Military

DATE=10/26/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=Lanka Camp Attack (L-only)

NUMBER=2-268468

BYLINE=Vikram Singh

DATELINE=Colombo

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: In Sri Lanka the death toll climbed to at least twenty five after Wednesday's attack on a government-run rehabilitation center for former Tamil Tiger guerrillas. As Vikram Singh Reports from Colombo, the massacre has drawn widespread condemnation.

TEXT: Sri Lanka is looking for answers after hundreds of villagers stormed the camp near Bandarawela, 200 kilometers east of Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. The mob attacked inmates with knives, swords, and stones. Local witnesses say the bodies of the dead were severely mutilated and that several had been burned.

Some survivors of the massacre, speaking from their hospital beds, say the police did little to stop the mob. But a senior superintendent of police (Rienzie Perera) says authorities were simply outnumbered. He says police even fired

rubber bullets but could not contain the violence.

Condemnation of the incident came quickly and officials say President Chandrika Kumaratunga has dispatched two teams of detectives to help with

investigations. According to police more than 200 suspects have been arrested so far.

Reports on state radio on Wednesday said the inmates had attempted to take over the camp and held the officer in charge hostage. On Thursday, army officials confirmed that the camp had been tense with inmates erecting barricades and demanding their early release. But they say the situation was under control before the appearance of the local mob.

Officials say the rehabilitation center was home to former child soldiers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Tamil Tiger rebels are fighting for a separate state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. The inmates of the center were all between the ages of 14 and 25.

Local reports say condemnation of the attack came from several quarters, including Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party, Tamil political

parties, and the Tamil Tiger rebels themselves in a broadcast over their clandestine Voice of Tigers radio station. The station can be heard in Sri Lanka's north.

Spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr. Harsha Gunewardene, said that under international law, all authorities are responsible for the safety of inmates under their care. He said Thursday that representatives

of the ICRC had visited survivors in hospital but were waiting to gain access to the camp.

People who live near Bandarawela say some hand-written anti-Tiger notices have appeared in the area, but several local villagers stressed that they had no major problems with the camp. Officials say the rehabilitation center was unique in Sri Lanka and that this devastating attack is a major setback. (Signed)

NEB/VS/PLM