Victims coerced to produce false affidavits on controversial birth control in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 December 2013, 23:49 GMT]
Colombo has instructed Tamil health officials in Ki’linochchi district to obtain ‘affidavits’ from women who were subjected to a controversial coercive population control in three coastal villages of the district. The women are being approached to sign a document stating that they received subdermal implants on their own request for contraceptive protection. The latest move has come as the women, who were coerced to receive a long-term hormonal birth control implant inserted under the skin of their upper arm, have been complaining of side effects such as blood pressure, weight gain, irregular periods as well as traumatic stress after 2 months of the birth control experiment by the SL State. On 30 November, a 26-year-old woman, who was one of more than 50 victims subjected to contraceptive control, died at Jaffna hospital after a mysterious infection.

The victim, Ms Manjula Satheeskumar was pregnant while she was subjected to the controversial implant treatment. The implant was late removed from her body, but she had to fight for her life due to an infection, medical sources in Jaffna said.

More than 50 women in the coastal villages of Valaip-paadu, Vearaavil and Kiraagnchi, were coerced into to take Progestogen-only subdermal implants (POSDIs) on 31st August.

Similar ‘birth control experiments’ were also being carried out among the up-country Tamil people in the island.

Health officials have so far obtained 22 ‘affidavits’ on the instruction from Colombo.

The fear-stricken victims are now being coerced to provide false documents.

In an open appeal issued on 08 November, Fr. S.V.B Mangalarajah, the chairman of Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna, had urged medical assistance to the victims, describing the population control experimented on a people subjected to genocide in Vanni as “Mu'l'livaaykkaal-2”.

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