9000 Children in Vanni under military Training –UTHR (J)

(October 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)Since early September, sources from the Vanni say that the LTTE has conscripted 9000 'very young' persons who are now under training, the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), the well-known and independent Human Rights organization has said in its latest Special Report on the current situation in Sri Lanka. The full report was published Sri Lanka Guardian yesterday which is available at "Pawns of an Un-heroic War"

According to the report, "by October 2008, the LTTE had once again become very aggressive in conscription. They visited families with lists provided by Village Headmen (GS officers). For a family with 3 or 4 children, they demanded two fighters; one for a family with two; and none for a family with one. The general attitude of the populace now is not to quarrel with the LTTE. They figure that many of those who objected to conscription had been placed on the frontline and are dead. But many of those who joined without resistance have been placed in safer areas and have survived."

"A large number of desertions have also been reported in the LTTE. Recently, we learn, about 250 cadres ran away and are hiding in the jungle. These sources said that about three of them are very senior. Other sources said that many of the LTTE's conscripts are desperately trying to identify escape routes to the government-controlled area," the report added.

"the people's relationship with the LTTE is complex. The general mood among the people was strongly anti-LTTE four months ago, and resistance continues. But with increased aerial bombing and shelling and stories of increasingly repressive treatment of minorities coming from other parts of the country, the mood is changing. We have seen this happen repeatedly from 1987. But the fact that a large number of unwilling persons have been conscripted to fight must have an adverse internal impact within the LTTE. Resistance to the LTTE is either passive or tragically fatalistic. Our sources affirmed that a few girl conscripts used their weapons to kill themselves, but were unable to give more details. The girls found the militaristic environment and the injunction to kill utterly unbearable. On further inquiry, we were assured that such things do happen, as people hear when they move around areas where battles are fought and meet LTTE cadres who talk. What is more significant they said was inexperienced new conscripts faced with the terrible sensation of battle and deafening explosions around them, taking refuge in their cyanide capsule or their own bullet." - Sri Lanka Guardian