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Statement by Panel of Counsel from the Official Bar Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor General
Honourable Commissioners,
According to available material, commencing on the 2nd of August
2006, the town of Muttur came under an attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE attack had been initial1y launched from the eastern neighbourhood of Muttur. That is from the direction of Sampoor. This attack was resisted by personnel of the Sri Lanka military who were stationed at a Sri Lankan Army camp situated on the eastern border of Muttur called Kattaparicchan, by Sri Lanka Navy personnel stationed at the Jetty situated on the northern edge of Muttur and by police officers who were stationed at the main police station located on the north eastern border of Muttur and at the police post located in the center of the Muttur town. The security forces and the police were assisted by a group of Home Guards stationed in Muttur. As the attack intensified, military reinforcement had been sent into Muttur both from the Trincomalee Naval Base and from an Army detachment located at an area called the Pansalwatta situated nearly 20 km south of Muttur on the A15 Road. Whilst the earlier mentioned military personnel had entered Muttur from the Muttur jetty, the latter mentioned group had entered the Muttur town from the A15 junction which is situated on the southern boundary of the Muttur town. According to available material, the attack had continued up to the 5th or 6th of August 2006, and it had been around the 7th of August 2006 that a semblance of normalcy had devel9ped with the security forces finally establishing control over the town of Muttur. The confrontation led to the deaths of unarmed civilians, security forces personnel, and combatants of the LITE. There was considerable amount of internal displacement of civilians who lived in Muttur and vast damage to property.
Action Contre La Faim (ACF) is a Paris based well established and reputed international non governmental organization, which has for a considerable period of time been present in Sri Lanka. It has been providing humanitarian assistance to civilians and in particular to those living in conflict affected areas. Whilst a regional office of the ACT was located at Trincomalee, a project office was located at Muttur. On the August 1st 2006, a team of 17 workers of the ACF proceeded from the Trincomalee office to the Muttur project office. The transfer of personnel from Trincomalee to Muttur was part of the routine operations of the ACF. From the August 2nd 2006, ACF personnel in Trincomalee commenced receiving information from their colleagues who were by then at the ACF project office in Muttur, that the town was under attack. Communication between the Trincomalee office and the Muttur project office of the ACF was through telephones and a radio frequency communication set. As civilians were fleeing the area, ACF workers who were stranded at the Muttur project office sought clearance to leave the office and proceed to a safe area. However, as the ACF personnel in the Trincomalee office were concerned about the safety of ACF personnel, those in Muttur were advised to remain at the project office until a secure passage is provided. Therefore the Trincomalee office commenced taking action to evacuate the ACF personnel stranded in the Muttur project office. Telephone and Radio contact between the two offices continued up to approximately 6.30 am on the August 4th, 2006. From that time onwards, ACF personnel in Trincomalee as well as family members of the 17 aid workers of the ACF could not establish contact with the stranded aid worker in Muttur. Around 10.00 am on the August 6th 2006, the Trincomalee ACF office received an anonymous telephone call from a person who informed that, 17 persons had been killed and their bodies were seen at the ACF project office compound in Muttur. The inference was that, the 17 aid workers of the ACF who were stranded at the Muttur project office of the ACF had been killed. ACF personnel at the Trincomalee office commenced taking immediate reaction to proceed to Muttur to ascertain what had happened to their colleagues. However, as the attack on the town continued, it was only around 5.00 p.m. on August 7th 2006, that the ACF personnel at Trincomalee could proceed to the Muttur ACF office along with police officers. On proceeding to the Muttur project office of the ACF, they realized the grime reality; the 17 aid workers of the ACF who were stationed at the project office in Muttur had been murdered.
Initial investigations into this incident had been conducted by the Trincomalee police. After the first few days, the investigation had been taken over by the Criminal Investigation Department. The CID investigation is continuing. I do not intend to proceed to set out the details of investigations which appear to have been conducted by the police, as that is the subject matter of today's session.
A magisterial inquest into the deaths had also been conducted in terms of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act.
Post mortem examinations into the remains of the 17 deceased have been conducted by a Consultant Judicial Medical Officer. Ballistics examinations have been conducted by the office of the Government Analyst.
On the directions of the Commission, we propose to assist the Commission by interviewing the main police officers who were involved in the conduct of criminal investigations into this incident.
14th May 2007.
