(File photo: @Arjunan)
Eighteen years have passed since seven Tamil Rehabilitation Organizations (TRO) humanitarian workers were abducted by Sri Lankan government-backed paramilitaries in Batticaloa.
The kidnappings, which took place on January 29 - 30, 2006, are yet to lead to any prosecution. The paramilitary Karuna group was accused of abducting the aid workers before torturing and murdering them.
Amnesty International which issued a statement a few weeks after the murder detailed the incidents that took place on 30th January, 2006. According to the statement, the TRO staff members were travelling from the organization’s Batticaloa District office to the town of Vavuniya to attend a training session, when their way was blocked by a white van approximately 100 metres after the Sri Lanka Army checkpoint at Welikanda.
According to those who were later released, the white van had previously been following them. Five armed Tamil-speaking men, aged between 20 and 25, reportedly got out of the white van and boarded the TRO vehicle. The seven TRO workers (6 men and one woman) were tortured, the woman was gang raped and all of them were executed after which the assailants disposed of their bodies. The bodies have never been found. Relief Web in its advisory believes this incident was the culmination of a series of attacks on TRO in government-controlled areas which began in 2004. It was also the beginning of a campaign of intimidation and harassment of local and international NGOs by the government, paramilitaries and government-controlled media outlets.
A few months after the TRO massacre, 17 of Action Contre La Faim (ACF) humanitarian workers were executed in August 2006, a massacre the Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission blamed on the GoSL security forces, received worldwide attention and condemnation.
Taking place as the LTTE were preparing to engage in talks with the Sri Lankan government in Geneva, the incident drew condemnation from many including the United States, who said on the day after the abductions,
"The U.S. Embassy is concerned about the reported January 30 kidnapping of five members of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) at Welikanda in Polonnaruwa District. The Embassy urges the relevant authorities to rapidly investigate these allegations. The Embassy again calls on all parties to exercise restraint and calm, especially in the run-up to the cease-fire talks in Geneva."
United States Embassy, Colombo
January 31 2006
See more from a leaked US Embassy cable here.
The Sri Lankan government meanwhile, maintained that the abduction, alongside other reports of human rights violations were being “diligently investigated”.
"The murders of youth in Trincomalee, the reported abductions of members of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, TRO, the assassination of Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham and all other reported incidents are being diligently investigated by our law enforcement authorities and we are taking all necessary action to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice."
Opening Statement by Minister Nimal Siripala deSilva, Head of Delegation, Government of Sri Lanka at the opening session of the talks between Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE
22 February 2006
See the full opening statement here.
The week after the abductions the TRO stated,
"What is especially troubling to TRO has been the reaction of the media, civil society, the government and the law enforcement authorities to the two kidnappings TRO has been the victim of this past week."
"The question, however distasteful must be asked, “Would all of these actors’ responses be the same had Sarvodaya, Sewalanka or any other “southern” NGO been the victim of these crimes.” We are all registered under the same Social Services Act."
Arjun Ethirveerasingam, TRO Project Development Manager,
Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation, Colombo
3 February 2006
See the full speech here.
In a series of statements issued in the aftermath of the abductions, the TRO went on to say,
“It appears that a campaign of terror has been unleashed on TRO personnel in the NorthEast.”
The US Embassy in Colombo noted in a leaked cable,
“The TRO office in Batticaloa has been hit with grenades and gunfire on three separate occasions over the past year; in the most recent incident a security guard was killed.”
The aid agency continued to be targeted by paramilitary and government forces after the abductions, with attacks on their Colombo and Trincomalee offices.
See more in a 2007 TRO press release here.
The 7 TRO humanitarian workers abducted:
29 January 2006 Abductions:
Mr. Kasinathar Ganeshalingam: Age 53 (Member TRO Board of Directors; Secretary of the Pre-School EDC)
Mr. Kathirkamar Thangarasa: Age 43
30 January 2006 Abductions:
Ms. Premini Thanushkodi: Age 25 (Chief Accountant Batticaloa Office; Student at the Eastern University)
Mr. Shanmuganathan Sujendran: Age 24 (Children's Home Accountant)
Mr. Arulnesarasa Satheeskaran: Age 23 (Children's Home Accountant)
Mr. Kailayapillai Ravindran: Age 26 (Children's Home Accountant)
Mr. Thamiraja Vasantharajan: Age 24 (Children's Home Accountant)
