The most serious incident since the ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in February, was triggered by an STF attack on Mathavan Visvanathan, the Tiger leader for Pottuvil area, and two others, at a checkpoint near the police camp in Kanchirankudah. All three were admitted to Thirukovil hospital.
Some 1,000 people gathered near the camp to protest against the assault on the LTTE leader. The STF claim that the crowd began attacking the camp and they were forced to open fire. Local people who were present at the demonstration say that they were fired upon by STF members arriving in a lorry from the direction of Thandiyady.
The STF camp commander accused the LTTE of involvement in the demonstration. But the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), after preliminary enquiries, has concluded that Tiger members were not present. However, accusations that the Tigers were behind mobilising the protesters persisted.
Following the shooting, people began burning tyres in Kalmunai, Akkaraipatru and Thirukovil towns, in an effort to block the roads. A hartal (general strike) was staged in Batticaloa and Amparai districts for the next two days, which spread to the rest of north-east region on 13 October. Shops and schools were closed and traffic came to a standstill.
Four simultaneous enquiries were launched into the shooting incident. As the SLMM, which is mandated under the ceasefire agreement to monitor ceasefire violations, carried on with its investigation, Defence minister Tilak Marapane announced a committee of enquiry headed by former Airforce commander Harry Gunatilleke. Retired judge Oliver Weerasena and LTTE’s nominee S Vivekanandan are included in the committee, which commenced sessions on 21 October. A team from the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission (HRC), led by commissioner Sarath Cooray, began recording evidence four days earlier. The judicial enquiry into the deaths was conducted by the local Magistrate’s Court.
Local trader K Subramaniam’s two shops in Kanchirankudah were burned on the night of 29 October, after he blamed the STF in a TV interview. Eastern Tamils are demanding the removal of the STF camp. They say the STF has carried out a number of massacres of Tamil civilians in the east and successive governments have failed to take appropriate action against the perpetrators thus encouraging impunity.
Further north in Trincomalee District, three Tamils, including Christy Mayuran were killed in a grenade attack on 11 October and over 50 others were wounded in ethnic violence. In mid-September, the Army detained LTTE cadres Mathavan Vasanthan and Kanthasamy Ramasamy, accusing them of carrying dangerous weapons. On 25 September, the Tigers took six soldiers into custody, alleging that they entered the LTTE territory of Kumburupiddy with arms.
The LTTE demanded the release of their cadre saying that the Army had arrested 22 Tigers since February, acting against the spirit of the ceasefire agreement. The SLMM was unable to intervene because the two LTTE cadres had been charged in court. But SLMM’s chief Trond Furuhovde met Army and LTTE officers to diffuse tension and bring about a settlement.
The relatives of the six soldiers began a protest fast in Trincomalee town on 4 October and some Sinhalese people burned tyres on streets disrupting traffic. As tension mounted, shops and schools were closed. The Court of Appeal released the two Tigers on a Rs 50,000 bail on 8 October. The following day the LTTE freed the soldiers.
The tension caused by the arrest drama led to violence on 11 October, as Tamils in Trincomalee began a protest over the STF killings in Kanchirankudah. The people say that the security forces attacked them in the streets in Thirukadalur, Anbuvalipuram and Linganagar. An ambulance carrying patients to Trincomalee hospital was attacked at Anuradhapura junction and the driver was beaten up.
According to Trincomalee MP R Sampanthan, the Home Guards were responsible for the grenade attack which killed the three Tamils. The police imposed a curfew from 11 am and Maj. Gen. Anton Wijendra rushed to the district for enquiries. As violence subsided, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe assured Tamil MPs on 22 October in Colombo that a special police team will be appointed for investigations.
Trond Furuhovde noted that the eastern incidents demonstrate how fragile and sensitive the situation is at this stage of the peace process. He urged the Army and the STF to avoid using unnecessary force and show flexibility in cooperation with the LTTE. He called on the Navy and the Sea Tigers to avoid unnecessary provocation. Maj. Gen. Furuhovde also urged the LTTE to take responsibility, demonstrate care for their people and respect democratic values.