Detainees in one camp told the Guardian that a number of female Tamil Tigers have been murdered after giving themselves up to authorities.
The bodies of 11 young women were allegedly found with their throats slashed outside the Menic Farm camp near the town of Vavuniya, according to people being held behind the razor wire perimeter. The women’s short haircuts are understood to have made them easily identifiable as former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The bodies are said to have been discovered in the last two weeks, but there is no way of confirming the allegations because access to the camps is restricted.
On Wednesday, the defence ministry said many of the estimated 2,50,000 people now inside the camps might have to stay for up to two years. On Thursday, the government changed tack and insisted it planned to return most of them to their homes this year.
The allegations came as a coalition of humanitarian agencies claimed that paramilitary groups had gained access to the camps and were abducting children. But aid workers say there is also a growing resentment among inmates in the camps against the LTTE over its treatment of the civilian population in the final months of the fighting and that many of the female cadres now shut inside are living in fear of reprisals. The government has categorically denied the allegations.
An official who visited the camps recently said the women’s bodies had apparently been found close to zone II of the camp, where about 70,000 of the more recent arrivals are living under canvas.
“A couple of weeks ago, 11 bodies were discovered. All these women had short hair. This is a tell tale sign of women newly recruited to the LTTE,” the official said. “
Fearing for safety
The official said no one was sure who was responsible, but other female residents now feared for their safety.
A number of those detained said they had heard about the discovery of the bodies outside the perimeter.
One man pleaded with the government to let them leave. “I don’t know how much longer we can live like this. There are too many people. I don’t know why the government won’t start releasing us,” he said. “There so many people who very clearly have no connections to the LTTE, that can be cleared of any wrongdoing so easily.”
