385 Tamil civilians languish in SLA detention in Nanaaddaan - MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 June 2008, 19:00 GMT]
385 civilians from 177 families of Mannaar are languishing in Sri Lanka Army detention at Ka'limoaddai in Naanaaddaan for three months without any inquiries, said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivasakthy Anandan in a letter to Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday. The TNA parliamentarian for Vanni District appealed to the Sri Lankan president to order the release of the civilians detained in the SLA camp. Some of those detained include those who were born in India and had their education in the schools and Universities there.

Many of these civilians are those internally displaced from areas not under the control of the military.

The detainees also include people who got displaced and left for India nearly 10 years ago and recently returned to Mannaar, having undergone various forms of difficulties there.

They are being detained at Ka'limoaddai SLA camp located on Murungkan Chilaavattu'rai Road in within Naanaaddaan District Secretary’s administrative area without being subjected to any investigations.

It is a violation of their fundamental rights to arrest those internally displaced due to lack of food and medical treatment, he further said.

The relatives of the detainees have been making frequent appeals to Mannaar Government Agent (GA) and the District secretary (DS) to take steps to have these civilians released and this has resulted in the disruption of the smooth functioning of these offices, government officials said.

Sivasakthy Anandan requested the Sri Lankan President to order the higher officials of the SLA to release of the civilians detained in the SLA camp and also take necessary steps to provide them with the required facilities to enable them live safely in their usual areas of residence.

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