Peruveli refugeecamp massacre 15.07.1986
Peruveli is a Tamil village situated in Batticaloa, 1 Km to the right from the Mallikaithivu junction. The Peruveli Government Mixed School was converted into a refugee camp in 1985.
The Mallikaithivu Grama Sevakar (GS) division is made up mostly of Tamil
villages. However, there were also a few Sinhala villages in this GS division. Large number home guards armed by the Sri Lankan military were stationed in the Sinhala villages of Dehiwatte and Nilapola. Many locals in these two villages belonged to these home guards. Since the Sinhalese villagers and Tamils in adjacent villages socialized well these home guards acted as informants to the military, which had a program of killing Tamil civilians.
On 15.07.1986, the home guards and the Sri Lankan military surrounded the Peruveli refugee camp at night and were lying in waiting. Since the adjacent Tamil villages to the refugee camp had already been destroyed by the military, and since the refugees did not move out at night due to fear, no one knew about the military and home guards lying in waiting. As early morning light started to appear the military and home guards entered the refugee camps and started to shoot at random. Some of the refugees who have gone to their homes to check were also attacked. In total, 48 people were shot dead and more 20 were injured. Many women were raped during this mayhem. The attack on the refugees lasted till mid-day.
One survivor recounts the experience,
“People from Mallikaithivu and some other villages were living in Peruveli refugee camp in fear of the army. That day, all people in the village were rounded up right throughout the night. At dawn, they shot, killed and tortured everyone they saw.
They went into the refugee camp and set fire to the cottages. Whilst the cottages were burning, people were grabbed by their heads and legs and thrown
into the fire. They also threw people who were alive into the fire.
People were scared and were all hiding in families of four and five in some houses. They took all the men out of the houses. They shot, cut them and threw them in the wells.
They shot and took away about twenty five bodies on a vehicle. The bodies were returned three days later. They had poured acid on their face – we could not recognize them. All the wells and pits had bodies dumped in them. We could not count the bodies that day because there were bodies everywhere.
Usually when the army comes, we hear fighting noises continuously. So we thought the same was happening. But it was only when the army left and we went into the village, we realised that nearly every well and pit had a body. People who had come to the village for work had also died there.
Those in the refugee camps were the most tortured. They were building separate huts to live. The huts were burnt and the people were all shot. People were also taken away. When these people returned they were in such a tragic state. Their arms and legs were broken and they could not walk.
We were too scared to stay in the village. If the army returned we too would be shot. We could not bury people in individual holes. We could not even touch the bodies – that’s how badly disfigured they were. We dug a big hole with a machine, dumped the bodies and then closed up the hole.
The brutality that was done at the refugee camp was unimaginable. Some people are mentally affected by it.”
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