{"id":42650,"date":"2012-05-25T05:20:12","date_gmt":"2012-05-25T05:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=42650"},"modified":"2012-05-25T05:55:53","modified_gmt":"2012-05-25T05:55:53","slug":"misrepresenting-the-sri-lankan-war-2009-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/misrepresenting-the-sri-lankan-war-2009-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Misrepresenting The Sri Lankan War, 2009-2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Michael Roberts<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Prof. Michael Roberts<\/p><\/div>\n

The recent UNHRC resolution<\/a> sponsored by USA and directed at the government of Sri Lanka was the culmination of a campaign that began during the last stages of Eelam War IV. Since 2010 articulate circles in the West have been convinced that there had been \u201c40,000 civilian deaths<\/a>\u201d during this phase. In contrast Rohan Gunaratna asserted<\/a> that there were 1400 civilian deaths, of which 200 were inflicted by the LTTE. Both calculations are erroneous. Estimates provided by three moderate Tamils who have had regular access to the Tamil personnel who were on the ground indicate that the death toll, inclusive of Tamil Tiger personnel, was in the range 10,000 to 16,000<\/a>, in circumstances where it was impossible to differentiate in all cases between those Tiger, those recently conscripted as auxiliaries and those truly civilian.<\/p>\n

It is towards the clarification of these specific circumstances and a criticism of the claims presented by a variety of human rights agencies, moral crusaders<\/a> and media engines that this essay is directed. The campaign has been sustained by a mixture of lies and half-truths amidst truths, compounded further by a wilful blindness to the manner in which the LTTE utilised the Tamil populace in its domain as labour pool, protective shield<\/a> and bargaining chip meant to induce<\/a> a \u201dhumanitarian intervention.\u201d The massaging of death toll figures, therefore, is just one facet of a massive propaganda heist.<\/p>\n

Death Toll, January-May 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the SL Army advanced on three fronts, the LTTE lost control of the A9 arterial road and its administrative capital at Kilinochchi by 1 January 2009. Thereafter, its forces and the people they had herded together were trapped in the Vanni Pocket, namely, the north eastern corner of the island between the A9 and the coast, a district-size chunk of territory that shrank continuously as the government forces advanced till the Tigers and remaining civilians \u2013 roughly 200,000 in crude estimate — were sandwiched into 42 square kilometres in mid-April.<\/p>\n

After the remaining Tiger terrain was captured by mid-May 2009, the first estimates of the numbers killed that were presented by Holmes, the UN representative<\/a>, in Colombo, was 7,721. Further down the track his former media officer at that time, Gordon Weiss appeared before the ABC<\/a> and claimed that the death toll was between 10,000 and 40,000<\/a>. Even as late as June 2011 the Times<\/em> in London referred to 20,000 civilian dead in the course of a summary review of the Sri Lankan war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the UN Panel of Experts appointed on his own initiative by Ban Ki-Moon presented their report (the Darusman Report) in March 2011 and stated that the original figure of 7,721 was at the lower end of the scale and there could have been \u201cas many as 40,000 deaths<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In next to no time this speculation became hard fact in news items from prestigious media chains. Thus, Kerry O\u2019Brien of ABC<\/a> asserted that \u201c40,000 civilians were killed\u201d and spoke of the \u201cbrutal slaughter of humans.\u201d The widespread acceptance of this type of claim was largely the product of the emotional appeal of the Channel 4 documentary called \u201cKilling Fields<\/a>.\u201d Gordon Weiss chipped in by highlighting his position under the rubric \u201cSri Lanka\u2019s \u201cSrebenica Moment<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The imagery associated with these two moments of state-organised genocide in Kampuchea and Serbia had the impact they were designed to arouse. Despite its weak evidential foundation and explicit surmise, the figure of 40,000 became an established fact in some minds. Also occluded was the character of the UN panel under Darusman and the appalling analytical capacities displayed within its report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Shortcomings of the Darusman Report<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is remarkable that Ban Ki-Moon selected three individuals from a legal background to undertake a survey of a military campaign in a land with which they had limited geographical knowledge and no cultural familiarity. The absence of military expertise and social science capacities are immediately apparent in its coverage.<\/p>\n

Independent academics working with the Marga Research Institute<\/a> in Colombo have shown that there was \u201ca large lacuna [in this] information gathering exercise\u201d; that many sources were not divulged and that significant omissions meant that the Panel relied \u201con a one-sided body of sources.\u201d Indeed, the \u201cadversarial stance\u201d taken by the Darusman Panel resulted not only in findings marred by internal contradictions, but also revealed a failure to comprehend \u201cthe formidable challenge which the government faced.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was a failure of contextualization and proportionality<\/a>. A balanced review cannot focus on death estimates without placing the figure beside the number of Tamils, both Tiger and genuine civilian, who survived. We now know that at around 280-290,000, including roughly 11,000 deemed Tiger, emerged alive from the crucible of the Vanni Pocket between January and mid-May 2009.<\/p>\n

By mid-April 2009 about 60,000 had reached the safety of government territory by sneaking through on land or sea. On the 19-23 April the army breached the LTTE\u201ds last redoubt in a remarkable operation. State media images on TV and print revealed streams of people<\/a>, including Tigers who had downed arms, struggling across lagoon and dune to safety. As Reddy from India described the scene<\/a>, \u201can international and local media team that visited the area on a military-conducted tour saw for itself the terror-stricken faces.\u201d This mass has been variously estimated as 103,000<\/a>, 106,000 and even 120,000, but it included many Tiger fighters and such leading LTTE functionaries as Daya Master and George Master.<\/p>\n

The Darusman Report\u2019s failure to give weight to such events is quite remarkable. This shortcoming is compounded by its refusal to give adequate weight to the character of the LTTE regime.<\/p>\n

The LTTE War Machine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prabhakaran has been described by former colleagues<\/a> as well as Tamil dissidents as a person who believed in the pre-emptive strike<\/a> and the killing of individuals who stood in his way. The LTTE had spurned the opportunity of self-determination via negotiation in both 1995 and 2006. Throughout the ceasefire-period 2002-06 it built up its military capacities<\/a>. This preparation included paramilitary training<\/a> for civilians<\/p>\n

When the LTTE initiated Eelam War IV in July 2006 it was confident of success. Matters turned out different. By late 2007 their military capacity in the Eastern Province had been reduced to nil. By January 2008 they lost control of the north western coastline which had enabled a supply of arms from India. Outgunned and outmanned, their troops were forced into a retreat that moved from west to east for the most part. They used landmines, bunds, trenches and booby traps to slow down<\/a> the government forces.<\/p>\n

The LTTE also increased its conscription of civilians to build these defences and replenish its troops. At the same time the civilian population were induced to retreat en masse ahead of the battle lines \u2013 moving from west to east. Though subject to multiple displacements<\/a>, these people faced limited danger at the outset in 2008. But from January 2009 they were in increasing danger of being submerged in the crossfire.<\/p>\n

This was the LTTE\u2019s intent. The civilians were, now, not only a source of labour and conscripts; they were also hostages shielding the Tigers and providing a concern for humanitarian agencies which intervened and sought a ceasefire from the warring parties. Since the LTTE had no intention of releasing the Tamil people or respecting any ceasefire, such interventions were in fact a form of military aid for the LTTE. The humanitarian outcry raised by AI, HRW, ICG as well as some Western leaders was also a potential escape route that would have enabled the LTTE leadership to return to the fight another day.<\/p>\n

The reasoning of the LTTE leadership was revealed subsequently by Kumaran Pathmanathan (their principal logistics man abroad<\/a>): \u201cwhen I reflect upon the past I think the LTTE leadership also had no choice. If they released the people first, then only the Tigers would be left there. Thereafter all of them could have been wiped out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shielding capacity of the mass of civilians was all the more because, from 2008 if not earlier, most Tigers were fighting in check-shirts<\/a>, trousers, shorts and sarongs. The SL army\u2019s night operations and the success of their snipers as well as the exigencies of retreat encouraged such a policy. As General Fonseka told an investigator<\/a> one aspect of the LTTE military tactics at this point was to mingle with fleeing Tamil civilians in order to infiltrate army lines and wreak havoc from within.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a communiqu\u00e9 on the 9th<\/sup> March 2009 Blake, the US ambassador in Colombo, noted that \u201cthe LTTE maintains the fiction that civilians do not want to leave. All evidence points to the contrary: several civilians have been shot trying to escape, many others have escaped.\u201d Anna Neistat of HRW was equally adamant<\/a> on this point in March 2009 after meeting Tamils in refugee camps who had fled the war zone.<\/p>\n

Though Weiss and the Darusman Report mention such facts, their overall reviews downplay the significance and focus largely on the government\u2019s role in the injury of \u201ccivilians\u201d through indiscriminate shelling. Their estimates of the civilian dead simply gloss over the difficulty of distinguishing civilian and Tiger; and attach little weight to the fact that the LTTE was the creator of this circumstance: the sandwich situation in which their own Tamil populace was placed and their use as so many sandbags.<\/p>\n

Channel 4 went further in manufacturing a lie: they asserted that the Tamil \u201ccivilians were driven from their homes by government forces.\u201d <\/strong>Amidst numerous sources, the writings of the Hindu correspondent<\/a> as well as the Tamil journalist DBS Jeyaraj provide conclusive evidence against such calumny. In a passionate essay in April 2009<\/a> Jeyaraj, a senior Tamil journalist writing from Toronto, spoke of the situation of his Tamil people under the LTTE as \u201can open prison\u201d and celebrated the escape \u201cfrom bondage\u201d of 103,000 \u201centrapped\u201d people that was secured by an army operation between the 19th<\/sup> and 23rd<\/sup> April 2009. In noting that some civilians may have died in the course of the war, he contended that those who reached safety had gained that \u201cmost important human right, namely the right to life;\u201d while adding that \u201cit is a matter of record that soldiers involved in the evacuation have been deeply touched by the tragic situation of civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

What we have seen in the last four years therefore is a tale of successful dissimulation that has built on half-truths by the addition of lies and the wilful neglect of significant factors. The 40,000 figure on death toll is a surmise that has gained a definitiveness that it cannot bear; while disregarding the extent to which people died through natural causes exacerbated by the starvation diet forced upon them, the high incidence of death by snake bite<\/a> during journeys through jungle (highlighted by Anandasangaree, the veteran Tamil politician); and failing to enumerate the 600 or so dissident Tamil prisoners executed by the LTTE once they found them a burden.<\/p>\n

Such details have been conveniently forgotten by the media outlets. Since sensational news is their bread and butter this is not surprising. But the moral crusaders have no such excuse. It would seem that emotion and a tendency to evaluate complex scenarios in black and white terms<\/a> have clouded their judgment. They have also tended to draw upon data provided by Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates who are driven by emotion of a different character: that of vengeance for the discrimination suffered by their people over the last forty years. Such individuals as Daran in England<\/a> and Jegan Waran in Australia<\/a> have supplied politicians and media agencies with one-sided and questionable data.<\/p>\n

Revenge has likewise promoted the activities of Sinhalese journalists and other who have fled in the face of intimidation<\/a> from the Rajapaksa government in recent years. Westerners such as Benjamin Dix who have worked in LTTE territory and developed ideological attachments towards the cause of Eelam also seem to have gone overboard in their testimonies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Such combinations have revealed a capacity to mount an effective propaganda war that has captured the high ground. It is only \u201chigh ground\u201d in terms of power exerted. As I have argued, its neglect of detail and its mixing of lies and exaggerations with elements of truth means that its heights are not those of elevated ethics.<\/p>\n

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bavinck, Ben<\/strong> 2011 \u201cPirapaharan as uncompromising killer prone to vengeance: testimonies from the Jaffna heartland, 1989-91,\u201d http:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress<\/a>.com\/2011\/11\/01\/as uncompromising killer prone to vengeance: testimonies from the Jaffna heartland, 1989-91.<\/p>\n

Blacker, David 2011 [Extended blog comment in} \u201cThe Wrong Photograph?\u201d <\/strong>http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2011\/07\/02\/photographic-evidence-of-war-crimes-in-sri-lanka-or-not\/<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei<\/strong> 2009a \u201cPolitical and Security Implications of Sri Lanka\u2019s Armed Conflict,\u201d Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter<\/em>, Feb. 2009, Vol. 35\/1, pp. 20, 22-24.<\/p>\n

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei<\/strong> 2009b \u201cThe Battle for the Vanni Pocket,\u201d Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter<\/em>, March 2009, Vol. 35\/2, pp. 17-19. http:\/\/www.dtic.mil\/dtic\/aulimp\/citations\/gsa\/2009_157395\/156554.html<\/p>\n

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei<\/strong> 2009e \u201cGood Education. Sri Lankan Military learns Counter Insurgency Lessons,\u201d Jane\u2019s Intelligence Review<\/em> Dec. 2009, pp. 3-7.<\/p>\n

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei <\/strong>2010b \u201cInformation Warfare and the Endgame of the Civil War,\u201d Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter<\/em>, May 2010 30\/4: 35-37, http:\/\/www<\/a>. asiapacificdefencereporter.com\/articles\/40\/Sri-Lanka<\/p>\n

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei<\/strong> 2010b \u201cThe 13th Amendment to the Constitution must be properly implemented\u201d: Dharmalingam Siddharthan,\u201d 22 Dec. 2010, <\/strong>http:\/\/transcurrents.com\/<\/a>tc\/2010\/12\/ <\/strong>the_13th_amendment_to_the_cons.html.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flickr <\/strong>2009a \u201cTimes Aerial Images, NFZ, 23 May 2009,\u201d http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/<\/a>photos\/thuppahi\/ sets\/72157626922360092.\/<\/p>\n

Flickr <\/strong>2009b \u201cIndian Reporter Pics at NFZ Last Redoubt -14-to-18 May 2009,\u201d <\/strong>http:\/\/www<\/a>. flickr.com\/photos\/thuppahi\/sets\/72157626797805167\/<\/p>\n

Groundviews<\/strong> 2009 \u201cWould killing 50,000 civilians to finish off the LTTE bring peace?\u201d http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2009\/05\/03\/would-killing-50000-civilians-to-finish-off-the-ltte-bring-peace\/<\/p>\n

Gunaratne, Rohan<\/strong> 2011 \u201cGovt should have invited the Darusman Panel,\u201d http:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/news\/14807-govt-could-have-invited-experts-panel.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hoole, Rajan<\/strong> 2001 Sri Lanka: The Arrogance of Power. Myths, Decadence and Murder<\/em>, Colombo: Wasala Publications for the UTHR.<\/p>\n

HRW <\/strong>2006 \u201cFunding the Final War,\u201d 13 March 2006, http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/node\/<\/a>11456\/ section\/8.<\/h6>\n
Iyer, Ganeshan<\/strong> 2012a \u201cMilitary Training in the German Nazi Mould amidst Internal Dissension in the early LTTE, late 1970s,\u201d trans by Parames Blacker, in http:\/\/thuppahi<\/a>. wordpress.com\/2012\/01\/30\/military-training-in-the-german-nazi-mould-amidst-internal-dissension-in-the-early-ltte-late-1970s\/.<\/h6>\n

Jeyaraj, D. B. S.<\/strong> 2009 \u201cWretched of the Earth break Free of Bondage.\u201d Daily Mirror<\/em>, 25 April 2009, http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/archives\/380. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Mango 2011 \u201c<\/strong>Jim Macdonald of AI boxed into corner by Mango in 2009,\u201d 10 August 2011, http:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2011\/08\/10\/3133\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Marga Team<\/strong> 2011<\/p>\n

Narayan Swamy, M. R.<\/strong> <\/em>2003 Inside an Elusive Mind.<\/em> Prabhakaran<\/em>, Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications.<\/p>\n

Narayan Swamy<\/strong>, M. R.<\/strong> 2009 \u201cPrabhakaran: from Catapult Killer to Ruthless Insurgent,\u201d IANS, 18 May 2009 \u2013 see http:\/\/twocircles.net\/node\/148596<\/a> [reprinted in The Tiger<\/em> Vanquished<\/em>, pp. 165-67].<\/p>\n

Ragavan <\/strong>2009a \u201cInterview with Ragavan on Tamil Militancy (Early Years),\u201d http:\/\/kafila.org\/2009\/02\/16\/interview-with-ragavan-on-tamil-militancy-part-i\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Rajasingham, Narendran <\/strong>2009 \u201cRise and Fall of the LTTE \u2014 An Overview,\u201d Sri Lanka Guardian<\/em>, 7 Feb. 2009.<\/p>\n

Reddy, B. Muralidhar <\/strong>2009 \u201cMultiple Displacements, Total Loss of Identity,\u201d http:\/\/www.hindu.com\/2009\/05\/27\/stories\/2009052755811500.htm<\/p>\n

Roberts, Michael<\/strong> 2009a \u201cDilemmas at War\u2019s End: Thoughts on Hard Realities,\u201d 10 Feb. 2009, http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2009\/02\/10\/dilemmas-at-wars-end-thoughts-on-hard-realities\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Roberts, Michael <\/strong>2009b \u201cDilemma\u2019s at War\u2019s End: Clarifications and Counter-offensive,\u201d www.groundviews.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Roberts, Michael<\/strong> 2009c \u201cRealities of War,\u201d Frontline<\/em>, 26\/10, 9-22 May 2009.<\/p>\n

Roberts, Michael<\/strong> 2011a \u201cPeople of Righteousness march on Sri Lanka,\u201d The Island<\/em>, 22 June 2011 and http:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2011\/06\/27\/people-of-righteousness-target-sri-lanka\/<\/p>\n

Roberts, Michael <\/strong>2011b \u201cAmnesty International reveals its Flawed Tunnel-Vision in Sri Lanka in 2009,\u201d 10 Aug. 2011, http:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2011\/08\/10\/amnesty-international-reveals-its-flawed-tunnel-vision-on-sri-lanka-in-2009\/<\/p>\n

Roberts, Michael <\/strong>2011c \u201cThe Tamil Death Toll in Early 2009: A Misleading Count by Rohan Gunaratna,\u201d 23 November 2011, http:\/\/transcurrents.com\/news-views\/archives\/6285<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Roberts, Michael <\/strong>2012 \u201cBlackmail during the endgame of Eelam War IV,\u201d 12 April 2012, http:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/12\/blackmail-during-the-endgame-in-eelam-war-iv\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Samarajiva, Indi <\/strong>2012 \u201cChannel 4\u2019s \u2013 A Review,\u201d The Nation<\/em>, 18 March 2012, http:\/\/www.nation.lk\/edition\/feature-viewpoint<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SRHRL<\/strong> 2012 \u201cHigh-Resolution Satellite Imagery and the Conflict in Sri Lanka,\u201d http:\/\/srhrl.aaas.org\/geotech\/srilanka\/srilanka.shtml<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tammita-Delgoda , S.<\/strong> 2009 Sri Lanka. The Last Phase in Eelam War IV. From Chundikulam to Pudukulam,\u201d New Delhi: Centre for Land Warfare, Manekshaw Paper No. 13, 2009.<\/p>\n

Tekwani, Shyam<\/strong> 2009 \u2018The Man who destroyed Eelam,\u201d http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/home \/20090523\/default.asp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UN Panel of Experts <\/strong>2011 \u201cReport of the Secretary-General\u2019s Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka,\u201d http:\/\/www.un.org\/News\/dh\/infocus\/Sri_Lanka\/POE_Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wijesinha, Rajiva 2012 \u201cBenjamin Dix\u2019s Paranoia, and the subtle effectiveness of Guy Rhodes in abusing aid in Sri\u00a0Lanka,\u201d http:\/\/rajivawijesinha.wordpress.com\/2012\/05\/23\/benjamin-dixs-paranoia-and-the-subtle-effectiveness-of-guy-rhodes-in-abusing-aid-in-sri-lanka\/#more-4898<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wijesinha, Rajiva<\/strong> 2012a \u201cFrances Harrison, Daran of Channel 4 claims, and the \u2018othering\u2019 of Arun Tambimuttu\u201d Daily news 22 may 2012<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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