''(During 1991) Hundreds of people were extra judicially executed and several hundred disappeared. Torture of detainees was common... In the east of the country suspected LTTE members were seized, abducted and killed by men in plain clothes who were believed to be connected with the security forces. Victims bodies were left in public places often in a mutiliated state.
In April (1991) a number of headless bodies were found in Batticaloa: at least one was accompanied by a notice claiming responsibility signed by the 'Black Cobras'. In Trincomalee town dozens of abductions were carried out be unidentified men believed to be associated with the army...Muslim Home Guards and armed members of Tamil groups opposed to the LTTE who operated alongside government forces were also held responsible for disappearance and other violations.
Subramaniam Ketheeswaran disappeared after he was taken from a refugee camp at Bambalapitiya, Colombo in September by members of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party. About ten days later he was taken to an army camp in Batticaloa and questioned about his involvement with the LTTE..Detainees in the northeast were systematically tortured. Victims were beaten, stabbed, burned and scalded, partailly buried or had nails driven through the soles of their feet. Dozens of people reportedly died as a result, reportedly in the east. - Amnesty International Annual Report 1992 for the period January to December 1991
