List of names of LTTE men unaccounted for by the government

| by Our Colombo Correspondent Siva Sundaram

( June 10, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is over three years since the war with the LTTE came to an end and the government is still lagging behind on accountability issues of its forces in the war front. In the spectrum of issues involved on accountability, senior LTTE men surrendered to the army and taken away in a bus is still unaccounted for. Sketchy claims were now and then reported, but the government remain tight lipped by not revealing any information about these men held in captivity in a secret location or possibly most of them even meeting their ultimate fate in the military custody.

First ever news of the captive men came to the surface when the left wing minister in the government D E W Gunasekara publicly claimed that LTTE’s both Yogaratnam Yogi and Balakumaran were killed in the battle front, when there are ample witness account of them surrendering to the army. The minister is maintaining silence to the counter claim of their surrender to the army.

Witness account of the LTTE sports head Paapa being enlisted into the military intelligence service was published in the media. He was brought into the military payroll to identify the LTTE men and activists plying through Katunayake international airport. There are claims within the Tamil community that few other give-ups are playing the same role of working for the military intelligence service.

The list of names of all those surrendered to the army on 19 May 2009 in Vanni and taken away after security checks in a CTB bus has been published in the Tamil websites. The names are:

1. One of the commanding officer of Manalaru - Selvarasa

2. One of the commanding officer of Manalaru - Baskaran

3. Imran Unit special commander - Velavan

4. Commander - - Lawrence

5. Commander - Kumaran

6. LTTE’s military spokesperson - Ilanthirayan

7. One of the Batticaloa district commanders - Praba

8. Tamil Eelam political head - S Thangan

9. Head of Valaga division - Ruban

10. Head of Jewellery & precious metal - Babu

11. Head of Tamil Eelam Treasury - Veerathevan

12. Tamil Eelam Head of Sports - K Paapa

13. Tamil Eelam Asst. Head of Sports - Raja (Chembiyan) and his three children

14. Person attached to the Tamil Eelam

political Division - Kaanagan

15. Head of Education - V Ilankumaran and his wife Vettrilaichelvi and daughter

16. One of the Head of Education - Aruna

17. Leading figure of the LTTE - K Balakumar, his son and his assistant Iynkaran

18. Asst Head of Tamil Rehabiltation Organisation - S Neran

19. Head of Tamil Eelam Admin Service - Priyan and his family

20. Former head of Tamil Eelam Admin Service - V Poovannan

21. One other divisional head of Tamil Eelam Admin Service - Thangaiya

22. One other divisional head of Tamil Eelam Admin Service - Malaravan

23. One other divisional head of Tamil Eelam Admin Service - Bahirathan

24. Head of Tamil Eelam Transport - Kutty

25. Head of Tamil Arts and Culture - Puthuvai Rathinathurai

26. Political head of Trincomalee District - Elilan

27. Jaffna District Political head - Ilamparithy

28. Administrative head of Political Division - Vijitharan

29. One of the Commanders - Veeman

30. Head of Forestation - Sakthi & Family

31. Head of places Children - R Ravi

32. Mullivalaikotta Head of Political Division - Sanjay

33. Head of Judicial administration - Para

34. Head of Conflict Research Centre - Yogaratnam Yogi

35. One of the Ratha Airforce Heads - Kumaravel

36. Head of Medical division - Rekha

37. Instructing Commander of Manalaru - Sithirangan

38. One of the Head of Malathy military Unit - Sugi

39. One of the Commanders of Sea Tigers - Arunan

40. Member of the Medical Service - Manoj

41. Member of Finance Division - Lawrence Thilagar (Christy)

These captives are not receiving even the publicity given to the detainees at the Guantanamo Detention Camp.

Family members effort to trace the whereabouts of these men in the heavily constrained political and military culture in the island has not helped in any way. Some of the family members have bent down to the army for the release and having taken the rewards the army is still to provide news about their plight.

The family members are fearing to seek legal remedy due to the fear of hostile reaction from the military and intelligence service.