Constant fear

THE people of Jaffna live in constant fear caught in the grip of two warring armies and long for more peaceful days. As the Army continues search operations and arrests, a strong element of underground control by the Tigers in most areas persists. In the eight months since the 4 July LTTE suicide attack in Jaffna town, aimed at a government entourage, unleashed a backlash from the military, some observers allege that the Tigers have carried out at least 15 lamp post killings. Reports say Sivayogini who dared to receive cement from the military to repair her house was murdered. The Jaffna population remains isolated. The only telephone link to foreign countries at Vembadi junction in Jaffna town is under repair.

With hundreds of checkpoints, freedom of movement is greatly restricted during the day and by 6pm streets are deserted. Tension and fear heighten at night and those in isolated areas move to relatives’ houses as dusk settles. A woman in Varani North said in February that soldiers entered her house at night smashing the door open and took away her husband blindfolded. The fate of over 700 people arrested by the Army remains unknown. The LTTE alleges that 21 year-old Rasiah Satheeswaran was taken from the Navaly Pulavar refugee camp and beaten to death.

In late February, five bodies of youths with gunshot wounds were brought in to the Jaffna hospital by the police who said they had been handed over to them by the Army, local sources told the Sri Lanka Monitor. One youth had his hands tied in front. In early February hundreds of parents and relatives demonstrated in front of the new EPDP office on Stanley Road in Jaffna town demanding information on those arrested and threatened to stage a hunger strike.

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