DMPPF wants Pillay to question LTTE on atrocities

August 29, 2013, 12:00 pm 

By Ifham Nizam
The Dead and Missing Persons’ Parents’ Front (DMPPF) yesterday urged UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navaneethan Pillay to hold a credible inquiry, taking into consideration the gruesome crimes committed by the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE), without concentrating only on the final stages of the war.

DMPPF Convener Ananda Jayamanne told a media briefing in Colombo that Pillay should question all former LTTE members including those now holding key positions in the present government.

He said: "It is of paramount importance that these people are questioned on war crimes. Parties with vested interests are doing their utmost, with the support of Tamil Diaspora, to revive the brutal terrorist outfit. It is we who lost our kith and kin, apart from the soldiers. We strongly believe that questioning former LTTE key figures would be crucial, failing which we would be dragged back into a similar situation."

Jayamanne said LTTE members Vishwanathan Rudrakumaran, Vinayagam, Rev. Emanuel, KP, Pillaiyan and Karuna should be questioned on war crimes.

Madivani Sugandhi, a widow from Jaffna said "I humbly request Madam Pillay not to listen to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which is not telling the truth at a time we are just starting to live peacefully after brutal activities of the LTTE, which resulted in hundreds of women, like me, losing their husbands for not agreeing to join the LTTE or when they wanted to leave it."

She also said that the LTTE had destroyed all her certificates, which she termed as a common occurrence during its rule. "We earnestly don’t want to see the terrorist outfit raising its ugly head again. We sincerely hope Madam Pillay would strongly consider the marginalized people like us," she added.

Thirteen-year-old Abdul Saeed Raida said she had lost both her parents at the hands of the LTTE. "My mother was killed in front of me. Now, I am with my aunt who has three of her own children and finds it very difficult to make ends meet. I urge the government to support me to carry on with my studies. Now, I am a grade eight student and want to be a doctor," she added.