October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres
{{Short description|Massacre of Sinhalese civilians}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres
| image =
| caption =
| location = Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
| coordinates =
| target = Sinhalese civilians
| date = October 1995
| time =
| timezone = +8 GMT
| type = Mass murder, rape
| fatalities = 120{{cite book |last1=Newman |first1=Edward |title=Understanding Civil Wars: Continuity and change in intrastate conflict |publisher=Routledge |page=183 }}
| injuries = Unknown
| perps = Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Tamil villagers in Boatte to a lesser extent
| susperps =
| weapons =
}}
The October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres were a series of massacres of the Sinhalese population in the Eastern Province or Sri Lanka carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
These massacres occurred at small villages in the Eastern Province.{{cite web |url=http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/erc/democracy/1995_hrp_report/95hrp_report_sasia/SriLanka.html |title=1995 Human Rights Report: SRI LANKA |access-date=2007-02-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050320003919/http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/democracy/1995_hrp_report/95hrp_report_sasia/SriLanka.html |archive-date=2005-03-20 }} Some allege the massacres were aimed at ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese in the region.{{cite book |last1=Bandarage |first1=Asoka |title=The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, Ethnicity, Political Economy |publisher=Routledge |page=164}}{{cite book |author1=Chris Smith |editor1-last=Rotberg |editor1-first=Robert I. |title=Creating Peace in Sri Lanka: Civil War and Reconciliation |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |pages=27 |chapter=South Asia's Enduring War}} The Sri Lankan Army claimed that the massacres were designed to divert the Army's attention away from its offensive in Jaffna.{{cite news |last1=Jayasinghe |first1=Amal |title=Sri Lanka now in virtual state of war |work=The Guardian |date=27 October 1995}}
Incident
On October 21, at Boatte, the LTTE had intruded the village at around 1 a.m. and hacked to death the sleeping villagers.{{cite book |title=The Bo-Atte Massacre and the Kebitigollewa Refugee Camp |publisher=International Center for Ethnic Studies |date=1995}} Sinhalese witnesses said that the LTTE was accompanied by Tamil villagers who had pointed out Sinhalese homes. The militants knocked on the doors of Sinhalese houses and then broke in. Most Sinhalese managed to escape to the jungle, but those who did not were shot or hacked to death. After this, the LTTE looted the houses. A Mahaweli official claimed that neither the army nor homeguards had engaged the assailants. A fact-finding mission by the International Center for Ethnic Studies observed that, even though Tamil and Sinhalese houses were side-by-side, only the latter were targeted. The LTTE left at around 2:30 a.m. with the Tamil villagers. The Mahaweli Authority stated that two women were raped and 29 Tamil families had fled into the jungle. Approximately 26 Sinhalese and 10 Tamils were killed. Another two villages were attacked that day, and in total, 71 were killed.{{cite news |last1=Macfie |first1=Nick |title=Village in shock at Tiger killings |agency=Reuters |work=The Guardian |date=24 October 1995}}
On the same day, the LTTE attacked Padaviya in the Anuradhapura District and Mangalagama in the Amparai District, killing 19 and 16 civilians respectively.
The next evening, the 50 LTTE cadres invaded Kotiyagala and massacred 19 villagers. One boy was beheaded and another had his arms dismembered.
By the end of the violence, 120 Sinhalese civilians were killed. Many of the victims were hacked to death with swords and axes. According to the U.S. Department of State, the LTTE also raped a number of women as a terror tactic. Even though there had been armed home guards in the villages, none were killed.{{cite report|title=Further information on UA 121/95 (ASA 37/09/95, 26 May 1995) and follow-up (ASA 37/22/95, 19 September 1995) - Deliberate and arbitrary killings / Fear of further killings|publisher=Amnesty International | date=24 October 1995|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asa370241995en.pdf}}
Aftermath
Following the Boatte massacre, both Sinhalese and Tamil villagers took refuge in the Boatte Primary School. Some time later, the Tamil refugees were taken to a welfare centre at Soruwila. Sinhalese witnesses complained that their hitherto cordial relations with Tamils of the village were now sullied.
The massacres had caused over 5,000 Sinhalese villagers to flee their homes into schools turned refugee camps.
See also
Notes
{{reflist}}
References and further reading
- Gunaratna, Rohan. (1998). Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security, Colombo: South Asian Network on Conflict Research. {{ISBN|955-8093-00-9}}
- Gunaratna, Rohan. (October 1, 1987). War and Peace in Sri Lanka: With a Post-Accord Report From Jaffna, Sri Lanka: Institute of Fundamental Studies. {{ISBN|955-8093-00-9}}
- Gunasekara, S.L. (November 4, 2003). The Wages of Sin, {{ISBN|955-8552-01-1}}
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050320003919/http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/democracy/1995_hrp_report/95hrp_report_sasia/SriLanka.html
{{Sri Lankan Civil War}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastern Sri Lanka massacres}}
Category:1990s massacres of the Sri Lankan civil war
Category:Mass murder of Sinhalese
Category:Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1995
{{Terrorism-stub}}