Bishop Rayappu Joseph - Mannar
"...On
the 23rd of December, consequent to a claymore mine attack on
the Navy at 100 Houses-Scheme at Pesali in the Mannar island,
the the Navy went on a rampage and besides attrocious cruelties,
assaults and other human rights violation let out by them, on
the poor innocent civilians of the same place, they had
liquidated four civilians including a three years old child.
Responsible eye witnesses, on the morning of the 24th Dec. had
managed to creep in to the house where these four were staying
and had seen a whole lot of blood in the room.
There is also an eye witness who had seen a
white van parked in front of this house on the 23rd for two
hours. Later, when we were allowed to visit this village along
with the SLMM on the 25th morning, for the first time after the
incident, the witnesses told me that the blood had been
completely wiped out and there were found burnt three pieces of
human bones and flesh in that room. We believe that these four
civilians had been killed in that room, were moved away and were
disposed of, elsewhere. There is no sign of a big fire in that
room. This can be seen even today.The victims are: 1. Mrs Jude
Sugathy (Theresa) Croos 31 yrs and her son Jude Arokiyathass
Fernando 3 yrs ( D.B 22.09.2002) ; Mr.Emmani Croos 45 yrs and
his wife Mrs Emmani Anthonikkam Croos 45 yrs.
When Mrs Suganthy Croos and her husband with two of their
children were having their luch at 1.55 noon on the 23rd Dec.,
2005, at their home as above, they heard the mine blast.
Consequently they heard the Navy firing and as their house is
located along the main road, they left their house, the husband
with the elder child and the wife with the younger child. The
wife had told her husband that she would get in to the
neighbouring house as there was a couple there and she ran in.
The husband went further to the last house on the lane with his
child and stayed there and was able to escape the sad fate of
his wife and his younger child."
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1. Claymore attack On Friday December 23rd, at 1.30 pm, the second vehicle of the three vehicles carrying Sri Lankan Navy sailors back to their base in Talaimannar was hit by a claymore mine. The attack occurred in Pesalai when the bus was passing through the “Hundred House Scheme”. The Sri Lankan Navy camp in Talaimannar is located about two kilometres from this housing scheme. Thirteen soldiers died in the attack and many more were wounded.
2. Retaliation Uninjured soldiers in the other two vehicles immediately started spraying bullets towards the housing scheme. Panicky occupants of the houses in the “Hundred Housing Scheme” started to flee in all directions. Following account is based on the statement given to
us by a family member of one of the victims and the descriptions of the attack
given by several other residents who faced the Sri Lankan Navy revenge attack.
3. The Statement:
The fleeing As people started to run, Suganthy picked up her younger child aged
3, and her husband, Fernando, picked up their older child aged 5. Fernando told
Suganthy, “Let us run and if we die, let us die together”. They began to run. Suganthy’s house
was on the road side between the location of where the Navy vehicle got hit by the
claymore and the Navy vehicle that was traveling a few metres ahead. Suganthy is an asthma
patient and she found it difficult to run carrying the toddler. At this time
Suganthy saw that the couple next door was still in their home, standing at their door steps.
This couple next door was not about to run like everyone else. Suganthy told Fernando, “I will
wait with them, you run further”. She tore her hand off from Fernando’s and ran into the
house of Anthoniamma and Emanuel Cruz. That was the last time Fernando saw
his wife and child.
The Cruz couple, whose house at which Suanthy took refuge, have four
children, eldest of them is 14 years old. These children had gone to another house to
watch television with their friends. The parents, worried about what could happen to
their children did not want to run away, and they stayed in their home.
Fernando ran on and stopped about five houses further down and
stayed there. After that, no one knows what exactly happened to Suganthy, her baby and
the Cruz couple. The beating and the sexual assault
One woman resident states, “The fleeing people were stopped by the
Sri Lankan Navy and the women were forced to sit on the hot sand with their face to
the sand. The Navy soldiers then asked the young women crude sexually motivated
questions. They also dropped their trousers in front of the women. It was so unbearable”.
The men were taken to another side and they were all beaten. There
were all together about 42 men who were beaten. Both men and women were then forced to
sit there for several hours.
Navy men came to the house where Fernando (Suganthy’s husband) had
taken refuge with their older five year old boy. The Navy men picked up the five
year old boy by his collar and was about to beat him. Fernando instinctively put his arm
to take the blow. The Navy men had then turned to the father and said, “Are you so
brave and strong that you can stop us?” They then severely attacked the father. Fernando
sustained severe injuries on his arms, legs, and hips as a result of the attack. He
was unable to walk.
Refuge in the church and the missing people
Around 6.00 pm the priest from the village church arrived and
rescued all of the residents sitting on the sand and took them to the church. The Navy
did not release nine men.
When the villagers arrived at the church they realized that several
people were missing. Everyone thought the missing people would have run further and took
refuge in the adjacent villages. The church priest searched for the missing people
in the other villages, found some of them and brought them back to the church. Suganthy,
her baby and the Cruz couple were still missing.
Suganthy’s relatives looked among the injured civilians admitted to
the hospital for the missing four people. There they saw a pregnant mother who was hit in
the stomach with a gun by the Navy men.
The nine men
On the second day, Saturday December 24th, the Bishop of Mannar
(Bishop Rayappu Joseph), talked to the Navy and got the nine detained men released.
It was around 12.00 pm on Saturday when they were released. Residents said those nine
men, when they returned, did not look like they were humans, they were attacked so
severely, their skulls were broken, their hands and legs were broken. The state in which
they came back was beyond belief.
Search for the four people
On Saturday, no one was allowed to go back into the village. The
Navy however, allowed the Assistant Government Agent (AGA) for the district to go
through the village but she was not allowed to go inside any houses. The Navy stopped
them from stepping off of the road. The Navy only allowed the AGA to go down the road
to the adjacent villages to look for the missing people. The AGA looked through the
other villages and came back and said the four missing people were not to be found.
The residents encouraged the AGA to ask for permission from the Navy
to go inside houses to look for the missing people. The AGA took three more of
her officials and went to look in the houses. Those who came described what they saw
as follows, “It’s hard to describe what we’ve seen, it’s really cruel. There is
a lot of blood that has run from inside a house, outside, and down the front steps of the
house. The verandah is covered in blood. Because there was so much blood, we couldn’t step
into the house. The blood on the steps is still there. We found the hands of a small
child just outside the house and a chunk of flesh inside the house among the ashes”.
Among the burnt remains
Everyone by now realized that the four people are no more. The Navy
did not allow anyone into the houses for sometime and they must have cleared out
the place during that time. They have just missed to remove the child’s hand and the chunk
of flesh that the AGA and her three officials saw on Saturday.
The third day, Sunday December 25th, which was Christmas day, the
Sri Lankan Navy pulled back, and allowed the people to go to their homes. Fernando
was the first one to be there with his younger brother. The others soon joined him. The
ashes in the house were still there. The hand and the chunk of flesh had been removed.
They could see that some attempt had been made to wash up the blood. They searched among
the ashes. Fernando immediately recognized the green skirt that his wife was
wearing. It was halfburnt. In one area there was dried blood in a puddle, which the Bishop took
pictures of. Only the Bishop was allowed to take a camera. They found Suganthy’s
national ID (Identity Card), her army ID, and her bank account book as she must
have run with her purse and these things were in her purse. Her homeowner’s identity
card was also there.
They submitted all of these things to the police. The National ID of
Emanuel Cruz was also there.
Theft and burning
The people were also saying that there had been some theft. The Navy
actually stole jewels from the women and there was 25,000 Rupees missing from one
home. About seven houses had been burnt badly. Furniture and mattresses
were heaped in these houses and were set alight. They completely burnt one of the large
shops in the village. Monday
By Monday, December 26th, the entire village had collected the
remains of their belongings and left the village. Fernando was also admitted to the
hospital on Monday. On Tuesday, the family members of Fernando took some offerings to
the house, as part of the funeral ritual. They placed the food at the steps and within
two minutes of doing this, the Navy men were there. The family members felt threatened.
People were absolutely scared at the time of the incident. On the
second or third day after the incident the Navy was still carrying out its search
operations and the entire village was in a state of fear.
4. The Inquiry
On Sunday, December 25th, two officials from the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Bishop of Mannar Rev. Rayappu Joseph, and Rev. Fr.
Wincent Parick, the parish priest from the church where resident took refuge, visited
the house where the burnt human remains were found. Mannar Police were given the job of
conducting investigations.
It is revealing to note that none of the people who faced the Sri
Lankan Navy attack on December 23rd expect anything to come out of the police
investigations.
Dr N Malathy (NESOHR Secretary)
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