4 August 2006. Muttur, Sri Lanka.

According to reports, seventeen aid workers were found dead in their office compound, shot at close range. They were wearing Action Contre la Faim (ACF) T-shirts, which marked them as neutral humanitarian workers. The victims were sixteen Tamils and one Muslim, including four women. They had been providing post-tsunami relief work in northeastern Sri Lanka. 

Nearly twenty years later, no one has been charged or prosecuted. The investigation has stalled, restarted, and stalled again. 

What Happened?

Muttur sits in the Trincomalee district, a region that became a battleground between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the civil war. In early August 2006, fighting intensified as both sides fought for control. When Jeevan Thiagarajah, Executive Director of the Consortium for Humanitarian Agencies, arrived at the compound, he found all seventeen workers lying face down, identifiable by their ACF T-shirts. 

In the aftermath, the army placed the blame on the Tamil Tigers, while the Tigers retaliated with accusations against the army. However, the area was under military control, and the evidence began pointing in a specific direction.

The Investigation 

The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) conducted an inquiry that included witness testimony and weapons analysis. Their findings implicated government security forces, specifically naming two police constables and naval special forces commandos, with senior officials associated with a cover-up.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, an international organisation, reached similar conclusions. They noted that security forces controlled the area during the killings and that the government prevented monitors from accessing the crime scene immediately afterwards. Multiple reliable sources also confirmed the involvement of security forces. Their assessment concluded that no other group could have carried out the killings.

However, the official investigation faced numerous problems from the outset. In October 2006, eleven bodies were exhumed for a second autopsy, with Australian observers present as per an agreement between Sri Lanka and Australia. Unfortunately, the subsequent ballistics examination, which was crucial for identifying the weapons used, was conducted without any international observers, despite the bilateral agreement and the Magistrate’s explicit orders.

When the Magistrate of Kantale held a hearing on 7 March 2007, he acknowledged the “flaws during the inquiry” and ordered another ballistics examination with proper oversight. However, this examination never took place. He also highlighted a more troubling issue: “the prevailing climate of insecurity in the region inhibits witnesses from coming forward to give evidence.” This signified the people’s fear of testifying.

Presidential Commission and International Pressure

In July 2007, President Mahinda Rajapaksa established a Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate sixteen major human rights cases, including the ACF massacre. Families that testified reported receiving threats from security personnel. The commission’s international monitors resigned in 2008, citing serious problems with the investigation.

The commission’s report was not released until September 2015, nine years later. Although it stated that there was insufficient evidence to identify the perpetrators, it effectively cleared the army and navy, suggesting instead that LTTE forces or Muslim militia were responsible.

By 2013, the ACF published its own comprehensive report, publicly presenting all its evidence. The conclusion presented was clear: “The 17 humanitarian aid workers were likely assassinated by members of the Sri Lankan security forces, and top Sri Lankan authorities likely covered this up.”

In 2014, the UN Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a special court with international judges to investigate the massacre. However, the Sri Lankan government disregarded this request.

Where Things Stand

On 13 June 2019, Attorney General Dappula de Livera ordered police to speed up investigations into the ACF case and three others, citing public distress over delays. He demanded progress reports from the acting police chief.

Two years later, in 2021, all investigations remained stagnant.  As of 2025, the situation remains unchanged. 

Nearly twenty years have passed, and the families of the seventeen aid workers are still waiting for answers. The evidence remains unexamined by any credible tribunal. For now, this case joins a list of unresolved cases from Sri Lanka’s civil war-crimes; documented but never prosecuted, perpetrators identified but never charged. The question of accountability remains unanswered.

 For those interested in exploring the case further, detailed reports and primary sources are linked below.