STF intimidation in Amparai village

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 January 2003, 12:19 GMT]
"Some officers in the Special Task Force (STF) haven't yet come to terms with the reality that Tamils are not their abject slaves- even after one year of peace," said Mr. Ariyanayagam Chandranehru, Tamil National Alliance MP for the Amparai district, referring to instances of assault and intimidation of civilians by commandos of STF, the elite counter insurgency arm of the Sri Lankan armed forces, deployed mostly on the island's Southeastern coast.

According to a complaint from Murugupillai Sokkalingam, a resident of Kanakar Kiramam in Oorani, a Tamil village 100 kilometres south of Batticaloa, the Officer in Charge of the local STF camp had threatened and assaulted him (Sokkalingam) on 16 January, accusing him of supporting the Liberation Tiger, the MP said Sunday.

In his complaint to the MP, Sockkalingam said that the Oorani STF camp OIC had been coming to his house everyday since Thursday and threatening him (Sokkalingam) and his family.

Mr. Chandranehru said he has brought the matter to the notice of STF's Assistant Superintendent in the district and to the local Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

Human rights organisations and the Tamil media have held the STF in Amparai responsible for widespread intimidation, torture, forced labour, massacres, forced evacuations etc., on the island's Southeastern coast.