Bindunuwewa massacre

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The Bindunuwewa Massacre or Bindunuwewa Prison Massacre took place on 24 October 2000 at a detention centre of Bindunuwewa, Sri Lanka, where 27 Tamil detainees were killed by a Sinhalese mob and police. [1] [2]

Contents

Camp

The low-security detention centre was established to house a total of 41 Tamil youths, the youngest being 12 year old, with alleged links to the rebel group LTTE, though none were formally charged. Some of the inmates included former child soldiers who surrendered to the government. [2]

Massacre

On 24 October 2000, a mob of a few hundred villagers armed with knives, rods and torches stormed the detention centre. The Sri Lankan Army detachment that was posted there had been withdrawn the previous day, for unknown reasons. Once the massacre started, the posted police personnel refused to intervene to stop it. Of the 26 killed, two were under the age of 21 and the rest were between 21 and 30. [1]

Government response

Initially the government responded by saying that the detainees had rioted and that the massacre was an outcome of an attempt to control the rioting. Then it was claimed that the police were unable to protect the detainees in the face of superior mob force. Eventually, the government charged a few police officers with crime. Most were initially convicted of murder but were later acquitted by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court in 2005. [2]

Theories

A number of theories have been postulated to explain the massacre:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The Curse of Impunity Part I: Bindunuwewa, the Thin End of the Wedge of Impunity". University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna). Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sri Lanka: Failure of Justice for Victims of Massacre". Human Rights Watch. 2 June 2005. Retrieved 16 July 2019.


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