LTTE’s worst human rights abuses exposed in Toronto

by Walter JAYAWARDHANA

Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper has highlighted an exhibition which it calls an eye-opener to some of the worst human rights abuses perpetrated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that zero in on “torture, child conscription and suicide bombings.”

In an article about the exhibition which has been funded by Canadian trade unions and organised by dissident Tamils who do not belong to the banned terrorist organisation, the LTTE, the Globe and Mail said, “The ordeal of a Canadian Tamil who says he survived torture at the hands of the Tamil Tigers will be among the shocking stories delved into this weekend, when artists and activists hope to expose the full range of human-rights abuses perpetrated in Sri Lanka.”

“Organisers of the Call of the Conscience exhibit hope,” said the Globe and Mail, “their photos, films and written words will be an eye-opener for Toronto, the largest centre of Tamils outside Sri Lanka.” The exhibition features a written life story of a 50-year-old man called Samaran (a fictitious name) who has been interviewed by the newspaper.

Quoting him The Globe and Mail said, “At the time, the rebels were solidifying their hold on northern Sri Lanka and ridding the area of suspected government collaborators and rival rebel factions.

“They beat me till I fainted just for wearing a rosary,” recalled Samaran, a Christian from an area that’s mostly Hindu. He says a young rebel guard told him “Here, I am the God - you tell the truth, you get released” - but he could only respond that he had no information to give.

“Hundreds of those he was jailed with were tortured, he said, and many were killed. Then, in a turn of events that proved less fortunate for other prisoners, he said, he escaped when Sri Lankan military planes bombed the jail.”