Jaffna lagoon massacre
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Jaffna lagoon massacre happened on January 02, 1993 when a Sri Lankan Navy Gun boat and a number of smaller speed boats intercepted a number of passenger boats transporting civilians between South and North shores of the Jaffna or Kilaly lagoon in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka and attacked them. Thirty five (35) civilians were reported to have died in the massacre.
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[edit] Massacre
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According local reports on the night of January 02 flotilla of boats transporting civilians through the lagoon long established as a security zone by the then government was attacked by a number of Navy boats. These boats came under cannon fire for over 30 minutes. Of the sixteen (16) boats which began the journey only 5 reached the safety of the shores.
On the massacre night's crossing on Saturday passengers were seen leavening in batches of 15 to 20 in each boat at regular intervals. The first four boats from Kilaly in the rebel LTTE occupied North shore reached the mainland to the south without incident. A naval gun boat fitted with cannon was in the lagoon at that time. This boat could operate in an area in the centre of the lagoon where the water was deep enough but could not approach the shores. According to the testimony of one witness following the first four boats, was a fast boat with three outboard motors of the kind used by LTTE. According to this witness the three persons in the boat were not armed and were thought to be rebel sympathizers rather than rebels.
Upon seeing the government gun-boat, the fast boat made a U-turn and sped away towards the safety of north shore. Gun-boat gave a chase and the fast boat ran close by a group of passenger boats heading south from north and escaped northwards. The gun-boat opened fire at these passenger boats from a distance and kept firing for a long time - half an hour according to a Reuter report. The gun boat did not receive any return fire at any stage. Although the gun-boat did not go near the attacked boats, the boats were boarded by Sri Lankan Navy men who came in other smaller boats.
[edit] Close quarter attack
According to the testimony of one K. Sellathurai, a survivor,(Virakesari of 5/1):
| A navy boat suddenly appeared alongside our boats and ordered us to stop moving. Then a torch beam was flashed on us, followed by gun shots. Those in my boat screamed and fell to the ground. I did the same. The other boats were similarly shot at. The boatmen jumped into the sea. This happened between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m and the lagoon water was rough. The navy men set about attacking the passengers at least in one boat with knives irrespective of age and sex. |
The boats were then towed away. One of the boats broke loose and the navy men left it drifting without attempting to secure it. It was this boat that was brought to the mainland subsequently.
The boat with causalities which came ashore had about 4 survivors with cut injuries and about 9 corpses. A lady who had lain against the prow of the boat had been missed by the attackers. The first reports to emerge spoke of nine dead. The figure later rose to over 35 to include passengers from other boats who either were missing and bodies never recovered or whose bodies were recovered.
[edit] Causalities
The Virakesari of 5 Jan reported that 14 bodies recovered and brought to the Killinochchi hospital. Among the recovered bodies six were women.
Of the 14 bodies, only a few were identified, they were
- A. Tharmarajah (51) from Nunavil, Regional Director of Education, Killinochchi
- S.Subramaniam (57), retired police driver
- S.Balasubramaniam (40), bakery owner
- S. Parameswary (52) and her daughter
- T. Nalini (20), a school teacher in Killinochchi
- Gopalapillai (40), tea boutique owner, from Pooneryn
- A. Arulamma (36)
- V. Sellathurai (28) Mannar courts employee.
The injured were
- Rohinidevi Nadarajah (26) who later died in Anuradhapura Hospital
- N. Selvaratnam, Security officer, People's Bank, Nallur
- K. Alagan (25), trader
- K. Sellathurai (62), retired government servant
- Aingaran (27), trader.
[edit] Robbery
According to eye witnesses S. Parameswary was among those killed when the naval men opened fire. Her husband K. Sellathurai lay injured. Naval men came into the boat. A naval man first assaulted him and demanded money and jewels. Sellathurai emptied his purse. The naval man then ripped the gold chain around his dead wife's neck. Sellathurai tried to unscrew her ear rings to give the naval man. An order rang out asking the men to return quickly. The man immediately cut portions the dead woman's ears with the rings and vanished. The boat was then tied for towing, but broke loose. It was left behind. A little later the boatman, who had earlier jumped out, came into the boat. It was he who took the boat to the southern shore. Five boats were said to have been taken by the navy with dead and injured people. Of the five boats towed away, the bodies of the dead were placed in one boat and the boat was set on fire according to local reports. It is suspected that all injured in the five towed boats were also killed by the Navy personnel before setting the corpses on fire.
[edit] Mutilations
Many of the dead also had gaping wounds suggesting that these were caused by cannon rather than small arms. Many of the bodies recovered were badly mutilated. Tharmaraja, the deceased director of education had an eye gouged out. His thigh too had a deep cut. The corpse of a unidentified woman which reached the shore was without its head.
[edit] Government reaction
A government version of this incident broadcast over Makkal Kural for a Tamil language audience did speak about a fast boat which approached the gun-boat, did a U-turn and ran into the passenger boats, but it also added that the fast boat had fired at the navy, which was denied by civilian witnesses.
According to The Island quoting the Sri Lankan government, it reported under the caption "Navy demolishes Tiger boats" , Naval patrol boats operating in the Jaffna lagoon blasted at least four fiber glass dinghies last Saturday night killing over a dozen persons, authoritative military sources revealed yesterday. The dinghies operated by Sea Tigers were moving in a convoy when the Navy patrol boats had swooped down on them. However some of the dinghies had escaped carrying the wounded persons. The Navy boats operating from Nagathevanthurai radar-naval station had confronted the boats while they were moving towards the peninsula the sources indicated. According to the Joint Operations Command (JOC) the navy's in shore patrol craft operating from Nagathivanthurai were successful in controlling Sea Tiger activities in the Jaffna lagoon. All boats trying to break the government imposed ban will be dealt with, an officer said
[edit] Other reports
A report compiled by Tamilcanadian.com claims that over 50 people were killed in the massacre
[edit] Background
Civilians were forced to use the boats because the land connection between the mainland Sri Lanka and the Jaffna peninsula separated by the Kilaly or Jaffna lagoon was blocked due a military camp at the isthmus of Elephant Pass as well as the rebel group LTTE prohibiting civilians to use the land route. Even before the January 1993 massacre there had been a regular toll on civilians. Bodies were regularly discovered on the shores by local villagers and buried.
The Sri Lankan government wanted the civilians to use the land corridors that was under its control where as the LTTE had prohibited the use citing military reasons. It also sometimes provided the speed boats in which the civilians traveled for a fee. The event was planned can be ascertained by the fact that the Sri Lankan Army began issuing hand bills in Dec 1992 to travelers through Vavuniya not to use the Kilaly boat crossing. The Tigers announced through the press in Jaffna that they would offer protection to people using the Kilaly crossing, the massacre followed.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ↑ Report 10 CHAPTER 0 Special Feature: Massacre in the Jaffna Lagoon
- ↑ Tamil-Canadian feature on Human Rights violations in Sri Lanka
- ↑ Amnesty International – Country Report 1994
