been questioned [19] however thus far no progress has been reported in apprehending the culprits [20]. The only witness who came forward in this case is also a target of threats to his safety by some elements of the Sri Lankan security forces. Human rights groups have called on the government to provide adequate protection for the witness[21].
See also
References
- ^ Piyadasa, L. (1986). Sri Lanka: the Holocaust and After. Zed Books. ISBN 0906334039.
- ^ Tambiah, Stanley (1984). Sri Lanka: Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226789527.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Myrdal, Gunnar (1968). Asian Drama: an Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations. Pantheon. ASIN B000E80DGO.
- ^ Wilson, A. Jeyaratnam (1989). The Break up of Sri Lanka: the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824812115.