LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                03. March 1997


PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

SRI LANKA CREATES DRUG-DEPENDENCY AMONG TAMILS
	Many of  the thousands of Tamil travellers imprisoned in
	Vavuniya's army detention camps are being coerced by Sri Lankan
	forces into taking hard drugs. The military's sudden
	encouragement of drug-taking among the inmates of these camps -
	particularly the young - is intended to demoralise them and sap
	their energies while creating a generation which is dependent on
	the Sinhala forces to supply their habit. The "Goods Shed"
	detention centre (Vavuniya) is a case in point where young girls
	and boys can be seen heavily under the influence of narcotics. It
	is a tragic sight which shows just how far the government is
	willing to hurt the Tamils in order to rule them. The detainees
	have committed no crime yet for months have been cramped in
	inhuman conditions to stop them travelling to other parts of the
	island. The Sri Lankan government and media ignores their plight
	even though women, elderly people and children are experiencing
	the most appalling conditions. The relevant international bodies
	have done nothing to highlight the crisis nor applied any
	meaningful pressure on Sri Lanka though officials have been aware
	of the scale of the humanitarian disaster for a long time. Sri
	Lanka has used this inaction to push its repression of the Tamil
	population to new extremes.

4000 TAMILS DETAINED AT TRINCOMALEE
	Over 4000 Tamils are being detained in military camps in the
	eastern port city of Trincomalee. They are travellers who were
	formerly detained at Vavuniya and only allowed out of those camps
	on condition that they go to Trincomalee and board the ship to
	Jaffna. The government media is keen to show that a steady stream
	of Tamils is flowing voluntarily to army-occupied Jaffna but in
	reality these Tamil people are faced with only two choices - stay
	in the appalling Vavuniya camps or agree to be taken to army-held
	Jaffna. At least 4000 of them are now stuck in similar camps in
	Trincomalee where they are being individually 'screened' by
	Sinhala armed soldiers.

MILITARY OPERATIONS TIMED TO DESTROY CROPS
	It is apparent that Sri Lankan military operations these days are
	timed to cause as much damage to Tamil crops as possible.
	Operation Edibala destroyed 12,500 acres of the finest paddy
	lands while military operations in Batticaloa are geared towards
	the same end, causing deep anguish among farmers. What is beyond
	doubt is that Sri Lanka's military policy is directed not at the
	LTTE in particular but at crippling the Tamil nation in general,
	for as long as the international community is prepared to
	tolerate it. Meanwhile in Pooneryn, which became free last year
	after 5 years of military occupation, the harvest was good. Much
	army-ravaged land has been restored by local cultivators giving
	residents of the area some respite.

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)