SRI LANKA: The Exhibitionism of Necrophilia: The Subhuman in the Sinhala-Buddhist Psyche
LankaNewspaper.com
(Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia and necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association.)
The sad part is, not even a Single Sinhalas in this forum condemned this most cruel act. The gruesome treatment of a woman, said to be an LTTE combatant, whose ordeal was recorded by video and published in two web sites. The Asian Human Rights Commission wrote to the UN Secretary, that as described in the videos, the naked body of this person is so gruesomely and disrespectfully treated in a manner that too difficult to describe.
The AHRC further said that, judging by the language used, the physical features and the names by which the persons addressed each other and their dress it was NOT DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY THE PERPETRATORS.
The AHRC said that: It would not be difficult at all for the Sri Lankan government to investigate the matter if it had the political will to do so. Even though this has taken place within a war, most persons would categorize it as a most condemnable and cruel act which would require action on the part of any government.
The Sinhala politico-military regime`s deviation from reality by the abhorrent and convulsive display of naked dead bodies of enemy soldiers, in this case, black tiger LTTE commando unit in Anuradhapuram and this gruesome treatment of this Tamil woman corpse are blatant violations of the norms of war and is a bestial affirmation of a State`s moral bankruptcy.
In the past, whenever the government of Sri Lanka refused to receive the bodies of Sinhale soldiers, the LTTE cremated them with military honors. The ICRC is a witness to this reality.
Many IGOs and NGOs would confirm the fact that the LTTE learnt a great deal about the morality of war and peace in the past thirty years. But the Sinhalese who have been fighting to decimate the Tamils for the past twenty centuries have a long way to go in learning not only how to deal with the living but much more about how to deal with the dead in their own homes and outside. So I present below a few insights for their reflection.
What the Sinhalese government did this to this Tamil woman is a clear incident for a war crimes hearing in Den Hague, Holland.
The main obligation to the dead is now found in Article 15 of the First GENEVA CONVENTION . The thrust of that article is the need to aid the wounded. However, it also provides that the parties must at all times, and particularly after an engagement search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled. The article also says that whenever circumstances permit, an armistice should be concluded so as to facilitate the search for the wounded. Of course, while searching for the wounded, the dead would also be found.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Commentary to the Geneva Convention says that the dead must be brought back along with the wounded. One reason for this is that in the highly charged atmosphere of the battlefield, it might not always be possible to determine who is really dead and who is seriously wounded. Another reason is that the laws of war require that an effort be made to identify the dead and to provide a proper burial.
The treatment of the battlefield dead can be divided into two aspects. First, there is a prohibition on deliberate mistreatment of the body, either through failure to treat it with appropriate respect or through mutilation. Second, there is a prohibition on pillaging the dead. These mandates concerning the dead are as much derived from the customary laws of war as from the Geneva Conventions.
Article 17 of the First Geneva Convention is concerned specifically with the burial of the battlefield dead. The bodies are to be examined, preferably by a person with medical skills, so as to confirm death. Burial is to be, where possible, in individual graves. The idea is that individual graves would be more consistent with the general requirement that the dead be respected, and also that individual burial would make subsequent exhumation easier. The requirement, however, is not absolute. Climate, sanitation, and hygiene may make mass burial the only proper action.
Where possible, the burial or cremation is to be done in accordance with the religious rites of the deceased. The bodies are to be grouped according to nationality and the cemeteries mapped in such a way as to make later exhumation easier. This is the core of the Geneva Convention duty to the dead they are to be treated honorably and their graves protected
Mutilation of the dead is actually a fairly rare occurrence in well-disciplined armies. This is probably as much the result of a general revulsion at such conduct as from a fear of criminal punishment.
The raison d`etre for protecting and honoring the dead is captured in the inscription on the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery: Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known But to God. That sentiment is not one peculiar to Americans. The Sinhala authorities who are prosecuting this war against their Tamil nationality with such subhuman treatment and disposition should learn more about THE RULES OF WAR than just killing the TAMILS a feat they have been engaging in with the advice of their monks for over twenty centuries.
Source(s)
The Exhibitionism of Necrophilia: The Subhuman in the Sinhala-Buddhist Psyche. By: Giuseppe. C. Luciani
Here is the Direct link to the Asian Human Rights Commission:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ahrc-in-news/mainfile.php/2009ahrcinnews/2399/
Here is the video of the curel treatment of the dead bodies:
[link removed by moderator]
