UPF demands compensation for Bindunuweva victims

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 November 2004, 00:04 GMT]
Senior member of Upcountry People front (UPF) and Uva provincial council member A.Arvindakumar in a letter to Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga and distributed to the media Friday, demanded urgent and speedy action to provide compensation to the families of those who were massacred in the Bindunuweva transit camp and to the victims of the 1983 ethnic riots and violence, sources said.

A young Tamil detainee killed in Bindunuwewa detainment facility setup as a 'show case' for SriLanka Government's rehabilitation efforts

"The Bindunuweva transit camp tragedy also marks a black mark in the history of Badulla. Numerous families have been rendered destitute overnight.

"On 25 October 2000 in Bindunuweva camp which housed innocent Tamil youths arrested by the Srilankan forces, local villagers and the Sri Lanka security forces massacred several people. In that incident 27 youths died and 2 escaped with severe injuries. Even after this incident Upcountry Tamil people in Badulla, Talawakelle and other hill country towns were continued to be harrassed by the security forces. In the ensuing legal action two police Inspectors, two Policemen and a villager were sentenced to death by the Srilankan high Courts in 2003.

"There are practical difficulties for the families in producing relevant documents. So relevant authorities should consider providing relief by accepting the documents the victims have. So please take steps immediately take necessary steps to settle this matter," Mr Arvindakumar said in his letter.

According to witnesses, four boys were burnt alive while one’s neck was severed with an electric hacksaw. Two of the victims were boys under seventeen. The majority were between 18-25 years. The mass murder in the Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Camp located in the hill district of Bandarawela, drew attention to the level vulnerability to which Tamil political prisoners are exposed in Sri Lankan prisons.