During the
Sri Lankan Civil War militant groups, paramilitary groups and government security forces were accused of
assassinating many
public figure
A public figure is a person who has achieved notoriety, prominence or fame within a society, whether through achievement, luck, action, or in some cases through no purposeful action of their own,
In the context of defamation actions (libel and ...
s on suspicion of being sympathizers or informants, in retaliation for killings and attacks, to eliminate competition from rival groups, or to stifle dissent. The following is a list of notable assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil War, attributed by various self-admissions,
NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s,
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
agencies, foreign governments, and the state-owned media of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Background
The
Sri Lankan Civil War was in a conflict on the
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
-nation of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. Between 1983 and 2009 there was an intermittent
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, predominantly between the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
(LTTE), a
separatist militant organisation who during this time fought for the creation of an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
state named
Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam ( ta, தமிழீழம், ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora as ...
in the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
of the island. The
UN has estimated that up to 100,000 people (combatants and civilians) may have been killed during the 26 years of fighting.
The civil war has caused significant harm to the population and
economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
of the country, as well as leading to the ban of the LTTE as a
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
organisation in 32 countries including the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the countries of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The war ended in May 2009 when the Sri Lankan military defeated the LTTE. Numerous
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
violations have been committed by both the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE, including the assassination of individuals by both sides. A majority of the notable figures on this list were members of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, and in many instances were allegedly assassinated by the LTTE for taking moderate political stances, or for rejecting militant action and attempting to engage in the democratic process in Sri Lanka.
Assassinations
Heads of state and government
Ministers
Members of Sri Lankan parliament
Provincial councillors
Local councillors
Other politicians
Military officers
Police officers
Civil servants
Journalists
Academics
Religious figures
Militants
Others
Attempted assassinations
Heads of state and government
Ministers
Public officials
Military officers
Diplomats
See also
*
List of assassinations of the Second JVP Insurrection
The following is a list of notable assassinations of the 1987–89 JVP Insurrection, Second JVP Insurrection, most of which were carried out by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or by government security forces.
Politicians
JVP leaders
Journalis ...
*
List of attacks attributed to the LTTE
The following is a list of chronological attacks attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers. The attacks include massacres, bombings, robberies, ethnic cleansing, military battles and assassin ...
*
List of attacks attributed to the Sri Lankan military
The following is a list of attacks on civilians attributed to armed groups under the control of the Sri Lankan government - Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, state organised mobs and paramilitary groups ( Home Guards/Civil Defence Force, EPDP, PLOT ...
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Assassinations Of The Sri Lankan Civil War
Assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil war
Assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil war
Sri Lankan Civil War, Notable assassinations of the
Sri Lankan Civil War, Notable Attempted assassinations of the
Assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil war
Sri Lankan Civil War-related lists
Sri Lankan Civil War casualties
Assassinations of the Civil War