This week marks 39 years since 31 Eelam Tamil Fishermen were brutally killed by the Sri Lankan Navy, in what has been dubbed the Mandaitivu massacre
To date, no one has been held accountable for the murders.
Mandaitivu is an islet situated off the Jaffna peninsula and is connected to the city of Jaffna by means of a causeway. On 10 June 1986, Sri Lankan Navy personnel clad in black clothes approached a group of fishermen who were in the sea. The fishermen raised their hands to show they were civilians.
The Navy however began to attack the fishermen and destroying their boats and nets. All of the fishermen were tortured and brutally murdered. The eyes of some fishermen were gouged out. Stomachs of some were cut open.
In all, 32 fishermen from Gurunagar and one from Mandaitivu village were killed by the Navy. Only one of them managed to survive. The fishermen who were massacred were aged between 13 and 62.
According to the medical evidence led at the inquest, all the fishermen had died of multiple injuries to various parts of their anatomy due to machine gunfire.
