Commission on Human Rights

An Appeal to

The United Nations

Commission on Human Rights

58 Session / Sesiones

18 / 03 / 2002 -- 26 / 04 /2002

Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR

Centre Tamoul pour les droits de l'Homme - CTDH

TCHR participation in United Nations World conferences

The Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR), officially participated in the NGO forum of the UN World Conference Against Racism WCAR in Durban, South Africa, from 28 August to 1 September 2001. TCHR held an information stall including an exhibition at the forum. The TCHR representatives also attended the main WCAR conference held in Durban, 31 August to 7 September 2001.

In 1993, the TCHR held an information stall and a photo exhibition on human rights violations, in the United Nations 2^nd World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria, from 14-25 June.

Head Office

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Contents

Page

TCHR appeal to the 58^th session 05

Reports

1- Assassination of Kumar Ponnambalam?

Presidential guard organised murder of Ponnambalam “Sunday Leader” 07

Chandrika's 'bloody' secrets in the house of conspiracy

Report of Senior Superintendent of Police to President Kumaratunga 08

Kumaratunga cornered in Ponnambalam murder 11

Inspector of Police Jayantha Vedasinghe's affidavit 12

We suspect the PA government

ACTC wants debate on Kumar 13

2- Right to Self Determination

In a nutshell - The history, negotiations, abrogation of pacts, military operations, etc 14

Memorandum of Understanding MOU (2002) 21

Election manifesto of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) (2001) 24

Suthumalai Declaration (1987) 25

Thimpu Declaration (1985) 26

Vaddukoddai Resolution (1976) 27

North-East Province Tamil homeland Gajendran Ponnambalam 28

Parliament Election results 5 December 2001 29

Tamil National leader Pirapaharan calls for Norwegian engagement

LTTE declare month-long cease-fire 30

LTTE leader makes special plea to Sinhalese

Comparison of Tamil homeland (Tamil Eelam) with some UN member states 32

3- Economic Social and Cultural Rights

Schools in North East 33

948 religion teacher vacancies unfilled

70 000 homeless due airfield expansion

Rebuild 1,600 homes of his supporters 34

Hospital in Tamil areas 'without medicine'

Staff shortage at Jaffna Teaching Hospital

Killinochchi hospital rebuilding cost more than 1.6 million US$

Easing of economic embargo is mere eyewash since 1994 35

Murders, thefts and atrocities increased in Jaffna

4- Civil and Political Rights

 10 Muslims massacred by sons of ex-deputy Minister of Defence 36 
 Sri Lanka troops remanded over killing of Muslims    President Kumaratunga visit murder suspects in Bogambara prison 

Kandy massacre appeal for impartial probe 37

Lawyers of 10 dead youths of Kandy deplore ‘lukewarm attitude’ of IGP

Ministerial Massacre 38

State terrorism continues in Sri Lanka

Former Deputy Defence minister arrested 39

Political Prisoners of Kalutara plead

Chemmani mass graves

Rape of Hill Country Tamil women and detention without trial 40

Police abuse

Appeal to new Prime Minister for the release of a University student 41

University student suffers torture in Jaffna - Prison conditions

Torture in detention - Amnesty International 42

Detainees' grievances 43

1800 Tamil detainees on hunger strike 44

Land mine victims

Over 10,000 Landmines victims 44

1763 people lost legs in Jaffna

The scars of Sri Lanka's war 45

LTTE removes 132,328 APLMs, booby traps

Freedom of Expression

Government plan to destroy newspapers offices 45

Sri Lankan presidential statement suggests government killing of journalists 46

Killing of BBC journalist arrest warrant served only after 14 months 47

Foreign Journalist Marie Colvin escapes attempt on her life

Election violence December 2001

Uncleared area voters 'disenfranchised'-TNA 48

130,000 Tamils kept from voting 49

2 killed and 21 injured in an EPDP attack in Naranthanai

300,000 votes in Jaffna - list of 600,000 sent 50

70,000 PA leaflets flown to Jaffna with army chief help

EPDP on rampage in Komari

Violence murdering democracy in Sri Lanka

EPDP fires on women's march

French poll monitor attacked in Sri Lanka vote 51

No re-poll decision not fair by voters, say monitors

EU monitors appalled by Sri Lankan President's revenge remarks

46 killed 2332 wounded 52

President Security Division - PSD

President Kumaratunga advocates blood for blood 52

Letters of resignation from PA MPs?

Murder of PSD's Al Capone

Giving special increments to PSD 54

3000 to 4000 men in the PSD to safeguard one individual

Shocking details of plot to kill ex-minister

PM's life under threat 55

Sri Lanka police arrest Presidential guards-PSD

CID questions cop who ‘did his duty’

Court in Sri Lanka ordered arrest of Director of PSD

Plot to assassinate Ranil Wickremesinghe

How a 'top State secret' became public 56

Ex-Deputy Defence Minister’s son Chanuka visited safe house

Grounds for impeachment 57

Army deserters

30,000 Deadly army deserters 57

Security tightened in Sri Lanka 58

Army deserters gang-raped British tourist

JVP admit killing in thousands

JVP leader Somawansa admitted killing of 6,000 people 58

Warrant on Somawansa 59

A warm welcome for a murderer

JVP can’t deny they attacked the Dalada Maligawa 60

Residence of the Diyawadana Nilame attacked

UNP used JVP to kill my husband, President Chandrika tells BBC

Welcome back Somawansa, here’s your charge sheet 61

JVP members arrested with bomb ahead of election 62

JVPers force membership 63

Vasudeva points to "serious threat" of Somawansa

Administration of justice

International Bar Association finds Sri Lanka fails on three counts 63

LTTE release 10 war prisoners 64

No law permits military to stipulate that the people of Jaffna must obtain a pass

Human Rights Commission - HRC failure 65

 Truth Commission 

Death certificates issued after 6 months 66

Magisterial inquests are not held for Tamils

Sri Lanka on the Bandwagon

"Lying in state"

New government gently gone to sleep 67

5- Women and Children

Rape of two women in Mannar 67

Detainee tortured 68

Instead of ensuring the safety of public - protecting security forces 69

Rape in custody must be stopped immediately Amnesty 70

Rape in custody case studies Amnesty

United Nations - CEDAW experts appeal to Sri Lanka 73

Army soldier attempt to molest 7 year old girl 75

150 Tamils Raped in 1996 - South China Morning Post

Children die of disease in the Vanni

Sri Lanka's orphans bear scars of war

War takes 2123 children 76

Child abuse & trafficking on the increase 77

6- Displacement

Around 1.5 million made displaced 77

Sri Lankan displaced highest in Asia

7- State terrorism continues against the Tamils

Few noteworthy violations between 1956-1994 78

Few noteworthy violations between 1995-1997 86

8- Summary report (names, dates, places of incidents, etc)

Arbitrary arrest / Detention 97

Extra judicial killings / summary executions 99

Enforced or involuntary disappearances 101

Rape / Torture and others 101

Annexes

1- President Chandrika’s confirms that Sri Lankan representatives in the -

United Nations have been lying since 1948 106

2- International Human Rights Day 107

3- UK dealers sell 'vacuum bombs' to Sri Lanka 108

4- United Nations final CERD report (30 July -17 August 2001) 109

5- LTTE may be doing what we are doing - Minister of Defence Tilak Marapan 110

6- Report of Human Rights Watch 2002

7- Statement from the President’s Office 111

7- Prime Minister briefed Cabinet on peace agreement 112

8- Sri Lankan President threatens to cancel ceasefire

* * * * *

18 March 2002

The Chairperson

Members and Delegates

58^th session of the

Commission on Human Rights

United Nations

1211 Geneva 10,

Switzerland

Dear Sirs / Mesdames,

We regularly report on the human rights violations taking place in the Island of Sri Lanka. Our reporting is based on indisputable facts, the authentic details of which are sent to us by our members directly from the spot where the incidents occur. The United Nations human rights monitoring bodies and other human rights institutions have appreciated the veracity of our reporting.

In our submission to the Commission on Human Rights this year, we will be taking stock of decades of human rights violations perpetrated against the Tamil people by successive governments that ruled the island. We have already documented most of the violations which took place during the recent years. In this submission we include those which have been inadvertently left out in our previous reporting.

Sirs / Mesdames, when we consider the history of the island, it is undeniable that three different kingdoms existed in distinctly separate areas, before the arrival of the first colonialists, the Portuguese, in 1505. One of these three kingdoms was the Tamil kingdom, and was known as the “Jaffna Kingdom”. Researchers and scholars, including Sinhalese ones, in various international forums and media have consistently acknowledged the fact that this kingdom covered the areas of North and East of the island. From 1833 all three kingdoms were brought under one administration by the then colonial power, the British, for their administrative convenience.

There had been many negotiations between the Tamil and the Sinhala leaders even prior to Independence in 1948 on the question of the protection of civil and political rights of Tamil people. Anti-Tamil pogroms, unilateral abrogation of pacts (by Sinhala leaders), Sinhala colonisation in Tamil hereditary regions, pre-meditated killings, arrests and detentions of Tamils, rapes and gang-rapes of Tamil women and a systematic economic embargo on the North East since 1987 are also part of the island’s sad history.

Sirs / Mesdames, the Sri Lanka representatives in the UN Commission on Human Rights and other institutions have denied these horrendous violations. This denial kept the truth away from the international community to a certain extent. So far more than 70,000 Tamils have been killed and more than 800,000 have been internally displaced. Another 400,000 or more Tamils have sought asylum in foreign countries for obvious reasons.

In the international human rights context, one of our observations regarding the actions of different Sri Lankan governments is that they have their own Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to defend and shield them.

There are certain bogus human rights organisations, for instance the University Teachers for Human Rights UTHR, which are concerned purely with their own self-interest and profit making. The ex-minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Kathirgamar, who works for his own self-interest in order to obtain foreign funds, subtly promoted the activities of this organisation.

Civil society strongly believes that Mr. Kathigamar added fuel to the burning ethnic conflict, egotistically only to promote himself and enjoy a luxurious life-style.

Last year, the Norwegian mediation between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE came to a stalemate solely because of the ex-Minister Kathigamar’s egoistic attitude.

If the above-mentioned personality and local NGOs, were genuinely working for upholding human rights, would they allow JVP leader Somanwansa Amerasinghe to leave the island quietly after admitting the killing of at least 6000 innocent people in the South?

The massacre of Muslims during the recent election campaign, for which the ex-Minister of Defence had recently been arrested, is a typical example of what his security forces would have done to the Tamils in the Northeast!

The sons of the ex-minister of Defence Anurudha Ratwatte were allegedly involved in the assassination on 5 January 2000 of Lawyer and human rights defender, Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam. TCHR continues to demand for an independent inquiry into his murder.

The assassination of journalist Mr. Nirmalarajan and the killings of two others in Jaffna, during the last election campaign, by members of the EPDP, conclude that the Chandrika government never had any respect for human rights nor for peace in the island. (Refer annex below)

Sirs / Mesdames, all these facts have caused heavy human suffering and hardship in the NorthEast of the island, and the Tamil people still suffer the consequences thereof.

Our attached documents on State terrorism will give you a clear picture of how the Tamils in this island were subjected to systematic violations of human rights by oppressive Sinhala governments.

In the last parliamentary elections, even though 130,000 Tamils were prevented from voting, Tamil people overwhelmingly voted for the “Tamil National Alliance-TNA”. The TNA consists of many Tamil political parties. Their manifesto states that the LTTE is the sole representative of the Tamils, the ban on the LTTE has to be lifted, the Sri Lanka government should negotiate only with the LTTE to resolve the island’s longstanding ethnic conflict and the economic embargo on the North East should be lifted completely.

To seek a negotiated political solution to the island’s ethnic conflict, the present government should work unstintingly to create normalcy in the NorthEast and should de-proscribe the LTTE.

These are meaningful ways to help stop human rights violations and human suffering in the island. Anything else will only pave the way for more violations and human suffering.

Over a thousand Tamil political detainees are still suffering in various prisons. They were arrested under the draconian law the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations (ERs). The authorities should either institute legal action against them or release without any further undue delay.

Sirs / Mesdames, we welcome the historic agreement (Memorandum of Understanding-MOU) signed between the LTTE and the present Sri Lankan government on 22^nd February 2002.

We appeal to the 58^th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, delegates, participants and the civil society to seriously consider the gross and systematic human rights violations perpetrated against the Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka, and to actively support the peace process initiated by Norway between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, for a durable and genuine solution to the conflict in the island.

The Commission on Human Rights and all other human rights institutions should continue to maintain a close watch on the human rights situation in the island of Sri Lanka.

Thanking you,

S. V. Kirubaharan

General Secretary TCHR/CTDH

ASSASSINATION OF KUMAR PONNAMBALAM

Presidential guard organised murder of Kumar Ponnambalam

Sunday Leader

November 11, 2001 - According to the “Sunday Leader” published in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a former member of Sri Lanka's Presidential Security Division found shot dead on 02 November was involved in orchestrating the assassination of human rights defender, Kumar Ponnambalam. The paper also named the assassin as a former Police constable.

The ”Sunday Leader” further stated that Baddegana Sanjeewa, found dead in his car on Pagoda road, with six gunshot wounds on November 2, was the architect of the murder of Mr. Ponnambalam, a human rights lawyer and leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress. Mr. Ponnambalam was an outspoken critic of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and in the aftermath of his death, his family accused her of ordering the killing.

"On January 4, 2000, Kumar Ponnambalam was shot dead at Ramakrishna Road, Wellawatte. Moratu Saman and a former police constable named Sunil Ranasinghe carried out the killing on the instructions of Baddegana Sanjeewa", the Sri Lankan broadsheet stated, quoting police sources.

Sanjeewa's career had included being a bodyguard for senior military personnel as well as being a member of Kumaratunga's elite presidential guard.

"Following Kumaratunga's win, Sanjeewa befriended Nihal Karunaratne. The only favour he sought for services rendered during Kumaratunga's election campaign was to be enlisted in the Sri Lanka Police Force. His request was granted and Sanjeewa was accepted as a Reserve Police Constable and assigned to the PSD", the broadsheet stated.

The paper suggested that Sanjeewa was one of Kumaratunga's trusted guards and a close confidante. "Despite his criminal record, President Chandrika Kumaratunga trusted Baddegana Sanjeewa implicitly and was comfortable in having him provide her body protection - confident of his loyalty to her, she felt reasonably safe under his purview," the weekly stated.

The broadsheet also accused the former PSD bodyguard of having links to organised crime rackets. "Backed by political masters, Sanjeewa became a ready and willing tool in a circle of systematic crime", the Sunday Leader said.

The paper alleged that there had been a cover up, protecting Sanjeewa from further investigation. "Even at this stage, the police made every effort to refrain from making public Baddegana Sanjeewa's name as being involved in this murder. Sanjeewa in fact shared a close friendship with SSP Bandula Wickremasinghe, so much so - that on one occasion, when a gang threw hand bombs at a club at Delkanda on September 29, 1999 the cops had captured the getaway car. The vehicle belonged to a friend of Baddegana Sanjeewa's and he personally visited the CDB headquarters on this occasion making a request that the car, be released", the paper stated.

Chandrika's 'bloody' secrets in the house of conspiracy

By The Insider

Among the dozens of political murders that have punctuated Kumaratunga's presidency, the most foul was arguably that of Kumar Ponnambalam, leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.

A distinguished lawyer by profession, Ponnambalam was an outspoken champion of the rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka - often invoking the ire of Sinhala nationalists for his extreme views.

Tragically, early on the morning of January 5, 2000, Ponnambalam was lured out of his house by a young man called Shantha, who had befriended him of late. His bullet-riddled body was discovered less than an hour later in Wellawatte, still at the wheel of his Mercedes.

Among the first to condole with his family was Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who had known Ponnambalam well. She expressed shock and grief. She lied.

The 'show' begins

But that is not all, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has known for the past fourteen months. She knew who pulled the trigger of the gun that killed Ponnambalam. She knew who hired the assassin. She knew who masterminded the foul plot. The president has been privy to this information for more than a year now, and she has chosen to sweep it under the carpet.

Whether she did so in order to hide from the public the shameful fact that she hails from a family of murderers, or in order to blackmail the perpetrator, we are yet to find out.

Consider the evidence we provide below and decide for yourself whether Chandrika Kumaratunga is innocent or guilty. Then decide, as parliament soon must, whether she is a fit and proper person to hold the office of President of your motherland.

The damning evidence we publish below has to also be viewed from the backdrop of Kumaratunga's own utterances of crimes allegedly committed by various persons, whom she identifies only when she can no longer use such offences perceived or otherwise to blackmail the doer.

Into this pot of intrigue, throw in S. B. Dissanayake's own allegations that it was Kumaratunga herself who plotted the murder of newspaper editors and the burning of the presses of The Sunday Leader and Ravaya.

Unknown facts

Add to this scenario, Kumaratunga's Tissamaharama doctrine where she egged people on to murder stating there was no harm in murdering a murderer. Then consider the subsequent attempt on S. B. Dissanayake's life by PSD officers in Maturata.

Now, pause a while and read below the report on Kumar Ponnambalam's murder given to President Kumaratunga by then CDB Chief Bandula 'Show' Wickramasinghe at her own request after the top cop briefed her on the case. A report she did nothing on. Then consider whether Kumaratunga is fit to be the president of this country.

The Sunday Leader is in possession of the letter dated September 7, 2000, addressed to President Kumaratunga by Bandula 'Show' Wickramasinghe, Senior Superintendent of Police and (then) Director of the Colombo Crime Detective Bureau, in addition to other damning evidence, which will be forwarded to the relevant authorities, including the Hague. Here is what the Senior Superintendent wrote to his president:

Report of Senior Superintendent of Police to President Kumaratunga

Bandula Wickramasinghe,

Senior Superintendent of Police,

Director, Colombo Detective Bureau.

No. 50, Gregory's Road, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

September 7, 2000

Your Excellency,

Re: Report on Mr. Mahen Ratwatte and Mr. Lohan Ratwatte

Herewith I annex a report on the above subjects, as requested by Your Excellency

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga,

Her Excellency the President,

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,

Temple Trees,

Colombo 03.

 Annexure

On July 28, 2000 a case of house breaking and theft was reported, the stolen goods were valued at Rs. 1.3 million. The Colombo Detective Bureau sleuths arrested the main suspect Mohammed Thahir and he confessed that he had given a brand new 'Hoover' vacuum cleaner valued at Rs. 20,000 to one Sudath Ranasinghe RPC 12559 attached to the Sri lanka Police Reserve Head Quarters. RFC Ranasinghe was arrested and he too confessed that the stolen vacuum cleaner was given as a gift to Mahen Ratwatte who is employed at George Steuarts. Mahen Ratwatte who is the son of the Honourable Minister of Power and Energy and Deputy Minister of Defence Anurudha Ratwatte. On the statement made by RPC Ranasinghe the vacuum cleaner was recovered from the house of Mahen Ratwatte at Link Homes housing scheme at Madiwela.

On May 21, 2000 the officer in charge of CDB, IP Nuwan Vedasinghe received a call from RPC Ranasinghe and he had stated that the president of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Kumar Ponnambalam (Attorney-at-law) was murdered by his henchmen, namely underworld activists Moratuwa Saman and Sujeewa, on the instigation of Mahen Ratwatte. Few weeks prior to the assassination of Ponnambalam, Mahen Ratwatte had told Moratuwa Saman and RPC Ranasinghe in Sinhalese ayi yakko sinhala minissu marannay, puluwannam ara Kumar Ponnambalam jathi wadi wagay thadi demelek marapanko. As per the instigations of Mahen Ratwatte, RPC Ranasinghe master planned the assassination and got friendly with Kumar Ponnambalam, posing as one 'Shantha.'

On January 5, 2000 'Shantha' personally went to the house of Kumar Ponnambalam's around 8.30 in the morning and lured him promising ............. As arranged, Moratuwa Saman and Sujeewa waited for the arrival of Ponnambalam, and the both of them fired five rounds from their pistol. Ponnambalam succumbed to his gunshot injuries. After the assassination, the RPC immediately informed Mahen Ratwatte about the killing.

On May 21, 2000 RPC Ranasinghe contacted OIC CDB, from telephone number 08-223993 which is at the guesthouse belonging to the Petroleum Corporation at No. 15, Dumindu Mawatha, Watapoluwa, Kandy. I too contacted RPC Ranasinghe on the above telephone number and he informed me that the most wanted underworld criminal Dhammika Perera is present at the above guesthouse. RPC Ranasinghe promised to surrender to the CDB, and informed me and the OIC CDB to make him a crown witness. But however, he was prevented from surrendering by Mahen Ratwatte. I contacted Mahen Ratwatte and spoke to him requesting from him to surrender RPC Ranasinghe, but Mahen Ratwatte prevented his appearance and told me 'why are you worried, all the top people know about the assassination.' Though several requests were made to Mahen Ratwatte by me and my OIC IP Nuwan Vedasinghe, RPC Ranasinghe surrendered to the Mount Lavinia courts.

Harbouring of under world criminal Dhammika Perera of Rajagiriya

Besides the information provided by RPC Ranasinghe, my private informants have brought to my notice that Ranasinghe had been harboured by Lohan Ratwatte and Mahen Ratwatte and at present Dhammika is being kept at his mothers home on top of a hill close to Mahiyawwa cemetery, Kandy. It is also common knowledge amongst Kandy residents that Dhammika Perera travels along with Lohan Ratwatte in a tinted four-wheel drive vehicle.

My private informants have also brought to my notice that during the Wayamba elections, Lohan and Mahen Ratwatte had been transporting Dhammika Perera in their Pajero vehicle for their protection.

Dhammika Perera is one of the most wanted under world criminals, wanted for 17 murders:

Bandula Wickramasinghe,

Senior Superintendent of Police, Director, Colombo Detective Bureau.

Astounding. This is an official report from the Director of the CDB to the president of Sri Lanka. He tells her succinctly (a) that Anurudha Ratwatte's son Mahen commissioned two underworld thugs, Sudath Ranasinghe and Moratuwa Saman, to murder Kumar Ponnambalam.

That a third assassin, one Sujeewa, also joined in the killing. That Mahen Ratwatte was harbouring Ranasinghe until he surrendered, in connection with another offence. That Mahen Ratwatte had the audacity to tell the Director of the CDB, 'Why are you worried? All the top people know about the assassination.' That in addition to everything else, the Ratwatte family is harbouring and consorting with yet another criminal, Dhammika Perera, who is wanted in connection with no less than 17 other murders!

More lies!

Chandrika knew of these facts as long ago as September 2000, but chose to do nothing.

Bandula 'Show' Wickramasinghe came to know Chandrika Kumaratunga intimately in the aftermath of the infamous Mahanama Tillekeratne case. His wrongful arrest of that High Court judge drew a strong rebuke from the Appeal Court, and Wickramasinghe was ordered personally to pay damages of Rs 200,000. In August 2000, Kumaratunga sent for him, no doubt troubled by a rare pang of remorse, and offered to make good the Rs 200,000. This money was gratefully accepted by Wickramasinghe. At their meeting, Kumaratunga was informed of the investigations into the Ponnambalam killing, on being asked by the president who was anxious to know what the police knew. She was surprised to learn that the police knew the whole story and had all the details.

At their meeting, Kumaratunga also discussed the issue of Baddegana Sanjeeva, a notorious murderer who served as an elite member of the Presidential Security Division under its infamous head, Nihal Karunaratne.

Time to kill the eds

Karunaratne himself is on record as having, in the euphoric aftermath of the December 1999 presidential election, nonchalantly mentioned to Free Media Movement convenor and Reuters' correspondent in Sri Lanka, Waruna Karunatilake that the editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper, Lasantha Wickrematunga, was number one on the PSD's hit list, followed by the editor of the Ravaya newspaper, Victor Ivan. This fact has been widely published and remains uncontradicted by both Kumaratunga and Karunaratne.

Be that as it may, at their meeting at Temple Trees, Kumaratunga asked 'Show' Wickramasinghe what he knew of Sanjeeva's doings. Assuming that the president was ignorant of the facts, the CDB Director went on to catalogue a list of assassinations the hired killer had undertaken in support of Kumaratunga's own administration, including that of Satana Editor, Rohana Kumar. Wringing her hands in mock dismay, the president cried in Sinhala words to the effect, "Aiyo! Now I will have to send him also abroad!" Her despair however, was faked.

The CDB head, knowing that further procrastination was futile, prepared the report immediately and personally delivered it under 'Secret' cover to the president's private secretary, Sarath Gonagala. The report was typed by one Dulip Samarasekera and SSP Wickramasinghe went with IP Vedasinghe to hand over the report. It was just what she needed. The Sunday Leader is also in possession of documentary evidence that Wickramasinghe's report was in fact handed over to Kumaratunga.

An accessory

And for the past 14 months, Kumaratunga has known who killed Ponnambalam and chosen to keep the incriminating evidence in her pocket. Why? Because murder no longer horrifies her. It has become commonplace in her administration. In the run up to the December 5, general election, a team of assassins from Kumaratunga's own Presidential Security Division attempted to murder the defected former minister, S. B. Dissanayake. They failed, and several of the assailants were arrested. Not one word of condemnation from our worthy President. No call for an inquiry. Instead, she was to personally call the Maturata Police and call for the handing over of the assassins to PSD Chief Karunaratne.

There is ample evidence now to prove that Kumaratunga was an accessory (after the crime, at least) to the murder of Kumar Ponnambalam. In any event, there is no doubt that following her conversation with Wickramasinghe and receipt of his report, she knew who killed Kumar Ponnambalam and of the complicity of her cousin, Mahen Ratwatte.

Section 21(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure is crystal clear on this subject: "Every person aware of the commission or the intention of any other person to commit any offence punishable under the following sections of the Penal Code, namely. 296 [murder and], 297 [culpable homicide]. shall in the absence of reasonable excuse-the burden of proving which shall lie upon the person so aware-forthwith give information to the nearest Magistrate's Court or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station." Kumaratunga manifestly failed to do this.

What is more, Section 199 of the Penal Code states, "Whoever knowing, or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed, intentionally omits to give any information which he is legally bound to give, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both." Section 209 of the Penal Code goes further: "Whenever an offence has been committed, whoever harbours, conceals, assists, or maintains a person whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the offender, with the intention of screening him from legal punishment, shall, if the offence is punishable with death, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine."

On the wrong side

What is more, Kumar Ponnambalam's cellular phone was found following information given by Ranasinghe from a marsh behind the BMICH and it was formally identified by Ponnambalam's son Gajendra who is today a MP. What is more, records of numerous telephone conversations between the assassins and the Ratwatte brothers are on file. (excerpts “The Sunday Leader” 23 December 2001)

Kumaratunga cornered in Ponnambalam murder

Evidence that President Chandrika Kumaratunga knew the identities of the murderers of All Ceylon Tamil Congress Leader Kumar Ponnambalam for the past several months mounted last week when an inspector of police, Nuwan Vedasinghe, swore on oath that he helped type the damning report that informed the president of the background of the killings as far back as September 2000.

By The Insider

Although Ponnambalam, despite several attempts, was never elected to office in any capacity, he continued to be a thorn in the flesh for the Kumaratunga establishment, the outspoken enfant terrible of the Tamil cause. The provocative outspokenness of this advocate of the Tamil cause however, was clearly too much for Kumaratunga."

Why it was her cousin, Anuruddha Ratwatte's son Mahen, who organised Ponnambalam's murder is a mystery. The ACTC leader could not possibly have wronged Ratwatte Junior. No doubt Ponnambalam's numerous provocative and belittling utterances critical of Kumaratunga served to irk the president. And even as Kumaratunga is known glibly to use her license to kill, as her Tissamaharama Doctrine exemplifies, it would surely be testing the public's credulity to think it possible that mere banter by Ponnambalam could have caused her to wish him dead. Or would it?

Just days prior to his murder, Kumaratunga no less was on national television launching a blistering attack on Ponnambalam by innuendo. Days before that verbal attack, Ponnambalam himself wrote an article, launching a scathing attack on the president. The president's television address was on January 2, 2000. Kumar was murdered three days later, on January 5.

An official report from the Director of the CDB to the President of Sri Lanka dated September 7, 2000 informs Her Excellency succinctly that Anuruddha Ratwatte's son Mahen commissioned two underworld thugs, a reserve Police constable Sudath Ranasinghe and Moratu Saman, to murder Kumar Ponnambalam. A third assassin, one Sujeewa, also joined in the killing. It went on to say that Mahen Ratwatte was harbouring Ranasinghe until he surrendered, in connection with another offence; that when questioned, Mahen Ratwatte had the audacity to tell the Director of the CDB, 'Why are you worried? All the top people know about the assassination'; and that in addition to everything else, the Ratwatte family is harbouring and consorting with yet another criminal, Dhammika Perera, who is wanted in connection with no less than 17 other murders!

As for the Murder of Rohana Kumara, and the two abortive attempts on the life of the editor of The Sunday Leader, the police and Kumaratunga have been aware at least since September 2000 that they were committed by the notorious underworld criminal, Baddegana Sanjeeva, whom Kumaratunga knowingly retained in her Security Division and upon whose murder she sent a wreath of flowers condoling his demise.

In fact, SSP Wickramasinghe in his affidavit reveals, upon the president being told of Baddegana Sanjeeva's involvement in Rohana Kumara's murder, she had allegedly said Sanjeeva must be sent abroad.

Despite Kumaratunga's denial, another police officer, Nuwan Vedasinghe, has now stated under oath that he helped type Bandula Wickramasinghe's report to the president dated September 7, 2000, and also that he and Wickramasinghe went jointly and handed it to Temple Trees. What is more, he has named a third person, a computer expert named Duleep Samarasinghe, who helped type the document. It is now Kumaratunga's word against that of three others, none of whom has an axe to grind in this affair. Furthermore, he corroborates SSP Wickramasinghe on the damning evidence contained in the September 7 report as well as Wickramasinghe's affidavit stating he himself as the officer investigating the murder passed on the information to the CDB Director. And the report of September 7 and the affidavits don't stand in isolation.

Apart from more evidence to follow, telephone records, computer records, diary entries, etc. will also show whether Wickramasinghe in fact prepared a report, visited Temple Trees, spoke with DIG T. V. Sumanasekera and Sarath Gonagala at the relevant time, just for starters.

While the constitution bestows immunity from legal action on the president, it does not give her immunity from investigation. The police must investigate the murders in which she has been implicated, albeit post facto, and the government must act on their findings. It simply will not do for Sri Lanka to have a president whose hands are stained with covering up murder at the best and plotting it at the worst.

Inspector of Police Jayantha Vedasinghe's affidavit

I Keerthi Nuwan Jayantha Vedasinghe, Inspector of Police, Police station Ampara, being a Buddhist do hereby solemnly sincerely and truly declare and state as follows :

1. I am a the affirmant above named.

2. I am an Inspector of Police and currently function as the Personal Assistant to the Senior Superintendent of Police Ampara Division.

3. I was appointed as the officer-in-charge of the Colombo Detective Bureau in 1994. I functioned as the officer-in-charge until November 2000.

4. My superior officer from November 1998, while I was OIC of the Colombo Detective Bureau was Senior Superintendent of Police Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe.

5. In late August 2000, Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe my senior superintendent informed me that he was required to meet HE the President and was going to Temple Trees for that purpose.

6. I state that Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe informed me that he could not meet HE the President that day and was required to meet her the next day at Temple Trees.

7. I state that after returning from Temple Trees on the second occasion Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe informed me that he met HE the President and during the meeting had informed HE the President information regarding the activities of Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte's sons, the Kumar Ponnambalam murder and doings of Baddegana Sanjeewa. I state that Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe informed me that after listening to him HE the President had required Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe to forward a report on the information that had been given by him regarding Minister Ratwatte's sons to HE the President.

8. I state that later Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe informed me to find a responsible and reliable person to type the said report since HE the President had wanted the report prepared secretly and confidentially.

9. I state that thereafter I contacted Mr. Duleep Samarasinghe whom I knew was an expert in computers as well as a reliable and confidential person and asked him to come to the CDB Headquarters.

10. I state that Mr. Duleep Samarasinghe came to my office and both of us assisted Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe to prepare a report addressed to HE the President.

11. I state that I can identify the said report that was prepared by Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe, Mr. Duleep Samarasinghe and myself and annex to this Affidavit a copy of the said report, which has been signed in every page by me by way of authentication (Annexure A). I state that annexure A is a copy of the very same report referred to above.

12. I state that I accompanied Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe to Temple Trees to hand over the said report prepared by us. I state that after calling one Mr. Gonagala on Mr. Wickramasinghe's mobile phone, Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe went up to the gate of Temple Tress and handed over the report to a person. Thereafter, we returned to CDB Headquarters.

13. I state that matters stated by Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe in his report are on facts reported to him by me consequent to investigations conducted under my supervision. Further state that the informant was instructed by me to give all information to Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe. I knew that the informant had given all information to Mr. Bandula Wickramasinghe over the telephone in this regard. (excerpts - The Sunday Leader 30 December 2001)

We suspect the PA government

Those who thought that the leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) Kumar Ponnambalam's legacy could be wiped out after his brutal assassination are in for a surprise. Kumar Ponnambalam may not be living to name his killers, but his son Gajendrakumar Gangaser Ponnambalam is here to bring the culprits who killed his father to book. Young and dynamic, Gajen, as he is known, has vowed to write to the Attorney General to intervene in this matter. Having contested the December 5 election, Gajen, 27, entered parliament. A criminal lawyer himself, Gajen says the report that was submitted to President Kumaratunga by the CDB Chief Bandula Wickramasinghe was politically motivated. He says his father's killing was a motivating factor for him to enter politics though he never wanted to do so. He is committed towards taking his father's policy forward.

Following are excerpts of Gajen's interview with The Sunday Leader.

Q: The murder of your father is once again in the news following the publication of a report submitted by the then Director of Crime Detective Bureau Bandula Wickramasinghe to President Chandrika Kumaratunga as far back as September 2000 in which details of the assassination as well as those responsible for your father's killing have all been highlighted. What action do you intend taking on this report?

A: Personally I am considering writing to the honourable Attorney General (AG) through my family lawyers. That is a step that I am quite sure of taking in the near future. As far as taking it up at a political level, the party of course has not decided. Therefore, I cannot say whether we will take this matter at a political level or not. I am not sure about this. But I will certainly be writing to the AG and asking him to intervene in this matter.

Q: It was also reported that you had identified your father's cellular phone discovered by the police in a marshland behind the BMICH. Is it correct?

A: It is correct. But the circumstances that surround the identification of the phone are suspicious. Bandula Wickramasinghe called me and told me the police had recovered this phone and asked me whether it belonged to my father. I was asked to come to the CDB (Crime Detective Bureau) to identify a phone, which they had recovered, which was supposedly recovered on the instructions given by a suspect in this case. But my understanding is that the phone was recovered before the suspect was taken into police custody. I was told that the information was received from a suspect who had called the CDB and confessed.

Personally my problems with regard to the CDB's actions is that I feel it is terribly politically motivated. Even Bandula Wickramasinghe was asked to take over the investigations, I think the day after my father's killing, he made it very clear to us. He asked us whom we suspected and the family stated that we suspected the government. He made it very clear to us that the president appointed him and that he will prove through his investigations that neither the president nor the government had any involvement in the killing of my father.

In fact, my association with Bandula Wickramasinghe in my father's killing has clearly shown me that his involvement was purely political and he was merely a political instrument. This report that he had purportedly given to the president does not mention a word about government members. He is only talking of the instruments that these people used in killing my father. Now the three suspects and the son of a former minister who have been mentioned in the letter are only instruments. You see, they only carried out the act. The people behind it have not been exposed. So it is only half the story or I would say it is less than half. There is yet more to come and it will come.

Q: What action have you all taken prior to this development relating to Bandula Wickramasinghe's report to bring the murderers to book and subsequent to the report being given to the president, did the president communicate with either you or your mother on what action is being taken?

A: Definitely not with me or any of my family members. And to the best of my knowledge not even with any of the members of the ACTC. As to what steps we took prior to this development, naturally the sole member of the ACTC who was in parliament last year, Vinayagamoorthy made several speeches in parliament that also included my father's assassination. Vinayagamoorthy had specifically made comments regarding my father's assassination. He even stated in parliament that it was a cover up. Even we (the family) think it is a cover up. The initial blame was placed on the LTTE. But when the government found that the people were not going to believe this, the government put the blame on some other militant groups. When the government realised that even this would not work, they put the blame on some of the underworld gang members saying that these individuals had been annoyed because my father had taken a pro-LTTE stand. Even now, all these reports indicate that Bandula Wickramasinghe has been instrumental or has been party with the president in trying to keep the blame away from the government. This is a report to basically show that the government is not directly involved, as opposed to the true picture. So my personal feeling is that this is just a cover up. (excerpts, “The Sunday Leader” 30 December 2001)

ACTC wants debate on Kumar

The All Ceylon Tamil Congress will this week write to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe requesting a parliamentary debate on the murder of former party leader Kumar Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam was murdered on January 5, 2000 and the family of the late Tamil Congress leader has accused the former Peoples Alliance government of masterminding the murder.

New evidence reveals that Mahen Ratwatte, son of former Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte ordered the killing and that President Chandrika Kumaratunga was informed of the details in September 2000 by Crime Detective Bureau Chief, SSP Bandula Wickramasinghe but chose not to act on it.

Jaffna District MP, Gajan Ponnambalam, son of the former Tamil Congress leader confirmed to The Sunday Leader that his party would be requesting for the debate in parliament. "There are bigger people than Mahen Ratwatte involved and we want to get to the bottom of it," he said. (The Sunday Leader 13 January 2002)

RIGHT TO SELF DETERMINAION

In a nutshell

(The history, negotiations, abrogation of pacts, military operations, etc)

Severe Aerial bombing, artillery shelling by various governments in the island of Sri Lanka have caused massive human disaster and property damage in the Tamil homeland)

Tamil Centre for Human Rights TCHR Email : tchrgs@hotmail.com / tchrdip@hotmail.com

1505 The Portuguese arrived in Ceylon during the existence of three sovereign kingdoms, one Tamil Kingdom in Jaffna, and two Sinhala Kingdoms in Kotte and Kandy.

The island was divided into three kingdoms, a Tamil kingdom in the North East, the Kandy kingdom of the highlands and the Kotte kingdom situated in the South.

1619 Tamil sovereignty ended in June when the Portuguese defeated the Tamil King, and the Jaffna Kingdom became a Colony of the Portuguese.

1658 The Dutch arrived in Ceylon and the Jaffna Kingdom became a Dutch Colony.

1795 The British arrived in Ceylon and the Jaffna Kingdom became a British Colony.

1802 Ceylon became a British Crown Colony.

1833 For the first time in over 2,500 years of its recorded history, the entire island of Ceylon was brought under a single administration based on the recommendations of the Colebrook-Cameron Report.

1862 Tamils from Southern India were brought as labourers to work in the tea plantations in the hill country by the British. During the same period Tamil labourers from South India were taken to work in the sugar cane plantations in South Africa, Mauritius and in many other British colonies.

1885 Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan Tamil leader called for increased representation in Legislative council for Tamils.

1915 In June, Sinhala Buddhist-Muslim riots in Ceylon. Riots spread from the central province to the western and northwestern provinces.

There were heavy casualties amongst the Muslims. According to available records, 36 Muslims were killed and 205 Muslims were injured and raped. Nearly 85 mosques were damaged and more than 4,075 Muslim-owned shops were looted by the Sinhala rioters.

1919 The Ceylon National Congress (CNC), the first full-fledged "Nationalist" political party was formed by a celebrated Tamil, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam.

1921 Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam quitted the CNC, denouncing it as a party representing mainly a section of the Sinhalese.

1927-1931 Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam had talks with Sinhala leaders when the Donoughmore Commission announced its recommendations in 1927. The talks ended in a failure as the Sinhala leaders ignored the aspirations of the Tamils.

1944 The first Tamil political party, “All Ceylon Tamil Congress-ACTC” was founded by G. G. Ponnambalam to champion the cause of the Tamils against Sinhala Buddhist domination.

1947 The United National Party (UNP) was formed.

The first constitution of Ceylon was adopted by an Order in Council rather than by a Constituent Assembly. It was known as the (Lord) “Soulbury Constitution” which remained in force until 1972.

1948 The British left Ceylon independence was granted to “Ceylon” and the power to govern Ceylon was handed over to the Sinhalese who were numerically superior.

After the stringent 15 November 1948 Citizenship Act and the laws of disenfranchisement were enacted and adopted, the Tamils of Indian origin Tamils in the hill country (plantation Tamils) were deprived of selecting their representatives to the Parliament. More than a million plantation Tamil workers were rendered stateless.

1948-1950 The Government launched massive Sinhala colonisation schemes in the Eastern province. Gal oya in Batticaloa, Allai and Kathalai in Trincomalee were colonised under pretexts of development.

1949 Dissension with the “Tamil Congress” party led to the formation of the “Tamil Federal Party” (FP) under the leadership of S. J. V. Chelvanayagam.

1951 The first convention of the Federal Party was held and it was unanimously decided to campaign for a federal structure of governance with regional autonomy for Tamils living in North and East.

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike broke away from UNP and forms the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

1956 The United National Party-UNP was ousted from power in the general elections by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which swept the island with a wave of Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism with strong anti-Tamil overtones.

On 14 June S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake father of President Chandrika Kumaratunga proclaimed the “Sinhala Only Act” which made the Sinhala language the only official language of Ceylon.

The peaceful Satyagraha campaign staged by the Tamils to protest against the “Sinhala Only Act” at the Galle Face Green, in front of the Parliament in Colombo was brutally savaged by Sinhalese thugs with the connivance of government. The outbreak of first anti-Tamil riots in the island. More than 150 Tamils were burnt or hacked to death and million rupees worth of properties belonging to Tamils were looted and destroyed.

1957 Soon after the “Sinhala Only Act” was passed in Parliament, talks were initiated between the Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and the Federal Party leader S. J. V. Chelvanayagam.

On 26 July an agreement known as “Banda Chelva” pact was signed between Bandaranayake and Chevanayagam. This agreement was based on a quasi federal system devolving certain powers to the Tamils in the North East provinces.

Within a week of signing the “Banda-Chelva” pact, it was unilaterally abrogated by the Prime Minister Bandaranaike due to vehement protests staged by the UNP, Buddhist clergy and SLFP. J R Jeyawardena of United National Party-UNP undertook a march to Kandy in protest against this pact.

1958 Anti-Tamil pogrom broke out in the island. Many Tamils were massacred and million of rupees worth of properties belonging to the Tamils were looted and destroyed.

On 25 May, in the government sugar-cane plantation at Polonnaruwa and Hingurakgoda, the Sinhala thugs assaulted the Tamil labourers remorselessly. The Sinhala thugs set fire to the sugar canes and burnt or hacked to death 500 Tamils in Polonnaruwa and Hingurakgoda. Violence spread to the Southern part of the island wherever the Tamils live.

1959 The Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist monk.

1960 Mrs. Srimavo Bandaranaike, widow of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and mother of President Chandrika Kumaratunge, swore in as the Prime Minister.

1961 A non-violent civil disobedience campaign was launched by the Federal Party.

The government reacted violently by sending Police and military forces to Jaffna to suppress the agitation. Anti-Tamil pogrom broke out in areas where Sinhalese were in a majority, killing hundreds of Tamils and rendering thousands homeless.

1964 The Srimavo-Shashtri pact was signed for the repatriation of the Tamil people of Indian origin to whom citizenship was denied and disenfranchised through the 1948 Citizenship Act. They lived in the island for over 115 years.

1965 Dudley Senanayake leader of the UNP formed the government with the help of the Federal Party and other parties.

Talks were held between the Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake and S. J. V. Chelvanayagam.

On 24 March, an agreement known as “Dudley-Chelva” Pact was signed between Dudley Senanayake and S. J. V. Chelvanayagam.

The agreement was abandoned without being implemented due to opposition from the SLFP, the Buddhist clergy, and UNP backbenchers.

1967 The Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP-People's Liberation Front) was formed.

1970 Mrs Bandaranaike became the Prime Minister, as the United Front (a coalition of SLFP and other Sinhala leftist parties) gained a two-third majority in the Parliament.

1971 Armed revolution by the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna was suppressed by Srimavoa Bandaranayke. Thousands of Sinhala JVP youths were killed.

Talks were held between various Tamils leaders and Srimavo Bandaranayake on constitutional amendments.

No agreement was reached but the Sinhala leaders went ahead undeterred with their republican constitution amending the minimum safeguards granted to Tamils by the earlier constitution.

1972 Ceylon became a “Republic” on 22 May and Ceylon was officially renamed as the “Republic of SRI LANKA”

The United Front government enacted a Sinhala-Supremacist "Republican Constitution" for the country, which made Buddhism the state religion.

Formation of Tamil United Front (TUF) comprising Federal Party led by, S. J. V. Chelvanayagam, Tamil Congress (TC) led by GG Ponnambalam, and Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) led by Savariamoorthy Thondaman.

State discrimination against Tamil students' admission to Universities reached the peak with the introduction of "Standardisation". University admission based on merit was abandoned deliberately to stop Tamil students entering Universities.

A youth group comprising self-sacrificing and disciplined youths named Tamil New Tigers (TNT) was formed by Mr. V. Pirabaharan to fight for the right to self-determination of the Tamils in the North East.

1974 On 10 January, Sinhalese Police unleashed an unprovoked violent attack on those attending the prestigious “4^th Tamil Research Conference” in Jaffna, leaving nine innocent civilians dead.

1975 On 5 May the Tamil New Tigers -TNT was renamed as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE. Mr. V. Pirabaharan was named the Chairman and military commander of the LTTE.

1976 On 14 May, the Tamil United Front -TUF was renamed as Tamil United Liberation Front-TULF. The TULF passed the "Vaddukkoddai resolution" (Page 27) pledging to restore a free, sovereign, secular, socialist state of Tamil Eelam based on the right to self-determination, and also to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil nation in the island.

1977 In July, Tamil United Liberation Front-TULF, contested and won overwhelmingly at the Parliamentary election giving them a mandate to establish the “Right to Self-determination” of Tamil Eelam in the North East. J. R. Jeyewardena of UNP became the Prime Minister, with a five-sixth majority in the Parliament. The TULF became the major opposition party in the parliament.

Talks took place between Prime Minister J.R. Jayawardena and the Tamil United Liberation Front. No agreement was reached. Anti-Tamil pogrom occurred immediately after elections in the areas where Sinhalese were in the majority killing hundreds of Tamils.

1978 A New Constitution was enacted and J.R. Jeyawardena became first Executive President of the country. The phrase “Republic of Sri Lanka” was rephrased as “Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka”

Sri Lankan security forces started perpetrating their dreadful atrocities against Tamil youths. Counter activities of Tamil militant organisations were also on the increase.

1979 The government enacted the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), banning the Tamil militant organisations. On 11 July, the Jaffna peninsula was brought effectively under martial law under Public Security ordinance. Anti-Tamil pogrom broke out in the island. Many Tamils were killed and properties belonging to Tamils were looted and destroyed.

1980 Several Tamil youths were arbitrarily killed by the Sri Lankan security forces, Police and Army.

1981 In June, another anti-Tamil pogrom was unleashed. Increased military repression in the North. The Jaffna Public Library was burnt down by the Sri Lankan armed forces, allegedly under the direction of two senior government ministers, Gamini Dissanayake and Cyril Matthew. 95,000 volumes of books including numerous culturally important and irreplaceable manuscripts and the buildings were totally destroyed by arson. The Jaffna city market, the office of the Tamils daily newspaper “Eelanadu”, the office of the political party TULF, etc were burnt down by the Sri Lanka security forces.

An anti-Tamil pogrom broke out in the island. Many Tamils were killed and looting of the Tamils properties were widespread.

1982 Government sponsored a Sinhala settlement in the Tamil populated Mullaitivu.

1983 Major anti-Tamil pogrom took place in July all over the island with the buoyed up support of the government. During the four days riots, more than 6,000 Tamils were killed and over 250,000 were rendered refugees. Thousands of Tamils fled the country and went to India and to Western countries. Billions rupees worth of Tamils properties was looted and destroyed by the Sinhala rioters.

Between 27-28 July, fifty-three Tamil political prisoners were massacred inside the walls of the Welikadai prison in Colombo by the Sinhala inmates. The government masterminded this massacre and the Sinhala attackers were released from the prison and were rewarded with houses and properties in the Sinhala settlements in the Tamil homeland.

Hundreds of youths joined the LTTE movement and the TULF Members of Parliament sought asylum in India.

J. R. Jeyawardena’s government enacts the 6^th amendment to the constitution and rejected the right to self-determination of the Tamil people in the island on 8^th August. This amendment outlawed the mandate voted by the Tamils in 1977 general election. The Sixth amendment and the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979 along with the Emergency Law provisions became the instruments through which repression was unleashed on the Tamil people.

1984 At the beginning of EELAM WAR-I. Tamils living in the North East were lynched, arrested, tortured and killed. Women and many men disappeared. Sri Lankan Air Force bombers dropped lethal napalm bombs in residential areas causing severe loss and damage to the Tamil people and to their properties.

1985 Talks mediated by India took place in Thimbu, the capital of Bhutan, between the LTTE including other Tamil parties and the J. R. Jeyawardena’s government. Two rounds of direct negotiations were held in July-August and on 17th September.

All Tamil parties worked out four cardinal principles as the basis for the negotiation, which are today known as the “Thimpu principles”. (Page 26). The Sri Lankan government's reluctance to devolve powers and its refusal to recognise the Thimbu principles as the basis for the talk resulted in the abrupt premature termination of the negotiation. No agreement was reached.

1985-1987 State repression and counter attacks intensified in the North East resulting in all-out war between the Sri Lankan state and the LTTE. LTTE effectively took control of the Jaffna peninsula and other Northern areas.

Thousands of Tamils were killed as fighting turned brutal. Non-combatants were systematically targeted by the Sri Lanka Police, Army, Navy, Air force and Special Task Force-STF.

1986 In November, talks between the LTTE representatives and President J. R. Jeyawardena took place through the mediation of the Indian Prime minister in Bangalore, India.

LTTE Leader Pirabaharan and advisor Dr. Anton Balasingham participated in the talk.

Talks ended in a failure. J. R. Jeyawardena refused to recognise the right to self-determination and the homeland of the Tamils.

1987 An economic embargo was imposed by the Sri Lankan government on the Jaffna peninsula. Sri Lankan government launched a military operation named “Operation Liberation” to recapture the Jaffna peninsula. Sri Lanka’s two army brigades launched an offensive in the early hours on the 26th May in Vadamarachchi. The operation continued for five days.

On the 29th July 1987, a peace accord known as “Indo-Lanka” pact was signed between Sri Lanka and India. Even though this accord purported to bring an end to the island’s ethnic crisis, it was signed by India and Sri Lanka without any consultation with LTTE and the Tamils of the North East of the Island.

Tens of thousands of Indian troops known as “Indian Peace Keeping Force" (IPKF) arrived in North East. Later this force was named by the Tamils and civil society as the “Innocent Public Killing Force” (IPKF).

The Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Permuna (JVP) vigorously opposed the “Indo-Lanka” pact.

The LTTE’s first public meeting was held in Suthumalai on 4 August 1987. The LTTE Leader Mr. Pirabaharan’s speech in this meeting became known as the “Suthumalai Declaration” (Page 25).

On 5th August, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -LTTE and other militant groups surrendered their arms to the Indian army.

On 3rd October, seventeen LTTE members, including two leaders, were intercepted at sea near the coastal waters of Point Pedro, by the Sri Lankan Navy and were held at the Pallaly military base. This was a violation of the cease-fire as an amnesty had been given to the militant groups in the “Indo-Lanka” accord. When the Sri Lanka army attempted to forcibly transport them by air to Colombo, all seventeen simultaneously bit cyanide capsules. Twelve died on the spot and five survived.

On 10th October, the Indian Peace Keeping Force-IPKF which came to maintain peace in the North East, started attacking the Tamils in the North East killing more than six thousand (6000) civilians, torturing, raping innumerable women, looting billions of rupees worth of jewellery. Fighting started between the IPKF and the LTTE.

1988 The leader of the United Socialist Alliance (USA), Vijaya Kumaratunge, husband of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, was assassinated allegedly by the members of Janath Vimukthi Peramuna-JVP. Ironically JVP are present allies of President Chandrika. Ranasinghe Premadasa of the United National Party won the Presidential election.

1989 Talks between the LTTE the President Premadasa took place in Colombo. LTTE’s chief negotiator Dr. Anton Balasingham, Mrs Adel Balasingham and many other LTTE high-level leaders took part in the talks.

While in negotiation with the LTTE, Sri Lanka President Premadasa demanded the Indian government to withdraw the Indian troops from Sri Lanka. The Up-rising of Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna (JVP) was suppressed by the government and the JVP leader, Rohana Wijeweera and many others were killed.

The LTTE formed a political party and named it as People Front of the Liberation Tigers (PFLT). The LTTE was preparing to participate in the Elections to demonstrate the peoples’ support to the LTTE.

12 August, the PFLT representative attended the All Party Conference as an “Observer”. Twenty six political parties participated in this conference in Colombo.

1990 In March, the IPKF withdrew from the island of Sri Lanka.

As soon as the Indian Army left the island, President Premadasa started changing his tactics and kept on dragging on the issues negotiated with the LTTE. For example LTTE participation in an election to demonstrate the support of the people was systematically avoided. Premadasa was preparing for a military victory over the LTTE. Talks ended in a failure.

At the beginning of EELAM WAR II. Hostilities broke out again between the Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE. Economic blockade was imposed causing severe shortage of food and medicine in the North.

On the 10th September, 185 Tamil civilians were butchered by the Sri Lankan army at the Saththurukondan Army camp in the Batticaloa district. Tamils from Saththurukondan, Panichchaiyady, Kokkuvil, Pillaiyaraddy were the victims of the massacre.

1991 Tamils in the North East were subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, rape, summary executions and massacres. Properties of the Tamils worth million of rupees were destroyed in aerial bombardments and artillery shelling. Military operation ‘JAYASHAKTI’ was launched to expand the Pallaly army camp and the airfield. In September, military operation code named 'SEA BREEZE' was launched in Mullaithivu.

Military operation 'THRIVIDHA BALAYA' was launched during the operation on the old Dutch Fort in the heart of Jaffna town. The military operation 'BALAVEGAYA - I' was the largest military operation conducted at that time. 'AKUNUPAHARA' was launched in the Niththikaikulam area and military operation 'BALAVEGAYA - II' was launched in the Jaffna peninsula.

On 12th June, 82 Tamils were massacred in the village of Kokaddicholai, Mahiladi Theevu and Muthalai Kuddah in the Batticaloa district. More than 400 houses were looted and burnt by the Sri Lanka army

1992 On 9^th August, 32 Tamils were killed in the village of Mailanthannai in Batticaloa district. Most of the victims were hacked to death by the Sri Lanka army.

1993 President Premadasa was killed in a bomb explosion at a May Day rally in Colombo. The then Prime Minister D.B. Wijetunge assumed Presidency. The then cabinet minister Ranil Wickremasinghe became the Prime Minister.

1994 The People's Alliance led by Chandrika Kumaratunge won the Parliamentary elections with the pledge to "end the war and bring peace". The LTTE unilaterally announced a temporary ceasefire to welcome the change of government.

Talks between the LTTE and the PA government led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga commenced in Jaffna. Kumaratunge won the Presidential election. LTTE chief negotiator Dr. Anton Balasingham, and many other LTTE high-level leaders participated in the talks.

1995 On 5 January, the Government of Sri Lanka (President Chandrika) and the LTTE (Leader V. Pirabahakaran) signed an agreement for cessation of hostilities. The Government announced lifting of the economic embargo on some items only on paper, but the embargo continued. Later Chandrika government argued that there was no such thing as an economic embargo in the Tamil region. This was considered by civil society and the international humanitarian organisations as an “Utter lie with hidden agenda”.

The PA was not at all interested in a negotiated political settlement to the bloody ethnic conflict. The PA government was preparing for a military assault on the LTTE. In order to buy time they were sending non-governmental officials for talks with LTTE and were dragging on the promise to lift the economic embargo.

The LTTE gave a two-week ultimatum in March to the government to implement what they had promised to the civilians. This ultimatum was later extended by another three weeks until April 19th. Talks ended in failure.

Government launched a major offensive in July in several parts of the Jaffna peninsula after imposing a press censorship. This was the beginning of EELAM WAR-III.

On the 9^th July, military operation ‘OPERATION LEAP FORWARD’ was launched from Pallaly, Tellipallai and Mathagal towards Alaveddy, Sandilipay and Vaddukoddai.

On the same day, St. Peters church at Navaly which was functioning as a temporary refugee camp for displaced people from the battle zone was bombed by Sri Lankan Air force killing 165 civilians, including many women and children.

On the 1^st October, military operation ‘THUNDER’ was launched in Vasavillan, Pathameni, Atchuveli and Puttur.

On the 22nd September, Sri Lankan Air force bombed a school at Nagarkovil in Vadamaradchi, killing 25 school children among the 71 killed on the spot.

On 17^th October military operation 'RIVIRESA-I' was launched in the Valikamam area of the Jaffna peninsula. Most of the people had fled Valikamam during this military operation. The Sri Lanka army captured Valigamam and Jaffna city and this resulted in more than 500,000 civilians fleeing to LTTE controlled Vadamaradchi, Thenmaradchi divisions of the peninsula and to Vanni. On the 30th October, Jaffna remained a “ghost town” sans people.

1995 On the morning of 15th November, the NGO Forum took place at Bentota Beach Hotel, in Bentota, in the South of Sri Lanka. Both foreign and local NGO representatives participated in this forum, which was designed to improve cooperation between local and international NGOs in the effort to promote equitable development. The forum meeting was disrupted by anti-NGO demonstrators.

Three journalists were nearly hammered to death by members of the crowd, which congregated outside the Bentota hotel! They smashed a car and attempted to throw a journalist into the river. The police authorities made no effort to prevent the assault or to rescue the victims. It was alleged that certain government politicians were behind the anti-NGO demonstration. The organisers of the NGO forum decided to shift the venue to the capital, Colombo.

On 16th November, the NGO Forum re-convened in the morning at a conference hall in Ratmalana, a suburb south of Colombo. The conference attendees, several of whom had been questioned by police officers at their hotel the previous night, once again became nervous. Just as the Forum was beginning its work, police officers arrived to “request” the Forum to suspend its proceedings, claiming that the meeting was illegal! The meeting was dissolved and all attendees dispersed.

In the afternoon of the 16th November, the Forum’s international Core Group and the Sri Lanka Working Group convened an emergency meeting at an NGO’s office in Colombo to discuss their concerns regarding the disrupting of the NGO Forum in two different locations. Unfortunately this meeting, too, was disrupted when an angry crowd, made aware of the venue by radio news broadcast, converged on the site. It was evident that the discussions could not continue there either.

1996 Human rights violations by the army, including rape and disappearances increased in the Jaffna peninsula. This fact was brought to light by the revelation made of the rape and murder of Krishanthy Kumaraswamy, a Tamil schoolgirl. The girl's mother, brother and a neighbour were also murdered when they went to the army camp, inquiring about the fate of the girl.

The LTTE released 16 Sinhala fishermen captured earlier, as a gesture of good will for Christmas-New Year. During the month of April-May, the 2nd and 3rd Stages of Operation 'RIVIRESA' were launched in Thenamarachchi and Vadamarachchi in the Jaffna peninsula. In September, the military operation 'SATHJAYA' was launched in Kilinochchi and Paranthan areas.

1997 Sri Lankan forces began another major offensive in the Northern town of Vavuniya. In February, operation 'EDIBALA' was launched in Mannar. In May, the longest and the largest military operation "JAYSIKURU" was launched in Vanni. Operation “RIVIBALA” was launched by the Army (53 and 55 Divisions) in Oddusudan town and along Nedunkerny Oddusudan Road.

On the 25th September, 38 NGOs serving in several parts of Batticaloa district, were ordered by Government of Sri Lanka to cease all their humanitarian operations. This immediately followed a government order banning NGOs from assisting people in the areas of Batticaloa.

1998 Sri Lankan armed forces shelled the residential area Karuvakeni. Medical embargo to the North-East continued. Sri Lankan Kfir bombers bombarded the towns. The Jaffna Teaching Hospital was on the verge of shutting down its surgical wards owing to the short supply of items. Two Catholic priests were killed by bombs dropped by Sri Lankan Kfir planes. The Sri Lankan army shot and hacked to death many Tamil civilians.

On the 5th July, it was revealed in High Court, Colombo by the former Army Lance Corporal that that “hundreds of men and women arrested by the army in Jaffna were killed and buried in Chemmani.

1999 OPERATION RANAGOSA

Stage I Military operation commenced in early March in Mundumurippu, Iranai, Illuppaikkulam and Puwarasankulam areas.

Stage II The military operation was launched (53 and 55 Divisions) in mid March 1999 in Madu and Palamppiddi areas.

Stage III Military operation was launched in early May 1999 in Periyamadu and south west of Chiraddikulam.

Stage IV Military operation was launched on mid June 1999 in Papamodai, Vedithalathivu and Welimarandmadu areas.

OPERATION RIVIKIRANA 1 & II

Military operation ‘RIVIKIRANA I & II’ were launched in Ariyalai, Thanakillppu and Kaithaddy. Military operation ‘KINIHEERA I’ was launched by 51,52,53 and 55 Divisions along the Thanakillappu-Chava Road. Military Operation ‘KINIHEERA II’ was launched in Kaithaddy, Nunavil, Thanakillappu and Ariyalai.

OPERATION KINIHEERA III/IV

Military operation ‘KINIHEERA III and IV’ was launched in Sarasalai, Puthur, Maduvil South and Nunavil East.

2000 On the 5th January, Human Rights Defender Mr. G. G. Ponnambalam was assassinated allegedly the by the PA (Chandrika’s) government’s hirelings.

The Norwegian government came forward to facilitate peace talks between LTTE and the Chandrika government. The Norwegian chief facilitator Mr. Eric Solheim was shuttling between LTTE and the government. The Norwegian chief facilitator had meetings with LTTE Chief negotiator Dr. Anton Balasingham in London as well with LTTE Leader Mr. V. Pirabaharan in the Vanni. He also had meetings with other political leaders in Sri Lanka.

2001 Sinhala Muslims riots broke out on 2nd May in Mawanella, between Colombo and Kandy. Two Muslims were killed and Muslim- owned shops and houses were set on fire by the Sinhala rioters. On the following Friday Muslim worshippers at a Mosque in Colombo, demonstrated against the violence against Muslims in Mawanella.

There were also Sinhala-Muslim riots in Muttur in Trincomalee following the Mawanella incidents. Many shops in Muttur were razed to the ground.

The LTTE have announced unilateral cease-fires many a time. One lasted for four months. President Chandrika’s government refused to reciprocate the cease-fire declared by the LTTE and opted to continue with its military agenda.

The Minister of foreign affairs Lakshman Kadirgamar accused the Norwegian peace envoy Mr. Eric Solheim of giving too much consolation to the Tamils and sidelined him, out of personal dislike for Eric Solheim. On the 7th June, Kadirgamar insisted that the Norwegian government must remove Mr. Eric Solheim from the peace mediation. This brought the mediation to a stalemate.

The Tamil political parties formed a front known as the “Tamil National Alliance (TNA)” and contested the Parliament elections in the North East on the 5th December 2001 and won in 16 electorates. TNA’s Election manifesto (Page 24)

In December, the UNP government headed by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe came into power with the mandate for peace and negotiations with LTTE. The LTTE declared a one month cease-fire and it was renewed. The government also declared one month cease-fire and renewed it.

2002 LTTE released 10 prisoners of war as a gesture of good will for peace.

The Norwegian government re-activated its peace role. The Norwegian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesenand and Mr. Eric Solheim met with the LTTE chief negotiator Dr. Anton Balasingham in London and the Prime Minister and other ministers in Sri Lanka.

On 21 February, an historic agreement, a “Memorandum of Understanding” (Page 21)was signed between Mr. V. Pirabaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE, and the Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe. This MOU was worked out under the facilitation of the Norwegian government.

Memorandum of Understanding MOU

Statement by Mr. Jan Petersen, Foreign Minister of Norway

22 February 2002

Announcement of Sri Lanka ceasefire

As from 00:00 hours on 23 February 2002, a ceasefire agreement enters into force between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The ceasefire document, signed by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Vellupilai Pirabaharan, has been deposited with the Norwegian Government and we have been asked to make the agreement public.

The overall objective of the parities is to find a negotiated solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, which has cost 60,000 lives and caused widespread human suffering. The ceasefire will pave the way for further steps towards negotiations.

Through this formalized ceasefire the parties commit themselves to putting an end to the hostilities. They commit themselves to restoring normalcy for all the inhabitants of Sri Lanka, whether they are Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or others. And they commit themselves to accepting an international monitoring mission, led by Norway, which will conduct on-site monitoring.

Both sides have taken bold steps to conclude the ceasefire, and this agreement is a message that they are prepared to continue taking bold steps to achieve peace. They are embarking on a long road towards a political solution. It will not be easy. It will require determination and courage. The parties will face risks and uncertainties, and they will have to make hard choices. But no hardships are worse than those of conflict and bloodshed. No gains are greater than those of peace and prosperity.

On the journey to peace and prosperity, the inhabitants of Sri Lanka, and their leaders, will need the solidarity of the international community. It must mobilize political and financial support for peace and reconciliation. Norway will continue to accompany the parties in this demanding process.

I shall now provide some more detail about the ceasefire agreement.

First, it outlines the modalities of the ceasefire, including the total cessation of all offensive military operations, the separation of forces, and increased freedom of movement for unarmed troops on both sides.

Second, measures to restore normalcy for all the inhabitants of Sri Lanka Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others putting an end to hostile acts against civilians, allowing the unimpeded flow of non-military goods, opening roads and railway lines, and a gradual easing of fishing restrictions.

Third, a small international monitoring mission led by Norway. The mission will conduct international on-site monitoring of the fulfilment of the commitments made by the Parties. Let me underline, however, that it is up to the parties to respect the agreement and to impose sanctions on those individuals on either side who act contrary to the agreement.

Agreement on a ceasefire between the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Preamble

The overall objective of the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (hereinafter referred to as the GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (hereinafter referred to as the LTTE) is to find a negotiated solution to the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

The GOSL and the LTTE (hereinafter referred to as the Parties) recognize the importance of bringing an end to the hostilities and improving the living conditions for all inhabitants affected by the conflict. Bringing an end to the hostilities is also seen by the Parties as a means of establishing a positive atmosphere in which further steps towards negotiations on a lasting solution can be taken.

The Parties further recognize that groups that are not directly party to the conflict are also suffering the consequences of it. This is particularly the case as regards the Muslim population. Therefore, the provisions of this Agreement regarding the security of civilians and their property apply to all inhabitants.

With reference to the above, the Parties have agreed to enter into a ceasefire, refrain from conduct that could undermine the good intentions or violate the spirit of this Agreement and implement confidence-building measures as indicated in the articles below.

Article 1: Modalities of a ceasefire

The Parties have agreed to implement a ceasefire between their armed forces as follows:

1.1 A jointly agreed ceasefire between the GOSL and the LTTE shall enter force on such date as is notified by the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs in accordance with Article 4.2 hereinafter referred to as D-Day.

Military operations

1.2 Neither Party shall engage in any offensive military operation. This requires the total cessation of all military action and includes, but is not limited to, such acts as:

a) The firing of direct and indirect weapons, armed raids, ambushes, assassinations, abductions, destruction of civilian or military property, sabotage, suicide missions and activities by deep penetration units;

b) Aerial bombardment;

c) Offensive naval operations.

1.3 The Sri Lankan armed forces shall continue to perform their legitimate task of safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka without engaging in offensive operations against the LTTE.

Separation of forces

1.4 Where forward defence localities have been established, the GOSL’s armed forces and the LTTE’s fighting formations shall hold their ground positions, maintaining a zone of separation of a minimum of six hundred (600) metres. However each Party reserves the right of movement within one hundred (100) metres of its own defence localities, keeping an absolute minimum distance of four hundred (400) metres between them. Where existing positions are closer than four hundred (400) metres, no such right of movement applies and the Parties agree to ensure the maximum possible distance between their personnel.

1.5 In areas where localities have not been clearly established, the status quo as regards the areas controlled by the GOSL, and the LTTE respectively, on 24 December 2001 shall continue to apply pending such demarcation as is provided in article 1.6.

1.6 The Parties shall provide information to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) regarding defence localities in all areas of contention, cf. Article 3. The monitoring mission shall assist the Parties in drawing up demarcation lines at the latest by D-Day + 30.

1.7 The Parties shall not move munitions, explosives or military equipment into the area controlled by the other Party.

1.8 Tamil paramilitary groups shall be disarmed by the GOSL by D-Day + 30 at the latest. The GOSL shall offer to integrate individuals in these units under the command and disciplinary structure of the GOSL armed forces for service away from the Northern and Eastern Province.

Freedom of Movement

1.9 The Parties’ forces shall initially stay in the areas under their respective control, as provided in Article 1.4 and Article 1.5.

1.10 Unarmed GOSL troops shall, as of D-day + 60, be permitted unlimited passage between Jaffna and Vavuniyua using the Jaffna-Kandy road (A9). The modalities are to be worked out by the Parties with the assistance of the SLMM.

1.11 The Parties agree that as of D-day individual combatants shall, on the recommendation of their area commander, be permitted, unarmed and in plain clothes, to visit family and friends residing in areas under the control of the other Party. Such visits shall be limited to six days every second month, not including the time of travel by the shortest applicable route. The LTTE shall facilitate the use of the Jaffa-Kandy road for this purpose. The Parties reserve the right to deny entry to specified military areas.

1.12 The Parties agree that as of D-day individual combants shall, notwithstanding the twomonth restriction, be permitted, unarmed and in plain clothes, to visit immediate family (i.e. spouses, children, grandparents, parents and siblings) in connection with weddings or funerals. The right to deny entry to specified military areas applies.

1.13 Fifty (50) unarmed LTTE members shall as of D-day + 30, for the purpose of political work, be permitted freedom of movement in the areas of the North and the East dominated by the GOSL. Additional 100 unarmed LTTE members shall be permitted freedom of movement as of D-day + 60. As of D-Day + 90, all unarmed LTTE members shall be permitted freedom of movement in the North and East. The LTTE members shall carry identity papers. The rights of the GOSL to deny entry to specified military areas applies.

Article 2 : Measures to restore normalcy

The Parties shall undertake the following confidence-building measures with the aim of restoring normalcy for all inhabitants of Sri Lanka:

2.1 The Parties shall in accordance with international law abstain from hostile acts against the civilian population, including such acts as torture, intimidation, abduction, extortion and harassment.

2.2 The Parties shall refrain from engaging in activities or propagating ideas that could offend cultural or religious sensitivities. Places of worship (temples, churches, mosques and other holy sites, etc.) currently held by the forces of either of the Parties shall be vacated by D-day + 30 and made accessible to the public. Places of worship which are situated in “high security zones” shall be vacated by all armed personnel and maintained in good order by civilian workers, even when they are not made accessible to the public.

2.3 Beginning on the date on which this Agreement enters into force, school buildings occupied by either Party shall be vacated and returned to their intended use. This activity shall be completed by D-day + 160 at the latest.

2.4 A schedule indicating the return of all other public buildings to their intended use shall be drawn up by the Parties and published at the latest by D-day +30.

2.5 The Parties shall review the security measures and the set-up of checkpoints, particularly in densely populated cities and towns, in order to introduce systems that will prevent harassment of the civilian population. Such systems shall be in place from D-day +60.

2.6 The Parties agree to ensure the unimpeded flow of non-military goods to and from the LTTE-dominated areas with the exception of certain items as shown in Annex A. Quantities shall be determined by market demand. The GOSL shall regularly review the matter with the aim of gradually removing any remaining restrictions on non-military goods.

2.7 In order to facilitate the flow of goods and the movement of civilians, the Parties agree to establish checkpoints on their line of control at such locations as are specified in Annex B.

2.8 The Parties shall take steps to ensure that the Trincomalee Habarana road remains open on a 24-hour basis for passenger traffic with effect from D-day +10.

2.9 The Parties shall facilitate the extension of the rail service on the Batticaloa-line to Welikanda. Repairs and maintenance shall be carried out by the GOSL in order to extend the service up to Batticaloa.

2.10 The Parties shall open the Kandy-Jaffna road (A9) to non-military traffic of goods and passengers. Specific modalities shall be worked out by the Parties with the assistance of the Royal Norwegian Government by D-day + 30 at the latest.

2.11 A gradual easing of the fishing restrictions shall take place starting from D-day. As of D-day + 90, all restrictions on day and night fishing shall be removed, subject to the following exceptions : (i) fishing will not be permitted within an area of 1 nautical mile on either side along the coast and 2 nautical miles seawards from all security forces camps on the coast : (ii) fishing will not be permitted in harbours or approaches to harbours, bays and estuaries along the coast.

2.12 The Parties agree that search operations and arrests under the Prevention of Terrorism Act shall not take place. Arrests shall be conducted under due process of law in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.

2.13 The Parties agree to provide family members of detainees access to the detainees within D-day + 30.

Article 3: The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission

The Parties have agreed to set up an international monitoring mission to enquire into any instance of violation of the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Both Parties shall fully cooperate to rectify any matter of conflict caused by their respective sides. The mission shall conduct international verification through on-site monitoring of the fulfilment of the commitments entered into in this Agreement as follows :

3.1 The name of the monitoring mission shall be the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (hereinafter referred to as the SLMM).

3.2 Subject to acceptance by the Parties, the Royal Norwegian Government (hereinafter referred to as the RNG) shall appoint the Head of the SLMM (hereinafter referred to as the HoM), who shall be the final authority regarging interpretation of this Agreement.

3.3 The SLMM shall liase with the Parties and report to the RNG.

3.4 The HoM shall decide the date for the commencement of the SLMM’s operations.

3.5 The SLMM shall be composed of representatives from Nordic countries.

3.6 The SLMM shall establish a headquarters in such place as the HoM find appropriate. An office shall be established in Colombo and in Vanni in order to liase with the GOSL and the LTTE respectively. The SLMM will maintain a presence in the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai

3.7 A local monitoring committee shall be established in Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai. Each committee shall consist of five members, two appointed by the GOSL, two by the LTTE and one international monitor appointed by the HoM. The international monitor shall chair the committee. The GOSL and the LTTE appointees may be selected from among retired judges, public servants, religious leaders or similar leading citizens.

3.8 The committees shall serve the SLMM in an advisory capacity and discuss issues relating to the implementation of this Agreement in their respective districts, with a view to establishing a common understanding of such issues. In particular, they will seek to resolve any dispute concerning the implementation of this Agreement at the lowest possible level.

3.9 The Parties shall be responsible for the appropriate protection of and security arrangements for all SLMM members.

3.10 The Parties agree to ensure the freedom of movement of the SLMM members in performing their tasks. The members of the SLMM shall be given immediate access to areas where violations of the Agreeement are alleged to have taken place. The Parties also agree to facilitate the wsidest possible access to such areas for the local members of the six above-mentioned committees, cf Article 3.7.

3.11 It shall be the responsibility of the SLMM to take immediate action on any complaints made by either Party to the Agreement and to enquire into and assist the Parties in the settlement of any dispute that might arise in connection with such complaints.

3.12 With the aim of resolving disputes at the lowest possible level, communication shall be established between commanders of the GOSL armed forces and the LTTE area leaders to enable them to resolve problems in the conflict zones.

3.13 Guidelines for the operations of the SLMM shall be established in a separate document.

Article 4: Entry into force, amendments and termination of the Agreement

4.1 Each Party shall notify its consent to be bound by this Agreement through a letter to the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs signed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on behalf of the GOSL and by leader Velupillai Pirabaharan on behalf of the LTTE, respectively. The Agreement shall be initialled by each Party and enclosed in the above-mentioned letter.

4.2 The Agreement shall enter into force on such date as is notified by the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

4.3 This Agreement may be amended and modified by mutual agreement of both Parties. Such amendments shall be notified in writing to the RNG.

4.4 This Agreement shall remain in force until notice of termination is given by either Party to the RNG. Such notice shall be given fourteen (14) days in advance of the effective date of termination.

Annexes

Annex A : List of goods Annex B: Checkpoints

Election manifesto of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) 2001

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) comprising the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) released its manifesto in Colombo on 10 November 2001.

The immediate aims and objectives of the Tamil Alliance are the following: -

i) The immediate lifting of the economic embargo currently in force in parts of the northeast province

ii) The withdrawal of the residential and travel restrictions foisted on the Tamil nationality

iii) The immediate cessation of the war being currently waged in the northeast

iv) The immediate commencement of the process of negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) with international third party involvement.

This Alliance also states that unless meaningful negotiations are held with the L.T.T.E. no just solution can be found to the Tamil national question and that such negotiations should be held immediately only with the LTTE. This Alliance further states that in order to ensure that the negotiations are properly focussed and are purposeful and successful, no parallel negotiations should take place with any other Tamil political formation.

v) That to facilitate the commencement of such negotiations, steps should be taken to lift the proscription imposed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, and thereby ensure such proscription does not constitute an impediment to the free and full participation of the LTTE at such negotiations on behalf of the Tamil nationality.

The Alliance contests the forthcoming parliamentary elections in order to achieve the aims and objectives, outlines above, and will campaign both nationally and internationally for the achievement of the said aims and objectives.

This Alliance will mobilize the Tamil-speaking people of the northeast, in order to achieve the said aims and objectives.

The Tamil nationality is today at the crossroads, between despair as a result of their present pathetic plight, and hope for a better tomorrow.

We urge the Tamil speaking voters to repose faith in the hope for a better tomorrow, and extend their total support to the Tamil Alliance, by casting their votes for the rising sun, the common symbol of the Tamil Alliance.

<Election Results>

Suthumalai Declaration (1987)

Leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE, Veluppillai Pirabaharan addressed the first public meeting in Suthumalai on 4 August 1987. His speech in this meeting is known as “Suthumalai declaration”.

“My beloved and esteemed people of Tamil Eelam,

“Today there has taken place tremendous turn in the history of our liberation struggle. This turn has come suddenly, in a way that has stunned us, and as if it were beyond our power to influence events.

“Whether the consequences of this turn will be favourable to us, we shall have to wait and see.

“You are aware that this Agreement, concluded suddenly and with great speed between India and Sri Lanka, without consulting our people and without consulting us, our people’s representatives, is being implemented with expedition and urgency. Until I went to Delhi, I did not know anything about this Agreement. Saying that the Indian Prime Minister desired to see me, they invited me and took me quickly to Delhi. This Agreement was show to us after I went there. There were several complications and several question marks in it. The doubt arose for us whether, as a result of this Agreement a permanent solution would be available to the problems of our people. Accordingly, we made it emphatically clear to the Indian Government that we were unable to accept this Agreement.

Primary concern

“But the Indian Government stood unbudging on the point that whether we accepted or did not accept the Agreement, it was determined to put it into effect. We were not taken by surprise by this stand of the India Government. This Agreement did not concern only the problem of the Tamils. This is primarily concerned with Indo-Sri Lanka relations. It also contains within itself the clauses for binding Sri Lanka within India’s

super-power orbit. It works out a way for preventing disruptionist and hostile foreign forces from gaining footholds in Sri Lanka. That is why the Indian Government showed such an extraordinary keenness in concluding this Agreement. However, at the time, it happens to be an Agreement that determines the political future and fate of the people of Tamil Eelam. That is why we firmly objected to the conclusion of this Agreement without consultations with our people and without the seeking of our views. However, there is no point in our objecting to this. When a great power has decided to determine our political fate in a manner that is essentially beyond our control, what are we to do?

Difficult to Digest

This Agreement directly affects our moment and our political goals and objectives. It affects the form and shape of our struggle. It also puts a stop to our armed struggle. If the mode of our struggle, brought to this stage over a fifteen year period through shedding blood, through making sacrifices, through staking achievements and through offering a great many lives, is to be dissolved or disbanded within a few days, it is naturally something we are unable to digest. This Agreement disarms us suddenly, without giving us time, without getting the consent of our fighter, without working out a guarantee for our people’s safety and protection. Therefore we refused to surrender arms.

India’s assurances

Under such circumstances, India’s Honourable Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, invited me for a discussion, I opened my mind and spoke to him of our concerns and our problems. I pointed out to the Indian Prime Minister the fact that I did not repose the slightest faith in the Sinhala racist government and did not believe that they were going to fulfil the implementation of this Agreement. I spoke to him about the question of our people’s safety and protection and about guarantees for this. This Indian Prime Minister offered me certain assurances. He offered a guarantee for the safety and protection of our people. I do have faith in the straightforwardness of the Indian Prime Minister and I do have faith in his assurances.

We do believe that India will not allow the racist Sri Lankan state to take once again to the road of genocide against the Tamils. It is only out of this faith that we decided to hand over our weapons to the Indian peace keeping force.

What ardent, immeasurable sacrifices we have made for the safety and protection of our people! There is no need here to elaborate on this theme. You, our beloved people, are fully aware of the character of our passion for our cause and our feelings of sacrifice. The weapons that we took up and deployed for your safety and protection, for your liberation, for your emancipation, we now entrust to the Indian Government.

Transfer of responsibility

In taking from us our weapons the one means of protection for Eelam Tamils the Indian Government takes over from us the big responsibility of protection our people. The handing over of arms only signifies the handing over the transfer of this responsibility.

Were we not to hand over our weapons, we would be put in the calamitous circumstance of clashing with the Indian Army. We do not want this. We love India. We love the people of India. There is no question of our deploying our arms against Indian soldiers. The soldiers of the Indian Army are taking up the responsibility of safeguarding and protecting us against our enemy. I wish very firmly to emphasise here that by virtue of our handing over our weapons to it the Indian Government should assume full responsibility for the life and security of every one of the Eelam Tamils.

We have no way other than to co-operate with this Indian endeavour. Let us offer them this opportunity. However, I do not think that as a result of this agreement, there will be a permanent solution to the problem of the Tamils. The time is not very far off when the monster of Sinhala racism will devour this Agreement. I have unrelenting faith in the proposition that only a separate state of Tamil Eelam can offer a permanent solution of the problem of the people of Tamil Eelam. Let me make it clear to you here, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I will continue to fight for the objective of attaining Tamil Eelam. The forms of struggle may change, but the objective or goal of our struggle is not going to change. If our cause is to triumph, it is vitally necessary that the wholehearted, the totally unified support of you, our people should always be with us.

The circumstance may arise for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to take part in the interim administration or to contest elections, keeping in view the interests of the people of Tamil Eelam. But I wish firmly to declare here that under no circumstances and at no point of time will I contest elections or accept the office of the Chief Minister.

The Liberation Tigers yearn for the motherland of Tamil Eelam.

Thimpu Declaration (1985)

JOINT STATEMENT MADE BY THE TAMIL DELEGATION CONSISTING OF

EPRLF, EROS, PLOT, LTTE, TELO AND TULF ON THE CONCLUDING DAY OF

PHASE I OF THE THIMPU TALKS ON THE 13^th OF JULY 1985

It is our considered view that any meaningful solution to the Tamil national question must be based on the following four cardinal principles.

1. Recognition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka as a nation.

2. Recognition of the existence of an identified homeland for the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

3. Recognition of the right of self determination of the Tamil nation.

4. Recognition of the right to citizenship and the fundamental rights of all Tamils who look upon the island as their country.

Different countries have fashioned different systems of governments to ensure these principles.

We have demanded and struggled for an independent Tamil state as the answer to this problem arising out of the denial of these basic rights of our people.

The proposals put forward by the Sri Lankan government delegation as their solution to this problem is totally unacceptable. Therefore we have rejected them as stated by us in our statement of the 12^th of July 1985.

However, in view of our earnest desire for peace, we are prepared to give consideration to any set of proposals, in keeping with the above mentioned principles, that the Sri Lankan government may place before.

Vaddukoddai Resolution (1976)

The Resolution was adopted at the first National Convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) on 14 May 1976. TULF’s participation in the 1977 general elections was anchored in this Resolution. In this Resolution, the TULF declared its intent of forming a sovereign State of Tamil Eelam. S. J. V. Chelavanayakam presided over the Convention. The following is a translation of the Resolution, which was originally adopted in Tamil:

Whereas, throughout the centuries from the dawn of history, the Sinhalese and Tamil nations have divided between themselves the possession of Ceylon, the Sinhalese inhabiting the interior of the country in its Southern and Western parts from the river Walawe to that of Chilaw and the Tamils possessing the Northern and Eastern districts; And,

Whereas, the Tamil kingdom was overthrown in war and conquered by the Portuguese in 1619, and from them by the Dutch and the British in turn, independent of the Sinhalese Kingdoms; And,

Whereas, the British colonists, who ruled the territories of the Sinhalese and Tamil kingdoms separately, joined under compulsion the territories of the Sinhalese and the Tamil Kingdoms for purposes of administrative convenience on the recommendation of the Colebrook Commission in 1833; And,

Whereas, the Tamil leaders were in the forefront of the freedom movement to rid Ceylon of colonial bondage which ultimately led to the grant of independence to Ceylon in 1948; And,

Whereas, the foregoing facts of history were completely overlooked, and power over the entire country was transferred to the Sinhalese nation on the basis of a numerical majority, thereby reducing the Tamil nation to the position of subject people; And,

Whereas, successive Sinhalese governments since independence have always encouraged and fostered the aggressive nationalism of the Sinhalese people and have used their political power to the detriment of the Tamils by:

(a) Depriving one half of the Tamil people of their citizenship and franchise rights thereby reducing Tamil representation in Parliament,

(b) Making serious inroads into the territories of the former Tamil Kingdom by a system of planned and state-aided Sinhalese colonization and large scale regularization of recently encouraged Sinhalese encroachments, calculated to make the Tamils a minority in their own homeland,

(c) Making Sinhala the only official language throughout Ceylon thereby placing the stamp of inferiority on the Tamils and the Tamil language,

(d) Giving the foremost place to Buddhism under the Republican Constitution thereby reducing the Hindus, Christians, and Muslims to second class status in this country,

(e) Denying to the Tamils equality of opportunity in the spheres of employment, education, land alienation and economic life in general and starving Tamil areas of large scale industries and development schemes thereby seriously endangering their very existence in Ceylon,

(f) Systematically cutting them off from the main-stream of Tamil cultures in South India while denying them opportunities of developing their language and culture in Ceylon, thereby working inexorably towards the cultural genocide of the Tamils,

(g) Permitting and unleashing communal violence and intimidation against the Tamil speaking people as happened in Amparai and Colombo in 1956; all over the country in 1958; army reign of terror in the Northern and Eastern Provinces in 1961; police violence at the International Tamil Research Conference in 1974 resulting in the death of nine persons in Jaffna; police and communal violence against Tamil speaking Muslims at Puttalam and various other parts of Ceylon in 1976 all these calculated to instil terror in the minds of the Tamil speaking people, thereby breaking their spirit and the will to resist injustices heaped on them,

(h) By terrorizing, torturing, and imprisoning Tamil youths without trial for long periods on the flimsiest grounds,

(i) Capping it all by imposing on the Tamil nation a Constitution drafted, under conditions of emergency without opportunities for free discussion, by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of the Soulbury Constitution distorted by the citizenship laws resulting in weight age in representation to the Sinhalese majority, thereby depriving the Tamils of even the remnants of safeguards they had under the earlier constitution; And,

Whereas, all attempts by the various Tamil political parties to win their rights, by co-operating with the governments, by parliamentary and extra-parliamentary agitations, by entering into pacts and understandings with successive Prime Ministers, in order to achieve the bare minimum of political rights consistent with the self-respect of the Tamil people have proved to be futile; And,

Whereas, the efforts of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress to ensure non-domination of the minorities by the majority by the adoption of a scheme of balanced representation in a Unitary Constitution have failed and even the meagre safeguards provided in article 29 of the Soulbury Constitution against discriminatory legislation have been removed by the Republican Constitution; And,

Whereas, the Tamil United Liberation Front, after rejecting the Republican Constitution adopted on the 22nd of May, 1972, presented a six point demand to the Prime Minister and the Government on 25th June, 1972, and gave three months time within which the Government was called upon to take meaningful steps to amend the Constitution so as to meet the aspirations of the Tamil Nation on the basis of the six points, and informed the Government that if it failed to do so the Tamil United Liberation Front would launch a non-violent direct action against the Government in order to win the freedom and the rights of the Tamil Nation on the basis of the right of self-determination; And,

This Convention further declares:

· That the State of Tamil Eelam shall consist of the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces and shall also ensure full and equal rights of citizenship of the State of Tamil Eelam to all Tamil speaking people living in any part of Ceylon and to Tamils of Eelam origin living in any part of the world who may opt for citizenship of Tamil Eelam.

· That the constitution of Tamil Eelam shall be based on the principle of democratic decentralization so as to ensure the non-domination of any religious or territorial community of Tamil Eelam by any other section.

· That in the state of Tamil Eelam caste shall be abolished and the observance of the pernicious practice of untouchability or inequality of any type based on birth shall be totally eradicated and its observance in any form punished by law.

· That Tamil Eelam shall be a secular state giving equal protection and assistance to all religions to which the people of the state may belong. (Excerpts)

North-East Province Tamil homeland - Kumar Ponambalam Gajendran

Every Tamil wants the North East Province to be recognised as their traditional homeland. We are not prepared to have any truck with the Government that refuses to recognise our demands, United Tamil Alliance nominee Kumar Ponnambalam Gajendran (son of former ACTC leader, the late Kumar Ponnambalam) said.

He was speaking at the first election meeting held at Gurunagar Jaffna said:

"There is a big difference between the politics practised during the time of my grand father late G.G. Ponnambalam and the present era. Politicians of those days concentrated mainly on the needs of their electorate and their constituents but today the politicians have to fulfil the political aspirations of their race. The aspirations of the Tamils have already been made explicit. They assert that political self determination is an inalienable right of every Tamil and the LTTE should be recognised as the sole representative of the Tamils. We are not worried as to who would form the next Government. Whoever who comes to power should concede the foregoing demands of the Tamils.

He was speaking at the first election meeting held at Gurunagar Jaffna on the 100th birthday commemoration of late G.G. Ponnambalam the Tamil Congress Leader.

The meeting started with the garlanding of the statue of late G.G. Ponnambalam by the family members and ardent supporters of G.G. Ponnambalam.

Gajendran further said the reason why the Tamil United Alliance was formed to make the whole world aware that Tamils have united to win their demands and to show that the Tamil political parties have accepted the LTTE as the sole representatives of the Tamils and the Government that comes to power should have peace talks with the LTTE only and not with any other political party.

He said that so far the Tamil parties have not been successful in bringing the ethnic issue to the attention of the foreign countries. It was the LTTE that made the ethnic problem an issue that merited the mediation of the foreign countries. They have been sacrificing their lives to enable the Tamils to live with self respect in the land of their birth. The Tamil race is morally obliged to bow their heads to the LTTE for the great sacrifices made by them.

He pointed out that the Tamils must be aware of the freedom struggle taking place in different parts of the world. It is regrettable that the LTTE has been branded as terrorists.

The Tamils should unitedly let our Sinhalese brethren and the international community know the LTTE is not a terrorist organisation. The victory to the United Tamil Alliance would show that the LTTE has the full backing of the Tamils. Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy and C.V.K. Sivagnanam the Tamil Congress candidates also spoke. (Daily News 17 November 2001)

RESULTS - 5 DECEMBER 2001

PARLIAMENT ELECTION IN THE ISLAND OF SRI LANKA

Party

UNP/UNF Rani Wickramasinghe ( Prime Minister)      112*

PA Chandrika Kumaratunga (President) 78

JVP (Sinhalese Extremist-killed 16

thousands of Singhalese civilians)

TNA Tamil National Alliance** 15 *

SLMC (Sinhala extremist) 02

EPDP (Tamil mercenaries) 02

(Voters denied access to polling stations by EPDP)

PLOTE (ex Tamil militant) 01

* Voted for peace and negotiations with LTTE

** Election manifesto is given above (Page ??)

Tamil National leader Pirapaharan calls for Norwegian engagement

02 January 2002 - Tamil National leader Mr Velupillai Pirapaharan, has written to the Norwegian Prime Minister Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik, calling for Norway s continuous engagement as the facilitator between the LTTE and the new Sri Lanka government to find a peaceful settlement to the ethnic conflict. In a press release, the LTTE stated that Mr. Pirapaharan also complimented the Royal Norwegian Government for its impartial and neutral approach in the facilitatory process. The statement also said a Norwegian delegation headed by Mr Helgeson, the Deputy Foreign Minister, will meet Mr Anton Balasingham, the official spokesman and chief negotiator for the LTTE in London on 4 January.

Below is the text of the press release:

Mr Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a letter addressed to the Norwegian Prime Minister Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik, called for Norway s continuous engagement as the facilitator between the LTTE and the new Sri Lanka government to find a peaceful settlement to the ethnic conflict.

The Tamil Tiger leader also complimented the Royal Norwegian Government for its impartial and neutral approach in the facilitatory process. The following is the text of the letter addressed to Mr Bondevik on 1 January 2002:

"Dear Prime Minister,

"To begin with, allow me to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation of the indefatigable effort and valuable assistance provided by the Royal Norwegian Government over the past two and a half years to promote a negotiated political settlement to the Tamil national question in Sri Lanka. I also wish to commend the Norwegian government for its impartiality and objective neutrality shown in the delicate practice of facilitation. Such a noble approach is widely appreciated by the Tamils in Tamil Eelam as well as by the Tamils living throughout the world.

"I am writing this letter to you to seek your government s continuous engagement as the facilitator to help to find a stable peace and a permanent settlement to the ethnic conflict."

LTTE DECLARE MONTH-LONG CEASEFIRE: GOODWILL MEASURE TO FACILITATE PEACE

International Secretariat
Vanni - Tamil Eelam

19 December, 2001

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an official statement issued today from its headquarters in Vanni, northern Sri Lanka, announced the declaration of a month long unilateral cessation of hostilities as a goodwill measure during the festive season to facilitate and promote initiatives towards a peace process. The LTTE's observation of cease-fire begins at midnight on Christmas Eve, 24 December 2001.

"Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader and military commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has issued orders to all units and combat formations of the Tamil liberation army to cease all hostile military actions against the Sri Lankan armed forced from midnight 24 December 2001 till midnight 24 January 2002," the LTTE's statement declared.

"Encouraged by the collective mandate for peace and ethnic harmony given by the Sinhala and Tamil masses at the general election, the LTTE leadership has decided to declare, unilaterally, a month long cessation of armed hostilities during the festive season of Christmas, New Year and 'Thai Pongal' (Hindu Harvest Festival) as a gesture of goodwill to facilitate the promotion of peace initiatives. We fervently hope that the new government of Sri Lanka will reciprocate positively to our goodwill gesture and instruct its armed forces to observe peace during this period. Our decision to cease armed hostilities and observe peace during the festive season should be viewed as a genuine expression of goodwill, demonstrating our sincere desire for peace and negotiated political settlement. We are confident that the new government will utilise this space of peace to implement goodwill measures to create congenial conditions of normalcy in the Tamil homeland by withdrawing the economic embargo and other restrictions and prohibitions imposed on our people," the statement said.

"If the Sri Lanka government reciprocates positively to our goodwill gesture and ceases armed hostilities against our forces and takes immediate steps to remove the economic embargo and other restrictions, the LTTE will favourably consider extending the period of cease-fire to create cordial conditions for a stable peace and de-escalation," the statement further said. (Press release)

LTTE LEADER MAKES SPECIAL PLEA TO THE SINHALESE-

REJECT RACIST FORCES: OFFER JUSTICE TO THE TAMILS

International Secretariat Vanni - Tamil Eelam

27 November, 2001

In a special appeal made to the majority Sinhala people faced with crucial parliamentary election early next month in Sri Lanka, Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), urged them to reject racist forces committed to militarism and war and to offer justice to the Tamil people to bring about peace, ethnic reconciliation and economic prosperity to the island.

Enunciating the organisation’s policy in his annual Heroes’ Day speech today, the Tamil Tiger leader declared that the Tamil people wanted to live in their traditional lands with peace and dignity, determining their own political and economic life. “It is the basic political aspiration of the Tamil people. This is neither separatism nor terrorism. It does not constitute a threat to the Sinhala people,” Mr. Pirapaharan said.

The LTTE leader said that the Sinhalese, Tamils and other communities in the island could co-exist in peace and harmony if a political settlement is reached through peaceful means. But he warned that the Tamils would be left with no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state if the Sinhala nation continued to refuse to resolve the conflict through peaceful means. “If racism continues to predominate as the determining force in Sri Lanka’s politics, it would certainly create the objective conditions for the emergence of an independent Tamil state,” Mr Pirapaharan said.

The Tiger leader declared that the LTTE is sincerely committed to a negotiated political settlement. Yet he insisted that lifting of the ban on his organisation is a necessary pre-requisite for the LTTE to participate in the peace talks as the legitimate, authentic representatives of the Tamil people.

The following are extracts from Mr Pirapaharan’s statement:

“The Tamil national question, which has assumed the character of a civil war, is essentially a political issue. We still hold a firm belief that this issue can be resolved by peaceful means. If there is genuine will and determination on the part of the Sinhalese leadership there is a possibility for peace and settlement. Though fifty-three years have passed since the independence of this island, the Sinhalese political leadership is still buried in the swamp of racist ideology. That is why they have not developed the wisdom and understanding to deal with the Tamil question objectively and realistically. The belief that the Tamil ethnic conflict could be resolved by repressive military means still predominates the Sinhala political system. It is precisely for this reason that none of the major Sinhala political parties have any concrete projects or frameworks for the permanent resolution of the conflict. The international community is fully aware of this fact. These world governments, while insisting that the ethnic conflict should be resolved by peaceful means, have always supported Sri Lanka’s political and military efforts to weaken the political struggle of the Tamils. This strange, ambiguous attitude of the world governments has also contributed to the prolongation of the conflict.

We are constantly knocking on the doors of peace but the Kumaratunga government has refused to open the doors. Following the meeting with the Norwegian peace envoys in Vanni in November last year, we declared a unilateral cease-fire for four months to help to facilitate the peace process. The Sri Lanka government responded by ridiculing and rejecting our peace initiative and launched provocative military assaults on our positions. Finally, the government undertook a major offensive operation within hours of the termination of our cease-fire. Our fierce counter-attack repulsed the army’s operation and made the government realise the fact that the LTTE is strong and invincible.

Though we are strong with considerable manpower and firepower we abstained from launching any major land based offensive operations this year to facilitate the peace process. We co-operated with Norway’s peace efforts. It was under these circumstances that Kumaratunga’s government downgraded and marginalised the accredited Norwegian peace envoy, Mr Erik Solheim, accusing him of being biased towards the LTTE. We registered a strong protest against this action. Following this incident the Norwegian peace effort reached a stalemate. Chandrika Kumaratunga is responsible for this issue.

Having assumed itself as the most crucial and cardinal issue in Sri Lankan politics, the Tamil national conflict has effectively polarised the political forces towards two contradictory positions: between war and peace. The elections have become a competitive arena between the forces that seek peace and the extremist forces that are opposed to peace. The general public is given the responsibility of choosing as to whether there will be peace in the future or if the war will continue. The Sinhala people should realise that there can be no peace, ethnic harmony and economic prosperity in the island as long as the Tamil people are denied justice and their political aspirations are not fulfilled.

We are not enemies of the Sinhala people, nor is our struggle against them. It is because of the oppressive policy of the racist Sinhala politicians that contradictions arose between the Sinhala and Tamil nations, resulting in a war. We are fighting this war against a state and its armed forces determined to subjugate our people through the force of arms. We are well aware that this war has not only affected the Tamils but also affects the Sinhala people deeply. Thousands of innocent Sinhala youth have perished as a consequence of the repressive policies of the war mongering ruling elites. We are also aware that it is the Sinhala masses who are bearing the economic burden of the war. Therefore, we call upon the Sinhala people to identify and renounce the racist forces committed to militarism and war and to offer justice to the Tamils in order to put an end to this bloody war and to bring about permanent peace.

The Tamil people want to maintain their national identity and to live in their own lands, in their historically given homeland with peace and dignity. They want to determine their own political and economic life; they want to be on their own. These are the basic political aspirations of the Tamil people. It is neither separatism nor terrorism. These demands do not constitute a threat to the Sinhala people. They do not in any way affect or undermine the political liberties or the social, economic and cultural life of the Sinhala people. The Tamil people favour a political solution that would enable them to live in their own lands with the right to rule themselves. This is what the Tamils mean when they emphasise that a political solution should be based on the right to self-determination.

Our organisation is prepared to negotiate with the Sri Lanka government on a political framework that would satisfy the basic political aspirations of the Tamil people. But for us to participate in political negotiations freely as equal partners, as the authentic political force with the status of legitimate representatives of our people, the ban imposed on our movement should be lifted. This is the collective aspiration of the Tamil people.

The use of violence in all modes of struggles to attain specific political goals is defined as terrorism by international governments. This narrow definition has erased the distinctions between genuine struggles for political independence and terrorist violence. This conception of terrorism has posed a challenge to the moral foundation of armed struggles waged by liberation movements for basic political rights and for the right to self-determination. This development is regrettable. As a consequence our liberation organisation is also being discredited in the international arena.

In our view, there are two dimensions in political violence. Firstly, there is the violence of the oppressor. Secondly, there is the violence of the oppressed. In most cases the oppressor belongs to the ruling elites, yields state authority and command the armed forces. The oppressed are always the ruled, the minority nationalities, the exploited and the poor. The violence of the first category can be designated as state violence. The second category can be termed as the violence against state violence. Since state violence is a form of repressive violence of the oppressor, it is unjust. The reactive violence of the oppressed is just since it is undertaken with the motive of obtaining justice. It is within the context of this distinction that the violent modes of political struggles of the oppressed find legitimacy.

Violent forms of struggles by people seeking political rights emerge only as reactive violence against state terror. This truth can be discerned if one can objectively analyse the historical origins of the world liberation organisations. The Tamil Eelam liberation struggle has similar historical origins. The state oppression against the Tamil people originated two decades before the birth of the Tamil Tigers. Fuelled by racist passion, the state repression gradually intensified over time and assumed genocidal proportions.

All forms of peaceful non-violent agitations undertaken by the Tamil people against Sinhala state oppression were brutally repressed by state terror. Since the non-violent political struggle became futile and meaningless and at the same time the state oppression intensified in the form of genocide the Tamil people were left with no alternative other than to confront the state violence with violence. In other words, the Tamil people were compelled to take arms to defend themselves against genocicdal destruction. It was under these objective historical conditions the Liberation Tigers took birth and advanced the armed struggle against state terror. With the history of a sustained campaign extending to a period of twenty years our armed resistance has evolved and developed as the political mode of struggle of the Tamil people.

All the member countries of the United Nations have joined the alliance in the war against terrorism spearheaded by the Western powers. Some of the repressive states with a notorious history of racist oppression and gross human rights violations have joined this global alliance against terror. In this context we wish to confine our remarks only to the Sri Lanka state. This government, holding one of the highest records of human rights violations amounting to genocide, has now joined the international alliance against terrorism. This is a dangerous trend in the emerging new world order. This new trend is also posing a threat to the legitimate political struggles of the oppressed humanity subjected to state terror. We fully understand the anger, apprehensions, and compulsions of the Western powers engaged in a war against international

terrorism. We welcome the counter-terrorist campaign of the international community to identify and punish the real terrorists. In this context it is crucial that the Western democratic nations should provide a clear and comprehensive definition of the concept of terrorism that would distinguish between freedom struggles based on the right to self-determination and blind terrorist acts based on fanaticism. The international community cannot ignore the phenomenon of state terror practiced internally by some repressive regimes. The world should seek to identify such terrorist states and penalise them.

We hold the position that unless the Sri Lanka government lifts the ban on our organisation and accepts us as the authentic, legitimate representatives of the Tamil people we will not participate in the peace negotiations. We are firmly committed to this position. We have also clearly stated our position to the Norwegian government. There is a possibility of peace in the island of Sri Lankan only when the LTTE is de-proscribed. Under these circumstances, proscribing the LTTE by Western governments giving into diplomatic pressures from Sri Lanka will not pave the way for the peaceful negotiated settlement of the conflict. Rather, it will further reinforce the collective demand of our people to lift the ban on the LTTE for the resumption of peace talks”.

Comparison of Tamil homeland (Tamil Eelam) with some countries

which are member states of United Nation

Tamil Centre for Human Rights TCHR Email : tchrgs@hotmail.com / tchrdip@hotmail.com

Area

Country Population (Square Miles)

Antigua & Barbuds 81,500 171

Bahmas 235,000 5,353

Bahrain 416,275 265

Barbados 253,055 166

Belize 171,000 22,963

Bhutan 1,30M 18,000

Botswana 1,13M 222,000

Brunei Darussalam 221,900 2,226

Cape Verde 350,000 1,557

Comoros 422,500 1,557

Cyprus 673,100 3,572

Djibouti 470,000 8,960

Dominica 94,191 290

Ecuador 384,000 10,831

Fiji 714,000 7,078

Gabon 1.22M 104,557

Gambia 698,817 4,180

Grenada 88,000 133

Guinea-Bissau 935,000 13,948

Guyana 812,000 83,000

Iceland 244,009 39,758

Kuwait 1,77M 6,880

Lesotho 1,63M 11,720

Liechtenstein 32,528 62

Luxembourg 369,500 998

Maldives 189,000 115

Malta 343,334 95

Mauritania 2,01M 398,000

Mauritius 1,04M 797

Monaco 29,972 0.7

Mongolia 1,97M 605,022

Oman 1,20M 105,000

Qatar 371,863 4,468

Saint Kitts and Nevis 47,000 104

Saint Lucia 143,600 238

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 138,000 150

San Marino 27,336 23.5

Sao Tome and Principe 113,000 387

Samoa 163,000 1,093

Seychelles 67,000 175

Singapore 4,300,419 239

Solomon Islands 270,000 10,640

Suriname 370,000 63,992

Swaziland 676,049 6,705

Trinidad and Tobago 1,22M 1,978

United Arab Emirates 1,77M 32,300

Vanuatu 141,400 5,700

TAMIL EELAM (Island of Sri Lanka) 3,113,000** 7,290

* According to the United Nations statistics, there are 60 million Tamils in India (Tamil Nadu) and the Island of Sri Lanka (Tamil Eelam) alone, and Tamils rank the 17^th largest linguistic group in the world.

** Census of 1991

ECONOMIC SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

SCHOOLS IN NORTHEAST

1,989 Schools in the North East

1,817 Schools are functioning at present 172 Schools are temporarily closed

622 Schools are very difficult schools 291 Schools are difficult schools

Schools functioning in the 8 districts are as follows : (1817)

Jaffna 402 Mannar 94 Kilinochchi 90 Mullaithivu 95

Vavuniya 181 Trincomalee 248 Batticaloa 307 Ampara 400

The student population exceeds 650,000

The schools closed temporarily are : (172)

Jaffna 85 Mannar 21 Kilinochchi 4 Mullaithivu 10

Vavuniya 12 Trincomalee 23 Batticaloa 13 Ampara 4

Very difficult schools are as follows: (622)

Vadamarachchi 20 Islands 15 Valikamam 1

Vavuniya South 26 Vavuniya North 85 Mannar 15 Madhu 31

Kilinochchi 67 Mullaithivu 23 Thunukkai 46 Trincomalee 3

Kantale 46 Mutur 71 Batticaloa 26 Paddiruppu 46

Kalkudah 32 Samanthurai 8 Kalmunai 1 Akkaraipattu 7

Maha Oya 11 Dehiattakandiya 2 Ampara 40

Difficult schools are as follows : (291)

Jaffna 3 Vadamarachchi 1 Islands 23 Valikamam 4

Thenmarachchi 9 Vavuniya South 19 Mannar 28 Madhu 2

Kilinochchi 19 Mullaithivu 12 Thunukkai 4 Trincomalee 10

Kantale 9 Mutur 25 Batticaloa 11 Paddiruppu 13

Kalkudah 23 Samanthruai 12 Kalmunai 2 Akkaraipattu 10

Maha Oya 6 Dehiattakandiya 23 Ampara 23

1,949 Provincial schools

40 National schools

6 Private schools in the Jaffna district

51 Girls schools

28 Boys schools

1,910 Mixed schools (Boys and girls)

(Government source - damaged to school buildings and furniture not given)

948 religion teacher vacancies unfilled

There are 948 vacant religion teacher slots, in schools countrywide. A delegation from the Catholic church, including Archbishops Rev. Nicholas Marcus Fernando and Rev. Oswald Gomis reported to the Education Minister that these slots for Catholic teachers remain vacant.

There are 48 such vacancies in the North Central Province, 24 in Uva, 400 in the North-western, 197 in the Western, 26 in the Southern, 77 in the Northern, 28 in the Central, 50 in the Sabaragamuwa and 38 in the Eastern provinces. (excerpt, “The Island” 14 February 2002)

70 000 homeless due airfield expansion

Hundreds of families in Valikamam-north sector who had to vacate their houses (70,000) when the Army expanded its Pallaly base in the Jaffna peninsula have not received compensations from the government, according to the Consortium of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the northern town.

33

The Army has declared the Pallaly and its surrounding areas as high-security zone and more than 10,000 hectors of cultivation land are banned for civilians. All houses in the area have also been bulldozed by the army.

NGOs said only 20 percent of nearly 20,000 families who had to move from these areas due to war during the past decade have been allowed by the military authorities to re-settle in their own properties.

Rebuild 1,600 destroyed houses

The new Housing Development Minister P. G. Harrison who represents the Anuradhapura District told the Daily News that his first task would be to rebuild the 1,600 homes of his supporters destroyed by PA thugs during the election campaign.

He said there were 40 more houses of UNP supporters burnt on election eve alone throughout the district by gangs led by the PA heavyweight in the area and his son. (excerpts, Daily News 14 December 2001)

Ps. No action was taken to rebuild the houses and schools destroyed and damaged in the North-East in Aerial bombing and artillery shelling of the Sri Lankan security forces.

Hospital in Tamil areas 'without medicine'

Doctors in the main hospital in rebel-controlled northern Sri Lanka say they still have not received supplies of essential medicines, a week after the government eased the economic embargo on Tamil Tiger-held territory.

The doctors say they desperately need basic drugs, such as anaesthetics and painkillers. The Sri Lankan Government imposed an embargo on the area, which is home to nearly 400,000 people, seven years ago. (excerpts, BBC World Service South Asia 23 January 2002)

Staff shortage at Jaffna Teaching Hospital

The Jaffna Teaching Hospital is in the throes of a severe shortage of medical and paramedical staff, a critical evaluation by two Jaffna University lecturers reveal.

According to the study done by Doctors D. Ambalavaner and Sivaraj, only six specialist doctors from the total approved cadre of 32 and 63 medical officers from the total cadre of 87 are available. Of the nursing staff only one of five matrons and two sisters from 22 of the total cadre are available. The shortage of nursing officers is 138.

Among the paramedical staff only 11 laboratory technicians out of a total cadre of 20 and four radiographers of 15 in the total cadre are available. Only one physiotherapist of the 14 in the total cadre is available.

The researchers identified security clearances which the civilians in the peninsula should take for travelling out of Jaffna, difficulties in transport, lack of postgraduate training opportunities and a low standard of living are the causes for the shortages. (Daily News 29 January 2002)

Shortage of medicine, staff and other supplies in Killinochchi hospital

Rebuilding costs more than 1.6 million US Dollars

30 January 2002 - The hospital was the largest government medical hospital in the Vanni area until it was bombed and destroyed by the Sri Lanka Air Force in early 1996. According to the hospital sources, rebuilding the Kilinochchi hospital would cost more than 1.6 million US Dollars (150 million rupees). The hospital is now functioning out of a small medical centre in the interior village of Akkarayan south of Kilinochchi.

The Kilinochchi hospital was bombed in early 1996 soon after the people of Jaffna peninsula moved into the Vanni. The hospital staff salvaged whatever equipment they could from the wrecked buildings and moved to Akkaryan, a village near to Killinochi.

The Kilinochchi hospital had more than 200 beds and treating more than three thousand out patients a day. Now they struggle to find drugs and qualified medical personnel to manage thousands of out patients. Even first aid medicines are not available.

The government says that it has lifted the ban on medicines and drugs. But the Ministry of Health is still demanding clearance from the Ministry of Defence to send the hospital supplies to Killinochi!

Small dispensaries and medical units in Akkarayan, Uruthirapuram, Jeyapuram and Pooneryan are also serving the patients in Vanni but there is a big shortage of medicines, medical staff and other supplies. 34

Easing of economic embargo is mere eyewash

- Vanni citizens committee

27 January 2002 According to the Chairman of the Vanni Citizens Committee, Rev M X Karunaratnam, the Sri Lankan government’s much publicized easing of its economic embargo on the region was mere eyewash. Rev Karunaratnam said the Vanni region’s infrastructure was devastated and it was impossible to improve it by rebuilding, as the requisite materials were not being permitted.

In an interview to Jaffna based “Uthayan” newspaper, Rev. Karunaratnam said, “The so called lifting of the economic blockade on Tamil Tiger controlled areas of Vanni is mere eyewash; a political game of counting the numbers of lorries shuttling back and forth. Judging by the way this easing of the blockade is being implemented it does not appear to be able to realize its aim of creating a climate of goodwill”.

Rev. Karunaratnam asked “What is the use in only lifting the economic embargo after razing much of Vanni to the ground over the past twelve years?”

”The people here have no buildings or structures to call home. There are no proper roads. Lakes haven’t been maintained. Hospitals, schools and markets do not function out of proper buildings. There is no furniture, or equipment. Government departments haven t been allocated funds even to address these, he said.

In such a scenario, what’s the point in playing number games with lorries after claiming to have lifted the blockade? This is the crop season. Yet there are no facilities to store fertilizers. Farmers haven’t got the cash to buy the urea. Those who do buy have nowhere to store it.

The government hasn’t sent Vanni’s entitlement of development funds for two decades. But, the government has used its military machine and the embargo to destroy even the basic provisions of the people.

Without cash, without the basic tools, how can the people and organisations purchase the goods now being allowed through? The government should speed up the creation of a basic infrastructure here. It’s only after that will the lifting of the embargo will be of real use.

Two-thirds of Sri Lanka’s coastline belongs to the Tamil homelands. Yet the fishing community dependent on it has been left destitute. What are those fisher folk, thrust into begging after being denied their live hoods, to do? First let them fish. Only if they are allowed to earn their livelihoods will situation return to normal.

During its occupation the Sri Lanka army filled culverts and built long defensive bunds, destroying the natural balance of Vanni. The region has suffered from severe flood during the recent heavy rains. Yet the second largest tank here, Vavunikulam, is not even half full; a fate brought about by the army earth bunds. The Sri Lanka army has littered the paddy fields from Puliyankulam to Omanthai with landmines. Farmers have been unable to work in their fields and many have ended up on the street.

Preventing the transport of essential items such as cement that is required for reconstruction and sending lorries is nothing but an attempt to create an illusion. Approve funds for housing, secure settlements, irrigation tanks, dams, schools, hospitals, roads etc and send the relevant goods to create basic infrastructure in those lorries.”

Embargo continues to Mutur

30 January 2002 Even though the new government claimed that it has lifted the embargo to the North East, the embargo in reality continues on the supply of essential items including Kerosene, Fertilizer, Food and Sugar to Mutur in Trincomalee district.

According to the information received from Mutur, the Army at the Kattaiparichchan check point is allowing only a limited quantities of all essential goods.

In Mutur, the price of a kilo of Sugar is Rs. 45 and a litre of Kerosene is Rs. 50 which is three times more than the usual price.

The transport of fertilizer, especially Urea, is still not allowed inside Mutur. The farmers in the village of Sampur are having great difficulty managing without fertilizer for their crops.

Murders, thefts and atrocities increased in Jaffna after 1994

Jaffna University Students Union

The Jaffna University students Union has stated in a report that ever since President Chandrika took over the regime, government forces have encroached the Peninsula and since then murder, theft, rapes and killing and tortures have increased many fold .

Thousands of boys and young women were arrested and imprisoned for no reason. More than 600 innocent Tamils of all ages and sexes have been tortured and beaten or cut to death and buried. The atrocities of the security forces are murderous. The boot-legers of the govt must take the responsibility to these atrocities and must remember that history will not forgive them. (Virakesari 9 November, 2001)

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CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

10 Muslims massacred by sons of ex-deputy minister of Defence
(Extra judicial killing - Case LKA 171201)
 
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sri Lanka.
 
Brief description of the situation :
 
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission of the killing of ten supporters of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), in Sri Lanka's Katugastota district, following recent parliamentary elections.
 
According to the information received, at around 5:30pm on December 5th, 2001, ten SLMC supporters escorted election officials who were transporting a ballot box from the Madawala polls in the Katugastota district to the counting centre in Kandy. En route, a thug squad allegedly under control of Lohan Ratwatte, the son of the former Peoples Alliances (PA) Deputy Defence Minister Anurudda Ratwatte, ran the vehicle off the road, where it crashed into a lamppost. The perpetrators subsequently approached the vehicle, opened the doors, and shot the ten SLMC supporters at point blank range, before fleeing the scene.  The names and ages of the ten supporters are:
 
1. T. M. Fisar (24) 2. F.M. Rizwan (27)  3. M.R.M. Nazir (25)
4. A.M.M. Mohideen (31) 5. A.M.Milsar (23)  6. Z.M. Nazar (19)
7. M.I.M. Ashwar (26) 8. M. Riswan (23) 9. I.M.I. Fasar Yahamod (25)
10. M. Mohamad (25)
 
According to the information received, high standing representatives within the SLMC, along with other civil society organizations, have also publicly alleged that Lohan Ratwatte is responsible for these killings. During the October 2000 General Election, Mr. Ratwatte was also accused of similar mass scale voter intimidation and ballot rigging.
 
The International Secretariat of OMCT is deeply concerned by these killings as they appear to have been conducted primarily for political reasons. More generally, OMCT is gravely concerned about the continuing trend of voter intimidation and murder during elections in Sri Lanka.
 
OMCT requested to send appeals to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Prime Minister Honourable Ranil Wickremasinghe, Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters and the Ambassador, Permanent Mission and Consulate General of Sri Lanka, Geneva, Switzerland, 
 

Sri Lanka troops remanded over killing of Muslims

COLOMBO, Dec 17 (AFP) - Five Sri Lankan soldiers, including an officer, were remanded in custody Monday in connection with the killings of 10 Muslim men in the worst post-election violence ever to hit the island, officials said. The security personnel surrendered to a magistrate in central Sri Lanka as police kept up an investigation into the December 5 massacre of the 10 Muslims.

"The five were remanded for nine days," a local police official said adding that the security personnel were members of a unit that provided protection to former junior defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatte.

President Kumaratunga visited murder suspects in Bogambara prison

Minister and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress(SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem yesterday questioned the President's recent visit to Bogambara prisons where she visited suspects charged with election violence. 

"What is the example she set to the country when the head of state goes to prison to speak to the very people who are suspects not in petty election violence cases but murder and attempted murder cases," Mr. Hakeem asked addressing the Colombo District SLMC convention at the Public Library auditorium.

"I would say shame on the President," Mr. Hakeem said.

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Commenting on the probe on the Pallethalawinna massacre where ten SLMC supporters were gunned down allegedly by supporters of a former minister, Mr. Hakeem asked: "What is happening to the investigations? Is there one rule for powerful ministers in the past regime and another for innocent parents?" 

He said the whole country knew those responsible for the Pallethalawinna murders, but the police were silent, he charged, questioning the very credibility of the police force for ignoring incriminating evidence which have been unearthed. 

"People are looking forward to some action. Action without any discrimination whatsoever. Action that would normally be taken by the police if those crimes were to be committed by a common citizen of this country," Mr. Hakeem said. Pic by J. Weerasekera (“The Sunday Times” 3 February 2002)

Kandy massacre appeal for impartial probe

Lawyers appearing for Abdul Azeez Mohamed and Thawfeek Mohamed Shifas who were gunned down by unknown gunmen on December 5 with eight other people in Udathalawinna appealed to the Magistrate's Court yesterday to order the Police to produce the suspects in the killing immediately.

Claiming that Kandy DIG Mahinda Balasuriya had not taken any action to prevent General Anuruddha Ratwatte and his son Lohan Ratwatte from terrorising the people in the Kandy District, the complainants appealed to the Court to prevent DIG Balasuriya from interfering in the investigation. They accused DIG Balasuriya of trying to release the two vehicles taken into custody after the massacre. (“Daily News” 12 December 2001)

Lawyers of 10 dead youths of Kandy deplore

‘lukewarm attitude’ of IGP

Lawyers representing the ten SLMC members who were massacred at Udathalawinna, Kandy on December 5, allegedly by agents of a former minister have charged that police inaction led to lawlessness in the Kandy district.

Samararatne Associates who are also watching the interests of two of the survivors A. A. Mohammed Firdouse and T. Mohammed Shifas of Kandy have in a letter to the IGP Lucky Kodituwakku said that it was "Most unforgivable that the police department has adopted a lukewarm attitude towards the investigation."

The full text of the letter is as follows:

"I write on the instructions of my clients Abdul Azeez Mohamed Firdaus and Thawfeek Mohamed Shifas of Kandy, who are the survivors of the Udathalawinna massacre which resulted in ten (10) deaths while watching the interests of the deceased parties.

It is most unforgivable that the police department headed by you adopted a very lukewarm attitude towards this investigation. It is also alarming to note the manner in which your DIG put in charge of the Kandy region Mahinda Balasuriya acted in this heinous crime. This incident has also received the wrath from the all law abiding citizens of Sri Lanka and the international community.

It is a well known fact that from the beginning of the election campaign General Anuruddha Ratwatte Former Deputy Minister of Defence has deployed members of the armed forces, officers of the Presidential Security Division (PSD) and officers of the Ministerial Security (MSD) to terrorize the Kandy District in order to rig the Poll in Kandy. Your DIG Balasuriya took no action to prevent or control such activity. This situation was also brought to your notice from time to time and even you were oblivion to the said situation. As a result of your inaction lawlessness in the Kandy District became the rule.

"We have certain information that DIG Balasuriya has ordered the release of the said two vehicles to its registered owners namely the Petroleum Corporation an Institution that was under the purview of General Ratwatte. This we consider a further serious attempt to stifle the course of justice in connection with this massacre. In the circumstances we are compelled to request you to remove DIG Mahinda Balasuriya from the Kandy Division until a replacement is found.

It was only yesterday that we were informed that you have handed over the investigation to the CID headed by Asoka Wijetilake (SP). We understand that Mr. Wijetilake has visited the scene yesterday 48 hours after the incident. With all due respect to Mr. Wijetilake we would appreciate the nomination of a DIG to head this investigation with our concurrence. This would enable the restoration of the confidence of the people on the enforcement of the rule of law which has diminished in the recent past.

We would appreciate if you could take immediate action as suggested above as further delay on your part would hamper certain valuable evidence." (The Sunday 11 December 2001)

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Ministerial Massacre

By Frederica Jansz

Having earned a reputation for being the instigators of murder, fraud, corruption and mayhem -- Anuruddha Ratwatte and his son Lohan have consistently and effectively brought shame and disgrace to a family name that by all other standards should have been revered as being one of the most respected among Sri Lankans.

Instead, Anuruddha Ratwatte, described by his own niece and Head of State as being the most corrupt minister in her cabinet, has allegedly cold-bloodedly planned to rob the people's vote and eliminate those who stand in his way. It is in this manner that he allegedly planned and sanctioned a mass slaying of ten Muslim youth at Udathalwinna on December 5, 2001, investigations reveal.

The Sunday Leader has uncovered damning evidence which proves that both Anuruddha and his son Lohan were the alleged masterminds behind the dastardly and brutal murder of ten Muslim youth on election day. Shot dead at point blank range as they lay cowering in fear, facing the cold eyes of assailants who repeatedly pulled the trigger at 'live' targets -- these defenceless youth had nothing but their prayers to Allah as they gagged on their own blood -- dying in a ghastly and horrifying manner.

The killing was well planned. Days before the General Election on December 5, this year, Anuruddha Ratwatte in his capacity as Deputy Defence Minister ordered a contingent of a special-forces army squad from the Gajaba Regiment at the army camp in Panagoda to report to him in Kandy.

According to polls monitors attached to the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence at the Patha Dumbara Polling Division at Dematagolla Mahaweli Mahajavidyalaya at 6.40 a.m., it was alleged that goon squads belonging to Lohan Ratwatte were forcibly preventing the public from voting.

At Girakkaduwa Kanisha Vidyalaya, Polling Centre Nos 23& 24 at 8 a.m. reports alleged that Lohan Ratwatte's gang was again shooting and intimidating voters and that the polling centre had closed.

Polling centre No. 11 at the Polgolla Co-operative School in Kandy had already closed as a result of such intimidation by 7.58 a.m. on the 5th.

Two of the four Defender type vehicles also started their engines and raced after the two vans. Noor Hameed says Lohan Ratwatte was in one of the vehicles. That was the last Hameed saw his brother alive. He was later called to identify the bloodied body of his brother, Mohamed Mohideen who had over thirty bullet wounds in his body. Noor Hameed says that each of the bodies of the dead Muslim youth had between 30-to 55 bullet wounds.

The other Muslim youth massacred were M. M. Faizal (27), J. M. Fazeer (23), M. Rizwan (22), M. Safaar (25), M. Nazmi (26) and M. I. M. Hazwar (27).

The Sunday Leader learns that the investigation into this mass murder is being led by SSP Sisira Mendis of the Criminal Investigations Department.

All the Defender type vehicles used by the Army goon squad to wreak mayhem and murder in the Kandy district on December 5, 2001 belong to the Sri Lanka Army.

A senior police officer attached to the CID said that investigations have revealed that in addition to this killer squad from the Army, Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte also enlisted 60 army deserters presently employed by the Watch Guard Security Firm to help create mayhem in the Kandy district this December. This security firm is owned by ex-Army Major Vijitha Welikala who remains a close friend of Lohan Ratwatte. (excerpts “The Sunday Leader” 16 December 2001)

State terrorism continues in Sri Lanka

The new question is, can Sri Lanka show the world that it is genuine in combating terrorism of LTTE while the Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Defence is getting his son to shoot unarmed civilians in large numbers.

Terrorism is not only killing by LTTE it is also killing by state terror as per the new draft approved by the legal committee of the General Assembly chaired by a Sri Lankan which will be ratified by the General Assembly. As per the intense international campaign against terrorism the 12 international conventions against terrorism is coming into focus.

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The definition of a terrorist has given rise to much difficulty in the international conventions because national liberation struggles are not classified as terrorists unless they target civilians. So for any member of an organisation that is classified as terrorist is taken as a terrorist and others who perform acts of terror still remain as criminals who violate the national laws against persons or property.

But where a criminal uses the political power to disable the law enforcement he is no longer a common criminal and his ability to drive fear to the civilians is an act that goes beyond criminality. Where there is a consistent pattern of such conduct and there is lack of effective law enforcement against the criminal which actions of him make civilians fearful of his conduct, he should be a terrorist not a common criminal. The recently adopted legal definition of the United Nations special legal committee chaired by a Sri Lankan covers the acts of terrorism committed by members of the government power once it is done for political purposes. This will go as a General Assembly Declaration of United Nations. (excerpts - The Island 9 December 2001)

Former Deputy Defence minister arrested

Police in Sri Lanka have arrested former Deputy Defence Minister Anuraddha Ratwatte in connection with an investigation into the killing of 10 opposition supporters during last December's elections.

Mr Ratwatte, the uncle of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and one of the most powerful figures in the previous administration, was arrested at his house and flown to a court in the central town of Teldeniya.

He was remanded in custody until 4 March - but shortly after his appearance, he was admitted under guard to a government hospital. However, hospital officials would not disclose what was wrong with him.

The court also ordered the arrest of Mr Ratwatte's two sons, who have absconded. (excerpts BBC South Asia - Wednesday, 20 February)

Political prisoners of Kalutara plead

After the Bindinuwewa massacre the political prisoners in Kalutharai live every day in fear. They made the following appeal to the Prison authorities: “As the night falls we dread darkness, the nightmare of Bindinuwewa haunts us. In recent days our fear is aggravated by the attitude and the behaviour of the prison guards.

“Our prison companions are taken suddenly for inquiries and they are transferred to other cells in the same prison or to other prisons in the country. We are prisoners for no crime committed by us, we are neither produced before the courts nor are we charged. We have lost hope that we would be produced before courts leave alone our release.

“Today our plea to all people interested in us is to pressurise the government and the authorities to transfer us to prisons in the Tamil areas if not at least to Colombo city limits where we could be within the watch of the international human rights organisations. If at least this could not be done by those of you interested in our well being we see no option but to commit ourselves to non-violent protest and die within the prison cells. It is no use demanding justice over our dead mutilated bodies after that”.

Chemmani mass graves

Missing Persons Guardian Association and Mother Front protest against inaction

On 5 November 2001, Parents and family members of the persons who were arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces and went missing in Jaffna in 1996-97, launched a protest against the inaction of the Sri Lanka Government over the disappearance of more than 600 persons in Jaffna who were believed to be murdered and buried by the Sri Lanka Army.

The Missing Persons Guardian Association (MPGA) and the Mothers' Front of Jaffna along with Politicians from Tamil National Alliance TNA, University lectures and students, representative of the Human Development Centre (HUDEC) took part in the protest at Jaffna secretariat where more than 250 parents of the missing persons gathered.

In 1997, a group of Sri Lanka Army soldiers convicted in the rape and murder of a Jaffna school girl Krishanthi Kumarswamy and many others, revealed in court that hundreds of bodies of those killed by the security forces in Jaffna lay buried in Chemmani. Chemmani is near Ariyalai, a suburb of Jaffna.

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Soon after mass graves in Chemmani was revealed in court, there is however enough evidence that the army removed evidence of buried bodies by burning what it could find before the exhumation began.

However, due to international pressure the government allowed the exhumation of the mass graves in Chemmani. Only 18 bodies could be exhumed in different sites in the area, though various locations were excavated in accordance with the instructions of the convicted soldiers.

The MPGA continued to protest that a comprehensive exhumation was not carried out at Chemmani, that the government had deliberately shelved efforts to find the missing after the 18 bodies were exhumed.

Despite court orders and forensic examination of human skeletal remains unearthed at the site, Police investigations have been stalled to protect the perpetrators in the security forces, parents of the missing persons say. In the past, TCHR has submitted special reports on Chemmani to the UN Commission on Human rights as well as to the UN Sub-Commission on Promotion and protection of Human Rights.

Rape of Hill Country Tamil women and detention without trial

In a letter to President Chandrika in mid-September, Hill Country MP P. Chandrasekaran demanded the appointment of a commission of enquiry into illegal arrests of Tamils and prolonged detention without trial.

According to the ICRC, there are some 2,700 Tamils in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Murugesu Valliammai, 70, has complained to the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission (HRC) that her son M Mathiyalagan, who was arrested on 21 June 1990 in Batticaloa’s Karaitivu refugee camp by the police Special Task Force, is currently held at Mullegama Army camp.

On 1 September, 18 young Tamils were taken into custody at Thillaiyady in Puttalam District. Fourteen Tamil men and women were arrested in Galle town on 29 September in a cordon and search operation. The security forces searched Kotahena, Pettah, Maradana and Slave Island suburbs in Colombo on the same day and rounded up 52 Tamils. Thirty three were detained.

Hill Country Tamils have expressed fear over the rape of young women. In the last two months at least three women have been raped and murdered. Umadevi of Imbulpitiya Estate in Nawalapitiya was abducted, raped and killed on 12 September. Thousands of plantation workers in Nawalapitiya staged a strike on 28 September protesting against inaction by the police.

Sixteen year-old Tamil student Sita was abducted by two men on 12 September and raped. The Asian Human Rights Commission says that when the case was heard on 28 September, the police appeared to support the perpetrators and failed to inform the court that she was a student from a poor family. (excerpts from THE SRI LANKA MONITOR - British Refugee Council No.164 September 2001)

Police abuse

A month after the government declared 22 May as Human Rights Day, police are accused of committing gang rape on a Tamil woman at a checkpoint in Maradana suburb of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo. Velu Harshadevi, from Badulla in the Hill Country, is a widow and has two children aged six and four. While she was returning from work at 11pm on 24 June, policemen at the checkpoint had obtained her address after examining her national identity card. Three security personnel had arrived at Ms Harshadevi’s lodging at 3am and taken her away for questioning. She was forcibly taken to the checkpoint and gang raped.

Three police suspects were arrested on 25 June and the following day, three soldiers belonging to Operation Command Colombo (OCC) were taken into custody. The OCC is tasked with the security of the capital. Human rights NGOs say that the Prevention of Terrorism Act and Emergency regulations granting wide powers to the security forces are the main cause for human rights violations being committed with impunity.

In May, Amnesty International said that security force personnel were getting away with rape and called on the authorities to launch proper investigations.

Meanwhile, the Bindunuwewa Commission, chaired by Court of Appeal judge PHK Kulatilleke, began hearing evidence on 16 June, a day after the judge visited the scene of the crime. The Commission was appointed to investigate the massacre of 27 Tamil detainees in a rehabilitation centre at Bindunuwewa in Badulla District in October 2000. In the court case relating to the incident, 31 civilians and ten policemen face charges of murder and attempted murder. According to press reports, Attorney General KC Kamalasabaysan has recommended a trial-at-bar for the case, without a jury. (excerpts THE SRI LANKA MONITOR - British Refugee Council No.164 September 2001)

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Appeal to new Prime Minister for a release of a University student

Krishnasamy Thiviyan, a final year student of the Science faculty of University of Jaffna University was arrested in Inuvil by the Sri Lankan Army on 2 July 2001. There are eyewitness reports that he was severely assaulted at the time of arrest. Thereafter, he was taken to the Army camp at Kankesanthurai and then to Urelu military camp, where he was stripped and repeatedly beaten with batons. He also alleges that his pubic hair was pulled with a device.

When a delegation of the Jaffna undergraduates led by Jaffna University Vice Chancellor Prof. Balasundarampillai met the Commanding officer for Jaffna Major General Susil Chandrapala on July 9, the latter categorically stated that Thiviyan did not have any weapons when arrested. General Chandrapala also told the delegation that no weapon had been recovered from Thiviyan's residence.

Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) says that to everyone’s surprise, Thiviyan was produced in the courts with false charges that he had links with LTTE!

JUSU has appealed to the new Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe to release Thiviyan from detention to continue his studies. JUSU says that Sri Lanka army in the peninsula continue to arrest students and deny their right to education.

The simplest thing in the North - East is to brand someone as "Tiger" and take action against that person with impunity. So, students express their solidarity with Thiviyan.

University student suffers torture in Jaffna - Prison conditions

The Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH) summoned the Inspector General of Police to answer allegations of torture in police stations.

Tamil detainees in Kalutara prison say that they are being held in poor conditions and the situation is becoming worse. According to UNHCR’s June 2001 Background Paper on refugees and asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, conditions in prisons and remand houses are extremely poor.

The prisoners allege that on 8 August, guards searched the prison wards and removed their belongings such as tooth brush, tooth paste, plastic cans and soap. Even their medicines were taken away.

The Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission earlier reported, after inspection of the prison, that detainees were not being provided adequate medicines and medical facilities. On 10 August, flowering plants outside the wards were uprooted to prevent the detainees using flowers for worship. sports activities have been suspended.

Accommodation is cramped and 50 prisoners are held in each ward 800 sq ft in extent. The roofs leak during rains and repairs have not been carried out. Letters to the detainees are given to them only on Sundays. They complain that they are provided unclean water for drinking and cooked rice supplied to them contains pebbles. Tea is not provided regularly.

Kalutara detainees also say that when taken for court cases to Anuradhapura, 125 miles north-east, they are not allowed toilet time during the journey of 10 to 12 hours. Court cases drag on for months and sometimes years. S Rasan, arrested at Batticaloa in October 1999 and held in Kalutara, has been produced before courts on eight occasions.

In a letter to President Chandrika in August, Trincomalee resident Chandra Mathiyalagan says her husband was arrested in 1995 and suffered severe torture at the hands of the security forces. He was later released. He was taken into custody again in October 1999 and has been produced before courts 12 times, but without any progress in the case.

Four Tamil youths have written to the Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH) saying that cases against them have been filed in Anuradhapura and Vavuniya, although they were arrested and detained in Jaffna. Relatives spend large sums of money and undergo severe difficulties in obtaining travel permits, to attend the cases.

Over 500 Tamils were rounded-up on 12 August in Colombo. All were released after enquiry. Press reports say that a large number of Hill Country Tamil youths have not returned for work in Colombo fearing arrest, following the LTTE attack on Katunayake airport.

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Arrests also continued in the Hill Country. Nagarasa Nagalingam was taken into custody on Queenstown Estate in Badulla District in mid-August. Amparai resident Velupillai Ganeshamurthy and his wife Devaki were arrested on 22 August at Badulla.

According to Colombo Tamil newspaper Virakesari, three Tamil women detained in Negombo prison under the Immigrants and Emigrants Act, were injured in an attack by Sinhalese prisoners on 29 August. The prison authorities have not taken any steps to hold an enquiry into the incident.

The CIUAH has summoned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to answer allegations of torture in police stations. Press reports say that between January and August, 444 fundamental rights cases were filed in the Supreme Court, most from Tamils alleging torture in custody. According to the ICRC, 1,700 Tamils are currently held by the government as LTTE suspects.

In a fundamental rights application in early August, Jaffna University student Krishnasamy Thiviyan says when arrested by the Army on 2 July, he was not given any reason. His relatives and the Human Rights Commission were not informed. His hands were tied behind his back and he was beaten with guns. He was then taken to the Urelu military camp, where he was stripped and repeatedly beaten with batons. He also alleges that his pubic hair was pulled with a device.

Businessman M Shanker says in a fundamental rights application that he was arrested on 4 July and suffered torture at Urelu Army camp. He was repeatedly beaten and burned with cigarettes. In August, the Supreme Court awarded Rs 25,000 ($280) compensation to Mannar resident A Dilipkumar, who had suffered torture in police custody.

In 1994, the Convention Against Torture Act made torture a punishable offence. Since then the Supreme Court has awarded compensation in many cases and has urged the government to file cases against the perpetrators.

No one has so far been convicted in Sri Lanka for the crime of torture, although the government claims that cases have been filed against several security force members. (excerpts, THE SRI LANKA MONITOR - British Refugee Council No.163 August 2001)

Torture in detention - Amnesty International

The chairman of the Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH), Justice minister Batty Weerakoon demanded a list of detainees in rehabilitation centres from the Defence Ministry within three weeks, indicating the reasons for detention. The demand follows complaints that many Tamil youths are held in rehabilitation centres without any reason.

The Emergency regulations (ER) empower the Defence Secretary to send a detainee under the regulations or the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to a rehabilitation centre under a Rehabilitation Order (ER20). ER also provide that members of the LTTE who surrender to the Sri Lankan authorities must be sent for rehabilitation.

According to Amnesty International, it is possible that people originally detained for preventive or investigative reasons to find themselves subject to lengthy Rehabilitation Orders. Amnesty says a peculiar provision in the regulations requires that people who surrender because of fear of attack by terrorists be detained for rehabilitation themselves. ER20 violates international standards, which require that arrested persons should be promptly be brought before a judge and be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. In early May, the CIUAH examined the case of Batticaloa resident P Thamilvanan. His mother says that he escaped from the LTTE and is held in a rehabilitation centre at Thellippalai in the Jaffna peninsula for the last nine months.

CIUAH also directed the Attorney General (AG) to release S Piraisoody, who was arrested in Trincomalee in March 1996 and is held at Kalutara prison. Several cases were filed against him, all on the basis of a confession made in custody. The confession was rejected by the High Court. The AG has failed to withdraw the cases or take action for his release. Reports say that following the intervention of the CIUAH, 20 of the 46 Tamils held without trial in Badulla prison were released in mid-May. MP P Chandrasekaran says that the AG agreed before the CIUAH to release Tamil detainee S Napoleon, but has failed to take any action.

In a May letter to President Chandrika, Colombo’s Maha Kaliamman temple priest Ragupathy Sharma says his wife who is a psychiatric patient and he are held without charge or trial for the last 15 months. Both were arrested in February 2000. Their children who are 6 and 8 years old have been sent to an orphanage in Batticaloa.

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Mr Ragupathy alleges he suffered severe torture at the hands of the police. Being a Hindu priest, he is a vegetarian, but the police had forced him to eat meat. His head was covered with a plastic bag dipped in petrol. He was given electric shocks and his private organs were crushed. He was forced sign a confession, which was in the Sinhala language. In a letter to President Chandrika, The All Ceylon Hindu Congress say that the security forces continue to harass Hindu priests. On the night of 15 May, Colombo’s Slave Island suburb Sivasubramaniam temple priests Shanmugananda Sharma and Ramachandra Sharma were taken into custody at their residence.

In a fundamental rights application to the Supreme Court, father of two children Subramaniam Kannan alleges that he was arrested at the Poonthottam refugee camp in Vavuniya in June 2000 and severely tortured at the 211 Brigade Army camp. He says he was hung naked by the legs and repeatedly beaten. He became unconscious because of electric shocks. He was handed over to the police Counter Subversive Unit (CSU), who continued to torture him for another 15 days. His head was covered with a plastic bag dipped in petrol and barbed wire was inserted into his rectum. He was also forced sign a confession in the Sinhala language which he does not understand.

Vanni MP Selvam Adaikalanathan says that N Mangayarkarasy was detained when she went to see her brother in Anuradhapura prison on 12 May. Her brother N Maheswararajah was arrested in Vavuniya in October last year. Ms Maheswary has been separated from her three year-old child.

In late May, six Hill Country Tamils held in Kalutara prison, 25 miles south of Colombo, threatened to commit suicide if their cases were not heard. They are in detention since 1998 and their cases are dragging on for months without any reason. They say that Hill Country political parties promised effective action, but have abandoned them.

Jaffna resident Jeyakumary Ravichandran has informed the Human Rights Commission that her husband who went to Colombo on 12 April to make arrangements to go abroad is missing. He stayed in a lodge in the capital. But on 13 May, Ms Jeyakumary received a cable informing that he is held at Matara prison, 62 miles southeast of Colombo. When enquiries were made on 17 May, the prison authorities said that Mr Ravichandran had been released the previous day. He has not returned to Colombo or his home in Jaffna.

Amnesty International says shop worker Murugesu Anandarasa, who went to a military post in Vavuniya on 23 April to renew his residence pass, has disappeared. (30 May 2001)

Detainees' grievances

The Tamil National Alliance -TNA's initiative in looking into the problems of Tamil detainees brought about a mass of revealing facts that usually lies concealed from view. Several grievances troubling the prisoners were:

* At Welikada prison there are 63 female prisoners, four of who have their children with them. The children were born while the women were in custody.

* There are families in prison where both husband and wife are being held on charges of terrorism and children have nowhere to go.

* The priest of Sri Maha Kaliyamman kovil, Chandra Aiyar Ragupathy Sharma and his wife Vasantha Ragupathy Sharma who were arrested in February 2000 on a charge of not providing information are still held in custody without trial. Ragupathy Sharma's body bears scars of torture. Their children are at the Ramakrishna Mission Orphan's Home.

* Pasupathipillai Yogendran from Kilinochchi was arrested on October 10, 1996. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by court on June 2, 1999. Since he had already been in detention from 1996, his seven-year sentence is scheduled to conclude in July 2002. However, he petitioned the Court of Appeal against his sentence. He fears that he might have to be in prison after his designated date of release because the appeal is expected to be taken up by court for the first time only in February 2000.

* Prisoners said they needed simple toiletries such as soap, toothpaste etc. When prisoners demand better conditions they are seen as 'troublemakers' and punished. (The Sunday Leader 13 January 2002)

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1800 Tamil detainees on hunger strike

01 February 2002 - According to the human rights lawyers in Sri Lanka, 1800 Tamil political prisoners who are held in many jails and illegal detention centres in Sri Lanka. Today they have started a hunger strike to protest their detention for many years without trial. The protesting detainees demanding that they be acquitted or be released as they are being held for extended periods without any legal proceedings being instituted against them in courts by the Attorney General's Department.

Tamil political prisoners are being held are Welikada in Colombo, Bogambara in Kandy, Boosa and Kalutara in the South, and in Anuradhapura. Many illegal detention centres are also in Jaffna and Vavuniya.

According to a human rights lawyer in Colombo, five members from one family are being held under the PTA in various jails in Sri Lanka.

The protesting detainees says that they are being held unjustly and the courts continue to accept confession obtained under torture. Hundreds of Tamil detainees are in the jail for years because the Police and their allies never conclude the investigations on the PTA detainees. The detainees complained that JMOs (Judicial Medical Officers) are deliberately delaying their medical reports. In some cases Police buy time to fabricate false cases against the detainees.

Human rights lawyers say that a large number of the Tamil political prisoners who were arrested under PTA are innocents and the Police and the Army widely and regularly abuse their powers.

Tamil human rights lawyers charge that the all Tamils living in the north and east are culpable in theory under this provision of the PTA which makes it an offence to withhold information about "terrorist" activity from the Sri Lankan security forces. They point out that there is absolutely no safeguard to prevent the Police from arbitrarily arresting any Tamil under this draconian law, particularly because the term "terrorist activity" is not defined in the PTA.

LAND MINES

Over 10,000 Landmines victims

Despite two-thirds of the world's nations agreeing to be bound by the Mine Ban Treaty (Ottawa Treaty), Sri Lanka has still not acceded to it. Landmines have claimed over 10,000 victims so far, a large number of them civilians.

The periods of heavy fighting in 2000 and 2001, had resulted in the increased use of antipersonnel mines by the government and LTTE with a consequent increase in military and civilian casualties.

The UNDP mine action and mine awareness programmes had also been terminated.

Though the project had put up more than 1, 000 warning signs in mine-affected areas in Jaffna, it is reported that the civilians failed to take the signs seriously, resulting in a high injury rate. UNICEF is in the process of taking over the programme.

Though Sri Lanka does not officially admit to having produced or exported antipersonnel mines, the United Nations had however reported finding Pakistani P4, Chinese Type 72 and Italian VS/50 antipersonnel mines laid by government troops.

Due to ongoing use, it was difficult to estimate the number of landmines laid, however the government estimated to have laid 20,000 to 25,000 antipersonnel in May 1999 alone. According to humanitarian aid workers, the number may have increased to several hundred thousand as a consequence of the escalation of the conflict since the latter part of 1999.

1763 people lost legs in Jaffna

International Day for the Disabled has been celebrated on the 3 December every year since 1993. During the initial years organisations gave out presents to the disabled to boost their morale and they were then forgotten. Now the situation has changed. The number of disabled people has grown rapidly due to war and land mines in the north and east.

In Jaffna itself there are 1763 people who have lost their legs due to land-mines. Apart from this there are those who have lost their limbs due to random bombing and shelling. There is a sizeable number of combatants who have lost their limbs while defending the Tamils.

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The scars of Sri Lanka's war

Most buildings have been damaged by repeated aerial bombardment and shelling. What is left of the structures is marked with bullet holes. The sandy roads of what was once a thriving centre for agricultural produce are pot-holed and empty of any kind of transport except bicycles.

The district of Kilinochchi was once home to 150,000 people, the vast majority of whom are still displaced by the fighting. People are gradually coming back to the town. But it is the hidden legacy of war that is the main problem.

Mine workers killed

The area is heavily mined and clearing the devices is a painstaking and laborious process in a place where the search is done, not with metal detectors, but with metal spokes and bamboo sticks to prod the earth.

The Tamil Tiger rebels, who run a parallel administration here, with their own police force, legal system and welfare organisations, estimate there are up to two million land mines in the area under their control.

We were taken to one house which had been cleared where a pregnant woman had just had her leg blown off by a mine that surfaced in the garden after being buried deep under the soil. The mine was missed by the de-miners in their first inspection.

Returning families

But though mine clearance is the biggest hurdle to resettling the town's inhabitants, there is also the problem of reconstruction materials. Iron, steel and cement are still restricted items which need special government permission.

There is also an urgent need to boost agriculture in the region, with more supplies of fertiliser and equipment needed.

Every day there is a steady trickle of 10 to 15 families returning to what was once a bustling town, their belongings loaded onto the few available pick-up trucks, hoping the suffering of two decades of war might soon be over. (excepts, BBC South Asia - 23 January, 2002)

LTTE removes 132,328 APLMs, booby traps

01 January 2002 - The de-mining division of the Liberation Tigers has removed 132,328 anti-personnel land mines (APLM) and booby traps left behind by the Sri Lanka army in the villages and towns of the Vanni region in northern Sri Lanka according to the Voice of Tigers news broadcast 31 December 2001.

The 132,328 APLMS and booby traps left behind by the Sri Lanka Army were removed from 20 April 2000 to 31 December 2001, the Voice of Tigers said.

Among the mines and booby traps removed by the de-mining division of the Tigers were :

APLMs 82000; 152 mm artillery shells-1956; 130 mm artillery shells- 2131; 122 mm howitzer shells 4618; 81 mm mortar shells 11400; 82 mm mortar shells 3740; Grenades 8388; Jumping mines 360; Claymore mines 929.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Government plan to destroy

"RAVAYA" and "SUNDAY LEADER" offices

Former close associate of the President and now a candidate of the UNF S.B. Dissanayake (ex-minister) stated that, the President had a secret plan to destroy the "Ravaya" and "Sunday Leader" newspaper offices along with their printing presses, by getting "Baddegane Sanjeewa" to bomb those with the help of some other PSD officers.

He also said at a press conference that the President was so furious with the two editors of these newspapers and even discussed this plan with him. However, he also added that certain people in the Cabinet intervened and prevented it from taking place.

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Just one day before S.B. Dissanayake made this statement, the President has said at a youth wing meeting that S.B. Dissanayake came to her saying that the government is very weak now and survival is very difficult and asked her to create a dictatorial rule in the country, while also volunteering to kill one or two leading newspaper men if necessary.

The press conference held by Mr. Dissanayake afterwards also had the "Sunday Leader" editor and when he was asked by Reuters what he feels about it, he said quite nonchalantly that what he heard is nothing new. (Ravaya 12 November 2001)

Sri Lankan presidential statement suggests

government killing of journalists

By Gene Mater

06/11/2001 - The Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka, which has accused the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga of the murder, assault and intimidation of journalists, now offers what it calls proof in a statement by the president in which she told how a former minister had proposed to murder newspaper editors.

The FMM claim is based on the lead story yesterday in the state-owned Daily News, which reported that the president said at a public rally that former government minister and political party general secretary S.B. Dissanayake had made the offer to her.

According to the Daily News story, the president said Dissanayake had pleaded with her to become an absolute dictator. Dissanayake told Kumaratunga to gag the independent news media, which were critical of the government, and then made this statement:

"Madam, the government is very weak and it could collapse at any time. If necessary I will even kill an editor or two who is critical of the government."

The Daily News reported that the president told Dissanayake the government was not weak and that she would not become a dictator. "I am the head of a people's government. I will stay as long as the people want me and go when it is not so," the newspaper quoted her as saying.

But FMM said Dissanayake claims it was the president who sent an underworld killer to him with the suggestion to kill newspaper editors, and that four eyewitnesses heard this conversation take place.

The free-media group said "it is not interested in investigating who first came up with the idea for this despicable act," contending that "what is clear is that plans for political murders were discussed without any inhibition at the highest level of government."

FMM also claimed that the exchange about killing journalists "explains why no proper investigations have been carried out into the murder of two journalists, the attempted murder of a number of editors and the numerous assaults on journalists in the past seven years."

FMM had accused presidential security agents of the murder of Rohana Kumara, editor of the newspaper Satana, on Sept. 9, 1999.

The group also accused the Eelam People's Democratic Party of killing Jaffna-based journalist Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan. "The fact that the leader of the EPDP is a minister in President Kumaratunga's government becomes extremely relevant after yesterday's statement by the president," FMM said.

No arrests have been made in either murder. FMM said that "if the president is to clear her name of involvement in these incidents, an immediate impartial investigation must be carried out and those responsible arrested."

Sri Lanka is on the "watch list" of the Vienna-based International Press Institute, limited to "countries that appear to be moving towards restricting press freedom." The most recent Freedom House survey of press freedom reports that broadcast and print media in Sri Lanka are "not free." (www.freedomforum.org)

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Killing of BBC journalist

arrest warrant served only after 14 months

The Jaffna Magistrate has ordered the arrest of two Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP) members in connection with the killing of journalist Mailvaganam Nimalarajan in October last year. The magistrate's order came after fresh evidence was submitted by the CID who had questioned former EPDP employees and obtained statements which led them to the suspects.

Mr. Nimalarajan, a freelance journalist for the BBC and other agencies, was killed after last year's elections during which he had reported alleged malpractices by the EPDP. Reports said one of the suspects to be arrested was also allegedly involved in Wednesday's attack on TNA members in Kayts. Two people were killed and some top TNA candidates were injured. (excerpts, The Sunday Times 2 December 2001)

Foreign Journalist Marie Colvin escapes

attempt on her life in SRI LANKA

Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR, has called for un Urgent appeal on an attempt made on the life of a London based journalist Marie Catherine COLVIN. TCHR requested everyone to send an appeal to Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for human rights and President Chandrika Kumaratunga urging the Sri Lankan government to immediately lift the ban on journalists visiting Tamil hereditary regions, especially the Vanni. The appeal dated 23 April 2001 - AE/53/01 reads as follows :

"MARIE COLVIN of Britain's “Sunday Times” arrived in Sri Lanka on March 21. She had obtained her visa to Sri Lanka in the Sri Lanka High Commission, UK, where she had met the High Commissioner. He had arranged an interview for her with the Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kathirgamar, on April 4 at 1.00 p.m.

"In Sri Lanka, there is strict local press censorship and in the recent past Journalists, Lawyers and Human Rights activists who have brought attention to the desperate humanitarian situation of the people in the war-torn Tamil hereditary regions, have either been threatened or killed.

31 Journalists killed

"According to "Rapporteurs Sans Frontiers” (Reporters Without Borders-RSF), at least 31 journalists have been killed in Sri Lanka since 1988, practising their profession. In October last year the Sri Lanka government acknowledged that 29 journalists had been assaulted, threatened or harassed during Chandrika Kumaratunga's first mandate, and that 22 of these cases have never been solved.

"The visiting journalist MARIE COLVIN, is the first foreign journalist in six years to make a pathway into the war-torn Tamil hereditary regions, the Vanni in particular. During her visit there, she met with various people including the political leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam-LTTE, Thamil Chelvan. The LTTE has been observing a unilateral cease-fire since Christmas for the fourth month.

On-the-spot account

"From Mallawi, in the Vanni, MARIE COLVIN reported to 'The Sunday Times' of April 15, giving an on-the-spot account of what she had witnessed under the headline, "Fighting Tigers talk of peace deal". Here we give a few excerpts for analysis :

* ".........a government employee and a Tamil. His descriptions of his own radicalisation was the story of how oppression turns moderates to militants. "I don't want this war" he said. "But before the LTTE, the Tamils were slaughtered. My family was driven from Jaffna and we lost everything. I can't see any other way to win our rights. So I helped them".

* "Although the government claims the Tamils Tigers intimidate civilians, there is evidence of extensive popular support in the regions they control. "The Tamils would be all dead, shot up without these Tigers" said Father Xavier, a parish priest.

* "Ministers in Colombo deny there is an economic embargo on the Vanni, the Tamil area on the mainland, while checkpoints on the internal border enforce a ban on items ranging from fuel, cement and plastics sheeting to instant noodles and vegetable oil. Even sanitary towels are not allowed - presumably because they can be used to dress wounds.

* "Colombo prohibits international aid agencies from distributing food. International aid agencies estimate that 40% of the children in Vanni are undernourished or malnourished."

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Totally contradicts

"Marie Colvin’s article in the Sunday Times totally contradicts the Sri Lankan government’s malicious international propaganda that has been carried out for years, and this obviously disappointed the government.

"Firstly, as MARIE COLVIN was in the Vanni, she could not attend the appointment with the Minister of Foreign Affairs on April 4. Presumably, Mr. Kathirgarmar was waiting in Colombo, expecting to supply her with gimmicks from his 'Lie Bank'! Secondly her article which appeared in the Sunday Times would have infuriated the government and also indicated clearly that she was actually in the Vanni. These facts alerted the Ministry of Defence and its allies!

"On Monday 17 April, after two weeks of visiting the Vanni, MARIE COLVIN returned to the northern town of Vavuniya, which is held by Sri Lankan army. The government had declared a temporary five-day cease-fire for the Tamil-Sinhala New Year. While MARIE COLVIN was crossing into Vavuniya - the government troops stationed at Parayanlankulam-Vavuniya opened fire on her. She sustained four shrapnel wounds to a shoulder, thigh, chest and eye. Her lung was bruised and her eye-injury was serious, requiring exploratory surgery in Sri Lanka.

"Immediately after the shooting, the government went all out to justify the incident! Even the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka did so in public meetings. There is ample evidence that, in fact, this was an attempt on Ms Colvin’s life.

Government found a pretext

"Since she escaped from the shooting, the government found a pretext to justify the incident, stating that MARIE COLVIN was an overstayer in Sri Lanka! Does this mean that anyone who overstays in a country can be shot?

"Professional journalists have no barriers, frontiers nor limits. Journalists of integrity bring out true facts, unlike Sri Lankan propagandists who work under the cloak of being an academic, like Rohan Gunaratne or the cloak of being a journalist, like Dushy Ranetunga who both prepared a hit list of 63 Westerners and Tamils marking them out for assassination!

"Indeed, journalists should report to the world the true suffering caused by wars. MARIE COLVIN, while on her hospital bed in Sri Lanka said that "I was not there on some sort of sneaky spy mission. I went there because, although it is closed to journalists, talking to the Tamil Tigers and writing about a humanitarian crisis are important issues".

"From her Manhattan hospital bed, she reported to 'The Sunday Times' of 22 April, “The Sri Lankan government reacted with anger to my presence in the Tamil-held area of the Vanni. It made no apologies for what happened to me!” (excerpts)

ELECTION VIOLENCE DECEMBER 2001

Uncleared area voters 'disenfranchised' - TNA

The Tamil National Alliance comprising four Tamil political parties - alleged that thousands of Tamil voters in the uncleared areas of the Wanni and Batticaloa districts had been prevented from voting.

The Tamil United Liberaton Front, All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation and Eelam Peoples' Revolutionary Liberation Front has urged the Elections Commissioner to hold a fresh poll for voters from the uncleared areas.

TULF Secretary General R. Sampanthan has also urged the polls chief to ascertain from the Presiding Officers and the Returning Officers of the relevant electoral districts the true facts.

He alleged that the polling at cluster stations for voters from the uncleared areas in the Wanni and Batticaloa districts and in the Kayts electorate did not commence at the appointed hour and did not continue until the hour fixed for the closing of the poll.

The restricted voting hours prevented voters in the uncleared areas from reaching the cluster polling stations situated in the cleared areas while the entry points into the cleared areas were also closed.

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He also accused an armed group contesting the elections in the Jaffna electoral district of preventing voters in the Kayts electorate from freely exercising their franchise at the polling stations throughout the whole period polling took place.

Of the 11 electorates in the Jaffna district the EPDP which allegedly had control over the islets had secured the highest number of votes-15,378-in Kayts electorate whereas the TULF obtained 4,304 and UNP 764 votes.

Alliance candidate Joseph Pararajasingham told The Sunday Times that thousands of voters in the uncleared areas of the Batticaloa district had been prevented from voting by the security forces who closed the entry points into the cleared area reportedly on a special directive from President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

He said as a result more than 40,000 voters were unable to cast their votes.

He alleged that the voters from the uncleared areas who came to cast their votes were turned away at the entry points at Black Bridge, Mankerni, Kiran Bridge and the Vavunitivu Bridge and voters were allowed at only two entry points at the Paddiruppu bridge and Ambilanthurai manned by police personnel.

He said that he made a complaint to Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake as well as to the Army Commander General Balagalle that this action was undemocratic.

He said the Elections Commissioner had assured him the matter would be referred to the Defence Secretary and said he was hopeful the voters would be able to cast their votes after 12 noon but he was dismayed that voters were not allowed entry even then.

According to reports, it is learnt that about 130,000 Tamil voters had been prevented from casting their votes freely as a result. (The Sunday Times 9 December 2001)

130,000 Tamils kept from voting

COLOMBO - DECEMBER 05, 2001 - The army closed roads, preventing some 130,000 minority Tamil voters from reaching the polls, as Sri Lankans cast ballots for a new Parliament following one of the island's most violent election campaigns.

The army closed roads in eastern Batticaloa and northern Vavuniya because of fears the rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam would infiltrate to disrupt polling, said military spokesman Brig. Sanath Karunaratne.

The action blocked access to polling stations for 70,600 Tamils in Batticaloa, and 60,000 in Vavuniya, according to Election Secretariat documents, local candidates and election officials.

Tamil voters are considered likely to support opposition parties that the government accuses of favouring the rebels' cause.

"This decision will disenfranchise many thousands of voters, which I believe will have a significant impact on the outcome in these electoral districts," said John Cushnahan, head of a 48-member European Union observer team. "This is something we will have to take into account when we complete our final report" on Friday.

"This is daylight murder of democracy, not acceptable to any Tamils," said Joseph Pararajasingham, the chief candidate of the Tamil National Alliance in Batticaloa. If the roads aren't opened, he said the Election Commissioner should cancel the local voting. (AP)

2 killed and 21 injured in an EPDP attack in Naranthanai

November 28, 2001 - A group of Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidates and supporters who had gone to Naranthanai in Jaffna for campaigning were attacked by armed cadres of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), around 11a.m with knives and other weapons.

Two were killed and twenty others injured. The person who was killed was an employee of the Jaffna University. Many TNA candidates contesting the Jaffna district at the forthcoming parliamentary were admitted to the Jaffna hospital.

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300,000 votes in Jaffna - list of 600,000 sent

During a media conference held at the Galadari Hotel, Director of PAFFREL Mr. Kingsley Rodrigo said that, the sending of a Voting list with 600,000 names to Jaffna district, when only 300,000 have been found eligible out of those living there at present to vote, is a serious blow to the effort to hold free and fair elections. He also added that this process is highly suspicious as these Voters lists are renewed and amended every year in all other districts, but an old one is being sent only to Jaffna district. (excerpts, Lakbima, 9 November 2001)

70,000 PA leaflets flown to Jaffna with army chief help

The Programme for Protection of Public Property in its fifth report has stated that 70,000 leaflets canvassing votes for the People’s Alliance were airlifted to Jaffna an November 19, 2001 with the knowledge and direction of the Army Commander.

The statement added that these leaflets have been accompanied by a Captain of the Army Commando Unit attached to the President’s Security Division. The leaflets in Sinhala which are critical of the UNP request the soldiers to vote for the PA in order to fight the war to victory. (excerpts, The Island 27 November 2001)

EPDP on rampage in Komari

03 December 2001 - Two Tamil National Alliance (TNA) campaign offices were set on fire and three TNA supporters' houses were damaged by a group of heavily armed cadres of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a major coalition partner of Sri Lanka's ruling People's Alliance regime, in Komari, south of Batticaloa. Three TNA supporters were severely assaulted by the EPDP gang. "The Police have done nothing to stop the EPDP from attacking the people. The STF has stood by when the armed gang went on the rampage in Komari”.

Violence murdering democracy in Sri Lanka

- EU monitors

COLOMBO, November 30, 2001 (AFP) - The European Union Friday urged the Sri Lankan government to mobilise security forces ahead of next week's parliamentary elections to eliminate violence that it said was "murdering democracy". An EU election monitoring team accused both the ruling People's Alliance and the main opposition of resorting to violence, but held the government responsible for not maintaining law and order.

The head of the EU mission, John Cushnahan, said he witnessed first hand the level of violence in the northern Jaffna district where one man was killed and several wounded in a campaign-related attack on Wednesday.

"Those who carried out this murder and similar attacks elsewhere are murdering democracy itself," Cushnahan, an Irish member of the European Parliament, said in a statement.

He said the high level of violence was a challenge to the integrity of the election process and warned political parties that the outcome would be tainted.

"My experience in Jaffna and the experience of other members of my team elsewhere has highlighted the widespread concern that many things have already happened in this campaign so far which raise serious question marks about the integrity of this electoral contest.

EPDP fires on women's march

01 December, 2001 - Four supporters of the Tamil National Alliance were wounded when gunmen from the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) opened fire on a march by more than a thousand women at Vinayagapuram, south of Batticaloa, on the island's south-eastern coast. People in the villages of Thirukkovil, Thambiluvil, Vinayagapuram, angered by the attack, burnt tires across the main road and smashed an EPDP campaign auto rickshaw. The wounded persons were admitted to the Thirukkovil hospital. The march was organised by a women's group in support of the TNA.

The march began from Sinnamuhathuvaaram and was nearing the village of Vinayagapuram when a group of heavily armed EPDP cadres led by the party's chief candidate for the Amparai electoral district, Mr. Gunasekeram Shankar had attacked the women and opened fire on the procession. The EPDP cadres beat up many women at the head of the march.

Shankar had also shot at the correspondent of the Batticaloa Tamil daily, Thinakathir, Mr. Sellathamby Thushyanthan, who was covering the march.

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French poll monitor attacked in Sri Lanka vote

COLOMBO, Dec 5 (AFP) - A French woman monitoring Sri Lanka's parliamentary election came under attack Wednesday in President Chandrika Kumaratunga's home constituency.

Vanessa Gosselin, who works for the Paris-based watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders), was observing the vote as a member of a foreign election monitoring group.

She said her car was damaged and her interpreter assaulted while she was watching proceedings in Gampaha, where there have been several violent clashes between police and voters.

"I was unhurt but I am shaken," Gosselin said. "It is the first time I have experienced anything like this. It was incredibly violent."

She said members of the president's ruling People's Alliance were responsible for the attack.

The nine-hour voting period ended with allegations of intimidation and ballot stuffing.

No re-poll decision not fair by voters, say monitors

Local and foreign election monitors claim that it was unfair and unjust for the Elections Commissioner to have consulted party secretaries about holding re-polls in certain districts. They say that with the powers vested in the Elections Commissioner under the 17th Amendment, he should have been able to make the decision on re-polling without consulting them.

Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission John Cushnahan said he too would have liked to see a re-poll in certain divisions which were declared null and void.

He went on to say that he was appalled at a statement made by the President, a senior UNP leader and exiled JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe that killing was acceptable.

The preliminary report issued by the EU Commission states that the government in power has a special responsibility to ensure that the election was conducted in an atmosphere of non-violence.

"It had a political and moral obligation to ensure that the entire security forces of the state were mobilized to eliminate violence from the political process. This it failed to do" the report said.

Polls monitors of the EU Mission said they had witnessed ballot boxes being stuffed and voters being intimidated at polling stations, especially in the Kandy District.

Meanwhile, PAFFREL Executive Director Kingsley Rodrigo said the election was definitely not free and fair. However, he said that the result was what was expected and reflected the will of the people.

A statement issued by PAFFREL states that the preliminary observations of the monitors indicate that the conditions for a free and fair election did not exist in the Kurunegala, Kandy, Matale and Gampaha Districts and the violations that occurred were of sufficient seriousness to merit a re-poll.

The letter states that the Elections Commissioner should take into consideration the interest of the voters and not be guided solely by the interest of the political parties and independent groups. (excerpts “The Sunday Times” 9 December 2001)

EU monitors appalled by Sri Lankan President's revenge remarks

COLOMBO, Dec 7 (AFP) - A European Union poll observer team Friday expressed grave concern over election-related violence in Sri Lanka and said they were appalled that President Chandrika Kumaratunga had justified revenge attacks during the campaign.

The European Union election observer mission here said Kumaratunga's People's Alliance (PA) as well as the opposition United National Party which won Wednesday's parliamentary polls were responsible for the violence.

EU mission chief John Cushnahan criticised the president for a statement she made during the five-week election campaign in which she called on her supporters to avenge any attack on them because "it is alright to kill murderers."

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"I was absolutely appalled at the remarks made by the president of the country who is also the commander-in-chief of the country," said Cushnahan, whose report will be circulated among EU governments.

He also said he deplored the increasing politicisation of the island's police force, saying police officers were being used by politicians to gain an advantage.

Cushnahan was critical of a decision by election chief Dayananda Dissanayake not to call for fresh polls in the areas affected by violence and allegations of ballot-rigging.

He said he would have preferred a re-poll in places where either violence or military action prevented people from voting: the northern district of Wanni, the central district of Kandy and the president's home constituency of Gampaha.

46 killed 2332 wounded

Election related violence escalated to 2332 including 46 killings Police Election Secretariat said yesterday. The UNP lodged 1197 complaints while the PA reported 753 complaints. The JVP made 88 and SLMC had lodged 78 respectively.

The highest number of complaints, 266, was reported from Chilaw. Anuradhapura 229, Ampara 168, Gampaha 106, Kegalle 113, Matara 105 and Tangalle 104 were the others. Kandy police said that special police teams had been deployed to combat violence in the area including Hanguranketa and Walapane. (excerpts, The Island 8 December2001)

PRESIDENT SECURITY DIVISION-PSD

Advocates widespread killings and massacres

President Kumaratunga advocates blood for blood

President Chandrika Kumaratunga, addressing a PA rally in Tissamaharama in the deep south, told her supporters to kill anyone who kills a PA supporter. She was addressing a highly guarded meeting at the Debarawewa Maha Vidyalaya in support of the candidature of Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha.

The President said the PA could not tolerate anyone killing their supporters. "If one of our supporters is killed, kill the killer," she said. Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha, who was visibly shaken after this remark, appealed to the media not to publish it. (excerpts - Colombo Page News Desk - November 19, 2001)

Letters of resignation from PA MPs?

Dec 10, Colombo - Sources say that some of the newly elected People’s Alliance MPs have been summoned to the President’s House and requested to sign letters of resignation from their Parliamentary seats.

They also say that only some of the MPs have been asked to sign the letters while others have not been asked. This has come in view that the President feels that some of her MPs might switch sides and as a safety measure has taken letters from those she feels will defect.

“Even some staunch loyal supporters of the President has been asked to sign the letter, so obviously she is not selective,” sources said, adding that the MPs have been summoned district-wise and some districts did not seem to have been summoned. (excerpts “Daily News” - December 2001)

Murder of PSD's Al Capone

To be a 'Chandiya' was the sole aim and ambition of Baddegana Sanjeewa. Driving his Serena 31- 5940, that fateful Friday evening on November 2, Sanjeewa felt in full control. In the company of one of his closest Mafia friends, Dhamikka Perera and Ulapane Mudiyansalage Udaya Kumara alias Galay, Sanjeewa discussed his political future and survival. Recently dismissed from the Presidential Security Division, Sanjeewa was not worried. His dismissal was merely a face saving measure for the PSD Sanjeewa at the time of his death was still a close confidante of PSD Chief, ASP, Nihal Karunaratne.

In fact, when The Sunday Leader telephoned the presidential security division to find out if Baddegana Sanjeewa had indeed been interdicted from the PSD, a top cop said, "I do not know," before abruptly cutting short our telephone query.

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Despite his 'official' interdiction from the ranks of the PSD, a police revolver together with a police identification card were found on the person of Baddegana Sanjeewa at the scene of his murder. Posters carrying his image after his death, portrayed him wearing a police tie. The police have once more proved their servility to the underworld by refusing to even make public the names of the suspected killers of Baddegana Sanjeewa. Afraid of violent reprisals and transfers to punishment stations, the cops have decided on a form of self-censorship and are keeping 'mum'.

Leading political personalities meanwhile paid their last respects to Baddegana Sanjeewa. President Chandrika Kumaratunge herself sent a wreath of flowers expressing deep sadness at Sanjeewa's sudden death. PA heavyweights, Jeevan Kumaratunga, Mervyn Silva, Sanath Gunatilleke and Nihal Karunaratne also attended the funeral and paid their last respects.

During the 1994 general election when the political scales were tipped heavily in favour of a win for Chandrika Kumaratunga, Sanjeewa was approached by the former Chief Minister for the Western Province, Morris Rajapakse to assist in providing additional security for Kumaratunga.

Organised crime

At the time, Sanjeewa was employed as a bodyguard to Morris Rajapakse. An army major by the name of Lankatileke who was a friend and associate of Morris Rajapakse also persuaded Sanjeewa to assist Kumaratunga in providing additional security.

Following Kumaratunga's win, Sanjeewa befriended Nihal Karunaratne. The only favour he sought for services rendered during Kumaratunga's election campaign was to be enlisted in the Sri Lanka Police Force. His request was granted and Sanjeewa was accepted as a Reserve Police Constable and assigned to the PSD.

Thereafter began Sanjeewa's entry into organised crime. Backed by political masters, Sanjeewa became a ready and willing tool in a circle of systematic crime. He quickly found favour with PSD Chief, Nihal Karunaratne as Sanjeewa's penchant for brutality and violence became his ticket to fame.

He quickly rose in the ranks of the PSD. From RPC he was promoted to PC and finally to Police Sergeant, by which time he served as personal bodyguard to Nihal Karunaratne.

Despite his criminal record, President Chandrika Kumaratunga trusted Baddegana Sanjeewa implicitly and was comfortable in having him provide her body protection - confident of his loyalty to her, she felt reasonably safe under his purview.

Born to a father who was a kassippu dealer, Baddegana Sanjeewa was no virgin to falling out with the long arm of the law. He readily used his police uniform, affinity to the PSD, police service identity card and gun to instil fear in unarmed civilians and police, resorting to acts of murder, assault, intimidation and mayhem like a duck taking to water.

Sanjeewa was no longer an ordinary man. He began to amass great wealth. His name brought shudders to the souls of ordinary folk, his misdeeds began to slowly unfold. Baddegana Sanjeewa revelled in the knowledge that he was finally a full-blown 'Chandiya', an identification he had sought long to achieve. In a show of newly acquired wealth, he built a luxurious three storey house at Baddegana.

Lasantha Wickrematunge, Editor, The Sunday Leader was among the first to officially make a police complaint against Baddegana Sanjeewa after his (Wickrematunge's) home at Nugegoda was pock marked with bullets shot by an unidentified gang at around 10 p.m. one night in June 1998.

Later, on September 7, 1999, Rohana Kumara, Editor of the Satana newspaper was making his way home at around 9 p.m. when he was shot dead at point blank range while inside the three wheeler he had been travelling in. The names of three suspects emerged. Thatta Asoka, Thara Ajit and one other figured as the killers.

Contract killings

Baddegana Sanjeewa's name meanwhile again figured three months later. On January 4, 2000, Kumar Ponnambalam was shot dead at Ramakrishna Road, Wellawatte. Moratu Saman and a former police constable named Sunil Ranasinghe carried out the killing on the instructions of Baddegana Sanjeewa. Top cops told The Sunday Leader that the killers, after murdering Ponnambalam, made their way to the office of a deputy minister who was shown as proof the mobile telephone of Ponnambalam and the weapon used in the killing, which belonged to 'C......' the son of a VIP PA politico.

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The Sunday Leader last year highlighted how according to information gathered by the police, Dhammika is looked after by both Lohan and his brother Mahen Ratwatte.

Earlier in 1997-1999, S. B. Dissanayake shielded Dhammika. Dhammika was introduced to S.B. by Sanjeewa. On one occasion, Dhammika together with another businessman reportedly met at S. B. Dissanayake's official residence in Colombo at 20, Stan more Crescent, Colombo 7. They allegedly detailed a plan to burn the printing press of a rival in Kandy. The job was duly carried out. The gory details have been revealed in a statement Galay made to the cops soon after.

Dhammika was also given an official ID from the Ministry of Sports during S. B. Dissanyake's tenure as minister. The police say that to this date Dhammika uses this ID to get through police barriers and enter high security zones. (excerpts “Sunday Leader” - November 11th, 2001)

Giving special increments to PSD

The UNP-led United National Front yesterday accused President Chandrika Kumaratunga of granting three special salary increments to her security division overlooking the rest of the police service.

UNF spokesman G. L. Peiris said yesterday that President Kumaratunga’s government has acted in great unfairness to the rest of the police service.

He said that although the UNF does not oppose the President’s decision to give increments to the PSD personnel who are working amidst high risk, there are police officers serving in the north-east under a much greater degree of risk. He raised concern about hurting the feelings of police officers in the operational areas through this unfair treatment. (excerpt “The Island” 15 November 2001)

3000 to 4000 men in the PSD to safeguard one individual

Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Lands, was interviewed in “The Sunday Leader” of 13 January 2002:

Q: The Director PSD, Nihal Karunaratne, has also involved himself in numerous acts of violence and is considered one of the most corrupt policemen, having even taken over several petrol stations through government patronage. Does your government have a secret deal with Karunaratne. If not, why not take action against him too?

A: He has also got himself involved in criminal activities. You see, Nihal was in touch with me during the elections. It should not mean that he should not be investigated into. I think the criminal activities of the PSD should be probed into. Nobody knows how many members are there in the PSD. When I asked some of the former ministers, even they could not answer this question. I understand some 3,000 to 4,000 men are there in the PSD to safeguard one individual. And they were involved in attacking journalists. Three people were identified and photographs were given. Now this government must inquire into this. In fact, these are the men who were despatched to kill S.B. Dissanayake.

When 41 PSD members were sent to Anuradhapura I asked Nihal the reason. He said it was to improve the morale of the SLFPers. This was not to improve the morale of the organisers but to attack the opponents. The PA thought that the elections could be won through terror tactics. This was Ratwatte's technique. But now he is wondering how to get out of the arrest order.

Shocking details of plot to kill ex-minister

The courage and dedication to duty of a Sub Inspector of Police appears to have saved former People's Alliance stalwart and now United National Front campaigner S. B. Dissanayake from certain death.

He would have been killed, just three days before the elections, by a gang who allegedly planned to use a launcher to fire 40 mm grenades — a weapon used by security forces only in their war against Tiger guerrillas.

The launcher and ten grenades were among a small arsenal allegedly found in the possession of nine men — a Police Sergeant and Constable from the notorious Presidential Security Division (PSD), a Sergeant, Corporal and a Private from the Sri Lanka Army and four civilians — all Army deserters. (The Sunday Times 9 December 2001)

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PM's life under threat

23 November, Colombo- A missing sniper gun belonging to the Sri Lanka Navy could be used to kill UNP/UNF leaders in the run up to the election, former minister SB Dissanayake claimed Friday.

Dissanayake said the gun and 150 bullets have gone missing since 1999, and he has information that a top PA media official is to plan an operation to use the gun to assassinate UNP leaders by firing at a UNP rally from a long range.

The gun, Dissanayake alleged, was stolen by a former Naval officer who is a friend of the top PA media man. Dissanayake alleged that the government’s last trump in order to win the election may be to assassinate the Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake and blame it on the UNP.

"I shall write to the Prime Minister with details of this plot," Dissanayake said. Peiris charged that the presidential immunity is being used for election purposes by the PA. [Colombo Page News Desk, Sri Lanka]

Sri Lanka police arrest presidential guards

COLOMBO, Dec 3 (AFP) - Police have arrested three members of the elite Presidential Security Division for alleged involvement in election-related violence, local officials said Monday.

The three presidential bodyguards were arrested with six other men on Sunday. They were armed with four automatic assault rifles, a grenade launcher, five pistols and 10 grenades. All nine were due to appear before a magistrate Monday, a police official in the central town of Nuwara Eliya said.

"They have been unable to explain why they were in the area at a time when the president was not expected there at all," the police officer said.

CID questions cop who ‘Did his duty’

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is questioning the officer who arrested nine Presidential Security Division officers in possession of hand grenades in addition to firearms at Padiyapelella in the Mathurata police division on December 2.

Police sources said that the questioning was taking place due to a complaint by a VVIP. The nine Presidential Security Division officers in possession of 11 firearms, 10 hand grenades and 606 live bullets were arrested by Mathurata Police at Padiyapelella town and produced before Kandy Additional Magistrate, Pradeep Hettihewa. (excerpts “The Island” 10 December2001)

Court in Sri Lanka ordered arrest of

Director of Presidential Security Division

A court in Sri Lanka has ordered the arrest of the head of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's bodyguard force, in connection with a plot to kill one of the president's main political opponents.

A magistrate in the central town of Kandy ordered that Nihal Karunaratne, the director of the elite Presidential Security Division, be brought before the court.

He is accused of involvement in the attempted assassination in November of SB Dissanayake, who had resigned from Ms Kumaratunga's government the month before.

The PSD has been accused of involvement in politically-motivated violence during Mrs Kumaratunga's rule, allegations she has denied. (BBC World Service South Asia - 30 January, 2002)

Plot to assassinate Ranil Wickremesinghe

“Six persons - two Muslims, a Sinhalese and three Tamils - all on army’s payroll were arrested along with four thermo baric weapons, seven 10kg claymore mines, ten 1kg claymore mines, three T-56 Chinese manufactured assault rifles along with over 400 rounds of ammunition, ten anti-tank weapons, detonators, cyanide capsules, exploders, remote control devices and wire rolls. The raiding party also recovered 66 sets of new LTTE uniforms.

Controversy surrounds Wednesday’s (2 January 2002) police raid on an army officer’s house in Millennium City in the Aturugiriya police area with senior army sources claiming that police have raided one of their safe houses described as the ‘home’ for a covert operations unit engaged in missions in LTTE held areas.

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However investigators said that they firmly believe the so called covert operations unit was involved in an abortive plot to assassinate UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe during run - up to the December 5 parliamentary elections. A few weeks before the elections, the UNP leader claimed that he was aware of a plot to mount a claymore mine attack on the bus he used on the campaign trail.

The then UNP Chairman Charitha Ratwatte and the Vice Chairman Daya Palpola wrote to Army Commander Lt. Gen. Lionel Balagalle claiming men under his command were planning to assassinate the UNP leader. Balagalle promptly denied the allegation.

Police said that they have information to suggest that the group arrested on Wednesday was involved in the earlier plot. However, following the UNP led United National Front’s victory at the parliamentary elections, the group operating under the directions of the Military Intelligence and the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) was apparently making plans to sabotage the ongoing peace process. Police expressed the belief that the group could have mounted a major attack in Colombo in a bid to sabotage the Norwegian facilitated bid to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.

Wednesday’s raid had been carried out by the Kandy Crimes and Operations division responsible for the ongoing inquiry into the Udathalawinna massacre where a platoon of Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment (VIR) had been detained in connection with their alleged involvement in the polls-day slaughter.

Police sources said that they believed at least one of the key suspects wanted in connection with the Udathalawinna massacre believed to be a son of the then Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte was hiding there. However, police failed to find Ratwatte and instead came across the arms and so called intelligence operatives tasked with a major anti-government operation.

Police sources said that they believe the same group was responsible for trying to blow up a UNP parliamentary elections candidate contesting the Kandy district just before polls-day. Investigators were trying to establish whether the group had anything to do with planting two powerful claymore mines under a culvert along the Wattegama - Panwila road. (excerpts, “The Island” 4 January 2002)

How a 'top State secret' became public

But a more shocking blow came when Police conducted a raid last (2 January 2002) Wednesday night on a safe house at Athurugiriya, operated by the Directorate of Military Intelligence, to conduct counter terrorist operations. Assisting in the raid were men from the Army's Military Police (or CCMP Corps Ceylon Military Police, as they are commonly referred to).

An SP in the Kandy Division, Mr. Udugampola, had obtained a Court Order to conduct a raid on a house at the Millennium City at Athurugiriya. Before the raid, he had got in touch with the Army's Provost Marshal, Major General Ivan Das-sanayake, and obtained the help of Military Police officials to accompany him.

Who are the five men now in custody of the Police under the Prevention of Terrorism Act ? They are a Captain and four regular soldiers assigned to the Directorate of Military Intelligence. The sixth is a former Tiger guerrilla cadre, who surrendered to the security forces and later enlisted as a soldier.

However, the Police in Kandy are learnt to have information from an informant that the Athurugiriya Safe House was linked to attempts at possible harm to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and to earlier claims of men being trained at Panaluwa.

Internal Army investigations have raised some intriguing questions. It was only on December 15 last year, the Athurugiriya Safe House had been obtained on rent by the Directorate of Military Intelligence for a period of six months. It has been standard practice for DMI to operate Safe Houses for secret operations. Some months ago, one in fact functioned in close proximity to the Kotte-Sri Jayawardhanapura Parliamentary complex. The address of the house was such a closely guarded secret that only one or two DMI officials knew it. 

Yet, the Court Order Mr. Udugampola obtained contained the exact address of the house. Did a rival group within DMI surreptitiously obtain the address from an official in question and leak it ?

But, if the existing situation in the security forces and the Police are allowed to deteriorate, particularly due to no action of any sort being taken by the new Government, its priority will become peace talks on two fronts one with the Tiger guerrillas and the other with those in the country's security establishment. (Excerpts)

Ex-deputy defence minister’s son Chanuka visited safe house

Former Deputy Minister Defence Anuruddha Ratwatte's son Chanuka had allegedly visited the military intelligence Millennium City safe house during election time, where a large haul of arms was recovered by Police, a senior police officer probing the case told the Daily News yesterday.

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"If this is a Military intelligence safe house what had Chanuka Ratwatte got to do there ? My informant told me that there is a private armoury at the Athurugiriya Millennium City and he told me that Chanuka had visited this place several times before the election," he said.

The UNP revealed during the election period that there was a conspiracy to attack the UNP propaganda bus and assassinate leader Ranil Wickremesinghe with the knowledge of Military intelligence officers. When the UNP wrote to Army Commander Lionel Balagalle, he denied that the Army was planning to kill the UNP leader,

Police also recovered three claymore mines placed in a culvert in a Panvila to kill UNP MP Keheliya Rambukwella. However, he escaped after recovering these three mines. Police also suspect that these three claymore mines have been released from this Private armoury, the Police officer said.

Police recovered 17 items from this house including 66 LTTE camouflage kits, a cyanide capsule, six large claymore mines, 10 anti-tank mines, eight small claymore mines, four light anti-tank rocket launchers, 20 fuses used for claymore mines, 17 detonators, two T 56 weapons, 12 magazines and 418 rounds of ammunition, protective plastic eye covers, nine wire rolls, three remote control antennas, etc.

"It is understandable if the Army keeps such armouries in places like Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, etc. But why did the Army keep landmines, anti-tank rocket launchers, cyanide capsules, LTTE camouflage kits in a place like Colombo," he questioned. Police are investigating whether these Military officers were involved in the Udatalawinna massacre. (excerpts, Daily News 5 January 2002)

Grounds for impeachment in President’s speech

Former Cabinet Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, on Monday said that a statement made by the President at a recent political rally, violated the law of the country and was possible grounds for impeachment. He was citing a portion of a speech made by the President at a rally in Tissamaharamaya, in the Hambantota district.

"What the President has said is crystal clear she says that: for seven years we have been patient, but patience has its limits. In direct and explicit terms she says that: we will kill the people who are killing us", he said at a press conference. "If people can take the law in to their own hands what is the point of having a court system?" he questioned, adding "This is making nonsense of a long civilisation".

The President has violated the criminal law of Sri Lanka and is guilty of abetment to murder under section 100 of the Penal Code. According to Section 101, even if a murder is not committed, the president is still guilty of instigation, he said. There is room for legal action against her once the Presidency concludes and terminates her legal immunity, Prof. Peiris further said. (excerpt “The Island” 21 November 2001)

Abuse of the powers

Professor G. L. Peiris yesterday said that the hatred and animosity President Chandrika Kumaratunga harbours towards him was due to his refusal to grant textile quotas in an illegal manner as requested by President Kumaratunga.

He said that the President could be impeached for these illegal activities that constitutes misconduct involving the abuse of the powers of her office, under Article 38(2) of the constitution. (The Island 27 November 2001)

30,000 Deadly army deserters

Weapon trained Army deserters are the main culprits behind a series of crimes that have rocked Colombo in the past few months, police charge.

The rapid recruitment of men into the army and large-scale desertion has resulted in army deserters being involved in most of the serious crimes committed in the country ranging from bank robberies to organized crimes and murder.

According to Police sources there are around 30,000 deserters. "All of them are weapon trained and have been involved in many serious crimes in recent months,'' a senior police official said. Deserters have been linked to the spate of bank robberies that have taken place across the country in the past few months as well as to the activities of the underworld gangs.

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A Navy deserter is one of the suspects wanted in connection with the killing of a 59 year old woman in her home at Peliyagoda on Monday. On Wednesday, Kegalle Police recovered nearly 15 kilograms of robbed gold jewellery from the home of an army deserter in Hingurakgoda and took into custody three suspects of whom two were deserters.

In connection with the latest attempted robbery at the People's Bank branch at Battaramulla, Police have arrested six people including three army deserters and a policeman. Police are looking for two others including another deserter.

According to Thalangama Police OIC Crimes Anura Perera, the same gang has been involved in six bank heists, all in different branches of the People's Bank. "The suspects confessed they only targeted state banks," he said.

In December, the Bank Manager and a security guard at the People's Bank branch at Padalangala in Embilipitiya were killed during a bank robbery. The gang that attempted the robbery at Battaramulla last week is believed to be the same gang behind the Embilipitiya incident. They have also been linked to bank robberies in Athurugiriya and Nittambuwa .

Nearly 99 per cent of the weapons being used in the recent spate of crimes are believed to be those that disappeared during the time of the JVP insurrection in the late 80's and which have not been accounted for, according to army spokesman. (excerpts, Sunday Times 14 January 2001)

Security tightened in Sri Lanka

The AFP news agency reported that three members of the elite presidential bodyguard were arrested for alleged involvement in poll-related violence. Earlier, Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry said nearly 170 army deserters had been arrested over the weekend amid reports they'd been involved in election-related violence.

It said efforts would be made to round-up an estimated 30,000 deserters who have fled fighting with Tamil separatists in the island's northeast. ( BBC South East Asia 3 December 2001)

Army deserters gang- raped British tourist

COLOMBO- (AFP) 12 February 2002 - Four Sri Lankan army deserters were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the alleged gang rape of a British woman tourist eight days ago, police said.

The men were taken into custody at the eastern town of Polonnaruwa where the woman was allegedly raped, police said. A locally-made gun, cash and stolen goods were found with the suspects.

The attackers had allegedly threatened the woman, her male companion and their driver with weapons before the rape. They also allegedly robbed the British couple of their cash and wristwatches.

(Ps. Army deserters fleeing heavy fighting in the north and east have been blamed for sharp rise in violent crime in recent years)

JVP ADMITTED KILLING IN THOUSANDS

JVP leader Somawansa admitted to the killing of at least 6,000 people

Civil society was shocked to learn that Somawansa Amerasinghe has accepted that the Janatha Vimuke Peramuna (JVP) murdered 6000 people including hundreds of politicians and others, including President Kumaratunga’s husband Vijeya Kumaratunga! Amerasinghe is the only member still alive of the JVP politburo of that time. Civil society expects that the international community will demand legal action after the revelation of such a vast number of brutal murders.

He has been in self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom for the past few years. The evidence against him has been well documented and there is a warrant in Sri Lanka for his arrest.

It is shameful that the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga to brought Somawansa from London as a State guest to address the election rally last year and then allowed him to go back to UK, instead of having him arrested. Yet another outrageous act of President Chandrika!

According to Human rights organisations and the Sri Lankan media, the JVP has killed or contributed to the killing of more than 60,000 people in 1980s.

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Warrant on Somawansa

Legal action will be initiated to renew a warrant issued against JVP leader Somawansha Amerasinghe in connection with a conspiracy to murder case.

In the high court case numbered 214 of 1988, Amarasinghe is charged with conspiracy to murder former presidential security adviser Ravi Jayawardena. The others who were accused along with Amarasinghe were Jayantha Weerasekera, Dr Athula Sumathipala and Chamili Silva.

The warrant against Amarasinghe could not be executed as he had left the country following the bloody end of the 1988-90 JVP uprising. Lawyers will this week file a motion that the warrant be reissued as Amarasinghe has returned to the country. (The Sunday Leader 02 December 2001)

A warm welcome for a murderer

November 27, 2001.

Mr K. C. Kamalasabayson, P.C.,

Attorney General, Attorney General's Department,

Colombo 12.

 Dear Sir,

RE. MR SOMAWANSA AMARASINGHE

It has been widely reported in the print and electronic media during the past week that Somawansa Amarasinghe, a member of the politburo of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a proscribed organisation in the period 1987-1991, returned to Sri Lanka on November 22, 2001. He left Sri Lanka in 1991 and has since been a refugee in the United Kingdom. His return to Sri Lanka was pursuant to a temporary passport being issued to him by the Sri Lanka High Commission in London. According to newspaper reports, Amarasinghe is currently resident at the JAIC Hilton Hotel in Union Place, Colombo 2, as a state guest, and has a bodyguard comprising some 50 personnel from the police.

On November 23, 2001, Amarasinghe addressed a JVP rally at Kalutara. His speech was widely reported in the newspapers and also relayed almost in toto by the state television networks. In the course of this speech, Amarasinghe acknowledged the crimes committed by the JVP 'patriots' in the 1987-1991 period and justified these in the context of their being 'acts of war committed in a time of war'. He went on to state that the JVP would not 'kick aside' its glorious history.

Sir, I am sure you are better aware than anyone else the heinous crimes committed by the JVP during the period under reference. With the blessings and under the guidance of their politburo, so-called JVP 'patriots' slaughtered thousands of innocent citizens of Sri Lanka including government ministers, public servants, professionals including doctors and lawyers, and innocent members of the public whose only 'crime' was to ignore the JVP's 'curfews' and orders not to watch television. It was commonplace for JVP 'patriots' to decapitate their perceived opponents. Among those who were massacred included no less than 24 plantation managers and numerous public officials including the renowned journalist Themis Guruge and physician Dr. Gladys Jayewardene. Some of the victims had their heads displayed on parapet walls. Even decent burials were denied to their victims, with orders going out to the families that the body could not be carried more than shoulder high.

President J. R. Jayewardene spoke for all Sri Lankans when he referred to the JVP's sadistic carnage as acts of bestiality committed by animals. The JVP went so far even as to murder in cold blood Vijaya, the father of Yasodara and Vimukthi Kumaratunga and late husband of the present president of Sri Lanka. In her statement made to the police immediately after that assassination, Kumaratunga clearly stated that she suspected the JVP of carrying out the murder.

Dozens of banks were robbed, their security guards being gunned down; hundreds of factories were burnt down because their owners and workers refused to obey JVP orders to strike; thousands of homes were torched, often with their occupants locked inside. JVP 'patriots' even raided the intensive care units of the nation's premier hospital in Colombo and unplugged life-saving devices alleging that these

were 'capitalist tools,' committing the patients to death. And all the while the JVP's leader, Rohana Wijeweera, was living a life of idle luxury in a plantation at Ulapane purchased with his ill-gotten loot robbed from the people of Sri Lanka.

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It is a telling indictment of the judicial process in Sri Lanka that not one person has been held accountable for these crimes and brought to justice. Now, Somawansa Amarasinghe has arrived in the country and taken full responsibility for the JVP's violent, cowardly and murderous history. He came here expecting to receive a hero's welcome from the public. Yet, within days of his arrival, he was condemned not only by the venerable mahanayaka theros of the Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters for denying that the JVP attacked the Dalada Maligawa, but also by the Diyawadana Nilame. Amarasinghe's continued denial of the JVP attack on the Dalada Maligawa tantamount to calling these most venerable mahanayakes liars.

Given the hostile reception he has received, it has now been reported that Amarasinghe intends once more to flee the country, and thereby justice. I am therefore addressing this letter to you to request you immediately to take action to investigate Amarasinghe's role and complicity in the horrible crimes committed by the JVP in the period 1987-1991. I also urge you to take action to ensure that he does not flee the country once again in order to evade justice.

Yours faithfully,

(Ravi Karunanayake)

cc. Mr. Rienzie Arsecularatne, P.C.

Additional Solicitor General

(Courtesy : “The Sunday Leader” 02 December 2001)

JVP can’t deny they attacked the Dalada Maligawa

using firearms — Diyawadana Nilame

As the lay custodian of the sacred Tooth Relic, it can be assured that there is no politics involved in the office of the Diyawadana Nilame. The JVP leadership has absolute freedom to enter the portals of this venerated place but they are reluctant to do so because their conscience prevents them from doing so, Diyawadana Nilame Neranjan Wijeyeratne said.

Addressing a media conference to brief journalists about the JVP’s denial of the attack on the Sri Dalada Maligawa during the insurgency, the Diyawadana Nilame said the JVP leadership can never deny the fact that it was responsible for the attack on the Maligawa using firearms on February 8, 1989.

The JVP leadership has the freedom to visit this sacred place to pay homage to the Tooth Relic. They also have the freedom to confess and say ‘sorry’, instead of denying the offence. The JVP bullet marks are still found on the granite pillars of the Maligawa, Wijeyeratne said.

He said that politicians enter the Maligawa only to pay homage and not to talk politics with the officials. But they go to the Mahanayake Theras seeking their blessings for success, but talk politics.

‘Accordingly, the JVP leadership may not meet me in the Maligawa because I have nothing to do with politics. But the JVP leaders should not try to hide facts known to the entire world’, the Diyawadana Nilame said. (excerpts, The Sunday Island 25 November 2001)

Residence of the Diyawadana Nilame attacked

On Wednesday November 28, 2001, the residence of the Diyawadana Nilame, Neranjan Wijeratne of the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy came under attack. Devika Wijeratne the wife of the Diyawadana Nilame said her husband was overseas at the time of the attack and only their two children and herself were inside the house when a grenade was thrown at the house. A police and army guard were rushed to the scene of the attack. Neranjan Wijeratne recently went public accusing the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) of attacking the Sri Dalada Maligawa on February 8, 1989. He has challenged the JVP to prove that they did not attack the temple. The JVP in a subsequent media press release denied the charges. The UNF has accused the PA for the attack. (The Sunday Leader 02 December 2001)

UNP used JVP to kill my husband, President Chandrika tells BBC

Saroj Pathirana in London, Monday 29/10/01 1500 GMT - President Kumaratunge is in London for a three day official visit during which she meets leading British ministers including Home Secretary David Blunkett. In an interview with BBC TV’s high profile "Breakfast with Frost" programme yesterday, she said that part of the

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UNP, that ruled the country used Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) to assassinate her late husband Vijaya Kumaratunga. She termed her latest coalition partner JVP as Sinhala chauvinists.

Editor's Note :

Some of our readers have pointed out that President Kumaratunge did not term the JVP as "Sinhala chauvinists" in her interview with David Frost. (excerpts - Courtesy Lanka Academic 30 October 2001)

Welcome back Somawansa, here’s your charge sheet

Meeting old friends, relatives and political associates, would have been nice. In these days of high-tech communication, Somanawansa does not have to come to Sri Lanka to get updates of the political situation, the progress of the party, the configuration of political forces, the key issues etc.

The arrival aura, however, does not last forever. Even the most polished and most publicised exhibit loses its lustre after a while. With time the appearance becomes less important than efficacy. The problem of Somawansa’s arrival, hero though he is for some, is that he is not just returning home, he is simultaneously revisiting a crime-scene.

In his maiden and lengthy campaign speech in Kalutara, Somawansa had dwelled long on the last JVP "insurrection". For the first time, a JVP leader had admitted that the party had actually killed people. He admitted that the JVP and the DJV (Deshapremi Janatha Vyaparaya) were one and the same, although for the last ten years the party had maintained that they were innocent of all killings attributed to the latter organisation. I am willing to ignore the fact that the JVP has lied to the people for the last ten years about the nature of its contribution to the bheeshanaya. What is important is that their leadership has had the courage to admit its mistakes. Better late than never, I suppose.

The accolades, however, stop there.

Somawansa has said that the JVP is responsible for 6000 deaths. He has argued that since there were a total of 60,000 deaths during that period, if he is sent to jail once, those responsible for all the other killings should serve ten jail sentences. This is skewed logic. If someone who kills sixty people is sentenced to sixty years in prison, would it follow that someone who killed a tenth of that number ought to be out and laughing in six years? No. Every life is precious and if you do not appreciate this you better not call yourself a revolutionary.

Somawansa has come up with a new theory to justify the brutality of his party’s past: Let me explain.

I remember a day in December 1986 when members of the JVP’s student wing abducted the leader of the Independent Students Union, Daya Pathirana, took him to Kindelpitiya and slashed his throat. Pathirana was not carrying a gun. He had not declared war on the JVP, he had not taken up arms. That was the beginning of the JVP’s killing spree. It is called individual terrorism or pudgala thrasthavadaya. There were assassinations, yes. No war.

He might remember a much loved and humane individual by the name of Viyaja Kumaratunga. Come to think of it, even Chandrika Bandaranaike, a key figure in the JVP-PA parivasa government, might remember him. When JVP hit squads unleashed a barrage of bullets at him, Vijaya was armed. He was not a casualty in an exchange of fire typical in war situations. He was assassinated.

Deva Bandara Senanayake, ex-JVP and eloquent critic of the JVP was killed along with two others during a political rally. They were a law unto their own. Those in the kamkaru panthiya, bus drivers, conductors, workers, were threatened with death if they did not abide by the party dictates. They knew how to kill. They also knew how to humiliate. Many such people "disappeared". None of them had the money and the contacts to flee the country.

In some places they "led" by example in the mad rush to be the most ruthless butcher. Six thousand deaths, "Comrade", is nothing to brush aside. It amounts to genocide. These six thousand victims had 12,000 parents and probably several hundred thousand friends and relatives. Their grief would translate into several million tears. The empty spaces left in their lives would be larger than entire continents.

The JVP may have killed only 6000. They can’t be charged for all the other killings, sure. But in the case of each and every other murder, each item or torture, they are at least accessories after the fact of mass human slaughter.

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Somawansa especially, as the sole surviving members of the JVP leadership, has a lot to answer to. He was the financial secretary of the party beginning from the early eighties, according to an affidavit submitted by former JVP politburo member Vaas Tilakaratne.

During the Iran-Iraq war, the JVP received Rs. 2.8 million from the Baath Party of Iraq for supporting their cause. This support included the blowing up of an Iranian ship in the Colombo harbour. What Somawansa did with that money is anybody’s guess, and I supposed that is none of our business, unless of course it was spent on guns and grenades.

I remember the JVP’s rabidly anti-Indian stance after the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed in 1987. The people were banned from eating Mysore Dhal. When Somawansa fled the country, as he himself admits, India was his first port of disembarkation.

I know of at least two student leaders, Dassanayake of the Peradeniya Arts Faculty and Ranjithan Gunaratnam of the Engineering Faculty (former convenor of the Inter University Student Federation) who recognised the party’s terrible, terrible faults but refused to leave the country on moral grounds. They were tortured and killed. I wonder what Somawansa has to say to their parents.

How and why did he escape in the middle of the aragalaya?

Who gave refuge to this gun-toting saranagathaya? These are some of the questions that Somawansa has to answer.

JVP supporters in the universities in the early nineties were fond of brushing aside demands for explanation thus: "If we had ten people, five were killed, three are in prison and it is unfair to ask questions from the two who are free". Nonsense! When a "revolutionary" party chooses a political path that contributes to the killing of 60,000 people, they are honour-bound to engage in self-criticism and to promise not to walk that tragic path again. The point is, those numbers are wrong. If one JVP supporter was killed, the other nine were innocent bystanders, their only crime being that they were born in the wrong decade.

In Kalutara, the "great leader" has promised that his party has not abandoned the idea of armed struggle.

He said that if the law of the land was being violated, the JVP would seek a UN resolution to take up arms. This is not a joke. The political subtext of that statement is that the JVP is now a pawn of the USA (a claim that the Old Left has maintained for a long time), for the United Nations is for all practical purposes a creature of the United States.

It is Somawansa Amarasinghe’s JVP. The blood of 6000 people are on his hands and it is not easily washed away. Only a nation committed to self-destruction will give such a man a second chance. (excerpts “The Sunday Island” 25 November 2001)

JVP members arrested with bomb ahead of election

COLOMBO, November 30, 2001 (AFP) - Five members of Sri Lanka's main Marxist party were arrested Friday for possessing explosives in the run-up to elections next week, the first such discovery since the group renounced violence and entered mainstream politics, police said.

"They had a home-made explosive device that was concealed inside a box of talcum powder," he said. "One of those arrested is the JVP's area organiser for the village of Kokmaduwa."

The arrest came two days after JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe denied the movement would rearm, despite newspaper reports attributing remarks to him claiming that the JVP may take up weapons again.

The JVP led two unsuccessful armed revolts to topple governments in 1971 and 1987.

The first rebellion was crushed with the loss of some 20,000 lives while the second dragged on until 1990 and was put down with the loss of some 17,000 lives by the official count, and up to 60,000 by unofficial estimates.

Police said the five men taken into custody had said they got the explosives from the military and that they carried the bomb for "self-defence."

The JVP has been accused of killing more than 6,000 supporters of mainstream political parties, members of the security forces and the police between 1987 and 1990.

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Amarasinghe admitted that his cadres had attacked Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist shrine in the central town of Kandy and the main airbase located next to the country's only international airport in Colombo in the late 1980s.

He returned to the island Thursday on a passport issued to him by the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga last month.

JVPers force membership

JVP party membership is forcibly sold for Rs. 200 by its undergraduate student cadre who threaten their colleagues to buy it, an undergraduate organisation said yesterday.

"Members of the Socialist Students Union and other JVP supportive organisations threaten the undergraduates to buy membership tickets. A membership ticket is priced at Rs. 200 and there is another ticket of Rs. 10 to strengthen their party funds," said B. A. C. Basnayake, National Organiser of the National Universities Youth Front (NUYF).

The Rs. 200 membership ticket is sold in other universities where the JVP student organisations are powerful. These undergraduates are employed by the JVP to sell these tickets at JVP’s public rallies and election meetings.

The NUYF condemned JVP’s undemocratic exploitation of bursaries given to the undergraduates for their academic purposes by the government. (excerpts “The Island” 05 November 2001)

Vasudeva points to "serious threat" of Somawansa

JVP leader Somawansa Amarasingha’s declaration to arm all progressive forces against suppression is a serious threat and it endangers the Sri Lankan left movement, said the veteran leftist Vasudeva Nanayakkara yesterday.

Nanayakkara commenting on the declaration made by the JVP leader at JVP’s public rally at Kalutara to get a resolution passed in the United Nations that the JVP should take up arms, said that the statement has caused a grave situation to the left activists in the country.

"Apart from that it is totally contrary to what his junior cadres had been preaching around the country during last decade," he said.

"Comrade Amarasingha’s calling for arms against suppression is not democratic and it’s not a preferred or prescribed alternative against suppression. The left movement would rely on mobilising people’s voice against suppression, not arming them against suppressers."

The JVP leader in his first speech addressing the local public after 12 years admitted that the Desha Premi Janatha Vyaparaya and the JVP are one organisation and it launched attacks on Katunayake Air Base, Dalada Maligawa police check points and apologised to the kith and kin of those who died at their hands. (excerpts, The Island 29 November 2001)

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

International Bar Association finds Sri Lanka fails on three counts

* Government attempts to act unconstitutionally

* Independence of judiciary undermined by Chief Justice

* Harassment and intimidation of Sri Lankan media

Intimidation and summary dismissals are threatening the independence of the judiciary and media in Sri Lanka, according to a report released by the International Bar Association (IBA). "Institutions and offices which should be protecting the rule of law, including the President, government and chief Justice, are acting to undermine it" the report said.

The report, compiled by leading international lawyers of the IBA’s Human Rights Institute (HRI) comes after a detailed investigative mission among senior Government ministers, judges, lawyers and academics in the country.

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"Judges and magistrates have been removed by Chief Justice Sarath Silva and his Judicial Services Commission (JSC), without recourse to any inquiry or hearing. The JSC has just two other members, chosen by the President. Several dismissals have followed on from trials of members of Opposition parties, in which the accused have been acquitted".

"In June this year, an Opposition motion to impeach Mr. Silva in Parliament was met by a restraining order from the Supreme Court which he chairs. In 1999, Opposition complaints that Mr. Silva had committed acts of serious misconduct were dismissed, again by his Supreme Court".

The IBA mission led by Lord Brennan QC, former Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, Justice Malimath, former Chief Justice of Karnataka and Kerala, India, and Mah Weng Kwai, the President of the Malaysian Bar, goes on to report accusations of harassment and intimidation of the media by state bodies using police, surveillance and financial pressure.

It details the Government’s attempt to act unconstitutionally in July this year by bypassing the legal process for constitutional change. President Kumaratunga’s proposals, appealing to ‘national importance and necessity’ were dropped in September as Parliament reassembled after several weeks suspension.

Lord Brenan observed that a better future for Sri Lanka depends on a stable democracy’ "This requires an independent judiciary, a free media and a constitutional framework that commands confidence. Constitutional reform must take place through constitutional means, our report recommends ways in which the leading institutions of Sri Lanka should be changed to strengthen and protect the rule of law. We are not satisfied either of the presence of sufficient safeguards or of the absence of interference" he said. (The Island 4 December 2001)

Sri Lanka rebels release 10 war prisoners

(BBC World service - 21 January, 2002)

Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has released 10 prisoners of war as a goodwill gesture to promote peace.

Of the released prisoners of war, three are soldiers from the Sri Lankan army and the remainder seamen from captured merchant vessels. They were released to a delegation of peace activists from the south of the country.

The leader of the Tigers political wing, Tamil Chelvan, told the prisoners they were being freed as a goodwill gesture towards promoting peace. Some of the prisoners had been in custody for more than eight years.

Ps: It is worth noting that there are hundreds of Tamil political prisoners in various prisons. None of them have been released either by the earlier government or by the present government. There are Tamil prisoners in the prison for more than four years without trial nor inquiry!

No law permits military to stipulate that

the people of Jaffna must obtain a pass!

- HRC chairman

26 January 2002 - A delegation from Sri Lanka's National Human Rights Commission on a fact-finding mission to Jaffna met local journalists and representatives of the consortium of NGOs in the Jaffna peninsula. The journalists and NGO representatives told the HRC led by its chairman Mr. Faiz Mustapha that human rights violations by the Sri Lankan security forces continue in Jaffna largely because of the arbitrary controls imposed on civilian life.

The NGO consortium told the HRC that the Sri Lanka army should lift the night curfew in the peninsula and remove the military pass required of civilians to travel outside Jaffna.

"The adverse security environment in the peninsula which promotes persistent rights violations will change only if the Sri Lanka army's ban and restrictions on fishing and the free movement of the people are removed", the journalists and consortium representatives told Mr. Faiz Mustapha.

They also drew his attention to the fact that the Army is still blocking civilians displaced by the war from the Thenmaradchi division of the peninsula from resettling in the villages of Ketpali, Vidaththalpalai and Mirusuvil.

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Some of the journalists at the meeting told the HRC's chairman that Army soldiers regularly assault school students passing by their sentry at the Catapult Junction in Thinnevely near Jaffna town. They told him that 197 prisoners, including 24 PTA detainees, are being held in the Jaffna prison although the jail has facilities to incarcerate only 80.

Mr. Faiz Mustapha observed that that there was no law of the land under which the military could stipulate that the people of Jaffna have to obtain a pass from the Army to travel outside the peninsula.

Human Rights Commission - HRC failure

THE Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission (HRC) has been accused of failing to use its powers under the law to eradicate torture and of being slow to make a significant impact on the human rights situation in the island. Amnesty International says that the HRC lacks transparency.

Although established in 1996, none of its annual reports, which by law should be submitted yearly to Parliament, have been made public.

HRC officers visit places of detention, but Amnesty has questioned whether such infrequent visits can act as an effective deterrent against torture. In relation to remedying incidents of torture, the HRC has not made any recommendation for compensation to the victims or recommended any action to be initiated against perpetrators.

Amnesty says the powers of the HRC to receive and investigate reports of torture have been rarely used. Many people, including detainees who were tortured in custody and subsequently complained to the HRC have not received any response.

Although the Torture Act was enacted in 1994, no one has been so far convicted for the crime of torture.

In a 26 June report titled Sri Lanka’s torture shame, the BBC refers to the five year-old boy who was tortured and murdered, along with seven others, by soldiers at Mirusuvil in Jaffna. The bodies were buried in a mass grave in December 2000. The 14 soldiers arrested have yet to be put on trial and the case has been transferred out of the Jaffna peninsula, making it difficult for witnesses to travel to give evidence.

Colombo lawyers say that in 99% of the cases of Tamils detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) or the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), a confession is extracted under torture. The written confessions are often in the Sinhala language, which many Tamils do not understand. (excerpts, THE SRI LANKA MONITOR - British Refugee Council No.161 June 2001)

Truth Commission

The Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence is headed by former Chief Justice Suppiah Sharvananda and has two other members - SS Sahabandu and MM Zuhair. The Commission is mandated to enquire into the nature, causes and the extent of gross violations of human rights and destruction of property, in violence between January 1981 and December 1984.

The Jaffna library with 95,000 volumes and culturally important manuscripts was destroyed in 1981. More than 2,000 Tamils were killed in the July 1983 violence, which led to exodus of Tamils and the rise of the LTTE. Senior government officers and security forces are alleged to have been involved in both.

Apparently for this reason, both the UNP and PA governments refused hitherto to conduct an enquiry, despite repeated demands by Amnesty International.

Tamil observers suspect that the President has now appointed the Commission for the sole purpose of embarrassing the opposition UNP, which is spearheading the move for a no-confidence motion against the government in Parliament. The UNP was in power between 1981 and 1984.

Since July 1983, almost a million Tamils have fled abroad and currently 800,000 are internally displaced. Any evidence gathered by the Commission will not be the whole truth. Perhaps this is what the government wants. (excerpts THE SRI LANKA MONITOR - British Refugee Council No.163 August 2001)

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Death certificates issued after 6 months

March 17, 2001 - The Muttur Magistrate issued certificates that the deaths of seven Tamil farmers in the Poomarathadihchenai massacre in Trincomalee district, were due to gunshot and cut injuries. Representatives of the International Committee of Red Cross went to Poonagar and handed over the death certificates to the families of the dead.

Magisterial inquests are not held for Tamils

Magisterial inquests are not held for Tamils who are killed in border villages. As a consequence, hundreds of Tamil families in border villages that have lost their sole breadwinners are denied poverty relief as they cannot produce death certificates for the diseased required by the authorities to accept and process their applications.

On 2 October 2000, Sinhala homeguards from Mahindapura in Seruwila hacked with machetes and shot dead seven Tamils, including a woman, who were threshing paddy in their field at Poomarathadichchenai.

The farmers, S.Nallathamby,55 , his son Arulanantham, 17), T.Kalirasa, 35, V.Somasuntharam ,56), T.Kanagaretnam ,57, S.Rasan, 37, and the woman, Krishnapillai Thayapathi, 32, were from the hamlet of Poonagar.

Sri Lanka on the Bandwagon

A Letter in the Washington Post regarding Chandrika’s Op-Ed piece

President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Nov. 7 op-ed column is a prime example of how some governments are trying to jump on the antiterrorist bandwagon while whitewashing their own high-handedness and complicity in military atrocities.

The article by the Sri Lankan president sidesteps the charges of her own government's human rights violations against the minority Tamils raised by Human Rights Watch and the State Department. Ms. Kumaratunga gave the impression that 64,000 people were killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam when in reality most of those who have died in the violence in Sri Lanka were killed by the military. Further, she leaves the distinct impression that her husband and father were killed by the Tamil Tigers, whereas, the latter was assassinated by an extremist Sinhala Buddhist monk, and the former apparently by the opposition political party.

(DEEPA M. OLLAPALLY - a senior expert on South Asian security affairs at the U.S.Institute of Peace “Washington Post” - Page A22 - Saturday, November 24, 2001)

"Lying in state"

While in London last week President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was interviewed on CNN television by Zain Verjee. Completely in keeping with her usual form, the president spiced the interview with a variety of rich and colourful fibs.

Here are some of the classic gems she offered the world on behalf of Sri Lanka. Most of them are self evident. With regard to the lies she has uttered about her economic performance, we have provided the relevant data from the book, Socio-economic data: 2001 issued by the Central bank of Sri Lanka.

This proves yet again that Kumaratunga does not have the faintest clue about what is going on in the country and makes one wonder where it was that she studied for that elusive PhD in economics.

1. My government has been able to completely control human rights violations

2. I would love to go and sit back in parliament

3. The last government killed 50,000 Sinhalese democratic youths simply because they did not agree with them

4. They (the last government) killed 20,000 Tamil youth. They burnt them alive. They poured petrol on them and burnt them alive in pogroms against the Tamil people.

5. The LTTE has killed more Tamil civilians than all Tamils killed by all the Sri Lankan governments put together.

6. They (S. B. Dissanayake and G. L. Peiris) left because they are being investigated for corruption, and it has to be reported to the people very soon. Rather, it will be reported very soon.

7. No, the economy is not in ruins. I don't know what you mean by the word "ruins", whether you have a new definition for that word.

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8. We were able to reduce the budget deficit by half since we came in[to office]. (According to the Central Bank, the budget deficit in 1995 was Rs 67.2 billion, and in 2000, Rs 124.5 billion. That, according to the president, is a reduction by half!)

9. We were able to reduce unemployment by more than 50 percent. (In the seven years of Kumaratunga's government, Sri Lanka's population has grown by 1.3 million people. Just to stay in the same place, she had to create 1.3 million new jobs! Does anyone think she even did this?).

10. We have increased the gross national product of the country by double, by 100 percent. (According to the Central Bank, the highest gross national product increase during Kumaratunga's six years was 6.3 percent in 1997. The total GNP growth from 1995 to 2000 has been 11.98 percent. Kumaratunga's claim of 100 percent shows she is in dreamland.)

11. We have been able to reduce bank interest rates by almost 100 percent; from 29 percent to 15 percent. (According to the Central Bank, the Commercial Banks' Prime Lending Rate for 1994 was 17.8 percent, and in 2000 it was 21.46 percent. This, according to our worthy Finance Minister, who has studied for a PhD in economics, is a reduction of 100 percent.)

12. We have been able to reduce inflation by about 50 percent.

(According to the Central Bank, inflation in 1995 was 8% and in 2000 it was 6%. While this is hardly a reduction of 50%, if you believe the Central Bank's figure, you'll believe anything).

13. We have had six years of very good economic development. (It has certainly been an excellent six years for Mr Ronnie Peiris.) (The Sunday Leader 4 November 2001)

New government gently gone to sleep

The UNF’s victory in the December 5 general election was to many a sign of change. Months have passed since Ranil Wickremesinghe became prime minister and swore in his cabinet.

A new government has taken charge, and unnoticed by all, has gently gone to sleep.

They promised to undo the wrongs the PA government have done when one day they themselves came into government.

Look at some of the causes :

(1) The brutal murder in public of the Papua New Guinean rugby player, Joel Perra;

(2) The on-going construction of the presidential palace in Kotte;

(3) The Air Lanka privatisation;

(4) Numerous tender abuses, not least that of the

(5) Purchase of French railway locomotives.

(6) The corruption-ridden Katunayake expressway.

(7) The Chief Justice Sarath Silva, who was not only improperly appointed during PA government, but has been proved to be unsuited to the dignity of the office he holds.

The UNP actually submitted a motion to impeach him to the last parliament, but this lapsed with its prorogation. if the UNP had the courage of its convictions to impeach him in 2001, the people have a right to ask what has changed in 2002?

(8) The UNF must also face the challenge Kumaratunga poses. At the dissolution of parliament, it was poised to table an impeachment motion against Kumaratunga.

(9) The CDB Director Bandula ‘Show’ Wickramasinghe’s damning revelations about Kumaratunga not only knowing of the circumstances behind the murder of All Ceylon Tamil Congress Leader Kumar Ponnambalam, but suppressing an investigation into it in the knowledge that he was murdered on the instructions of her nephew, Mahen Ratwatte. (Excerpts)

WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Rape of two women in Mannar

April 04, 2001- Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Defence, Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte, flatly denied that the security forces had raped two women in detention in Mannar, interrupting the All Ceylon Tamil Congress MP for Jaffna, Mr. Vinayagamoorthy, who was on his feet in the Parliament speaking on the destruction of Tamil temples in the north and east and the rape of women in Mannar.

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"The statement of the Deputy Minister of Defence is tantamount to a gross intimidation of the judicial process. It shows that the government is more eager to justify such atrocities by its security forces than it is to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to book" said Mr. Vinayagamoorthy.

Detainee tortured

31 May 2001 - Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court granted leave to proceed with the fundamental rights petition of a girl from Kayts in Jaffna. Policemen tortured her in detention by repeatedly inserting a plantain flower soaked in chilli powder into her vagina.

The girl who is held in the Negombo remand prison states in her petition to the Supreme Court that she was hung on a pole inserted between her thighs and arms which had been tied together below the knee and that he body was made to swing in that position; that she was hung from the roof and battered with a cudgel; that Policemen tortured her by pricking under her finger and toe nails with paper pins until she bled; that she was mercilessly assaulted with poles and wires and trampled with boots.

The girl also states in her petition that although she had appealed to the Human Rights Commission and the Presidential Committee on Unlawful Arrests and Harassment, they had not taken any action regarding her predicament.

The following is the relevant excerpt from the fundamental rights application filed on behalf of the girl by her attorney’s on 19 March:

1. The petitioner is a citizen of Sri Lanka aged 27 at the time of the arrest.

2. The petitioner is from Kayts whose family got displaced in 1990 and was living in Jaffna till she (sic) got displaced again in 1995 due to military operations and moved to Kilinochchi. The petitioner while in Jaffna was a student at Ramanathan college, Maruthanarmadam and had sat for GCE (O.L) examination”.

3. The petitioner’s mother had gone abroad for employment in 1989 and her father had deserted the family. The petitioner while in Kilinochchi worked as a volunteer Primary teacher at Sivapathakalalaiyam Government school for a short period in 1998.

4. While the petitioner was in Kilinochchi one of her aunts arranged a marriage for her and requested the petitioner to come to Negombo and she came on 23/01/2000 and was staying with the said aunt at her residence at No. 47 Sylvester Road, Negombo.

5. As arranged by her said aunt, on 9 February 2000 marriage was registered at Vavuniya between the petitioner and Thurairatnam Maheswaran alias Babu (8th respondent) and the petitioner was staying with her said aunt”.

8. While in Trincomalee the 8th respondent was giving her (sic) telephone calls threatening her that unless she returns to Negombo and live with him, he will use his influence with the Negombo Police and have her arrested as a member of the suicide LTTE squad and have her tortured.

9. Thereafter, on the 21st of June 2000 while the petitioner was at the People’s Bank, Trincomalee by about 11 a.m. a person called Sekar, whom the petitioner knows as a friend of the 8th respondent came tom the said bank and requested the petitioner to come out. As soon as she came out of the bank a group of Policemen, all males in civil (sic) headed by Wijesekara, R/Sub Inspector arrested her, handcuffed her and put her in a private Elf van that was parked there. One of the Policemen told her that they had come from Negombo Police station to arrest her in connection with an information lodged (sic) against the petitioner by the 8th respondent.

10. While in the van she saw her brother inside the van hand cuffed and the van was driven to the residence of the petitioner brother at Trincomalee and the Police searched every nook and corner of the house and ransacked it.

She was assaulted with a pole on her knees, chest, abdomen and on her back. After a short interval they assaulted her again and pressed her chest with the end of the pole as she was shouting in unbearable pain.

13. Thereafter, the petitioner was put in a Police cell at the Negombo Police station and was detained therein till 26.06.2000 under a detention order issued by Daya Jayasundera DIG Western Province (north) Range under Emergency Regulations 19 (2) for 90 days.

* Petitioner’s ear studs were removed and she was slapped with force on the ears;

* Her face was covered with a shopping bag containing chilli powder mixed in petrol and tied to the neck and loosened by the Police depending on her state of suffocation;

* On occasion she was forced to remove all her clothes except the underwear and bra and her face was covered with a shopping bag containing petrol and chilli and she was experiencing burning sensation all over her body.

* She was asked to lie flat on a table and while four policemen were holding her pressed to the table four other policemen pricked paper pins under the nails of the fingers, toes and simultaneously moved the pin in and out and the Petitioner was experiencing unbearable pain and blood was oozing from the pricked places;

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* She was assaulted with a pole and wires all over the body and when she fell down unable to bear the beating they trampled on her body with boots;

* When the Petitioner refused to sign she was asked to remove her blouse and cover eyes with it and was asked to lie on a table. While she was lying down on the table 4 policemen were pressing her hands and holding her legs apart and the plantain flower brought by them was mercilessly inserted with force into her vagina and was pulled in and out for nearly 15 minutes. She was experiencing burning sensation and pain.

The Petitioner was unconscious for few minutes and she was asked to be on the table till about 9.30 p.m. After which some sheets of papers typed in Sinhala was brought by them and being unable to bear the torture the Petitioner signed them. The contents of the said document was neither read nor explained to her.

15. The torture, cruel and inhuman treatment meted out to the Petitioner had affected her physically and psychologically as well and she is unable to lead her normal life and her matrimonial prospects stands shattered.

The Petitioner suffers from continuous bleeding from vagina, pain in the lower abdomen and frequency of urine with pain and constant headache.

As a result of mental and physical trauma she underwent she suffers from depression, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, poor concentration, fear and nervousness.

The petitioner states she could identify the other perpetrators as well if an identification parade is held.

20. On 19/09/2000 when the petitioner was produced before Dr. Sivasubramaniam Assistant JMO of the Colombo National Hospital by the TID she complained to him about the torture and saw him writing in (sic) sheet of paper and got her to sign it.

21. Thereafter, on 21 July 2000 the petitioner was produced before the Colombo magistrate under Emergency Regulations 19 (1) and when the petitioner attempted to inform him about torture, Sergeant Wijayaratne of the TID who produced her and who was by the side of the accused box interrupted, disturbed and prevented the petitioner from speaking and (the petitioner) was quickly taken out of court telling her that the magistrate will listen to her in his chambers. The petitioner was never given an opportunity to speak to the magistrate in his chambers. The learned magistrate also did not inquire from the petitioner whether she has got to say anything.

28.The Petitioner states that she was subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the said Police personnel and her rights guaranteed by Article 11 of the Constitution have been violated by the said Respondents.

29. The Petitioner states, that her arrest, and detention are both wrongful and illegal and that her fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 13 (1) and 13 (2) of the Constitution have been violated by the said Respondents. (Excerpts)

Instead of ensuring the safety of the public

Government is protecting the security forces

08 April 2001- The Government, instead of ensuring the safety of the public, is interested in protecting the security forces", the Mannar Women's Front said in a memorandum sent to the President Sunday.

The following is the excerpt text of the memorandum:

"We, of the Women's Front of Mannar comprising of all the women of Mannar, observing a fast in protest against the shameful and inhuman treatment and rape perpetrated on the two ladies, Nanthakumar Vijikala and Sinnathamby Sivamany after their arrest by the security forces on 19.03.2001 at Mannar, raise this earnest entreaty to you: We considered that a lady being the all-powerful President of this country would result in special protection for us, women.

”There are many laws and schemes for our protection. However they are only on paper and appear to have been enacted only to dupe the world. They are not being implemented and are observed only in the breach. Appropriate action is not taken against those flouting them.

”The Government, instead of ensuring the safety of the public, is interested in protecting the security forces. Our femininity is denied to us. We are being treated indecently. The body checks conducted on us under the canopy of security, though carried out by women, are shameful and cause much mental pain to us. Therefore we, numbering over five thousand, who are gathered together here today with heavy hearts, sorrowfully place before you our requests.”

Copies of the memorandum were sent to diplomatic missions, NGOs and religious organisations. (Excerpts)

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Sri Lanka - Rape in custody must be stopped immediately

AI Index: ASA 37/002/2002 Publish date: 28/01/2002

Allegations of rape in custody by army, police and navy officials increased markedly in Sri Lanka last year, Amnesty International said in a new report published today. The organization has evidence of cases where women in custody were blindfolded, beaten, had their clothes forcibly removed and were raped.

The majority of incidents occurred in the context of the armed conflict between the security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are fighting for an autonomous state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Many of the victims are internally displaced women.

"The fact that complaints of rape, like other complaints of torture, are often not effectively dealt with by police, magistrates or doctors challenges the government to tackle this problem. Deficiencies in the early stages of the criminal investigation process have repeatedly contributed to the ultimate collapse of the investigation of the rape and the prosecution of the perpetrators," Amnesty International said.

"The new government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe must now do everything in its power to prevent this grave sexual abuse of detainees."

The organization is urging the new Prime Minister to:

-- send a clear public message to all security forces personnel that rape and other serious sexual violence in custody will not be tolerated and that perpetrators of such offences will be brought to justice and held accountable;

-- establish an independent investigative body with the necessary powers and expertise to open criminal investigations where human rights violations, including rape, are believed to have been committed. (excerpts)

SRI LANKA - Rape in custody

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Index : ASA 37/002/2002 Published date 28/01/2002

Introduction
Sinnathamby Sivamany (aged 24) and Ehamparam Wijikala