Sri Lanka armed forces kill 17 French aid workers
Dated 30/8/2006
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Sri Lankan troops carried out execution-style killings of 17 French charity workers and also waged a bombing campaign against Tamil Tiger rebels, truce monitors have said.
The Swedish-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said Wednesday security forces were solely responsible for the slayings of the 17 local employees of Action Against Hunger earlier this month. The workers had been shot in the back of the head.
The independent monitors based their findings partly on interviews and confidential discussions with sources, they said in a statement.
"The views have not proved contradictory and the security forces of Sri Lanka are widely and consistently deemed to be responsible for the incident," the statement said.
The killings came amid a bloody new phase in the three-decade ethnic conflict that has left a February 2002 ceasefire in tatters.
Some 1,500 people have died since December when fighting in the north and northeast between the military and rebels who are fighting for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority began escalating.
In Wednesday's findings, the monitors blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for a bomb attack against a packed bus in June that killed at least 64 passengers and nearly 100 others.
The SLMM said it could not accept the LTTE's claims of innocence.
"...being the only element with the motive, capability and capacity to carry out the attack, the LTTE must bear the responsibility for the killing of civilians," the SLMM said in a statement.
"Consequently, the attack on the civilian bus in Kebitigollewa (in the north-central province) on the 15th of June 2006 is ruled as a gross violation of the ceasefire agreement by the LTTE."
The killings of the aid workers occurred amid heavy fighting between government forces and the LTTE in the northeastern coastal town of Muttur.
The bodies of the aid workers had been found face down in their office in Muttur after being shot in the back of head.
"The killing of the 17 civilian aid workers in Muttur on the 4th of August 2006 is ruled as a gross violation of the ceasefire agreement by the Security Forces of Sri Lanka," the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from the government or rebels on the findings.
The findings were based partly on confidential discussions that outgoing SLMM chief Ulf Henricsson had with "highly reliable sources" about those responsible for the killings, the statement said.
"Taking into consideration the fact that the security forces had been present in Muttur at the time of the incident, it appears highly unlikely to blame other groups for the killings."
The Sri Lankan government had ordered an investigation into the killings and called in Australian forensic experts to assist with the probe.
The LTTE blamed the government for the deaths while the government, in turn, accused the rebels.
Troops and rebels fought fierce battles in mid-August around Muttur, forcing around 42,000 civilians to flee to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
The SLMM also blamed the government for setting off land mines in rebel-held territory between April and June, leading to a worsening of the conflict.
The latest SLMM findings confirmed repeated guerrilla allegations that troops were targeting them in violation of the ceasefire which the SLMM itself says is now confined only to paper.
"...the government of Sri Lanka security forces, having the motive, capability and capacity to carry out such attacks against the LTTE in the northeast, bear the responsibility for killing and injuring the LTTE cadres and the civilians caught in the blasts from these attacks," the statement said.
The government had denied the assaults deep inside territory held by the Tiger rebels and blamed the guerrillas for a spate of Claymore mine attacks against security forces.
