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Date of Release : 21st
July 1999
A DISTURBING DRIFT IN THE VANNI:
THE LOST CIVILIAN DIMENSION
The evacuation of Vidatthal Thivu: 29/30 June 1999
The Armed Forces: A defeatist course
The boy with a hole in the heart
About 53 persons are said to have
been killed around Mannar Island last year, out of whom at least 27 were identified
as innocent civilians. When confronted with this fact Brigadier T.T.R. de
Silva plainly has justified the killings saying the people killed were smugglers.
In a recent incident a Tamil youth Gnanasekaran Bernardshaw and his sister
Jeyamalar were abducted, their Muslim landlady, Bahia Umma (45)
killed and landlord, A.Mohammed Hussain (50) injured. The latter reportedly
identified Captain Ranjith, who is in charge of Sunny Village camp, as
one of those involved. In another incident Carmelita (21) was raped and
killed by people identified as members of the security forces. After the shooting
of a soldier in the outskirts of Mannar Town on 19th July, troops
ran amok firing at civilians, assaulting people with boots and gun butts, and
ill-treating even suckling mothers. An injured lady succumbed in hospital.
These events expose an alarming tendency. The killings
of civilians who smuggle out of desperation as well as the recent incidents
suggest that there has been in operation a policy of killing off those suspected
of ties with the LTTE. These incidents testify to a deteriorating climate of
impunity.
We now know definitely that it was
the LTTE which shelled the refugees in Vidathal Thivu church on 29th
June. It has become the subject of a propaganda war in which the role of the
LTTE has become obscured. Moreover, it exposes that the government cannot say
with self-assurance that its own conduct is defensible. Such a situation leaves
the people without any space to voice their anger and deception.
The fact that the Government has lost
sight of the civilian dimension is clearly shown by the disregard with which
the Ministries of Defense and Health have treated the medical needs of civilians.
Mannar Hospital, which caters to large populations, many of them refugees, remains
about the most neglected base hospital in the country. Help offered by Memisa,
a Dutch organisation providing medical services in difficult areas, has been
spurned through 8 months of delay and evasion.
Within these developments one positive tendency has to be mentioned. Some of the crimes, whose causes would have remained in the domain of conjecture, are coming to light only because of new ground broken by the office of the magistrate in Mannar.
We strongly advocate that the Government be urged to take the necessary steps to secure the good offices of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary‑General for Children and Armed Conflict, to assist in implementing the undertakings given to Mr.Ottunnu by both the Government and the LTTE.[Top]
Since the issue of our last bulletin
on the Vanni in May, more territory, almost the whole of Mannar District, has
come under Government control. This includes the agricultural heartland of the
district, watered by Giant’s Tank. In material terms, this has meant an
improvement in standards for the farming community. That is better transport,
cheaper inputs and much better prices. But for those displaced yet again, it
has meant more uncertainty and too often, greater deprivation. For the population
which the LTTE has by coercion or other forms of pressure taken along with them,
it has meant total disruption – particularly their system of rations, the
children’s schooling and employment for the able bodied. They have been
pushed into a disease–prone area with inadequate water, which can forward
little food or employment. Many of the adults had earlier worked in the paddy
fields around Madhu and Adampan. This helped them to find the extras needed
for the schooling and health of children. Following the closure of Madhu refugee
camp recently, as a means of resolving disagreements between the Church and
the Army, many of the refugees moved to the camp at Pesalai on Mannar Island
or have found accommodation around Mannar Town. Those in the latter category
with skills such as in carpentry or masonry sell their labour at significantly
depressed rates. Many suffer from a lack of cash, accommodation and employment
and are unable to find the extras to send their children to school. Both the
government rehabilitation effort and the NGOs function within a fairly rigid
framework and a large number of those in need have not been identified and categorised.
On the whole the Government has lost
sight of the civilian dimension, the symptoms of which are growing civilian
disenchantment, greater indiscipline among the security forces and some alarming
disappearances. The Army, perhaps more confident of an outright military victory,
have, for the most part, lost interest in looking into the feelings and welfare
of civilians. A matter of great concern is the cavalier disregard with which
the Government – the Ministries of Defence and Health – have treated
the medical needs of civilians. Mannar Hospital which caters to large populations,
many of them refugees, who have gone through fifteen years of immense hardship,
remains about the most neglected base hospital in the country. Help offered
by a foreign organisation of repute has been spurned for reasons not fully explained.
The present civilian mood may be described
in this manner: In the months following the last elections in 1994, the people
had very optimistic expectations from President Chandrika Kumaratunge, whom
they hoped would bring about an honourable peace. But they had no benign expectations
from the LTTE. Today they have no confidence in either.
True, the resentment against the Government
is of the passive sort and there is much anger against the LTTE, especially
amongst the displaced who knew them very intimately. But this is bound to be
short-lived as long as the Government carries on indifferently, allowing the
resentment to fester. The LTTE understands this well and has long experience,
perfected into an art, in manipulating the civilians, world opinion, the media
and even the Government and the defence authorities whose unruly responses are
too often remarkably predictable. The State has learnt little in twenty years
of conflict. In fact many civilians see the present state of affairs in the
cleared areas as being similar to that in the early 80s before things got very
brutal. We begin by discussing a few incidents which give a flavour of things.
Between 4.00 and 4.30 p.m. on 1st
July, correspondents in Colombo received two press releases by fax in quick
succession on the subject of Vidatthal Thivu. The one from the LTTE stated that
9 civilians in the area had been killed in aerial bombing, and 4 civilians were
killed and 15 injured, when a shell fell into a church in Vidatthal Thivu. The
other from the Ministry of Defence was evidently in anticipation of the LTTE
missive. It stated that the Government forces returned fire, after being fired
at from the Vidatthal Thivu area. In other words, the LTTE was responsible for
any civilian deaths. Owing to heavy resistance, the Army advance had been halted
within a mile or two of the meeting point, but after securing their hold over
the agricultural area of Adampan.
Shamindra Ferdinando’s report
in the Island of the following day (2nd July) confirmed the reason
for the MoD’s pre-emptive media-strike. It said: “The Mannar [Island]
based [government] official further said three people had been killed and at
least 20 wounded when mortars and artillery hit the village on Tuesday (29th
June)”
The official was of course quoting
from the testimony of ‘over 600’ civilians who had arrived in ‘at
least 50 fishing craft’. The testimony above had been preceded by the essence
of the MoD press release: “Military officials said that terrorists fired
mortars from the village towards troops expecting them to fire back at the civilians”.
The MoD’s press release was an admission that they always fulfil the LTTE’s
expectations like a prayer.
The LTTE’s release was carried by the Virakesari
of the same day (2-7-99) and was endorsed by ‘Vithuran’ in
the Thinakkural of 4th July, which said that 13 civilians
were killed by government shelling. Karunakaran wrote in the Weekend
Express of 3rd July : “Independent reports from the Wanni
reveal that three people, including a 10 year old boy, were killed and 5 more
injured due to heavy shelling by the security forces from the newly captured
areas towards Vidatthal Thivu”.
The Army appears to have got a little
wiser over the coming days. P.Manickavasagam wrote in the Sunday Virakesari
of 11th July: “Earlier reports had said that people in the
area surrounding Vidatthal Thivu took refuge in the two churches there, whence
the LTTE came there and told the people that no one should stay there but should
vacate [and move northwards] immediately, and that upon the people refusing,
they [LTTE] brought their mortars and made preparations to shell the Army positions.
The Army has besides this, further claimed that it was the Tigers who shelled
Vidatthal Thivu, and 3 civilians were killed and 15 were injured as the result
of a shell exploding in the church compound”.
Manikavasagam then gives the response from posing this
charge before displaced persons from Vidatthal Thivu: “Although it has
been said that the Tigers made preparations to fire mortar shells, we were woken
up from our sleep by the shell which exploded in our compound and claimed lives.
We are therefore in no position to say where the shell came from or who fired
the shell”.
These persons further added that three
died on the spot, one of whom was a woman whose body was ‘in pieces’.
Another succumbed the following day. Manikavasagam then moved on to comment
on the intensity of shelling.
Of course Manickavasagam knew the
truth. He has extremely good contacts in the area. The displaced persons would
not have told officials or outsiders the whole truth. But they spoke freely
to their friends. The Roman Catholic Church in particular knew exactly what
happened. Within the limits of Tamil journalism in Sri Lanka, Manickavasagam
comes closest to the truth, although in form, it is a refutation of allegedly
the Army’s new version.
But the rare discerning reader would
have found the claims jarring. Anyone who understands the nuances of speech
in Tamil society resulting from long years of war and LTTE control, knows what
is meant when people say that they do not know who shelled or where the shell
came from because they were asleep. It was not an individual experience. Even
if one was asleep, many others would then have told him their assessment. If
there was good reason to believe that the Army had fired the shell, they would
have said so unhesitatingly rather than give the alibi of slumber.
Here is what we have gathered from
a number of responsible persons among whom there is no dispute about the key
facts:
It is correct that the people - 2500
to 3000 of them - took refuge in the churches. Fr.Jeyapalan, the parish
priest, had assured them that in the event of the Army moving in, he would do
the utmost to protect their interests as lay within his ability. The people
did what was usual in such instances. The routine was well practised over 15
years of war. As the Army got nearer they locked their homes and stayed in the
church, going home only for short periods.
The Rt. Rev. Joseph Rayappu, Bishop of Mannar,
had also taken some necessary steps. He had informed General Balagalle,
who was commanding the advancing troops, that there were civilians in Vidatthal
Thivu, and had received an assurance that the area would not be shelled. So
far, the Church’s and the Army’s intentions were commendable and no
doubt it was because of the Church that the civilians had the confidence to
remain in Vidatthal Thivu. In the meantime they were resisting pressure from
the LTTE which had been demanding that they should move northwards into territory
under their control – a move that would have turned them into beggars and
vagrants in an inhospitable region with no infrastructure.
On 29th June, the LTTE
got tough and identified Fr.Jeyapalan as the main cause of resistance.
An argument ensued. The people, especially the young men, gathered around Fr.
Jeyapalan. With a view to arm twisting them , the LTTE referred to the intense
shelling. They said, “The Sri Lankan Army has fired 30 000 shells into
this area, but not one has fallen on Vidatthal Thivu village. This means that
you must be having secret links with the Army!” Faced with a firm refusal
from the people, the LTTE moved away in anger. As they did, a burst was fired
at them from a sub-machine gun. At least two were injured.
They then brought their mortar, fired
one shell into the church compound and also fired towards the army lines. On
the Army’s admission, they mechanically returned the fire, but no damage
to life resulted from this. The people were left with no alternative but to
move. They wanted to go to their homes and remove their valuables, but as a
punishment for not moving earlier this was disallowed. The people started their
march northwards to Thevanpiddy by night. Those owning boats were told that
they could move them along the coast northwards, but not to Mannar Island. But
some gave the slip and reached Pallimunai in Mannar Island the following morning.
Later more people came from Thevanpiddy in boats.
As to the LTTE firing a shell into
the Church premises, there were no eyewitnesses, but it was not a surmise either.
There was a group of the LTTE about the refugee camp. Some of the youth happened
to chance upon them when they overheard instructions being given over the radio
to those outside, to shell the refugees. There have been several occasions in
the past in Jaffna (i.e 1987, 1990 and 1995) where there was strong suspicion,
to say the least, that the LTTE had shelled civilians, or had deliberately caused
civilians to be shelled.
Presumably the following morning,
according to Church sources, a military official phoned Bishop Rayappu and told
him that they had been fired at from Vidatthal Thivu. The Bishop is said to
have been deeply upset.
These facts are largely undisputed and there is little
confusion among people of the region. Some condemn it outright, while some try
to soften its very disturbing impact by suggesting that there was a misunderstanding
between the LTTE and the people. The reason it is supposed, is to do with Vidatthal
Thivu having been in the earlier 80s a stronghold of the LTTE’s arch rival,
the TELO ,which it brutally suppressed in 1986. Also TELO’s present leader,
Addaikalanathan (Selvam), hails from the area. If there is any substance
in this, it only illustrates the LTTE’ s paranoia – the historical
burden of its brutality. It cannot be said today that TELO has a following anywhere.
Two church officials who later visited Vidatthal Thivu
reported that all valuables, good clothing and even parts of houses, had been
looted and removed by the LTTE. Yet, remarkably, there is so much confusion
and misrepresentation over an incident to which there are not one or two, but
hundreds of witnesses, as with the Jaffna Exodus of 1995. The LTTE and a section
of the Tamil media are able to play the propaganda game with such extraordinary
confidence through knowing that they would not be effectively contradicted.
Against this confidence, the Government is reacting, reeling and floundering.
The main reason for this is that the Government cannot say with self-assurance
that its own conduct is defensible. We now move on to a case of confusion where
the LTTE did not play any part.
In wanting to hand over the bodies
the Army appears to have thought that it had scored a propaganda coup, as the
following extract from Shamindra Ferdinado’s report in the Island of 1st
July suggests:“ “We believe at least 5 girls were less than 15
years old”,…. Major General Lional Balagalle said, pointing out that
the majority of the dead appeared to be young. The LTTE, he said, continues
to deploy children despite an assurance given to the United Nations that those
under 18 would not be sent for combat”.
But where the people are concerned
it did not take much to turn the whole thing upside down. First, N.Sri Kantha
of the TELO was quoted in the press as saying that the bodies were mostly those
of civilians. He claimed to base his assertion on information of civilians coming
from the conflict zone. Why no journalist went to these same sources to check
this out is not clear. TELO is given credibility only when it serves the purpose.
In the Thinakkural of Sunday 4th July came
Vithuran’s column, quoting N.Sri Kantha and building the case further:
“The Army claimed to have recovered 97 LTTE corpses. However when they
tried to hand over 37 corpses through the ICRC, allegedly of LTTE cadre killed
in battle, the Tigers refused to accept these saying that the corpses were not
theirs … The Army has so far said nothing of the balance 60 corpses.”
The Mannar Acting Magistrate, Mr. Kayas Feldano, of course did the correct thing. Since the bodies were unidentified, he had them videoed from several angles, had the clothing removed for future identification, and had the bodies buried in numbered graves. It came to be almost universally believed that the dead were civilians, travelling between the LTTE and Army controlled areas for trade. They were waiting just north of the army check point at Pappamoddai, it was supposed, when the advancing troops killed them and palmed them off as LTTE cadre, after dressing some in LTTE uniforms.
We may recall that according to soldiers
who served in the Elephant Pass battle of July 1991, others stripped the bodies
of female LTTE cadre killed and photographed them naked. Some such ritual may
explain the state of the bodies. If this repulsive practice is still continuing,
then it needs to be exposed.
The incident also reveals the pressures
under which magistrates and JMOs are working. This is an unprecedented development
where actions in the battlefield have come under judicial review. It arose through
a freak of the ICRC’s logistical problem. The Judiciary nor the Army were
prepared for it, for in most cases the bodies would have been passed onto the
LTTE or burned in the fighting zone under the cover of emergency regulations,
rather than being left with the hospital authorities, which resulted in a judicial
review. This experience again points to how the Emergency Regulations are being
used to to avoid accountability.
If there were indeed a significant
number of civilian corpses among the 37, one would have expected the following
to take place within a matter of days:
·
The Church which maintains good contact with
the Vanni would have by now obtained and publicised the identities of some civilians.
(Even though the land borders are closed, there is unofficial seaborne contact.)
·
The LTTE would have publicised some names of civilians killed
through its London press releases.
·
Families would have contacted the ICRC.
The first two have not happened. We
reliably understand that the claim in the Thinakkural above is incorrect. The
LTTE, we learn, did not refuse to accept the bodies. The ICRC rather faced a
logistical problem in transferring the bodies. The Army evidently suggested
a transfer by sea, which the ICRC declined. On the question of queries, we understand
that the ICRC is constantly faced with queries about missing persons, but cannot
at present speak of particular queries with regard to the incident above. According
to one source, “There may have been exceptions, but they had no particular
reason to treat the bodies as other than those of the LTTE”.
In general concerns been expressed that this is a war
in which, despite the high intensity of fighting, few prisoners have been taken
by either side. In the past there have been reports that both sides have killed
prisoners – eg. after the Army’s capture of Jaffna in 1995 (our Special
Report No 9), after the LTTE’s overrunning of Mullaitivu Camp in 1996
and earlier of 600 policemen in 1990. In the case above the Army should be called
upon to explain what really happened.
The following from P.Manickavasagam’s
piece in the Sunday Virakesari of 11th July sheds, perhaps, some
light on the matter:
“25th June was the last day on which civilians from
the army controlled areas of Mannar and Vavuniya districts crossed through the
new transit point at Pappamoddai, near Mannar, into the [LTTE controlled] Vanni.
About 500 so crossed over. Owing to the long delay resulting from checking [of
goods and persons] by the Army, 60 of them having gone beyond the army check-point,
spent the night on the roadside with their goods. The following morning the
advancing troops, upon seeing them, refused to let them proceed, but brought
them back to Pappamoddai, and asked them to leave the goods in the Church. According
to government officials from Mannar, they were then brought to Mannar Town,
where they are now accommodated.”
It is also notable that Manickavasagam,
a careful writer and a correspondent also to the BBC Tamil Service, had avoided
a foray into the 37 bodies controversy. He was probably told the foregoing when
making inquiries about the bodies. There is therefore nothing so far to support
the allegation of the scandalous fraud the Army is said to be guilty of. Nor
is there any notable testimony of misdemeanour by the troops during the recent
military advances.
Yet the people of the area, nearly all of them, continue to believe firmly that the Army had killed civilians and tried to pass them off as LTTE. This suggests a serious breakdown of relations between the Government and the people, where the latter are given to believe the worst of the security forces – almost a reversal of the good rapport built up in 1995 when Brigadier Tennekon was in charge.
“I want to live, not to die for something called
liberation that is nowhere near….. We and a host of other children were
forcefully recruited by the LTTE in December 1998…. We were not treated
well and the food was insufficient…. We were suffering a lot. We were not
allowed to see our families and those who wanted to leave the LTTE were not
allowed, and some who fled were killed….” Clearly, many of them are
disillusioned and would desert if there is a way out.
Much of this is well-known, and it
serves little purpose except to reinforce patronising attitudes among Southerners,
and drive them into an unwarranted complacency that they are fighting a decent
war to liberate poor Tamil children. But the first time when an interview with
her was broadcast in the 6.30 p.m. Tamil news on state television, she had spoken
of how their leaders motivated them to fight, arguing that there was no other
alternative when dealing with the Sinhalese. The Sinhalese, they were told,
would cut and chop. To underline the message, reference was made to the Chemmani
mass grave in Jaffna where scores of persons detained by the Army in Jaffna
during 1996 are believed to be buried.
It is these words of Sujatha that
need to be emblazoned in the minds of people in the South, and especially of
officers and men. That would lead to a humbler and a more thoughtful approach
to the problem. They also highlight a particular and important reason why thousands
of Tamil children are trapped into fighting a brutal war in which no quarter
is given. These words of hers would also seriously question the morality and
judgement of the highest persons in charge of the war, whose wisdom, responsible
for hundreds of disappearances, is now encapsulated by the word ‘Chemmani’.
Clearly, the leaders and opinion makers
of Southern society are not prepared to face these questions and draw their
implications. Consequently, the war is now being waged without political direction
or vision. The optimism in the early days of the present Government that the
security forces would be more disciplined and accountable to the people, have
receded. We see instead a security establishment not looking towards peace,
but bent on expanding numbers with more and larger permanent bases in what they
presume would be permanently hostile surroundings. We see a less cerebral approach
with growing indiscipline. Twenty years of suffering and experience are being
washed down the drain.
In the newly cleared areas in the
Vanni and in Mannar Island itself, the assault of civilians after an incident
has become a regular occurrence. This is something that is new in an area where
the people have been generally accommodative. The LTTE is being given ample
motivation to step up hit and run attacks, invite reprisals on the civilians
and unnerve the security forces. Recently the STF had been deployed along the
Vavuniya-Mannar Road, up to Mannar Town.
In an incident in Murunkan early this
month, the LTTE came in a tractor dressed as farmers. An STF man lifted the
barrier for the tractor to enter. The LTTE opened fire and killed him. After
a further exchange of fire, the LTTE withdrew on foot. At that time a lorry
came along the main road. Its driver and four other occupants were all Sinhalese.
The STF shot the driver in the thigh. The others who did not know the area ran
and finally took shelter in a church. Other civilians were assaulted. An STF
man was seen raising the barrel of a mortar to point almost vertically and firing
a shell. The shell exploded in the kitchen of a nearby house causing damage,
but fortunately, no one was hurt.
Before this incident the LTTE went
into a boutique owned by a Muslim near Mannar stadium and shot two STF men having
tea and ran away. Then reinforcements came and started assaulting civilians.
A few days later the shop was also smashed. The local Citizens’ Committee
sent a strongly worded letter of protest to the Brigade Commander T.T.Ranjit
de Silva. Later the Police Superintendent asked the Committee to withdraw the
letter, which they declined. No action was taken.
There are no big massacres today,
but the experience of regular humiliation, harassment and beating shapes the
people’s attitude towards the Government and its security forces. These
stories are bandied about among school children, and parents often come to hear
of things through children in primary school. These children in turn grow up
with a rash boldness, nurturing an antagonism towards the State. We may be sitting
on the slippery slope of the early 80s, but in a total political vacuum where
no alternatives are offered. It is also a mindless state in which the LTTE is
adept at harnessing people’s the resentment to destructive ends.
During December 1998 the Roman Catholic
Bishop of Mannar issued a statement that 27 innocent civilians had been killed
recently around Mannar Island. Towards the end of the month Brigadier T.T.Ranjit
Silva met the NGOs at a conference. The Vicar General who represented the Bishop
was said to have been strongly told off by the Brigadier, who denied that those
killed were innocent, and maintained that they were smugglers who had wondered
close to camp. Every proposal by the VG is said to have been rudely turned down.
The effect of all these restrictions was to increase hardship
all round, and there was a notable increase in smuggling. This was accompanied
by an increased harshness on the part of the Army when in one incident in August,
5 smugglers were killed. In due course an order went out from Mannar’s
bold magistrate, Ilancheliyan, a man respected for his social concern. He had
used his authority to get the Police and lax village headmen to crack down on
illicit liquor. Ilancheliyan told the Army, “Smuggling is not an offence
for which capital punishment is prescribed. You catch the culprits and bring
them to court, and they would be tried accordingly.” This was followed
by rumours that the Army sought the magistrate’s transfer. However the
killings stopped for a time, and later resumed. The Bishop’s statement
too halted killings until about late January. During that period a number of
smugglers were caught, beaten or ducked in a pool, and chased home.
There had thereafter been murders
where the culprits have not been identified. Six months ago in Eluthoor, near
Tharapuram on Mannar Island, the bodies of two males were found with their necks
cut. Then on 5th July there occurred an incident which appeared to
throw light on the killings. Miss Jeyamalar Bernardshaw (18) from Jaffna was
believed to have been once a member of the LTTE and was living with an elderly
Muslim couple in Tharapuram, along with her brother Gnanasekaran Bernardshaw.
Jeyamalar became the subject of purely a private dispute in the village and
was pregnant at the time of the incident.
On the night of 3rd July
Gnanasekaran was abducted by unknown persons. In the early hours of the 5th
morning, unknown persons entered the house where Jeyamalar was staying. A.Mohamed
Hussain (50), the landlord, and his wife Bahia Umma (45), had screamed. One
of the intruders knifed them, killing Bahia Umma and injuring Hussain. Hussain,
who frequented Sunny Village, reportedly said that he had recognised Captain
Ranjith, who was in charge of the camp there as being among the intruders. The
Mannar Magistrate Illancheliyan who visited the scene with Liyannarachchi, OIC
Mannar Police, is said to have found boot marks pointing to the Army. Duly word
was sent to Captain Ranjith to appear at the inquest. This he did not do. The
magistrate sent him summons to appear in Court on 7th July. He also
instructed the Police to seek the co-operation of the Mannar Town Commandant
to look for the missing persons in army camps in the district.
In the meantime a fairly full report
of the inquest proceedings appeared in the Thinakkural of the 6th
July. On hearing about it Ranjith went with some of his men to the Thalvupadu
community library and asked people there to read the item. He then uttered words
to the effect that he knows how to deal with those who file such reports. Later,
he is reported to have summoned the correspondent, a Mannar-born Muslim educated
at St.Xavier’s, and had a pleasant little chat.
Another circumstance, with the onset
of Black Tiger week, early July, Ranjith had become very security conscious.
He had blocked off the road, along the camp, except to heavy vehicles, installed
a barbed wire fence on the other side, and made pedestrians, cyclists and motor-cyclists,
walk or wheel their vehicles through loose sandy soil. He told people that a
motor-cyclist was due to come with a woman suicide bomber on the pillion, who
would pounce on him.
On 7th July Captain Ranjith
came to the Magistrate’s Court with a two dozen strong security contingent.
When the Magistrate disallowed them coming in armed, Ranjith told him that there
was a threat to his life. The Magistrate asked him to come in without his arms,
assuring him that nothing would happen to him. He then told him that they were
both government servants, and that he could have come when asked to come without
having to await summons. Ranjith then claimed to have an alibi to prove that
he was not involved in the incident. The Magistrate then took up the question
of intimidation of the press. This was denied by Captain Ranjith. The Magistrate
then reportedly told him, “Don’t deny everything, then we will have
to start looking for proof.”
The Captain was evidently boiling over when he left the court. He grabbed Jeyamalar’s elder sister Mary Jenita’s identity card and pass and took them away. Mary complained to the Magistrate who ordered the Police to get those back from the Captain or to bring the Captain himself. These were later obtained by the Police.
The Captain’s conduct is suggestive
of a man going to pieces, becoming a danger to himself as well as to others.
Under normal circumstances he should have been remanded. The blame very much
lies with a combination of bad leadership at the top and an absence of political
vision.
Compared with the detailed report
of the inquest of 5th July which appeared in Thinakklural the next
day, only a small item on the magistrate’s court hearing of the 7th
appeared 3 days later. There was no reference to the main actor on the loose
- Captain Ranjith. Clearly, the message to the press had gone down.
The danger was clearly illustrated by how Captain Ranjith’s
men behaved in the afternoon of the 19th July, when one of the men
going 100 yards into the beach road in front of the camp was shot. The men
went on the rampage in vintage Sri Lankan Army style, firing at random, assaulting
all and sundry, stripping an old man and burning his hut. Women with suckling
babes too were treated roughly. All civilians around were brought to the junction,
children cowering behind their mothers, and the men were assaulted with gun-butts
and boots while the others looked on.
Those assaulted were left breathless and
in great pain. Several of those with bullet wounds were admitted to Mannar Hospital.
A lady who was serious was transferred to Anuradhapura Hospital and succumbed
there. Ranjith was apparently in town then. However with poor leadership at
the top, it takes very little for the LTTE to get the Sri Lankan Army it wants.
Carmelita’s brother Napoleon, from Pallimunai, had been a prominent member of the LTTE. A year ago, he deserted and was at home for awhile. The Army later picked him up and kept him for some time. He has since not been seen, although it is widely spoken that he left the area and is involved in trade. Napoleon’s brother who was staying at home is said to have been killed by the TELO two years ago. Carmelita had gone to the Mainland and was said to have been involved with the LTTE for a time. She left and wanted to come back home.
Recently she was told that it was safe for her to come back. There is little doubt that Camelita’s mother had approached the security forces, at least at local level, and got an assurance. The Police are in Pallimunai having close dealings with the population and a number of policemen are married in the village. It was two weeks before her murder that Carmelita, had returned home.
The following facts transpired at
the inquest proceedings under Mannar’s Acting Magistrate Kayas Feldano
on 14th July as reported by Thinakkural’s Mannar Correspondent
: The key witness was the fruit seller who lived in the premises opposite. At
1.30 AM on 12th July he was woken up by two men who asked for Napoleon.
He took them across and knocked on the door. The mother came. Her hands were
tied and she was asked to call the others. Witness and two children were locked
up in one room, some others in another room and Carmelita and her mother who
were left were taken to the front room. They were first questioned, and the
mother was then sent out. The mother was then heard crying, “Shoot me if
you like, but do not harm my daughter.” Camelita’s crying was then
heard, “Save me, please do not harm me!” Noises of agony were heard
for some time, then a gun shot, and silence reigned.
While this torment was going on, the
mother had freed herself and run to the security post nearby and asked for help.
She was ignored. When Witness finally came out of the room, he saw Carmelita
on the floor in a pool of blood, with her dress torn.
Witness said that he knew the killers. They were
from the nearby security post and came to his shop four or five times a day.
Although the face of one was masked with a black cloth, he knew well who he
was. When witness went to the Mannar Police to make a statement, he was treated
dismissively. He subsequently received a death threat. The DMO Dr.Emmanuel Peiris,
who delivered the post-mortem report said that there were 18 injuries on Carmelita.
There were several bite marks, including on the lips, a stab wound in the abdomen,
and she had been shot after being raped. The Acting Magistrate has instructed
the Superintendent of Police and the Town Commandant to provide a list of names
of personnel manning the security post in question. The officers in charge of
the Military and Police at Pallimunai, along with the police officer who failed
to record the statement of the key witness have been ordered to appear in court
on July 20th.
There are some points to be noted
about the developments in general and the two cases in particular.
·
These incidents testify to a deteriorating climate
of impunity, of unchecked licence given to those with organised force behind
them, resulting in the law enforcers degenerating into criminals. Normally the
magistrate should have remanded those whom he has good reason to believe had
committed the crime, would very likely intimidate witnesses and hinder the investigation.
Whether those above would back a Tamil magistrate ordering the arrest of security
personnel remains to be tested.
The general practice followed in the conflict zone, as in Jaffna, has been for the army commandant to take the initiative and order the arrest. Much of the blame should thus rest with Brigadier T.T.R de Silva who had made his attitude towards the civilians clear over the months and others still higher who allowed him to function in this manner. Had firm action been taken with Captain Ranjith, Carmelita’s life may have been saved.
·
These events spread over time, the impunity
with which those who smuggle out of desperation have been shot, and the recent
developments, suggest that there has been in operation a policy of killing off
those suspected of ties with the LTTE. This is given further substance by the
refusal of the Police to record the complaint. This flies in the face of pledges
by the army top brass that they encourage LTTE cadre to surrender and have schemes
to rehabilitate them.
·
Some of these crimes, whose causes would have remained in the
domain of conjecture, are coming to light only because of new ground broken
by the office of the magistrate in Mannar. This is unique, considering that
from 1977, when the victors at the election forced the police and the magistrates
to look on while violence was unleashed on the vanquished for several weeks,
the magistracy has been regarded a tame affair.
Today in the Mannar District, the people
have no confidence in the Army, the Police or the Government. But they have
come to place confidence in the magistrates. It is for this reason that they
have come forward to testify at a considerable risk. The magistracy has been
a steadying factor in a situation otherwise tending towards anarchy.
It is also notable, and perhaps not at all surprising, that the Mannar magistrate was the last to be asked by the judicial authorities to preside over the excavation of graves in Chemmani, and he promptly accepted. The others, refused, wavered or fled the country, mainly out of fear of the LTTE, although the gravesites were those of victims of the State.
We have in the foregoing dealt with
one aspect of the people’s distrust of the State. But much of it comes
from day-to-day experiences. We have dealt with the pass system in previous
bulletins. This becomes increasingly mindless and harassing every time the authorities
find indications of the LTTE forging their passes. We now take the question
of health.
To go to Colombo Mr.&Mrs. Ganesh and Nirojan left
Adampan for Mannar Town on 2nd July for their pass as usual. Mannar
was now only a single short bus ride from Adampan. They applied for their pass
in the morning. After a delay of several hours the Mannar Pass office told Ganesh
in the afternoon that because his residence pass was from the Vavuniya rather
than the Mannar brigade, he must go to Vavuniya and apply for his Colombo travel
pass. It was too late for them to go to Vavuniya that day, so they spent the
night with friends and came the next morning, only to be told that they could
not board the Vavuniya bus from Mannar, but must go to Uyilankulam nearest to
their home down the same road, register themselves there and board the Vavuniya
bus. The bus however originates from Mannar.
So they went from Mannar to Uyilankulam,
where the registration had closed and the Vavuniya bus was about to arrive.
A policeman seeing the sick child and understanding their plight took pity on
them and promised to put them into the bus. The bus came and the policeman pleaded.
But the security man on escort duty refused to allow in anyone whose name was
not on the list. They waited till 3.00 p.m. and caught a bus to Madhu Road,
and finally reached Vavuniya. But unlike in Mannar, they had no one in Vavuniya
to stand security for them. Whoever stands security will have to surrender his
pass and forfeit any travel himself. However through the intervention of friends
they reached Colombo in the nick of time and it is a wonder that the child survived
the ordeal.
It may also be mentioned here that during his visits
to Colombo, it was a former Muslim neighbour of Ganesh who was the most forthcoming
in helping him to treat his son. This neighbour, with other Muslims, was chased
out of Adampan by the LTTE in 1990.
Given that the people of the Vanni
live in an area where they are prone to sickness and several hurdles are placed
in their way preventing access to medical care from outside, it becomes imperative
on the part of the Government to maintain the Mannar Hospital in good working
order.
But for a number of reasons it has not been possible
to get experienced doctors to serve there. The Ministry of Health has been sending
newly passed out doctors, often foreign qualified, who do a compulsory stint
in a difficult area as a condition for permanency. This has been a disaster.
Normally these new doctors would have learnt by working under proper supervision
of those more experienced. But in Mannar they are left there as it were on the
loose. In the very hierarchy and status conscious medical profession in Sri
Lanka where titles mean everything, these young doctors tend to feel small consulting
highly experienced local doctors, who though having no specialist titles, enjoy
the confidence and respect of the populace. Even when experienced MSF doctors
had been present, the young doctors had been reluctant to consult them. Often
patients have been dispatched to Vavuniya or Anuradhapura without getting the
best opinion available. This system has been grossly unfair to the young doctors
and particularly to the patients. Things somewhat improved after Dr.Emmanuel
Peiris, an experienced local practitioner, was given the authority of a DMO.
Stories of miscarriages of treatment,
dangerous experimentation and hair breadth escapes are many. Often the situation
could have been rectified by getting or acting on another opinion. Those with
narrow escapes are frequently people with the influence to rush a serious patient
to Colombo. Recently for example, the story is told of a young doctor who used
forceps to deliver a baby without asking for help. A critical nerve of the baby
was damaged. The ailment in the baby is later said to have been recorded as
having resulted from the mother having malaria (which is very common) during
pregnancy.
We give here the experience of Mr.Jaleel, a
firewood seller from Puthukkudiyiruppu : “I admitted my 7 year old daughter
Saida who was having fever to Mannar Hospital. I don’t know what happened,
but she was suddenly dispatched to Anuradhapura Hospital where she died on
21st June. Were she treated here, we would have had the comfort of
her dying among her own people. If I could speak Sinhalese, I would have taken
her out of Anuradhapura and looked after her in Puttalam Hospital. Our people
are totally lost in Anuradhapura.
”I will tell you sir, in Anuradhapura they use
patients sent by Mannar Hospital for learning. In 1987 my younger sister was
sent to Anuradhapura Hospital. They had given up on her and were going to give
her a pain killer. My mother hugged my sister, protested and did not allow them.
She wanted to remove her. A nurse trampled her foot. Then a policeman intervened
and my sister was discharged. Can you believe that she is now a mother of six?
From such impressions it does not follow that Anuradhapura Hospital was at fault. But the people do strongly feel that in the present system they are not getting what is at least passable. The important social aspect of health-care is totally absent.
May 1998
IMPORTANT COMMITMENTS ON THE PROTECTION
OF
CHILDREN MADE BY GOVERNMENT AND LTTE
IN SRI LANKA
At the conclusion of a weeklong mission to Sri Lanka (3‑9
May1998), Mr. Olara A. Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary‑General
for Children and Armed Conflict, announced that significant humanitarian commitments
had been made by the Government of Sri Lanka and by the leadership of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He said, “I welcome these commitments, which
represent a significant development towards ensuring the protection, rights
and welfare of children affected by the ongoing armed conflict in SriLanka.
I now call upon the parties to take concrete steps to fulfil the irrespective
commitments?.
Mr. Otunnu visited Sri Lanka to promote the protection,
rights and welfare of children and to witness and assess for himself the
multiple ways in which children are affected by the ongoing armed conflict
in that country. Through out his visit, he stressed the humanitarian character
of his mission and emphasisedthat he was concerned with all children and all
the dimensions of the impact ofwar on their lives. He met with the President,
H.E. Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr.
Lakshman Kadirgamar, Minister of Justice, Constitutional Affairs, National
Integration and Ethnic Affairs, Professor G.L. Peiris, parliamentarians
and other Government officials. He traveled to affected areas in the Jaffna
peninsula and the Vanni region, where he visited schools, resettlement villages
and centres for internally displaced persons. While in these areas, he
also met with local government officials, military commanders, religious
and civic leaders, as well as with representatives of local and
international humanitarian agencies. He had the opportunity to meet with two
senior representatives appointed by the leader of the LTTE, V. Prabhakaran.
Mr. Thamilselvan, Head of the Political Section, and Mr. Balasingham, Political
Advisor.
·
Free Movement of Displaced Populations: The
Government agreed to expedite procedures for the issue of permits for movement
in affected areas. The LTTE leadership made the commitment that the movement
of displaced populations who want to return to areas now under Government control
would not be impeded. They also pledged not to impede the return to their homes
of Muslim populations displaced by previous outbreaks of hostilities and they
accepted that a framework to monitor these processes should be put in place.
·
Recruitment and Participation of Children in Hostilities: The
LTTE leadership undertook not to use children below 18 years of age in combat
and not to recruit children less than 17 years old. The LTTE leadership accepted
that a framework to monitor these commitments should be put in place. The Government
of Sri Lanka reiterated its commitment to the policy of not recruiting children
under the age of 18 years. Mr. Otunnu welcomed Government assurances that there
were no plans to embark on recruitment drive in schools.
·
Observing the Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Government
of Sri Lanka has signed and ratified the Convention. It has also prepared
a National Children’s Charter. Mr. Otunnu stressed the importance for all
parties, including non‑state actors, to respect the principles and provisions
of the Convention. In this connection, he urged the LTTE leadership to make
a public commitment to respect the Convention. He was encouraged by the LTTE’s
readiness to have its cadres receive information and instruction on the Convention.
·
Targeting of Civilian Populations and Sites: Mr. Otunnu expressed
the gravest concern about the targeting of civilian populations and sites throughout
the country. The LTTE leadership acknowledged this to be an important and
legitimate concern and undertook to review its strategies and tactics in
this regard.
Another important issue that Mr. Otunnu raised with
the Government and with the LTTE leadership was the continuing use of landmines
by both sides. He very much regretted that it had not been possible on this
occasion to obtain a commitment from either party to refrain from using landmines;
he indicated his intention to pursue this issue.
During his travel to the conflict‑affected areas, Mr. Otunnu witnessed the trauma and distress on the part of affected populations there. He saw how the protracted conflict has undermined the social and ethical fabric of society. He was struck by the deep and widespread yearning for peace on the part of all communities. At a final address in Colombo, Mr. Otunnu strongly endorsed the launching of a local initiative, proclaiming ‘children’s zones of peace’, as a systematic effort to apply global recommendations on the protection, rights and welfare of children to the specific context of Sri Lanka.
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