BACKGROUND
INFORMATION ON TAMIL GENOCIDE : 2009
Since the security
forces regained control over the Jaffna
peninsula from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in late 1995 - early
1996, there have been continuing reports of arbitrary arrests and torture,
including rape, and 'disappearances' in custody. In particular the number of’
disappearances' reported has been of serious concern. Amnesty International has
so far submitted more than 200 cases of people who were seen taken into custody
but whose detention was subsequently denied by the security forces to President
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. It has urged that an independent and
impartial investigation be instituted to establish their fate or whereabouts.
Local human rights organizations and Tamil members of parliament have also
repeatedly brought cases of 'disappearances' to the attention of the President
and other authorities.
Article
URL: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?id=505
Human
rights agencies say safeguards in the law are being circumscribed
British
Refugee Council Publication: Sri Lanka Monitor
"SUPREME COURT Judge
ARB Amarasinghe says in a judgment that Sri Lankan authorities often breach
laws and regulations relating to arrest and detention. The detention of Jaffna
Tamil youth Vijayam Vimalendran for over three years was illegal the Court
declared on 20 December and ordered Rs 25,000 compensation. Although Emergency
regulations give wide powers to the security forces there must be adequate
grounds for arrest. The Court says the Defense Secretary should have sufficient
evidence before signing detention orders. Even those detained under Regulation
17 (i) as posing a threat to national security, should be informed of the
reasons for arrest...
Human rights agencies
say safeguards in the law are being circum- scribed by authorities. In the
north-east arrested persons are held for 60 days under Emergency regulations
and then under the Prevention of Terror- ism Act (PTA) which provides for 18
months detention without being produced before a court.
In southern areas,
including Colombo ,
suspects are generally detained for seven days under Emergency regulations and
then under the PTA on the orders of a magistrate. Agencies say such prolonged
detentions are illegal. Twenty three prisoners in Kalutara prison for over two
years allege that their detention is illegal and say they will fast unto death
if they are not released before 19 January...
There is a fear in Colombo that military
death squads have returned. Retired Tamil engineer Mahadeva was abducted in the
dreaded "white van" on 25 December from his residence in
Bambalapitiya..."
Article
URL: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?id=506
Torture
- including electric shock, burning, beating on soles of feet, gasoline soaked
bags over head...says US State Department Report
"Torture remained a
serious problem... Members of the security forces continued to torture and
mistreat detainees and other prisoners, both male and female, particularly
during interrogation. Although the number of torture reports was somewhat lower
than in previous years in the Colombo area, the
situation in Eastern
Province did not improve.
Torture also emerged as a problem in the newly recaptured Jaffna Peninsula .
In November a Supreme Court judge stated publicly that torture continued
unabated in police stations in spite of a number of judicial pronouncements
against its use. Pro-government Tamil militants in the east and north, directly
responsible to the security forces, also engaged in torture...
"Methods of torture
included electric shock, beatings (especially on the soles of the feet),
suspension by the wrists or feet in contorted positions, burning, near drowning,
placing of insecticide, chili powder, or gasoline-soaked bags over the head,
and forced positions. Detainees have reported broken bones and other serious
injuries as a result of their mistreatment..:' - U.S. Department of State, Sri Lanka Country Report on Human Rights
Practices for 1996
"Sri Lanka 's
minority Tamil community on Saturday complained of human rights abuses as
battles raged between the predominantly Sinhalese forces and Tamil Tiger rebels
near a northern guerrilla stronghold. A pro-government Tamil party urged
President Chandrika Kumaratunga to intervene and stop alleged human rights
abuses against Tamils and make sure those detained by the army in the Tamil-
dominated Jaffna
area were tried fairly. ... Joseph Pararajasingham, parliamentary leader of the
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), wrote in the letter to President
Chandrika Kumaratunga that 76 Tamils, mostly youths, were harassed by police
after being arrested by the army. "The police have them in their custody for
over three months, torture them and obtain confessions under duress," he
said in the letter which was made available to journalists." - Reuter Report, 28 September 1996
"Torture of Tamils
is now widespread in Sri Lankan-occupied parts of the northeast. In Valigamam
district last week, Tamil inmates of the Navaly Pulavar refugee camp were taken
away by soldiers to their army base. Witnesses say soldiers forced the young
men to hold mouthfuls of stones while they were beaten senseless. A 21-year
old, Rasiah Satheeswaran, died during his beating. Half of the refugees who
were taken have been released, the other half are still in army custody.
Relatives fear the worst.
Article
URL: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?id=507
Police
powers promote torture says Colombo Judge
British
Refugee Council Publication
Sri
Lanka Monitor, November 1996
"Supreme Court
Judge P Ramanathan says despite judicial orders against law-enforcement officers,
torture in police stations continues unabated. Police have powers to record statements,
investigate and prosecute offenders. The concentration of powers allows the police
to take short-cuts by torture in custody, says Mr Ramanathan. Human rights
agencies say prolonged detention also leads to ill-treatment. Currently there
are over 1,100 Tamils in custody, 300 of whom are held for over two years. MPs
who met detainees in Kalutara prison in early November say six Tamil youths are
held for over five years and another six above the age of 50 are detained for
over 18 months. Seven had been earlier re- leased, arrested again and held for
over two years.
Over 100 Tamil prisoners
in Kalutara began a fast on 28 November demanding trials or release. Following
a fast protest by detainees in June, the De- fence Ministry promised to solve
the issue within three months. Prisoners bitterly complain that the Ministry
has failed to take any action. Lawyers say the Defense Ministry has failed to
act on several recommendations for re- lease made by the Attorney General's
Department.
Human rights agencies
are concerned about illegal detentions. Some prisoners continue to languish in
prison despite court orders for their release. In a habeas corpus application,
Meenatchy Chitrasenan alleges that her daughter Thirumagal arrested in
September is illegally detained in a police station without being produced
before a court."
Article
URL: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?id=510
150
Tamil women and children raped by law enforcers last year say rights groups
“Human rights activists
claim more than 150 women, mostly minority Tamils, were raped by police and
armed forces personnel last year.
In the past few months
the nation has been outraged by a series of sex offences, followed in some
instances by the death or disappearance of victims. Security forces are
allegedly behind the incidents, which are widespread in the war-ravaged north
and east.
Rights groups and
mainstream Tamil political parties are now up in arms over the alleged rape of
five women by policemen in Colombo 's
suburbs. Politicians and rights agencies have made repeated demands for
investigations of the large numbers of rapes allegedly committed by officials
entrusted with enforcing law and order.
In one of the suburban
rape cases, the victim, from the eastern Batticaloa district, had approached a
reserve police constable for directions to a relative's home in Colombo .
The policeman
accompanied the woman to her destination but then raped her in a lonely
suburban thicket. At least 15 soldiers and policemen have been accused of rape
since June last year."
-
South China
Morning Post January 11, 1997
"Amnesty
International has documented several cases of rape by members of the security
forces. Because many women are reluctant to give testimony about their
treatment by the security forces, Amnesty International believes that these
testimonies represent only a fraction of a widespread pattern of human rights
violations. In those cases reported to Amnesty International, the authorities
took some initial action against the alleged perpetrators. However, the
organization does not know of any member of the security forces who has been
brought to justice on charges of rape.
In January 1995, three
women were reportedly raped by soldiers at Poomachcholai and Kayankaddu,
Batticaloa district, in reprisal for an attack by the LTTE on the nearby army
camp at Thandavanveli. In August 1995 Lakshmi Pillai was raped at her home in
Trincomalee by two army informants in front of her two sons. The motive may
have been revenge as she had spoken out about being raped before at Plantain
Point army camp in August 1993. The informants were arrested but later released
on bail pending trial.
On 7 March 1996, a
45-year-old woman was raped by soldiers at Thiyavedduwan checkpoint. Her
husband was beaten with rifle butts. Both were admitted to Valaichchenai
hospital. Following a complaint by several people of Thiyavedduwan at
Valaichchenai army camp, an identification parade was held and the soldiers
were identified and taken into custody by the military police. It is not known
whether any further action has been taken against them."
-
Amnesty International Report, September 1996
Article
URL: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?id=509
Shadowy Tamil militant
death squads are once again on the rise in Batticaloa. The Mohan group aligned
to PLOTE has terrorized Batticaloa for several years and has been linked to
former intelligence officer Richard Dias alias Captain Munas, implicated in the
disappearance of 158 Tamils from the Vantharumoolai refugee camp in 1990. The
Raziq group associated with EPRLF has recently surfaced. Observers believe
EPRLF, which kept aloof from military activities for several years, has decided
to throw in its lot after the fall of Jaffna
and the apparent weakening of the LTITE. The Tamil militant cadres ostensibly
provide translation service to the military and act as scouts and spotters
during security operations. Both EPRLF and PLOTE deny that they have links with
death squads. But reports from Batticaloa say these two groups are involved in
detention, torture and execution of people suspected of links with the LTTE.
Observers say that at
least ten incidents of torture and execution in the last three months are known
to human rights groups.
-
Sri Lanka Monitor, published by British Refugee Council, June 1996
Article
URL: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?id=511
Rapes
and Murders in Occupied Jaffna
"Allegations of
ill-treatment of women and extra-judicial executions are also being made
against the security forces. Reports say that three women were raped by
soldiers at their home in Manthuvil on 1 August."
-
British
Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, August 1996
-
"Vanni MP S
Shanmugnathan says number of women at the Poonthottam school camp have been
sexually abused by the police. A woman who was raped has been admitted to the
Vavuniya hospital. Pregnant women have been denied access to the hospital and
one woman has died in labour"
-British
Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor, November 1996
"Of the numerous
arrests, rapes and murders of the girls and boys in Jaffna , one comes to light. Most, however, go
unreported because the Sri Lankan army bans independent reporters from
traveling to the peninsula, and the government censors news about conditions in
Jaffna .
On Saturday Sep. 7, 1996,
Krishanthi Kumarasamy, an 18 year old student at Chundikuli Girls' High School
went missing, soon after she had taken her first paper at the GCE A/L
examination. She was seen by a number of witnesses being taken into custody by Sinhalese
army personnel at the Kaithady checkpoint, and she disappeared soon after.
According to a report
published later in the Sri Lanka Sunday Times (Nov 3, 1996), "She was
stopped at the checkpoint and three soldiers allegedly raped her until she fell
unconscious. When she revived, according to the confessions, police officers
and six soldiers further raped her."
On learning of
Krishanthi's detention at the army check-point, her mother, Rasamma (59), who
was the vice principal of Kaithady Maha Vithyalayam, accompanied by her son,
Pranaban (16), and a neighbor, Kirupakaran Sithamparam (35), went to the army
camp, and then they too disappeared. The same Sri Lanka Sunday Times report
said, "Her journey was not only futile but she, her son and neighbor were
strangled, cut into pieces and buried in a little hut within the gates of the
arm camp." y Krishanthi's relatives in Colombo, including her older
sister, Prashanthi (21), who was staying in Colombo at that time, took up the
matter with authorities in Colombo, including President Kumaratunga, but
nothing was done as the army headquarters denied the arrests.
On
Sep 20th, Amnesty International published an Urgent Action Appeal (UA 222/96),
and even at this stage the government remained silent.
On Oct 23, more than 6
weeks after their disappearances, the Colombo-based Tamil daily Virakesari
published the story. Although none of the other newspapers published it, things
began to heat up. The matter was raised in Parliament, and all of a sudden the
four bodies buried in a shallow grave within the army camp were found.
Tip of an iceberg? Tamil
Voice has information that these kinds of atrocities are quite rampant in the Jaffna peninsula, and in
other Tamil areas occupied by the Sri Lankan army. This is not an isolated
incident... The reason for lack of publicity is the unofficial ban on
independent reporters and human rights organizations from visiting these
areas... A recent Asia Watch report said, "The army only permits access to
the state run media." Foreign humanitarian organizations that are allowed
to function in these areas are ones who (by charter) do not publish such
crimes. They consider such silence necessary for them to be able to carry out
their primary humanitarian work.
News pertaining to large
scale violations, such as those in the peninsula, however, is difficult to
conceal. A Tamil Voice editor had an opportunity to meet with a number of new
refugees who had escaped recently to Tamil Nadu by boat. He reports that, their
accounts are "horror stories from hell."
A large number of Tamil
men and women are reportedly being held in the Kankesanthurai police premises
in the army-held Jaffna
peninsula. They are reported to have been arrested between 30 Mar 96 and 29 Aug
96. The Government Agent of the army occupied Jaffna peninsula published a list of names
and details of only 135 Tamils, out of the 740 who the armed forces admitted to
holding at the Kankesanthurai police station. He has also reported that nearly
a hundred Tamil girls are missing. Several incidents of rapes and molestations
were also reported.
"On Sep 30 at about
3.20 PM Velauthapillai Rajani, 22, from Urumpirai North was arrested in Kondavil-Urumpirai Road
by the Sri Lankan army. This arrest was seen by several people. Rajani, who was
planning to leave to Canada ,
went to see her relatives in Kondavil to say good-bye. On her way she was
stopped by the Sri Lankan soldiers manning the
Kondavil checkpoint and
was dragged into a house where two elderly people were living. The soldiers
chased the two occupants out of the house and Rajani was raped. Her naked body
was found later in the compound."
Another report stated,
"Vasuki, a young Tamil girl living in Kilner Lane was harassed by Sri Lankan
soldiers from the army camp next to her house. On Sep 8, Vasuki was watching TV
at her home between 11 PM and 12 PM at night when 4 Sri Lankan soldiers in
civil dress and 2 soldiers in army uniform came into her house and tried to
take her away by force. She and her neighbors raised cries and the soldiers
fled with Vasuki's National Identity card."
"On Saturday
morning August 7, a Sri Lankan military truck rammed into a group of school
girls who were cycling to the Examination hall for their GCE (A/L)
examinations. Nineteen year old, Thayananthi Kananathan from Ariyalai, a
student of Chundukuli
Girls College
was killed on the spot."
"On Sep 10, a 55
year old woman employed in the Thirunelvely Co-operative Milk Society was
gang-raped by Sri Lankan Army personnel." "In Kachchai a husband who
tried to prevent the rape of his wife was cut to death. His wife was also
murdered later."
These are just a few of
the hundreds of incidents reported to Tamil Voice. The rape and murder of
Krishanthi is just one of them.
(Tamil
Voice, published by the US Based llankai Thamil Sangam, Fall 1996, edited by
Dr.Rajan Sriskandarajah M.D.)
WE ARE PREPARING A DETAILED
COMPLAINT WHICH WILL BE MAILED SHORTLY. THIS COMPLAINT QUOTES UN AGENCIES,
MEDIA, JUDGES, VICTIMS, AND OTHER REPORTS. ALL THESE REPORTS MUST BE TRACKED
CONSTRUCTING A CLEAR CUT CHARGE SHEET.OUR INTENTION IS ONLY TO DRAW YOUR
ATTENTION TO THE GRAVITY OF THE CRIME, WE ARE URGING THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC
PROSECUTOR TO PROBE FURTHER.
Prof. Boyle of
University of Illinois College of Law and an expert in International Law,
pointed out that "under Chapter XV of the United Nations Charter, the U.N.
Secretariat, headed-up by the U.N. Secretary General, is one of six independent
organs of the United Nations Organization itself. As such the U.N. Secretary
General is obligated to implement the "Purposes of the United
Nations" set forth in Article 1 of the Charter.
"Article 1(3) of
the Charter provides that one of these "Purposes of the United
Nations" is: "To achieve international co-operation in solving
international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian
character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for
fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or
religion."
Boyle added, "In
other words, the U.N. Secretary General has a U.N. Charter obligation "in
promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms
for" the Tamils in Sri Lanka as required by the preemptory norm of
international law set forth in Article I of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Francis Boyle, professor
of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, called on
India, the United States, Britain and France to fulfill their obligations under
the Geneva Conventions and Protocol, and under the Genocide Convention by
launching an immediate humanitarian air-drop relief operation for the starving
Tamil civilians within the so-called safety zone, who are suffering without
adequate humanitarian supplies for weeks.
Starvation of civilians,
as a method of warfare, can also constitute an act of genocide as defined by
Article II (c) of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Though timely action in this
direction did not arrive at least in post-conflict period International Court
of Criminal Justice must charge sheet Srilankan President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakshe
for starving Tamils to death and stalling UN to rescue Tamils from starvation.
"Article 54(1) of Additional Protocol I
to the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 sets forth a rule of customary
international humanitarian law that obligates every state in the world:
"Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited."
Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime. Every
contracting party to the Geneva Conventions and Protocol has the obligation
under Common Article 1 thereof "to respect" the Conventions and Protocol
themselves and "to ensure respect" for the Conventions and Protocol
"in all circumstances" by other contracting parties such as Sri Lanka .
"Furthermore,
starvation of civilians as a method of warfare can also constitute an act of
genocide as defined by Article II (c) of the 1948 Genocide Convention:
"Deliberately inflicting on the group {in this case Tamils} conditions of
life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in
part." Every contracting state party to the Genocide Convention has the
obligation "to prevent" genocide by Sri Lanka against the Tamils as
required by Article I thereof.
HENCE DRAVIDA PERAVAI
URGES THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR TO PROBE THE DEATH OF TAMIL CIVILIANS
DUE TO STARVATION IN THE WAR ZONE AND FIX SRILANKAN PRESIDENT ON THIS CRIME
ALSO.
Statement
by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative, on the Situation in
Sri Lanka ,
in Security Council Consultations
April 30, 2009
The United States is
deeply concerned by the situation in Sri Lanka, where fighting between
government forces and the Tamil Tigers has led to a growing and grave
humanitarian crisis that has left innocent civilians pinned down and desperate.
We are very concerned by the serious allegations against both parties of
violations of international humanitarian law.
Despite
the Government of Sri Lanka ’s
promise to suspend combat operations, multiple accounts indicate that shelling
into the conflict zone continues. We have also received reports of alarming
number of civilian casualties.
On April 28, limited
quantities of food were delivered to the conflict zone—the first such delivery
in more than three weeks. We welcome the arrival of this sorely needed aid, but
we are deeply concerned that critical medicines were not able to reach the conflict
area as well.
We
share Under-Secretary-General Holmes’ disappointment that the Government of Sri Lanka has
not yet allowed a UN humanitarian team into the conflict zone to facilitate
relief operations and the safe evacuation of civilians. We urge the
Sri Lankan government to reconsider. This Council must also grapple with the
sheer scope of the problem. Latest
reports indicate that more than 170,000 displaced persons have registered in
government-controlled camps. The Government of Sri Lanka must allow the UN and the
International Committee of the Red Cross access to all sites where newly
arrived displaced persons are being registered or being provided shelter.
These reports pertain to
the period of war without witness. Now since Srilankan Government had declared
war is over immediately UN agencies must step in and Office of the Public
Prosecutor starts its investigations before all bodies are exhumed and all
people are silenced at gun point.
INDEPENDENT
MEDIA
INDICTS
ARMS SUPPLIERS;
Chinese F7s and Russian
MIG fighters fly over the skies of Vanni continuously and they regularly bomb
hospitals, schools, churches and orphanages. Cluster bombs and phosphorous
bombs are used against innocent Tamil civilians. Children are dying in front of
their parents and the parents are dying in front of their children. Many of the
dead have nobody to mourn for them. More than eight thousand innocent Tamils
have been killed just within the last three months. Tamils are now left with
nothing. All their homes and farm lands have been made into grave yards. Many
families have lost their loved ones. Thousands of orphans and widows are
longing for death than suffering from hunger and untreated wounds in the
killing fields of Sri Lanka .
They have no more comforters left to comfort the victims.
As part of the so called
deceptive humanitarian and rescue operation, Sri Lankan forces surrounded an
area that is almost two times bigger than Singapore , bombed and destroyed all
the hospitals, schools, orphanages and homes in this prosperous land that was
once flowing with milk and honey.
They destroyed farms,
fruit trees and the cattle belonging to the people who have lived there for
years. They dropped cluster bombs and killed so many thousands of innocent
people including children, women and old people.
They have forced people
into starvation and made them to live in tents and bunkers for months. All this
is according to them for just to catch or kill few hundreds LTTE fighters that
were living among more than three hundred thousands of innocent Tamil
civilians.
Tamils
are persecuted all over Sri
Lanka
Tamils who are forced to
live in the open fields are bombed and killed in thousands. Those who leave the
war zone are sent to barbed wired concentration camps and torture camps. The
ones that live in the other parts of the country live in open prisons with the
constant fear of abductions, extra-judicial killings, torture and rape.
World
very well knows how the Sri Lankan soldiers were asked to leave Haiti after
they were blamed for rape, while doing peace keeping operations as part of the
UN force.
There are many peace
loving Sinhalese people living in Sri Lanka . Several academics, human
rights activists, journalists, Christian leaders and professionals from the
Sinhalese community are supporting the Tamils in their struggle for freedom.
Some Tamils even tend to intermarry with the Sinhalese.
Although the extremists
are only a minority among the Sinhalese, they have been successful in
influencing politicians, military leaders and ordinary Sinhalese people to
incite racial hatred, violence and discrimination against Tamils.
In recent times, China has been actively involved in building
ports in the South East Asian countries including Sri Lanka . China is spending 1 billion dollars to construct
a port in the south of Sri
Lanka .
In order to look after its
interests in the region and to deal with the threats from China , India
had come up with the clever idea of providing with intelligence and military expertise
to Sri Lanka.Many Sri Lankan ministers have recently acknowledged that they
wouldn't be winning the war without the help from India .
This is not because India hates the Tamils and loves the Sinhalese
but they are not ready to see Sri Lanka
going into the hands of China
and Pakistan .
More than seven hundred Indian fishermen were killed by the Sri Lankan Navy
within the last few years but India
is willing to sacrifice even their own for a greater gain in the region.
When the twin towers
fell and the innocents died, we declared war on Terror. We have done the right
thing and we have been successful in preventing many disasters in our great
cities. Unfortunately, some of the countries that have been terrorizing their
minorities for a long time have started to use the loop holes in the "War
on Terror" strategy to declare war on the vulnerable.
Theory of War on Terror
has failed miserably in countries like Sri Lanka because the oppressor has
got the freedom to declare war on the innocents who are already going through
hell in their hands. Many freedom movements that have been fighting for the
freedom of the oppressed are now wrongly branded as Terrorists groups. Some of
these countries like Sri
Lanka have been spending so much money in
doing false propaganda, to convince the world that these freedom movements had
links with Al Qaeda. War on Terror is a great idea but the problems come when
we wrongly recognize the Terrorists and the ones who are fighting the Terrorists.
When the “War on Terror” strategy is used by a Terror government that is
already killing its own citizens, alarms should be raised to protect the
vulnerable.
Did
we permit Saddam Hussain who was a democratically elected president to wipe out
all the Kurdish people? Hitler was democratically elected but he was still
responsible for killing millions of Jews. Rajapakse government, although it is
democratically elected, shouldn't be allowed to use the “War on Terror” agenda
to annihilate Tamils.
UK
government would never bomb the whole city of Belfast and force people to live
in the bunkers without food and medicine for months, if they had to catch few
hundreds of IRA rebels. They wouldn't use chemical weapons against innocent
women and children unless they had a hidden agenda of killing the people.
As usual, UN has so far
failed to protect the innocents. They failed in Rwanda and they failed in many
other countries where millions died of man made disasters. They always waited
till it was too late to act. UN had sent it's representatives to Sri Lanka few
times in the last few months ,but they couldn't convince the Sri Lankan
authorities to stop the war.UK and the US are working really hard to bring the
Sri Lankan issue before the security council. China ,
being a permanent member is not allowing the war in Sri
Lanka to be discussed for an obvious reason that they are
also partnering with Sri
Lanka . They don't want to be blamed for
fuelling the war in this tiny island by freely supplying offensive weapons in
order look after their own interests in the region.
RichardDixons@googlemail.com
We
thank the Journalist Mr.Richard Dixon for above mentioned report
Monday, 13 August 2001,
The Sri Lanka Army has
acquired an infantry weapon with a chemical warhead whose use has been shunned
internationally except by Russia
due to the risk to civilians, press reports said this weekend. In an expose,
the Sunday Leader said that the SLA had spent several million dollars to
acquire 1000 units of the shoulder-fired RPO-A Shmel Rocket Launcher, but that
amidst bribes sought by the SLA commander, Lt. General Lionel Ballagalle, the
weapons delivered were of old stock and may have exceeded their shelf life. The
US Defense Intelligence Agency says the weapon’s chemical warhead is toxic and
hence dangerous even if it fails to detonate.
The flamethrower type
weapon, which the Sunday Leader says has
been banned by the United States is only manufactured by a single firm in
Russia and was bought by the SLA via a London-based company, Gladstone
Industrial Holdings, whose directors include a retired SLA officer, Lt. Col.
Upali Gajanayake. The Sunday Leader interviewed the latter as part of its
investigation into the alleged corruption.
“It is an
internationally banned weapon,” Lt. Col. Gajanayake told the Sunday Leader,
explaining why the SLA needed to go through his firm, rather than directly to
sole Russian manufacturer, to acquire the Shmels. “Officially these items
cannot be negotiated via an open tender but can only be bought underground;
this is a very sophisticated chemical warhead.”
Although usually
referred to in descriptive literature as a flame-thrower, the RPO-A Shmel
(Bumblebee in Russian) is a rocket-propelled incendiary/blast projectile
launcher, according to Janes’ weapons expert Terry Gander. “One projectile
fired is described by the Russians as `thermo baric' as it appears to utilize
advanced fuel-air explosive techniques which, on detonation, create
deflagration as the warhead cloud expands,” says Gander . When utilized against structures the
blast effect of the projectile is stated to be equivalent to a 122 mm howitzer
shell, he says.
The weapon – along with
other fuel air mixture weapons - has been used by Russian troops in Chechnya , where
human rights groups have long criticized the indiscriminate nature of the
weapon which has resulted in heavy civilian casualties and horrific injuries.
In a statement February
2000 on the use of such weapons in Chechnya ,
Human Rights Watch said “The use of fuel-air explosives … represents a
dangerous escalation in the Chechnya
conflict--one with important humanitarian implications.” In urban settings it
is very difficult to limit the effect of this weapon to combatants, and the
nature of FAE explosions makes it virtually impossible for civilians to take
shelter from their destructive effect,” HRW said, adding that “because they are
wide-area weapons, military forces must exercise extreme caution and refrain
from using them in or near population centers.”
The U.S. Defense
Intelligence Agency in a 1993 report says, “The [blast] mechanism against
living targets is … unpleasant… If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate,
victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel.
Since the most common FAE fuels are highly toxic, un-detonated FAE should prove
as lethal to people caught within the cloud as most chemical agents”
A separate Central
Intelligence Agency report says “it is possible that victims of FAE’s are not
rendered unconscious by the blast, but instead suffer for several seconds or
minutes while they suffocate.”
One thousand RPO-A
Shmels were delivered to the SLA in a single planeload on July 17, the Sunday
Leader claimed, adding that the colleague of Gajanayake, Ameer Temour, who
negotiated the deal with a Ukrainian arms supplier was fired on July 17. Temour
told the paper that Gajanayake had submitted expenses claim of nearly half a
million US dollars which
were bribes for Ballagalle and other senior SLA
officers.
Whilst the SLA had expected to take delivery of 1000 brand new
warheads, the paper claims the batch delivered comprised 400 manufactured in
1989 and 600 in 1991. The weapon expires after 10 years. The sole manufacture
is KBC Instrument Design Bureau in Tula ,
Russia .
“The age of the
delivered units explains how Gladstone was able
to negotiate the supply and export the items without contravening any rights
the manufacturing company in Russia
held to be the sole authority to supply the brand new item,” the paper said.
Read
this
WEAPONS
BOUGHT in 2001 used in 2009
Tuesday, 07 April 2009,
Sri Lanka Army
extensively used chemical weapons on LTTE combatants at Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK)
during the weekend, according to Lawrence, a senior commander of the LTTE, who
personally encountered the attack and escaped, LTTE sources told TamilNet
Tuesday. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Defense Ministry has claimed that it has killed
hundreds of Tiger combatants including senior commanders in PTK last weekend.
The use of chemical weapons were the suspicion of many who have seen the
photographs released by the SL Defense Ministry, but now the accusation comes
from the LTTE. The Tiger sources neither confirmed the type of the chemical
weapon nor said anything on the casualties claimed by Colombo .
Not matching with their
tall claims, Colombo 's
websites have released comparatively fewer photographs of LTTE combatants it
killed in action this time. Yet, the released photographs were enough for
viewers of forensic experience to suspect the use of chemical weapons. Chemical
weapons such as nerve gas were strictly prohibited by international conventions
after world experiencing gruesome mass deaths of combatants during the World
War I (1914 - 1919). Colombo
government was already on record for clandestine purchase of prohibited
chemical weapons and accessories in 2001.
Colombo
government, its president Mahinda Rajapaksa as Commander-in-Chief of the armed
forces, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the defense secretary and Sarath Fonseka, the army
chief, may have to face indictment as serious war criminals if the accusation
of the use of chemical weapons is proved.
Wednesday, 18 March
2009,
Publishing two leaked
documents by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Matthew
Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN, in an exclusive report on Wednesday
revealed that the United Nations office had its own estimates of casualty
figures. The UN had internal documentation for 9,924 civilian casualties
including 2,683 killings and 7,241 injuries since 20 January to 07 March 2009.
"Now it appears that unlike in other conflicts from Darfur to Gaza , the UN withheld the Sri Lanka figures, in effect
protecting the Sri Lankan government from criticism," the Inner City Press
reported Wednesday
UN
document: Civilian casualties in the Vanni (courtesy: Inner City Press)
"Between January
and 12 February, the reporting network was spread over a broad area. Since most
civilians are now in the small No Fire Zone (NFZ), including the reporting
network - the information is better. The assumption is that the casualties were
greatly under-reported prior to 12 February," said the UN document which
put the total minimum number of documented civilian casualties since 20 January
2009 as of 07 March 2009 in the conflict area of Mullaiththeevu district: 9,924
people including 2,683 deaths and 7,241 injuries.
Between January and
February 2009 the combat area was reduced from 100 square km to 45 square km,
including the NFZ of 14 square km. As the combat area reduces, the daily
average shows an increase in the number of killed (from 33 to 63) and a slight
decrease in the number of injured (from 184 to 145). This is due to increased
density, the use of heavy weapons which continue to strike the NFZ and
inadequate medical treatment.
Two thirds of the
documented casualties occurred in the No Fire Zone (NFZ), according to the UN
report obtained by the Inner City Press.
It is not humanly
possible for the Tamil Diaspora or Indian Tamils to collect each and every
detail concerning the genocide; hence there is historical necessity for the
Office of the Public Prosecutor to start the probe to establish the guilt of
the perpetrators of Tamil Genocide. Hence Dravida Peravai, the Indian political
party of socialists, appeals to the International Court of Justice for justice.
In pursuit of justice we had earlier made our appeal to the current month’s
President of the United Nations Security Council and the General Secretary of
the United Nations marking copies to the Representatives of the Member Nations
in Security Council. We have urged the Security Council to forward our
complaint to you, which we are sending you in the form of a book.
This is our first
attempt to reach your office, and we have just tried to give supportive
evidences to make your mind arrive at the circumstantial evidences to come to
the conclusion to launch a probe against Srilankan President Mr.Mahinda
Rajapakshe and others for their Tamil genocide.
Yours sincerely
N.Nandhivarman
General Secretary
Dravida Peravai India .
Date: 20.05.2009
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