LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                18. March 1997


PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

PARENTS SEE MURDERED TAMIL GIRLS
        The bodies of two Tamil girls - Sujitha and Jeysutha - found dead
        on a Vavuniya roadside near an army camp have been issued to
        their parents to perform last rites. Both the girls were inmates
        of the Vavuniya detention centres operated by the Sri Lankan
        military. Like the other inmates, Sujitha and Jeysutha were
        travellers from the north trying to cross to other parts of the
        island. Tens of thousands of such Tamil travellers have been
        detained for months in what are (according to all independent
        accounts) scandalous and inhumane conditions. Sujitha and
        Jeysutha had been on their way to Colombo, where their parents
        live. Soldiers had taken them away from the camp earlier and the
        girls were only seen again as corpses dumped on the roadside. Sri
        Lankan soldiers sometimes employ this 'dumping' tactic to
        intimidate local Tamil people.

TAMILS STAY LOCKED UP AT HOME AFTER 7
        Owing to the harshness of Sri Lankan military rule in occupied
        territories Tamils in Batticaloa are choosing not to venture
        outside their homes after 7 pm. The risk of being harassed by Sri
        Lankan army personnel is today so pronounced that people are not
        willing to take the risk of being seen outside. Many incidents
        have lately been reported of arbitrary killings of Tamil
        civilians at random by Sinhala soldiers. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan
        airforce personnel from the outskirts of Batticaloa town have
        ordered residents of Putur, Thimilathivu, Valaieravu and
        Thiruperumathurai not to go out after 6 pm.

HOSPITAL VACANCIES IN TAMIL AREAS NOT FILLED
        Sri Lanka has made no effort to recruit staff to hospitals in the
        northeast Tamil region. Although the government is required by
        law to supply all the island's regions with adequate medical
        facilities - and though the money exists to do so - the Tamil
        regions have been left without proper medical services for years.
        The medical officer in charge of Mankulam hospital has just
        reported that the hospital has run out of all vital drugs and
        injections. By contrast, hospitals in Sinhala areas are all
        adequately supplied with their full quota of medical personnel
        and equipment. The government's discriminatory attitude towards
        Tamils and Sinhalese in this vital regard exposes quite clearly
        that this is a 'Sinhala' government by no means ethnically
        neutral. It also reaffirms Tamils' urgent need to attain their
        right of self-determination to deliver themselves from a
        government that is willing to deny them basic in order to
        "liberate" them. Following is a list of the hospital vacancies in
        Tamil areas which have not been filled by the government:

POST                            UNFILLED VACANCIES

FAMILY HEALTH CONSULTANT           533
GENERAL HEALTH INSPECTORS          209
FAMILY HEALTH ATTENDANTS           155
ASSISTANT MEDICAL DIRECTORS         58
MEDICAL ASSISTANTS                  96
SPECIAL GRADE DOCTORS               43
FIRST AND SECOND GRADE DOCTORS     149
SPECIAL GRADE LABORATORY TECHS.     36
MEDICAL LABOURERS                  552

	
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)