posted June 07, 2000 10:22 AM            

IT IS PRETY OBVIOUS WHO IS THE REALY TERRORISTS AND MURDERERS AND RAPISTS AND CHILD MOLESTERS ISN'T IT????

Chemmani is an area of the Jaffna peninsula, in northern Sri Lanka, populated by Tamil people. It became infamous in July 1998 after claims were made of mass graves of Tamil civilians murdered by Sri Lankan troops being located there.
Having been held by Tamil guerrillas since 1990, the Jaffna peninsula was captured by the Sri Lankan Army in early 1996 after a massive offensive during which hundreds of thousands of Tamils civillians were displaced.

The Sri Lankan Army is overwhelmingly (99% according to the UN*) Sinhalese. Although the Sri Lankan government announced it had ‘liberated’ the Jaffna Tamils, and claimed that its troops were winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of the populace, the reality is quite different.

Tamils - in particular youths - began disappearing almost immediately after the Army took control. The bodies of people arrested by the military were regularly found dumped by sides of the area’s roads. Many of those arrested were tortured. Many of the females were raped in custody.

But the disappearances were the most widespread. People arrested by the military simply vanished.

Amnesty International says that it believes up to 600 Jaffna Tamils who disappeared in Sri Lankan military custody were "either tortured to death or deliberately killed". Amnesty also says that the disappearances are continuing to date.

What had happened to the bodies of the disappeared remained a mystery until July 1998, when one of the Sri Lankan soldiers on trial for the rape and murder of a Jaffna schoolgirl, and the murder of her brother, mother and neighbour, claimed that up to 400 bodies were buried near a military checkpoint in Chemmani.

The soldier said he had personally been involved in the burial of Tamil civilians murdered by other Sri Lankan troops and said bodies had been brought to the area every night.

There was an uproar when the revelations of Chemmani’s mass graves were made. International and local human rights groups, Parliamentarians and the relatives of the disappeared appealed for the matter to be investigated.

Although claiming to agree to their appeals, the Sri Lankan government has done absolutely nothing in this direction, and has in fact deliberately constructed efforts to investigate the graves.

Amnesty International called for international forensic experts with experience in investigating mass graves to be brought in. Though the government agreed this was possible, nothing further was done.

In fact, the only ‘investigations’ that have taken place so far consist of interviews with the soldier who made the allegations. (The guards responsible for guarding the soldier have already tried to murder him once, in an attack that Amnesty says is linked to efforts to get him to withdraw his statement).

When concerns were raised that the evidence at Chemmani might be destroyed by those wishing to prevent an investigation, the Sri Lankan government ordered its Jaffna military to seal off the area (in late July 1998). Ironically, the very troops responsible for the war crimes had been placed in charge of the evidence!

Since then, residents in nearby locations say that there has been heavy activity by the Army in the Chemmani area. At night, the lights of Army lorries moving around the area can be seen, they say. More ominously, during the days, smoke can be seen rising from where the graves are reported to be located.

Despite numerous protests, appeals and petitions, the Sri Lankan government has continued to deliberately obstruct efforts to investigate the graves.

Now, it is feared that the heavy monsoons which are typical of the Indian Ocean island will contaminate or destroy any evidence that has been dug up by the troops.

The Chemmani mass graves - and the manner in which the Sri Lankan government is treating the matter - sum up the considerable risk faced by the Tamil people at the hands of the military.

From events to date, it is clear that the Sri Lankan military can commit any manner of atrocity - including mass murder - against the Tamil people and yet be guaranteed immunity by the government.

Without international pressure, this will not change.

Date News or Press Release From
12-09-1999 Sri Lanka mass grave could have up to 100 bodies: experts AFP
09-09-1999 Chemmani: alleged rape victim's body found TamilNet
31-08-1999 Ex-soldiers identify more Jaffna grave sites TamilNet
13-08-1999 Government team visits Chemmani TamilNet
15-07-1999 Statements recorded from Chemmani victim's relatives TamilNet
22-06-1999 Statements recorded from Chemmani victim's relatives TamilNet
22-06-1999 Chemmani exhumations -- positive first steps towards truth and justice AI
19-06-1999 Stadium graves hearing postponed TamilNet
18-06-1999 Relatives identify Chemmani skeletons TamilNet
18-06-1999 'Mass grave' bodies identified BBC
16-06-1999 Chemmani witness speaks of killings, names officers TamilNet
16-06-1999 New mass grave claims TamilNet
08-06-1999 Survey of Chemmani underway TamilNet
20-04-1999 Investigate eastern graves - TULF MP TamilNet
19-04-1999 CID interviews relatives of missing persons TamilNet
07-04-1999 Intact skeleton recovered TamilNet
06-04-1999 Stadium grave exhumation planned TamilNet
01-04-1999 Sri Lankan court approves excavation of suspected mass graves CNN
13-01-1999 Grave delay: are Chemmani skeletons missing? MidWeek Mirror
10-01-1999 Chemmani graves Sunday Times
08-01-1999 Chemmani cover up suspected TamilNet
29-10-1998 Safety must be guaranteed for experts working on mass graves exhumation AI
27-09-1998 Appeal to UN body to open mass grave in Sri Lanka AFP
25-09-1998 Sri Lanka Mass Graves protest BBC
25-09-1998 Demonstrators demand mass grave probe in Sri Lanka AFP
20-09-1998 Mass Graves in Chemmani, Jaffna
29-08-1998 New mass graves in Jaffna peninsula TCHR
26-08-1998 Fear of safety - Somaratne Rajapakse, former lance corporal in the army AI
25-08-1998 Allegation of Chemmani Mass Graves of about 400 bodies - No Investigations AHRC
10-08-1998 Tamils urge U.N. human rights chief to probe alleged mass graves AP
03-08-1998 Chemmani graves need proper investigation AI
23-04-1998 Investigations into more than 700 "disappearances" should be made public AI

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posted June 07, 2000 02:57 PM            

Just OBSERVE, Don't say a word here! Just jump into Kalani Ganga and KILL YOURSELF YOU DISG-RACE(SINHALA) Modayo.