Nearly a fortnight after the Sri Lanka government agreed in Geneva to implement the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement, military repression against Tamil residents and attacks on the LTTE continued.
In the most serious act of paramilitary violence after the Geneva talks, two LTTE cadres were shot dead Saturday at a Vavunathuivu sentry-point in the Batticaloa district - dDespite the government pledging to take “all necessary measures … to ensure that no armed group or person other than Government security forces will carry arms or conduct armed operations.”
And there were several other incidents ranging from an attack by suspected Army-backed paramilitaries on the family of a Tamil candidate in Jaffna to continuous harassment of fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and allegations of disappeared LTTE cadres having been arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
Two Liberation Tigers were killed on Saturday when a heavily armed group of attackers, who entered the LTTE-controlled area in Vavunathivu, launched an attack on an LTTE sentry point before towards Vavunathivu SLA base.
Ten LTTE cadres were at the sentry-point when they were attacked by an armed group, suspected to be Army-backed paramilitaries and military intelligence officers in an encounter that lasted about ten minutes.
International truce monitors, who were notified of the attack. rushed to the area. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) head Hagrup Haukland said later he had taken up this matter with the Sri Lankan government.
“It is a very serious incident because the attackers had come from the cleared areas in vehicles,” he said, using a term used by the government to refer to areas it controlled – LTTE-controlled areas are ‘uncleared.’
“This attack is yet another blow to the Ceasefire Agreement and is also seriously undermining both parties’ commitment to the Joint Statement from the Geneva talks,” he said.
“If such attacks and killings should re-occur SLMM fears that the next round of talks is put at stake.”
The Nordic monitoring group said it “urges the parties to do all in their power to maintain the ceasefire and to implement the agreed measures spelt out in the Joint Statement, thus creating and maintaining a stable and safe environment for all, conducive to the Peace Process.”
The LTTE condemned the attack in a statement issued by its Batticaloa Political Wing:
“We point out that the killings are a gross violation of the Cease Fire Agreement and provides further evidence that Sinhala extremists, SLA, its intelligence wing and the collaborating paramilitary forces are engaged in nefarious activities designed to trigger an all out war in our homeland to bring further calamity to our people”
“When our fighters returned fire, the SLA soldiers and the paramilitaries withdrew towards the Vavunathivu SLA camp. We have received reliable information that soon after that an ambulance from the SLA camp, escorted by military vehicles, drove towards Batticaloa,” the statement said.
“We strongly condemn the attack and killings of the two LTTE cadres, and point out that the killings are a gross violation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA),” the statement said.
But SLA Spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe denied any military involvement in the Vavunathivu attack.
The LTTE has also accused the government of failing to honour its pledge to disarm armed groups in the NorthEast, especially citing the Karuna Group of continuing to carry weapons in government-controlled areas in the eastern province.
LTTE Batticaloa district political head Daya Mohan was quoted as saying that since the conclusion of the Geneva talks the Karuna Group has penetrated Batticaloa town and has setup its offices in the area.
A recent issue of the Karuna Group Tamil newspaper, Alai (Waves), published colour photographs of Karuna cadres reportedly undergoing military training somewhere in the East, reported the Sunday Times.
The paper also confirmed the opening of an office in Batticaloa town by the political wing of the Karuna Group.
“There has been no change since the Geneva talks. The government security forces continue to harbour armed groups in their area. This does not augur well for the future”, Daya Mohan said.
Meanwhile, the family of one of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) candidates for the Jaffna Municipal Council was attacked by suspected paramilitary cadres last Friday.
Other ITAK candidates and civil society organisations have accused paramilitary operatives of being behind the attack. The Tamil National Alliance, the main Tamil party in the Sri Lankan parliament, is fielding candidates for the local government polls under the ITAK symbol.
In other news, the fishermen from Valligamam south and west have suspended all fishing activities in northern seas from Saturday in protest against SLN forces’ persistent harassment and attacks on fishermen, the Fishermen Societies Consortium in Jaffna said Friday.
370 families of fishermen in Mathagal and 212 families in Seenthipanthan, Urany and Senthankulam may face death due to starvation should this boycott drag longer, TamilNet reported.
The fishermen are demanding freedom to fish without hindrance and complain that SLN attacks on fishermen fishing in the seas of Chullipuram, Urany, Senthankulam, Seenthipanthan and Mathagal are on the increase.
The Fishermen Societies Consortium further said that a SLN Dvora patrol boat Thursday rammed into a boat belonging to the secretary of a fishermen society in Chullipuram intentionally in the high seas causing the boat to capsize and injuring and throwing overboard the secretary’s son.
“Though more than twelve incidents of this nature had occurred in our fishing waters during last week alone and as repeated complaints to the SLN authorities remain unheeded, we have decided to boycott fishing,” said the members of the Consortium of Fishermen societies.
Meanwhile, the Liberation Tigers in Trincomalee said Thursday that they have submitted fresh evidence to the SLMM to confirm that five of their members who have been reported missing since 25 February were arrested by SLA soldiers.
“Our organisation has lodged a fresh complaint based on evidence though eye-witnesses to substantiate our earlier complaint,” said Mr. S. Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE.
“The LTTE members were arrested while they were travelling from Aathiamkerni towards Ralkuli, in Muttur, south of Trincomalee, in an area held by our organisation,” Mr. Elilan said.
“We immediately brought this matter to the SLMM in Trincomalee. The SLA has, however, informed the truce monitors that no such arrests were made,” he said.
“Today we renewed our complaint made earlier to the SLMM stating that we are in a position to provide evidence to prove our complaint. We are yet to receive a response from SLMM on this matter,” Mr. Elilan told Tamilnet Thursday evening by telephone.
In his report Mr. Elilan said he was given details of the five missing cadres and the events leading to their disappearance which makes him firmly believe they were in the hands of the army.
However the SLA has denied Mr. Elilan’s claims. The Daily Mirror also quoted the SLMM as saying it had no knowledge of the alleged arrest the evidence the LTTE says it had given to the ceasefire monitors to prove the allegations.
The SLMM also charged both parties of violating the ceasefire agreement by constructing bunkers at Omanthai.
SLMM’s acting spokesman Robert Nilsson told the Daily Mirror there were complaints from both parties accusing each of constructing bunkers and defence lines.
“Our monitors confirmed that both parties have constructed or repaired their bunkers and defence lines, in what can be seen as a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement”, he said.
The spokesman said the military and the LTTE agreed to dismantle these constructions soon. “We will continue our investigations into the matter and hope the parties will keep their promises”, he added.
In the most serious act of paramilitary violence after the Geneva talks, two LTTE cadres were shot dead Saturday at a Vavunathuivu sentry-point in the Batticaloa district - dDespite the government pledging to take “all necessary measures … to ensure that no armed group or person other than Government security forces will carry arms or conduct armed operations.”
And there were several other incidents ranging from an attack by suspected Army-backed paramilitaries on the family of a Tamil candidate in Jaffna to continuous harassment of fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and allegations of disappeared LTTE cadres having been arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
Two Liberation Tigers were killed on Saturday when a heavily armed group of attackers, who entered the LTTE-controlled area in Vavunathivu, launched an attack on an LTTE sentry point before towards Vavunathivu SLA base.
Ten LTTE cadres were at the sentry-point when they were attacked by an armed group, suspected to be Army-backed paramilitaries and military intelligence officers in an encounter that lasted about ten minutes.
International truce monitors, who were notified of the attack. rushed to the area. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) head Hagrup Haukland said later he had taken up this matter with the Sri Lankan government.
“It is a very serious incident because the attackers had come from the cleared areas in vehicles,” he said, using a term used by the government to refer to areas it controlled – LTTE-controlled areas are ‘uncleared.’
“This attack is yet another blow to the Ceasefire Agreement and is also seriously undermining both parties’ commitment to the Joint Statement from the Geneva talks,” he said.
“If such attacks and killings should re-occur SLMM fears that the next round of talks is put at stake.”
The Nordic monitoring group said it “urges the parties to do all in their power to maintain the ceasefire and to implement the agreed measures spelt out in the Joint Statement, thus creating and maintaining a stable and safe environment for all, conducive to the Peace Process.”
The LTTE condemned the attack in a statement issued by its Batticaloa Political Wing:
“We point out that the killings are a gross violation of the Cease Fire Agreement and provides further evidence that Sinhala extremists, SLA, its intelligence wing and the collaborating paramilitary forces are engaged in nefarious activities designed to trigger an all out war in our homeland to bring further calamity to our people”
“When our fighters returned fire, the SLA soldiers and the paramilitaries withdrew towards the Vavunathivu SLA camp. We have received reliable information that soon after that an ambulance from the SLA camp, escorted by military vehicles, drove towards Batticaloa,” the statement said.
“We strongly condemn the attack and killings of the two LTTE cadres, and point out that the killings are a gross violation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA),” the statement said.
But SLA Spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe denied any military involvement in the Vavunathivu attack.
The LTTE has also accused the government of failing to honour its pledge to disarm armed groups in the NorthEast, especially citing the Karuna Group of continuing to carry weapons in government-controlled areas in the eastern province.
LTTE Batticaloa district political head Daya Mohan was quoted as saying that since the conclusion of the Geneva talks the Karuna Group has penetrated Batticaloa town and has setup its offices in the area.
A recent issue of the Karuna Group Tamil newspaper, Alai (Waves), published colour photographs of Karuna cadres reportedly undergoing military training somewhere in the East, reported the Sunday Times.
The paper also confirmed the opening of an office in Batticaloa town by the political wing of the Karuna Group.
“There has been no change since the Geneva talks. The government security forces continue to harbour armed groups in their area. This does not augur well for the future”, Daya Mohan said.
Meanwhile, the family of one of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) candidates for the Jaffna Municipal Council was attacked by suspected paramilitary cadres last Friday.
Other ITAK candidates and civil society organisations have accused paramilitary operatives of being behind the attack. The Tamil National Alliance, the main Tamil party in the Sri Lankan parliament, is fielding candidates for the local government polls under the ITAK symbol.
In other news, the fishermen from Valligamam south and west have suspended all fishing activities in northern seas from Saturday in protest against SLN forces’ persistent harassment and attacks on fishermen, the Fishermen Societies Consortium in Jaffna said Friday.
370 families of fishermen in Mathagal and 212 families in Seenthipanthan, Urany and Senthankulam may face death due to starvation should this boycott drag longer, TamilNet reported.
The fishermen are demanding freedom to fish without hindrance and complain that SLN attacks on fishermen fishing in the seas of Chullipuram, Urany, Senthankulam, Seenthipanthan and Mathagal are on the increase.
The Fishermen Societies Consortium further said that a SLN Dvora patrol boat Thursday rammed into a boat belonging to the secretary of a fishermen society in Chullipuram intentionally in the high seas causing the boat to capsize and injuring and throwing overboard the secretary’s son.
“Though more than twelve incidents of this nature had occurred in our fishing waters during last week alone and as repeated complaints to the SLN authorities remain unheeded, we have decided to boycott fishing,” said the members of the Consortium of Fishermen societies.
Meanwhile, the Liberation Tigers in Trincomalee said Thursday that they have submitted fresh evidence to the SLMM to confirm that five of their members who have been reported missing since 25 February were arrested by SLA soldiers.
“Our organisation has lodged a fresh complaint based on evidence though eye-witnesses to substantiate our earlier complaint,” said Mr. S. Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE.
“The LTTE members were arrested while they were travelling from Aathiamkerni towards Ralkuli, in Muttur, south of Trincomalee, in an area held by our organisation,” Mr. Elilan said.
“We immediately brought this matter to the SLMM in Trincomalee. The SLA has, however, informed the truce monitors that no such arrests were made,” he said.
“Today we renewed our complaint made earlier to the SLMM stating that we are in a position to provide evidence to prove our complaint. We are yet to receive a response from SLMM on this matter,” Mr. Elilan told Tamilnet Thursday evening by telephone.
In his report Mr. Elilan said he was given details of the five missing cadres and the events leading to their disappearance which makes him firmly believe they were in the hands of the army.
However the SLA has denied Mr. Elilan’s claims. The Daily Mirror also quoted the SLMM as saying it had no knowledge of the alleged arrest the evidence the LTTE says it had given to the ceasefire monitors to prove the allegations.
The SLMM also charged both parties of violating the ceasefire agreement by constructing bunkers at Omanthai.
SLMM’s acting spokesman Robert Nilsson told the Daily Mirror there were complaints from both parties accusing each of constructing bunkers and defence lines.
“Our monitors confirmed that both parties have constructed or repaired their bunkers and defence lines, in what can be seen as a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement”, he said.
The spokesman said the military and the LTTE agreed to dismantle these constructions soon. “We will continue our investigations into the matter and hope the parties will keep their promises”, he added.
