SL forces fatally attack protesting Tamil Prisoners of War in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 June 2012, 23:46 GMT]
The forces of genocidal Sinhala State in Sri Lanka fatally attacked Eezham Tamil prisoners of war kept in the prison at Vavuniyaa on Friday. Heads and limbs broken, more than 15 of the prisoners are admitted in Anuradhapura hospital after removing them from Vavuniyaa. The condition of some of them are said to be serious. The prisoners were protesting for the last few days over the torture and disappearance of a prison mate Mr. Saravanabhavan who was taken to Anuradhapura by the SL forces. Finding their peaceful fasting campaign responded with oppression, the enraged prisoners captured three of the prison officials and were demanding the return of Saravanabhavan for their release. In a well-planned operation on Friday, SL forces that entered into the prison, first deployed tear gas shells, plastic bullets and water canon, before brutally attacking the prisoners causing fatal injuries.

Most of the involved prisoners are actually prisoners of war as they were kept there for their alleged former membership with the LTTE.

Mr. Saravanabhavan who was taken away from the rest to Anuradhapura a few days ago, was once brought back after severe torture to tell the story to the other inmates. He was again taken away and was missing.

When the prisoners entered into a fasting campaign they were forced to take food. The three Sinhala prison officials who were captured had gone inside the cells to force-feed the prisoners.

The prison officials were not harmed, but the prisoners were demanding the return of the missing prisoner.

A SL judge is said to have entered into negotiation for the release of the prison officials but the prisoners were firm on knowing what had happened to Mr. Saravanabhavan. The prisoners wanted evidence if he was alive.

After a 24-hour stalemate, elite soldiers of the SL military and the commandos of the notorious Special Task Force that entered into the prison brutally attacked the prisoners.

Attempting to cover up the incident from media and public, the prison officials did not admit the wounded in Vavuniyaa hospital, but took them to the hospital at Anuradhapura. Apart from those who were seriously wounded, the other prisoners too have been transferred to Anuradhapura prison, sources in Vavuniyaa say.

The international-involved war in the island, in which 40 odd countries including the US and India have had roles and in which the failure of the UN has now gone on record, ended up in genocide with none of them taking any responsibility for the prisoners of war. But during the war all of them wanted the LTTE to ‘surrender’.

Organised attack on Tamil political prisoners and sometimes even mass killings of them inside genocidal Sri Lanka's prisons, have gone on record ever since 1983.

Meanwhile, this week, alleged LTTE prisoners are on a hunger strike in India demanding treatment of them as refugees. The condition of some of them is said to be critical.

While the US, India and the UN set a dangerous model in the treatment of the prisoners of war of a national struggle, the UK government has gone on record for leaving the ‘rehabilitation’ of Tamil prisoners of war in the hands of genocidal Sinhala military and even funding the programme.

The free Eezham Tamil diaspora so far has not taken any effort to argue the case of their freedom fighters in any international forum, addressing the internationally responsible ones in appropriate ways, concerned activists in the diaspora said.

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