Tigers killed 600 Tamils - Ex-TNA MP

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110421_01

Tigers killed 600 Tamils - Ex-TNA MP


Innocent civilians killed like stray dogs:
Over 600 innocent Tamil civilians were shot and killed like stray dogs from October 1, 2008 to May 18, 2009 in the Vanni region by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP S. Kanagaratnam.
Not a single innocent civilian was killed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in the hostility campaign against the LTTE, he said.
Kanagaratnam told the Asian Tribune that he was with the people throughout in the Vanni.
He said he represented the Vanni electoral district and as the hostility campaign started he was with the people looking after their interests.
He said he has seen the horrors of the war and seen innocent Tamils, who were treated as stray dogs, shot and killed mercilessly by LTTE gunmen. Kanagaratnam said that United Nations and Western countries are not privy to any firsthand information about horrors, killings, destruction and human tragedies that occurred during the final days of the battle and rubbished the UN Experts Panel's report. He said the UN document was based on third of fourth person's reports and on biased material prepared by the rump LTTE campaigners and vested interest groups.
Kanagratnam challenged whether the three UN Experts could authenticate any of those allegations they have raised and included in their so called report?
The revelation exposes the vindictive nature and the revengeful mentality of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the flawed and distorted version of his so called Experts' Panel Report and the vested interest of the Western leaders and the Human Rights Organizations in the West, who were parroting the rump LTTE's allegations to bifurcate Sri Lanka, said Kanagaratnam, who represented the Vanni electoral district from April 2004 to April 2010.
"I learnt when I was in the government controlled area on May 18, 2009 that Nadesan and few others tried to cross into government controlled area but they were shot and killed.
"According to my information, they were shot and killed by the LTTE gunmen. This is what I learnt", said Kanagaratnam.
Kanagaratnam told the Asian Tribune that it was the LTTE which shot at civilians.
"They shot innocent civilians to frighten them not to leave for government controlled areas," he said.
Asked if the LTTE killed many civilians, Kanagaratnam replied. "In fact countless. I lost count of it. LTTE cadres were deployed all over and civilians were shot at to frightened them and to prevent them from leaving the area.
Asked if 50 to 100 people would have been shot and killed by the LTTE he said." It will be many times more than that".
Kanagaratnam said when the Sri Lankan Army was accepting displaced persons arriving into their controlled areas, the LTTE was shooting at fleeing civilians to prevent them from leaving. "I have seen many bodies littered all over the places, who were victims to the brutal killing of the LTTE," he said.
Asian Tribune: But there is a general allegation that innocent civilians were killed by government security forces. So you mean to say that mostly civilians were killed by the LTTE? You were the only person who was with the people till the last moment in Vanni. Furthermore, you were an elected representative of the people also.
S. Kanagaratnam: OK. I have seen with my own eyes, the tragic and horrendous scenarios unfolding those days and seen people being ruthlessly killed by the LTTE - Rule of the gun prevailed.
The Asian Tribute also asked Kanagaratnam if he had seen any Sri Lankan Army personnel entering the civilian area and shooting and killing them, whether he had seen any civilians fleeing to the government controlled area being shot and killed by the Sri Lankan Army personnel and if he had seen any women been raped by the Sri Lankan army? Kanagaratnam replied: No, not at all. I haven't seen any civilians being killed by the Sri Lankan Army. I haven't heard any women being raped by the Army men. But I have seen the Army personnel collecting the injured persons while receiving the fleeing civilians and taking them and treating them and actually saving the lives of a few hundred civilians."
Kanagaratnam: The innocent Tamil civilians who were caught up in the fighting were provided treatment. "As the Army advanced to the LTTE controlled areas, those civilians were hiding in many places. Those are the people who were picked by the Army and transported to the Army controlled areas and treated. I was later told that those who were severely injured and in critical conditions were air-dashed to Trincomalee, Anuradhapura and other hospitals in the South for treatment."
Asked if the majority of them were civilians, Kanagaratnam said. In fact majority of them, more than 75 percent of them were LTTE cadres. The Army was able to identify them as they were from the armed group of the LTTE. But still they took them and treated them.
Asian Tribune: How do you know the Sri Lankan Army personnel safeguarded the injured LTTE cadres as well as the injured civilians? Kanagaratnam: It was a known piece of information for those who were living inside the Vanni those days. People used to talk that injured persons were normally taken by the Army men for treatment. But I saw that with my own eyes, when I was in the Army controlled territory on May 17 to 18, 2009.
Asked if he did not see any top level LTTE leaders, Kanagaratnam said:" There was lot of middle level leaders who were trying to convince the disheartened and disillusioned civilians that they would overcome the Army and win the war.
But when anyone questioned them, that person was always shot and killed at pointblank range. This was done to instill fear in the minds of the people."
"I wish to say with certainty that Prabhakaran has never endorsed the plan of surrendering to the Sri Lanka Army. I know for certain that the LTTE leader has not approved Nadesan and Pulidevan surrendering by carrying any flag. I was told Prabhakaran sent his elite group to stop the duo fleeing the LTTE controlled area. Thus the duo must have, I am sure received the fatal blow by the very LTTE gunmen who were loyal to Prabhakaran," Kanagaratnam said.
Asian Tribune: So you deny that Sri Lankan Army has not shot and killed innocent civilians. Tell whether you are denying this allegation? S.Kanagaratnam: Yes, I deny such frivolous allegations. I must be truthful in the name of the God. I am also answerable to Almighty the God.
I know these are propaganda ploy of the rump LTTEers in the West.
Asked by Asian Tribune if it was possible to give a rough figure of civilians shot and killed by the LTTE gunmen, Kanagaratnam said:" Indeed many hundreds were killed, but at present I am unable to give you an exact figure, as I have lost all my documents when I left Mullivaikkal to the government controlled area. Innocent Tamils were shot and killed indiscriminately by the LTTE."
Courtesy : Daily news