Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 09:02:16 -0800 (PST) To: Sri Lanka Net From: JHOOLE@THUBAN.AC.HMC.EDU Subject: UTHR (JB) Statement on the Kumarapuram Massacre A Brief Statement from UTHR (JB) on the Massacre on 11 Feb. 1996 at Kumarapuram. 16 Feb. 1996 The Massacre in Kilivetti, Trincomalee District ----------------------------------------------- Between 5.30 and 7.30 PM on Sunday February 11th, armed men in military uniform ran amok in the village of Kumarapuram, Killivetti, killing 24 civilians and injuring may more. Among those killed were seven children under the age of 12, the youngest being 3 years old. Some young women were raped, including one who was raped and killed. The death toll would have been very much higher had not the people run out and sought shelter in fields and a grave yard.The incident followed the killing of two army personnel by the LTTE. Mr.Thangathurai, MP for Trincomalee, who visited Kilevetti, his own village, confirmed that the Sri Lankan army was responsible for the massacre. According to the people a large number of troops were involved. Apart from those responsible for the outrage, many troops were on guard in the surrounding area. They said that they could identify several of the perpetrators. Several of the troops were from the camp about the 57th mile post nearer Kilivetti. Some said that troops had also been brought from other camps such as Dehiwatte in the Allai scheme. Troops had prevented the injured from being taken away for medical treatment until 9.30 the following morning. They relented only when they heard that Brigadier Paramu Kulatunge of Trincomalee and Wimal Gunatilleke, DIG/ Police, were coming into that area. The latter had picked up several empty cartridge cases. An unexploded grenade that had been thrown into a house with 12 inhabitants was also picked up. The Government expressed its shock and acknowledged the possibility that the army could have been responsible. It further promised that an inquiry will be conducted, adding that on the basis of testimony given by the civilians, certain military personnel had been taken into custody. Kilivetti was a village from which hardly anyone had joined the LTTE. The army from the camp responsible for the incident had visited the village regularly and there had been no problem. There is now absolute distrust of the army. Some had even said that they have no choice but to seek the protection of the LTTE or even join the LTTE instead of being killed in this manner. They ask how they could give evidence to military officials conducting an inquiry whom they cannot trust and then continue to live in the area. There is despair and panic throughout Tamil villages in the Allai scheme. People Moreover suspect that the degree of organisation in the massacre could not have come about without complicity from a higher level in the local area. The act follows previous acts of indiscipline that have gone unchecked. Towards the end of last year several civilians in Mallikaitivu were badly assaulted by the army. The matter had not been pressed after the Colonel in charge of the area gave an assurance that such would not be repeated. Another incident is the murder of two Perinparajahs. One Perinparajah, a socially active person in that area, used to pass on information to concerned persons in Trincomalee about acts of indiscipline by the armed forces. A different Perinparajah was killed, allegedly by the armed forces, who then discovered their mistake. The Perinparajah sought after was according to the people detained by the army at Mallikaitivu. His body was later found in the locality. The following persons were killed during the incident: 1.Sellathurai Pakkiyaraja (26,Male) 2.Vinayakamoothy Suthakaran(14,Male) 3.Theepan Paththini(9,Female) 4.Suntharalinlgam Lutchumy (35,Female) 5.Sivapakkiyam Prashanthini(6,Female) 6.Vadivel Nadaraja(27,Male) 7.Thangavel Kalathevi(12, Female) 8.Arunasalam Kamalathevi(36,Female) 9.Arulanantham Annamma(26,Female) 10.Suppaih Sethuraja(76,Male) 11.Kanarasa Suvathirasa(15,Male) Menankamam 12.Suntaralingam Praphakaran (11, Male) 13.Suntharalingam Subajini (3, Female) 14.Amirthalingam Rajanikanthi(10, Female) 15.Kittiyan Kovinthan (72, Male) 16.Pakkiyarajah Vasanthini(4, Female) 17.Subramaniyam Pakkiyam(30,Female) 18.Alakathurai Parames (30, Female) 19.Arumaithurai Vallipillai Thevi (20, Female) - alleged to have been raped 20.Arumaithurai Sinnathurai (56) 21.Arumathurai Thanalutchumy (15, Female) 22.Thurairasa Karunakaran (15, Male) 23.Ramajeyam Kamalesvaran (23, Male) 24.Shanmuganathan Nisanthan (11,Male) Another 26 were injured and are undergoing treatment.