POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Probe of Ethnic Violence Branded as ‘Witchhunt’

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Sep 5 2001 (IPS) - Sri Lanka, struggling through nearly two decades of ethnic strife, may be finally coming to grips with the devastating race riots in July 1983 through the formation of a Truth Commission along the lines of the South African model.

But some are sceptical about the real purpose of the probe, calling it a government ploy against the former United National Party (UNP) to prop up a beleaguered ruling People’s Alliance (PA) regime.

“This is just a witchhunt to blame the opposition UNP,” said Neelakandan Kandasamy, a human rights activist from the minority Tamil community.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga two months ago appointed a three-member Truth Commission — along the lines of the famous South African Truth Commission — to probe ethnic riots in 1983 which shattered the peace in this island called paradise by ancient explorers centuries ago, and escalated the conflict between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils.

She appointed retired chief justice S. Sharvananda to head the commission. The panel has been asked to probe incidents of ethnic violence between 1981 and 1984, with special reference to the July 1983 riots in which close to 600 Tamil civilians were killed and property belonging to this community torched by rampaging Sinhalese mobs.

The riots were sparked by the killings of 13 soldiers of the majority Sinhalese community by Tamil Tiger rebels. It escalated in militant activity that forced thousands of Tamils to flee the country mainly to India and the west as political refugees.

Sri Lankan troops are still battling the rebels who are fighting for an independent state in the north and the east for the Tamil community.

“The truth commission on ethnic violence has also been mandated to inquire and ascertain persons, groups and institutions directly or indirectly responsible for such violence and to decide the nature of relief to be provided to such victims or their dependants,” Kumaratunga’s office said in a statement on the appointment of the panel.

Given the sensitive nature of the probe and mindful of the controversy surrounding its appointment, the panel is gingerly working its way through towards formal sitting and sifting of evidence.

“This is not a political witchhunt. This is not the intention of the commission,” asserts Mohamed Zuhair, a member of the panel and a former parliamentarian from the ruling People’s Alliance.

Zuhair, a lawyer from the minority Muslim community, said the purpose of the panel is to build up a national consciousness that recognises the problem and to find ways to pay compensation to those who were affected. “We don’t intend to punish anybody but to work out ways to prevent a recurrence of the 1983 incidents and establish national reconciliation.”

The UNP rejects the official explanation for the probe, saying if the government was serious it should have ordered an investigation soon as it came into power in 1994.

“Why now?” asked Karunasena Kodituwakku, the UNP’s chief media spokesman. “Why not in 1994 or even in 1987 when there was an all- party conference called by the UNP. The PA then in opposition could have asked for a probe?”

He said the commission would not serve its purpose other than further alienating and creating divisions between the two communities. “This is a means of hoodwinking the people and diverting attention from the real issues facing this country,” he said.

The ruling People’s Alliance (PA) is struggling to ward off attempts by the opposition to oust the government through a series of no confidence motions in parliament. Eversince a key PA ally, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, crossed over to opposition ranks in June after a tiff with Kumaratunga, the latter has been battling to save her government.

The defection has increased the numbers of the joint opposition in parliament, making it more powerful than the PA. Opposition moves to present no-confidence motions against the government, the chief justice and the president herself, have been countered by Kumaratunga, proroguing parliament for a two-month period to September. Parliament meets again on Sep 6.

Political analysts said that every move made by the government was aimed at overcoming a crisis and had no long-term goals, citing as examples the Truth Commission and a current pact between the PA and the Marxist People’s Liberation Front.

“Most people believe the Truth Commission is merely to sling mud at the UNP. None of the Tamils are bothered or even aware about the existence of such a commission,” says Sivanesa Chelvam, editor of the Tamil- language ‘Thinnakural’ (Daily Voice) newspaper. “It has come rather too late in the day.”

Not so, believes Tudor Ariyaratne, Sri Lanka’s best-known social worker. “Even at this late stage, the setting up of the Truth Commission is something that is necessary,” the founder of the Sarvodaya social movement told the commission at its first public sittings on Monday.

Ariyaratne, whose grassroots organisation has won acclaim across the world and won for him the prestigious Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay award for social service some years back, said that while it was important to find the truth, it was also important not to persecute anyone.

“The truth must be told but not in a way to incriminate individuals. It has to be handled in a balanced way,” he told the commission. Ariyaratne recalled how he pleaded with then President Junius Jayewardene to enforce a curfew as rioting spread across the Sri Lankan capital. The UNP administration was blamed at that time for delaying the imposition of the curfew.

Ariyaratne told IPS that he was invited by the commission to provide some clues as to how the panel should formulate its probe. “The commissioners were keen to ascertain the type of approaches that should be made in this exercise,” he said.

He said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa was to give an opportunity for victims to tell their stories while those who had committed wrongs could repent and receive an amnesty. “I believe this commission will work in the same spirit,” he said adding that the commission would be able to heal old wounds as it did in South Africa.

The commission has invited Godfrey Gunatillake, another well- known social and human rights activist to make a similar statement on Friday, Sep 7. Gunatillake, a retired respected civil servant, is currently chairman of PAFFREL, a respected civil group that independently monitors national polls in the country.

Sharvananda also told Monday’s session that one other objective of the commission is to prevent an occurrence of the July 1983 incidents. “It is a way and means of avoiding a recurrence of the unhappy events in 1983.”

“Our house was ransacked and we hid in a neighbouring home while the riots were on,” recalled a retired Tamil public servant. He said a Tamil police inspector, living close to his place, was killed by the mob. “We moved to a refugee camp in Colombo and then took a refugee ship to the northern port city of Jaffna,” he said. Jaffna is home to most of the country’s Tamil population.

He said the commission’s exercise is a waste of time as many eyewitnesses have either died or fled as refugees abroad. “They are unlikely to return to give evidence before a commission,” the retired official said, noting that most of the senior UNP politicians responsible for fostering these riots are dead.