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] is located in ] (highlighted) in northern ].]]
] massacre victims]]
'''2006 Mannar massacre''' or '''Vankalai massacre''' refers to the massacre of a family of four minority ]s from the village of Vankalai in the district of ] in ] on ], ]. The family of four was tortured and both the mother and the nine year old daughter were allegedly raped before being killed. The Sri Lankan army and ] rebels have blamed each other for the killings. A local court case is still in progress.<ref name=ml>{{cite web| url = http://www.themorningleader.lk/20060614/focus.html |title= Another family wiped out in Vankalai}}</ref><ref name=hhr>{{cite web|url=http://www.hhr-srilanka.org/hhr/news/summary.pdf|title=Details of few extra judicial claims}}</ref><ref name=AN>{{citeweb| url = http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=6425 | title = People terrorized after massacre of Tamil family}}</ref><ref name=pw>{{cite web| url = http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/Human_Rights/Statement_womensgroup.html |title=Statement by women for democracy and human rights}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/sri_lanka_021106.doc|title= The '''2006 Mannar massacre''' or '''Vankalai massacre''' was a massacre of a family of four minority ]s from the village of ] in ], ] on ], ]. The victims were tortured and both the mother and nine-year-old daughter are alleged to have been raped. The Sri Lankan government and the ] (LTTE) accused each other of perpetrating the killings.
Country of origin information report– Sri Lanka}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/Human_Rights/Statement_womensgroup.html|
title=Sri Lankan Combatants Rape Women to Terrorize}}</ref>


==Background information== ==Background==
The village of ] is located about six ]s southeast of the town of Mannar, in ]. The village was the scene of numerous incidents during the ], including the killing of ] priest ] in 1985. As a result of the violence and insecurity, many residents were ] or became overseas ]s.<ref name="ml">
]]]
{{cite news
] is situated about four and a half miles away from Thallady and about six miles to the south east of ], a town under the control of the Sri Lankan government. During the period of massacre the people of Vankalai had been retiring to the ]’s Church and other churches during nightfall due to the unsafe conditions created by the prevailing security situation.
| first = D.B.S.
| last = Jeyaraj
| authorlink = David Jeyaraj
| title = Another family wiped out in Vankalai
| url = http://www.themorningleader.lk/20060614/focus.html
| work = The Morning Leader
| date = ]
| accessdate = 2007-11-28 }}</ref>


Some former residents returned to the area following the 2002 ceasefire between the LTTE and the government. Among them was the Martin family – ] Moorthy Martin, 27-year-old Mary Madeleine (known as Chitra), formerly a teacher with the ] in ], and their nine-year-old daughter Lakshika and seven-year-old son Dilakshan – who returned to Vankalai from southern ].<ref name="ml"/><ref name="mwfhrd">
The past residents of Vankalai were also affected like many other villages in the region. In 1985, Catholic Priest Fr. ], a native of Vankalai, and about 20 others were killed. In later years a prominent school principal from Vankalai and some others were also killed and dumped in a well. This prompted many residents to flee the village to rest of the country as internally displaced persons or as ] to ].
{{cite web

| url = http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2006/sri_lankan_combatants_rape_wom.html
After the ceasefire between the rebel ] and the government came in to effect in ], ] many former residents returned. The victims of the Vankalai massacre too had returned from India about one –and-half year ago. The husband was 38-year-old Sinnaiah Moorthy Martin a carpenter by profession. The wife was 27-year-old ] also known as Chitra. The daughter was nine-year-old Anne Lakshika. The son was seven-year-old Dilakshan. <ref name=ml/> While the victims used to be refugees in the southern Indian state of ], Chitra the mother was remembered by workers of the ] (JRS) as a dedicated teacher in one of their school projects in the refugee camp.<ref name=AN>{{cite web|url=http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=6425|title=People terrorized after massacre of Tamil family}}</ref>
| title = Sri Lankan Combatants Rape Women to Terrorize
| accessdate = 2007-11-28
| author = Mannar Women for Human Rights and Democracy
| date = ]
| work = The South Asian }}</ref>


==Incident== ==Incident==
]'s Church in ]]]
{{Sri Lankan Conflict}}
The Martin family lived in the Thomaspuri ] of Vankalai, named after ] ].<ref name="ml"/><ref name="tamilnet-1">
Residents in the area told investigators that on the ], ] morning the security forces had surrounded the area and went to several houses and gathered particulars regarding the families including the Martins. Local residents have stated that they can identify the three military personnel who went from home to home. That night as was the custom residents in the area had gone to the St. Anne’s church to for safe refuge. Although the victimized family too used to do that, they were had been absent from church on Thursday ], ] night.
{{cite news
| title = SLA soldiers massacre family of four in Vankalai, Mannar
| url = http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=18447
| work = ]
| date = ]
| accessdate = 2007-11-28 }}</ref>
According to local residents, security forces visited several houses in the area on the morning of ], ],<ref name="hhr">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.hhr-srilanka.org/hhr/news/summary.pdf
| title = Details of few Extra Judicial Killings
| accessdate = 2007-11-28
| work = ] }}</ref>
including three soldiers who visited the Martins' home.<ref name="ml"/><ref name="mwfhrd"/>


At night, when residents of Thomaspuri and neighbouring Bastipuri gathered at Our Lady of ]'s Church for safe refuge, as had become customary following shelling of the area by security forces at the start of June,<ref name="asianews">
When relatives and neighbors checked on the following morning, they found the entire family dead. The victims had been hacked, beaten, tortured and hung. The mother and daughter seemed to have been sexually violated with used condoms lying around. The first body to be found was that of Mary Martin’s blood soaked body, she was lying naked on the floor. Then they found the bodies of the Moorthy her husband and the children in other rooms. Their bodies were found hanging by ropes. The bodies also showed severe torture marks. No firearms had been used in the murders. Most weapons used to inflict torture were that of the carpenter’s tools such as knife, chisel and saws.<ref name=ml/><ref name=hhr/><ref name=AN/><ref name=pw/>
{{cite news
| first = Danielle
| last = Vella
| title = People terrorized after massacre of Tamil family
| url = http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=6425
| work = AsiaNews.it
| date = ]
| accessdate = 2007-11-28 }}</ref>
the four members of the Martin family were absent. When relatives and neighbours checked on the house the following morning, they found the family dead.<ref name="ml"/><ref name="tamilnet-1"/>

The bodies of the victims had been mutilated and bore signs of torture, carrying wounds inflicted by carpenter's tools and "heavier and sharper weapons like knives or bayonets".<ref name="ml"/> All four had been hacked and stabbed, those of Moorthy Martin and the two children had been hanged with ropes, and that of Mary Martin showed signs of having been sexually assaulted.<ref name="ml"/><ref name="hhr"/><ref name="gt">
{{cite news
| first = Sassanka
| last = Samarakkody
| title = Colombo rejects ‘lame excuses’
| url = http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=91187&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24
| work = ]
| date = ]
| accessdate = 2007-11-28 }}</ref>


==Reactions== ==Reactions==
In the wake of the massacre, the pro-rebel news site ] reported that residents of Thomaspuri, and nearby Bastipuri and Sukanthapuri, had begun to flee.<ref name="tamilnet-1"/> Victor Avithappar, the ] of Vankalai, stated:
Although there are no eyewitnesses to the actual killing or torture, the people of Vankalai suspected members of the security forces as being responsible. The Catholic Bishop of Mannar, Joseph Rayappu has stated that {{Bquote|"those responsible for security were behind the massacre"}}.<ref name=ml/><ref name=AN/><ref name=pw/>
{{bquote|"People are panicked and afraid, they don't feel safe. They want peace, to live free from fear."<ref name="asianews"/>}}


]
] a prominent Sri Lankan journalist from ] has termed the act ]. ] groups have condemned this massacre and demanded an independent investigation.<ref name=hhr/>
The ] for the family, held on June 10 at St. Anne's Church in Vankalai, gathered around five thousand people and was headed by Joseph Rayappu, the Bishop of Mannar.<ref name="ml"/><ref name="asianews"/><ref name="tamilnet-2">
{{cite news
| title = Thousands mourn Vankalai victims
| url = http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=18455
| work = ]
| date = ]
| accessdate = 2007-11-28 }}</ref>


Altough there are no known witnesses to the killings, many local residents allege that they were carried out by members of the security forces.<ref name="ml"/><ref name="asianews"/> According to the LTTE, local villagers "speculated that the murder of the family could have been sexually motivated".<ref>
Contacted by AsiaNews, the parish priest of Vankalai, Fr Victor Avithappar, said civilians were scared, insecure and indignant about the latest, particularly brutal killings. {{Bquote|"People are panicked and afraid, they don't feel safe. They want peace, to live free from fear," }} However, Fr Avithappar said {{Bquote|"we cannot tell who did this", because there were no eye witnesses to the killings, which took place at the dead of night, but this area is under army control. The soldiers are all over, their sentry points are everywhere."}}<ref name=AN/>
{{cite news
| title = Family of four hacked to death in Vankalai in Mannar
| url = http://www.ltteps.org/?view=1376&folder=2
| work =
| publisher = Peace Secretariat of ]
| date = ]
| accessdate = 2007-11-28 }}</ref>
TamilNet, which published graphic photographs of the four victims that were reprinted by sectors of the Tamil media,<ref name="ml"/> explicitly attributed the massacre to soldiers of the ].<ref name="tamilnet-1"/>


Sri Lankan government officials have denied the charges that military was responsible and have accused via the ministry of defense website that the rebel ] group as being responsible for the massacre.<ref name=md>{{cite web|url=http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20060615_01|title = Points to ponder on Vankalai incident... Investing upon the tears? }}</ref>. Sri Lankan government officials denied allegations that the military was involved in the massacre and blamed the LTTE, suggesting that the family was targeted due to its connections with security forces.<ref name="ml"/><ref name="gt"/> An LTTE spokesperson denied the accusation.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/sri_lanka_021106.doc
| title = Country of Origin Information Report: Sri Lanka
| accessdate = 2007-11-28
| author = Research, Development and Statistics
| date = ]
| format = ])
| publisher = ]
| pages = 158 }}</ref>


An ] into the massacre was initiated by local judicial authorities.<ref name="ml"/><ref name="tamilnet-2"/>
Military Spokesperson Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe when questioned by the media denied that the army was responsible. {{Bquote|"The security forces have never done such a thing,"}} he said. He said the Tigers were responsible. Some newspapers quoting police sources said the LTTE was responsible. According to this version, the victims were army informants and the LTTE had taken revenge due to this. A court case is pending in the Mannar local court system. <ref name=ml/><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/YAOI-6SK3L3?OpenDocument | title=CHA monthly activity}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=91187&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24|title=Colombo reject lame excuses}}</ref>

==Photo controversy==
The pro rebel ] news site initially published gruesomely graphic photographs of the four victims.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=18447|title = Family of four wiped out}}</ref> A picture was republished by various sections of the media creating controversy in Sri Lanka and aboard. The father, daughter and son were hanging dead in one room while the mother was dead on the floor in another room. The intestines of the seven-year-old boy are seen protruding. The vaginal area of the 27-year-old mother and nine-year-old daughter were extremely bloody. It appears that the killers have sadistically tortured their victims including the 38-year-old father.<ref name=ml/><ref name=md/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/524|title=Mahinda chintanaya and maximum devolution of power in Mannar}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
Other massacres of civilians during the 2006 and 2007 period.
* ]

*] * ]
*]
*]


==Notes== ==Notes==
*In ], there was another series of massacres of allegedly over 90 minority Tamil civilians, in the same vicinity and it is also sometimes referred as ]. But the current one has a prefix of ] to differentiate it from the previous incident(s)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.extrajudicialexecutions.org/reports/E_CN_4_1986_21.pdf|title=Report by the special rapportuer on summary and arbitray executions}}</ref><ref>{{Citation * A series of massacres of allegedly more than 90 minority Tamil civilians took place in the vicinity of Mannar in 1984, and these are also sometimes referred to as the "]".<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.extrajudicialexecutions.org/reports/E_CN_4_1986_21.pdf
| title = Report by the special rapportuer on summary and arbitray executions }}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
| last = Hamlyn | first = Micheal
| last = Hamlyn
| first = Micheal
| title = Mannar massacre
| author-link =
| work = ]
| last2 =
| date = ] }}</ref>
| first2 =
| author2-link =
| title = Mannar massacre
| newspaper = ]
| pages =
| year = ]
| date = ], ]
| url = }}</ref>


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
* * {{cite web |url=http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2006statements/623/ |title=SRI LANKA: Report of the Fact Finding Mission to Pesalai by the CPA and INFORM |date=] |work=]}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Mannar massacre}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mannar massacre}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]

Revision as of 00:34, 29 November 2007

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Vankalai is located in Mannar District (highlighted) in northern Sri Lanka.

The 2006 Mannar massacre or Vankalai massacre was a massacre of a family of four minority Sri Lankan Tamils from the village of Vankalai in Mannar District, Sri Lanka on June 8, 2006. The victims were tortured and both the mother and nine-year-old daughter are alleged to have been raped. The Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) accused each other of perpetrating the killings.

Background

The village of Vankalai is located about six miles southeast of the town of Mannar, in Mannar District. The village was the scene of numerous incidents during the Sri Lankan Civil War, including the killing of Catholic priest Mary Bastian in 1985. As a result of the violence and insecurity, many residents were internally displaced or became overseas refugees.

Some former residents returned to the area following the 2002 ceasefire between the LTTE and the government. Among them was the Martin family – carpenter Moorthy Martin, 27-year-old Mary Madeleine (known as Chitra), formerly a teacher with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Tamil Nadu, and their nine-year-old daughter Lakshika and seven-year-old son Dilakshan – who returned to Vankalai from southern India.

Incident

Our Lady of St. Anne's Church in Vankalai

The Martin family lived in the Thomaspuri ward of Vankalai, named after Cardinal Thomas Cooray. According to local residents, security forces visited several houses in the area on the morning of June 8, 2006, including three soldiers who visited the Martins' home.

At night, when residents of Thomaspuri and neighbouring Bastipuri gathered at Our Lady of St. Anne's Church for safe refuge, as had become customary following shelling of the area by security forces at the start of June, the four members of the Martin family were absent. When relatives and neighbours checked on the house the following morning, they found the family dead.

The bodies of the victims had been mutilated and bore signs of torture, carrying wounds inflicted by carpenter's tools and "heavier and sharper weapons like knives or bayonets". All four had been hacked and stabbed, those of Moorthy Martin and the two children had been hanged with ropes, and that of Mary Martin showed signs of having been sexually assaulted.

Reactions

In the wake of the massacre, the pro-rebel news site TamilNet reported that residents of Thomaspuri, and nearby Bastipuri and Sukanthapuri, had begun to flee. Victor Avithappar, the Parish Priest of Vankalai, stated:

"People are panicked and afraid, they don't feel safe. They want peace, to live free from fear."

Funeral of the massacre victims

The Requiem Mass for the family, held on June 10 at St. Anne's Church in Vankalai, gathered around five thousand people and was headed by Joseph Rayappu, the Bishop of Mannar.

Altough there are no known witnesses to the killings, many local residents allege that they were carried out by members of the security forces. According to the LTTE, local villagers "speculated that the murder of the family could have been sexually motivated". TamilNet, which published graphic photographs of the four victims that were reprinted by sectors of the Tamil media, explicitly attributed the massacre to soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army.

Sri Lankan government officials denied allegations that the military was involved in the massacre and blamed the LTTE, suggesting that the family was targeted due to its connections with security forces. An LTTE spokesperson denied the accusation.

An inquest into the massacre was initiated by local judicial authorities.

See also

Notes

  • A series of massacres of allegedly more than 90 minority Tamil civilians took place in the vicinity of Mannar in 1984, and these are also sometimes referred to as the "Mannar massacre".

References

  1. ^ Jeyaraj, D.B.S. (2006-06-14). "Another family wiped out in Vankalai". The Morning Leader. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Mannar Women for Human Rights and Democracy (2006-06-18). "Sri Lankan Combatants Rape Women to Terrorize". The South Asian. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "SLA soldiers massacre family of four in Vankalai, Mannar". TamilNet. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Details of few Extra Judicial Killings" (PDF). Home for Human Rights. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  5. ^ Vella, Danielle (2006-06-13). "People terrorized after massacre of Tamil family". AsiaNews.it. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Samarakkody, Sassanka (2006-06-11). "Colombo rejects 'lame excuses'". Gulf Times. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Thousands mourn Vankalai victims". TamilNet. 2006-06-10. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. "Family of four hacked to death in Vankalai in Mannar". Peace Secretariat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. Research, Development and Statistics (2006-10-31). "Country of Origin Information Report: Sri Lanka" (DOC)). Home Office. p. 158. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. "Report by the special rapportuer on summary and arbitray executions" (PDF).
  11. Hamlyn, Micheal (1985-02-18). "Mannar massacre". The Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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