LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                13. June 1997

SPECIAL PRESS RELEASE
                                           
ARMY USES CIVILIANS AS HUMAN SHIELD
        The Sri Lankan army is using Tamil civilians as human shields in
        its war on the Tamils in the Northeast.  The armed forces in
        occupied Jaffna are forcing Tamil fishermen, their wives and
        children to sleep at night in army camps in Velanai in order to
        protect the Sinhala forces from any attacks by the LTTE.  Any
        family that refuses to comply with the order is denied the right
        to fish.
        
TAMIL NURSE FILES CASE FOR UNLAWFUL ARREST BY SINHALA FORCES
        A female Tamil nurse held in prison without charge has filed
        action for her release in a Colombo courts. The nurse -
        Thambiraja Jeyakumari - was arrested by Sinhala soldiers at
        Thandikulam while she was returning to her hospital in Mallavi
        (Vanni) for duty, after siting for the nurses examination in
        Vavuniya.  She was arrested on 29 January 1997 at the Thandikulam
        barrier and taken to Anuradapura prison on 03 May 1997.

MORE TAMILS JOIN THE LTTE
        Tamil youth who recently joined the ranks of the LTTE have said
        they will not fail in their duty to protect the Tamil people from
        the invading Sinhala forces. They said the ruthless invaders are
        all out to enslave the Tamils and it will be a shame if we
        passively watch the proceedings without doing anything else about
        it.
	
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)