2006 Trincomalee massacre of NGO workers

Shooting of French aid workers and civilians in Muttur, Sri Lanka

8°33′58″N 81°13′59″E﻿ / ﻿8.566°N 81.233°E﻿ / 8.566; 81.233

2006 Trincomalee Massacre of NGO Workers

Part of the Sri Lankan Civil War

Muttur

Muttur (Sri Lanka)

Location| Muttur, Sri Lanka
Date| 4 August 2006
Target| Sri Lankan Tamil employees of Action Against Hunger

Attack type

| Armed massacre
Weapons| Automatic rifles
Deaths| 17
Perpetrators| Sri Lankan Army [1][2]

The 2006 Trincomalee Massacre of NGO Workers, also known as the Muttur Massacre,[3] took place on 4 or 5 August 2006, when 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF) were shot at close range in the city of Muttur, Sri Lanka, close to Trincomalee.[4] The victims included sixteen minority Sri Lankan Tamils and one Sri Lankan Muslim.[5][6]

## Incident

[edit]

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.[7]

## Reactions

[edit]

### SLMM

[edit]

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".[8]

### Action Against Hunger

[edit]

Action Against Hunger, the non-governmental organization (NGO) for whom the victims worked, termed it a war crime.[9]

## Investigation

[edit]

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,[citation needed] 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).[10]

## UTHR Report

[edit]

On 1 April 2008, the organisation University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), which is run by former teachers at the University of Jaffna—known to be openly critical both of the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka—released their "Special Report #30",[11] which exclusively deals with the massacre of ACF staff. UTHR names one member of the Sri Lankan Home Guard—now the Civil Defence Force—and 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.[11][12]

## See also

[edit]

* List of attacks on civilians attributed to Sri Lankan government forces
* Kunduz hospital airstrike

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "TamilNet: 08.08.06 Bodies of 17 NGO workers brought to Trincomalee". TamilNet. 8 August 2006. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
2. ^ "Monitors' statement on Sri Lanka killings". BBC NEWS. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
3. ^ "15 of Action Against Hunger's (ACFIN) national employees from Sri Lanka were killed in Muttur". Action Against Hunger. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
4. ^ "Sri Lanka – Muttur Massacre". Action Against Hunger. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
5. ^ Ganguly, Meenakshi (11 September 2006). "Sri Lanka: time to act". openDemocracy.net. Archived from the original on 27 March 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
6. ^ "Remembering the Muttur massacre 16 years on". Tamil Guardian. 4 August 2006. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
7. ^ "15 NGO workers killed". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 8 August 2006. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
8. ^ Huggler, Justin (31 August 2006). "Europe accuses Sri Lankan army of assassinating aid workers". The Independent, UK. London. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
9. ^ "Action Against Hunger International Network mourns and demands full inquiry into Muttur "war crime"". Action Against Hunger. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
10. ^ "Eminent Australian Jurist to Assist Human Rights Inquiry in Sri Lanka". Minister for Foreign Affairs. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007.
11. ^ a b "UTHR Special Report # 30". Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
12. ^ Report details S.Lanka aid massacre, blames forces

## External links

[edit]

* World concern worker shot dead
* BBC report on the murder of fishermen
* BBC, Military killed aid staff
* ICJ report on Muttur massacre
* IIEG public statement 2007
* Aid agency concerned about the investigation

* v
* t
* e

Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009)

Origins|

* Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism
* Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
* Sinhala Only Act
* 1956
* 1958
* Vaddukoddai Resolution
* 1977
* 1981
* Burning of Jaffna Library
* Black July

Combatants|

|  Sri Lanka|

* Army (LRRP)
* Navy
* Air Force
* Police
* Special Task Force
* Home Guards
* Attacks on civilians
* Assassinations

|

LTTE|

* Divisions
* Air Tigers
* Sea Tigers
* Black Tigers
* Attacks
* in the 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* Assassinations
* Suicide bombings

Other militants (list)|

* ENDLF
* ENLF
* EPRLF
* EROS
* PLOTE
* TELO

India|

* Indian Peace Keeping Force

Paramilitary groups|

* EPDP
* TMVP

Phases|

* Eelam War I
* Indian intervention
* Eelam War II
* III
* IV
* Eastern / Northern theatres

Major battles|

* Kokkilai
* Vadamarachchi
* Poomalai
* Pawan
* Jaffna University Helidrop
* Balavegaya
* 1st Elephant Pass
* Pooneryn
* Riviresa
* 1st Mullaitivu
* Weli Oya
* Sath Jaya
* Vavunathivu
* Jayasikurui
* Thandikulam–Omanthai
* 1st Kilinochchi
* Oddusuddan
* A-9 highway
* 2nd Elephant Pass
* Bandaranaike Airport attack
* Point Pedro
* Jaffna
* Thoppigala
* Vidattaltivu
* 2nd Kilinochchi
* 2nd Mullaitivu
* Puthukkudiyirippu

Major events|

* Air Lanka Flight 512
* Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
* Expulsions from Northern province
* Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali
* Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi
* Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa
* Temple of the Tooth attack
* Lionair Flight 602
* Bandaranaike Airport attack
* Expulsions from Colombo
* 2009 suicide air raid on Colombo

Leaders|

| Sri Lanka|

| Military|

| Army|

* Tissa Weeratunga
* Nalin Seneviratne
* Hamilton Wanasinghe
* Cecil Waidyaratne
* G. H. De Silva
* Rohan Daluwatte
* Srilal Weerasooriya
* L. P. Balagalle
* Shantha Kottegoda
* Sarath Fonseka

|

Navy|

* Asoka de Silva
* H. A. Silva
* Clancy Fernando
* D. A. M. R. Samarasekara
* H. C. A. C. Thisera
* Daya Sandagiri
* Wasantha Karannagoda

Air Force|

* Dick Perera
* Andibuduge Fernando
* Makalandage Gunawardena
* Oliver Ranasinghe
* Jayalath Weerakkody
* Donald Perera
* Roshan Goonetileke

Civilian|

* J. R. Jayewardene
* Ranasinghe Premadasa
* Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
* Chandrika Kumaratunga
* Mahinda Rajapaksa

LTTE|

| Militant|

* Velupillai Prabhakaran
* Pottu Amman
* Soosai
* Karuna Amman

|

Political|

* Selvarasa Pathmanathan
* Anton Balasingham
* S. P. Thamilselvan

India|

| Military|

* Harkirat Singh
* Ashok K. Mehta
* Kulwant Singh
* Depinder Singh
* Dalvir Singh
* Krishnaswamy Sundarji

|

Civilian|

* R. Venkataraman
* Rajiv Gandhi
* V. P. Singh
* Jyotindra Nath Dixit
* J. Jayalalithaa
* M. Karunanidhi
* Vaiko

Aftermath|

* Genocide
* Films
* NPC resolution
* LLRC
* Reactions (Protests)
* Remembrance Day
* UN Panel on Accountability
* War crimes
* Chemical weapons

Related topics|

* Casualties
* Assassinations
* Massacres
* Child soldiers
* Disappearances
* Office on Missing Persons
* Human rights
* Popular culture
* Terrorism
* Non-state
* State
* PTA
* Sexual violence
* Sixth Amendment
* Thirteenth Amendment
* Women
* 1988 Maldives coup attempt
* 1987–1989 JVP insurrection

* Sri Lankan civil war at Wiktionary
*   Source texts at Wikisource
*   Textbooks at Wikibooks
*   Images and media at the Commons
*   Quotations at Wikiquote
*   News stories at Wikinews

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template