Prawn farm massacre
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The Prawn farm massacre, also known as the 1987 Kokkadichcholai massacre, took place on January 27, 1987 in the village of Kokkadichcholai, Sri Lanka. At least 83 people who worked at the farm were killed.[1] The University Teachers for Human Rights, a local human rights organisation, alleges that the Special Task Force, an elite special forces unit of the Sri Lanka Police specialising in counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations, perpetrated the massacre.[2][3]
Background
Incident
Relatives of the victims claimed that on January 27, 1987, a number of helicopters circled the area. The military entered the village from Vellaveli, Kondavedduvan, Kaluvanchikudi and Kallandy camps in military trucks. At a nearby junction, a military vehicle was parked and the Special Task Force officers exited the vehicle and walked into the prawn farm. The Special Task Force gathered up the employees outside and checked their identity cards.
The employees were rounded up, herded onto a semi-trailer, taken to a road junction and shot dead. Seven of the victims were boys aged 12 to 14. Forty others who had sought refuge in the farm were also shot and killed. The bodies were later burnt on piles of old tyres obtained by the security forces from the town's bus depot.[4]
The relatives of the victims alleged that STF personnel invaded a house near the farm, threatening the residents not to speak about the massacre or report it to anyone. The relatives further added that the bodies were put into a semi-trailer and driven out of town.[5]
Reaction
The government denied the massacre at the farm, but the Managing Director of Serendip Seafood Limited, Mr. Victor Santhiapillai, who was a former Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (a United Nations body) and the company's former Manager and the present Consultant, Mr. Bruce Cyr (an American national) rebutted the government's denial and confirmed that the massacre did in fact took place.
They also contradicted the government's claim that those killed were either terrorists or that they died in the crossfire. Rejecting the government's Media Centre claim, the Managing Director, Mr. Santhiapillai, said, "I totally reject the Media Centre's charge that the 22 Serendib Sea foods staff members (plus 12 still missing) who were shot by the security forces were terrorists, The Centre must find some other more intelligent and plausible ways of handling such incidents."[4]
See also
Some notable massacres in the eastern province of Sri Lanka during the 1980s to late 1990s:
- Aranthalawa Massacre
- 1990 Batticaloa massacre
- Eastern University massacre
- Gonagala massacre
- Gomarankadawala massacre
- Kallarawa massacre
- Kattankudi mosque massacre
- Kumarapuram massacre
- Mylanthanai massacre
- Tampalakamam massacre
References
- ^
Rajasingam, K. T (2002-03-30). "Sri Lanka: The untold Story, Chapter 33: India shows its hand". Asian Times. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
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Hoole, Rajan (2002-05-14). "Kokkadichcholai massacre and after". University Teachers for Human Rights. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
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"Military operations in the East", The Island (Sri Lanka), 1987-02-04
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Trawick, Margaret (2007). Enemy Lines: Warfare, Childhood and Play in Batticaloa. University of California Press. pp. Chapter 4. ISBN 0-52024-516-4. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
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