LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                05. April 1997


PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

CHILDREN BECOME NEW TARGETS OF MILITARY
        Sri Lanka's military forces occupying Jaffna are regularly
        interfering with children on their way to school and subjecting
        them to interrogations. School-bound children are singled out by
        soldiers and then taken away to cells without even the presence
        of adults they know. It is a frightening ordeal for these
        youngsters many of whom are now afraid to make the journey to
        school. Children are also included in the army's regular round-up
        operations in Jaffna, held daily now in two to three places at
        once. The Sri Lankan military has no regard for the stress this
        is engendering in the young. Round-ups, interrogations and
        intimidation have become a way of life for the new generation of
        Tamils who find themselves at the mercy of Sinhala troops.

PROPAGANDA CLASSES ANGER TAMIL PARENTS
        Tamil parents are angered by the pro-government lectures which
        are taking precedence over normal education in Jaffna schools.
        The infamous government-backed Tamil groups - who are already
        despised by the Tamil population for their collusion with
        military forces - routinely storm into classrooms all over Jaffna
        and try to indoctrinate children at the expense of their proper
        studies. Parents are perturbed by this violation of their
        children's education but are powerless to intervene.

PUTTALAM UNDERGOES ALL-DAY TRAUMA
        A Tamil village in Puttalam was subjected to a day-long round-up
        by Sinhala armed forces last Saturday. Residents of Udappu were
        forced to stand without respite in the Kaliamman temple grounds
        from early morning till late evening. As usual they were paraded
        before masked 'informers' who picked out individuals for arrest.
        
        It seems odd that such flagrant abuses of Tamils' human rights -
        occurring on a daily basis - rarely find their way onto
        Colombo-based journalists' reports. Perhaps these incidents are
        deemed not significant enough to highlight or investigate. Given
        the consistency and magnitude of this avoidance, it may not be
        entirely co-incidental that most such journalists are ethnically
        Sinhalese.

MANY ARRESTED IN 5-HOUR LONG ARMY ROUND-UP IN THE EAST
        At least 20 young Tamils (male and female) have been taken away
        in trucks by Sri Lankan armed forces during a 5-hour round-up of
        four Tamil villages adjoining Batticaloa town. Troops amassed in
        Puthur, Sethukkanda, Veehukalmunai and Imalithivu at 5 AM
        storming people's homes and forcing them out into the streets. A
        gruelling public interrogation ensued which terrorised the local
        people. The 20 youngsters taken away have not been seen since.
        
        Those arrested are known not to be guilty of anything. The reason
        they are taken is to intimidate others. That is why in every
        round-up a token number of young people are assaulted and taken
        away. After arrest, there is no hope of these people receiving
        even rudimentary justice. Those unfortunate enough to be singled
        out thereafter become exclusively reliant upon the mercy of the
        Sri Lankan military. There is no political authority to which the
        military has to answer in occupied parts. Indeed, the military
        has a free reign in these areas rendering the Tamil population
        totally vulnerable to assault, harassment, rape, abduction,
        torture and murder, evidence of which is well-documented.

30 CIVILIANS ARRESTED IN JAFFNA PENINSULA 
        30 Tamil men and women have been arrested by Sinhala armed forces
        in Point Pedro. The young civilians were watching a video in a
        house when soldiers broke in and tied them up with their own
        clothing. They were then beaten up before 30 of them were taken
        away. None of those taken have been released.

ARMY COMMANDER IMPOSES SINHALA-ONLY POLICIES ON BATTICALOA 
        The army commander in command of occupied Batticaloa, Sarath
        Munasinghe, has issued a new directive to Tamil inhabitants -
        they must change their vehicle number-plates to Sinhala script.
        The Sri Lankan army is 100% Sinhalese. This new rule is further
        evidence of the Sinhalisation of traditional Tamil areas being
        orchestrated by occupying forces.

TAMILS ORDERED TO SURRENDER I.D. AT VAHARAI BORDER 
        Sri Lankan military officials at the border to LTTE-run Vaharai
        are forcing Tamil travellers to surrender all identity papers
        before returning to Vaharai. The practice is intended to restrict
        Tamils from travelling in and out of LTTE areas.
        
        TAMIL GIRL DIES IN EXPLOSION A 7-year old Tamil girl, Sreetharan
        Thilani, died when she accidentally picked up a grenade left by
        the Sri Lankan army in Kopay. The grenade exploded when she threw
        it into a fire. Three other children (including her brother and
        sister) were badly injured in the blast.   

Political Committee,
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

(English translation of the LTTE statement released by
LTTE International Secretariat, 211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU,
United Kingdom. Tel:0181- 503 4294 / Fax: 0181-470 8593)