1990 Batticaloa massacre

Coordinates: 7°42′58″N 81°42′0″E / 7.71611°N 81.70000°E / 7.71611; 81.70000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Batticaloa massacre or Sathurukondan massacre
Sri Lankan Army
This article contains
rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes
, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Tamil text.

The 1990 Batticaloa massacre, also known as the Sathurukondan massacre (

Sri Lankan Army on September 9, 1990.[1][2][3][4][5]
Although the government instituted two investigations, no one was ever charged.

Background information

See also: Origins of the Sri Lankan civil war

During the

war rapes, torture and enforced disappearances
attributed to both the government and allied groups as well as the various rebel formations.

The massacre

The village of

Iruthayapuram, the northern suburb of Batticaloa
. At 5:30 p.m. on September 9, 1990, armed men in uniform and in civilian clothes came into the area and ordered everyone to come on to the road. They were then marched to the army camp in the vicinity after being told that they would be questioned and released. Most of those who were left in the village that day were elderly, women and the very young.

According to the only survivor, Kanthasamy Krishnakumar (21), in a recording made before leading citizens in Batticaloa:

Fifty commandos walked about 150 of us to the Saturukondan army camp, which we reached about 7.00 or 8.00 p.m. Four were separated from the rest, attacked with swords and kris knives and were pulled away out of the camp. All were then taken to one place, attacked and burnt with tyres.[1]

Krishnakumar who was injured, managed to roll out of sight in the semi-darkness, crept away to a house and asked for water. He then went to his village and stayed in an empty house, and later found his way to his cousin's in Batticaloa town.

The list of victims totaled 184 (38 Sathurukondan, 47 Kokuvil, 37 Panniachchiady and 62 Pillayarady). Of this number, there were 47 children below the age of 10 and several women.[1][3][7]

Government investigation

Retired judge K. Palakidnar of the Special Presidential Commission of inquiry appointed by the People's Alliance government described the massacre in detail in his final report. According to the report of the commission of inquiry, 5 infants, 42 children under ten, 85 women and 28 old persons were among the 184 villagers who were murdered. The judge also identified three captains of the Sri Lankan Army: Warnakulasooriya, Herath and Wijenaike as the responsible parties. The judge in his report urged the Sri Lankan President that there is strong evidence for the massacre and that legal action should be taken against the perpetrators.[3][8] Although indictment levelled against alleged miscreants by the Human Rights Task Force, no action has been taken against the alleged perpetrators.[9][10] Within the Batticaloa district, during the late 1980s and early 1990s a total of 1,100 civilians disappeared, assumed killed.[11][12]

See also

References

  1. ^
    UTHR. Archived from the original
    on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Chapter 45: War continues with brutality". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 22 July 2002. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  3. ^
    Tamilnet
    . Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Towards reconciliation". Dailynews. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  5. ^ "World Report 2000: Sri Lanka". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Tamil Alienation". Russell R. Ross. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  7. ^ "Arrests and subsequent disappearances from the village of Sathurukondan and other Villages". Archived from the original on 24 October 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
  8. ^ "Unanswered Questions About 1990 Operations in The East". UTHR-J. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Where is the Mass Grave of Vantharamoolai?". ACHRC. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  10. ISBN 978-0-691-13948-7
    . Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  11. ^ "Graveyard for Disappeared Persons – Statistic for Batticaloa district". Retrieved 1 August 2006.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "HRW report – Sri Lanka". HRW. Archived from the original on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1990_Batticaloa_massacre&oldid=1194178303"