Child Soldiers of LTTE Tamil Tigers |
LTTE's Baby Brigade
Courtesy of Indian Front-Line
Magazine
Sinhaya.com: November 24, 2001 :
BATTICALOA district in eastern Sri Lanka hangs tensely between the security
forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Large tracts of land in
the district are under the control of the LTTE. And people living in these areas
have of late been providing the cannon fodder for its armed struggle.
Like 10-year-old Sivaruban of Vakkarai, 45 km north of Batticaloa. When
the LTTE began a recruitment drive in the village three months ago, his widowed
mother moved out with him and his 16-year-old sister to an Army-controlled
village in Valachenai to protect them. But to no avail. The recruiters came
knocking at her door on September 15, and Sivaruban had to go with them.
So did 10-year-old Thevaruban, also of Vakkarai. The LTTE wanted to
recruit his elder brother, but the boy was away in Colombo. So they took away
Thevaruban as a guarantee to ensure that his brother would return to Batticaloa
and sign up with them. The parents were later told that Thevaruban was being
given military training and would return when the LTTE concluded its mission. [Full Story]
The LTTE, child soldiers and serial
disasters - Part 2
The University
Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna (UTHR-Jaffna)
The Island:
October 23, 2001 :
Continued from October 22 Issue (see below
article)..
The LTTE distributed a pamphlet in Valaichenai in early
October. This time there was no attempt at formal concealment. It was signed
with the LTTE emblem and the slogan, ‘The thirst of the Tigers is for their
motherland of Tamil Eelam’. It called upon the parents to contribute a child and
expedite the birth of Tamil Eelam in Prabhakaran’s lifetime, by getting rid of
the ‘Sinhalese Army’. Giving some idea of their target figure, the pamphlet
observed that getting rid of the 3000 to 5000 strong army contingent in the
Batticaloa District would be an easy task.
The pamphlet went on: "You
parents of Valaichenai, ponder a little. The parents of Batticaloa are
re-enacting the Puranaanooru. In spite of all the difficulties they are
voluntarily binding a child to the LTTE to achieve victory in the liberation
struggle. We soon expect the people of Valaichenai to follow their example" [Full Story]
The LTTE, child soldiers and serial
disasters - Part 1
The University
Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna (UTHR-Jaffna)
The Island:
October 22, 2001 :
A challenge without an answer? 3.
Religious Leaders call on the LTTE
From early August reports of
compulsory recruitment had struck fear among the people and had become the talk
of the town in Batticaloa. The LTTE had also spoken of an imminent attack by
them on Batticaloa itself. After weeks of anguished consultation, a group of
religious and secular leaders decided to talk to the LTTE.
After an
exchange of messages and obtaining clearance from the Brigade Commander,
Batticaloa, a delegation led by the Rt. Rev. Kingsley Swampillai, Bishop of
Batticaloa and Trincomalee, crossed the lagoon from Paddiruppu and met the LTTE
at their office in Ambalanthurai. This was at 10.30 AM on 25th September. The
delegation also included Mr.Pathmanathan, representing the Swamy at the
Ramakrishna Mission, Mr.Sugunathas representing the Methodist Church,
Mr.Kamalanathan the local NGO sector and Mr.Martyn representing the Batticaloa
Peace Committee. [Full
Story]
Tigers under fire again over child
soldiers
Daily News: October 12, 2001 : COLOMBO,
Oct 11 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's LTTE came under renewed international attack Thursday
for recruiting hundreds of child soldiers -- some as young as 12-years-old -- to
boost their war against government forces.
The London-based human rights
group Amnesty International said it appealed to the leadership of the rebel
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to immediately halt the ongoing
recruitment of children as combatants.
Amnesty also demanded the
guerillas return all child soldiers to their families or communities. "Whether
the recruitment is forced or not, children have no role to play in war," it said
in a statement.
"The LTTE must live up to its own pledge not to use
child soldiers, cease recruitment immediately and return the children to their
families."
Amnesty said it had received "disturbing reports of an
intensive recruitment drive" in areas controlled by the LTTE in the north and
east of Sri Lanka. [Full Story]
Amnesty raps LTTE for recruiting
kids for war
Lanka Academic: October 11, 2001 : [Full Story]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Press Release
Sri Lanka: LTTE recruitment drive for child soldiers must stop
Amnesty International: October 11, 2002 : [Full
Story]
Sri Lanka Tigers under fire again
over child soldiers
Times of India: October 11, 2001 :
[Full
Story]
Osama hand in glove with LTTE
Times of India: September 23, 2001 :
LONDON:
Western intelligence agencies were investigating the close and growing links
between the LTTE and Osama bin Laden’s shadowy Al-Qaida network at the very time
the terrorist atrocities in America took place, The Sunday Times of India has
learnt.
According to confidential sources, the LTTE’s relationship with
Al-Qaida was in focus to understand the latter’s mastery of suicide attacks
“even though most groups learn by trial and error”.
Before the September
11 attacks, Al-Qaida had executed two successful suicide missions, the August
1998 East African embassy bombings and the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole
in Yemen.
The sources said the links, which were first indicated in the
early ’90s, are the first instance of an Islamist group collaborating with an
essentially secular outfit.
They said that the growing closeness was
further confirmed in May, when the LTTE’s chief procurement officer,
Tharmalingam Shanmugan Kumraran, alias Kumaran Padmanadhan or ‘KP’, who is based
in Thailand, visited Afghanistan via Dubai and Karachi.
It took two
months for Western intelligence to appreciate the import of this, but on July
24, Interpol issued a Red Notice or an international warrant for ‘KP’. He has
been wanted by the CBI for years in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination.
The LTTE-Al-Qaida link is believed to exist in India as
well, though the extent and depth of the relationship there is not
well-documented, the sources said.
Al-Qaida, which is known to exist in
50 countries, also has a northern Indian support network, according to Rohan
Gunaratna, an expert on Asian terrorist groups at the Centre for the Study of
Terrorism and Political Violence. He told this paper “the extensive network
exists mainly in UP, along with small cells in Delhi”. [Full Story]
More young Tamils as cannon fodder
Daily News: August 27, 2001 : The Defence Ministry
said yesterday that out of the 39 Tigers who surrendered to the Security Forces
so far this year, eight were below the age of 18 and the youngest a 12-year-old
boy.
Within a month, a 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy fled their
LTTE captors and surrendered to the Army in Batticaloa.
Meanwhile the
Roman Catholic Church is reportedly trying to secure the release of a
15-year-old boy kidnapped by the LTTE, while Amnesty International has expressed
concern over the safety of three children under 12 believed to have been
enlisted by the terrorists early this year.
In December, 14 out of the
18 LTTE cadres killed in a confrontation with the Security Forces, were teenage
girls. Regardless of their pledge to UN Special Representative Olara Otunnu, the
Tigers were hell-bent on sacrificing an entire generation of young Tamils in the
quest for Eelam, military sources said. [Full Story]
Lanka children being recruited into
war
Times of India: August 27, 2001 : [Full
Story]
Sri Lanka's children being recruited
into war
Yahoo/AFP: August 26, 2001 : [Full
Story]