2006 Trincomalee massacre of NGO workers

Incident

The bodies were discovered after the town of Muttur had come under the control of the government forces. There was fierce fighting between government forces and rebel LTTE forces the previous week prior to the discovery of the bodies.

Reactions

SLMM

The Sri Lankan government denied responsibility but the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission suspected that the Sri Lankan Army was responsible for the killings. According to the SLMM, " ... [it] is convinced that there cannot be any other armed groups than the security forces who could actually have been behind the act". The outgoing head of the Mission, the retired Swedish Colonel Ulf Henricsson, said that this was "one of the most serious recent crimes against humanitarian aid workers worldwide".

Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger, the non-governmental organization (NGO) for whom the victims worked, termed it a war crime.

Investigation

In September 2006, under increasing pressure from the international community to investigate this incident, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse announced the formation of a Commission of Inquiry with a mandate to look into 15 specified alleged violations, including the Muttur massacre of ACF staff. With the dubious track record of previous Commissions of Inquiry in mind, a group of bilateral donors negotiated for the formation of a group of International Independent Eminent Persons (IIGEP) that, invited by the president, have the mandate to observe the investigations of the Commission of Inquiry. Australia nominated an Eminent Person (EP).

UTHR Report

On 1 April 2008, the organisation University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), which is run by former teachers at the University of Jaffnaknown to be openly critical both of the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lankareleased their "Special Report #30", which exclusively deals with the massacre of ACF staff. UTHR names one member of the Sri Lankan Home Guardnow the Civil Defence Forceand two Police Constables based in the Muthur Police Station as perpetrators, but adds that several Sri Lanka Navy Special Forces were part of the group that entered the ACF compound and remained passive as the ACF staff were murdered.

References

References

1. (8 Aug 2006). "TamilNet: 08.08.06 Bodies of 17 NGO workers brought to Trincomalee".
2. (30 Aug 2006). "Monitors' statement on Sri Lanka killings".
3. "Sri Lanka – Muttur Massacre". [[Action Against Hunger]].
4. Ganguly, Meenakshi. (11 September 2006). "Sri Lanka: time to act". [[openDemocracy.net]].
5. (4 Aug 2006). "Remembering the Muttur massacre 16 years on".
6. "15 of Action Against Hunger's (ACFIN) national employees from Sri Lanka were killed in Muttur". Action Against Hunger.
7. (8 August 2006). "15 NGO workers killed". [[The Hindu]].
8. Huggler, Justin. (31 August 2006). "Europe accuses Sri Lankan army of assassinating aid workers". The Independent, UK.
9. "Action Against Hunger International Network mourns and demands full inquiry into Muttur "war crime"". Action Against Hunger.
10. (18 January 2007). "Eminent Australian Jurist to Assist Human Rights Inquiry in Sri Lanka". [[Australian Government]].
11. "UTHR Special Report # 30".
12. [https://archive.today/20120911012820/http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL31705107.CH.2400 Report details S.Lanka aid massacre, blames forces]