imported>GhostInTheMachine: Changing short description from "killing of Muslim civilians by Sri Lankan Special Task Force" to "Killing of ten Muslim labourers in Sri Lanka"

2024-11-03T20:37:52Z

Changing short description from "killing of Muslim civilians by Sri Lankan Special Task Force" to "Killing of ten Muslim labourers in Sri Lanka"

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{{Short description|Killing of ten Muslim labourers in Sri Lanka}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Pottuvil massacre
| image =
| caption =
| map = {{Location map|Sri Lanka
|width = 300
|float = right
|label = Pottuvil
|marksize = 8
|lat_deg =6 | lat_min = 52
|lon_deg = 81 | lon_min = 49
}}
| map_caption =
| location = [[Pottuvil]], [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka]]
| coordinates =
| target = [[Sri Lankan Moors|Muslim]] civilians
| date = 17 September 2006
| time =
| timezone =
| type = [[massacre]]
| fatalities = 10
| injuries = 1
| perps = [[Special Task Force (Sri Lanka)|Special Task Force]]
| weapons =
}}

The '''Pottuvil Massacre''' was the killing of 10 [[Sri Lankan Moors|Muslim]] labourers who had gone to repair the bund of Rattal Tank in Pottuvil in the southern part of the [[Ampara District]] on 17 September 2006. The victims were all men aged between 18–35 whose bodies were found hacked to death the next morning. The massacre was widely believed to have been carried out by the [[Special Task Force (Sri Lanka)|Special Task Force]] (STF).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=7 November 2006 |title=The Choice between Anarchy and International Law with Monitoring |url=https://uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport23.htm#_Toc174529736 |website=UTHR(J)}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=29 May 2007 |title=Sri Lanka’s Muslims: Caught in the Crossfire |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/32062/134_sri_lanka_s_muslims_caught_in_the_crossfire.pdf |website=International Crisis Group |pages=20–21}}</ref>

Although the [[Government of Sri Lanka|Sri Lankan government]] blamed the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]] (LTTE), members of the Muslim community accused the STF of involvement in the massacre.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5355088.stm |title=Sri Lankan civilians found dead |access-date=2006-09-18 |work=BBC | date=2006-09-18}}</ref> The local Muslim population staged protests demanding the removal of the STF officers. One of them stated:<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-09-21 |title=Muslims protest against police massacre in eastern Sri Lanka |url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2006/09/sril-s21.html |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=World Socialist Web Site |language=en}}</ref><blockquote>"Special Task Force troops killed these people. We don’t blame anyone else. The LTTE can’t come into this area. It is completely controlled by the STF. Without the STF’s knowledge, no one can come into this area."</blockquote>They also questioned how the LTTE could infiltrate into an area carrying swords, kill 10 people and then leave without the STF spotting them; with no encounter between the LTTE and the STF taking place.<ref name="themorningleader">{{cite web |url=http://www.themorningleader.lk/20060920/news.html |title=When will the war end? |access-date=2006-09-30 |work=The Morning Leader }}</ref> [[Rauff Hakeem]], the leader of the [[Sri Lanka Muslim Congress|SLMC]], requested an international commission to probe the incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themorningleader.lk/20060927/interviews.html |title=‘Muttur must be a neutral zone’ |access-date=2006-09-30 |work=The Morning Leader }}</ref>

Amid these accusations, the government had acted irregularly. The ambulance transporting the only survivor was prevented by police from going to the hospital at a predominantly Muslim town called [[Kalmunai]]. The ambulance was redirected to a hospital at Sinhalese-dominated [[Ampara]]. The survivor was held incommunicado by armed guards at the [[Ampara Hospital|Amparai Hospital]] and the [[Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission|SLMM]] were prevented from seeing him. Eyewitness also reported that the police destroyed crime scene evidence.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 June 2007 |title=Sri Lanka's Human Rights Crisis |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/32576/135_sri_lanka_s_human_rights_crisis.pdf |website=International Crisis Group |page=17}}</ref>

The sole survivor of the attack, Meera Mohideen (60), identified the LTTE as the attackers in a videotaped testimony given from the hospital to Minister [[A. L. M. Athaullah]]. However, doubts were raised about how the interview was conducted as the survivor was held incommunicado; and Athaullah was suspected to have been behind the fabricated statements that [[Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka)|Defence Ministry]] claimed it had received from several community organizations in the eastern province blaming the LTTE for the massacre. Mohideen was also said to have been unable to later recall giving the interview, suggesting that he had been put through a "propaganda exercise" while in an unstable state.<ref name=":0" />

The human rights group [[University Teachers for Human Rights|UTHR(J)]] blamed the STF for the massacre.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 February 2008 |title=The Second Fascist Front in Sri Lanka – Towards Crushing the Minorities and Disenfranchising the Sinhalese |url=https://uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport29.htm#_Toc191332115 |access-date= |website=UTHR(J)}}</ref> Muslims in the area had a troubled history with the Sasthiriveli STF camp; they accused its Chief Inspector S.N. Gunaratne of aiding the local Sinhalese community in land disputes and of threatening them the day before the massacre for seeking his transfer. Muslim eyewitness testimonies also indicate the involvement of the STF and Sinhalese elements in the abduction of the labourers.<ref name=":0" />

The majority of [[Pottuvil]] residents remain convinced that the state is engaged in a cover-up.<ref name=":1" /> The Sri Lankan state forces themselves have a history of intimidating witnesses and forcing false statements.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26670691 BBC News - Tamil doctor 'was pressured to recant war reports by Sri Lanka']. (2014)</ref><ref>[https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/08/sri-lanka-no-justice-trinco-5 Human Rights Watch - Sri Lanka: No Justice for ‘Trinco 5’]. (2019)</ref>

No independent or international commission to probe this incident has been carried out till date.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927014510/http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/09/muslims_protest.html Muslims protest against massacre]
*[http://www.themorningleader.lk/20060920/news.html The morning leader report]
*[http://www.defence.lk/videos/Pottuvil20060929.wmv Video interview with the sole survivor]

{{Sri Lankan Civil War}}
{{coord missing|Sri Lanka}}

[[Category:2006 crimes in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Attacks on civilians attributed to the Sri Lanka Police]]
[[Category:2000s massacres of the Sri Lankan civil war]]
[[Category:Massacres in 2006]]
[[Category:Mass murder of Sri Lankan Muslims]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 2006]]
[[Category:Police brutality in the 2000s]]

Pottuvil massacre - Revision history

imported>GhostInTheMachine: Changing short description from "killing of Muslim civilians by Sri Lankan Special Task Force" to "Killing of ten Muslim labourers in Sri Lanka"