LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                16. June 1997

SPECIAL PRESS RELEASE
                                           
FEARS FOR SCHOOLGIRLS DETAINED BY SINHALA POLICE
	Dozens of Tamil schoolgirls from Batticaloa have been arrested by
	Sinhala police during an inter-school sports competition held in
	Trincomalee. The Tamil girls - from Paduvankarai - arrived in
	Trincomalee for the competition but were rounded up and taken
	into custody by the all-Sinhala police force. The parents of the
	girls are increasingly anxious about their children's fate at the
	hands of Trincomalee's Sinhala officials, who are notorious for
	ill-treatment and sexual abuse of Tamil females.
	
TAMILS STRANDED IN SINHALA AREAS
	A large number of Tamil youths arrested by military officials in
	Jaffna are being taken in ships and planes to Sinhala districts
	like Anuradhapura and Kalutara where they are put before Sinhala
	magistrates. While Jaffna has its own magistrates, Sinhala
	military officials in the peninsula prefer to subject their
	victims to this procedure. Once the Tamils arrive in these
	Sinhala areas, they can expect even harsher treatment even though
	they are not typically guilty of any crime. The few who are not
	framed with any charges suffer just as bad. No arrangements are
	made to return them to their homes in the peninsula and they are
	left to fend for themselves in these Sinhala districts without
	shelter or money. Commonly, these youths are again arrested by
	local Sinhala police either for vagrancy or as suspected
	"terrorists".
	
TAMILS MURDERED BY BATTICALOA POLICE
	One young Tamil civilian has been killed and three have
	disappeared at the hands of Sinhala police and pro-government
	Tamil terror-squads in Batticaloa during the last week. Palipody
	Sundarmoorthy (18) was found murdered while Velmurugu Rajmohan
	(18), Sinnathamby Thadchanamoorthy (24) and Kandia Pavendirarajah
	(22) are still missing after being arrested in Santhiveli. Fears
	are growing for their safety. There is no let-up in the scale of
	extra-judicial killings of Tamils by Sinhala armed personnel in
	Tamil areas occupied by the all-Sinhala Sri Lankan army.
	
ODDUSUDDAN SHELLED AGAIN
	Sinhala armed forces in Nedunkerni on Saturday shelled the Tamil
	town of Oddusuddan. Residential areas were again targeted even
	though most of the town has already been flattened by shelling in
	the last few weeks. There are some casualties but full details
	are not known.
	
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)