Akkaraipattu massacre

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Akkaraipattu massacre
Sri Lanka relief location map.jpg
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Location 7°13′N81°51′E / 7.217°N 81.850°E / 7.217; 81.850
Akkaraipattu, Sri Lanka
DateFebruary 19, 1986 (+6 GMT)
Target Sri Lankan Tamil civilians
Attack type
Firing
WeaponsGuns
Deaths80
Perpetrators Sri Lankan army

Akkaraipattu massacre happened on 19 February 1986 when approximately 80 Tamil farm workers were killed by the Sri Lankan Army personnel and their bodies burned in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. [1] [2] The incident came to light a few days later when community leaders visited the remote location in the village of Udumbankulam near the town of Akkaraipattu, where the farm workers were shot.

Contents

Details

According to community leaders, the farm workers were threshing the paddy fields when troops appeared from the nearby jungle firing into the air. The women were freed, but the soldiers rounded up the men, tied their hands and made them sit on the road. The farm workers were taken back to the paddy fields and shot. Several empty cases of ammunition have been found in the field. Later the bodies were piled on top of a harvested, dry rice crop and burned. [2] [3] In the aftermath of the assault, five Tamil women came forward with reports that they had been raped in the paddy fields during the assault. [4]

International Reporting

The event was documented by BBC foreign correspondent and journalist, Humphrey Hawksley in The Guardian on February 22, 1986. He was subsequently, expelled from Sri Lanka after six months for documenting human rights abuses against civilians in his coverage of the conflict. [5] The incident has been cited as an example of ethnic cleansing and systematic violence against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province during that period. [2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Frerks, George; Bart Klem (2004). Dealing with diversity: Sri Lankan Discourses on Peace and Conflict. Netherlands Institute of International Relations. ISBN   90-5031-091-5.p.118
  2. 1 2 3 Humphrey, Hawksley (February 22, 1986). "Massacre in Akkaraipattu". The Guardian .
  3. ↑ IDSA News Review on South Asia/Indian Ocean. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. 1985.p.363
  4. ↑ "Udumbankulam farmer's massacre". Tamil Times. May 1986. p. 8.
  5. ↑ "Humphrey Hawksley: Biography". 2009-08-10. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
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