Isaipriya

{{Short description|Sri Lankan journalist and Television Broadcaster (1982–2009)}}

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| name = Isaipriya

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| image = File:Isai.png

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| caption = Isaipriya in Sri Lankan Army custody before being raped and executed.{{cite news|last=Priyamvatha|first=P.|title=Isaipriya 'raped' and killed by Sri Lankan Army, says Channel 4 video|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/isaipriya-ltte-sri-lanka-channel-4-documentary-newsreader-raped-killed-by-sri-lanka-army/1/321295.html|newspaper=India Today|date=1 November 2013}}Callum Macrae, Sri Lanka Massacred Tens of Thousands of Tamils While the World Looked Away (2015) https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/sri-lanka-massacred-tens-thousands-tamils-while-world-looked-awayInternational Truth and Justice Project (2014), 5 years on: The White Flag Incident 2009-2014 http://white-flags.org/

| birth_name = Shoba

| birth_date = 1982

| birth_place = Neduntheevu ,Sri Lanka{{cite web | url=https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/remembering-isaipriya | title=Remembering Isaipriya | publisher=Tamil Guardian | date=3 May 2020 | accessdate=29 April 2023}}

| death_date = 2009

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| nationality = Sri Lankan

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| education = Vembadi Girls' High School

| occupation = Journalist / television anchor

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Shoba, also known as Shobana Dharmaraja,{{cite web | url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/ltte-news-presenter-isaipriya-was-captured-alive-executed-body-desecrated-un-investigation | title=LTTE news presenter Isaipriya was captured alive, executed, body desecrated: UN investigation | publisher=The NewsMinute | date=20 September 2015 | accessdate=14 July 2021}} (commonly known as Isaipriya or Isaippiriya; 1982–2009) was a Sri Lankan Tamil journalist and television broadcaster for the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). She died in the final days of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009 with video evidence that she was captured by the Sri Lankan military before being raped, tortured and murdered.{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/world/neighbours/story/isaipriya-ltte-sri-lanka-channel-4-documentary-newsreader-raped-killed-by-sri-lanka-army-216219-2013-11-01 | title=Isaipriya 'raped' and killed by Sri Lankan Army, says Channel 4 video | publisher=India Today | work=Priyamvatha P | date=1 November 2013 | accessdate=26 December 2019}} A senior United Nations official deemed the footage to be authentic. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also verified that it was her.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11959932 | title=Sri Lanka war crimes probe demanded by rights groups | publisher=BBC | date=9 December 2010 | accessdate=27 June 2021}}

A biopic about her, Porkalathil Oru Poo, was banned in India as it would harm the nation's friendly relations with Sri Lanka.{{cite web | url=https://cpj.org/2015/06/india-denies-public-exhibition-of-film-on-life-of-.php | title=India denies public exhibition of film on life of Tamil journalist Shoba | publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists | date=4 June 2015 | accessdate=26 December 2019}}

Early life and family

Shoba was born in 1982 and hailed from Delft Island.{{cite news|title=Woman victim in Channel-4 video identified as Journalist Isaippiriyaa|url=http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=33147|newspaper=TamilNet|date=1 December 2010}}{{cite news|title=Sampanthan wants probe on Issaipriya's death|url=http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-46838-news-detail-sampanthan-wants-probe-on-issaipriyas-death.html|newspaper=Ceylon Today|date=7 November 2013|access-date=9 November 2014|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923221950/http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-46838-news-detail-sampanthan-wants-probe-on-issaipriyas-death.html|url-status=dead}} She was educated at the Memorial School and Vembadi Girls' High School. Her family moved to the Vanni in 1995 after being displaced from their home by Operation Riviresa - the Sri Lankan military's operation aimed at recapturing the Jaffna Peninsula. Shoba continued her education in Vanni before joining the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Shoba married a LTTE cadre in 2007 and had a daughter. Her infant daughter, Akal, was killed by Sri Lanka Air Force bombing on 15 March 2009.{{cite news|title=New evidence emerges on war crimes committed on Isaippiriyaa|url=http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=33177|newspaper=TamilNet|date=5 December 2010}} Her husband was also killed in the final months of the civil war in 2009.

Career

According to the TamilNet website and Shoba's friends she suffered from rheumatic valvular heart disease and, as such, didn't provide any military service for the LTTE.{{cite news|title=Sri Lanka 'war crimes' video: woman's body identified|url=http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-war-crimes-video-womans-body-identified|newspaper=Channel 4 News|date=8 December 2010}} Instead Shoba worked, under the stage name Isaipriya, as journalist and broadcaster for the LTTE's Oliveechchu television station in Kilinochchi. She was also an actress, singer and dancer.{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Jonathan|title=Fate of Tamil propagandist: new Sri Lanka evidence - video|url=http://www.channel4.com/news/fate-of-tamil-actress-chilling-new-evidence-from-sri-lanka|newspaper=Channel 4 News|date=31 October 2013}}

Death

According to the Sri Lankan military, Isaipriya, whom it describes as "Lieutenant Colonel Issei Piriya", was killed in battle by the 53 Division on 18 May 2009.{{cite web|title=Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka|url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf|publisher=United Nations|page=43}}{{cite web|title=Letter on Sri Lanka to Permanent Representatives of Human Rights Council Member and Observer States|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/02/letter-sri-lanka-permanent-representatives-human-rights-council-member-and-observer-|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=2 February 2012}}{{cite web|title=Identified LTTE leaders who were killed during the Last Battle|url=http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090621_02_TerrList|publisher=Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka)|date=21 June 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903230327/http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090621_02_TerrList|archivedate=3 September 2011}} However, according to TamilNet, Isaipriya had been a volunteer at the makeshift hospital in Mullivaikkal until 8 May 2009 and had ended up at the internment camps in Vavuniya District.{{cite news|title=Sri Lanka war crimes probe demanded by rights groups|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11959932|work=BBC News|date=9 December 2010}} TamilNet claims that Isaipriya and another woman were taken away from the camps by the Sri Lankan Army on 23/24 May 2009.

On 30 November 2010 Channel 4 News broadcast video footage which allegedly showed Sri Lankan soldiers summarily executing captured Tamils in the final phase of the civil war.{{cite news|title=Sri Lanka execution video: new war crimes claims|url=http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-execution-video-new-war-crimes-claims|newspaper=Channel 4 News|date=30 November 2010}} The video showed a number of dead bodies including a naked woman with her hands behind her back.{{cite web|title=Sri Lanka: Army Unit Linked to Executions|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/12/08/sri-lanka-army-unit-linked-executions|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=8 December 2010}} This woman was later identified as Isaipriya by several sources.{{cite web|title=New video evidence of alleged Sri Lankan war crimes requires UN investigation|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/new-video-evidence-alleged-sri-lankan-war-crimes-requires-un-investigation-2010-12-|publisher=Amnesty International|date=9 December 2010}} An off-camera Sinhala voice is heard in the same video saying "I would like to fuck it again" in the segment showing the dead naked bodies of Isaipriya and Ushalini Gunalingam.Callum Macrae, Sri Lanka Massacred Tens of Thousands of Tamils While the World Looked Away (2015) https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/sri-lanka-massacred-tens-thousands-tamils-while-world-looked-away

A witness found by Human Rights Watch claims to have seen Isaipriya on 15 May 2009 wearing the same clothes that were next to her in the Channel 4 News video. There were signs that she may have been sexually assaulted.{{cite web|title=Testimony of Elaine Pearson before the House of Commons of Canada regarding Human Rights in Sri Lanka|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/01/testimony-elaine-pearson-house-commons-canada-regarding-human-rights-sri-lanka|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=1 November 2011}}

On 31 October 2013, Channel 4 News broadcast new video footage which showed Isaipriya alive and in the custody of the Sri Lankan military. She is shown half naked and disorientated, and the Sri Lankan soldiers initially believe her to be Dwaraka, daughter of the LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran.{{cite news|last=Shekhar|first=G. C.|title=Video on atrocity stokes Tamil rage|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131105/jsp/nation/story_17531562.jsp|newspaper=The Telegraph (Calcutta)|date=4 November 2013}} Photographs are also shown of Isaipriya lying in a ditch, possibly dead, with a gash across her face and clear signs of sexual assault.{{cite news|last=Priyamvatha|first=P.|title=Isaipriya 'raped' and killed by Sri Lankan Army, says Channel 4 video|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/isaipriya-ltte-sri-lanka-channel-4-documentary-newsreader-raped-killed-by-sri-lanka-army/1/321295.html|newspaper=India Today|date=1 November 2013}} According to lawyers, Isaipriya's "murder" by the Sri Lankan military constitutes a war crime.

Isaipriya's family were unaware of her capture and murder until the Channel 4 News broadcast.{{cite news|last1=Miller|first1=Jonathan|title=Sri Lanka: Tamil family’s distress over footage of daughter|url=http://blogs.channel4.com/miller-on-foreign-affairs/sri-lanka-tamil-familys-distress-footage-daughter/430|work=Channel 4 News|date=9 Nov 2013}} Her mother told Channel 4 News that she had always thought that Isaipriya had been killed by shelling.{{cite news|title=Isaipriya's fate was previously unknown to her family|url=http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=9131|work=Tamil Guardian|date=9 November 2013}}{{cite web | url=https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=37275 | title=Isaippiriyaa remembered in Tamil Nadu as icon of Tamil resistance | publisher=Tamilnet | date=27 June 2014 | accessdate=27 June 2021}} Her mother and sisters sought political asylum in the UK.{{cite web | url=http://www.salem-news.com/articles/november102013/isaipriya-family-jm.php | title=Sri Lanka: Tamil Family's Distress Over Footage of Daughter | publisher=Salem-News | date=10 November 2013 | accessdate=10 September 2021}}