Naval mines

Naval mines are relatively low-cost and highly effective weapons. Potent ship killers, just the threat of mines can deter an enemy from sending his surface ships or submarines into an area. Mines are difficult to locate and sweep. They can be set to activate only when a certain ship signature - the ship's machinery sounds, movement through the water, or hull metal - is detected. Ship-counts can be set in the mine to allow a specific number of ships to pass before the mine fires. Some mines are bottom mines, placed on the seafloor, while others are moored mines suspended in the water with part of the mine serving as an anchor.

Today's mines are designed for deployment against many different classes or types of ships to achieve a variety of results. However, to meet the challenges of the missions that they may be called upon to perform, mines are becoming increasingly complex. Moreover, the number of these mission is so large that no one mine can serve all purposes. And this is why the Navy's stockpile contains many different kinds of mines with the necessary built-in versatilities that provide the options needed for a wide variety of missions. The term sea mines also includes destructors which are general purpose bombs containing influence firing mechanisms. Destructors, however, can be used as land mines as well as sea mines.

In general, some mines, with small explosive charges are designed only for use against river boats and wooden vessels of small displacement. Other mines with large charges can destroy or damage most capital ships. Some mines are intended primarily for use against submarines. Although it has been said that mines are becoming increasingly complex, it is largely because of the intelligence that is built into their firing systems. Conversely, the same technology that made mines more complex in some ways has made them simpler in others. The newer mines, for example, have features which make assembly, testing, and stowing much easier and safer than was possible with older not-so-complex mines. When deployed, mines may be used as offensive or defensive weapons. As offensive weapons, they may be planted in the enemys waterways, harbors, anchorages, and channels or they may be planted in sea lanes removed from the enemys harbor areas to menace his military and commercial shipping. The actual threat of such mines is frequently of equal importance with the actual sinking of ships, since the presence or threat of mines requires the necessary countermeasures to sweep or neutralize them. Consequently, this causes delays in shipping schedules which may require that ships use alternate routes and port areas. As defensive weapons, mines may be planted in ports, harbors, channels, anchorages (perimeter defenses), bays, estuaries, or open waters to protect against enemy offensive seaborne attacks into these areas.

History

In past wars, a navy often discovered that an area was mined only after a ship entering the minefield was sunk or damaged.

Mine warfare began in 1776 when David Bushnell invented the "Bushnell's Keg." This primitive mine was composed of a watertight keg filled with black powder and a flintlock detonator which was suspended from a float. These kegs were placed in the Delaware River so that, it was hoped, they would float into British ships downriver. These early mines were called torpedoes. In fact, when Admiral Farragut said "Damn the torpedoes Captain Drayton, go ahead!" at the Battle of Mobile Bay, he was actually referring to mines; self-propelled torpedoes had not yet been invented.

In 1863, the Confederate Congress established the Torpedo Service, whose mission was to sow Southern waterways with Bushnell's Kegs. These mines were prone to waterlogging and faulty detonators, but they were cheap to produce. Forty-three Federal ships were struck by Confederate mines during the War, twenty-seven of which sank.

During World War I, a 250-mile wide minefield was sown between Scotland and Norway by allied forces to stop German U-boats. This minefield was planted in five months during 1918 by American and British ships, and contained over 72,000 mines.

Modern magnetic, acoustic and pressure-sensitive mines were first developed by the Germans during World War II. Also, the deployment of mines by submarine and aircraft and the development of deep-sea mines sharply increased the need for modern mine countermeasures. Mines were used by all sides throughout World War II, and surface ships were fitted with paravanes to fend off contact mines. In Japan, US aircraft laid more than 12,000 mines around Japanese shipping routes and harbor approaches, sinking 650 ships and choking off all maritime shipping.

It wasnt until World War II that mines were successfully planted by aircraft: and it was then that it became readily apparent that the advantages of air delivery are many. This was demonstrated by the number of notable mining campaigns of that war, the most notable of which was the strategy blockade of the harbors of Japan. in short, airplanes can lay mines suddenly and in great quantity. Moreover, airplanes are the only vehicle capable of replenishing a large mine field without danger from the field itself. Also, planes can lay mines in shallow bodies of water, including rivers and harbors which cannot be transited by submarines or surface minelayers. Although the torpedo was considered the primary weapon of the submarine during World War II, many missions by the Seventh Fleet submarines involved the laying of mines. Throughout the war, submarines had planted 576 mines, resulting in 27 ships sunk and 27 damaged, or one ship per 10 planted mines. During World War II surface craft were used primarily for defensive mining operations, i.e., defending friendly harbors and waters from penetration by enemy vessels. Planting was usually done from specially designed minelayers or from certain other surface craft. Throughout the war, thousands of these mines were laid just outside Chesapeake Bay, around Cape Hatteras, an around Key West to protect our shipping against enemy submarines. Also, large fields were laid in the Atlantic off the coasts of Trinidad and North Africa and in the Mediterranean off the coast of Sicily. Although there is no record of any of the enemys ships being sunk or damaged in the Navys defensive fields, neither is there any record of the enemys ships passing through the fields. Perhaps the knowledge that the fields existed prevented any attempts being made, thus proving the adage that mines work well even when they don't work at all.

During the Korean War, American forces were prevented from landing at Wonson for over a week in 1950 until 3,000 Communist mines could be cleared.

In Viet Nam, "destructor" mines, which were made from modified bombs, were widely planted by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese in shallow rivers and deltas to disrupt shipping.

The Persian Gulf War is where the USS GUARDIAN first saw action. Both surface and air mine countermeasures forces were deployed to find and neutralize primitive Iranian mines. Two US Navy combatants were severely damaged - more than $21 million in repairs - by Iraqi mines laid in areas previously thought to be mine free.

Position

When classified according to the position they assume in the water, mines fall into three categories: bottom mines, moored mines, and drifting mines. Bottom mines are influence activated and rest at the bottom of shallow areas of water. Moored mines are effective against submarines as well as surface ships and are placed at a pre-determined depth under the water. Drifting mines, which were banned under the Hague Convention of 1907, move freely through the water. A moored mine that has lost its tether cable becomes a drifting mine.

• Bottom Mines are most effective in comparatively shallow waters. A large negative buoyancy (tendency to sink) brings the bottom mine to rest on the ocean floor and keeps it there. In very deep waters, surface vessels may pass over the mine without actuating its firing mechanisms or, in the event of actuation, without suffering much damage. Of course a bottom mine planted in deep water is still effective against submarines.
• Moored Mines are used for deep water plants and are effective against submarines and surface ships. The explosive charge and firing mechanism in a moored mine are housed in a positive-buoyancy case, i.e., one that tends to float. A cable, attached to an anchor on the bottom, holds the case at a predetermined depth below the surface.
• Drifting Mines float freely at or near the surface. They have no anchoring devices, and their buoyancy is approximately neutral. Drifting mines are no longer represented in the US Navys stockpile.

Method of delivery

Mines can be deployed by aircraft, submarine, or surface ship. Air-laid mines are dropped over an area, similar to a bomb. Submarine-laid mines can be secretly planted and are usually launched from a sub's yorpedo tubes. Any mine type can be deployed by a surface ship. It should be noted that by using appropriate modifications, aircraft-laid mines (less flight gear) and submarine-laid mines may be planted by surface craft. The US Navy currently has no minelaying ships.

• Aircraft-laid mines are normally employed in offensive operations and are dropped from aircraft in the manner of a bomb. These mines must be specially configured for air delivery. Aircraft provide the capability for replenishing minefields over an extended period of time without danger from previously laid mines. Aircraft are also capable of mining enemy-held inland waterways. Most air-laid mines use some sort of flight gear to decrease water-impact velocity. This usually consists of a parachute pack and release gear which function as follows: As the mine strikes the water, or submerges to a given depth, the release gear frees the mine case from the parachute, after which the parachute and mine then sink free from each other. Flight gear also includes tail fins which provide stability during flight and free fall; nose fairings may also be used to reduce drag. Almost any aircraft that carries bombs - Navy, Air Force, or otherwise - can also lay mines. Like bombs, air-laid mines are equipped with arming wires that maintain the mines in a safe condition until they are released from the aircraft. However, at the instant a mines is released from the aircrafts bomb rack, the arming wires are withdrawn, leaving the mine with the potential to arm. On the other hand, should it become necessary to jettison the mine in a safe condition, the pilot actuates solenoids that allow the arming wires to fall intact with the mine.
• Submarine-laid mines, normally used in offensive operations, are specially configured mines that are launched from the torpedo tubes of submarines. When secrecy is paramount, the submarine is the preferred mine-laying vehicle. Although submarines can carry mines great distances from home ports, they are not conducive to carrying large payloads. Tactically, the limited number of mines that a submarine can carry may be considered a disadvantage, but the secrecy with which a submarine can deliver mines to an enemy port or operating area at great distances from friendly bases provides an overwhelming tactical advantage. Submarines can be highly effective in the minelaying role as they are capable of covert operations, permitting them to enter waters normally denied to surface ships or aircraft because of enemy forces, bad weather, or ice. Most attack submarines can carry and lay mines.
• Surface-laid mines are no longer in the US stockpile of active weapons. However, almost all air- and submarine-laid mines can be adapted for surface laying if the need arises. Surface laying is the most economical method of delivery because of the greater number of mines that can be carried in the vehicle. But, there are unacceptable constraints which necessitate the utilization of other methods of delivery. For example: enemy control of the sea area, the requirement for surreptitious delivery, or the need to replenish an existing field.

Method of Actuation

Mines can be activated by contact, target influence, or remote control. Contact mines are activated by physical touch and are the oldest and most common type. Target influence mines seek to detect ships or submarines using a magnetometer, hydrophone, or pressure device. Influence mines can be calibrated to detonate only near ships of a certain size. Controlled mines are remotely operated by a cable connected to the shore.

Major Components

A typical bottom mine consists of an explosive case and a firing mechanism. More complicated mines may be outfitted with a variety of other features. A battery may be included in electronic mines; an arming device may be employed to make a mine active only after it has reached a certain depth, a ship counter that allows the mine to let a certain number of valid targets pass before detonating, and a clock delay and sterilizer that make the mine potent only for a certain length of time, after which the mine shuts down. Air-delivered mines may be fitted with a parachute and tail fins to lessen the impact as it strikes the water.

A typical moored mine uses an anchor, which is located on the front of the mine. Upon impact with the bottom of the water, the anchor section breaks away and the rest of the mine rises upwards on a tether cable until it reaches its pre-determined depth. Influence-type mines contain a magnetometer, search coil, hydrophone or pressure-sensitive device that can target specific classes of ships.

Magnetic mines utilize a magnetic search coil or magnetometer to detect passing ships. The older, heavier search coils are used in bottom mines to detect changes in the earth's magnetic field caused by passing vessels. Newer magnetometers are often used in moored mines and can detect ships or submarines in any direction.

Acoustic mines employ a hydrophone to detect the sounds emanated by ships and submarines including engine and propeller noises. Such sounds must meet certain criteria, including frequency band and must increase in volume at a prescribed rate or the mine will ignore them.

Pressure mines use electro-hydraulic pressure sensors to detect ships or submarines. The pressure sensor waits for the pressure drop underwater associated with the passing of a vessel and, if the target vessel is displacing enough water, the mine will actuate.

Canada-Sri Lanka relations troubled by festival by Damitha Hemachandra (25 September 2004)

The Decision of the Canadian government to grant conditional permission to the pro-LTTE cultural festival Pongu-Thamil scheduled for September 25 in Toronto raised heavy protest from Sri Lankan as well as International organisations.

The Advisor to Ministry of Hindu Affairs, Dr. K. Wigneshwaran, accused the Tamil Student Association and other Tamil groups in Canada organising the Pongu-Thamil rally of glorifying terrorism and engaging in fundraising for LTTE. “Funds raised at Pongu-Thamil festivals held around the world are being used to kill not only Sinhala and Muslims but also Tamils in Sri Lanka,” he pointed out, referring to the recent killing of a senior member of the pro-government Tamil party EPDP.

“They don’t know the real situation in Sri Lanka,” he said, challenging the Tamil groups in Canada to come and spend a day in Wanni. “ What they should be doing is helping the country reach a political solution and to develop the economy and infrastructure in North And East,” Dr. Wigneshwaran said.

Spokesman for National Bikkhu Conference (NBC), Galagodatte Knanasara Thera, said that the NBC and National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT) would seek to stage their protest through stronger means, such as a Fast-unto-death campaign, against the pro-LTTE activities of the Canadian and Norway governments. “We have already requested the Norway embassy and the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) to state their stand on the continuous killings committed by LTTE,” Thera said, adding that Sanga Sammelanaya and NMAT would launch a mass scale agitation programme if a suitable reply was not forthcoming.

In Toronto, the LTTE planned to raise nearly $200,000 at the event but has now changed its stance by proposing that Tamil community groups raise funds independently and “donate” them at the festival to evade restrictions on the sale of pro- LTTE material.

"PACKAGE SERMON" - FOSTERING TAMIL DIVISIONISM Professor K.N.O.Dharmadasa

(Original paper was in Sinhala - Translated to English by H.P. Siriwardene)

The Package attempts to enshrine the Traditional Homeland concept in the Constitution. Some Tamil political leaders want the devolution of power more than anybody else. This is apparent by the statements they often make, their writings and the pressure they bring to bear on the President and the leaders of the Government.


The above is a quotation from the stone inscription at Gal Vihara established by King Parakramabahu the Great who reigned in Pollanaruwa in the 12th Century. The incident referred to in the inscription is known also as the EDICT of Parakramabahu the Great.

During the turbulent period prior to Parakramabahu bringing the whole land under one flag, Buddha Sasana too had declined. There were numerous defects in the Buddhist clergy. "Amidst such deterioration taking place before my very eyes, a King like me should not remain indifferent and idle enjoying royal pleasures", the King thought wisely and compassionately. Thus nobly motivated he decided to cleanse and reform the clergy and thereby restore the Buddha Sasana. The quotation cited above says it.

However, the King knew that he was not the proper person to reform the Buddhist clergy. He therefore had the Dimbulagala Maha Kashapa Thera, who was foremost in learning and virtu, to lead the task.

The priests who were divided among three chapters as Maha Vihara, Abhayagiri and Jethawana were unified, and those proved to be unvirtuous were expelled. Thus cleansed, a code of conduct, approved by the reform council of priests, was declared. The code specified the proper mode of conduct for a priest- what he should do and what not. The Parakramabahu Edict as engraved in the past remains intact and can be seen today just as it was engraved. What it depicts is the royal declaration made by the King with the noble intention of preserving the Buddha Sasana after the reform council’s decision.

Literally, KATHIKAWATHA means ‘discussion’, ‘agreement’, ‘recording of a decision’ and the like. But among the Sinhalese Buddhists it means a decision taken to reform and purify the Buddhist clergy.

Our history records many such instances. The Dambadeniya decision taken not so long after the Parakramabahu decision mentioned above is well known.

The five hundred years that followed was a period of conflict and upheaval. By the dawn of the 18th Century Buddha Sasana had declined to its lowest depth, so much so that there were no Buddhist priests who had received the higher ordination. This situation was remedied and the Buddha Sasana was restored by the efforts of the priests of the Silwath Samajaya, ‘The Virtuous Society’, headed by the Welivita Soratha Maha Thera.

The Sasana thus restored also declined after thirty to forty years and had to be cleansed again. This is evident by the two edicts of Kirthi Sri Rajasingha and Rajendra Rajasingha.

What becomes clear from these historical facts is this: Degeneration occurs in the Buddhist Clergy from time to time and steps have to be taken to stop such deterioration and restore it from time to time. There are certain common factors that seem to arise at such ‘decision’ times. (1) Just as the Kings of the past were ‘motivated’ by the noble, kind and meritorious thought, ‘It is not befitting there should be such deterioration of the Buddha Sasana when there is a King like me’, the political leaders of the day too getting similarly motivated to restore the Sasana. (2) The sole motive being the safeguarding of the Buddha Sasana. (3) Having Buddhist priests, who are learned and virtuous and therefore acceptable to all, to take the lead to form the reform council.

It can be noticed that in the year 1997 too there are people, not kings, who have come forward to point out the shortcomings in the Buddha Sasana as it exists at present. These shortcomings are perhaps the faulty conduct of the Buddhist priests. Perhaps they are the faulty rituals. And perhaps the poor relationship between Buddhist institutions, temples and viharas and the laity.

The following are some of the gentlemen who have come forward.

Professor Dr. Stanley Jayarajah Thambiah of the Chicago University of America.

Prof. Dr. H.L Seneviratne of the Virginia University,

Dr Jonathan Walters in a college or University in Walla-walla in Washington,

Jonathan Walters is the person who wrote the article "Reforming Buddhist Practices" that appeared in the "Island" newspaper on the last Wesak full moon day under the pseudonym "Cats EYE". Among these gentlemen are also journalists, some paid, some not, by various N.G.Os.

As all can notice, the activity of pointing out the defects of the Buddha Sasana has accelerated during the last few months. As an example, Dr H.L.Seneviratne in his article, "The Sangha’s Role Reassessed", that appeared in the ‘Lanka Guardian’ on the 15th March 1997, said this quite directly: "A minority of vociferous Buddhist priests are against the devolution of power and are attempting to derail the proposals. But how qualified are they to speak in any manned against devolution? It they are to speak knowledgeably on the devolution of power, they must first have a knowledge of such matters as: what is the present Government, what is a unitary Government, what is meant by multiple representation and what is democracy and the like. But they do not have the slightest knowledge of these".

Our Doctor deemed it necessary to re-assess the role of the Buddhist priests not because he was motivated by wisdom and kindness being aware that, when the priests are corrupt they commit sin and would be born in the hell world and it should be prevented. Or, to safeguard the Buddha Sasana and thereby saving the laymen from committing sin. These were not his concern. But he was afraid that the PACKAGE might get derailed because of the activities of the ‘vociferous priests’ although ‘only a few’. It is this effort of Dr. Seneviratne and others that should therefore be named the "PACKAGE EDICT".

The first question that arises here is this: Is it a majority of Buddhist priests or a minority that is against the package? How did the Doctor conclude it is a minority while being in America? Perhaps he had this information from the people who are entrusted with the propaganda work for the package.

Be that as it may, we know that there are Buddhist priests who are in favour of the package. As those priests are naturally and on principle not vociferous, the Government uses the radio, the T.V and the Lake House news papers that are under its control to create the necessary noise. They have indeed raised considerable noise of late.

However, there is an obvious lapse here. The Buddhist priests who are in favour of the package are silenced by Doctor Seneviratne himself whether he knows it or not. For, "In order to speak at all", as Doctor Seneviratne states, "a good knowledge of the present government and the other topics mentioned in that list of his, is essential. It is clear that the Buddhist priests who speak in favour of the package not only do not have an iota of such knowledge but they do not know even the contents of the package. As an example please see statement (1) made by reverend Aturaliya Indrarathana, the Chief Buddhist priest in charge of disciplinary matters of the clergy in the Southern provinces, on March 27 in "A Reply to Buddhist Devotees" : "There is no devolution of power on the basis of nationality in the draft legislation of devolution of power presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee. It is clearly stated that power will be devolved on the basis of the districts as they exist today. The nine districts that are proposed to be demarcated will remain as they are today." Does this Chief priest in charge of disciplinary affairs know what the foremost objective of the Tamil separatists, and why they continue their struggle in Sri Lanka?

The two districts that are regarded by us as the North and the East, are to the Tamil separatists their Traditional Homeland. The others, that means that Sinhalese, have no claim to those districts, the Traditional Homeland. They want this ensured and guaranteed. Even children know that this is the purpose of the devolution. Although we regard the North and the East as two separate districts, the separatists regard them as one district because of the Traditional Homeland concept. It is not only terrorist Tigers who consider this area as one district. The Tamil Liberation front also is of the same view and considers it as an essential and primary requirement. That is not all. The Minister who drafts legislation for the present Government also speaks of a ‘North-East province’ using one word. A so-called governor too has been appointed to this ‘province’. Apparently this case has not yet come before our Chief priest in charge of disciplinary affairs.

According to the reports of a conference held in Chicago by the Tamil Eelam Organisation and an article written by a Tamil doctor to the magazine "Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism", Prime Minister D.S.Senanayake in 1958 and Prime Minister S.W.R.D.Bandaranayake in 1966 accepted the concept that the Northern and the Eastern provinces form the Traditional Homeland of the Tamils. Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake too has accepted it. As such, there is Governmental recognition, they claim. Their complaint is that the accepted concept is not implemented. The Package is the attempt to incorporate the Traditional Homeland concept in the Constitution.

Some Tamil political leaders seem to want the devolution of power more than anybody else. That is apparent by the statements they often make, their writings and the pressure they bring to bear on the President and the Government leaders, etc. A group of Buddhist priests, including the Chief Magistrate priest in charge of disciplinary matters, are in favour of the Package. Not merely in favour. They have come forward to speak, debate and issue statements supporting it. The only obstacle is the presence of a ‘vociferous minority’, that is against it. A group of priests headed by the "Magistrate" have fallen among the Divisionists and live in the land of the Traditional Homelanders. Meetings are held island wide to sing the praise of the Package. A mobile propaganda group is employed for the purpose. Among them are also Buddhist priests. They often get publicity from the radio, T.V, and the Government news papers.

What they speak of are the superficial matters with which we all agree, i.e: war is cruel, a curse. What Buddha preached was compassion, living together in peace and harmony. Let us therefore agree to the Package. Then the war will be over. The millions of rupees that is now spent on the war can be used to develop the country", and so on. But not one priest preaches, "The Package is good according to Dr.Seneviratne’s list for the following reasons. The war will come to an end. That is 100% certain. Once this division is enshrined in the Constitution itself, the Muslims or the upcountry Tamils will not demand separate areas for themselves. We are also certain of it". Not one Buddhist priest sermonizes thus.

To be continued.

Tamil Homelands - The bird that couldn't fly by 'Foxwatch'

By sheer repetition, the "Tamil homelands" have acquired a spurious legitimacy not only among foreign governments and NGOs, who will seize upon anything that fits in with their designs, but also among sections of Sri Lankans.

Academic Refutations
The homelands claim has been amply refuted by several scholars, citing historical evidence. However, the very thoroughness of the refutations demands closer study than is feasible for most foreign governments and NGOs, and citizens here and abroad who have been duped by Eelam propaganda. So the bald assertion by the Eelam lobby that there is and always has been a Tamil homeland tends to be believed. The Eelamists are masters of the big lie, repeatedly dished out in digestible form.

Even those who do have the time and inclination to analyse claims, refutations, counterclaims, and counter-refutations, may find it difficult to decide. The Eelam propaganda machine revels in this situation, where the big lie acquires the edge over the painstaking refutation. So the brainwashing continues, through the rhetoric of an army of well-heeled professionals unhampered by scruples about academic standards or truth.

Soulbury Commission
Wanted, then, is a supplementary way to expose the homelands myth, which is an important pillar in the campaign to set up Eelam. It so happens that simple evidence is available in the form of a crucial act of omission, occasionally mentioned in the debate but invariably buried in a clutter of detail. Focus on it and its significance becomes clear.

When Sri Lanka's campaign for independence was in its final stages, the British government appointed a Commission in 1944, led by Lord Soulbury, to visit Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), in connection with the reform of the Constitution. The Soulbury Commission's terms of reference were :

"To visit Ceylon in order to examine and discuss any proposals for constitutional reform in the Island which have the object of giving effect to the Declaration of His Majesty's Government on that subject dated 26th May, 1943, and, after consultation with various interests in the Island, including minority communities, concerned with the subject of constitutional reform, to advise His Majesty's Government on all measures necessary to attain that object."

The declaration of May 1943 had referred to the British commitment to grant Ceylon "full responsible Government under the Crown in all matters of internal civil administration."

In accordance with their mandate, the Commissioners met 80 deputations of organisations and individuals covering political, ethnic, religious, professional, women's, business, administrative, regional, agricultural and workers' interests in the island. Among them were Tamil parties, politicians and eminent persons, including Mr. G. G. Ponnambalam, Mr. C. Suntheralingam, The All-Ceylon Tamil Congress, The Jaffna Association, The Ceylon Thamils Association, The Ceylon Indian Congress and The All-Ceylon Minority Tamil Maha Sabha. All the deputations were free to convey all their grievances and aspirations as forcefully as they wished.

Priceless Opportunity
Now consider the Tamil homelands claim in the context of the Soulbury Commission appointed specifically to examine proposals for constitutional reform, consult minority interests, and advise the British government. The Vadukkodai Declaration of 1976 proclaimed the existence of a Tamil nation "throughout the centuries from the dawn of history" modestly refraining from going back to the Big Bang. This Tamil nation was described as "possessing the Northern and Eastern districts." If a Tamil nation possessing the Northern and Eastern Districts had in fact been in existence from the dawn of history, the Tamil politicians and parties of 1944 would naturally have been aware of their primeval homeland. Presented with the opportunity of staking their claims before the transfer of power from Britain to Ceylon, they would surely have unveiled the alleged millennia-old Tamil nation and Tamil homelands, and sought suitable recognition for them.

No Homeland in 1944!
But surprise, surprise, the Soulbury Commission Report does not contain a single reference to a Tamil claim to a Tamil nation or a Tamil homeland! If the claim had been made, it would have overshadowed everything else in the Commission's report, involving as it would have the grave problems of separation or partition.

Instead, the Tamil representatives' main concern was about power-sharing at the centre. The All-Ceylon Tamil Congress proposed a scheme of "balanced representation" under which a) 50% of parliamentary seats would be allocated to the minorities, and 50% to all races; and b) less than half the members of the Council of Ministers (the Executive) should be appointed from any one community. There was not a word from the Tamil deputations about a Tamil nation or a Tamil homeland - issues which were more fundamental than the question of representation which they did raise.

Million- Dollar Question
So we have the big mystery. If a Tamil nation and a Tamil homeland indeed existed 'from the dawn of history' why did the Tamils refrain from even referring to them, at the best possible forum for securing their recognition?

The historians, with professional competence, have exposed the myth of Tamil homelands. ln a world of slick marketing and short attention spans, though, the persuasive lie often scores over academic excellence.

Simple Proof
But the act of omission with the Soulbury Commission is much easier for the public to grasp. And, for the Eelam lobby, hard to explain away. Why did the Tamil politicians not present the case for a Tamil nation and a Tamil homeland to the Commission?

Evidently because the creation of the myth had not yet begun, or, if it had, because they new that the bird couldn't fly.

Rape as a Crime Against Humanity

This page is dedicated to thousands of Bosnian women brutally raped by the extremist forces of Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic

The Community of Bosnia Foundation in cooperation with the Collection Committee of Haverford College is proud to present a survivor of the Trnopolje concentration camp as our guest speaker for the March 17th Collection that will be held in the Stokes Auditorium at the Haverford College.

Haverford College Collection Speaker

On Monday March 17, 1997, at Stokes Auditorium, 6:30 PM, a survivor of the genocide at Kozarac and the atrocities at the Trnopolje concentration and rape camp gave a talk at Haverford College Collection. The event took place at the Stokes Auditorium, at 6:30pm.

During the aggression of Serb ethnonationalists on Bosnia, thousands Muslim women and girls were raped. Many of them were taken into the rape camps, and held there for weeks, even months. There many of them they suffered tortures, multiple rapes and other severe traumas. The survivor survived one such camp, and she has a story to tell about it.

On Friday, March 14, 1997, she spoke a private reception in Philadelphia co-sponsored by Gather (Global Action to Help End Rape) and The Community of Bosnia Foundation at Haverford. She will speak along with Binaifer Nowrojee, Rwanda specialist with Human Rights Watch/Africa, Trudi Rubin, columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Michael Sells, President of the Community of Bosnia Foundation and author of The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia (University of California Press, 1996). For the text of Alisa's talk at Haverford College see

"Genocide at Kozarac and the Trnopolje Concentration Camp."

Muslim women in Foca (southeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina) were subjected to a brutal regime of gang rape, torture and enslavement by Bosnian Serb soldiers, policemen and members of paramilitary groups after the takeover of the city in April 1992, according to a major indictment issued by the International Tribunal dealing specifically with sexual offenses.

The indictment charges Dragan GAGOVIC, Gojko JANKOVIC, Janko JANJIC, Radornir KOVAC, Zoran VUKOVIC, Dragan ZELENOVIC, Dragoljub KUNARAC and Milorad STANKOVIC with crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and Violations of the Laws or Customs of War. It was confirmed by Judge VOHRAH on 26 June 1996. Warrants for the accused's arrest were issued on 26 June and were sent to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska.

The indictment is of major legal significance as it is the first time that sexual assaults have been diligently investigated for the purpose of prosecution under the rubric of torture and enslavement as a crime against humanity.

Indictment: Gagovic and Others (Foca), Part I

Indictment: Gagovic and Others (Foca), Part II

Indictment: Gagovic and Others (Foca), Part III

See also the articles documenting NATO refusal to arrest the indicted organizers of the Foca rape camps, including two particularly blatant examples in which NATO troops were caught with the rape-camp organizers, despite persistent denials by NATO commanders that NATO troops have encountered criminals indicted at The Hague. According to the Dayton Peace agreement, NATO troops are required to arrest and extradict to The Hague any indicted criminals they encounter. These articles appear under the title "NATO fraternization with indicted rape-camp organizers: Radovan Stankovic and Gojko Jankovic." This link includes Jordan Paust's brief legal definitions regarding complicity, dereliction of duty, and violation of legal obligations, as well as some reports describing the NATO's lack of action in regards to arresting and extraditing the indicted war criminals.

A DIALY RITUAL OF SEX ABUSE

Newsday, April 19. 1993

by Roy Gutman
Europe Correspondent
Posted with the permission of the author.

Kirklareli, Turkey-- First, the Serb soldiers arrested Beba's husband and took him to a concentration camp in the southeast Bosnian town of Foca. Two months later, she said, armed Serb men returned to her village to rape the unprotected Muslim left behind.

Beba was raped. She fled to Foca, and there, from an apartment belonging to a Muslim family, she observed the daily ritual of sexual abuse at the Partizan sports center.

"I saw the same men entering and leaving daily" with women in tow, the 24-year-old Muslim woman, who asked to be identified by a fictitious name, told Newsday. "I can say in Foca there were 50 men involved in rape. They slept during the day and raped at night."

Beba's observations of organized and systematic rape over two weeks were corroborated by six other rape victims who spoke to a Newsday reporter at this refugee camp in Kirklareli, north of Istanbul and in a predominantly Muslim town in southern Serbia.

Their accounts suggest that Serb authorities not only approved the systematic rape of Muslim women in Foca but made a public display of rape at Partizan hall. One woman at Partizan was raped more than 100 times in two months. A gynecologist who examined her shortly after her release told Newsday her account was entirely credible.

"The first rapes began a week or two after the Serb takeover in early April" last year, said Alija Delimustafic, who at the time was Bosnian interior minister. "They compiled lists. They arrested the men. They ordered women to stay in their home villages. They warned them they would kill their fathers or husbands if they moved away."

After an interval varying from a few weeks to two months, armed men in uniforms, either police reserves, militiamen, or other paramilitary forces, combed the villages, conducting house-to-house "interrogations." According to several victims interviewed by Newsday, the "interrogations" began with questions about hidden weapons but were quickly transformed into rape at gunpoint.

Beba's husband was seized in May, and his fate is unknowm. In mid-July, on the excuse that they were searching for weapons, the men, armed and in uniform, forced their way into the home of a 17-year-old girl and ordered her to accompany them to Beba's house. As Beba watched, she said, they raped the teenager.

Beba's turn came a few days later, and though she was caring for her newborn, she was taken along with the teenage girl to a house outside Foca and raped after a mock interrogation.

Beba escaped the ordeal by fleeing to Foca on her own and spent two weeks close to Partizan. Those brought to the former sports cetner by police were rapes repeatedly for weeks on end. Far from intervening to halt the crime, victims said, local police sometimes referred some Muslim women to Partizan to await safe passage out of the region.

One 41-year-old woman said she had complianed to police after a group rape in which uniformed men molested her and a close relative, aged 19. The police said there was no need to see a doctor "but that we should go to Partizan and wait for a convoy," said the woman, who asked to be identified by her initial "B." But after watching guards abduct four women from Partizan, B. and her relative fled and hid in the attic of relatives for a month.

M.C., a 28-year-old shopkeeper in Foca who asked to be identified only by her initials, had no escape. She told Newsday that Serbs attacked her village of Trosanj on June 3, and about 50 people, mostly women, were taken in trucks and private vehicles to a workes' barracks called Buk Bijela. "The raping began immediately. Twice that day, " she said.

Then they were ordered for 10 days to a high school, where she was raped by three men, and finally to Partizan. Of the 74 people at Partizan, 50 were women and the rest children and some older people. About 30 young women were the main targets. "Only the women over 50 were safe," M.C. said. "They always took the 10 youngest from the sports hall," she said in an interview at a refugee center in Turkey. The woman said she was raped about 150 times during the two months of her ordeal.

After picking the women for the night, guards took them to a nearby apartment or house, victims said. On one occasion shortly before the main group was allowed to leave, a woman, 40, was raped in the middle of the hall. "The guard beat her. She cried," said a woman, 44, who asked to be identified only by her initials, R.C.

On Aug.12, guads ordered M.C. to an outdoor stadium where, she said, uniformed soldiers gang-raped her and other women. "I counted 29 of them. Then I lost consciousness," said the mother of two young children. When she came to, she heard to the commander telling the troops: "Enough is enough." There was a quarrel, gunfire, and then the officer, who had taken part in assault, drove her back to the Partizan sports hall.

The rapes within Partizan represent only a tiny fraction of the assaults againts the Muslim women of Foca. There seemed to be a special regime for the prettiest and the smartest women, who were singled out for the most frequent raping, several witnesses said. They said those women have not been seen since.

"Four young girls from Partizan were taken away, never to return," said R.C. Three were teenagers--14, 16, and 17 years old. "When they take you away, they may kill you. So if you are raped, you feel lucky. At least you're alive," she said. R.C. acknowledged she had been raped, but she would not say how many times.

The women kept in Partizan hall finally boarded buses organized by Serb authorities Aug. 13 and were taken to Montenegro, the first stop in what looks to be a permanent deportation.

M.C. is relieved to be far from home. Of the hundreds of women who emerged alive after the ordeal of last summer, at least 40 had become pregnant and had abortions, and some had carried them to term, according to a Muslim doctor in southern Serbia. "Everybody said that if we didn't move out of Foca, every second woman would be pregnant, " added M.C.

MASS RAPE

Muslims recall Serb attacks

Newsday, Sunday, August 23, 1992

by Roy Gutman
Europe Correspondent
Posted with the permission of the author

Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina.--Serbs forces in northern Bosnia systematically raped 40 young Muslim women of a town they occupied early this summer, telling some of their victims they were under orders to do so, the young women say.

Statements by victims of the assault, describing their ordeal in chilling detail, bear out that the Serb conquerers of Bosnia have raped Muslim women, not as a byproduct of the war, but as a prinicipal tactic of the war.

" 'We have orders to rape the girls,' " Mirsada, 23, one of the young victims interviewed by Newsday, said that young man who abducted her told her. He said he was "ashamed to be a Serb" and added that "everything that is going on is a war crime," she said.

Hafiza, also 23, said she sought to dissuade the soldier who raped her. "I tried crying and begging, " she said. "I said, 'You have a mother and a sister, a female in the family.' He said nothing. He didn't want to talk. Then he said 'I must, I must.' I said, 'You must not, if you don't want to.' " But she was unable to stop him.

The incident involved 40 young women from Brezovo Polje, a small town on the Sava River, where conquering forces marched in, seized all the civilians, and dispatched them according to age and gender to their assigned fate.

The rape victims were interviewed in a refugee center, their only refuge after the destruction of economic survival. They agreed to be quoted and photographed, provided they were identified only by first name and age.

"We want the world to know about our truth. All mothers. All women," said Senada, 17, who wrote a statement by hand and gave it to the chief gynecologist at Tuzla Hospital with the request she pass it on to Newsday. "I wouldn't want anyone else to have the same experience. It is worse than any other punishment in the world."

The Brezovo Polje episode is only one of a number of indications of a pattern of systematized rape during the Serb conquest of Bosnia.

In separate interviews in Tuzla, four young women from the village of Liplje, near Zvornik....... makeshift bordello where three or more men raped them every night for 10 nights. A leading Bosnia women's group has charged that upward of 10,000 Bosnian women are currently being held in Serb detention camps where their captors rape them repeatedly, though that has not been independently confirmed. Another pattern is the rape of pregnant women and some middle-aged women.

Dr. Melika Kreitmayor, leader of the gynecological team that examined 26 of 40 victims from Brezovo Polje, said she and her colleagues are convinced that the object of the rapes was "to humiliate Muslim women, to insult them, to destroy their persons and to cause shock."

"These women were raped not because it was a male instinct. They were raped because it was the goal of the war," she said. "My impression is that someone had an order to rape the girls. "

She cited as proof that some young women said they had been taken to a house and not raped, but were instructed to tell others that they had been raped.

Kreitmayer, who is of Muslim origin and whose team included a Serb and a Slovene doctor, made those assertions without any sign of objection from her colleagues. "We are shocked by what we have heard, " commented her Serb colleague, Dr. Nenad Trifkovic.

According to the young women, the rapists discussed the assaults with their victims as a mission they had to accomplish. Many of the men fortified their resolve by taking white pills that appeared to stimulate them, the women said. "The men's claim they were operating under orders was reinforced when a new group of irregular forces arrived that owed its allegiance to one of the most savage of the warlords, Vojislav Seselj, a militant nationalist from Sarajevo. The leaders of the original group tried to protect the women of Brezovo Polje from the Seselj followers, the women indicated.

" ' Don't worry. The girls have been raped once,' " Zlata, 23, recalled one of the officers as telling the Seselj followers.

According to the victims, preparations for the mass rape began early on the morning of June 17, when Serb soldiers in army uniforms and masks piled out of their minivans and rounded up the Muslims of Brezovo Polje for "ethnic cleansing."

They loaded the able-bodied men from 18 to 60 onto buses and sent them "for interrogation" to Luka, a notorious, Serb-run detention camp in nearby Brcko, where nine in 10 prisoners were slaughtered, according to a survivor interviewed by Newsday.

Then they packed about 1,000 women, children, and old people into eight buses, drove them around the countryside for two days and held them under armed guard for four terrifying nights without food or water in a parking lot in the nearby town of Ban Brdo, the victims said. Serb soldiers returning from the front invaded the buses every night and led off women and girls to an unknown location at knife-point, recalled Senada, 17, "They threw them out in the morning, and their clothes were torn, and they were covered with blood, " she said.

Finally the group arrived in Caparde, where about 50 Serb irregulars, bearded followers of a warlord named Zeljko Arkan, robbed the mothers and forcibly separated them from their daughters. The mothers were taken by bus and deposited in a war zone. Meanwhile, in the Osnovo furniture warehouse in Caparde, where the daughters were held, the men, mostly with long beards in the style of the World War II Serbian royalist force known as the Chetniks, selected what one of the rapists said were the prettiest young women of Brezovo Polje and raped them in groups of 10.

Hajrija, 21, said she asked Dragan, the man who raped her why they were doing it. "He said we are the cleanest convoy that passes Caparde, the prettiest and most attractive, and that they wouldn't let us pass because we are so beautiful."

The victims are aged 15 to 30, with wholesome looks, careful dress and gentle manners.

"They would come by and tap us on the shoulder," recalled Hajrija, 21, one of the victims. "They told everyone else that we had gone to 'fetch water.' Some of the girls came back two hours later. Some the next morning. And each of them sat down and cried," she said.

The mothers arrived in Tuzla on June 23, distraught about their missing daughters and traumatized by the journey, which began with another bus ride and ended with a forced 12-mile walk through a war zone on a road littered with human corpses and animal carcasses.

Their daughters arrived four days later, after a forced walk across a mined road with a number of elderly people of whom died en route, they said.

The young women were exhausted and in a state of shock, doctors said. Most, according to the gynecologist team that later examined them, had vaginal infections of staphyllococcus and other bacteria that originate in dirt of fecal matter. Almost every one of 20 women interviewed by Newsday reported that the men who raped them were filthy and smelly, and in some cases had blood on their bodies/

The health and psychological stresses upon the young women of Brezovo Polje are only part of their tragedy, for each is missing a father or a brother as well as the material basis of their lives. They are women in the prime of the life, but few have anywhere to go, and the rapes have shaken their confidence. Almost every one broke into tears as she talked over several days to this reporter.

Their trauma is not over, for as Kretimayer noted, many of them may become pregnant. The hospital will provide hormonal drugs to induce abortion, she added.

The deepest hurt seems to be moral shame. These women were from the countryside, where premarital sex is prohibited, and Kreitmayer confirmed that all but one had been virgins at the time they were raped. Most of them think they have been ruined for life.

"We all feel we lost everything," said Heira, 25. "We have been abandoned. We have been imperiled. Every woman, if she is raped, has to feel the same."

Satka, 20, said she despised the man who raped her because "he had no feeling for me. I wasn't his girlfriend. It was savagery." She said she felt shame because "I was an honest girl. I was a virgin. I gave it to someone who didn't deserve it. Someone whom I love deserves it. But not a savage."

Meira, 17, said the man who raped her threatened her with a hand grenade. "Mine put a grenade in my hand. He told me 'All Serbs are good, and I am a good Serb.' And if I didn't agree, he could kill both of us with a bomb." The young man took the grenade back and out it on the table. Meira said she assumed he was ordered to rape her. He did not apologize "but said that he had to do it. He said it was better for me that he did it than the followers of Seselj, who rape 10 men to one women."

No such excuse seemed to be forthcoming in the rape of several pregnant women, who were so shattered that they asked to have their babies aborted.

Kreitmayer said one nurse from Brezovo Polje had lost her mother, father, husband, and 4-year-old child "in front of her eyes." The woman told doctors the Serb conquerors decided not to kill her but brought her to their military hospital. "She worked every day for them but every night she was raped. She was sick. She was desperate. She told them she was between two to three months pregnant. But it meant nothing for them," Kreitmayer said. The woman came to the gynecological clinic "so sick that she desperately wanted" an abortion, the doctor said.

For the young women of Brezovo Polje, shame alternates with anger. Each time this reporter returned to the school where they are living, a larger group of victims decided to join in the discussion. Rape has been so rare over the years in Bosnia that there are few professional counselors, and Kretimayer said that this was the first appearances of mass rape and aggression toward women.

The victims say that right now they would like to be anywhere but in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Most say that once they leave here, they do not plan to return ever again.

To learn more about the genocide at Kozarac and the rape and concentration in the area, see the war-crimes documentary page. Under the War-Crimes index, look up the following entries:

Kozarac (the town where the Mujagic family lived which was "cleansed" in May, 1992)

Trnopolje (the camp in which Alisa and Emsuda were held and in which organized rape took place)

Omarska (the most notorious camp run by Serbian religious nationalists, in which thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Catholics perished in the spring and summer of 1992).

See also the International Tribunal indictments against Dusan Tadic (a resident of Kozarac) for crimes against humanity at Kozarac, Tnrnopolje, and Omarska; against Zeljko Meakic, for genocide at Omarska, and against Radovan Karadzic, for genocide throughout Bosnia, in particular in the Kozarac-Omarska region of Bosnia.

Money collected in Europe and North America by the LTTE for terrorist activities are banked in Denmark and Norway – Colonel Karuna Amman.

Money collected for terrorism activities in Sri Lanka are banked in the monetary institutions in Denmark and Norway alleges Colonel Karuna Amman, in an interview he gave to the London based Thamil Broadcasting Corporation an independent Radio station on 10 of July in the Tamil language.

Karuna Amman alleged that Norway Government has helped the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with banking the money collected from the expatriates Tamils and from other questionable sources, intended to be used in the future for violent terrorist activities against the Government and the people of Sri Lanka.

Full text of the interview with Venayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Colonel Karuna Amman that was aired over the London based Thamil Broadcasting Corporation on 10 July is given below. The interview was conducted by V.Ramaraj, Program Director of the TBC:

Vanakam - News reports are emerging as you are living under the army protection. What are you going to say about this?

This is wrong information. We are staying in our own district and undertaking our work. It is wrong to say that we are under the Army’s protection.

Particularly in the Batticaloa district, lot of assassinations had taken place. News reports are emerging that your group people jointly with the army intelligence were involved in these killings. Tell us your comments about this?

This is wrong information. There is no connection between us and the Sri Lankan army. We have sent many of our cadres back to their homes. Prabakaran group is involved in the violence and attack against them. Therefore those cadres who are with the weapons are retaliating back. The fanatic killings of Prabakaran are being staged now. This fanaticism continues from the killings beginning with Rajan Sathiyamoorthy up to Sivarasa. We are aware that there are some incidents against that killing freak let loose by the Prabakaran group.

What do you think of the killing of the journalist Nadesan?

With that murder we have no connection. This incident was undertaken by Prabakaran group and the blame was laid on us. Lecturer Thambiah’s assassination was undertaken by Pottu Amman group. The Vanni group is rocking the cradle as well as pinching the baby.

It was alleged that you are raising the Batticaloa regional cry?

We are not raising any issues connected with regionalism. It is Prabakaran who is fermenting it. We are only struggling for the rights of our people in the East. Without accepting this Prabakaran is letting loose military actions and genocides in the Eastern region. As an initial step in the Kathiraveli village nearly 75 women cadres were killed and buried, The mass graves against this freakish killing fanaticism of Prabakaran is there. Prabakaran the man involves with genocides and so far the people in the Eastern province and the people in the North have not accepted him as a leader. In the last 20 years in the battle we fought on behalf of the people, we had lost more than 5,000 of our cadres. Now we plan to come under the democratic streamline. We intend to organize a democratic political party and intend to take steps to win the rights of our people. We wish to give key positions to the people from the North.

You announce that you intend organizing a political party. Have you started taking action and the name of the party?

We have decided on the name it as “Democratic - Tamil Eelam Liberation Tigers”. We have already completed initial organization works. We will register the party soon and conduct a press conference once it is registered.

Regarding Muslims, especially the Muslims of the North, what is the position you are adopting?

The important thing is that the right of Muslims has to be safeguarded. In the Eastern region all three ethnic groups are living. There is a necessity to work with them together. In the future all the ethnic groups must coexist happily in the Tamil Elam enjoying equal rights and status. This is our contention.

In the past it seems that you too was involved in issues connected with the Muslims. What is your comment about this issue?

We have no connection at all in this issue. It is only Prabakaran, the one who is anti-Muslim and involved in their killings. The biggest incident in the whole world occurred only in Jaffna. Prabakaran chase the Muslims through Kilali only with shopping bags in their hands. After the commencement of my issue, there were no incidents against the Muslims in the East. They live happily. It was Prabakaran who autocratically did the ethnic cleansing.

Earlier you have participated in the Peace Talks for more than six times. Every time, whenever you met the media you have told that there was marked improvement in the Talks. But the talks did not move after certain stage. Can you tell us the true position of the Talks?

In fact Prabakaran was not at all keen about the talks. He made use of the talks as an opportunity to get down lethal weapons and to amass funds from the expatriate Tamils. Whenever we met him, he did not show any interest regarding the Talks. He showed keen interest in purchasing arms and in the purchase of foreign goods for his wife and children. You would have already read in the papers that even Thamilselvan who attended the peace Talks as Prabakaran’s dummy, use to carry several bag loads of things from foreign countries to Prabakaran and to t his favorite commanders. Peace Talks was a drama arranged by Prabakaran. At present Sri Lanka Government announced of finding a final solution to the conflict, even then Prabakaran had not shown any interest. The People in the Tamil Eelam underwent untold hardships for the last twenty years and wait for a final solution. Prabakaran is obstructing the final solution. He is not a peace loving person. By announcing that we will talk about th........ At this juncture, I wish to appeal to People Thamil Eelam: Please get back your children from the Prabakaran and his gang. Prabakaran remains very weak and susceptible now. It is certain he will meet his end soon.

What are the ways available to stop the killings that is going on at present in the Eastern province.

For this, the solution is only with Prabakaran. At first the extremist activities undertaken by him should be stopped. Peoples’ frustration and opposition against this are gradually growing. At present there are weapons available all over in the Eastern province. Whenever Prabakaran gang let loose extremism, then the people were compelled to make use of those weapons. Initially the gang belonging to Prabakarn must come forward to put a halt to this. Otherwise, people has to take up arms and fight against them.

There are conflicting reports that Batticaloa – Amparai districts are under the control of the Vanni Tigers, but the reports that received from your side says that the region is under your control. Which is the true position?

The true fact is that they are unable to organize a legislative set-up to control the entire region. Earlier there were 6,000 cadres who involved in the administration of the sprawling Batticaloa – Amparai region. Now they are left with just 300 of them. In many places our members are moving around freely. Administrative set up in this region is completely disrupted and this the true situation.

What is the position in Trincomalee?

Cadres in Trincomalee remain sad, dejected and worried. Up to now their Commander Pathuman is kept under house arrest. The officers from Trincomalee were removed and they have brought officers from the North. Prabakaran was able to stage such freakish regional madness in Trincomalee.

Recently in the village of Iluppanchenai two youths were executed alleging that they are members belonging to your group. What do you wish to say about this?

As I told you earlier, this the madness let loose by the Prabakaran’s gang. Two innocent youths were unnecessarily summarily executed. People of Illupanchenai had participated in the Tamil struggle in a very big way. Those extra-judicial killings had created tension in the area. I wish to console those people by saying that soon we will bring this to an end.

Reports are being received that media personnel, especially those coming from Colombo, are being threatened by your people. What do you wish to say about this?

We appeal to the meadia people to write only the truth and the true situation. Don’t try to distort in favor of Prabakaran. Kindly understand and respect the feelings and sentiments of the people in the East and write about it. Many medias came up with the news that I have fled to a foreign country. Kindly do not write similar false propaganda let loose by Prabakaran. This is what we wish to request the media personnel.

Recently, a Human Rights Unit was set up in the Vanni, what do you wish to say about this?

This is the biggest joke. How can a man like Prabakaran who is involved with extra-judicial killings could come forward to open up a human rights unit and this amount to shedding crocodile tears.

At the same time when they open up the Human Rights division over there, here in the East - Sivarasa ,a father three children was summarily executed by them. This is a deceptive ploy to hoodwink the international community.

In conclusion what do you wish to say to the people of the North and East?

We are not opposed to the Tamil nationalism. We respect it. But Prabakarn group is making a calculated propaganda against us as we are people opposing Tamil nationalism and traitors of the nation. Actually the charge of perfidy could only be included with the activities of Prabakaran. He was involved with numerous murders.

We believe that we can win back our rights only through a democratic process. We are not interested in going back to an arms struggle any further and to meet again with distructions and disruptions. I wish to appeal to the Tamil living abroad. That the Vanni Group is exploiting your hard earned money to safeguard and ascertain their welfare. These e fund are being kept in the banks and other monetary institutions in Denmark and Norway. Even Norway Government has helped in this matter. Kindly do not place trust anymore and get disappointed.

(Asian Tribune -2004-07-1 ,
http://www.asiantribune.com/show_article.php?id=1602)

The interview with Colonel Karuna Amman was conducted in Tamil. The English translation is unofficial.

Tigers kill two Karuna group cadres [TamilNet, October 02, 2004 13:55 GMT]

Special Forces of the Liberation Tigers' Jeyanthan Regiment Saturday morning attacked a group of heavily armed paramilitary cadres northwest of Batticaloa, killing two and wounding three around 6.30 a.m., LTTE sources in the east said. The group of ten men from the paramilitary led by renegade LTTE commander 'Karuna' were in a safe house in Omadiyamadu near the Polannaruwa-Batticaloa district border, the sources said.

"We recovered an AK-47-2 assault rifle from them. Those who escaped ran towards an Sri Lanka army position near Omadiyamadu", the LTTE source said.

"The bodies of the two paramilitary cadres killed in the attack was brought to Vakarai later in the day. We have asked their parents to take the bodies", he added.

The dead paramilitary cadres were identified as 'Vicky' and 'Niththy', according to him.

Omadiyamdu is about 28 kilometres west of Vakarai.

Suspected Karuna associates kill civilian [TamilNet, October 04, 2004 10:00 GMT]

A civilian was shot dead by gunmen suspected to members of the paramilitary lead by renegade Liberation Tigers commander ‘Karuna’ Sunday night around 8 in Omadiyamadu, an interior village near the Batticaloa-Polannaruwa district border, Police said. The man was identified as Mr. Vannamani Dharmarajah, 40. Valaichenai Police said that they had no further details of the person.

Meanwhile, sources in Omadiyamadu said that ‘Karuna’ group appears to have killed Mr. Dharmarajah to scare people in the village.

A special forces group of the LTTE’s Jeyanthan Regiment attacked the paramilitary in Omadiyamadu on Saturday, killing two and wounding