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Throughout the world thousands of people are in prison because of their beliefs. Many areheld without charge or trial. Torture and executions are widespread. In many countries men,women and children have disappeared” after being taken into official custody. Still others

have been put to death without any pretence of legality: selected and killed by governments andtheir agents.

These abuses—taking place in countries of widely differing ideologies—demand an internationalresponse. The protection of human rights is a universal responsibility, transcending the boundariesof nation, race and belief. This is the fundamental principle upon which the work of AmnestyInternational is based.

This briefing is part of Amnesty International’s worldwide campaign for the international protectionof human rights.

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement independent of any government, politicalpersuasion or religious creed. It plays a specific role in the international protection of humanrights:

— it seeks the release of prisoners of conscience. These are people detained for theirbeliefs, colour, sex, ethnic origin, language or religion who have not used oradvocated violence;

— it works for /lir and prompt trials for all political prisoners;— it opposes the death penalty and torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment of all prisoners without reservation.Amnesty International is impartial. It does not support or oppose any government or politicalsystem, nor does it support or oppose the views of the prisoners whose rights it seeks toprotect. It is concerned solely with the protection of the human rights involved in each case,regardless of the ideology of the government or the beliefs of its victims.Amnesty International. as a matter of principle, condemns the torture and execution of prisonersby anyone. including opposition groups. Governments have the responsibility for dealingwith such abuses, acting in conformity with international standards for the protection of humanrights.

Amnesty International does not grade governments according to their record on human rights:instead of attempting comparisons it concentrates on trying to end the specific violations ofhuman rights in each case.Amnesty International has an active worldwide membership, open to anyone who supportsits goals. Through its network of members and supporters Amnesty International takes upindividual cases, mobilizes public opinion and seeks improved international standards forthe protection of prisoners.

Information about prisoners and human rights violations emanates from AmnestyInternational’s Research Department in London. No section, group or member is expectedto provide information on its own country. and no section. group or member has anyresponsibility tbr action taken or statements issued by the international organization concerningits own country.

Amnesty International’s work is based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.The organization has formal relations with the United Nations Economic and Social Council(ECOSOC); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); theCouncil of Europe; the Organization of African Unity and the Organization of American States.

Cover photograph: The body of a young man reportedly killed by Sri Lankan security forces inHakmana, 1989

SRI LANKA

amnestyinternational

briefing

Amnesty International Publications1 Easton Street

London WCIX 8DJUnited Kingdom

First Published September 1990Al Index: ASA 37/20/90

ISBN: 0 86210 185 9

© Copyright Amnesty International Publications. Original language: English. All rights reserved. No part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

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SRI LANKA Is situated in theIndian Ocean off the southerntip of india and comprises onelarge and several small islands.Known as Ceylon until 1972, itgained independence from theUnited Kingdom in 1948. It has25 administrative districtsin eight provinces, each withan elected Provincial Council.

A presidential form of govern.ment was introduced under theConstitution of September 1978.

The Constitution provides for aunicameral parliament as thesupreme legislative body, itsmembers being elected by asystem of modified proportionalrepresentation. Executive powersare vested in the president, whois head of state. The president is

elected for a term of six years andis eligible for re-election.

Population: 16.5 million. Over70 per cent of Sri Lankans areSinhalese and about 18 per centare Tamil. Most Sinhalese areBuddhist, while most Tamils areHindu, but there are also signifi.

cant Christian (mostly RomanCatholic) and Muslim minorities.The “wet zone” in the southwest,which includes the capital,Colombo, and most of the upcountry has a dense rural population. Some of the “dry zone”areas are fairly sparselypopulated.

Language: Sinhala and Tamil.Currency: Rupees (US$1 =39.27 rupees).

NEP —

NCP —

NWP —

UVA —

SAB —

CP —

WP —

SP —

Northeastern ProvinceNorth Central ProvinceNorth Western ProvinceProvince of UvaProvince of SabaragamuwaCentral ProvinceWestern ProvinceSouthern Province

Sri Lanka in profile

Provinces of Sri Lanka

In this report the south” refers to all provincesexcept for Northeastern Province.

Sri Lanka, showing administrative districts

‘11

s•s •.

-. -.

fr:

tin’ roadside in Tanga//c 1989: they heir reported/v victims of p/nine/allies Jmce.s

man rights crisisnan rights violations in Sriiore than seven years againstion to the government. “Disexecutions in particular have‘equency since mid-1983. Foroncentrated in the northeastte 1970s Tamil militants haveiggle to establish a separateand early 1990, however, fol1 opposition in the Sinhalai Lanka (referred to in this

powers to arrest suspected opponents of the governmentand detain them incommunicado without charge or trialfor long periods.

Under these conditions, reports of gross human rights violations by Sri Lankan government forces — and of politicalviolence more generally — reached a peak in 1989. In thesouth thousands of people “disappeared” or were victimsof extrajudicial execution. These were committed byuniformed members of Sri Lankan security forces and plainclothes “death squads” which have been drawn from thesecurity forces and have sometimes been connected to noli

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2SRI LANKA BRIEFING

T he extraordinary powers introduced by the Sri Lankan

Government in the face of armedopposition have provided the veryconditions under which detaineesare most likely to be tortured, todie in custody and to ‘disappear”. During some periodsEmergency Regulations have alsobeen issued to permit the security forces to dispose of bodieswithout post-mortem or inquest.thereby enabling them more readily to cover up their commissionof deliberate and unlawfulkillings.

Despite the introduction ofthese far-reaching security provisions, the authorities were unableto suppress armed Tamilseparatists based in northern SriLanka. Nevertheless, these powers were retained — despite clearevidence that they had contributed to extensive human rightsviolations in the north — and wereused in the south when Sinhalesecritics and opponents of thegovernment launched a particularly violent campaign of armedopposition. As a result, thousandsof people “disappeared” in detention or were tortured or extra-judicially executed.

The victims included not onlysuspected ‘subversives”, but alsoknown members and supporters oflawful opposition parties, some ofwhom are said to have been arrested on the instructions of individual members of parliamentbelonging to the ruling UNP. Indeed, the background of government responses to the often brutal violence by armed oppositiongroups appears to have been usedat times as a screen to suppresslegitimate opposition to thegovernment: “disappearances”and extrajudicial executions continued to be reported in 1990, wellafter the government claimed ithad crushed the JVP.

The government’s willingness

ARMED opposition presentsgovernments and security forceswith particular difficulties.Governments bear the responsibility of protecting theircitizens from violent crime andfor bringing those responsible tojustice. In doing so, however,they must ensure that fundamental human rights, particularly the right to life and theright not to be subjected to torture, are respected.

Amnesty International as amatter of principle condemnsthe killing and torture of

to condone the actions of the security forces and government officials, even when they have committed gross abuses, was underlined in December 1988 when theIndemnity (Amendment) Act waspassed days before a presidentialelection was to take place. Thisretroactively gives immunity fromprosecution to all members of thesecurity forces, members of thegovernment and government servants involved in enforcing lawand order between 1 August 1977and 16 December 1988, providing that their actions were carriedout “in good faith” and in thepublic interest. The act also indemnifies any other person whocan use the defence of havingacted “in good faith” under theauthority of a government official.

Even before this indemnitylegislation was introduced, the

prisoners by opposition groups,and has consistently condemnedsuch acts by the JVP, the LTTEand other armed oppositiongroups in Sri Lanka. Yet it is inprecisely such contexts of armedopposition that Amnesty International believes fundamentalhuman rights need to be protected with extra vigilance.

government’s persistent failure toact against security forces abuseshad raised major questions aboutits commitment to or concern forhuman rights, despite the existence of a chapter in Sri Lanka’sConstitution protecting fundamental human rights. For example,the great majority of the 680 ormore “disappearances” recordedby Amnesty International in thenortheast between 1979 andmid-1987, when the Sri Lankansecurity forces were in the area.remain unexplained. Indeed,to Amnesty International’sknowledge, not one member ofthe Sri Lankan security forces wasprosecuted for abusing humanrights during those years, despitethe widespread violations whichoccurred in the northeast.

Only in the very few cases inthe south in which torture or ex

The principles of necessityand proportionality lie at thecore of international standardsregulating the use of force bylaw enforcement personnel. Theuse of force beyond that necessary in the circumstances to prevent crime or to carry out thelawful arrest of suspectedoffenders is not permitted. The

trajudicial execution by the security forces received widespreadpublicity did investigations resultin the prosecution of securityforces allegedly responsible, andin none of these cases had the trials been completed by June 1990.

Following the crushing of theJVP by the beginning of 1990,and the withdrawal of the IPKF inMarch, a relative calm set in. InFebruary some Emergency Regulations which had facilitatedabuses were withdrawn and fromMarch there were fewer reportsof human rights violations in thesouth. Two other important developments were the government’s invitation to the International Committee of the Red Crossto visit Sri Lanka. which wastaken up in October 1989, and itsinvitation to the United NationsWorking Group on Enforcedand Involuntary Disappearancesto visit the island, which is expected to be taken up in 1990.

in the northeast, however,reports of new abuses committedby the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE) were received inApril 1990. The LTTE had takencontrol of the northeast after theIndian troops had withdrawn andwere reported to be holdingprisoners incommunicado andcommitting summary executions.In early June, after new reportsthat the LTTE had taken severalhundred Sri Lankan policeofficers captive in the east, heavyfighting broke out betweengovernment forces and the LTTE.

In order that there is no continuation of the gross human rightsviolations that the country has experienced in recent years, it is imperative that the truth about eachof the thousands of reported extrajudicial executions and “disappearances” should be uncovered,that those responsible are broughtto justice, and that effectivesafeguards are implemented. El

deliberate killing of unarmeddemonstrators or of unarmedsuspects as an alternative toarrest, detention and trial, forexample, violates the prohibition on the arbitrary deprivation of life. This has often beenthe case in recent years in SriLanka.

in addition, the use of excessive force by governments hasfrequently resulted in the escalation of internal conflict ratherthan its limitation. This has alsobeen evident in Sri Lanka overthe years.

Introduction

A Sri Lanka Army patrol, Tangalle 1989

Government responsibility

SRI LANKA BRIEFING 3

M any thousands of peoplewere killed in southern Sri

Lanka in 1988 and 1989 —

perhaps 30,000, according tosome observers. A significantproportion occurred in the secondhalf of 1989 when governmentsecurity forces and so-calledvigilante groups apparently working on their behalf were responsible for a mounting toll of cxtrajudicial executions and ‘disappearances”. This period also sawa rising number of attacks andkillings by the JVP, to which thegovernment attributed a total of6,517 killings between 1987 andmid-March 1990.

Following the reimposition ofthe state of emergency in June1989, government security forcesmade little attempt to conceal theirresort to widespread murder. Pilesof bodies were dumped openly byroadsides, in fields and incemeteries; others were throwninto rivers. Many bodies weremutilated or burned beyondrecognition.

Towards the end of the year,mutilated bodies of JVP suspects,many of them apparently captivesat the time of their killing, were

reported to have been left hanging in central points in Kandytown, and in the surrounding villages severed limbs were seenhanging from trees.

The government persistentlydenied that it sanctioned illegalkillings by the security forces.claiming that security forces personnel only killed in combat.However, most of the inquiriesthat the government promised intospecific instances of alleged extrajudicial executions by securityforces personnel during 1989failed to produce any results

which were made public.In November the government

announced that its forces had captured and killed the central leadership of the JVP. However, the

attributed to “pro-governmentvigilantes” in the press, but othersbelieved members of the securityforces were responsible.

Extrajudicial executions

Extrajudicial executions occurredin several contexts: defencelessprisoners were deliberately killed:unarmed demonstrators and curfew violators were shot dead: people in the vicinity of atrocities attributed to the JVP were killed inacts of reprisal: and individualswere targeted for assassination —

including JVP suspects, membersof other opposition parties, journalists. lawyers and witnesses toviolations committed by the security forces.

Reports were first received inearly 1988 of alleged extrajudicialexecutions of suspected JVP supporters. The victims were mostlyyoung men. The killings continued throughout 1988 and weremost prevalent in SouthernProvince.

The South

‘Rather than finding measures to reduce the violence,the government has sought to wipe

out the JVP with widespread repression.’Recent member of the Sri Lankati security forces

killings continued: on 20 and 21December 1989. for example, between 140 and 200 bodies of menaged between 18 and 35 werereportedly found on roadsides andbeaches in Hambantota District.Some had been decapitated; somewere left hanging from trees and In some cases there was suffilamp-posts: most were naked and cient information to establish thatsome had been burned on tyres. those killed had been in custody.

The killings were widely For example, X (the name cannot

The bodies of 24 young men, blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs, were found near Kandy town in October 1989. They were reportedlykilled by a death squad’ in retaliation for the killing by the JVP two days earlier of the family of a police officer. PppfruilReuter

4 SRI LANKA BRIEFING

be revealed for security reasons)had been arrested at a Buddhisttemple, Giriyaya Raja Maha Viharaya, Hambantota District, bythe air force on 1 December 1987and held at an army camp. Twoweeks later a relative was told atthe camp that X had been transferred to Hambantota. On 18January 1988 his body was foundon the Hungama road, Hambantota District.

Some extrajudicial executionswere reportedly committed by

AMNESTY INTERNATIONALuses the word “disappearance”to signify forced disappearance.The victims are not simply missing but are believed to have beendetained by government agents,who then deny or refuse to acknowledge the detentions and donot disclose the fate and whereabouts of the person concerned.

Extrajudicial executions areunlawful and deliberate killingscarried out by governments, orwith their complicity. AmnestyInternational uses the term todistinguish these political killings from “judicial” executions,that is, the carrying out of death

uniformed members of the security forces. Others were committed by armed men wearing civiliandress who the governmentclaimed were vigilantes” actingoutside its control, but who insome cases were recognized asmembers of the security forces or,sometimes, as the bodyguards ofpoliticians from the ruling party.

The regular attribution of political killings to “pro-governmentvigilante groups” is believed tohave begun in March 1989 when

sentences that have been imposed by a court.

Extrajudicial executions arealso distinct from deaths resulting from the use of reasonableforce in law enforcement andfrom killings not forbidden under international humanitarianlaw in armed conflict.

“Disappearances” and extrajudicial executions are frequently connected. Often, victims of “disappearance” are believed to have been secretly extrajudicially executed, withtheir bodies then dumped orburned: the “disappearance”disguises the killing.

the “Black Cats” were heldresponsible for numerous killingsin Anuradhapura District. Following this, apparently new“vigilante groups” proliferated,

“I heard them cry out,‘Please let me go!

Don’t kill me!’Then I heard shots.”

such as the “People’s RedRevolutionary Army”, “Eaglesof the Central Hills”, “Scorpion”and “Red Dragon”. Posters wereleft by bodies in the name of suchgroups claiming responsibility forthe deaths and sometimes including threats. This practice echoedthat used by the JVP.

Even when posters were not leftat the scene, security forces andgovernment spokespersons oftenattributed the killings to “vigi]antegroups” before any investigationscould take place. Yet there isoverwhelming evidence to indicate the participation of membersof the regular securily forces insuch killings, including eyewitness reports.

Hundreds of people are alsoreported to have been abductedand killed by armed men wearingcivilian clothes. Again there isstrong evidence to support thesuggestion, widely believed in SriLanka, that in many cases thesearmed men were members of the

regular security forces, sometimesdirectly linked to senior membersof the ruling party.

Prisoners killedHundreds of prisoners have

been killed in custody or withinhours of their arrest or abduction.In some cases, prisoners havebeen deliberately shot dead. Ayoung prisoner witnessed such anincident:

“One of the prisoners of thegroup that had just been broughtin, who was about my age, wasbrought into the office. inspectorX shot him with a T56 in front ofme.... One of the army officerswho brought him said, ‘He is aJVP supporter.’ I was asked tocarry the body outside withanother prisoner. This happened[justi before the presidential elections on 14 December 1988.”

The same prisoner describedhow later that day he had heardthe sound of many more prisonersbeing shot:

“I heard them cry out, ‘Pleaselet me go! Don’t kill me!’ ThenI heard shots.... I later found outthat on election day, bodies weredumped all around the area. Thebody of the prisoner who was shotin front of me was seen.. .nearMatara with other bodies. Theyhad been burned, but in his caseonly the lower part of his bodywas burned.”

There were also reports frompeople who had seen bodies ofpeople who were clearly prisonersbefore they were killed. One person described the following:

“At the village reservoir I twicesaw people’s bodies, They hadbeen killed with their hands tied,blindfolded and shot through thehead. One day there were fourbodies. The next day there werethree.... The bodies had not beenburned, but nobody recognizedthem. People believed they werefrom another area.”

Some prisoners have reportedly been set on fire while alive. Inone account, a person who hadbeen arrested by police in Gampaha District in March 1989 wassaid to have been “severely beaten by the police and set on firewhile fully conscious. Hemanaged to escape but since villagers were afraid to take him toa hospital, he died by the roadsideof burns a few hours later.”

Other prisoners have beenkilled soon after their abduction.The killing of 12 out of 13 prisoners who had been abducted fromNittambuwa came to light after.

Sri Ltmka Army soldiers confront a group of Buddhist monks protesting against the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in

Colo,nbo, July 1989.

Extrajudicial executionand ‘disappearance’

SRI LANKA BRIEFING 5

M. A. Wijesingheone youth escaped and describedwhat happened (see below).

The victims of extrajudicialexecutions have also includedBuddhist monks killed in temples.A monk described such an incident, which happened in September or October 1989:

“A group of men armed withT56 guns came to the temple.They were not in uniform but Ithink they were from the army because they had T56 guns. Theykilled all the five monks in the

‘I was going madthose days, seeingso many bodies.’

temple and threw their bodies intothe temple, which they set onfire.... I was going mad thosedays. seeing so many bodies.”

Suspects killedSome reports indicate that units

within the security forces, working in plain clothes, have operated a policy of deliberately killingJVP suspects instead of arrestingthem, even when the suspects areunarmed and offer no resistance.

In one case, a plainclothes

ON 27 February 1990, 13 people were abducted from theirhomes in Nittambuwa, Gampaha District, by masked gunmenwho said they were members ofthe security forces. Theprisoners were driven to a jungle clearing, where they wereshot. Their naked, charred bodies were found the next morning after one youth, who had escaped with gunshot wounds,reported the incident.

Among the victims was ayoung woman: according to thesurvivor, several of the male

police squad apparently mistakenly killed M.A. Wijesinghe (alsoknown as Ranjith) in December1989. He had been putting uplegitimate posters for the NavaSanta Samaja Pakshava (NSSP),New Socialist Party, an organization whose members have beenamong JVP targets.

Wijesinghe and a colleaguewere followed by a plainclothespolice unit as they left the towncentre having put up their posters.and were shot in a quiet street.Wijesinghe died: his colleaguewas injured.

Soon after, a police superintendent contacted NSSP officials andadmitted that police personnelwere responsible. He reportedlysaid that the shooting had been amistake and that the police had assumed that the posters were JVPpropaganda.

Facing trialIn some cases, prisoners who

had been charged and were facing trial were killed. One example was Lasantha Wijewardene.the principal suspect for the murderofthe UNP chairman in 1987.

In February 1989 he testifiedbefore Colombo High Court thata statement which he had madehad been extracted under torture.He reportedly alleged that he wastaken to Homagarna police barracks where he was undressed.hung from a beam and beaten onhis heels. The police were alsosaid to have trampled on his legs.

His wounds were reportedly leftuntreated for several months andwere festering at the time of hiscourt appearance. The judgeinstructed that LasanthaWijewardene be taken to hospital.Later, while in prison awaiting

prisoners had been forced tosexually abuse her. Those whorefused were beaten.

The Criminal InvestigationDepartment was assigned to investigate the killings and 14police officers were subsequent

ly arrested.In April the government an

nounced that it would compensate the relatives of the victims,10 of whom had been identified.By June it was still not knownwhether charges were to bebrought against the police personnel in detention.

Several reports have beenreceived of the arrest of relativesof suspects as substitutes for thewanted person. In some cases theyhave “disappeared”; in othersthey have been killed.

In July 1989. ftr example. sixmen in army uniform went to thehome of an army deserter. Theparents told them that their sonhad returned to the army. but thesoldiers did not believe them.When the soldiers threatened toshoot the family. another son saidthat he would go with them to savethe others. Two days later, theboy’s both was found in a reservoir not far from his home.

Several lawyers have beenkilled and more than 20 areknown to have been threatenedwith death if they continue to tilehabeas corpus petitions or fun—

Charitha Lankapura. a lawyerwho had filed numerous habea.scoipu.c petitions, was killed in Jul1989 at his boarding house inSlave Island. Colombo. Two gunmen in civilian clothes reportedly arrived in a van with severalother people and shot CharithaLankapura from an open windoss.

Soon after, Kanchana Abhayapala and Prins Gunasekara.lawyers who had worked closelywith Charitha Lankapura.received death threats from atelephofte caller who claimedresponsibility for the death of theircolleague. A few weeks later Kanchana Abhayapala was killed athis house by a gunman.

The killing of another lawyer.Sanath Karalliyadda. in October1989 is believed to have occurredbecause he had acted in the case

trial, he suffered from heart trouble and returned to hospital. InSeptember 1989 gunmen incivilian dress reportedly enteredthe hospital, told his bodyguardsto leave, and shot him as he layin bed. Those responsible havenot been found, to Amnesty International’s knowledge.

damental rights petitions. or continue to act on behalf of peopledescribed as “terrorist” suspectsby those who issued the threats.Witnesses who have testifiedagainst the security forces at inquiries have also been threatenedand killed, apparently to preventthem from testifying in court.

Nittambuwa killings

6SRI LANKA BRIEFING

of a schoolboy who had been shotdead by police during demonstrations at Teldeniya in June 1989.A magisterial inquiry into theschoolboy’s death resulted incriminal charges being broughtagainst seven police officers.

Sanath Karalliyadda was takenfrom his home on 26 October by

two or three armed men, one ofwhom was reported to be wearing army uniform. His relatives.who had witnessed his abduction,and made inquiries at the localpolice station, found the bodies of

Sanath Karalliyadda and fourothers the following morningabout haIfa mile from their home.

He had two gunshot wounds in his

head. On the day of his funeral

posters appeared in Teldeniya

warning people. especially law

yers, that they faced death if they’

attended. They were signed “roth

inakara”, ‘Red Dragon” — a

“vigilante” group in the Kandy

area.Several other people connected

with the case were killed or

threatened with death. ParakramaRanasinghe and at least one other

lawyer who had appeared at the

inquiry went into hiding after be

ing repeatedly sought out by

groups of armed men wearing

civilian clothes. In addition, two

eye-witnesses to the shooting of

the schoolboy — Sena Rankothge

and Edward Kulatunge — were

reportedly taken from their offices

by a group of armed men in plain

clothes and driven away in aPajero jeep without number

plates. They were released short

ly afterwards from an army camp.but about two weeks later theywere again abducted from theiroffices by armed men. Their bodies were later found about threemiles away with gunshot wounds.

At least two others who gaveevidence against the police arebelieved to have been killed:Bandula Ekanayake, who wasabducted and subsequently“disappeared’’; and a tradernamed Jayakody, who was shotdead by two people who came by

motor-bike to the estate where heworked.

Reprisal killingsMany killings by’ the security

forces have followed the commis

sion of violent criminal acts by theJVP against security’ forces per

sonnel or their relatives. Reprisals

by killing took many different

forms: prisoners were sometimes

killed after JVP actions in the

area; in other cases, people in the

vicinity of a JVP attack were

arbitrarily dragged from their

houses and killed. In numerous in

stances when bodies were left by

the roadside, the security forces

said the killings had been commit

ted by ‘‘vigilante groups” in

reprisal for killings by the JVP.

In the second half of 1989.reports of such killings became

commonplace and were attributed to the security forces. Insome cases, witnesses had seenuniformed members of the secu

rity forces carry out such killingsor identified victims as people

who had last been seen in the custody of the security forces.

In one case, about 14 bodieswere found in an abandonedcemetery at Meegaswewa. nearEppawala. about 15 miles fromAnuradhapura, on 20 March1989. According to a Renterreport, the Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police (DIG) in North-Central Province said that a notesigned “Black Cats” found nearthe body said that the killings werea punishment for the followers ofRohana Wijeweera. leader of theJVP. Local people said the victimshad been seen in police custody atEppawala for up to two weeks.and believed they’ were killed inretaliation for a landmine explosion in Eppawala the previous daywhich killed three police officersand injured three others.

The largest single incidentknown to Amnesty Internationalinvolving what appear to have

been reprisal killings by the secu

rity forces took place in Kandy

District in mid-September 1989.

THE killing of Richard deZoysa, a well-known journalist,broadcaster and actor in SriLanka, attracted wide publicattention.

On 18 February 1990 sixarmed men arrived at hisColombo home in a jeep, believed by his mother to be apolice vehicle. One or two of themen wore police uniform; theothers were dressed in black.They threatened to kill Richardde Zoysa’s mother when sheasked to see their identity cards,stormed into the house and tookRichard de Zoysa from his bed.

His naked body was found thenext day in the sea offKoralawella beach at Moratuwa. A post-mortem performed

by the Judicial Medical Officer,Colombo South District, foundthat Richard de Zoysa had beenshot twice through the neck andhead at close range.

Immediately after Richard deZoysa’s abduction, relativesmade a complaint at Welikadepolice station and appealed togovernment authorities, butwere unable to trace his whereabouts. The Ministry of Defencedenied that the security forceswere involved in his abductionand killing, but before the bodywas found relatives and friendswere told otherwise.

The magisterial inquiry intoRichard de Zoysa’s death wasnot concluded by early June.

Death of a journalistmost unexpected time.” Herlawyer also received a threatwhich read: “If at a time whenattempts are being made to getfinancial aid for the country youact in a manner which will bringdishonour to the country in international forums, we will notdesist froni visiting you.. .with‘punishment’.” On 1 June DrSaravanamuttu told the niagistrate’s court that she had identified one of those who abducted her son as a Senior Superintendent of Police, Colombo,who she named. The magistrate

ordered the police to arrest theofficer and produce him beforethe court on 11 June, but theydid not and the case was postponed until July.

There was much speculationin Sri Lanka that Richard deZoysa’s murder was linked withthe “disappearance” the previous month of Lakshnian Perera.Lakshman Perera had produceda political satire. “Me Kauda?Mokada Karanne?”, “Who ishe? What is he doing?”, written by Richard de ZoYsa. Thisphrase had been used in reference to President Prensadasaduring the presidential electioncampaign in December 1988.However, the then Minister ot’Foreign Affairs said that “thekilling of Richard de Zoysaappeared to be an act done toembarrass the government ininternational circles”.

On 16 May 1990 an anonymous death threat was sentto his mother, Dr ManoraniSaravanamuttu, apparently todeter her from pressing for a

full inquiry into the murder ofher son. It said: “Mourn thedeath of’ your son. As a motheryou must do so. Any other stepswill result in your death at the

SRI LANKA BRIEFING 7

The victims were residents of villages apparently believed by thesecurity forces to be strongholdsof support for the JVP. On 14 and15 September the bodies of at least80 villagers from Menikhinna,Kundasala, Arangala and Mahawatte were reportedly foundburned or partly burned on roadsides, and about 20 bodies wererecovered from the Mahaweliriver.

Shortly before, on 13 September. about 16 relatives of members of the security forces hadbeen killed at Kundasia, apparently by the JVP. The subsequentkillings of villagers were attributed by the then DIG in Kandy District to the “Eagles of the CentralHills’’, a ‘vigilante’’ force.However, other reports, includingfrom eye-witnesses. suggest thatthese killings were committed bya joint force of army and policepersonnel, many of whom were inuniform.

It is alleged that the killings began between 3pm and 4pm on 14September, when the securityforces opened fire in the villages.Men, women and children wereshot. Many houses were burned.After the killings, members of thesecurity forces reportedlyreturned to the villages and tookbodies away in a truck. Somewere said to have been buried ina mass grave in Kandy cemetery.

electric shocks and burning, including of the penis; pulling outhair; and forcing chilli powderinto the anus, penis and mouth.

Several former detainees havedescribed a form of torture knownas dhartna chakra (wheel ofBuddha’s teaching) in which theywere stripped naked and tied in asquatting position. A pole wasthen passed under their kneesfrom which they were suspendedupside down. They were then rotated. causing injuries to theirarms and legs, and beaten.

Men and women prisoners havereportedly been raped and maleprisoners have said that they wereforced to sexually abuse womenprisoners.

One example of torture leadingto death was the much-publicizedcase of the lawyer WijedasaLiyanarachchi. He was arrestedby the police on 25 August 1988and died eight days later. A postmortem report detailed over 100injuries on his body, “consistentwith those seen in cases of policeassaults’’,

Among those tortured in detention have been Buddhist monks.A 24-year-old monk, who was arrested by police in March 1989and released after 12 days following the intervention of a memberof parliament, subsequentlydescribed his ordeal:

you are a dog.... We’ll hang youand kill you.’ They also threwchilli powder in my face, especially in my nose and eyes.”

‘Disappearances’

Thousands of people have “disappeared” in custody in southernSri Lanka in recent years after being detained by members of thesecurity forces. Many are believed to have been killed withina short period, their bodies beingdumped or secretly cremated.Most remain unaccounted forafter they “disappeared”.

In 1989 alone, more than 3,000people were initially reported tohave “disappeared” in the south,but the true figure is believed tobe substantially higher.

The great majority of the “disappeared” are young men. Students — especially those connected with student organizations suspected of links with the JVP —

have been at particular risk of arrest and “disappearance”. Buddhist monks are also among the“disappeared”, as are people arrested as substitutes for a wantedrelative. Many of the “disappeared” are from rural, poorcommunities which, for reasonsof economic and social status, arebelieved by the authorities to becollectively sympathetic to theJvp.

and threatened to kill those who

The difficulties faced by relatives of the “disappeared” havebeen heightened by the fear ofwitnesses to arrests to come forward and openly give evidence.The relatives of a young manreported to have been detained bythe army in April 1989 told Amnesty International that they hadvisited the camp where he was believed held and had seen the vehicle said to have been used totake him there. However, their attempts to see the young man wereunsuccessful. One of the relativescommented: “There are people in

town who had seen the incidentbut for the fear of being shot bythe army they never come forwardto give evidence.”

The pattern of “disappearances” in the south has differedin some respects from that established in the northeast since 1983as some of those whose arrest wasnot acknowledged have beenheard of again, either becausethey have been released or because they have been located bypersonal contacts within the security forces or among those employed at detention camps.However, in the south too the fateof many people who “disappeared” remains unclear.

In many cases the arrest —

whether by uniformed securityforces personnel or unidentifiedarmed groups — has not been

r

c6t’

‘, ,— ....

I‘1.-

‘.4a

‘We’ll hang you andkill you’

js

T-

A poster signed by the People r Red Revolutionary Army PRRA) threatens:‘The punishment for boycotting the elections is death . The JVP called forseveral elections to be boycottedparticipated in them.

TortureThe torture of prisoners by members of the security forces hasbeen widely reported in the south.It has sometimes been so severethat it has resulted in prisoners’deaths. The methods used reportedly include beatings on variousparts of the body, including thefeet and genitals; assaulting detainees while they are suspended:

“1 was beaten on my back.They tied my thumbs together andhung the rope over a bar that wasacross the ceiling. They pulled meup. My left shoulder was dislocated.... They were shouting thingslike ‘Dog. are you a monk? No.

1LJ

ik:]JLYoung JVP suspects, who had responded to a government call andsurrendered to Sri Lankan securityforces, board a bus in Puttalam, October1989 © Associated Press

continued on page 10

8 SRI LA

provincial councils providedder the accord, which were Lat various times during 1were boycotted in the south by.JVP and the Sri Lanka FreedParty (SLFP). The JVP atterred to disrupt polling by threaling to kill candidates and psupporters, and the elections wheld amid intimidation andlence. In the run up to the Ji

The arme

I n 1971 an armed youthinsurrection in the south against

a coalition government underPrime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike was quickly suppressed. The insurrection was ledby the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), People’s LiberationFront, a revolutionary Marxistparty. The group was widelythought to have emerged becauseof the frustration felt by educated youth owing to a lack ofjob opportunities.

Thousands of young suspectswere killed during the insurrection and its leaders and thousandsof supporters were jailed. Whenthe UNP came to power in 1977,the remaining leadership of theJVP was released and the partybegan to participate in open politics, campaigning in particularon the basis of Sinhalese nationalism and against autonomy forthe Tamil areas in the northeast.The party developed a followingespecially among young people inthe south, including Buddhist

and the Nava Sama Sainaja Pakshaya (NSSP), New SocialistParty, was quickly lifted, but itcontinued to apply to the JVP until May 1988. The JVP, which hadgone underground following itsproscription, continued to operate as a clandestine party afterMay 1988.

Even before the escalation ofopposition in the south followingthe July 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, the JVP was reported to bemobilizing to overthrow thegovernment by violent means. InApril 1987, for example, a raid onPallekelle army camp forweapons was reported in a localnewspaper as signalling “a majorarms build-up by the JVP”. Twomonths later attacks on the airforce base at Katunayaka and theKotelawala Defence Academynear Ratmalana Military airportwere also attributed to the JVP.

Following the Indo-Sri LankaAccord, the JVP intensified itscampaign to overthrow thegovernment. The elections to the

1988 provincial elections in tiprovinces, 12 candidatesnumerous party supporterskilled, allegedly by the JVP.

The presidential election incember 1988 was marked bfurther rise in political violeiIt was again boycotted by the 1and in the preceding weeks theganrzation called widespread agovernment demonstrations:strikes in the south. It was blaiby the security forces for attaon election rallies and sevkillings.

The parliamentary electionFebruary 1989 were also boyted by the JVP and marked b3creased violence: among the mdead were 14 opposition caidates and several hundred otpeople, including memberssupporters of the ruling UIAlthough the JVP was accuseiresponsibility for most politkillings, it was often difficuldetermine clear culpability individual cases as there were mconflicts between and wilother political parties.

In January 1989 PresidPremadasa lifted the stateemergency. However, the Jcontinued its armed oppositioicalled strikes, often threateninkill those who refused to panpate, and continued to mouicampaign of assassinations.organization became knownthe podi aanduwa, the Iigovernment, for its ability topose unofficial “curfews”.

Unlike the JVP, the leftist Ities which in February 1formed the United Socialist Iance (USA) strongly suppolthe Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. iresult, members of those paras well as of the ruling UNPcame targets for assassinatiorthe JVP froni July 1987. Forample, the JVP was accuse(responsibility for the murdei

The funeral procession in C’olo,nbo for Vijava Kumaratincçc’, leader oft/ic United Socialist Alliance, killed in February 1988b’ gunmen presumed to have been from the J VP

monks and students. It also cultivated sympathizers within thesecurity forces. In 1982 JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera unsuccessfully contested the presidentialelections, winning four per centof the vote.

The JVP was among the threeleftist parties outlawed by theg,overmnent following widespreadcommunal violence in July 1983.The ban on the Communist Party

Nandana Marasinghe, shot deadb the JVP in Anuradhapura inNoi’e,nber 1987

A BRIEFING 9

UNP Chairman Harsha Abeywardene in December 1987 and ofLionel Jayatilake, the Ministerfor Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, in September 1988. Itwas also believed responsible forthe murder of USA leader VijayaKumaratunge in February 1988.

The JVP was also held responsible after mid-1987 for severalbomb attacks and for killing

Loppositlonnumerous members of the secu

I j rity forces and thefr families; peoJ pIe regarded as informers; Budd

hist clergy who publicly supported the UNP or USA; candidatesor voters in elections boycotted bythe JVP; and those who brokestrikes and curfews called by theJVP. Prominent broadcasters,senior figures in state-owned corporations, newsagents sellingpublications “blacklisted” by theJVP and sellers of Indian goodswere also murdered, apparentlyby the JVP.

The bodies of many victims ofthe JVP were openly displayed asa warning to others: some hadposters beside them in the nameof the JVP or its “armed wing”,the Deshaprerni Janatha

A victim of the JVP in Tissamaharatna on the day of the parliamentan’ elections, February 1989

Viyaparaya (DJV), Patriotic People’s Movement; others were mutilated, sometimes with severedlimbs or slashed sexual organs.

In August 1989 the JVP announced that it would kill therelatives of security forces personnel who did not resign their posts.In response, posters appearedthreatening that the army wouldkill numerous relatives of JVPsupporters for each of their ownkilled. A widespread cycle of

_w

murder and reprisal killings followed. The number of “disappearances” and extrajudicial executions reported after Augustrose dramatically. The JVP thenincreasingly began to mount attacks on state property.

In August 1989 “OperationCombine” was reorganized within the armed forces as part of arenewed upsurge in anti-insurgency operations. In November the government reported that

Rohana Wijeweera and severalother JVP leaders had been captured and killed. The circumstances of Wijeweera’s deathwere disputed and an inquiry wasannounced which has yet toproduce a result.

The government announcedthat by mid-January 1990 it hadcaptured all 13 members of theJVP politburo. “Mopping-upoperations”, however, continuedto be reported for several months.

Firemen douse a bus set alight b’. the JVP in C’olomba on the eve of parliamentary elections in 1989 g Associated Press

-

A

rL.. - - -

--

10

ti —.

acknowledged by the security

forces and nothing more has been

heard of the person. In others, the

arrest has been acknowledged, but

the person later “disappeared”.

The refusal to acknowledge that

an arrested person is in custody

carries the most serious implica

tions as it means the authorities ef

fectively disclaim responsibility

for the welfare of the person con

cerned. Such circumstances facili

tate the torture and deliberate kill

ing of prisoners: those responsi

ble for such grave human rights

violations often consider them

selves free to act with impunity.

Even when a prisoner has been

visited in custody, however, his

or her safety has not been assured.

In several cases, prisoners whom

the authorities have acknowledged

holding have subsequently “dis

appeared” with their relatives be

ing told that they had escaped.

were released, or transferred

elsewhere.

Plainclothes abductors

From 1988 there was a marked

rise in the number of reported de

tentions or abductions and killings

carried out by groups of armed

men wearing civilian clothes.

They frequently abducted victims

from their homes at night without

indicating the basis of the deten

tion or where the person was be

ing taken to. When relatives in

quired at police stations or army

camps, the officers denied all

knowledge of the victim — they

had “disappeared”. Many people

taken in this way are believed to

have been killed. Others have

been found in custody or have

been released after periods of un

acknowledged detention: their

cases provide direct evidence of

the participation of members of

the regular security forces in these

operations.

In some cases, witnesses have

recognized the plainclothes abduc

tors. One woman described what

happened to her husband in a

sworn statement.

On 14 September 1989, soon

after midnight as she and her hus

band, mother and two children

were sleeping, the woman heard

the doors of her house being

broken down. She got up and saw

two people with torches. One of

them asked for her husband.

When her mother turned on a

light, the woman recognized one

of the men as a Sub-Inspector of

a named police station and the

other as an officer of the same

police station. “Thereafter a few

persons entered my house one by

one.. .and took my husband out

onto the road just outside the

house.... We heard my husband

shouting under assault. Just before

my husband was taken my one-

and-a-half-year-old daughter cried

and one of the [police officers]

placed his gun at her mouth and

shouted ‘shut up’.”

On inquiring at police stations

in the area, this women was told

that the police were not aware of

any such arrest. Her husband re

mains “disappeared”.

In August 1989 five armed men

wearing civilian clothes drove up

to the home of X. They took X

away, blindfolded, in an un

marked vehicle, together with X’s

landlord and a student who was

also at his home. X was held for

seven days at an army camp set

up in a school in the Colombo

area. He was blindfolded for most

of this time, and regularly inter

rogated. He was tied to a chair for

four days without being given ac

cess to toilet facilities.

On his fifth day of detention, he

was put in a room with his land

lord. Both men were handcuffed

to a bench, and X saw burn marks

and lacerations on the landlord’s

chest, and noticed that several of

his teeth were broken. X asked the

landlord what had happened to the

student. Both of them had been

forced to drink petrol: the land

lord had last seen the student

vomiting and then being put intc

a vehicle along with a tyre. Th

landlord was later released; th

student has “disappeared”.

First ‘disappearances’A previous case was that c

Sathyapala Wannigama,

37-year-old assistant lecturer

Ruhuna University at the time

his arrest. He was one of the fir

people to “disappear” in tl

south and provides an example

the earlier pattern of “disappe

ance” before detentions by plai

clothes armed men becar

commonplace.

According to witnesses.

about 1pm on 13 November 19

Sathyapala Wannigama was ab

to get on a bus near his homt

A young boy and his blind grandfather wait to petition President Premadasa in Matara, November 1989. They had

heard nothing of the boy ‘s father since early 1989 when he was detained by the police. © Popperfo,o/Reu:er

‘I’m the luckiest mother in Sri Lanka, because

at least I got my son’s body back.’

Dr Saravanamuttu, mother of Richard de Zoysa

SRI LANKA BRIEFING 11

IKariyammaditta when a vehicledrew up behind him. Four policeofficers got out, including twofrom the Special Task Force(STF), arrested Wannigama anddrove away.

Relatives inquired about him atMiddeniya police station, wherethey reportedly saw him sitting ata table with a police officer.About 45 minutes later Wannigama was reportedly taken to Tangalle in a van by the police. Thenext day a relative went to Tangalle police station. Although toldby a constable that Wannigamawas not there, the relative reportedly saw him being photographed.When the relative returned withfood and clothes on 15 November.one police officer accepted theitems while another denied thatWannigama was in custody.

Since then, two habeas corpus

petitions have been filed in an attempt to locate Wannigama. butwithout result. The police denythat he was arrested. In the secondpetition, a relative said that on theday of Wannigama’s arrest “persons dressed in STF uniformscame in a jeep.. .and told us.‘Where is Wannigama. If he washanded over to us when we askedfor him this wouldn’t have happened. Now you had better perform religious services and giveseventh day alms [given on theseventh day after a funeral byBuddhists]’.”

Despite this message, sourcesclose to the case believe that Wannigama was alive and in custodyfor at least several weeks. Theybelieve that he was then killed incustody, but there is insufficient

information to know whether thisis true or not.

Screening operationsSome people have reportedly

‘disappeared’’ following security force round-ups of young menthr screening as possible JVPsuspects.

For example, four people “disappeared’’ out of 18 villagers detained by soldiers in December1988 at a village in Matara District. About 25 soldiers are saidto have surrounded the village andsearched houses, beating someresidents in the process and summarily killing others who pos

sessed weapons. One man wasshot in the leg. He and 17 others.including two brothers, were thentaken away by the soldiers. All butftur of these returned home on 10

January 1989. Relatives appealedto various politicians, police andarmy officials and others for helpin finding the missing Ibur. butwithout success. The securityforces denied detaining the four.arousing fears that they may havebeen killed in custody: severalbodies which could not he identified were found dumped on roadsin the area a few days after theround-up.

Arrest ackno ledgedIn many cases people have

“disappeared’ after the authorities have acknowledged holdingthem. Jayesundara MudiyanselageChandrasiri, tar example. a30-year-old married man, wasreportedly arrested at a relative’shouse in Polonnaruwa District on25 March 1988 and taken to

Meegaswewa Army Camp. Thenext day a relative went to thecamp but was told that Chandrasiri had been moved elsewhere. When the relative returnedin early April soldiers said theywould pass on clothing toChandrasiri. -

In August 1988 Chandrasiri’srelatives filed a habeas corpuspetition on his behalf includingsworn statements from two former detainees at MeegaswewaArmy Camp who said that theyhad seen Chandrasiri in custodythere. The respondents allegedthat Chandrasiri had escaped theday after his detention.

The case was then made thesubject of a magisterial inquiry,which was to be held in January1990. It is not known whether theinquiry has been completed.

‘I was told he had beenreleased, but to this

day my son hasnot come home.’

In other cases, detainees “djsappeared” afler relatives were allowed to visit them in detention.In one such case, the mother of a“disappeared” prisoner toldAmnesty International:

‘‘un] December 1987 my son]was arrested b’ some unnamedmen while he was on his way towork.... In March 1988 1 was informed that he was being held in

prison camp.... I ent there to

____

_j. -

Sri Lanka Arniv soldiers guarding parliament house after a grenade attackby the JVP on a UNP parliamentary meeting headed by PresidentJayeivardene in August 1987. The District Minister for Matara, KeerthiAbeywickreina, and a clerk ivere killed; among those injured was the Mi,usterfor National Security, 1.,alith Athulathniudali. © ,-i i,ut Pr,

see him. I saw my son that da\and found that his memory hadbeen affected. He had been

Plainclothes gunmen on patrol in Gal/c, /989

12 I1I LANI.Pi bMItI-Ir4’.i

tortured and inhumanely assaulted by the police. He had been hiton his head with a large baton....I went to the camp in January1989 but he was not there. Uponmaking inquiries I was told he hadbeen released, but to this day myson has not come home.”

In several cases, people havebeen released from custody onlyto be abducted within a short timeby armed men in plain clothes believed to be operating on behalfof the security forces. They havethen . ‘disappeared”.

By no means all victims ofreported “disappearances” wereassociated with the JVP. Membersand supporters of the ruling UNPas well as the opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and (heparties which form the United Socialist Alliance (USA) have alsobeen victims.

For example, one family knownto support the SLFP was subjected to particular harassment in1989. during which there appeared to be collusion betweenbodyguards working for a localUNP member of parliament andlocal police. In March onemember of the family, D.N.M.Herathbanda Dissanayaka, wasabducted from his shop by the‘‘Green Tigers”. but he escapedand went into hiding. A few dayslater a police team searched thefamily house and took Herathbanda Dissanayaka’s motor-cycle andother possessions. When Herathbanda Dissanayaka’s father wentto claim them the next day, the

WORKERS seeking to protectthe rights of people employed inthe Free Trade Zone (FFZ) nearKatunavaka, where trade unionactivities are greatly restricted,are among those who have “disappeared”, and others are said

police told him that they would bereturned only when HerathbandaDissanayaka surrendered to thepolice.

In September, HerathbandaDissanayaka’s brother D.N.M.Appuhamy Dissanayaka was abducted in broad daylight. A witness said that Appuhamy Dissanayaka had been taken by agroup of men in civilian clotheswho had assaulted him with theirrifle butts. The witness identifiedone of the armed men as a localpolice inspector and three othersas members of the local Home

to have been detained and killedby the security forces.

Herath Mudiyanselage Ranjith, a machine operator andsupporter of the ruling UNP. isbelieved to have been detainedand possibly killed after he complained about dangerousmachinery, which had injuredother workers. He was suspended by the company after hiscomplaint. He went for adviceto the Katunayaka Legal AdviceCentre, and an advice workeraccompanied him as an observer to the internal inquiry at thecompany on 27 October 1989.Afterwards, Herath Mudiyanselage Ranjith and the adviceworker, Madurappulige Lionel,left on a bicycle. Neither of themreached home.

Guard, a civilian defence militia,who also acted as bodyguards toa local member of parliament.Appuhamy Dissanayaka has notbeen seen since his abduction.

A third brother was arrested inOctober by police, accompaniedby the same members of theHome Guard. He was released after two days in custody, as was afourth brother held for two daysin December 1989. However, afifth brother, D.N.M. Tikiribanda Abeyasinghe, “disappeared”following his arrest by policewhile visiting friends. The friends

The same evening two menwere seen being knocked off abicycle and detained by men,believed to be police. The bicycle belonged to HerathMudiyanselage Ranjith. Thenext day two bodies were foundnearby, burned beyond recognition but believed to be thoseof Herath MudiyanselageRanjith and MadurappuligeLionel.

A few days before his “disappearance” MadurappuligeLionel is said to have receiveda threatening telephone callfrom a police officer in Negombo, Gampaha District, who saidthat he had been given powersto deal with “busy bodies” atthe Legal Advice Centre. Thepolice continue to deny that

were told that he was in custodybut later a police officer confidentially informed one of Tikiribanda Abeyasinghe’s relatives that hehad been transferred to police custody in his home area. However,they deny holding him and he hasnow “disappeared”.

WomenMen have comprised the

majority of those who have “disappeared” but the victims have included a number of women. Forexample, two women in theirtwenties “disappeared” after being arrested by soldiers near theKarapitiya Hospital in Galle on 8December 1988. ChamaniGeethanjali Muthuhetti and Appukutti Dewage Swarnalatha (alsoknown as Deepika) were reportedly seen at Kotigala army campby two other women who werelater released and who were toldby Chamani Muthuhetti andDeepika that they had been tortured and raped. Before theirrelease, the two women say theysaw Chamani Muthuhetti andDeepika being dragged away bytwo guards to the rear of thecamp. They heard gunshots fromthat direction and soon after couldsmell burning bodies. Theauthorities have not, to AmnestyInternational’s knowledge, everacknowledged the detention ofChamani Muthuhetti and Deepika. Habeas corpus petitions werefiled on their behalf in December1988, the outcome of which is notknown.L1

Herath Mudiyanselage Ranjithor Madurappulige Lionel weredetained, and their abductionswere reportedly referred to theCrime Investigation Department, although apparentlywithout result.

Trade unionists ‘disappear’

Madurappulige Lionel Herath Mudivanselage Ranjith

SRI LANKA BRIEFING 13

In August 1987, shortly after thearrival of the Indian forces,

fighting intensified between theLTTE and other armed Tamilgroups, reportedly over disagreements on the balance of power inthe interim administration pending elections to the NortheasternProvincial Council.

In October, 15 LTTE combatants who had been arrested committed suicide at Palaly militaryairfield as the’ were about to betransferred to Colombo for questioning by the Sri Lankan authorities. In response. the LTTE killedeight Sri Lanka Army soldierswhom they had been holdingcaptive in Jaffna. It also attackedSinhalese residents of EasternProvince, killing around 200people.

In the same month, the IPKFlaunched a major offensive againstLTTE strongholds in Jaffna andtook control of the city. Therewere heavy casualnes on bothsides and hundreds of civiliandeaths.

For the next two years theLTTE remained in violent opposition to the IPKF and rival Tamilgroups, most notably the EelamPeople’s Revolutionary LiberationFront (EPRLF). which alignedwith the IPKF.

In September 1989. in anticipation of the agreed withdrawal ofthe Indian forces, the EPRLF.with the active assistance of theIPKF. forcibly conscripted andtrained thousands of young menand women into an unofficialarmed force, the Tamil NationalArmy (TNA). As the IPKF withdrew from eastern districts in October 1989. there was fierce lighting between the TNA and LTTE.with heavy loss of life. By the endof the year. an estimated 25 .000

IN July 1987 the Governmentsof Sri Lanka, headed b President Junius Richard Jayewardene, and of India, underPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi,signed an accord hich, amongother provisions, brought Indian troops to the northeast ofSri Lanka to take charge ofsecurity there.

The Indian Peace KeepingForce (IPKF) was to disarm theseveral Tamil militant groups inthe area in preparation for elections to a provincial council forthe newly united NortheasternProvince. The system of island-wide provincial councils envisaged in the Indo-Sri LankaAccord was intended to provide

Indian troops remained in Jaffnaand Trincomalee Districts.

In January 1990 fighting wasreported between the LTTE andthe IPKF in Jaffna. The LTTEtook control of all areas vacatedby the Indian forces. When theIPKF finally withdrew from Trincomalee in March. thousands ofmembers and supporters of Tamilgroups which had fought theLTTE tied to India.

greater regional devolution ofpowers and was incorporatedinto the Constitution in November 1987. However, none of themilitant Taniil groups was a signatory to the agreement.

The accord also provided ageneral amnesty to political andother prisoners held or sentenced under the Prevention ofTerrorism Act (PTA). Around3,750 Tamil prisoners out ofsome 5,400 held at the time ofthe accord were released in 1987

Extrajudicial executions

Numerous extrajudicial executions committed by Indian troopsand members of Tamil groupsallied to them were reported between 1987 and 1989. Some werereprisal killings of civilians inareas of LTTE attacks against theIPKF: others were individual killings of civilians, sometimes in

and by the end of 1988 about250 remained in jail. By the endof 1989 all pre-accord prisonersfrom the northeast had beenreleased, but those whose alleged offences had been committed in other areas of the islandremained imprisoned.

By agreement of the SriLankan and Indian Governments, all Indian troops werewithdrawn from Sri Lanka bythe end of March 1990. Theyhad failed to disarm the LTTE.

their homes, during searchoperations.

Two sisters were reportedlykilled by Indian soldiers in theirhome in Udupiddy on 15 February 1989, the day of theparliamentary elections. Theirhome was close to an IPKF campand soldiers regularly passed by.On election day, a soldier whowas passing through the compound fired his gun at the roof ofthe main house. A group of nearby soldiers heard the shots andrushed towards the sisters’ housefiring their rifles.

The soldiers questioned the sisters, who explained that the firinghad been initiated by a soldier.The soldiers started to leave.Then, according to the testimonyof the sisters’ brother: “Whenthey had gone about 10 yards. twoof them turned towards us andshot at us. Two of my sisters.Elizabeth and Joyce, were hit bythe gun shots. My sister Joycewas then carrying in her armsher three-year-old child....Both sisters fell and diedinstantaneously.”

He added: “At the IPKF campI was asked to sign a preparedstatement in English.... It was tothe effect that the killing of thetwo women was by the LTTE.”He refused to sign it.

Some reported extrajudicial executions were apparently causedby civilians failing to obey IPKFinstructions, some of which werenot widely known. On 13 July1989 at Munai a young fishermanwas icing fish when he wasreportedly called over by Indiansoldiers and beaten. He tried to escape and was shot dead. TheIPKF had announced a ban onfishing that day, but this was notknown by all fishermen)’p. 15

although several groups hadallied to the Indian forces andcontested provincial council

,elections.In the 32 months of their

presence, the Indian forces werereportedly responsible fornumerous “disappearances”and extrajudicial executionscommitted either by their ownmembers, or by Tamil groupsallied to them and acting withtheir acquiescence. They alsoreportedly tortured prisoners,some of whom died as a result.In addition, the IPKF detainedseveral thousand prisonerswithout charge or trial, apparently without reference to anylegislative provision.

The Northeast

An Indian Peace Keeping Force checkpoint in Batticaloa, 1988

Indo-Sri Lanka Accord

HI LANI%.M

-ir V

•1

S__; .-II,,--

-

._*‘_.

engage in armed opposition to

the government.The separatist demand has

been fuelled by disputes over theallocation of resources within

Sri Lanka, access to education

and jobs in the state sector, anda general perception by minori

ties that the state is identified

with majority Sinhalese interests

and with Buddhism. Ethnic violence against Tamils in the southcontributed further to the callfor Tamil independence, particularly among the youth.

Following the Indo-Sri Lanka

Accord in 1987, several Tamil

militant groups allied with the

killed many Tamils suspected ofopposing them or informingagainst them, and members ofthe civil administration withwhom they disagreed. For example, they were believed

responsible for the murder in

May 1989 of the government

agent of Jaffna. T.

Panchalingarn.In April 1989 the LTTE be

gan negotiating with the Sri

Lankan Government. and in

December 1989 it announced

the formation of a new political

party — the People’s Front of

the Liberation Tigers — and

said it would contest provincial

olitical demands for an independent Tamil state innortheast of Sri Lanka — tocalled “Tamil Eelam” —

e first made in 1976 at theigural national conference ofTamil United Liberation

nt (TULF). The TULFed to achieve its objective by

Indian troops deployed in thenortheast of the island. Thesegroups, including the EelamPeople’s Revolutionary Libera

tion Front (EPRLF) and its allies, contested the 1988 Northeastern Provincial Council elec

. (ions. The LTTE, however, op

posed the Indo-Sri Lanka Ac

cord and continued its policy of

armed action in pursuit of a

I separate state — now against the

Indian forces and members of

Tamil groups allied with them.

• Widespread killings of both

Tamil and non-Tamil civilians

k were committed by the LTTE in

‘ the period during which theIPKF was deployed in the

northeast. For example, inMarch 1988 the LTTE report

edly attacked two Sinhalese vil

lages in Vavuniya District, leav

ing 15 people dead, and killed

40 Muslims south of Batticaloa.

The worst single attack oncivilians attributed to the LTTE

occurred in October 1988 atUllukulama in North CentralPn,in whr 47 villaoers

council elections. After the with

drawal of the IPKF in March

1990, the LTTE gained control

of the northeast. However, in

June heavy fighting began be

tween government forces and

the LTTE, after the LTTE hadreportedly captured several

hundred police officers, some ofwhom they shot dead. Govern

ment forces were gradually

regaining control of parts of the

east in mid-June.While in control of the north

east, the LTTE reportedly committed human rights violations.Prisoners were said to have beenheld incommunicado in bunkers

and camps, and people who hadcontested parliamentary elec

tions in February 1989 werereported to have been detained.

The prisoners were said mostly

to be young men who had been

members of the Tamil National

Army.The LTTE was also reported

to have murdered political rivals

and to have dispensed summary

iustice by. for example, hanging

A victim of the Liberation i. Eelam left tied to a lamp-post as

a warning to others in Batticaloa, 1988

I.

‘V..

m ‘—

r..

‘4

1. ...

ft’ .

_.1;

r

The armed opposition

bers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Vavuniva, 1988

not advocated the use of

violence.By 1978, however, several

violent attacks on the police in

Jaffna had occurred. These

were attributed to the newlyformed Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE). In the fol

lowing years, other Tamil

led extrajudicial exdian troops were apof reprisal for the

ir colleagues by theuch incident report

I in Avarangal, nearon 16 May 1989,after an LTTE at

KF patrol which hadrs dead. Accordingidian soldiers fromd Puttur camps surarea. Two young

r Kanthasamy andKanalingam, were

taken to a vineyardwere shot dead.

n, S. Ratna, wasn his house for aked to be allowed toto get the key, and

was shot dead as he walked away.Six young labourers were arrested. beaten and taken to the mainroad. The soldiers stopped a busand ordered the six aboard. Oneof the passengers, a postmaster atChankanai. protested at the waythe six were being treated, and asoldier shot him dead. The otherpassengers were asked to say thatthe L1’TE had shot at the bus. Thesix labourers were later taken tothe Puttur IPKF camp.

The largest single instance ofreprisal killings by the IPKF wasreported from Valvettitturai inAugust 1989 (see page 16).

Some prisoners died while inIPKF custody, apparently as aresult of torture or deliberateshooting. Others were shot dead

shortly after their release, reportedly by members of Tamil groupsallied to the Indian troops.

For example. AriyaratnamThandauthapany was reportedlyarrested by the IPKF on 8 January 1988 while he was worshipping at a Murugan temple in SivanKovilady. Vaddukoddai. On hearing of his arrest, his wite and children rushed to the VaddukoddaiIPKF camp. On their way theysaw Ariyaratnam Thandauthapany and three other prisonersbeing escorted by about 25Indian soldiers. AriyaratnamThandauthapany was bleedingfrom injuries on his back.

Two days later they were toldthat Ariyaratnam Thandauthapany would be released within

three days. On 26 January,however, they were told that hiswhereabouts were unknown. On10 February they were informally told by an IPKF officer that hehad been shot dead. According tothe death certificate, AriyaratnamThandauthapany died on 13 January 1988 in an IPKF action atAraly. Other prisoners who werereleased said they had seenAriyaratnam Thandauthapany incustody up to 13 January.

Another case involved VaithyDaniel, a worker at Kankesanthurai Cement Factory. who wasarrested at work on 5 February1988 by soldiers from TellippalaiIPKF camp, according to relatives. The next morning his bodywas found at Crusher Junction.tied to a lamp-post. There was abullet wound in his head andlacerations on his back, foreheadand neck. A doctor who examinedthe body said Vaithy Daniel hadprobably died five hours before hewas tied up and shot.

A relative who had inquired atTellippalai camp at 645pm on theday of the arrest was told that Vaithy Daniel would be released thenext day, following an inquiry.After the body was found, therelative was told by the sameofficer that Vaithy Daniel hadbeen released at 5pm on the dayof his arrest. When the relativereminded him that he had beenthere at 6.45pm that day, theofficer changed his account of therelease.

A BRIEFING

in rights activist killedghts activist Rajani Thiranagama, a doctor and lecnatomy at the medical faculty of the University ofas shot dead by an unidentified gunman in Jaffnasy home from work on 21 September 1989.

15

IPKF and the LTTEblamed for her killach may have had aowever. no indepeny has been held to estruth.

r with several otherteachers, Rajani

ma was a member ofTeachers for Humanfna), UTHR (Jaffna).ranagama’s relativesa at least four occan soldiers searchedipparently looking forcript of The Broken

which documents

events during the October 1987offensive on Jaffna by the IPKF.

Others. however, accused theLTTE of killing her because shehad denied them access to thebody of Thileepan, the LTTEleader who had died in 1987 after a hunger-strike. His body ispreserved in the AnatomyDepartment of the Universityof Jaffna. In addition, UTHR(Jaffna) had reported on abusescommitted by the LTTE, aswell as by the IPKF and othermilitant Tamil groups. TheLTTE denied involvement in thekilling.

atnarajah, a 33-year-old Tamil farmer, died in Tellippalai IPKF camp on 19 February 1988,result of injuries received under torture. This photograph, taken the followin2 do” in front of his

16

Bodies of victims of the Vah’ettitturoi massacre, August 1989

SRI LANKA BRIEFING

DOZENS of people were killedin Valvettitturai on 2 August1989 by members of the IPKF.The attack was in apparentreprisal for an incident earlierin the day when, accordingto reports, six soldiers of the17th Sikh regiment were killedand 11 injured when the LTTEambushed an IPKF patrol inValvettitturai market.

A few hours after the clash,members of the IPKF reported

ly returned to Valvettitturai, aknown LTTE stronghold, and

rampaged through the townkilling 52 residents, many ofwhom are believed to have beendefenceless and deliberatelykilled, and setting fire to housesand other property. The IPKFcordoned off the town for twoand a half days, denying accessto medical personnel who were

Indian forces were also reported.One such case was that of Pannampalam Sasitharan, who wasshot dead by the EPRLF.

On 4 September 1989 he hadgone to the EPRLF office in Jaffna and then to the EPRLF campat the Ashok Hotel to seek therelease of one of his employees.His widow testified that he was arrested at about 4pm in the GrandBazaar. She went to the EPRLFoffice. where she saw her husband’s motor-cycle. A sentry saidthat her husband was in the officeand would be taken to AshokHotel camp for an inquiry andreleased in the evening.

She went to the camp and at630pm saw her husband arrivingin a van. Ten days later a releasedprisoner, who worked with Ponnampalam Sasitharan, told herthat the EPRLF had asked him toconvey that her husband had beenshot by them on 9 September. She

trying to reach the injured.In some cases IPKF soldiers

entered houses where peoplewere taking refuge and shotthem. Twenty people weresheltering in the house of60-year-old VengadasalamSubramaniam when IPKF soldiers entered. “All of us then

went to Jaffna Hospital and identified her husband, who had diedof gunshot wounds.

Not all of those shot by theEPRLF had been held in detention. There were numerousreports of summary killings by theEPRLF, including that of AhilanThiruchelvam, the 19-year-oldson of the editor of Murasoli, aTamil-language newspaper.

Four members of the EPRLFwent to the family home on 10May 1989 to question SinnaduraiThiruchelvam. the editor ofMurasoli. When SinnaduraiThiruchelvam saw one of themwith a pistol, he slipped outthrough the back door. His soncame out of his room and wasdragged out of the house and forcibly taken away by car. Sinnadurai Thiruchelvam later foundout that his son had been shot.three times in the head within 10minutes of leaving the house.

went forward raising our hands.[Vengadasalam Subramaniam]too went forward raising hishands and attempted to speak tothe soldiers. But the soldiersstarted firing. Those in front felldown.” Vengadasalam Subramaniam was killed along witheight others, including 70-year-old S. Illayaperumal;two 11-year-olds, RajaguruJavanaraj and Aathy Sundareswaran; one-year-oldGaneshalingam Sashi; and threewomen.

La:.© HMKP

Valvettitturai massacre

Appapillai Amirthalingain (above).leader of the TULF, and VettiveluYogeswaran, another senior TULFleader, were killed in July 1989 bygunmen at Amirthalingam ‘s house inColambo. The LITE later clai,nedre.cponsibilitv.

Ariyaratnam Thandauthapany, whodied in January 1988 afew days afterbeing reportedly arrested by the IPKF

SRI LANKA BRIEFING ‘7

‘Disappearances’At least 43 people are known tohave “disappeared” following arrest by the IPKF. At least 12 have“disappeared” following arrest inthe east by members of the SriLankan security forces after theIndo-Sri Lanka Accord.

The majority of “disappearances” for which the IPKF werereportedly responsible occurred inJaffna District in October andNovember 1987, the period of themain IPKF offensive on Jaffnatown. In some cases, members ofTamil groups allied with the Indians participated in the arrests.“Disappearances” attributed tothe IPKF were also reported fromTrincomalee, Vavuniya and Amparai Districts. After November1987, many fewer “disappearances” were reported in thenortheast.

‘It was only when myson cried out that

we recognized him.’

Ponniah Kantharuppan was arrested on 19 November 1987 soonafter he had left his house at Nallur, Jaffna District. Friends sawhim being assaulted near theVairavar temple. His mother waslater taken to the gate of the IPKFcamp at Nayanmarkadu by Indian soldiers, who asked her toidentify her son.

She testified: “At first mygrown up daughters and I couldnot identify my son as he wasdressed from head to foot in IPKFuniform and cap. It was onlywhen my son cried out that werecognized him. The soldiers saidthat he would be freed that evening and took him away.”

He was not released that night,and when his mother returned tothe camp she was denied access.In July 1988, after repeated inquiries, the mother said that theIPKF Jaffna Town Commandanttold her that the IPKF would havereleased her son but that “theLTTE would have shot him”. Hegave her a letter saying that herson was not in IPKF custody.

George Alexis, a carpenter, wasarrested by the IPKF on 8 September 1988 after two Indian soldiers had been killed close to hishome at Pandaterruppu, JaffnaDistrict. He was seen in detentionby his wife at Thottilady IPKFcamp.

Two days later his relatives

were told that George Alexis hadbeen released the day before. Thecamp is only 200 yards from hishome, but he never arrived. Relatives were shown release paperswith what was said to be GeorgeAlexis’ thumb print next to hisname. When relatives pointed outthat George Alexis could writeand would not have signed in thatway, the commanding officer saidthat he had been in a disturbedstate of mind at the time.

“Disappearances” were alsoreported in Mannar, Trincomalee,Amparai, Vavuniya and Batticaloa Districts following arrestsby the Sri Lanka Army during theperiod that the IPKF were presentin the northeast.

Seenithamby Mahadeva andKalendran Sivaselvanathan werearrested by Sri Lanka Army personnel on 9 October 1987 whilewaiting for a bus near the HardyInstitute at Kondavattavan, Amparai District. The army stationedat the Hardy Institute said that thetwo men had been taken for ques

tioning and then released. Theywere not seen again.

More than 680 people had “disappeared” in the northeast beforethe arrival of the IPKF, followingarrest by the Sri Lankan securityforces. Among these was a groupof refugees arrested from Gopalapuram Refugee Camp at Nilaveli,Trincomalee District, on 19 April

AMNESTY INTERNATIONALrecommends that the followingmeasures be taken to preventthe continuation of the gravehuman rights violations thathave occurred in Sri Lanka inrecent years:

O The government should set upan independent commissionof inquiry into extrajudicialexecutions, the results of whichshould be made public.

1987. The camp was reportedlysurrounded at midnight by SriLanka Army personnel, whoturned out the lights and tookaway about 10 men and children.The incident was reported bywomen who had moved to Clappenburg Refugee Camp. The arrests were denied and the fate ofthose taken away is unknown.EZ

0 The government should initiate prompt and impartial investigations, through an independentcommission of inquiry, to clarifythe whereabouts or fate ofall people reported to have“disappeared”.

0 The government should implement and enforce safeguardsto prevent extrajudicial executions, “disappearances” andtorture.

Clappenburg RejIgee Camp in Trincomalee District, 1987. About 10 men and children ‘disappeared in April 1987after they were taken from a nearby camp by members of the Sri Lsnka Arm.

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