The 2006 Trincomalee Massacre of NGO Workers, also known as the Muttur Massacre, took place on 4 or 5 August 2006, when 17 employees of the French INGO

Action Against Hunger Action Against Hunger (french: Action Contre La Faim - ACF) is a global humanitarian organization which originated in France and is committed to ending world hunger. The organization helps malnourished children and provides communities with acce ...

(known internationally as , or ''ACF'') were shot at close range in the city of Muttur,

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 ...

, close to

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

. The victims included sixteen 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 ...

s and one Sri Lankan Muslim.

Incident

The bodies were discovered after the town of Muttur had come under the control of the government forces. There was fierce fighting between government forces and rebel

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

forces the previous week prior to the discovery of the bodies.

Reactions

SLMM

The Sri Lankan government denied responsibility but the

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was a multinational body that existed from 2002 to 2008 to monitor the ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also known as the ''Tamil Tigers'') during ...

suspected that the

Sri Lankan Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

was responsible for the killings. According to the

SLMM The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was a multinational body that existed from 2002 to 2008 to monitor the ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also known as the ''Tamil Tigers'') during ...

, " ... tis convinced that there cannot be any other armed groups than the security forces who could actually have been behind the act". The outgoing head of the Mission, the retired Swedish Colonel

Ulf Henricsson Senior Colonel Ulf Hugo Henricsson (born 1February 1942) is a former Swedish officer. He is best known for his achievements in the Bosnian War as commander of the peacekeeping operations from September 1993 to April 1994. There he commanded the ...

, said that this was "one of the most serious recent crimes against humanitarian aid workers worldwide".

Action Against Hunger

, the

non-governmental organization 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 ...

(NGO) for whom the victims worked, termed it a war crime.

Investigation

In September 2006, under increasing pressure from the international community to investigate this incident, Sri Lanka President

Mahinda Rajapakse Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

announced the formation of a Commission of Inquiry with a mandate to look into 15 specified alleged violations, including the Muttur massacre of ACF staff. With the dubious track record of previous Commissions of Inquiry in mind, a group of bilateral donors negotiated for the formation of a group of International Independent Eminent Persons ( IIGEP) that, invited by the president, have the mandate to observe the investigations of the Commission of Inquiry. Australia nominated an Eminent Person (EP).

UTHR Report

On 1 April 2008, the organisation University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), which is run by former teachers at the

University of Jaffna The University of Jaffna ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், translit=Yāḻppāṇap Palkalaikkaḻakam; si, යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ''Yāpanaya Viśvavidyālaya''; ...

known to be openly critical both of the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lankareleased their "Special Report #30", which exclusively deals with the massacre of ACF staff. UTHR names one member of the Sri Lankan Home Guardnow the Civil Defence Forceand two Police Constables based in the Muthur Police Station as perpetrators, but adds that several Sri Lanka Navy Special Forces were part of the group that entered the ACF compound and remained passive as the ACF staff were murdered.Report details S.Lanka aid massacre, blames forces
/ref>

References

External links

BBC report on the murder of fishermen

BBC, Military killed aid staff

ICJ report on Muttur massacre

IIEG public statement 2007

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trincomalee massacre of NGO workers 2006 crimes in Sri Lanka Attacks on civilians attributed to the Sri Lanka Civil Security Force Attacks on civilians attributed to the Sri Lanka Police Massacres in Sri Lanka Mass murder in 2006 Mass murder of Sri Lankan Muslims Mass murder of Sri Lankan Tamils People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan government forces attacks in Eelam War IV August 2006 events in Asia Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 2006