Action Alert Archive

Minority Muslims targetted and killed by Sri Lankan security forces

September 26, 2006

On September 17th, 10 Muslim men were hacked to death and another was badly wounded in the Eastern district of Amparai. The men were on their way to renovate a sluice gate and went missing. Their bodies were later found hacked to pieces. The attack was the latest in an epidemic of civilian killings that has taken some 700 lives in the past year.

A military spokesman blamed the attack on the LTTE, however, local residents interviewed by reporters placed the blame on government security forces. "Special Task Force troops killed these people," said one local man, "We don't blame anyone else. The LTTE can't come into this area. It is completely controlled by the STF. Without the STF's knowledge, no one can come into this area." One survivor was taken to the local hospital at Amparai and the Government has claimed that he has made statements blaming the LTTE. Despite this, the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission has been denied access to the survivor by police at the hospital who said the victim had injuries on his throat and would not be in a position to speak for at least two weeks.

Residents in the area also engaged in a general shutdown of much of Amparai in protest over the massacre, and they have been demanding a full investigation and the removal of STF forces from the area. The protestors were met with gunfire from police.

The government response to these events reveals a disturbing trend. When government forces are accused of a crime, as in the case of the men massacred in Amparai and the 17 aid workers killed in Muttur earlier this month, they first blame it on other reasons, and then, as evidence mounts against them, proceed to deny impartial observers access to the area. In the former case, they have denied the SLMM access to the sole survivor, whereas in the second, they proceeded to deny international investigators access to the area after the SLMM released a report placing the blame on government forces.

The government must be held accountable that justice prevails in long, oustanding cases of atrocities such as these. When government forces can target innocent civilians and international aid workers with impunity, while blocking the release of the evidence, the integrity of the government and the safety of all civilians is called into question. We are calling on you to pressure the government of Sri Lanka to conduct fair and impartial investigations of these incidents and to put an end to the culture of impunity that allows government forces to commit atrocities without repercussions.