LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                11. March 1997


PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

SRI LANKA CONTRAVENES HUMANITARIAN LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT
        The Sri Lankan government has left half a million displaced
        Tamils in the Vanni without food for nearly two months in what is
        a blatant contravention of international humanitarian law.
        International relief agencies including UNHCR and the
        International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have not yet
        raised this matter to the wider international community. Military
        authorities at Thandikulam barrier - the only entrance point for
        food to the Vanni region - are not allowing any dry rations
        through to the hundreds of thousands of Tamils who have been
        displaced by successive Sri Lankan military operations. A
        dangerous and unprecedented situation is developing. Thousands of
        Tamils are literally on the verge of starvation. In the month of
        January a trickle of food was permitted into Vanni but even this
        fell 200 lorries short of the minimum requirement estimated by
        the ministry for rehabilitation. Since February, however, not a
        single lorry containing food for the displaced has crossed the
        Thandikulam checkpoint. With more Sri Lankan military operations
        imminent the displaced civilian population is expected to rise
        further, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Independent
        journalists are prevented from entering these areas which has
        effectively stopped the international community becoming alerted.

FRACTION OF MEDICAL REQUIREMENT SENT TO VANNI
        The medical requirements of the Tamil Vanni region are being
        deliberately ignored by the Sri Lankan government which imposes a
        medical embargo on Tamil areas not under its military control.
        The first quarter's consignment of drugs and medicines to Vanni
        hospitals, doctors say, amounts to a "fraction" of the needed
        amount. This proves once more that Sri Lanka is using medicines
        as a weapon of war against ordinary Tamil men, women and
        children. It is also a clear violation of the humanitarian law of
        armed conflict making it the moral duty of international relief
        agencies operating in Sri Lanka to highlight these matters
        internationally.

ARMY SHELLS RAIN DOWN ON TAMIL VILLAGES
        Tamil villages neighbouring the Elephant Pass army camp have been
        on tenterhooks for the past 48 hours while awkwardly-timed
        shell-fire has rained down on them. Conditions are insufferable
        for the Tamil residents who have been unable to get a moment's
        relief from anxiety. The shells can come at any time - midnight,
        noon, late evening - engendering a state of permanent
        apprehension in the civilian population, particularly among
        younger children. Even if they escape being hit by the shells,
        life for these residents has become intolerable.

JAFFNA - SITUATION REPORT
        The government has tightened import controls on goods coming to
        the peninsula through the private sector. Meanwhile the tiny
        quantities of food which arrive on government ships find their
        way onto the black market through the machinations of corrupt
        Sinhala military officials. There are no signs at all of a civil
        administration emerging in occupied Jaffna with most Tamil people
        remaining destitute.

LTTE OPENS NUTRITIONAL CENTRE FOR THE MOST NEEDY
        The LTTE administration with the help of the Mankulam Development
        Society has set up a welfare centre operating a free nutritional
        service for pregnant mothers and under-5s. The project is
        intended to help alleviate the nutritional defects engendered by
        Sri Lanka's long-time embargo on food and medicine to the Vanni
        region. 

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)