Media Release : Saturday, 12 August 2006

http://www.spur.asn.au/SPUR_20060812_Ethnic_Cleansing_in_Muttur.htm

Ethnic cleansing practices of the Tamil Tiger Terrorists

The Serunuwara and Pachchanoor Killing Fields in Eastern Sri Lanka

SPUR unreservedly condemns recent ethnic cleansing practices of the Tamil Tiger terrorists evidenced by two dastardly acts carried out over the lat two weeks in Serunuwara and Pachchanoor, South of Muttur in Eastern Sri Lanka.

Depriving 15,000 farming families water from the Mawil Aru anicut

Associated Press Photo by Gurinder Osan

Closing down the sluice gate supplying water from the Mawil Aru tank to 15,000 farming families in the Serunuwara region destroyed their rice fields denying them their livelihood. The denial of drinking water, a basic need in life, created a mass exodus of Sinhalese, Muslim and Tamil families from their villages basically handing over the traditional lands belonging to these peasant families on a platter to the LTTE. There is evidence to suggest that after 19 days without water, the rice fields are totally destroyed.  It is common knowledge that most of the farmers in this area are poor and had borrowed heavily from the banks to sow their fields. Without an income, how are they expected to service bank loans? LTTE’s intensions of ethnically cleansing the affected area of Sinhalese and Muslims would succeed unless the current Government, which is sympathetic to the plight of the farming poor, comes to their rescue.

Recommendation 1: The international community must unreservedly condemn this act of brutality by the LTTE and hold pariahs like Anton Balasingham living luxuriously in London responsible for masterminding these acts of terror. We urge the British Government to immediately arrest Balasingham for planning to commit crimes against humanity and bring him to justice under the new anti terrorism law passed by the parliament and the House of Lords in January 2006.

Recommendation 2: We also request the Government of Sri Lanka to expedite the payment of compensation to the farmers affected by the disaster. Government bureaucracy must be given strict directions to execute the wishes of the President promptly, avoiding a humanitarian disaster resulting from bureaucratic apathy.

The Pachchanoor killing fields

The brutal assassination of over 100 Muslim men in Pachchanoor must not be left to the annals of history. It is with great contempt that we observe the silence of the so-called champions of democracy regarding this brutal execution of over 100 Muslim men and youth by the LTTE in the Pachchanoor area, South of Muttur. Where are the LTTE mouthpiece NGO’s? Why is the National Peace Council, the Centre for Policy Alternative and the ever-apologetic soapbox orator Wickramabahu silent? SPUR is yet to see these organisations asking for the head of the LTTE or even an independent enquiry to ascertain the facts related to the Pachchanoor killing fields where the LTTE violently assassinated innocent unarmed Muslim men, women and children.

Photo curtsy of Jonathan Gorvett

The activities of the LTTE that took place on the Pachchanoor Killing Fields must be given prominence and the people in Sri Lanka and the international community must be informed and educated about this crime where the LTTE selectively segregated men and youth from the elderly, tied their hand and brutally assassinated them in cold blood.  There is eyewitness evidence of what took place on that fateful day.  “The LTTE told us we could not escape Muttur by road as it was mined, Abdullah Salam, a carpenter from Muttur, said. They told us it would be safe to go across country - through the villages they control. But then when we arrived, they pulled hundreds of people out of the line - all young men - and we never saw them again. We have no idea what happened to them and we were frightened because there were bodies everywhere around these villages."

Sailuth Umme, a housewife from Muttur now in the Pearathuweli camp, in Kanthale said: "there were men wearing masks, pointing out who in the crowd should be taken out. Why did the LTTE lie to us that we will not be harmed? Why did they tell us it would be safe?" Then there is also Hajeen.  Both he and Fedula are from the Arabic College district of Muttur and have just arrived in camp after walking since Friday 4 August 2006. "Then they took all the young men away and tied some of their hands," he says. "One man, he tried to run so they shot him in the leg. Then they brought him back to where we were standing and shot him dead right there in front of us."

It is quite clear that the Tamil Tiger Terrorists had set about methodically ethnically cleansing the Muslim’s  from Muttur by selecting and executing most able bodied men so that the remaining community will either be incapable or unwilling to re-establish themselves in their traditional lands.

Recommendation 3: We urge the Government to immediately establish an independent Task Force under the Ministry of Disaster management and Human Rights to investigate the Pachchanoor Killing Fields in full, rerecord and videotape eyewitness accounts, catalogue the people killed and present a report to the President within seven days of appointment. It would be prudent to involve a reputed international human rights organisation such as Human Rights Watch in gathering and cataloguing evidence against the Tamil Tiger terrorists as this is a crime against humanity requiring the attention of the World Court in the Hague.

These crimes against humanity must not go unpunished.

It is common knowledge that the LTTE uses diversionary tactics to direct attention away from their brutal acts of terror. To this effect, the evidence points to the LTTE for assassinating the 15 aid workers from Actions Against Hunger in Muttur to divert attention away from the Pachchanoor killings. The Government has taken the correct step by establishing an independent team of experts assisted by Australian forensic scientists to track down the perpetrators of this heinous crime. Anecdotal evidence suggests the culprit to be the LTTE.

The President is urged to consider acting on the three recommendations proposed by SPUR. The reputation of the Government, the expectations of the people and the credibility of the President lies in executing these reasonable propositions without delay. 

Dr Dasarath Jayasuriya

President (SPUR Vic)

Society for Peace, Unity & Human Rights in Sri Lanka (SPUR)
Reg No. A 003 07777 M
P.O. Box 4066
Mulgrave, Victoria, VIC 3170
Australia

http://www.spur.asn.au/SPUR_20060812_Ethnic_Cleansing_in_Muttur.htm

Back to Latest News on LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists