130 Tamil civilians reported disappeared in Batticaloa district since 2007

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 05:04 GMT]
One hundred thirty Tamil civilians are reported disappeared during the last three years in the Batticaloa district since 2007, relatives of the disappeared told Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians at a discussion held Sunday at Batticaloa American Mission Hall. They requested the TNA parliamentarians to help trace the disappeared. Most of the disappeared were between the ages 20 and 35, they said. TNA parliamentarians P. Selvarajah, S. Yogeswaran and P. Ariyanethiran participated in the discussion.

In mid 2005 hundreds of youths seeking employment and students and supporters of the LTTE were abducted by Para military group led by Karuna (present Deputy Minister for Resettlement, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan), Pilliayan group and military intelligence group.

Relatives of the disappeared civilians expressed dissatisfaction over the assurance given by TNA parliamentarians during the discussion that they would take steps to appoint a committee with Sri Lanka President as its head to inquire into the complaints.

Relatives told media later that they wanted foreign governments and non-governmental organizations to exert pressure on Colombo government to trace the disappeared.

They further said that some of the disappeared had been given weapon training and made them cadres of the Para military group TMVP.

Some of them were shot and killed in clashes with the LTTE.

Relatives have complained to several non-governmental organizations including Batticaloa Regional Office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, UNICEFand International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC).