Mylanthanai massacre
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• Origins of the Civil War |
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• Mahinda Rajapakse |
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• Military of Sri Lanka |
The Mylanthanai massacre happened on August 9, 1992 when 35 minority Sri Lankan Tamils, including 14 children, at Mylanthanai in Batticaloa District in Sri Lanka, were killed. [1]
Sri Lankan Army soldiers from an army camp in Punanai were accused of the crime.[2] The soldiers who were charged with the massacre were acquitted by a jury in Colombo. [3][4]
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[edit] Incident
On August 9 , 1992 according to the government prosecutor Sri Lankan Army soldiers attacked the village of Mylanthanai, after the army's commanding officer in Jaffna was killed along with seven soldiers in a landmine explosion earlier the same day. [5], According to pro rebel Tamilnet reporting on the court proceedings, an eye witness Ms Sinnathurai Indrakala, 28 was quoted as saying,
| “ | About 50 Sri Lanka government troops entered our village with arms and started harassing the villagers. On seeing them I started running from my house towards jungle area. I fell on the ground. Some army personnel came to the spot and stabbed my hands with rifle bayonet. When I regained consciousness I saw 10 bodies of our villagers with gunshot and cut injuries, | ” |
[6],
According to Tamilnet, there other witnesses indicated soldiers had used guns, knives and axes to carry out the murders. Children as young as 1 to 15 were amongst the dead.
[edit] 
Government investigation
The government reaction was swift, according to the Sri Lanka Monitor, a reporting organization in the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war, a line-up was held at Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court on April 2, 1993. Survivors of the killings identified 24 soldiers.
The Attorney General at the time transferred the case to Polonnaruwa District. He then transferred the case again to Colombo on the grounds of safety for the accused. This arrangement made it difficult for witnesses who were survivors to appear. The indictment was filed in Colombo High Court in September 1999.[2]
According to Tamilnet, the court case was heard in front of an all Sinhalese speaking jury. More than 30 eye witnesses came from Batticalao along with coroner who conducted most of the autopsies and the presiding regional judge. Eye witness accounts from dead persons were also allowed to be read in the case. After an extensive hearing the case went before the jury. The jury found the soldiers not guilty. The Judge requested the Jury to reconsider the verdict but the jury found the accused soldiers not guilty again. [2]
[edit] Controversy over acquittal
A Human Rights agencies such as UTHR and relatives of massacre victims expressed shock after 18 soldiers accused in the Mylanthanai case were released on November 27, 2003, when the jury returned a "not guilty" verdict. The UTHR also expressed fear that the case will encourage impunity among the security forces.[2]
According to Northeastern Herald the Attorney General refused to appeal the case citing convention although the constitution had provided for such appeals [7]
[edit] Image:Unhcr1.gifResettlement of internally displaced
Internally displaced people from the village of Mylanthanai and UNHCR officials have had requested local military authorities for permission to resettle that has been refused thus far. [8]
[edit] 
Massacres and disappearances in the Eastern Province
Batticaloa district forms part of the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. Within the Batticaloa district, during the late 1980s and early 1990s a total of 1,100 civilians were disappeared and assumed killed. [9] ,
[edit] See also
Some of the notable massacres are [10].
- Akkaraipattu on 19 February 19860
- Kokkadichcholai on 28 Jan 1987
- Eastern University on 5 September 1990
- Batticaloa on 9 September 1990
- Kokkadichcholai on 12 June 1991
- Mylanthanai on 20 August 1992
- Kumarapuram on 11 February 1996
- Tampalakamam on 1 February 1998
[edit] References
- ^ Mylanthanai case. BBC. Retrieved on 2006-01-08.
- ^ a b c d Jury finds Mylanthanai massacre accused not guilty. Sri Lanka Monitor. Retrieved on 2006-01-06.
- ^ Mylanthanai massacre case goes before a jury. Tamilnet. Retrieved on 2006-01-07.
- ^ Human Rights accountability, first. UTHR. Retrieved on 2006-01-07.
- ^ Mylanthanai case. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ Woman witness gives evidence. Tamilnet. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ AG refuses to appeal the verdict. Northeastern Herald. Retrieved on 2006-01-07.
- ^ Resettlement. The British Refugee Council. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ Graveyard for Disappeared Persons – Statistic for Batticaloa district.
- ^ HRW report - Sri Lanka. HRW. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
