HR, 'human bombs' and their victims

An LTTE foray into army frontline south of Kambiliwewa, Weli Oya last Friday morning triggered a short but fierce exchange of fire.

Subsequently the LTTE unit withdrew leaving behind one woman combatant, two T 56 assault rifles, eight magazines, one compass, four hand grenades, ten detonators, one 50 meter wire roll, a short length of detonator cord, one claymore mine with a stand, one firing device, one remote controller, three batteries, one meter device, two belt orders and three improvised explosives devices.
Save the Children on agreement with TRO

Apropos our front-page news item "Lanka expects UN, INGOs and NGOs to review links with the LTTE" in our Monday's issue, Menaca Calyaneratne, Head of Media and Communications, Save the Children Sri Lanka, said they hadn't negotiated any fresh projects with the TRO since August last year. She said that Save the Children had funded the setting up of 50 libraries for children and they (TRO) had accounted for all Save the Children funded projects except one by late last August last year. We inadvertently referred to these projects as ventures funded by the UNICEF.

Dog tag

Troops recovered the body of the woman cadre with a dog tag bearing 4945. The young woman had been gunned down as she advanced towards an army strong-point south of Kambiliwewa, the scene of on and off confrontations over the past several months.

What was her name? Was she among the hundreds of child soldiers recruited over the years? Was she married to an LTTE cadre? And most importantly did she have children?

The army returned her body through the ICRC to the LTTE. Over the past several months, the army had observed a significant increase in the number of female LTTE cadres killed in skirmishes on the Wanni front. The LTTE, struggling to meet the growing manpower demand as the army push them on two fronts-Muhamalai in the North and the general area west of Omanthai in the Wanni, is believed to be increasingly using female units.

Diaspora-driven war

With the army poised to further intensify operations, these units comprising child recruits and those barely out of their teens would be in the thick of battle. They would face the armoured fighting vehicles, the artillery and jets zeroing in on their positions. How many would sacrifice their lives for Diaspora-driven fight for a separate state in the Northern and Eastern Provinces?

Indian Army action

The LTTE had forced thousands of women into frontline combat units to meet the manpower shortage. Although the LTTE had female cadres for many years, the first loss of a woman cadre took place on October 10, 1987 in the hands of the Indian Army. The 20-year-old Malati was among the first LTTE cadres to die when the Indian Army launched Operation Pawan to wrest control of the Jaffna peninsula. After she was shot in her legs during an Indian assault on an LTTE position at Kopay, she had taken cyanide. The LTTE had her posthumously promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant. The LTTE had named a 'Brigade' after Malati. Over the years, the LTTE had systematically increased the number of women cadres in the organisation.

Women Sea Tigers

The formation of a Women's Sea Tiger Wing further increased their commitment. Navy spokesperson Commander D. K. P. Dassanayake asserted that they had observed an increased role played by women cadres over the past several years, particularly after the outbreak of major battles in the middle of last year. Quoting casualty figures issued by the LTTE at the last year's Heroes' Week celebrations, Dassanayake said that out of 241 Black Sea Tigers killed in action over the years, 72 were women. "We believe at least 80 Black Sea Tigers were killed in confrontations since then. At least one third of them could be women." Fielding questions, he asserted that women could be motivated easily. "They wouldn't give up easily," he said, highlighting the increased number of women commanding Sea Tiger craft and in some instances functioning as the person-in-charge of what he called a landing force.

A veteran in counter insurgency operations echoed Commander Dassanayake's opinion. "Yes. It is relatively easy to convince women," he said, asserting that the LTTE's decision to acknowledge the suicide attack on Anuradhapura airbase was unprecedented.

High profile assassinations

The assassination of former Indian Premier and Congress I leader Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE woman suicide cadre while campaigning in Tamil Nadu in the early 90s was the first of a series of high profile suicide bombings carried out by women cadres. The LTTE and its sympathisers had suggested that a woman suicide cadre was used to avenge the humiliation the Tamil women suffered at the hands of the Indian Army. The LTTE had accused the Indian Army of rape of a large number of Tamil women.

Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991 at an election rally at Sriperumbudur near Chennai by Dhanu, She detonated an explosive device, hidden in a belt she wore around her waist. It went off as she bent down to touch her victim's feet, killing the Indian leader and 16 others on the spot.

The Indian Army had been accused of widespread rape of women, harassment and molestation. The Indian Army had been also accused of abduction of women.

Although LTTE women cadres had been wounded in clashes with the Sri Lankan army, the first death was reported on October 10, 1987. The first major involvement of women cadres in action was at Adampan in the second week of June 1986 when the army killed top LTTE commander Victor.

Sri Lankan forces and police, too, had been accused of violence against women during counter-insurgency operations against the JVP in 1971 and 1987-1990 period and Tamil groups, particularly the LTTE. They had been also charged with brutal force, rape and harassment of women. There is absolutely no doubt that atrocities by Sri Lankan and Indian forces helped the LTTE in its recruitment drive to entice young women to join combat units.

Over a period of time, the LTTE leadership transformed the women fighters to a deadly force which undertook suicide missions, assassinations, delicate intelligence gathering and execution of operations.

Last year's assassination attempt on Army Chief Lt. General Sarath Fonseka at the Army Headquarters by a woman suicide cadre who pretended to be pregnant was evidence that the LTTE wouldn't hesitate to test novel methods to take a prize target. She almost succeeded in her task. Had she succeeded, the army would have suffered an irreparable loss and it would have had a detrimental impact on the entire war effort.

The recent deployment of three women cadres on a suicide raid on the SLAF base at Anuradhapura highlighted the LTTE position that they (read women) would be utilized on deadly missions. The abortive attempt on President Chandrika Kumaratunga's life in late December, 1999 by a woman suicide cadre was a case in point. This attempt was made days after the UN General Assembly by Resolution 54/134 designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and invited governments, international organizations and INGOs/NGOs to organize activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem on that day.

Mirabal sisters November 25 has been marked as the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women to coincide with the assassination, in 1961, of the three Mirabal sisters who were political activists in the Dominican Republic.


Heroes' week

Strangely the LTTE, too, marks its Heroes' Week in the fourth week of November. The International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women coincides with the LTTE event to commemorate fallen cadres including several thousands of women. Over a third of suicide cadres, too, are believed to be women credited with some of the biggest hits. An LTTE woman penetrated President Chandrika Kumaratunga's security cordon, another raided the Army Headquarters and almost succeeded in killing Lt. General Fonseka and yet another came close to blowing up EPDP leader Douglas Devananda a few years ago.

GBV Forum

To coincide with the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, GBV Forum (Gender-Based Violence Forum) would launch a 16-day countrywide campaign on November 25 to emphasise the importance in protecting the rights of women.

In a short interview with The Island, Ms Bimali Ameresekere said that rape, incest, sexual harassment at work place, domestic violence and even sexually explicit remarks could be broadly categorised as violence against women. Politically motivated violence, too, could be categorised as violence against women, she asserted. GBV Forum intended to involve men including several well known personalities to propagate the campaign which would come to an end on December 10-the International Human Rights Day.

Commenting on the recent rape and murder of 23-year-old Chamila Dissanayake, a patient at the Negombo hospital by Dr. Indika Sudarshan Balage, Ameresekere said that it was a deplorable act. "A lot of women are vulnerable but one to be targeted while seeking treatment at a hospital points to the gravity of the situation," she said. The GBV Forum comprises the United Nations Family Planning association, Oxfam, Care, FORUT, UNHCR, UNICEF, action aid, CIDA and the National Peace Council among others.

Tactical support

The international community, INGOs and NGOs have largely ignored the indiscriminate use of women to pursue the LTTE's military goals. In fact, some of them have contributed to the deteriorating situation by tactically approving the LTTE activity.


Muslim women

Perhaps one of the worst atrocities ever committed against the women was the forcible eviction of almost the entire Muslim community from the Northern Province. The LTTE forced thousands of women and children to flee the Province in October/November 17 years ago as it brazenly engaged in ethnic cleansing. The operation was carried out at gun point. The LTTE robbed them of their valuables including jewellery, seized their property before chasing them away. Almost all of them still languish in makeshift accommodation, mainly in the Puttalam district. Their lives had been ruined. The GBV Forum should explore the possibility of helping them. They deserve every possible help to resume their normal life.

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