Pages of lost humanism in the North and East of Sri Lanka
Revealed once again to the eyes of the International Community
Tamil Women Organizations and the Art and Cultural Associations of Germany strongly condemns the humanitarian oppression by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces against the women of Tamil Eelam and hereby would like to present the following facts on International Women`s Day, for your kind consideration.
The women of all ages in Tamil Eelam are experiencing untold mental and physical abuse when they are compelled to cross army check posts of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. In our native land, our own flesh and blood are arrested and are gone missing thereafter. Sexual harassment, torture and murder are what the women in Tamil Eelam are experiencing on a daily basis.
Children who should be nourished physically and mentally by their parents or guardians are being caught up mercilessly in this war and as a result, the future generation of Tamil Eelam is being systematically wiped off by the aggression of the Sri Lankan Government and its Forces.
Women and children are indispensable to society and are the most important aspect of humanity. The Sri Lankan Armed Forces by maiming or doing away with women and children of Tamil Eelam, are trying to dig up the very foundation of the Tamil Nation.
The life of a Tamil woman is a big question mark in her own homeland. The brutality on women by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces should be stopped immediately and nearly 360875 of internally displaced women in the North and East of Sri Lanka who have been forced out their native land, are living in cramped places without even the basic necessities for a normal living. They should be able to come back to their own places and normalcy return to their daily lives. 67,208 women have lost their husbands and as a result, they are left to fend for their families. 25 years of internal war in Sri Lanka has left more than 80,000 Tamils dead. Women who have lost their husbands and children in the war are directly or indirectly undergoing untold sufferings at the hands of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, just because they belong to the Tamil Community.
Women prisoners are integrated by males and are treated to the same methods of torture like men. Additionally women prisoners are forced to indulge in homosexual acts by the Women Police Force. When the Red Cross or any other humanitarian organisations visit these prisons, normal cells are shown as being occupied by women prisoners and not the cells where women are brutally tortured mentally as well as physically. An area cordoned off as a high security zone, is an ideal place for the Sri Lankan Forces to find ways and means to bring the women folk of the Tamil Community into total submission, or as it is in many cases, just do away with them.
Each and every day our loved ones go missing and later are found dead on the streets, is the normal occurrence in Sri Lanka. Every day dawns with the fear of who will be abducted and who will be shot that day. With such uncertainty how can people perform their daily duties without hindrance? How can children concentrate in their studies, when they are in constant fear? How can parents be at peace after sending their children to school or to work? When they hear that a dead body is found in a particular place, they think the worse and are in mental distress, till they see their children well and alive. Parents who go in search of their lost children and wives, who go in search of arrested husbands, lose hope as the days go by and eventually end up in mental hospitals, where medicines are not that easily available. Even if they are, a huge amount of money is needed to buy them. Under the above circumstances, the Tamil population is finding it hard to survive, let alone buy medicines, for their mental disturbances. If this situation prolongs, most of the present and future generations of Tamil Eelam will be made up of mentally retarded citizens.
An American poetess refers to the blood that flows like floods, in wars world wide, is the blood of women. Tamil Eelam is no exception to that statement and the following statistics endorses the truth behind these arrests, abductions, torture, rape and killings, by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.
On 12th of May 1995, a girl was raped.
On 11th of February 1996, a 17 year old girl was raped and murdered and on the same day 24 people were murdered from the same village.
On 07th of March 1996, after attacking her husband, a 45 year old woman was raped.
On 29th of April 1996, after killing her husband, the wife was raped.
On 04th of May 1996, a woman was raped and was killed along with her husband.
On 19th of May 1996, an 18 year old, a 36 year old and a 38 year old were the victims of attempted rape and later died in hospital. On the same day another girl who was returning from church was raped and killed.
On 17th of June 1996, a 36 year old woman and her sister were raped and killed
On 31st of July 1996, a girl was raped and killed.
In July 1996, a girl was raped and killed.
On 12th of August 1996, a woman was raped, and because she had the courage to blame the forces, she was raped again in front of the eyes of her two sons.
On 7th of September 1996, an eighteen year old girl was raped and killed. Her parents and brother who went in search of her were killed too.
On 10th of September 1996, a 55 year old woman was raped.
On 30th of September 1996, a 22 year old girl was raped and killed.
On 09th of October 1996, a 22 year old girl was raped and killed along with her father.
On 22nd of November 1996, a 10 year old girl was raped and killed.
On 16th of December 1996, a girl was raped and killed.
On 31st of December 1996, a girl was raped and killed.
On 17th of March 1996, two sisters in the ages of 38 and 39 were raped and killed.
On 17th of May 1997, a woman was raped and brutally killed.
On 19th of May 1997, a woman was raped.
On 22nd of July 1997, a 20 year old teacher was attacked and then raped.
In July 1997, a 17 year old was raped.
On 16th of August 1997, a 40 year old woman was raped and another was raped and killed.
On 05th of September 1997, a 6 year old child was raped and was admitted in hospital in a serious condition.
On 5th of October 1997, a 37 year old woman was raped.
On 16th of October 1997, a 49 year old woman was raped and killed.
On 19th of October 1997, a 19 year old girl was raped and now she is mentally retarded.
On 27th of October 1997, a 31 year old woman was raped.
On 06th of November 1997, a school girl was raped.
On 27th of December 1997, a woman was raped.
On 31st of December 1997, a 30 year old was raped and killed.
On 15th of March 1998, a three month old pregnant woman was raped and killed.
On 16th of March 1998, a 28 year old woman was raped on the street.
On 07th of May 1998, a mentally retarded woman was raped.
On 01st of July 1998, a 48 year old woman was raped and killed.
On 16th of July 1998, a 26 year old woman was raped and killed.
On 27th of October 1998, a girl was raped and killed.
On 17th of December 1999, a 22 year old was raped and killed.
On 28th of December 1999, a 20 year old woman was raped and killed.
On 21st of June 2000, a girl was raped and killed.
On 19th of March 2001, a 22 year old woman was raped and killed.
On 19th of May 2001, two girls were raped and killed.
On 24th of June 2001, a woman was raped and killed.
The above are some of the heart rending events that have come to light. Much more untold sufferings occur daily to girls and women in the North and East of Sri Lanka, by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. To show their power the Sri Lankan Armed Forces have taken up this method against the women of Tamil Eelam, disregard of age.
Women are more sensitive, fragile mentally and physically when compared to men. When they are physically abused or raped, they are unable to come out into the open with the truth and are mentally depressed and they end up in mental hospitals. The Tamil Community is waiting with much hope for the International Community to intervene and bring about a peaceful solution.
According to the United Nations Human Rights Convention, race, religion, language, colour, creed and gender must not be taken into account and everyone should be able to live with equal rights. Fundamental rights promised to all human beings by the International Community, should be implemented to the Tamil women of the North and East of Sri Lanka as well, who are denied this basic privilege entitled to all human kind. This should be taken into account by the International Community.
History proves that the Tamils were already in Sri Lanka, when other races arrived on the island. Neither the warnings of the peace loving countries, nor taking into account the condemnation of the International Human Rights Organisations, can stop the Sri Lankan Government in trying to eliminate the entire Tamil Race.
Serbia / Kosovo and Sri Lanka / Tamil Eelam, both have lot in common.
Serbia Kosovo Sri Lanka Tamil Eelam
Area 102,350sq.kms. 10,912sq.kms. 46,730sq.kms. 18,880sq.kms.
Population 10.8 million 2 million 17 million 3.2 million
Religion Christians 65% Muslims 90% Buddhists 70% Hindus 85%
Duration of war 10 years 25 years
Loss of lives 10,000 70,000
Tamil Eelam is twice the size of Kosovo and the Tamil Community has seen more years of war and more loss of lives, when compared to the people of Kosovo. The International Community has recognised the independent states of Montenegro, East Timor and Kosovo. Likewise, we request the International Community to accept the demands of the Tamil Community to rule them selves. The International Community has stood its ground for the recognition of the state of Kosovo and now is the time for them to take their stand and help the Tamil Community to gain a state of their own.
A country to be recognised as an independent state, the following facts are essential.
The country should have historical claims, to a specific area.
The country should have a government, approved by its people.
The country should have a constructive, governing ability, in its territory.
In the state of Tamil Eelam, the above said three factors are in force.
On International Women’s Day, the Tamil Women Organization of Germany along with its many organizations, request the International Community to put forward solutions and concrete answers to the Tamil population’s plight in Sri Lanka and recognise the state of Tamil Eelam, thus paving the way for the Tamil Community to live in peace and harmony in their own ancestral land.
Thanking you,
Tamil Women Organizations of Heinsberg, Köln and Rheine.
Tamil Cultural Association of Berlin.
Tamil Art and Cultural Association of Stuttgart.
Barathi Art and Cultural Associations of Essen and Stuttgart.