LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                08. May 1997
PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

'KNEEL DOWN AND WORSHIP US', POLICE TELL TAMILS
        Police in Trincomalee are forcing Tamil civilians passing through
        Thoppur to fall to their knees and worship them. This
        dehumanising ritual was imposed only hours after six Sri Lankan
        paramilitaries were killed by the LTTE a couple of weeks ago.
        Each Tamil passer-by must kneel down and worship at the spot
        where the paramilitaries died. Violators of this regulation -
        issued by the area's occupying Sinhala police - are severely
        punished. Since the spot is on a major road, many Tamils have no
        choice but to obey the order daily.
        
        In another retaliatory measure, police have cut food rations to
        the Tamils of Thoppur. Just half a kilo of rice is permitted to
        Tamil families, regardless of the family's size. This has plunged
        many Tamils into desperation.
        
        Meanwhile, some members of the international community continue
        to be swayed by Sri Lanka's rhetoric of liberating the Tamils.
        But the truth unfolding graphically on the ground in all
        army-occupied areas is that Tamils are being systematically
        discriminated against and persecuted.

TAMIL BOY SURVIVES SADISTIC TORTURE
        A 21-year old Tamil has revealed the extent of torture he
        suffered at the hands of Sri Lanka's forces occupying Jaffna.
        Thangavel Kunavel - of Manipay - was abducted 6 months ago and
        taken to the Anaikoddai army camp where for 50 days Sinhala
        soldiers tortured him incessantly. Every day - for hours - he was
        stretched out and beaten ferociously while made to remain in the
        same position. Later, blood was drawn from his body using a
        syringe. Finally, three fingers on his right hand were tied with
        cloth and soaked in petrol before being set alight. In January he
        was handed over to Kankesanthurai police who shipped him to
        Kalutura detention centre in the Sinhala south of the island,
        where he remains imprisoned.
        
        Torture of Tamils by Sri Lanka's armed forces can no longer be
        regarded as isolated incidents. These crimes - committed by an
        exclusively Sinhala army in historically Tamil areas - bear all
        the marks of a systematic policy aimed at terrorising the Tamil
        nation into accepting Sinhala military authority.

HOUSES AND HOSPITAL RUINED BY ARMY SHELLS
        Vaddakachi hospital and surrounding homes lie in ruins after ten
        days of non-stop shelling by Sri Lanka's forces at Elephant Pass.
        Most of the area's Tamil residents have now fled to join the
        ranks of hundreds of thousands of Tamils already displaced by Sri
        Lanka's military operations. It is pertinent to wonder how many
        more Tamil villages will be destroyed - and how many more
        refugees created - before Sri Lanka's genocidal tactics against
        the northeast Tamil nation are curbed.

ONE CIVILIAN KILLED, SIX INJURED IN ARMY AMBUSH         
        A Tamil was shot dead and six others were critically wounded when
        Sri Lankan forces ambushed a group of civilians in Uyilankulam
        (Mannar) on Tuesday. The group was travelling across 8th Mile
        Post Road to go shopping when Sinhala soldiers opened fire. The
        dead man is Ponniah Jesuthasan (29) from Nakathalvu.

Tamil civilians injured by Sri Lankan armed forces in this latest incident                      

        NO.    NAME OF TAMIL           AGE    SEX     ORIGIN  
        1.     S. Subramaniam          40     male    Adampan
        2.     Alan Rose               17     male    Palaikuli
        3.     S. Alvin                65     male    Palaikuli
        4.     Inparajah               27     male    Palaikuli
        5.     Kanakarajah             42     male    Palaikuli
        6.     Inpam Subramaniam       38     male    Palaikuli

MEDICAL STOCKS FINISHED - MANKULAM HOSPITAL
        Mankulam hospital's chief medical officer says medical stocks
        have run out and advises patients to buy them elsewhere. Pleas to
        the health ministry to restock supplies have fallen on deaf ears.
        Sri Lanka consistently denies adequate stocks to Tamil hospitals
        while Sinhala hospitals are amply provided for. Residents of
        Mankulam are suffering from many viral diseases - including
        typhoid and tuberculosis - due to persistent neglect and medical
        blockades enforced by Sri Lanka. The government's strategy is to
        stop government medical supplies reaching Tamil areas while
        simultaneously preventing Tamils from receiving any other help
        from outside the country. The intention is to cripple the Tamil
        people into surrendering to Sinhala military occupation.

GENERATOR DENIED TO AKKARAYAN HOSPITAL
        Sri Lanka has blocked transport of a much-needed electrical
        generator to the Akkarayan hospital. The generator can produce
        2.1 KW of electricity and was donated by FORUT. But military
        officers in Vavuniya have turned it away and are refusing to let
        it through to the Vanni. Akkarayan hospital has been in darkness
        for many years.

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)