Black July: A Tamil Genocide
The 1983 Anti-Tamil pogroms in Sri Lanka, commonly referred to as Black July, was a brutal state-sponsored genocide lasting from July 23rd to July 30th. Armed with voter registration lists, provided by the Government, Sinhalese mobs took at least 3,000 Tamils lives, destroyed 18,000 homes, destroyed 5,000 businesses, and displaced 90,000-150,000 Tamils. Many Tamil women were raped and many families were burned alive. It also prompted the first large exodus of Tamils: 500,000 fled the island, giving seed to a global Tamil diaspora. The events resulted in US $300 million in property damage.
The following is a collection of our efforts to remember the massacre, redefine our history, and uncover the truth.
The Months Preceding Black July
An often repeated myth is that the 1983 Black July pogroms, were a response to the killing of 13 soldiers by the LTTE on July 23, 1983. This is false. Violence from state actors had been increasing in the months ahead of Black July. Tamils were being killed at will. Human rights activists, political activists and militants were being detained and tortured. Local newspapers, including the Saturday Review, documented the violence.
This information was collected from Noolaham.org and Sangam.org who have archived many, many documents that are impossible to find otherwise, including copies of the Saturday Review.
April 1983: Torture of the Gandhiyam Movement
SA David and Dr Rajasundaram of the Gandhiyam Movement were arrested and held. They were severely tortured throughout. The Gandhiyam Movement was a non-violent movement, which assisted refugees, by setting up farms and distributing food.
April 1983: 35 injuries found of Tamil detainee
An inquest into the April 10 death of a Tamil detainee at the Gurunagar army camp found 35 injuries. Navaratnarajah, 28, of Kiliveddy, Trincomalee was detained two weeks prior, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
May 1983: Army Run Amok
After a call for a boycott of the May 18 local elections by the LTTE, a shoot out killed one army corporal. Later that day the army went on a rampage, leaving Jaffna in flames. Sinhala soldiers burnt homes, shops and vehicles, while looting and robbing.
May to June 1983: Increasing Discrimination of Tamils
In the south of the island, Tamils were facing increasing discrimination, harassment and violence, including at universities, hospitals and government offices. See articles in the Saturday Review from 21.05. and 04.06.1983.
May 1983: Brutal Killing of Sabaratnam Palanivel
On 30.05.1983, Sabaratnam Palanivel from Valvettithurai was dragged into the towns army camp and killed. As his relatives watched, a truck was driven over his dead body by a soldier, flattening his body.
May 1983: Tamil Killings in Army Custody
Meanwhile, verdicts of homicide were returned in two separate judicial inquiries into Tamil deaths in military custody. Kathirgamathamby Navaratnarajah (28, Kiliveddy - as above) and Ratnasingham Sriskandarajah (25, Karainagar) were both killed in army custody.
June 1983: Armed Forces Attack Gandhiyam Farm
On 01.06.1983, after two Sri Lankan Air Force men were killed in a Tamil ambush in Vavuniya, military personnel went "berserk", burning buildings and attacking Tamils. Gandhiyam's offices and farm were also attacked.
June 1983: Disposal Of Dead Bodies Without Inquiry
On 03.06.1983 emergency regulations were gazetted which permitted the disposal of dead bodies by armed forces without a judicial inquest and a post-mortem. The regulations came into effect soon after judicial inquiries found the army to have killed Tamil men in Jaffna.
June 1983: Intensifying Anti-Tamil Violence
Throughout June, racist violence occurred all over the island. Dozens of Tamils died. The army killed and refused to hand over the bodies of several Tamil youths in Jaffna. In Trincomalee homes and businesses were burned. Bombs were thrown at Sampanthan's house during curfew.
June 1983: More Tamils Killed Across Island
More Tamils were killed, including in Trinco, Jaffna, Negombo, Ratmalana and Kurunegala. Tamil businesses were being attacked, including a garment factory in Kurunegala. Harassment of Tamil students at universities also continued. Under the new regulations, no inquests were held
July 1983: Press Censorship
On 01.07.1983 the government banned the publication of Saturday Review and Suthanthiran, the two main papers reporting and printing in Jaffna. Information beyond this point was largely reported in diaspora media, as strict censorship was imposed. The last issue before Black July.
On July 20th, days prior to the violence of #BlackJuly, the Sri Lankan government imposed local and foreign press censorship on all news related to national security, law, and order. See the excerpt from The London Times dated 21.07.1983.
July 1983: Sexual Violence Against Tamils
Throughout July, violence increased further. On July 22, the army abducted three Tamil girls in Jaffna and took them to their camps. News spread that they were raped and one had killed herself.
July 1983: LTTE Attack in Thinnevely
On 23.07.1983 the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam conducted the most successful attack on the Sri Lankan military by the Tamil resistance movement till date. 13 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in an ambush in Thinnevely.
July 1983: Island-wide Anti-Tamil Violence
Violence against Tamils spread across the country. The premeditated violence caused over 3,000 Tamil deaths mostly in Colombo and in other Sinhala majority areas. The Tamil economy was destroyed. Over one hundred thousand were displaced with thousands fleeing abroad.
July to August 1983: The Outside World's Response
As the news of the pogroms reached the outside world, it became apparent that the violence occurred with support of the state and the security forces and was planned "well in advance".
Paul Seigart of the International Commission of Jurist in his report entitled, "Sri Lanka: A mounting tragedy of errors":
Clearly this (attack on July 1983) was not a spontaneous upsurge of communal hatred among the Sinhalese people - nor was it, as has been suggested in some quarters, a popular response to the killing of 13 soldiers in an ambush by Tamil Tigers on the previous day, which was not even reported in the newspapers until after the riots began. It was a series of deliberate acts executed in accordance with a concerted plan conceived and organised well in advance.
On August 4th, The London Times reported: "Sri Lanka Army personnel actively encouraged arson and the looting of Tamil business establishments and homes in Colombo. … Absolutely no action was taken to apprehend or prevent the criminal elements involved in these activities. In many instances army personnel participated in the looting of shops."
