Dawn breaks over a war memorial honouring government forces at Elephant Pass, in northern Sri Lanka. Many feel that the country has a long way to go before the wounds of conflict are healed. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Apr 4 2015 (IPS)

Jessi Joygeswaran seems like your typical 23-year-old young woman. She has an infectious smile and laughs a lot when she talks. Like many other young women anywhere in the world, her life is full of dreams.

“I want to go to university, I want to do a good job,” she tells IPS. She seems sure that she can make her dreams come true.

“Before we can move [forward], we need to accept our shared, horrible past.” -- Jessi Joygeswaran, a resident of Sri Lanka's former war zone.
In fact, Joygeswaran’s life has been anything but ordinary. She grew up in a war zone, and now spends her days thinking as much about such issues as war crimes probes and national reconciliation as she does about her own future.

Hailing from the minority Tamil community, the young woman was born and bred in the Vanni, the vast swath of land in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province that bore the brunt of the island’s 26-year-long civil war that only ended in mid-2009.

In 2006 Joygeswaran, just 14 at the time, had to flee from her ancestral home in the village of Andankulam, in the northwestern Mannar District, when fighting erupted between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eealm (LTTE), a rebel group attempting to carve out a separate state in the Tamil-speaking north and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.

“We were running from bullets and shell-fire for three years,” she recalls. It was April 2009 when she and her family finally escaped the horror. “Death was a possibility every second,” she says, the smile vanishing from her face.

Even after the war ended, the Vanni’s troubles did not. A quarter of a million people who escaped the war were restricted to relief camps that looked and felt more like detention centres, where they remained until late 2010.

Over 400,000 people who had fled the region during various stages of the conflict returned to scenes of devastation, forced to rebuild their lives from scratch while coming to terms with the death or disappearance of thousands of their kin. Homelessness, trauma and fear were the order of the day.

A new government – a new era?

All of that changed this past January when Sri Lanka voted in a new president, Maithripala Sirisena, ousting the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose defeat of the LTTE enabled him to exercise an iron grip over the country.

On Jan. 8, for the first time in her life, Joygeswaran voted alongside her countrymen. Despite all past discrimination against her minority community, she is completely invested in the new national government.

“We voted for justice and peace for all,” she asserts. It is a humble aspiration, but one shared by a majority of people in this island nation of 20 million, where generations of bloodshed resulting in a death toll of between 80,000 and 100,000 had many doubting that the country would ever return to a state of normalcy.

The first 60 days of the new government have been a mixed bag, especially for northern Tamils. Travel restrictions and a suffocating military presence – with members of the armed forces overseeing virtually every aspect of daily life – have eased; but there is still limited progress on more delicate issues, like a comprehensive inquiry into wartime abuses.

The last days of the war could have resulted in a civilian death toll of about 40,000, according to an advisory panel set up by the United Nations Secretary-General – a figure hotly disputed by the previous government.

A new book by the respected research body, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), titled ‘Palmyra Fallen’, says the figure could be as high 100,000.

Both government forces and the LTTE have been accused of human rights violations during the last bouts of fighting.

Three resolutions put forth at the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) have sought an international investigation into the end of the war. The Rajapaksa government, determined not to allow “foreign interference” in what it called a purely domestic issue, set up its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) but its recommendations have largely been left on paper.

There is an ongoing commission on disappearances, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has begun an island-wide survey on families of the missing.

But not one of these measures has led to a single prosecution or judicial complaint against the perpetrators.

Balancing local efforts with international standards

Sirisena’s government has promised a fresh probe, with international inputs. The new foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, has been traveling the globe since assuming office, trying to convince the international community to allow Sri Lanka some breathing room in which to push through an indigenous, credible reconciliation process.

So far his charms seem to be working. The United States, United Kingdom and other western nations agreed to postpone the release of a U.N. Human Rights Council investigation report into wartime human rights abuses. It was due in March and now will be unveiled in September.

The government announced on Mar. 18 that it was considering lifting proscriptions issued on Tamil diaspora groups, in a move that many feel is aimed at garnering the support of moderate Tamils around the world. While no official figures exist, Sri Lanka’s Tamil diaspora is believed to number close to 700,000.

“The government of President Sirisena is seriously committed to expediting the reconciliation process. In doing so, the Sri Lankan diaspora whether it be Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim, has am extremely important role to play,” Samaraweera told Parliament on Mar. 18.

Despite this nod to the diaspora, government officials have made clear that the mechanism for investigating possible war crimes committed by both sides must be a robust, national initiative, without foreign interference.

“Any charges […] against our security forces have to be investigated, [but] it has to be handled by the local mechanism, that is what we have always stated,” Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Foreign Correspondents Association in February.

But it will take some muscle to convince the international community that Sri Lanka is capable of initiating a successful probe with the power to go from theory to practice.

“This is why Amnesty International (AI) and other organisations have urged the Sri Lankan authorities to cooperate with the U.N. and take advantage of international expertise in the development of a credible, effective and truly independent mechanism – one that will not be vulnerable to the kinds of threats and political pressures that have obstructed previous efforts,” David Griffiths, AI’s deputy Asia Pacific director tells IPS.

AI and several other international organisations also favour the setting up of a special tribunal to try any human rights violators.

Among other unresolved issues are allegations that the armed forces conducted summary executions of surrendered LTTE cadres, as well as possible incidents of sexual abuse of persons in captivity. The LTTE has been accused of using civilians as human shields, as well as for conscripting children into its ranks, among other things.

“It is important for everyone concerned and for Sri Lanka’s future that all allegations of crimes under international law are fully investigated and, where sufficient admissible evidence exists, those suspected of the crimes are prosecuted in genuine proceedings before independent and impartial courts that comply with international standards for fair trial.  Victims must be provided with full and effective reparation to address the harm they have suffered,” Griffiths says.

Already some positive changes have occurred under the new government. Ruki Fernando, a researcher with the Colombo-based rights group INFORM, tells IPS that the appointment of a civilian governor to Jaffna, replacing a former military officer, as well as the government’s releasing of lands acquired by the military, bode well for the future.

“I am cautiously optimistic, but it is a long road ahead,” he says.

In Joygeswaran’s words: “Before we can move [forward], we need to accept our shared, horrible past.”

Edited by Kanya D’Almeida

The eve of the much anticipated Sinhala and Tamil New Year, celebrated across the island of Sri Lanka in mid-April to mark the end of the harvest season, was marred by a series of attacks, reminding everyone that “peace” does not mean a lack of violence.

A new U.N. resolution on Sri Lanka suggests that international pressure on the government will not diminish any time soon. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

On Apr. 13, the printing presses of the Jaffna-based Tamil language ‘Uthayan’ newspaper came under attack, reportedly the 37^th time the paper or those attached to it have been targeted.

In 2006, unidentified gunmen killed two of the publication’s employees, and during the last stages of the civil war that unfolded here in early 2009, some of the staff members lived and worked from its premises, too scared to step out of doors.

About two weeks before this latest incident, an Uthayan distribution centre in the northern town of Kilinochchi was attacked. Critics say the newspaper, owned by an opposition Tamil parliamentarian, has been partial to Tamil separatists. The government has described the damage on the distribution centre as an “inside hatchet job”, claims rejected by the publisher.

Further south, a group of Buddhist extremists calling themselves the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) have been spearheading a campaign of hatred towards Muslims, inciting mobs to attack Muslim-owned shops and business establishments.

In the beginning of April tensions flared when police broke up a candlelight vigil in front of the main office of the BBS. Some of those who said they had simply come to spread a message of peace were either arrested or verbally assaulted by the police.

These incidents come barely a month after the passage of the second successive U.S.-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva in mid-March.

The resolution calls on the Sri Lanka government “to conduct an independent and credible investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law” committed during its conclusive war with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009 — but stops short of specifying punitive action if the government fails to comply.

Rights groups and aid workers who witnessed the final battles here in 2009 say the fighting displaced over 200,000 people and killed at least 40,000, many of them civilians. The government maintains there were “no civilian casualties”.

“This year's resolution makes clearer than before the international community's deep concern about serious ongoing human rights violations and the need for a proper and independent investigation into allegations."
These unanswered questions threatened to divide the wounded country still further and elicited an international outcry. Finally, in May 2010, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse appointed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to investigate the conduct of the armed forces during the war.

The Commission handed its final report to Rajapakse in November 2011. But in February this year, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the government has been “selective” in responding to the recommendations put forth by the LLRC.

Now, again, the resolution from Geneva leaves the onus for action in the hands of a government that has time and again dismissed statements and warnings from the international community as an “infringement” on Sri Lankan sovereignty.

Another disappointment was that, despite initial talk of requesting permission for Pillay to be granted full access to probe allegations of on-going rights abuse on the island, the adopted resolution simply calls on the Sri Lankan government to carry out its own investigations that are up to “international standards”.

In what was seen as a major watering down of the text, all references to “unfettered” access for U.N. special rapporteurs were replaced in the final document with a request that the government “cooperate” with special mandate holders and respond to outstanding requests for visits. All eight U.N. special rapporteurs are currently awaiting invitations to visit the country.

Rights activists say it is unlikely that the situation in Sri Lanka will change overnight – it will take time for international pressure to have an impact and that, too, only if it is sustained.

U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele J. Sison told a group of journalists on Apr. 8 that the U.S., as the main backer of the resolution, is keeping a close eye on the situation on the ground, warning that “more serious” measures could be on the cards if the Rajapakse government fails to act on international concerns.

“The United States remains particularly concerned about threats against, and attacks on, media outlets in Sri Lanka,” she said, in reference to the attack on the Uthayan premises in Jaffna.

“As we examine next steps, we will renew our consideration of all mechanisms available, both in the Human Rights Council and beyond,” Sison told the Foreign Correspondents’ Association, though she declined to elaborate on what those “mechanisms” would be.

Other experts and rights defenders have issued similar warnings of sterner action. Alan Keenan, Sri Lanka project director of the London-based International Crisis Group (ICG), told IPS, “Sri Lanka can ignore these concerns only at its long term peril. And if the government does continue to ignore these international concerns, I expect the pressure will grow.”

Ruki Fernando, of the Rights Now Collective, a national advocacy body, told IPS that the resolution should not be taken in isolation but evaluated as an indication of persistent international scrutiny of Sri Lanka.

“The resolution acknowledges and expresses concern about serious ongoing violations and calls for more action by the government, including involvement of minorities and civil society and credible and independent investigations into allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law,” he said.

He added that some crucial demands that were included in the original draft of the resolution but later withdrawn – such as “unfettered” access for U.N. special mandate holders – could be included in future resolutions.

“This year’s resolution makes clearer than before the international community’s deep concern about serious ongoing human rights violations and the need for a proper and independent investigation into allegations,” according to Keenan.

The international community’s dedication to holding Sri Lanka accountable to global human rights standards will be reflected in the November meeting of heads of Commonwealth member states scheduled to be held here; already there have been calls for a boycott of the meeting, or a shifting of the location.

The UK, which included Sri Lanka as a country of concern in its latest Human Rights and Democracy Report, said that it would do all it can to “encourage Sri Lanka to demonstrate adherence to Commonwealth values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, particularly ahead of… the meeting in November”.

(END)