Families seek justice on 10th anniversary of the killing of five Tamil students

On the 10th anniversary of the extrajudicial killing of five Tamil students in Trincomalee on 2 January 2006, the families of the youth request the Government to bring the culprits to justice.

Dr. Kasippillai Manoharan, a father of one of the murdered students, has issued a joint statement with Amnesty International requesting the Government to conduct an unbiased probe into the killing and deliver justice to the victims.

The killing of the five Tamil students took place on 2 January 2006 when they were playing in the beach. The students were detained briefly and then shot to death.

Four of the students were vying for university entrance while the other had already been selected to the University of Moratuwa.

The authorities claimed the students were LTTE terrorists and they were ready to lob a grenade. However, further investigations have revealed that the students were shot in the execution style.

The murders and subsequent efforts to cover up the involvement of security forces have drawn a huge outcry from international Human Rights groups as well as the local groups and the families of the victims.

Dr. Manoharan appealed to international rights groups including the UN Human Rights Commission to investigate the crime and to provide justice to his son and other victims.

“I will never stop seeking justice for my son,” Dr. Manoharan told BBC participating in a discussion with the Amnesty International.

In 2013, 13 Special Task Force (STF) personnel including an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) attached to the Trincomalee Police were arrested and remanded by the Trincomalee Magistrate. However, they were granted bail few months later in October 2013.