To the enemies who are supporting and defending terrorists

Innocent citizens of our country have been subjected to cowardly killings by cruel terrorists for three decades. These terrorists who have cut up and killed innocent children, pregnant mothers, farmers and other innocents, and are today on the verge of being defeated by the heroic forces, are resorting to exploding bombs and planning to do so, to kill innocent civilians in several places.

Thousands of innocent civilians have up to date been caught up in the cruel terrorists bombings and been killed. Thousands have also lost their limbs and eyesight. There is no one to speak up for their fundamental rights or take up their cause.

While that remains a fact, the minute these brutal terrorists who planned and executed the above mentioned attacks are arrested we are aware that there are “traitors to our race”( jathidrohi) who come forward to defend their fundamental rights and to speak up for them.

Aren’t those who attempt to free the arrested terrorists who kill unarmed, innocent civilians by the hundreds of” traitors to our country” ( desha drohi). We have in our possession the names and addresses of these people who trample underfoot the nation, who are the enemies of our beloved motherland and innocent people and who have betrayed their profession for the payments and bribes they receive amounting to lakhs.

We have determined, in the name of our motherland, to mete out appropriate punishment to all those who defend and speak for the cowardly terrorists who are attempting to break up our motherland and kill innocent people. Even today, there is room for these unpatriotic persons, who have for money, betrayed their race and been involved in unpatriotic activities. In future, we shall not hesitate to subject any unpatriotic person who “appears” (peni sitina) for a terrorist to the same treatment that the terrorists have inflicted on our innocent civilians.

The unpatriotic who support terrorists

Recall the faces and bodies of the innocents who died, lost their limbs and vision at the hands of the terrorists! Be aware that we will reduce you to that same state in the name of the race!

On behalf of those who died and have become disabled at the hands of the terrorists.

Mahason Balakaya

According to a statement released by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) –“ This notice comes at a time when there are several well-known cases where suspects have challenged the charges filed against under anti-terrorism and emergency laws as being baseless. At the same time many cases also come before the Supreme Court by way of fundamental rights applications regarding the forced deportation of persons from Colombo and other Sinhala areas and arbitrary forms of registration imposed on Tamils arriving from conflict regions to safer areas. The Supreme Court has made several interventions in order to protect the rights of these persons.

Under these circumstances the notice of death threats announced against lawyers who appear in these cases could come from sources which are linked to the agencies that investigate into alleged offences under anti-terrorism laws and other arbitrary acts that are undertaken for the purported purpose of keeping terrorists away from other areas. As all these activities come under the auspices of the Ministry of Defence it will be this ministry that will must come under the greatest suspicion about such notices.

This announcement may also be seen as a direct threat to the Supreme Court itself since the Supreme Court in recent months has given many judgements against the government, among which are matters relating to the protection of minorities. If the lawyers can be intimidated from taking cases to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court would not have the occasion to intervene into arbitrary forms of deprivation of rights under the pretext of national security by agencies of the state.

Sri Lanka in the past has seen many formations of death squads which act under various names. There were many such squads in the period from 1986 – 1990 when there were counterinsurgency activities against the predominantly Sinhala JVP. One such group named the Black Cats left a tremendously chilling impression in the minds of people. During this period the number of disappearances has been estimated officially to be around 30,000. It is now well established that these death squads functioned under the country's security forces and police during that period.

The re-emergence of such death squads is a frightening reminder of the extreme loss of the rule of law in the country. Such death squads in the late 1980s were used against all political opponents of the regime as the reports of the Commissions on Enforced Disappearances clearly demonstrates.

It may not be a coincidence that there was a grenade attack on the house of a well-known human rights and anti graft lawyer, J.C. Weliamuna on the 27th September, 2008. Had both grenades that were thrown at the house exploded Mr. Weliamuna and his entire family might have been killed. Despite of the intervention of the Bar Association no one has been arrested for this attack. For further details please see:

It is the duty of the government to investigate and to arrest the persons who have been sending such death notices under the name of the Mahason Balakaya. However such investigations will not happen if the government itself is directly or indirectly linked to this initiative. It is only through pressure from everyone, including the political opposition in the country, civil society and the international community, that this threat can be exposed and eliminated”

Meanwhile there is strong suspicion that the “Mahason Force” is linked up with death squads operated by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the North and east. These killer squads described as deep penetration units (DPU) or Long Range Reconnaissance patrols(LRRP) were referred to in glowing terms as “Mahason Balakaya” amid defence circles.

The following excerpt that was posted in defence related websites a few years ago and circulated widely throws some light on the matter.

Several years ago (just before the CFA agreement was signed), mysterious incidents began to happen in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled territory. Unexplained claymore mine explosions took place near tiger safe houses and sometimes even inside their own bases. Some of these explosions targeted senior LTTE leaders. One bomb exploded near a safe house which was used by the LTTE leader himself. Tiger air wing leader (who was the right hand man of LTTE leadership at that time), Shankar was killed in one such explosion. Terror spread through LTTE bases and the most surprising thing was that no one knew what was going on. Even the media, who always had inside information about everything, couldn’t explain these mysterious incidents. It was speculated that the cause of these explosions was an internal conflict of LTTE.

Little did the tigers know (and the media) that a deep penetration unit of the Sri Lankan army had infiltrated tiger defense lines and were operating deep inside enemy territory. These elite units were known as the LRRP (Long Range Recon Patrol or "Digu Dura Wihidum Balakaya" in Sinhalese). They were better known in the military by the name "Mahasohon Brigade". Mahasona is a fierce demon who is mentioned in Srilankan folklore. This unit was so named because it gave LTTE what Mahasona in folklore was famous for; the element of fear. Activity of this unit was one of the main reasons tigers agreed for peace talks.

All was well until a traitor to the motherland named Kulasiri Udugampola, driven by greed and political powers, raided LRRP safe house in Millennium City. He released a list of names of those who were involved in the operations which the media published without hesitation. This helped the LTTE to hunt down the heroic units one by one, under the cover of the CFA. More than 80 LRRP personnel were assassinated by the LTTE. For the next 6 years, there was no news of this unit making it an element of the past.

Now let's zoom back to the present; few days before the mass ground troop movement to the recently captured Vakarai region began. During one night, 10 different claymore mines exploded in 10 different locations in then LTTE held territory, targeting regional leaders and tiger foot patrols. This caused the LTTE regional leader Swarnam (wounded by an airstrike) flee into the jungles of Trikonamadu. After Vakarai, several unexplained explosions went off in rebel bases in the north. Several more claymores struck sea tiger base supply routes. LRRP has returned.

Reformed LRRP unit is now a part of 3rd Special Forces regiment. Since reformation, it's been able to carry out several successful strikes at critical tiger movements not only in the east but even 25kms inside rebel held Mullathiv jungles. There is no doubt that the tiger leaders are already feeling the fiery heat of the “Mahason brigade”.