Human rights violations in the east continue despite hundreds of letters from local MPs to President Chandrika and government ministers. Soldiers brutally assaulted 19 year-old Nithiyananthan Suthakaran near Mavadivembu Army camp on 18 June. He was admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. His mother and his sister Krishnaveni were also beaten up. In a letter to President Chandrika, Batticaloa MP Joseph Pararajasingham has demanded action against the soldiers.
Another Batticaloa MP K Thurairajasingham says that the Attorney General has failed to file cases against soldiers arrested in connection with murders in Kalkudah, 16 miles north of Batticaloa town. The MP alleges that Presidential Directives requiring issue of receipts to relatives on arrest are never followed. A number of people who went missing in the district were later found detained at Welikande, Polonnaruwa or Anuradhapura.
A public meeting was held in Batticaloa District on 26 June to mark the International Day Against Torture. Eastern organisations say 364 Batticaloa people, including 50 women, have suffered torture at the hands of the security forces since 1990.
The LTTE, which controls northern and western areas of Batticaloa District launched a number of attacks in June. A policeman and a Razik Group member were shot dead at Kalmunai on 4 June. Former member of Tamil group PLOTE, P Inbarajah was killed by suspected Tiger cadre on 14 June.
The Army carried out cordon and search operations in Valaichenai and Kalmunai areas on 24 June and interrogated hundreds of people. A policeman was wounded in a Tiger grenade attack on the same day in Batticaloa town. Another policeman at Manmunai Special Task Force (STF) camp was seriously wounded by a LTTE sniper on 28 June.
In late June, 1,500 people were displaced in Vaharai, 34 miles north of Batticaloa town, following exchange of shells by the Army and the LTTE. The Tigers had earlier told the people to move away from the Army camp at Vaharai. Reports say that the displaced people are suffering without shelter and adequate food.
According to reports, over 1,000 resettled refugee families have not been included in the list for benefits under the government’s poverty alleviation programme, Samurthi. Many letters to the Social Services Ministry in the last two years from the Batticaloa government secretariat remain unanswered.