{"id":124633,"date":"2014-05-17T17:16:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-17T11:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=124633"},"modified":"2014-05-25T00:44:12","modified_gmt":"2014-05-24T19:14:12","slug":"five-years-on-tamils-still-under-siege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/five-years-on-tamils-still-under-siege\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Years On Tamils Still Under Siege"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

\"Usha<\/a>

Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah<\/p><\/div>\n

Time not Ripe for Truth and Reconciliation, Rather for Justice and A Referendum on Eelam.<\/b><\/p>\n

Five years on after the end of the war, Tamils in the North and East are still “under siege”. This is a clear indication that the prevailing climate is not conducive, either for achieving peace, truth and reconciliation or<\/span> for obtaining justice and reaching a political settlement. The only redeeming feature in a hopeless situation is the prospect of an international independent inquiry soon to be underway that could lead to ending impunity in Sri Lanka \u00a0– When the search for justice begins.<\/p>\n

Whilst the end goals mentioned here continue to remain elusive, common sense would show that without the latter i.e. remedial justice and a satisfactory political settlement, it would surely not be possible to have the former i.e. peace, truth and reconciliation. It is perfectly clear the Sri Lankan government hasn’t got the political will or the decency to do the right thing by the Tamil people, by allowing them to exercise their right to self determination and have control over their affairs. Whilst the time may not be ripe for peace, truth and reconciliation, a referendum on Eelam could however pave the way for peace, truth and reconciliation.<\/p>\n

Accountability, Justice and Political Settlement High Priority<\/b><\/p>\n

To this end, the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE<\/span><\/a>), feels strongly that any ‘truth and reconciliation’ mechanism must come only after justice is served and a political settlement is achieved. TGTE’s Prime Minister, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran<\/span><\/a>, in paying tribute to Nelson Mandela at the time of his passing, reflecting on the resolution the TGTE had passed in December 2013 just as it became public knowledge that Sri Lanka was looking to getting South Africa’s help to setup a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, wrote in an article: Reconciliation Is Not A Matter of Ignoring the Past<\/span><\/a>, that “truth and reconciliation” must come only after “accountability and the birth of an independent and sovereign State of Tamil Eelam”:<\/p>\n

“The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) set up by President Nelson Mandela in South Africa under the chairmanship of Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a mechanism to achieve a peaceful transition towards a race neutral democracy. However, as US President Obama mentioned in his eulogy, \u201creconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past\u201d, we firmly believe that TRC should not serve as an escape mechanism for accountability. With this in mind, the TGTE passed a resolution in its Parliament on Sunday 8th December, stating that \u2018in view of the primacy of accountability under International Law espoused by the International Criminal Court, calling for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sri Lanka should come after the birth of an independent and sovereign State of Tamil Eelam,” [1]<\/a> he wrote.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An Unfinished War: Torture and Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka 2009-2014 – A Documentation of Post-War Atrocities<\/b><\/p>\n

Anyone reading the authoritative report, documenting human rights abuses in post- war Sri Lanka published in March 2014 titled: An Unfinished War: Torture and Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka 2009-2014<\/span><\/a>, (The Report) made possible by the combined effort of Ms Yasmin Sooka, The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) and The International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka, would get a sense of what is truly happening to Tamils in Sri Lanka, five years after the war ended in which a reported 40,000 – 70,000 Tamil civilians were killed by Sri Lankan government forces; authentic census reports at the time revealing the number of people unaccounted for, were in excess of 146,000.<\/p>\n

Tamils Still Under Siege<\/b><\/p>\n

What was not surprising, but yet alarming was the revelation in The Report that post-war conditions in the North and East of Sri Lanka is such, that the, “Tamil community there is under siege”, a concern, voiced repeatedly by the Tamil Diaspora which The Report validates.<\/p>\n

“It is probable that the Government of Sri Lanka needs to maintain the idea of a possible threat of an LTTE resurgence in order to justify the continued use of pernicious emergency regulations and terrorism legislation so as to maintain the intense securitisation of the North and East and the High Security Zones which effectively place the Tamil community there under siege,” The Report states.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"sri_lanka_tamil_woman\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yasmin Sooka’s Commitment Laudable<\/b><\/p>\n

Yasmin Sooka<\/span><\/a> was recently in Toronto at the invitation of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, giving a talk on The Report she helped produce, an expose on Sri Lanka, at UFT’s Hart House. Keeping her audience and me spell bound, she impressed me by her commitment to human rights which is laudable and by her in-depth knowledge and experience in the field, sitting on many esteemed commissions and panels.<\/p>\n

Witness Testimonies Made Stomach Churn<\/b><\/p>\n

Having listened to Ms Sooka made me go back and read The Report in full, word to word and the harrowing testimonies of the victims that made one’s stomach churn. Contained in it are revelations of a detailed and vivid nature of the cruelty inflicted on Tamils, including an account on prevailing conditions that illustrate that five years on, the situation for Tamils in the North and East has got worse not better, in fact the situation is dire: [2]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Report A Portrayal of Situation in Post-War Period \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The Report is an accurate portrayal of the situation in post-war Sri Lanka and needs to be read in total and retold as we draw closer to May 18th, the commemoration of the national day of mourning for Tamils. As we feel an outrage over the deliberate closure of the University of Jaffna, preventing any national observance of what Tamils consider to be a, “very sad and traumatic day”, it’s somewhat heartening to note that there are indeed people and organisations like the authors of The Report who are interested in the truth being told.<\/p>\n

The Report Excellent Point of Reference<\/b><\/p>\n

In looking back over the five years that have passed, I feel The Report is an excellent point of reference:<\/p>\n

“This investigation into the violations committed in the post-war period paints a chilling picture of the continuation of the conflict against the ethnic Tamil Community with the purpose of sowing terror and destabilising community members who remain in the country. The violations documented include abductions, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and sexual violence”.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An Island Where the War is Clearly Not Over – Archbishop Desmond Tutu<\/b><\/p>\n

The particular crimes documented in The Report occurred between 2009, almost all after 2011, half of them in 2013 and one even in February 2014. So much so the title suggests the war is “unfinished”, that prompted Archbishop Desmond Tutu to give this foreword:<\/p>\n

And I quote:<\/p>\n

“The evidence presented in this report gives the lie to the Sri Lankan government\u2019s propaganda that it is reconciling with its former enemies. It shows how anyone remotely connected with the losing side in the civil war is being hunted down, tortured and raped, five years after the guns fell silent. Shockingly, more than half of the abductions in the report took place as recently as 2013- 2014. The testimony collected here comes from 40 witnesses, almost all of whose families could afford to pay a bribe for their release; one wonders what happened to those whose relatives could not afford to pay and to those without relatives. The sheer viciousness and brutality of the sexual violence is staggering; as is the racist verbal abuse by the torturers and rapists in the Sri Lankan security forces. Thirty-five of these witnesses were forced to sign confessions in Sinhala; a language they do not understand. In some cases people were forced to turn informer as well as to betray innocent bystanders in order to survive and left to bear the subsequent terrible burden of guilt. <\/i><\/p>\n

I find it horrifying that almost half the witnesses interviewed for this report attempted to kill themselves after reaching safety outside Sri Lanka. This indicates the Sri Lankan government has achieved its aim in destroying these souls, who are unlikely to regain happiness and peace in their lives. My deepest hope is that the cycle of revenge will be broken. In order for this to happen, the international community must intervene. It is imperative to pierce the skein of impunity that surrounds Sri Lanka \u2013 an island where the war is clearly not yet over.”<\/i><\/p>\n

Signed: Archbishop Desmond Tutu<\/p>\n

End quote.<\/p>\n

Emerging Pattern of Persecution<\/b><\/p>\n

From my own understanding of The Report, running over some aspects, one could see an emerging pattern of persecution and violence against Tamils which I have described in my own words and sometimes paraphrased here below. In the following bullet points I have listed some facts and events between 2009 and 2014 extracted from The Report with apologies to the authors for trying to condense their findings from which I conclude:<\/p>\n