From: amnesty@amnesty.oil.ca
Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 07:59:30 -0400
Message-Id: <200005191159.HAA29703@amnesty.oil.ca>
To: amnesty-L@oil.ca
Subject: SRI LANKA: Allegations of shootings at the scene of bomb blast
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* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
Amnesty International Public document
AI Index ASA 37/011/2000
News Service Nr. 94
19 May 2000

Sri Lanka

Allegations of shootings at the scene of bomb blast

The precise circumstances of Wednesday's bomb attack which killed 29
people, including 22 civilians, in Batticaloa town in eastern Sri Lanka
remain sketchy as witnesses have alleged that members of the security
forces opened fire after the bomb exploded, killing and injuring people,
Amnesty International said today.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing which also injured 90
people, 64 of them civilians. The majority of the victims were members
of the Tamil community who were gathered at a Buddhist temple to watch
the celebration marking of the Buddhist festival of Wesak. Several
children were among those killed.

The Sri Lankan authorities have blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) for the bombing and the deaths and have not made any known
reference to allegations that government security forces opened fire,
causing deaths and injuries themselves.

The bomb was reportedly concealed inside a freezer box for ice-creams
mounted on a bicycle. It was reported to have detonated after two
policemen and a soldier had stopped the cyclist -- who ran off -- to
check the contents of the box.

Amnesty International condemns the bomb blast in Batticaloa town, which
indiscriminately killed and injured civilians, and has called on
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to institute a full,
impartial inquiry into the causes and circumstances of the deaths. If
such an inquiry confirms that some people had been shot after the bomb
blast, and that they may have been victims of extrajudicial or
indiscriminate killing, those responsible should be identified and
brought to justice.

Amnesty International has appealed to the Sri Lankan armed forces and
the LTTE to protect the lives of civilians as fighting between the two
sides escalated in the Jaffna peninsula. The LTTE is fighting for an
independent state called Tamil Eelam in the north and east of the
country. In November 1999 it overran ten army camps in the Wanni area
and more recently in April 2000 it launched an offensive to oust the
army from Jaffna peninsula -- its former stronghold -- and regain
control of the area themselves.

ENDS.../
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
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