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Several groups have alleged that there have been instances of state terrorism by Sri Lanka..

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Activities that can be termed as state terrorism by Sri Lanka have generally been attacks on alleged supporters of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP a Marxist and nationalist political party which unsuccessfully tried twice (in 1971 and 1987-89) to overthrow the democratically elected government of Sri Lanka using a violent rebellion, or attacks on minority Tamil civilians, both before and during the violent phase of civil conflict starting in 1983. Before 1983, most state terrorist actions were in response to nonviolent political actions by the Tamil United Liberation Front or TULF party. Since the commencement of the civil conflict most actions have been massacres, disappearances, torture and rape of Tamil civilians.

Response to JVP uprisings
Most of the victims of state violence during JVP uprisings were civilians from the majority Sinhalese community. During the first JVP uprising, in 1971, over 15,000 civilians were killed by the combined Sri Lankan Army and the Indian Army without proper judicial process.

During the second JVP uprising, in 1987-89, an estimated 60,000 civilians disappeared, most of whom are assumed to be killed by the Sri Lankan Army and other state forces.

Attacks on Tamil civilians, pre-1983
The fourth World Tamil Research Conference was held in the city of Jaffna between January 3 and 9, 1974, during which due to police action it resulted in the loss of nine lives, the loss of civilian property and more than 50 civilians sustaining severe injuries. The police officers involved were subsequently promoted by the government.

With the increase in political tensions including the race riots of 1977 the next watershed event was the destruction of the Jaffna Public Library due to the actions of a mob sponsored by government agents. The library lost over 97,000 volumes of rare manuscripts, books and journals, in the process four Tamils were also killed Photo of the burnt and rebuilt library

The transition from the political confrontation to military action came in 1983, with the Black July pogrom. It started on July 23. Between 1000 - 3000 Tamils were killed. More than 18,000 houses and commercial establishments were destroyed and a wave of Sri Lankan Tamils sought refugee in other countries. It is seen as the start of full-scale armed struggle between the Tamil militants and the state of Sri Lanka. During the pogrom, in Colombo, 53 political prisoners were killed inside a high security prison. No individuals have been convicted of crimes relating to these incidents. Photos & Witness Accounts

Response to the post 1983 civil conflict
As part of the military actions against the rebel LTTE group many massacres of civilians and series of prison massacres, assassinations of political opponents have taken place.

Civilian massacres
The 1990 Batticaloa massacre consisted of 180 Tamil civilians including 5 infants being massacred by the Sri Lankan Army after being pulled from their native villages. Two commissions of inquiry appointed by the Sri Lankan government to inquire into disappearances have investigated this massacre in the villages of Sathurukkondaan, Kokkuvil and Pillaiyaradi. They have identified and named the perpetrators as Sri Lanka army personnel, including an officer. But so far no police investigation has been conducted, nor legal proceedings instituted, against those responsible.

The Navaly Church massacre of 1995 occurred when sixty five Tamil refugees were killed and 150 injured when the Sri Lankan Airforce dropped multiple bombs on a church and surrounding grounds being used to shelter the refugees. Eventually this number would rise to 125 dead as many injured victims succumbed to their wounds later. The Church of St. Peter and Paul in Navaly had earlier been designated as a refuge by the government and Tamil civilians had been encouraged to take shelter there.. The Sri Lankan government has denied allegations that its forces deliberately targeted the school.

The Nagerkovil central school massacre took place on 22nd September 1995. During ongoing military operations, the Sri Lankan Air Force bombed the Nagerkovil Central School on the Jaffna peninsula. This resulted in the immediate death of 40 Tamil civilians, of which 34 were elementary school age children. Over 150 others were injured, and many more eventually succumbed to their wounds. The government has denied allegations that its forces deliberately targeted the church.

Involuntary disappearances
The presence of Chemmani mass graves was revealed in July of 1998. During his trial for the rape and murder of a Tamil school girl, a convicted Sri Lankan soldier testified to the existence of a mass grave site located in the Jaffna peninsula. This initial revelation was not followed up by the Sri Lankan government. This prompted human rights group Amnesty International to urge the government to perform a criminal investigation. As a result of this and further investigation Amnesty was able to report credible evidence that the bodies of as many as 300 to 400 'disappeared' individuals may have been disposed of at the grave site.

Civilian massacres
With the election of president Mahinda Rajapakse there has been a renewal of alleged state terrorism against the Tamil minority. There have been targeted assassinations of Tamil political opponents using state proxies as well as attack on NGO workers.

A series of Allaipiddy massacres began on May 13, 2006. A total of thirteen Tamil civilians were killed in a spate of incidents on Kayts Island, a small islet off the northwestern coast of the Jaffna Peninsula that is strictly controlled by the Sri Lanka Navy. Amnesty International has received credible reports that Navy personnel and armed cadres affiliated with the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (a Tamil party opposed to the LTTE), were present at the scene of the killings. Photos of the massacred family. The government has not investigated this incident yet to identify the assailants.

The unfolding 2006 Mannar massacres have also been attributed to the Sri Lankan military forces. On June 8, 2006 a family of four including two children was massacred in the village of Vankalai by the Sri Lankan Army. Photos of the massacred family

On June 17, 2006 survivors and witnesses of an attack accused the Sri Lankan Navy of storming and then indiscriminately shooting and lobbing grenades inside a church where hundreds of Tamils were taking shelter .One woman was killed and more than 40 people injured in the incident  The government has denied accusations that it targeted civilians.

In Trincomalee, five high school students playing by the beach were briefly detained and then shot dead by the members of the Special Task Force, a paramilitary commando unit of the Sri Lankan military. The official inquiry into this incident is still undergoing and STF personnel have been questioned. Thus far no progress has been reported in apprehending the culprits. The only witness who came forward in this case is also a target of threats to his safety by some elements of the Sri Lankan security forces. Human rights groups have called on the government to provide adequate protection for the witness.

Involuntary disappearances
Human Rights organization such AHRC and Amnesty International have complained that in 2006 over 400 people have been disappeared in what appears to be military operations. People have been abducted in government controlled territory in numberless white vans never to be heard again.

Source websites

 * BBC South Asia report
 * ICRC document
 * Amnesty International report
 * Tamil weekly report
 * Amnesty International report 1996
 * Information of Jaffna Tamil conference
 * Burning of Jaffna library UNESCO report
 * HRW report about Sri Lanka
 * Navaly Church Bombing information
 * Lanka library information on Trincomalee murders
 * Threats against witness of Trincomalee murders
 * Sri Lankan denial of responsibility for Mannar incident
 * Allaipiddy incident report
 * Amnesty International request for protection of Chemmani investigators
 * US state department report on Sri Lanka 2005
 * UN report on Human rights violations in Sri Lanka 2006
 * AHRC report on dissaperances in 2006
 * AI special report on selective dissapearances in Allaipiddy
 * The number of dissapeared rises to 400 in 2006
 * Terror of numberless white vans - Tamilnet report from Jaffna
 * Burning of Jaffna library