The government should ensure the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission extends beyond the period 2002-09 which was the limited time frame of the investigation report of the UN Human Rights Council, says the National Peace Council.
Issuing a statement the NPC said; “The government’s decision to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a judicial mechanism for accountability with international participation and an office of reparations provides the basis for a just solution that will be in accordance with international standards. This includes the expulsion of the Muslims and their continued inability in practice to exercise their right of return.”
We publish below the statement in full;
DEAL WITH MUSLIM EXPULSION ALSO THROUGH GENEVA PROCESS
The 25th year of the mass expulsion of Muslim people resident in the north by the LTTE falls this October. The eviction of the 90,000 strong northern Muslim population continues to be a humanitarian and political problem of national proportions. An estimated 80 percent of them continue to live outside their original places of residence. However, the problems faced by this section of the Sri Lankan population and finding a just solution have not been given either the public attention or priority that it deserves. The government’s decision to co-sponsor the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka provides an opportunity for the country, and the international human rights community, to come to terms with this problem and find a just solution.
The National Peace Council welcomes, and appreciates, the introspective and self critical statement of the Tamil National Alliance which was chosen by a large majority of Tamil people in the north and east at the recent general elections. The TNA stated in its response to the UN Human Rights Council investigation report that “We also accept and undertake to carry out our responsibility to lead the Tamil people in reflecting on the past, and use this moment as a moment of introspection into our own community’s failures and the unspeakable crimes committed in our name, so as to create an enabling culture and atmosphere in which we could live with dignity and self-respect, as equal citizens of Sri Lanka.” The National Peace Council believes that this call needs to be appreciated, emulated, and taken on by the government, other political parties, by opinion formers and leaders of each of the Sri Lankan ethnic and religious communities and the international human rights community also.
Even today, six years after the end of the war the fact that so large a proportion of Muslim people who were displaced in 1990 remain in temporary residences is an indictment on the justice and reconciliation process in the country. This is in violation of their right to return, which is accorded to them by the international covenants that Sri Lanka has signed. The failure of the successive governments to vindicate their right to return has led to ad hoc resettlements that have exacerbated inter-community tensions. Recently the issue of resettlement of displaced Muslims took on controversial proportions and was linked to the alleged encroachment of the Wilpattu National Park.
The government’s decision to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a judicial mechanism for accountability with international participation and an office of reparations provides the basis for a just solution that will be in accordance with international standards. This includes the expulsion of the Muslims and their continued inability in practice to exercise their right of return. The National Peace Council calls on the government to ensure that the mandate of the TRC extends beyond the period 2002-09 which was the limited time frame of the investigation report of the UN Human Rights Council. It needs to go back in time to cover the events of the expulsion of the Muslims of the north in 1990 and also beyond to cover other serious human rights violations that occurred in the course of the war so that injustices that occurred to all communities are taken into account and remedies found.
Vibhushana / October 29, 2015
What is missing entirely is the 2005 election. Mahinda Rajapaske is being investigated for bribing the LTTE.
The TNA took part in the decision that denied 300,000 Tamils their voting rights. That decision is directly related to the final war tragedy. The Kodak moment is captured here.
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=16298
One of the things they did was chopping off the hands of few Tamils to warn against voting.
TNA would say they were forced. I do not think that a good reason. They could well have resigned instead of committing a mass human rights violation.
The TULF for example have done exactly that and they have survived.
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Uthungan / October 29, 2015
The TNA was not there to resign at that time when the said mass abuse of human rights took place in the form of the expulsion of the Muslims form the North that took place.
It was a subsequent creation.
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Amarasiri / October 29, 2015
RE: Expulsion Of Northern Muslims: NPC Calls Govt. To Extend TRC’s Time Frame
Absolutely!
Ethnic Cleansing is a WAR CRIME. Period. Refer to war Crimes.
However, most Sri Lankan Para-Tamils who are racists and LTTE sympathizers do not think so. Is is a shame, but the Para-Tamils have no shame!
Nevertheless, it is a war crime, that must be addressed and rectified.
War crimes are defined in the statute that established the International Criminal Court, which includes:
Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, such as:
Willful killing, or causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health
Torture or inhumane treatment
Unlawful wanton destruction or appropriation of property
Forcing a prisoner of war to serve in the forces of a hostile power
Depriving a prisoner of war of a fair trial
Unlawful deportation, confinement or transfer
Taking hostages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime
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Native Vedda / October 29, 2015
Amarasiri
Thanks you are back.
Good to hear from you again.
We are glad there is someone to fill the forum.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 29, 2015
Dear Amarasiri,
I agree with you that ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity. The worst ethnic cleansing in the history of the world after the second world war is the deportation of one million Indian Tamils from Srilanka, who had lived for more than 100 yeras. What is talked about is the ethnic cleansing done by LTTE, but ethnic cleansing carried out by Srilnaka government, Sinhalese and Muslims are not brought out. During SLFP regime of 1970 to 1977, Several Indian Tamils were driven out of the estates and were stranded on the roads, to be settled in Vavuniya and Trincomalee districts. During 1983 riots, UNP government drove these settlers out and physically transported them in busses and dumped them on the roads in upcountry. In 1984, Tamils in 36 villages were given 48 hours to vacate their homes in Manalaru, and after they left sinhalese from other provinces wete settled and name changed to Welioya. In Nayaru Tamil fishermen were driven out from their homes and Sinhalese migrant fishermen who stay there for only few months of the year were given houses.It is well documented that Muslim had murdered and driven off Tamils in several villages in eastern province and have appropriated their lands. LTTE never let Tamils appropriate properties left by Muslims and still they are intact, though houses needing repairs due to years of neglect. This is not the case about properties left by Tamils which have been appropriated by Sinhalese and Muslims making it difficult for Tamils to get back their lands.
After every riots in Srilanka, tamils faced ethnic cleansing in the areas affected. Kantalai which was a Tamil majority town, has been ethnically cleansed of Tamils in 1983. If you go through past census and electoral registers you will the degree of ethnic cleansing in the eastern province. In the north ethnic cleansing has taken place in the border areas of Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts. Islamic racists Rishard Badurdeen is settling Muslims in Northern province using Qatari funds, while 30,000 Tamils are homeless and living in makeshift places. The reason why ethnic cleansing of Tamils is being blacked out is to justify alterion of demography of north and east.
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Paul / October 30, 2015
It is ok for Sinhalese and Muslims to ethnically cleanse the Tamils, the real indigenous population in the north and east and not even resettle the hundreds of thousands of Tamils who had been ethnically cleansed. Will ignore the hundreds of thousands of Tamils who were ethnically cleansed from the north and east and care two hoots about them, but these Sinhalese and fake Arab Dravidian Muslim immigrants from Tamil Nadu and then Tamil Kerala will scream and up and down to resettle thousands of out of area Sinhalese who were illegally settled in the north and east in the first place, and the Muslims who came here as refugees fleeing persecution in India, the Europeans and the Sinhalese, now taking part in anti Tamil activities and conniving with the Sinhalese to destroy the Tamils the very people who gave them refuge a few centuries ago, in order steal their lands to create a Salafist haven.
Where were all these people when that nasty Muslim politician from Mannar was illegally settling thousands of out of area Muslims in the border areas of Mannar, Vavuniya or Mullaitivu. Where were all these people when the government and armed forces were ethnically cleaning hundreds of thousands of Tamils appropriating their lands and illegally settling out of area Sinhalese, even recently in these lands to deliberately change the demography of the ancient Tamil north and east.
These Sinhalese and Muslims do not want the hundreds of thousands of Tamils who were ethnically cleansed to be resettled, but will keep quiet when out of area Muslims and Sinhalese are illegally settled by the government and government supported Muslim politicians but jump and down for these northern Muslim, as it suits their agenda to settle as much as possible non Tamils in the historic and ancient Tamil lands to change the demography and make the northern Tamils also a voiceless minority in their own lands like in the east. This racist agenda is cloaked under a concern for human rights. If they are really concerned for human rights these Sinhalese and Muslims should be impartial and want all the people resettled irrespective of race religion or ethnicity. The hundreds of thousands of acres of illegally appropriated Tamil land taken by the government the illegal Sinhalese settlers and the Muslims to be returned to the Tamils. All illegal Sinhalese and Muslims settlements in the north and east disbanded and these people returned to their original area. Not selective agitation for the settlement of only certain communities and religious groups whilst keeping quiet or supporting the ethnically cleansing of the Tamils and their non resettlement. Remember the north and east is Tamil land and this was recognised by all powers that ruled the island not Muslim or Sinhalese land. Hundreds of thousands of Tamils were chased out of their own land and very have been resettled or their land given back whilst there is a clamour to settle non Tamils and also illegally settle thousands of out of area Muslims and Sinhalese in the north and east. No Sinhalese was ever ethnically cleansed in the south but the contrary happened to the Tamils.
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Siva Sankaran Sarma / October 30, 2015
Cool story, bro :D
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Paul / October 30, 2015
Not as good as the fake Arab origin my for the Sri Lankan Muslims and the fake Aryan origin myth for the Sinhalese. When both have originated from Dravidian Tamils. Also not as good as a Sinhalese racist like you stealing a Tamil man’s identity and posting crap under his name
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jansee / October 30, 2015
Amarasiri:
It was wrong for the LTTE to expel the Muslims. From available information, the demographics and politics in the East had many a times impacted that decision. The Muslims collaborated and colluded with the Sinhalese to alter the Eastern demographics in a major way. This had angered the Eastern LTTE command and had persuaded Prabhakaran to issue the order to expel the Muslims, who for all intents and purpose are Tamils but segregate themselves in the in the name of religion. In 2002, Prabhakaran had announced that it was a grave mistake to have expelled the Muslims.
It was not that the Tamils had no SL history to fall back on. There was a time when Gotabaya loaded the Tamils into buses and dumped them them in A9. He had considered them as security risk. The entire SL history is littered with such news. How the Tamils were deprived off their property and livelihood by itself can be a Commission material. Those were war times and there was a widespread belief that Muslims were acting as informants to the forces. But to say my piece, that act by the LTTE is grossly wrong to have painted with the same brush on all Muslims.
It is not that one can easily forget the actions of Jayawardane. The pathetic life and plight of the Tamils since independence is always parked away as one of a bygone era. It is the same after the pressure started piling up on the regime after the war – to forget about the past and move on. Whether the international community realises it or not, unless SL comes to its senses or not, the Tamils are goung to a be a thorn in the flesh. There is not going to be a sustainable peace ever. The Sinhalese will continue to fight “forever” over the Tamils that will eventually lead to a self-destruct. If the Tamils had voted for Ranil, MR may have never become president. If the Tamils had voted for MR as they did for Sarath Fonseka, today MR will still be the president. Only when the Tamils are taken out of the equation will the Sinhalese emerge as a progressive race. Think about it.
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sinhalese buddhist / October 29, 2015
Hallelujah!! Finally some “civil society group” that is not biased for only one group calling for accountability of all!
But do you think India would allow an examination of this time period? After all, that’s when they were abusing the Tamils in the N&E, isn’t it?
Isn’t the expulsion of nearly a lakh of people an attempt at “genocide”? What does Wiggi have to say about that?
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The Rogue Ayer / October 29, 2015
“Expulsion Of Northern Muslims: NPC Calls Govt. To Extend TRC’s Time Frame”
For a very brief moment I thought that the Northern Provincial Council is taking steps to reconcile with the Muslims.
How wrong I was!
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Sam / October 29, 2015
Yes, I also thought that Northern Provincial Council (or its spokesperson) has called the GOSL to extend TRC’s time frame to cover the expulsion of the Muslims from the North by LTTE.
However, to imply that the Northern Provincial Council or TNA is not taking steps to reconcile with the Muslims would be, in my opinion, wrong.
Why would they say this if they’re not genuinely committed to reconciliation?:
““We also accept and undertake to carry out our responsibility to lead the Tamil people in reflecting on the past, and use this moment as a moment of introspection into our own community’s failures and the unspeakable crimes committed in our name, so as to create an enabling culture and atmosphere in which we could live with dignity and self-respect, as equal citizens of Sri Lanka.”
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Non PhD / October 29, 2015
If it is going to be beyond 2002 – 2009, at least it must go up to 1st youth uprising ( JVP ) and the introduction of new republican constution , during the period of 1969 to 1972 .
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sinhalese buddhist / October 30, 2015
Non PhD
I agree. Investigate, castigate and make them all pay!! The SLF/UNP/IPKF/LTTE/PLOTE/JVP etc. etc.
All have partaken in the abuse of innocent Sri Lankans of all ethnicities.
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