| by L.Annadoure
( November 12, 2013, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) The last phase of Eelam War had seen the internationalization of the internal civil strife at the behest of Sri Lanka and more than 20 Nations which have had vested interest on and over Sri Lanka had volunteered themselves for a conjoint operation against LTTE in annihilating them on the pretext that LTTE was a terrorist organisation which need to be quelled at any cost nay decimated from the face of earth. Thus determinedly decided, Sri Lanka had taken undue advantage over the situation in the Nations hastening forward to assist Sri Lanka either directly contributing men and munitions for the war or according logistic support and thus it had launched its hostilities against LTTE and in the eyes of Sri Lanka, the Eelam Tamils were and are still terrorists who also should be vaporised under the garb of annihilating the LTTE and it was their hidden agenda all along to drive away the Eelam Tamils from their household and lands and herd them with a cruel intent of getting rid of them with the help of chemical weapons , incendiary bombs, cluster bombs and it was a purported action of ethnic cleansing on the part of the Sri Lankan Army and it is being said that on the mid night of 3rd April 2009 the Sri Lankan Army had changed its war stratagem , for instance their force which was intending to break through the LTTE line could not do so at Anadapuram, Pudukudiyirrupu, Eranapalai and having been sustained a heavy causality the Army had made a retreat and over night the Army had pressed into service apache helicopters, Kfir Aeroplanes dropped proscribed weapons.
Multi barrelled artilleries were used against the Eelam Tamils and as many as 30,000 shells had landed amidst the LTTE force and civilian population within an area of 2km x 2km on that night alone and it is also said that the battle at Anandapuram was the bloodiest one ever fought between LTTE and Sri Lankan Army and it is also held that it was first one waged in a mammoth scale in Asia after the World war II . It was in the battle at Anandapuram several of important people in LTTE were found dead and to be said plainly the Sri Lankan Army could not wage a conventional war fare with the LTTE and that was why it had resorted to using proscribed weapons to kill the Liberation Tigers and the Eeelam Tamils easily and quickly and as for India, Sri Lankan Army should not prolong the war endlessly and the war as such should be brought to an end and it did not care of about the means used in attaining the goal. In all reality , LTTE the valorous warriors fought against a racist regime which would not allow the Eelam Tamils to live in peace ever since the transfer of power by British and the Rulers wanted Eelam Tamils to be second class citizens and live ever in subjugation because as Former Commander and General Sarath Fonseka would state that Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhalese and Tamils might also live there and the chauvinistic, racist attitude is rampant in mind of some certain politicians and they are steeped in communal polity for their personal gain . It may be worthwhile and trite to quote what the Sri Lankan Minister Champika Ranawaka has stated in an interview on 18.6.2012. The said Minister used to make racist remarks often and he is a staunch believer in Aryan Sinhalese supremacy. The following is what he has stated:
“When Tamils ever to tried to live in freedom and self respect they will have to face hundreds of Mullivaikal. One Mullivaikal was enough for them and they should not make attempt to create hundreds of Millivaikal killing fields”
In addition to the above racist remarks he has said previously that “14 minutes will be enough to exterminate entire Eelam Tamils’’.
More than 17,000 of the LTTE cadres and their families had surrendered before the Army. The Army had taken captives several hundreds and the eye witness accounts had revealed that the captives were boarded in buses and taken away to secret destinations and internment camps but there is no knowing as to what became of those persons who should have been in all probability shot dead and several thousands suspected of having connection with LTTE were taken to various camps and secret places at the time of screening the refugees and the number 11,000 and odd LTTE cadre who were said to have been repatriated and 700 and odd who are still languishing in jails without trial is not correct figure but the actual numbers of persons taken captives and detained were much more.
No doubt the detainees were prisoners of war. Sri Lanka and the countries which had aligned themselves with it in the war and which are signatories to Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Protocol Additional to it ought to have observed the provisions meticulously and the countries parties to the war including India must have ensured the humane treatment of Prisoners of wars who had been taken captives by the Sri Lankan Army as contemplated in the law aforesaid but instead Sri Lankan Army had shot to death the male captives and female captives were raped and then shot dead and here in the case of Isai Priya the same thing had befallen her. The footage telecast by Channel 4 is horrible and barbaric. The detaining party is not justified in getting rid of them in that way and they are answerable and accountable to what they did to the prisoners of war including Isai Priya. The LTTE members who were taken captives were denuded, their hands tied behind their back, tortured and then shot dead and the female LTTE members were raped and then shot dead and even after their death the Sri Lankan soldiers had continued to molest and out raged the corpses, took video of their nudity in their cell phones and shared the video with their friends and derived pleasure in sharing such the videos and they were laughing in derision and a video footage was shown some time ago of a Sri Lankan soldier who standing atop a corpse of a female LTTE was grinning so hideously and some such videos found their way to Channel 4 and some web sites and the Sri Lankan Military and the Sri Lankan Government would hold and maintain the footage is spurious, fake and fabricated as usual. Now channel 4 has telecast the video of Isai Priya who having been denuded was seen squatting in water and the soldiers lifting her up and another soldier fetching a white cloth and draping it over her chest and one of the soldiers was just saying Isai priya was Thuwarga the daughter of LTTE Leader Mr.Velupillai Prabakaran for which Isai Priya is seen denying the same and then replying that she was Isai Priya and it was a clear case of mistaken identity and a clear case of murder within the purview of National penal law. Isai Priya was an actress, singer, news reader and a member of Political wing of LTTE and she was a very popular figure. Here it will be trite to state that aftermath the war Sri Lankan Government had tried to deceive the people by showing a picture which was said to be that of LTTE leader Velu Pillai Prabakaran which in fact was not for all intents and purposes and after passage of few days the Government had announced that the bodies of family members of LTTE Leader were found at the Nandi Kadal and then the Government had telecast the Picture of Isai Priya announcing that it was the picture of Thuwaraga the daughter of LTTE Leader and since Isai Priya being well known to the people the Government had blushed for speaking false.
During the last phases of Eelam war, Sri Lankan Army had ear marked a separate wing of soldiers for the specific purpose of raping the Tamil women so as to break their sprit, their honour and self respect, to degrade them, to instil fear in them and to drive home a lesson that they were always subservient to the Sinhalese.
The passage which has been given below is taken from a true story narrated by a female LTTE who has written some parts in serial under the caption, “ I may die but we should die” in the web site Eeladesam.com. The purport of quoting the passage is to show how the Sri Lankan Army treated the prisoners of war and the LTTE captives were beaten and tortured and later blind folded and shot dead and further female captives were denuded of, then raped and shot dead and they always perpetrated sexual enslavement against Eelam Tamil women.
“ At Ambagamam, before our line under my leadership we went for espionage operation. On the third day the army had tried to break through our position and owing to stead fast determination and courage on the part of our men and strong resistance posed by them the army could not advance further and there was heavy loss of men on the side of the army and so their men had poured kerosene on and over the dead bodies of their men and set them ablaze and ran away.
I have recollected to my mind everything that happened as I walked. There is a road. I have crossed the road and then crossed a big water channel and reached a garden appurtenant to a house. When our line was at Udaiyarkattu I felt an over burdening in my heart to see the main line under the command of our elder sister Durga ( Jothiya battalion ) now being occupied by the army as its camp. I have hidden myself and watched carefully. There, under a mango tree, I could see men who having been denuded of their dress and whose hands tied behind their back have knelt down. On the other side of the house , it could seen that women are stark naked and army men are directing them to do some work and getting the works done for them. I could not identify face. But I am very much grieved and angered at the same time to see our innocent women being humiliated and treated so inhumanly......”
Rape had been used as a systematized instrument of war by the racist forces of Sri Lankan Army against female LTTE for physical and moral destruction and now the occupying Sri Lankan Army still continues to do so and so for Sri Lankan Army is concerned rape is perpetrated as a weapon of war. In all the videos and photos that have come into the public domain indicate that Eelam women and female LTTE captives were raped and shot in the head.
Thamizh Makkal Perravai has levelled an accusation against the Sri Lankan Army after viewing the video footage pertaining Isai Priya and it sought for International cognisance of the offence. The photos shown below which are part and parcel of the video footage do amply prove the existence of such rape machines and the vital question is why and what purpose the man in nudity come to fetch Isai Priya ?
The photos show the picture of Isaipriya having been shot in the head and the blood oozing out and the Sri Lankan soldiers are clamouring around to see her nudity and take videos in their cell phone and the photo No.6 shows Isai Priya is seen lying shot dead along with three others whose bodies are strewn about and a corpse could be seen lying in a newly dug grave and the said person should have been asked to dig his own grave.
Former Commander and General of Sri Lankan Army Sarath Fonseka has once said in an interview that the Sri Lankan Army did not kill Balachandran the son of LTTE leader Velu Pillai Prabakaran and he has hinted that there could be seen soldiers in Indian Military uniform. At the fringes of one of photos as regards the deceased Balachandran could be seen part of Indian Military attire and in fact the Indian Government has not denied the accusation till to this day . In the photo No.4 above a part of different military uniform could be seen at right hand corner in upper portion of it which might in probability be of Indian Military uniform. Perhaps the Indian Military personnel were superintending and over seeing the surrender of the LTTE members and their family members and therefore all the Nations which were parties to the war are only war criminals. The Video footage and photos already current in public domain constitute one whole which is quite enough to prosecute the offenders and therefore the Security Council must take necessary steps to constitute special court to prosecute the offenders in the interest of justice and since Sri Lanka and its allies who are signatories to the Geneva Convention and since they have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity necessary legal steps must be initiated to prosecute them before the International Criminal Court.
Sincere thanks to Tamil win, Eeladesam.com, Athirvu. com for having used the photos found in their web sites.
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