130 Tamil civilians reported disappeared in Batticaloa district since 2007
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 05:04 GMT]
One hundred thirty Tamil civilians are reported disappeared
during the last three years in the Batticaloa district since
2007, relatives of the disappeared told Batticaloa district Tamil National
Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians at a discussion held Sunday at
Batticaloa American Mission Hall. They requested the TNA
parliamentarians to help trace the disappeared. Most of the
disappeared were between the ages 20 and 35, they said.
TNA parliamentarians P. Selvarajah, S. Yogeswaran and P. Ariyanethiran
participated in the discussion.
In mid 2005 hundreds of youths seeking employment and
students and supporters of the LTTE were abducted by Para
military group led by Karuna (present Deputy Minister for
Resettlement, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan), Pilliayan group and
military intelligence group. Relatives of the disappeared civilians expressed dissatisfaction
over the assurance given by TNA parliamentarians during the
discussion that they would take steps to appoint a committee with Sri
Lanka President as its head to inquire into the complaints. Relatives told media later that they wanted foreign
governments and non-governmental organizations to exert pressure on
Colombo government to trace the disappeared. They further said that some of the disappeared had been given
weapon training and made them cadres of the Para military group TMVP. Some of them were shot and killed in clashes with the LTTE. Relatives have complained to several non-governmental organizations including
Batticaloa Regional Office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri
Lanka, UNICEFand International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC).
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