Kerryn Williams
"Sri Lanka's military is now killing Tamil civilians with abandon", the Tamil Guardian stated in its May 17 editorial, following a wave of violence that has left dozens of civilians dead.
The violence has sparked fears of a reopening of the bloody two-decade conflict that ended with a February 2002 ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has led a long struggle for Tamil self-determination.
On May 4, seven young people on their way to a birthday party died instantly when soldiers attacked them with rocket-propelled grenades near Nelliyadi junction in Vadamaradchi. The victims were from a nearby village, Rajakiramam, where two auto-rickshaw drivers were recently killed. TamilNet reported that army and police officers have been pressuring the parents of the killed drivers to issue statements saying the victims were LTTE cadres.
The bodies of eight young people who disappeared from Manthuvil in Thenmaradchy after attending a temple festival on May 7 were later found dead in the forest. The youths had stayed in the temple overnight due to a curfew.
TamilNet reported that on May 13, eight people were gunned down in a house in Allaipiddy, in Mandaithivu islet. Among the dead were a four-month-old baby and a four-year-old boy, along with their parents. Another man later died in hospital. According to TamilNet, relatives said troops from the Sri Lankan Navy had been harassing the families, demanding use of their two-storey building for the military. Hundreds of families fled Allaipiddy village for LTTE-held areas following the massacre.
The same day, three people were murdered in a separate incident when paramilitaries entered a family's home and fired indiscriminately at occupants.
N.R. Wickiramasingham, chairperson of the Victorian Tamil Refugee Settlement Committee, told Green Left Weekly that the violence continues and that on average three Tamils are being killed every day; 80% are under 23 years of age.
Wickiramasingham said Sri Lankan media reports of the killings refer to "unidentified people" as being responsible, but that the armed gangs conducting the attacks are under the control of the Sri Lankan military.
The Tamil Guardian accused the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMN) of silence over the killings, and condemned its withdrawal, under pressure from the Sri Lankan government, of an earlier claim of government security forces' involvement in extrajudicial killings. The paper also accused the SLMN of a preoccupation with the "character of the LTTE and its leadership", when the body's role is to monitor the ceasefire agreement.
According to Wickiramasingham, "the monitoring force from Norway is only 82 people — they can't stop the violence".
Wickiramasingham told GLW that foreign governments have "kept quiet" about the situation and that the media has been silent. "Not a single Australian paper printed even three lines" on the violent attacks that broke out in early May.
Moves by the European Union to classify the LTTE as a terrorist organisation is a "blockage for peace talks", Wickiramasingham said. Peace negotiations take place in the EU countries, and if the LTTE is banned, its representatives won't be able to participate.
Thousands of refugees are homeless, living in churches and schools (which means the schools can't operate). The refugees are desperately short of food, water and other necessities, and rely on non-government organisations to survive. "The government won't support refugees in Tamil areas. The government is ignoring the problem", Wickiramasingham explained. "Many refugees hire boats illegally and try to cross to India. Thirteen died last week when their boat sank."
According to Wickiramasingham, "Tamils are ready to talk to the Sri Lankan govenrment" to resolve the conflict. He called on foreign governments, including the Australian government, to pressure the Sri Lankan government to "sort out the problem and stop the killings".
Fuelling concerns that the Sri Lankan government intends to resume full-scale war against the Tamils, new anti-democratic laws are soon to be discussed by parliament, including military conscription, media censorship and suppression of civil rights.
From Green Left Weekly, May 31, 2006.
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