Reverend Father Mariampillai Xavier Karunaratnam was a minority

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

, Roman Catholic parish priest and a human rights activist. He was the Chairperson of the

NESOHR The NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) was established on July 9, 2004, in Kilinochchi as part of the 2002 Norway-facilitated peace process to improve human rights in the north east of Sri Lanka. NESOHR functioned in the Tamil areas unti ...

and was killed on 20 April 2008 allegedly by a

Deep Penetration Unit The Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) ( Sinhala: දිගු දුර විහිදුම් බලකාය ''Digu Dura Vihidum Balakaya'') (Tamil:ஆழ ஊடுருவித்தாக்கும் படையணி) is a cov ...

of the Sri Lankan Army .NESoHR Chairman Fr. Karunaratnam killed in DPU attack
/ref> In a press release,

condemned, "in the strongest possible terms", the Sri Lankan state for the assassination of Rev.Fr. Karunaratnam.

Biography

M. X. Karunaratnam was born in Jaffna. He was an officer with the Bank of Ceylon before he was ordained as a priest in 1989. Father Karunaratnam was founder and Chairman of

. He was also the Chairman of NGO Consortium of Jaffna. He was engaged in relief work for war displaced and worked in the tsunami relief.

Background

M. X. Karunaratnam was a priest of the Jaffna Diocese and served in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka and worked from the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

controlled parts of Sri Lanka. He worked for human rights and called on the United Nations and foreign human rights organisation to monitor the human rights situation in Sri Lanka . Earlier two other NESHOR members and Tamil National Alliance MPs

A. Chandranehru Ariyanayagam Chandranehru ( ta, அரியநாயகம் சந்திரநேரு; 15 October 1944 – 8 February 2005) was a Sri Lankan Tamil merchant seaman, politician and Member of Parliament. Early life and family Chandranehru ...

and Joseph Pararajasingham were killed. He was extremely critical of the Sri Lankan government.

Incident

He was killed in the Mallaavi-Vavunikku'lam Road in Vanni after he was returning from a Sunday mass and going to a remembrance ceremony for a Tamil National Alliance a pro

party MP Kiddinan Sivanesan who was also killed in a similar fashion. He was killed by a claymore mine blast carried out allegedly by a

(DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army. LTTE military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan stated that "He was targeted by the (government's Deep Penetration Unit) DPU while he was returning to his residence after attending to mass at Mankulam parish,". The Sri Lanka Army denied responsibility for the attack, with its Spokesman Brigadier

Udaya Nanayakkara Major General V. Udaya B. Nanayakkara, USP was a Sri Lanka Army officer and military engineer. The Chairman of the Ministry of Urban Development, he was the former Chief Field Engineer of the Sri Lanka Army, Brigade Commander 55-2 "Muhamale" Bri ...

stating "That area is under LTTE control, We do not operate that deep in to LTTE control area. We can't take any responsibility,".

Reaction

Rev Fr. Damian Fernando, National Director of Caritas Sri Lanka, said: National Peace Council of Sri Lanka has called his death Tamil National Alliance in a press statement said TNA condemns Father Karunaratnam slaying
/ref>

References

External links