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CFA enters into 2543 days today. |
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| 'Still' Speaks |
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| Hero's day Statement |
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Commendable Quote | |
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 Europe which has a total population of 800 million is made up of 45 language based nation states. South Asia which has a total population of one billion, (1000 million) is comprised of four states. Who is preventing and therefore benefiting by limiting new nation-states in South Asia?
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| December HR Release |
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Shelling in Manalaru injures five civiliansShelling by SLA stationed in Manalru, yesterday around 12.00noon, injured five civilians. more
Lest we forget - civilians massacres from 1974 till 2001The human rights situation in the Northeast of the island of Ceylon presents an interesting case study on how to successfully black out the most serious human rights violations by a State against a people. The black out has been successful even in the sophisticated information era of print, radio and visual media operating internationally and from Colombo. A glaring and undeniable aspect of the State sponsored human rights violation is the large scale massacres of Tamils in the Northeast. Some of them are so spectacular that they are etched in the Tamil psyche. Prior to the signing of the ceasefire agreement in February 2002, there have been more than 150 such massacres. What follows is a brief description of around 50 massacres in chronological order.A full report of 115 of these massacres that was released by NESoHR can be downloaded here: @@file1@@ Lest we forget - PDF version
Bindunuwewa massacre25 October 2000Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre was one of three centres run with substantial overseas funding to rehabilitate LTTE suspects and surrenders. On Oct 25th in 2000 a mob of Sinhalese stormed the camp and massacred the inmates while 60 police officers stationed that night to protect the inmates stood by. 28 inmates died and another 14 were seriously injured. more
Chemmani mass graves1996What is the fate of the civilians who disappeared during the six month period in the middle of 1996. more
Nagarkovil bombing22 May 19957 students were killed inside their class room. A further 13 students died in the hospital. more
Vayaloor massacre24 August 1985The elderly persons whom the army left in their chenas proceeded to the place where the men were slaughtered. Grief-stricken relatives went to Kumarankulam in tractor-driven trailers and brought the dead to our ancestral villages who were buried according to customary rituals. We lost all that we owned at Vayaloor. more
Kilinochchi town massacre1996-1998The families of those killed are today living in extreme poverty in the villages of Akkarayan, Mallavi, Jeyapuram and Puthukkidiyiruppu. more
Inginiyaala massacremore
Kalmunai massacre11.08.1990None of the 25 young men taken to the Karaithivu military camp have been seen since. In total 62 people were killed in these two days by the Sri Lankan military. more
Kokkadichcholai-91 massacre12.06.1991My elder sisters baby was 12 days old. My elder sister said we should close the door and all stay inside. I said we should take the little baby and go to the mill as that was the direction everyone else was running in. So we took the baby and ran there. The mill was full. more
Kiliveddi massacre1985 Member of parliament Thangathurai made a statement about the incident to the Daily Mirror paper. It was reported widely in the international media. Thangathurai was accused of false propaganda for making the statement. The then Minister of Defense ordered his arrest. Thangathurai heard this and escaped to India.more
Kumarapuram massacre11 February 1996 26 people were killed in this massacre. 22 were seriously injured. Many of the injured who died without medical care were recorded as deaths by natural causes.more
Madhu church massacremore
Thiraikerny massacremore
Saththurukkondan massacre09 September 1990There, the women were raped, and their breasts were cut off. 68 children, among them five babies were also tortured and murdered. 205 people were killed in this massacre. more
Pannankandy massacre05 July 1997 He was then forced to bend over the short barrier wall of the well so that the front half of his body was hanging into the well and the back half was outside. His body was then cut and then pushed into the well.more
Navali church massacre09 July 1995 Vaithiyalingam Kamalanathan, lost his wife on that day. The incident as described by him is as follows:more
Kilaly massacreAugust 1992On 02.01.1993, at 8 pm, 4 passenger boats developed engine trouble and drifted away from the small convoy of boats traversing the lagoon. Navy boats surrounded the four drifting boats and then naval personnel had boarded them, opened fire indiscriminately, hacked and stabbed the passengers and set one boat on fire. more
Vankalai church massacre06 January 1986Rev Mary Bastion, he came out in his robes with his prayer beads and begged them to stop shooting. The priest was shot. The military dragged his body to the front of the sisters residents. People hiding in the first story of the church saw this. Many of other civilians who were running in fear were also shot and killed. more
Mandaithivu disappearances23.08.1990, 25.09.1990All the families speak of the presence of Douglas Devananda, the leader of the militant EPDP group that has now become a political party, and the late army commander Denzil Kobbekaduwa at the site. Families also speak of the assurance given by Douglas Devananda to the families that their children will be safe. more
Chundikulam-94 massacre18 February 1994Ten fishermen died that day in the Sri Lankan Navy attack. Only three bodies were recovered on that day and the other seven bodies washed ashore the following day. After this the fishermen stopped going to the sea. The families were pushed further into poverty as a result. more
Poththuvil massacre30 July 1990Young men and women among the refugees at the Poththuvil Methodist Mahavidhyalayam were forced to go out for work to support their families. 12 of them were arrested by the military and the Muslim groups and taken to the Poththuvil Police Station. Those arrested were taken to the open space near the Police Station few at a time and were burnt alive. more
Eastern University massacre23 May 1990226 people were killed in these days by the Sri Lankan military. more
Vantharamulai-90 massacre05, 23, September 1990People who ran to Vantharamulai University in fear of the SLA were immediately received and consoled. I was one of the people that helped change this place into a refugee camp. Dr Vadivel Mohan also worked very hard to make this possible. more
Pullumalai massacre1983-1990From 1983 to 1990 the SLA, together with Singhalese mobs, tried over five times to destroy the village. Houses were burnt, wealth was robbed, massacres were organised. There are unbelievable accounts of the rapes and systematic killings that took place. Over 400 families disappeared. No international or local body has enquired into the fate of these 400 families. more
Eravur massacre10 October 1990"I just sat there thinking for some time. I could hear all the plane sounds. I saw the ladies sari just on the floor. I tore it in half. I tied it on my head and covered my face and neck. Outside the fire was burning above my head. There were arms, legs and heads everywhere. But I had to keep going. So I just climbed over all of them and left." more
Siththandy massacre20, 27 July 1990In the same month, again, the Sri Lankan military took 57 young men after rounding up the village. The young men were taken to the adjacent villages where they were shot and killed and put in mass graves and burnt. more
Veeramunai massacre20 June 1990 The military selected every male over the age of 15 from the temple. 69 young men, all civilian youths, were arrested in front of their relatives. The arrested men were taken to the Sammanthurai Marjan school where they were tortured. 50 men died and their bodies were taken to the forest nearby and burnt.more
Valvai-89 massacre2, 3, 4 August 1989 I am from Valvai. At the time of the pogrom I lived in my home in Valvai with my relatives. All my belongings including my motor car were destroyed. My relatives who came to my home for protection were shot in front of my wife and children while they begged not to be shot.more
Jaffna Hospital massacre21, 22 October 198768 people were killed in this attack which included three doctors and two nurses. Their bodies were taken to the hospital morgue and burnt by the Indian military. Jaffna Teaching Hospital commemorates 21 and 22 October to remember those killed on these two dates in 1987. more
Kokkuvil massacremore
Alvai temple shelling29 May 1987 The temple was filled with around 10,000 people from the villages of Alvai, Inparuddi, Thikkam, Vathiri, Nelliadi, Thampasiddi, Puloly and Karaveddi. Since the temple was big with broad corridors it was able to accommodate all the people. On that fatal day the temple was overflowing with people.more
Kokuvil Hindu college massacre24 October 1987 Unable to hold proper funeral and burial or cremation due to the prevailing situation the dead bodies were buried in the college playground.more
Paddithidal massacre26 April 1987The military opened fire at those praying. They burnt the people still struggling after the shooting. All 16 members of the family were killed. Three babies and several children were among those killed. One family member, Konan Ulaganatan escaped death. more
Adampan massacre12 October 1986I was sleeping at home and heard blasting noises around 4am. We woke up to see what had happened. There was a helicopter in the air. We started running and were surrounded by bomb blasts. We ran to a nearby Muslim village. more
Kokkadichcholai-87 massacre28 January 1987On 29.01.1987, Sri Lankan military began its attack on the village and continued it for three days. The military entered the village from Kondavedduvan, Kaluvanchikudi, Vellaveli, and Kallandy camps in military trucks and helicopters. They took people aged from 14 to 40 and killed more than 200 of them. more
Thanduvan bus massacre17 July 1986On the fatal day of 17.07.1988, many people were in the bus connecting Mullaithivu to Nedunkerni. On that day the Nedunkerni area was cordoned off and searched by the Sri Lankan military under the command of Gen Kobbekaduwa. Supporting and protecting the cordon and search was a military helicopter belonging to the Sri Lankan Air Force. more
Thambalakamam-86 massacre1985 and 26 June 1986Sinhala home guards entered a rice grinding mill inThampalakamam and took all the workers including the wife of the owner. The owner was spared. The bodies of those taken were recovered in the forest nearby. 34 people died in this incident. more
Udumbankulam massacre19 February 1985On the night, the Army which came from Kondavedduvan camp rounded up all the people working in the paddy field. Then they started shooting the men. They raped five of us. We pleaded with the soldiers not to do anything to us. But they all raped us, in line in the paddy field itself. As we couldn't bear-up the pain, gradually we lost consciousness. more
Mandaithivu sea massacre10 June 1986Sri Lankan Navy men wearing black clothes approached the fishermen who were in the sea. The fishermen raised their hands to show that they are civilians. However, the Navy men attacked and tortured the fishermen before murdering them. The eyes of some of the fishermen were dug out. Stomachs of some fishermen were cut open. more
Kilinochchi Railway Station massacre25 January 1986As the passengers were boarding the train, one of the military soldiers opened fire at the passengers. Frightened people started to run in all directions. People hid inside the railway station and inside the train. At the end of the shooting, 12 people were dead including four women and two children. more
Kumuthini Boat massacre15 May 1985Kumuthini is today a symbol for all Jaffna islets. She symbolizes the insecurity that people in the islets feel by the Sri Lankan Navy occupation. Her sight today reminds people of a lone mother who had lost her children. more
Peruveli refugee camp massacre15 July 1986They shot and took away about twenty five bodies on a vehicle. The bodies were returned three days later. They had poured acid on their face - we could not recognize them. All the wells and pits had bodies dumped in them. We could not count the bodies that day because there were bodies everywhere. more
Vaddakandal massacre30 January 1985, March 1985At the school there were about 250 children studying. They dragged the principle and all the teachers out, tortured and shot them in front of the villagers. They were all asked to stand in a line when they were shot. A few people escaped. I was one of them. 18 people were shot there. more
Piramanthanaru massacre02 December 1985In the early morning on 2nd October 1985, five helicopters landed on the bund of the tank with around 200 SLA personal. Some of the army hid in the bushes and captured and tied up passing villagers until 3pm in the afternoon. Others went into the Piramanthanaru Village and shot people. more
Mulliyavalai massacre16 January 1985A while later military vehicles started moving towards the Mullaithivu town. The relatives stared into the military vehicles looking for their loves ones. When their relatives did not return even the next day, the families, accompanied by a local Justice of Peace, Thiagaraja, went to the military camp in Mullaithivu. more
Sampalthoddam massacre1984The SLA then kicked the bodies that have fallen to see if they were still alive, those who made any noise in pain were shot again. One person fell to the ground in shock and was not hit by any of the bullets. Two of the men who were shot fell on top of him and died. He was thus lying in a pool of blood. more
Cheddikulam massacremore
Blood soaked Mannar04 December 1984 The military burnt 15 men alive who were previously arrested by them. The military also arrested 30 more people who were traveling on the road in front of their camp and burnt them alive as well. People in the Mannar town were able to observe the smoke arising from the 45 burning bodies.more
Othiyamalai massacre01 December 1984On 2nd December 1984, 32 people were massacred here. My father and five of my uncles were killed. Around 5 or 5:30 in the morning, the SLA came to our village. We were small children then. We only know what people told us, we don't remember much. My father was listening to the radio. It was only when they caught him that we realized they were the SLA. more
1983 communal pogromIn a brief address the President blamed the violence and destruction exclusively on the reaction of "the Sinhala people" to the movement for the establishment of a separate Tamil state, and announced the Cabinet decision to bring in what in the event became the Sixth Amendment to the country's constitution.more
Chunnakam Police station massacre28 March 1984On 28.03.1984, Sri Lankan military arrived tanks and jeeps at the Chunnakam market and the bus stop and started opening fire at the people crowded in these two places. Eight civilians were killed and about 50 were injured. The military set fire to the market and many shops were burnt down. more
Chunnakam market massacre28 March 1984On 28.03.1984, Sri Lankan military arrived tanks and jeeps at the Chunnakam market and the bus stop and started opening fire at the people crowded in these two places. Eight civilians were killed and about 50 were injured. The military set fire to the market and many shops were burnt down. more
Tamil research conference massacre (10.01.1974)10 January 197410 January was being celebrated as the final day of the conference. The last item was speeches made by experts in Tamil language about the greatness of the language and the culture based on it. Prof Naina Mohamad from Tamilnadu in India was delivering the final speech. At that instant, the police lead by the Deputy Inspector of Police for Jaffna, Chandrasekara, started to attack the people at the conference. The police also opened fire. Nine civilians were killed, the stages were destroyed. The same Inspector of Police Chandrasekara was later promoted to the post of Inspector of Police by the then Prime Minister Srimavo Bandaranayaka. more
1977 communal pogromThe Sansoni Commission investigated the 1977 communal violence and submitted its report in 1980. The Sansoni commission reported that the police acted irresponsibly during the violence. Sansoni report said that more than 300 civilians were killed during this pogrom. However, statistics collected by other non-governmental organizations put the number killed at more than 1500.more
1981 communal pogromHis house was burnt by the Sinhala thugs. Yogeswaran in a statement published in India Today of June 1981 said that those who burnt down his house were Sinhalese. The Jaffna library was burnt the day after the above arson. Rev Fr Thaveethu, who watched the Jaffna library burning from the second storey of the Bishops House died of heart attack on the spot.more
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