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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 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

The Mylanthanai massacre happened on August 9 1992 when 35 minority Sri Lankan Tamils, including 14 children, at Mylanthanai in Batticaloa District in Sri Lanka, were killed.

Sri Lankan Army soldiers from an army camp in Punanai were accused of the crime. The soldiers who were charged with the massacre were acquitted by a jury in Colombo.

Incident

On August 9 , 1992 according to the government prosecutor Sri Lankan Army soldiers attacked the village of Mylanthanai, after the army's commanding officer in Jaffna was killed along with seven soldiers in a landmine explosion earlier the same day. , According to pro rebel Tamilnet reporting on the court proceedings, an eye witness Ms Sinnathurai Indrakala, 28 was quoted as saying,

About 50 Sri Lanka government troops entered our village with arms and started harassing the villagers. On seeing them I started running from my house towards jungle area. I fell on the ground. Some army personnel came to the spot and stabbed my hands with rifle bayonet. When I regained consciousness I saw 10 bodies of our villagers with gunshot and cut injuries,

,

According to Tamilnet, there other witnesses indicated soldiers had used guns, knives and axes to carry out the murders. Children as young as 1 to 15 were amongst the dead.

Government investigation

The government reaction was swift, according to the Sri Lanka Monitor, a reporting organization in the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war, a line-up was held at Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court on April 2 1993. Survivors of the killings identified 24 soldiers.

The Attorney General at the time transferred the case to Polonnaruwa District. He then transferred the case again to Colombo on the grounds of safety for the accused. This arrangement made it difficult for witnesses who were survivors to appear. The indictment was filed in Colombo High Court in September 1999.

According to Tamilnet, the court case was heard in front of an all Sinhalese speaking jury. More than 30 eye witnesses came from Batticalao along with coroner who conducted most of the autopsies and the presiding regional judge. Eye witness accounts from dead persons were also allowed to be read in the case. After an extensive hearing the case went before the jury. The jury found the soldiers not guilty. The Judge requested the Jury to reconsider the verdict but the jury found the accused soldiers not guilty again.

Controversy over acquittal

A Human Rights agencies such as UTHR and relatives of massacre victims expressed shock after 18 soldiers accused in the Mylanthanai case were released on November 27, 2003, when the jury returned a "not guilty" verdict. The UTHR also expressed fear that the case will encourage impunity among the security forces.

According to Northeastern Herald the Attorney General refused to appeal the case citing convention although the constitution had provided for such appeals

Resettlement of internally displaced

Internally displaced people from the village of Mylanthanai and UNHCR officials have had requested local military authorities for permission to resettle that has been refused thus far.

File:Human Rights Watch banner.gifMassacres and disappearances in the Eastern Province

Batticaloa district forms part of the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. Within the Batticaloa district, during the late 1980s and early 1990s a total of 1,100 civilians were disappeared and assumed killed. ,

See also

Some of the notable massacres are .

• Akkaraipattu on 19 February 19860
• Kokkadichcholai on 28 Jan 1987
• Eastern University on 5 September 1990
• Batticaloa on 9 September 1990
• Kokkadichcholai on 12 June 1991
• Mylanthanai on 20 August 1992
• Kumarapuram on 11 February 1996
• Tampalakamam on 1 February 1998

References

1. "Mylanthanai case". BBC. Retrieved 2006-01-08.
2. ^ "Jury finds Mylanthanai massacre accused not guilty". Sri Lanka Monitor. Retrieved 2006-01-06.
3. "Mylanthanai massacre case goes before a jury". Tamilnet. Retrieved 2006-01-07.
4. "Human Rights accountability, first". UTHR. Retrieved 2006-01-07.
5. "Mylanthanai case". BBC. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
6. "Woman witness gives evidence". Tamilnet. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
7. "AG refuses to appeal the verdict". Northeastern Herald. Retrieved 2006-01-07.
8. "Resettlement". The British Refugee Council. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
9. "Graveyard for Disappeared Persons – Statistic for Batticaloa district".
10. "HRW report - Sri Lanka". HRW. Retrieved 2007-02-02.

External link

• Mylanthanai massacre commerated
• Mylanthanai refugees eager to resettle

• Political repression
• History of Sri Lanka
• Politics of Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan Tamil history
• Tamil Eelam
• War crimes in Sri Lanka
• Civilian massacres in Sri Lanka