tamils of sri lanka_btf presentation_part2

© PROJECT ENLIGHTEN

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Devastation in the Tamil Homeland

Sri Lankan State Always Targets Tamil Civilians


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During this period hundreds of cultural centers, Temples, Schools, Commercial Centers, etc. were destroyed by the army stationed in the Tamil homelands. The one that left an indelible mark on the Tamil psyche was the wanton destruction of the Jaffna Public Library (housing 97,000 irreplaceable volumes) by the armed forces (now admitted by the present Sri Lanka Government)

CULTURAL GENOCIDE

South –East Asia’s 2nd largest library burnt by Sri Lankan Govt. to destroy the Tamils

historical evidence -1981

….could virtually declare war against a section of its own people, and do it unashamedly, it happened in Sri Lanka this year. Imagine a rowdy band of reserve policemen being brought all the way from the south to the Tamil capital city of Jaffna, and in the unusual presence in the city of two Cabinet Ministers, setting fire to the biggest cultural possession of the Tamils – the Public Library housing 95,000 volumes, some of them rare manuscripts...‘ Prof. Virginia A Leary; Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka; Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists (July-August 1981)


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Bombed Church Buildings

"How could any one avoid concluding that this is organized State terrorism?.." - Bishop D.J.Ambalavanar, ''We religious leaders from the North, belonging to the Hindu, Christian and Catholic religions.. strongly protest against the actions of the Sri Lankan Air Force which seems guided by the sole motive of revenge and striking terror among the Tamil people.”

All these buildings used exclusively for sacred worship and public services are such large and prominent structures that no Air Force can pretend innocence about the targets being struck....

..We wonder whether massacring innocent civilians can bring any honor or credit to an Air Force. We would therefore appeal to the Government to control its Air Force and not permit it to be an instrument of State Terrorism. Our desire is for Peace and a Just Peace.'' – (Joint statement by Bishop D.J.Ambalavanar, Bishop Thomas Saundranayagam and Nallai Thiru Sampandar Atheenam, 17 November 1993)


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Bombed Church Buildings

Continues…

Jaffna Gurunagar St.Jame’s Church after aerial bombardment

``Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing” -St.Luke 23: 34


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A church in Madu destroyed, dreaded stage of ethnic cleansing,

says TNA MP

The Sacred Heart Church of the Madu Shrine complex has been destroyed in SLA shelling after the priests had taken away the image of Our Lady of Madu last Thursday, reveal the photos taken by K. Baskaran, a photographer who visited the Madu church on Sunday. [TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 April 2008]

Photos: Tamilnet


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Bombed Temples

Even the holy places are not left alone by the eye of State terror – more than 2000 Hindu temples

were destroyed


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Tamil Catholic Priests killed by Sri Lankan Sinhala State

Father Jim Brown

Father Mary Bastian

“There are fears that a pattern of ‘disappearances’ by state agents is re-emerging following the introduction of new Emergency Regulations in August 2005 that granted sweeping powers to the security forces.”

- Amnesty International


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Norway condemns killing of Human Rights Secretariat

Chairman

Norway condemns killing of NESoHR Chairman Norway condemns the killing which further adds to the already far too high civilian toll of the ongoing conflict.

Former President of Amnesty International and Human Rights expert, Mr Ian Martin, with Rev. Fr. M.X.

Karunaratnam

Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, the chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), was killed in a Claymore attack carried out by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army on Sunday [TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 07:57 GMT]

Photos: Tamilnet

Photos: Tamilnet


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Bombing of Hospitals “Why was the hospital so different

to the many I had visited in the Sinhalese areas?” John S Whitehall, Australian Paediatrician

“Driving north from Colombo to Jaffna, I was struck by the poverty on the Tamil side of the armed border, lack of facilities in the hospital in Killinochchi (the administrative centre of the “Tamil” land) and the dilapidation of the tertiary hospital in Jaffna. Only the crowds in the corridors and the patients on the floors obscured the filth on the walls and passageways. Nothing obscured the suffering of apparently half-dead people being carried on bare metal stretchers at perilous angles up and down the stairs, buffeted in the surge. I was struck by the whites of their fingers as they clung to the metal. Nothing prevented the recycling of dengue through unscreened windows from the silage that pooled from broken pipes alongside the wards. One piddling tap leaned vainly against cross-infection in the crowded children’s barn. Why was the hospital so different to the many I had visited in the Sinhalese areas? I later learned of economic sanctions and underfeeding by Colombo.

John S Whitehall- Medical Journal of Australia Volume 187 Number - 11/12.3/17 December 2007


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Victimizing the Victims Again - Attacks on Hospitals Continues

People fleeing the hospital during air strike by Sri Lankan Air force

International monitoring mission Report: There are no LTTE military installation within

1KM radius of the bombing!!!


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Half a Million Tamils encircled in Jaffna !

An Open prison!! (Concentration camp, in our time after 60 years?)

50,000 Armed Forces

Landmines and barbed wires

NO International Media allowed

NO Essential Supplies allowed

All land routes cut-off

Mass graves

Democracy Sri Lankan Style !


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Jaffna Exodus 1995

The former Sri Lankan head of state

Chandrika’s so called chorus, ‘war for

peace’ resulted in five hundred thousand

people to vacate their homeland in few

hours

1/2 million people displaced in one day fleeing military onslaught


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Consequences of Liberating (?) the East by SL Govt. in 2007

People moving away to save them from Sri Lankan troops’ atrocities

Finding all possible means to save them from the State brutality


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Batticaloa Kokaddicholai Masscare 1987

On January 28, 1987, over 150 Tamil civilians were killed at Kokkaddichcholai during a military operation by members of the Special Task Force who attacked with helicopter gunships and armoured cars. Several houses and other properties belong to the Tamils were also destroyed during this cowardly act.


15

Family Massacred Near the Holy Land of Madu

Will Any one do this on a civilised world?

Sri Lankan Navy would!


16

Sri Lankan Army Raped and Murdered

Thousands of Tamil Women

These acts are not the misdemeanors of a few

undisciplined soldiers, but part of the systematic attempt by Sri Lankan State to subjugate the entire Tamil people by

means of terror.

Sri Lankan army is Notorious for

RAPE and ABUSE

Even as UN Peace keepers

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Mother of Four, Was Gang-raped and Murdered by

Policemen 'Murugesapillai Koneswary (35) mother of four, was gang-raped and murdered by policemen in

Batticoloa

According to the relatives and the husband of the deceased, that the offenders of this crime, after

raping her, had exploded a grenade into her genitalia in order to cover up any evidence of rape.'


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Young Tamil Girl Raped Before Murder by SL Navy

Ilayathamby Tharshini (20), whose body was recovered from an abandoned well, she was

brutally raped murdered. Her body was weighted down with a rock

Saturday, 17 December 2005

Islets fully controlled by Sri Lankan Navy


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Racist Rape & Murder

Miss. Krishanthi Kumaraswamy a 19 year Tamil school girl

Raped and murdered by President Mrs. Kumaratunga's army personnel under the

Command of then Brigadier Janaka Perera who was later appointed as the

Australian High Commissioner

Thousands of Tamil women including school girls have been raped and murdered by the Sri Lankan armed forces. Below is

one of thousands which attracted much publicity.


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Mothers waiting to hear the fate of their children

Grave site of 600 Innocent Tamils

Investigation continues without any results

How long will they have to wait ???

.....Yet No Justice After 10 Years - Disappearance and Killings Still

Continues...


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Sri Lankan Military Command, War Crimes & Diplomatic Postings

Australian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA) mounted an impressive campaign in the

print and electronic media coupled with mass

demonstration against the appointment of former Major General Janaka Perera as Sri Lankan High Commissioner designate to Australia. AFTA has accused Janaka Perera,

who commanded the Sinhalese army in Jaffna, being

responsible for disappearances, torture and summary

executions of Tamil youth.

Major General Janaka Perera


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Torture – Extensively Practised


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Impunity

"I recommend that the Government of Sri Lanka seek international police and forensic support for investigations into killings to ensure justice and accountability" A duty of the state in maintaining security and law and order is to ensure crimes of this nature are properly investigated and punished, whoever is responsible, she said. Source: United Nations News Service 23 May 2006

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - Louise Arbour

The fact is that not a single member of the security forces had at the date of the Mission, been convicted of murder...“ A culture of impunity has developed says International Commission of Jurists, September 1998


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Human Rights Activist Mano Ganeshan MP to leave Sri Lanka fearing for his own life!

Mano Ganeshan, speaking to media said that he has decided to leave Sri Lanka due to

security reasons. The decision to go abroad was due to the recent withdrawal of his

personal security by Sri Lankan government while the MP was receiving deaths threats

U.S. Ambassador Robert Blake recently visited Mano Ganesan

(a Tamil MP) at his office to present the award in recognition

of his contributions to the defense of human rights and

his democracy-building activities.


25

Government Evicts Tamils From Colombo June 2007(BBC)

500 Tamils expelled in 8 buses from Colombo [TamilNet, Thursday, 07 June 2007, 09:44 GMT]

Around 500 Tamils were forcefully expelled from the lodges in Colombo Thursday morning by the Sri Lankan Police, and a

further 300 are being detained in Pettah (Peaddai) police station due to lack of transport. Persons lodged in Colombo for

medical treatment, travel, family re-union, study and in search of jobs, were packed in 8 buses and sent out of Colombo to the east and Vavuniya with Police escort. Three buses were heading

to Vavuniya and 5 buses were on their way to Batticaloa, according to the latest information from the Police.

Courtesy : Freemedia Srilanka


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Under emergency law Tamils must register with local police station wherever they live.

TAMILS have to obtain Police Travel Permit (Pass) to visit neighbouring Districts.

Violating Fundamental Rights of Tamils


27

The Status of Schools in Tamil Homeland after Recent SLA

Onslaughts

A severe teacher shortage was maintained in the Tamil schools for almost a decade during the 1990’s. The militarization with which students attend school in Sri Lankan Government occupied parts of Tamil homeland does not auger well for learning. Neither is the situation in the LTTE administered parts, where students attend school in constant fear of aerial bombardment by the Sri Lanka Government.

These statistics cover only the period of approximately the last 18 months. December 2006

During the three decades of attacks on Tamil civilian institutions, schools have borne the brunt. The number of schools destroyed and displaced by such attacks would be more than 1000.


28

Eastern University Vice Chancellor

Reported Missing - 16-12-2006

S. Raveendranath, the Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL), who was forced to resign his post recently following threats from paramilitary Karuna Group that abducted a Dean of the EUSL demanding the resignation of the Vice Chancellor, was reported missing. The VC was reported missing in High security area in the capital of Sri Lanka

The body of Mr. Kumaravel Thambaiah, A Senior lecturer in the Eastern university Who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his home in Batticaloa town

Mr. Thambaiah took a special interest in the social, political and economic life of the North-East, and was one of the founding members of the Tamil Renaissance Movement. He worked to create and foster Tamil national consciousness, instilling a sense of pride in being Tamil.


29

Tamil Students Killed in Execution Style

Former Deputy Inspector General (DIG)

of Police, H.N.G.B. Kotakadeniya (Photo: Sunday Leader)

The execution style killing of Tamil students, all under 20 years of age, on Monday at Dock Yard Road in Trincomalee town, was allegedly carried out by “a team of Police Special Task Force (STF) commandos,” said the Situation Report column of Sunday Times in its 8th January Sunday edition. The paper further said the deployment of the STF was ordered by “a retired police official who has now been named as an advisor in the Defence Ministry,” and the order was issued during the period “when Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse was away in India accompanying his brother, President Mahinda Rajapakse.”

tamils of sri lanka_btf presentation_part2

Documents

tamil civilians project

sri lankan air force

madu church

tamil people

tamilnet project

sri lanka report

tamil psyche

bombed church buildings