Bindunuwewa massacre

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The Bindunuwewa massacre or Bindunuwewa prison massacre is the massacre of 26 minority Tamil political prisoners by a mob of majority Sinhalese in the detention center of Bindunuwewa, Sri Lanka.^[1]^[2]

1 Camp
2 The massacre
3 Government response
4 Theories
5 Other prison massacres
6 See also
7 References

[edit] Camp

The low security detention center was established to house alleged rebel LTTE sympathizers and activists who were of a relatively young age. Of the 26 killed, 2 were under the age of 19 and the rest were between 19 and 30.^[3]^[4]

Allegations of State terrorism in Sri Lanka Civilian Massacres
Akkaraipattu-Allaipiddy-Black July-Batticaloa 1990-Chencholai orphanage-Eastern University-Mannar 1984-Mannar 2006-Mylanthanai-Jaffna hospital- Jaffna lagoon-Jaffna library-Valvettiturai 1989-Iruthayapuram-Kokkadicholai-Kumarapuram-Kumudini boat-Nachikuda-Prison massacres-Tampalakamam - Trincomalee 2006-Nagerkovil school-Navaly church-Naguleswaram temple-Nelliady-Vaharai Rapes and Murders Krishanti Kumaraswamy-Ilayathambi Tharsini-Saradambal Sarma-Mary Madeleine Martin-Arumaithurai Tharmaletchumi Assassinations Taraki Sivaram-Fr.Chandra Fernando-Aiyathurai Nadesan-K.S.Raja-Mylvaganam Nimalrajan-Richard De Soyza-Kumar Ponnambalam-Joseph Pararajasingham-Rev.Jeyarajasingham-N. Raviraj Forced Disappearances Fr.Mary Bastian-Fr.Nihal Jim Brown

[edit] The massacre

On October 24, 2000 a mob of a few hundred Sinhalese villagers armed with knives, rods and torches stormed the detention center while the inmates were sleeping. The Sri Lankan Army detachment that was posted there had been withdrawn the previous day, for unknown reasons.^[5]

Once the massacre started the posted police personnel refused to intervene to stop the massacre.^[6]

[edit] Government response

Initially the government responded by saying that the detainees rioted and in the massacre was an outcome of an attempt to control the rioting. Then it was claimed that the police were unable to protect the detainees in the face of superior mob force. Eventually the government charged a few police officers with a crime. Most were initially convicted of murder, only to be released by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court in 2006.^[7]

[edit] Theories

A number of theories have been postulated to explain the massacre:

It was organized by local Sinhala nationalist political activists with the convenience of Sri Lankan Army and police personnel.
It was a reaction by the local villagers who resented the detention center in their neighborhood.
It was organized by the military establishment to thwart an attempt by the detainees to go on hunger strike in the subsequent days to protest the fact that they had not been charged or released.