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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EXCITE" data-source="post: 17418508" data-attributes="member: 517400">“Twelve of Yours for One of ours!” – JVP’s Fatal Blunder The JVP knew at once that they had made an irrevocable and fatal   mistake. No sooner had they issued death threats to the families of the   servicemen, posters appeared all over the country announcing, “Ape ekata thope dolahak!” (“Twelve of yours for one of ours!) The dirty war against the JVP would be even dirtier. <img src="http://www.thesundayleader.lk/archive/20040328/images/issuespic-1doc-1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Death threat posters sent out by the JVP A vigilante group called the Deshapremi Sinhala Tharuna Peramuna   (Patriotic Sinhala Youth Front) under whose auspices the ‘12 for 1’   posters appeared, circulated a note to the families of JVP activists   that read: “Dear Father/Mother/Sister, We know that your son/brother/husband is engaged in brutal murder   under the pretence of patriotism. Your son/brother/husband, the   so-called patriot, has cruelly taken the lives of mothers like you, of   sisters, of innocent little children. In addition he has started killing   the family members of the heroic Sinhalese soldiers who fought with  the  Tamil Tigers and sacrificed their lives, in order to protect the   motherland. “It is not amongst us, ourselves, the Sinhalese people, that your   son/brother/husband has launched the conflict in the name of patriotism?   Is it then right that you, the wife/mother/sister of this person who   engages in human murder of children should be free to live? Is it not   justified to put you to death? From this moment, you and all your family   members must be ready to die. May you attain Nirvana!” “Patriotic Sinhala Youth Front.” ‘In October 1989 after Capt T.E. Nagahawatte, the Assistant   Registra of the Peradeniya University and a volunteer soldier was   killed by two gunmen inside the University premises, eighteen heads were   found the next day were found the next day placed neatly around the   University pond. The headless corpses had been placed in various   postures in the vicinity. In the rest of the country, bodies kept   appearing by the dozen.’ [p. 296-7, SL:YOT] <a href="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/prra-victim-dec-1988.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/prra-victim-dec-1988.jpg?w=396&h=594" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a>Dead JVP suspect with note attached saying “this is the punishment for followers of JVP signed by the PRRA”, in Thihagoda. December 1988.(Photo by Robert Nickelsberg//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)  The State Strikes Back  The main weapons in the anti-JVP counter-insurgency were small teams   equipped with small arms, unmarked vans and led by young officers and   NCOs. Unlike the campaign against the LTTE, tanks, artillery, ground   attack aircraft and other heavy weapons and divisional-sized manoeuvres   were of no use in this dirty war. It was a hit-job,   killing-at-close-range, war. ‘Detachments were established in villages throughout Sri Lanka.  The  troops moved light, often out in tents in mini groups, all the  while.  It was imperative that the maximum number of troops did spend the   maximum time operating out in the field all the time. It was considered   a rare occurrence for everyone to be in a base. Troops were positioned   not only at snap road blocks but also undercover. Troops dominated the   terrain, by frequent incursions into the jungles and to the villages,   the road by road blocks, and the countryside by setting up ambushes.’ [p.331 SL:ALR] ‘When the JVP offensive escalated, the government forces,   particularly the paramilitary groups such as the PRRA (Peoples   Revolutionary Red Army), Shra, Black Cats, Yellow Cats, Scorpion, Eagle,   etc, went on killing extra-judicially. Reverse of fear psychosis was   induced – this appeared somewhat successful, but in the long run the JVP   capitalised on it by recruiting members from the families of the   victims.’ [p.295 SL: ALR] ‘Under the provisions of the state of Emergency, Sri Lankan   security forces were given ‘almost unlimited powers to combat the JVP,   including shooting suspects on sight and disposing of bodies without an   inquest. Under the <a href="http://www.hrsolidarity.net/mainfile.php/1998vol08no12/1859/" target="_blank">Indemnity Act of December 1998,</a>   [passed before the Presidential elections in the same month] security   personnel have been granted immunity from prosecution for any such   abuses committed.’ [p. 144, TSCSL]  Fighting Unconventionally – ‘Search, Interrogate, Destroy’ ‘There were a considerable percentage of suspects dying under   interrogation and many were executed too. In most (Army) camps if a   suspect was positively identified as a JVP activists, [sic] he or she   had no returns. If the arrest of these suspects were recorded the   circumstances under which death occurred was recorded as “killed in   action” (KIA). <a href="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/after-sla-arrest-apr-89.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/after-sla-arrest-apr-89.jpg?w=594&h=392" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a>Terrified women and children after Army took their husbands for interrogation after land mine blasts set by JVP. April 1989. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images) However most of those taken into custody particularly those   arrested on information given by activists in custody were not recorded.   Often bodies of those killed were either dumped in a river, buried in   the jungle and burnt in a tyre… to ensure rapid burning, a body was   dismembered and burnt.’ ‘To prevent identification some were left hacked, often with their   faces mutilated or decapitated. After a while troops became accustomed   to carrying out this kind of operation. They often used prisoners   awaiting execution to do the disfiguring or beheading at the point of a   gun. In some cases special units were formed particularly in the police   with men who had lost a family member, a relative or a friend at the   hands of the JVP. Such men had no “hang up of executing a man or a woman   who had killed their loved ones’. <a href="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/victim-killers-unknown-apr-89.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/victim-killers-unknown-apr-89.jpg?w=630" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a>Villagers looking at a victim killed by unknown groups. April 1989(Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Liaison) ‘Often to avoid legal implications the army and police worked in   close co-operation. Sometimes a security forces team would bring a group   of “sentenced” JVP activists to a point where the JVP had either burnt  a  bus or a post office. They would approach the site at night. If  there  are any houses with lights on, they would order those occupants  to  switch off their lights. Then they would throw the blind folded  gagged  men out of their vehicles and open fire on them. The team would  inform  the police the location of the execution either before or after  the  incident. By 6.00 a.m. the bodies would be brought to the police   mortuary for cremation or burial. Police did not allow such bodies to be   given back to the relatives. They were promptly disposed. Newspapers   and even politicians called these hit squads “the vigilantes”. ‘Often these squads, also known as “death or killer squads”   travelled at night – often in vehicles that had bogus number plates or   not have a number plate. They carried a different assortment of weapons   to prevent their true identification. They wore black overalls and were   often masked, or wore beards. Undoubtedly this was the most successful way of combating the JVP. No doubt this was illegal.   These hit teams were professional in their approach and rarely left  any  tracks. Often they were left with no alternative but to eliminate  those  taken into custody. Even if they proved innocent it was difficult  to  release an individual as the identity of the officers and men who   arrested and interrogated them would be known at least by face. In the   light of the threat to the families of the Forces personnel they had to   cover their tracks.’ <a href="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/jvp-supporters-killed-by-sla-dec-88.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/jvp-supporters-killed-by-sla-dec-88.jpg?w=530&h=354" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a>Bodies of JVP followers killed by the PRRA lie on the ground with posters tied around their necks in Tihagoda. The sign says, ”This is the punishment for followers of the JVP signed by the PRRA.”December 1989 (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Liaison) ‘Troops learnt by trial and error. The moment an arrest was made   the suspect was blind folded. This prevented the suspect from   identifying his or her captor and became disoriented. This helped a good   interrogator. The not so professional teams were death squads operated   by politicians. These teams were initially formed to protect the   politician but when the JVP threat could not be effectively thwarted by   the police and the army, they began to operate killing their opponents.   Not only did JVP activists die in this process but also supporters of   the SLFP, USA and even UNP supporters over personal feuds. The answer  to  human survival became a method of political survival. These were  some  of the implications of relaxing the law in times of fighting an unconventional war.’ [p. 332 – 333, SL:ALR] <a href="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/jvps-victim-burnt-apr-89.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://thecarthaginiansolution.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/jvps-victim-burnt-apr-89.jpg?w=392&h=594" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a>Body of victim killed by the JVP, burnt in a tyre to prevent identification. April 1989. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images) “From August 1989 onwards, reprisal killings against the JVP  became  a common feature. On any given day there were around 20 to 50  bodies  found dumped on the roadsides. Some of the most spectacular  killings  were reported from Kandy. In the Menikhinna-Kundasale area, <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1989-09-17/news/mn-501_1_sri-lanka" target="_blank">almost an entire village was wiped out</a> when 200 bodies were found after the families of three servicemen (sixteen people in all) had been hacked to death by the JVP.” [p. 296-97,  SL:YOT]</blockquote>

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