''(During
1991) Hundreds of people were extra judicially executed and several hundred disappeared.
Torture
of detainees was common... In the east of the country suspected LTTE members were
seized, abducted and killed by men in plain clothes who were believed to be connected with
the security forces. Victims bodies were left in public places often in a
mutiliated state.
In April (1991) a number of headless bodies were found in Batticaloa: at least one was
accompanied by a notice claiming responsibility signed by the 'Black Cobras'. In
Trincomalee town dozens of abductions were carried out be unidentified men believed to be
associated with the army...Muslim Home Guards and armed members of Tamil groups opposed to
the LTTE who operated alongside government forces were also held responsible for
disappearance and other violations.
Subramaniam Ketheeswaran disappeared after he was taken from a refugee camp at
Bambalapitiya, Colombo in September by members of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party.
About ten days later he was taken to an army camp in Batticaloa and questioned about his
involvement with the LTTE..Detainees in the northeast were systematically tortured.
Victims were beaten, stabbed, burned and scalded, partailly buried or had nails driven
through the soles of their feet. Dozens of people reportedly died as a result,
reportedly in the east. - Amnesty International Annual Report 1992 for the period
January to December 1991
