Ranasinghe Premadasa, president of Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1993, was assassinated by a suicide bomber on 1 May 1993 during the annual United National Party rally in Colombo (Keesing's May 1993, 39467). Police suspected and blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (ibid.; AsiaWeek 19 May 1993, 39; ibid. 12 May 1993, 22, 24; AFP 9 May 1993; ibid. 12 June 1993; LANKAPUVATH 10 may 1993). AFP and LANKAPUVATH releases stated that early investigations by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) pointed to the LTTE as Premadasa's assassins (2 May 1993b; 4 June 1993). The LTTE denied responsibility for Premadasa's assassination, however (AFP 2 May 1993b; ibid. 9 May 1993; Los Angeles Times 18 July 1993; Keesing's May 1993, 39467). According to Human Rights Watch World Report 1994 (1993, 176), Country Reports 1993 (1994, 1387) and Amnesty International Report 1994 (1994, 269), the LTTE was blamed for Premadasa's assassination. These periodicals are available at your Regional Documentation Centre.

Various articles also refer to police arrests of suspects in the assassination (LANKAPUVATH 4 June 1993; ibid. 17 June 1993; AFP 4 May 1993a; ibid. 12 June 1993). The attached Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation release dated August 1993 reports that "the Crime Detection Bureau has arrested Nixon alias Sugan alias Charles, a hard-core LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] (?fighter) who is now known as a major accomplice in the assassination of both President Premadasa of Sri Lanka and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi" (30 Aug. 1993).

Various sources discuss the flight of thousands of Tamils from the home constituency of Premadasa for fear of a violent backlash after Premadasa's assassination (AFP 4 May 1993b; ibid. 4 May 1993c; Keesing's May 1993, 39468). Critique 1993 mentions several waves of abductions and detentions of Tamil males in Colombo in the wake of Premadasa's assassination (LCHR 1994, 343).

Please consult the attached excerpts from Revolutionary and Dissident Movements and Religion in Politics for general information on LTTE.

Please note that none of the sources consulted stated that Muslims were suspected in the assassination of President Premadasa. According to Religion in Politics, Tamils are mostly Hindu (1989 250).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Agence France Presse (AFP) [Hong Kong, in English]. 12 June 1993. "Police Bodyguard Arrested in Premadasa Slaying." (FBIS-NES-93-113 15 June 1993, p. 58)

_____. 9 May 1993. "Police Identify President Premadasa's Assassin." (FBIS-NES-93-089 11 May 1993, p. 73)

_____. 4 May 1993a. "Police Make First Arrest." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, p. 69)

_____. 4 May 1993b. "Tamils Flee Amid Fears of Reprisals." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, p. 70)

_____. 4 May 1993c. "Assassination May Worsen Ethnic Divisions." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, pp. 73-74)

_____. 2 May 1993a. "Tamil Help Sought in Identifying Assassin." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, p. 68)

_____. 2 May 1993b. "Police Blame Assassination on LTTE." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, p. 69)

Amnesty International. 1994. Amnesty International Report 1994. New York: Amnesty International USA.

Asiaweek [Hong Kong]. 19 May 1993. Vol. 19, No. 20. "Widows in the Limelight."

_____. 12 May 1993. Vol. 19, No. 19. "Sri Lanka: Rule by the Sword: An Assassination Brings to a Close an Era of Political Violence."

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. 1994. United States Government. Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Printing Office.

Human Rights Watch. 1993. Human Rights Watch World Report 1994. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. May 1993. Vol. 39, No. 5. "Sri Lanka: Assassination of Premadasa."

LANKAPUVATH [Colombo, in English]. 17 June 1993. "Police Official Notes Arrests in Assassination Cases." (FBIS-NES-93-116 18 June 1993, p. 43).

_____. 4 June 1993. "CID: More Findings in Premadasa Assassination." (FBIS-NES-93-107 7 June 1993, pp. 73-74).

_____. 10 May 1993. "Police Seek Assassin's Associates." (FBIS-NES-93-089 11 May 1993, pp. 73-74)

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (LCHR). 1994. Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. New York: LCHR.

Los Angeles Times. 18 July 1993. Bulldog Edition. Feizal Samath. "Sri Lanka Activists Brave Death Squads in Documenting Human Rights Violations." (NEXIS)

Religion in Politics: A World Guide. 1989. Edited by Stuart Mews. Chicago: St. James Press.

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation International Service [Colombo, in English]. 30 August 1993. "'Accomplice' in Premadasa, Gandhi Murders Arrested." (FBIS-NES-93-167 31 Aug. 1993, p. 57)

Agence France Presse (AFP) [Hong Kong, in English]. 12 June 1993. "Police Bodyguard Arrested in Premadasa Slaying." (FBIS-NES-93-113 15 June 1993, p. 58)

_____. 9 May 1993. "Police Identify President Premadasa's Assassin." (FBIS-NES-93-089 11 May 1993, p. 73)

_____. 4 May 1993a. "Police Make First Arrest." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, p. 69)

_____. 4 May 1993b. "Tamils Flee Amid Fears of Reprisals." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, pp. 70-71)

_____. 2 May 1993. "Tamil Help Sought in Identifying Assassin." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, p. 68)

_____. 2 May 1993b. "Police Blame Assassination on LTTE." (FBIS-NES-93-084 4 May 1993, p. 69)

Asiaweek [Hong Kong]. 26 May 1993. Vol. 19,No. 21. "Sri Lanka: I'll Do What the People Say," p. 33.

_____. 12 May 1993. Vol. 19, No. 19. "Sri Lanka: Rule by the Sword: An Assassination Brings to a Close an Era of Political Violence," pp. 21-24.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. May 1993. Vol. 39, No. 5. "Sri Lanka: Assassination of Premadasa," pp. 39467-68.

LANKAPUVATH [Colombo, in English]. 4 June 1993. "CID: More Findings in Premadasa Assassination." (FBIS-NES-93-107 7 June 1993, pp. 73-74).

Religion in Politics: A World Guide. 1989. Edited by Stuart Mews. Chicago: St. James Press, pp. 250-53.

Revolutionary and Dissident Movements: An International Guide. 1991. 3rd. ed. London: Longman Group UK, pp. 318-19.

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation International Service [Colombo, in English]. 30 August 1993. "'Accomplice' in Premadasa, Gandhi Murders Arrested." (FBIS-NES-93-167 31 Aug. 1993, p. 57)

Asian Survey [Berkeley, Calif.]. Monthly. 1993 to present.

Asiaweek [Hong Kong]. Weekly. 1993 to present.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Yearly. 1993.

Current History [Philadelphia]. Monthly. 1993 to present.

DIRB Indexed Media Review [Ottawa]. "Sri Lanka." Weekly. 1993 to present.

The Europa World Year Book. Yearly. 1994.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Reports. Daily. 1993 to present.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. Monthly. 1993 to present.

The Sri Lankan Monitor [London]. Monthly. 1993 to present.