Civil Society in the East appeal to

UNWGEID for Demilitarisation

Featured image courtesy RightsNow

by Groundviews

- on 11/20/2015

Members of civil society, including families of those disappeared in Batticaloa,

Ampara and Trincomalee have come together to issue a statement to the UN
Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID).
In the statement submitted to the UNWGEID, they draw attention to numerous
military killings committed in the Eastern Province under the Prevention of Terrorism
Act. They also condemned the questioning of family members who testified before the
Paranagama Commission by the Intelligence Unit, and asked for the demilitarisation
of the North and East.
Below is the statement, reproduced in full:

To the attention of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary

Disappearances
Preconditions for Justice and Rehabilitation
Elimination of militarization:
The issue of disappearances, which is prolonging agony of the Tamil people in the
North and East of Sri Lanka is deemed as part of the ethnic suppression. The
sufferings and the continuous threats and intimidation faced by our people while
searching for their loved ones especially in the Eastern province due to the political
hegemony based on ethnicity, needs to be explained briefly.
Sinhala colonisation:
As soon as Sri Lanka gained independence from the British in 1948, the Sinhala
government began State sponsored colonization where Sinhala people in the South of
Sri Lanka were settled in the Eastern province under Mahaweli development and
poverty alleviation projects. Some of the key settlements were Kantale, Thiriyai
Janakapura settlements in the Trincomalee districts and Galoya settlements in the
Ampara district. The Tamil people were not affected immediately as the initial
settlements were carried out in the State land. Therefore, no one realised the long term
impact of such colonisation.
Sinhala settlements expanded following militarization in 1983. Not only such
settlements were carried out in the Trincomalee districts but also villages were formed
and sub government agent divisions were created under Sinhala names like
Morawewa, Pathavisiripura, and Komarankadawela.
In 1963, Digamadulla district (Ampara district) was formed by taking away 4500
square kilometers of land including the Paddipalai area (Ampara at present) in the
Batticaloa district and merging it with some villages in the Monaragala district.
As a result the Tamil and Muslim communities who made up the majority of
population in the area were pushed back to settle in 30 percent of the coastal lands in

the area. Almost 70 percent of the land was taken over by the Sinhala people. It was
feared that these settlements would be a threat to the Tamil communities and in fact,
later, they became the base for many incidents of communal violence.
Communal violence:
On July 13, 1952, with the support of the military, the few Sinhala settlers of the
Ikkiniyagala area in the Ampara district along with the people who were brought from
other districts attacked and murdered the Tamils in the area and drove them away.
The violence continued until 1953 and it is important to note that over 100 Tamil
people were murdered during this period. This triggered violence against the Tamil
people in the entire Eastern province. In 1956 the government of Ceylon (now Sri
Lanka) passed the Sinhala Only Act. As soon as the news of passing of this Act had
been announced, Sinhala thugs of the Galoya settlements, perpetrated acts of violence
against the Tamil community, where 150 Tamils were brutally murdered and Tamil
women were sexually assaulted. Thereafter, the Tamils protested the call for all
vehicles to be issued number plates with the Sinhala letter Sri marked on them. In
order to repress the growing Tamil rising, communal violence was set off island-wide
in 1958.
Communal violence triggered off in various places in the country, grew as part of the
States structured and planned ethnic suppression against the Tamil people.
Communal violence took place in 1977, 1981 (especially in the upcountry areas) and
Trincomalee was affected in the communal violence that took place in 1983 and 2006.
Prevention of Terrorism Act and State terrorism
The government made the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) a permanent legislation
in 1982 in order to subdue the growing Tamil voices in Sri Lanka. The PTA denied the
people from enjoying their rights guaranteed under the fundamental rights chapter of

the Sri Lankan Constitution. Under the PTA, wide powers have been handed to
security forces and police. In the past the draconian legislation has resulted in severe
and massive violations like arbitrary and illegal arrests, torture in custody,
incarceration without trial, sexual abuse of women, cordon and search operations,
extra judicial killings, massacre and disappearances of civilians. Many violations of
human rights of innocent civilians have been committed by security personnel. Even
today the PTA contributes to violence perpetrated by the state, military intimidation,
and judicial delays.
Gross violations committed by the military in the Eastern province:
Batticaloa district:
September 5, 1990: Massacre of 158 persons in the Vantharumullai University
September 5, 1990: Massacre of 184 persons in the Satthurukondan area
June 12, 1991: Massacre of 152 persons in the Kokkaticholai area
Ampara Distict:
March 6, 1990: Massacre of 160 persons in the first stage in the Kalmunai area.
March 6, 1990: Massacre of 250 persons in the second stage in the Kalmunai
area.Trincomalee district:

March 12, 1986: 21 Tamil persons including 5 government servants were shot dead by
the State forces when relief items and food were taken to the refugees living in the
Eechilampattru Welfare Centre, who were victims of communal violence perpetrated
by Sinhala thugs living in the Serunuwara area.

July 7, 1990: Massacre of 54 persons in the Sampur area.

July 16, 1990: Massacre of 47 persons in the Peruveli area in Mallikai Theevu, Muthur.
February 11, 1996: Massacre of 26 persons including 15 women and 9 children in the
Kumarapuram area, Muthur.
Indian Peace Keeping Force:
Following Indo-Sri Lanka agreement, on July 29, 1987, the Indian Peace Keeping
Force were sent to the Northern and Eastern provinces by the Indian government in

order to establish peace in the region. However, the forces were engaged in gross
violation of human rights like massacres and executions, rape and sexual violence
against women, torture, and arrest and detention.
The paramilitary groups which worked with the Indian forces too were engaged in such
violations and abductions.
State violence against women:
Tamil women were subdued in multiple ways as part of the Sri Lankan governments
ethnic dominance. Direct suppressive methods were utilized for the simple reason that
they were Tamils. Women became victims of rape and sexual violence perpetrated by
State forces and para military groups. They live in constant fear in the militarised
North and East. Women head their families and are solely responsible for finding ways
and means to earn an income as a result of the war where many men lost their lives,
disappeared or detained. In addition, the women are also involved in searching for
their loved ones who are detained or disappeared. We wish to inform, during their
search for their loved ones women experience various difficulties by way of inquiries,
sexual harassment by the security forces, paramilitary groups and intelligence officers.
It is important to note that persons with political influence, threaten or cheat these
women and extort lakhs of rupees. The women are also threatened and intimidated
through anonymous phone calls which have caused enormous mental stress.
The issue of enforced and involuntary disappearances:
The problems of enforced and involuntary disappearances faced by the people of the
North and East is yet another strategy to suppress the ethnic Tamils of Sri Lanka. The
Prevention of Terrorism Act, political initiatives based on ethnicity and communal
grounds and militarisation have been the root cause for this major problem.
A Presidential Commission (Paranagama Commission) was established by the

previous Rajapakse government to look into the problem of the disappeared. The
present government headed by the President Maithiripala Sirisena too has allowed the
Paranagama Commission to continue its work. Under the new government, during the
Paranagama Commissions sittings in various districts in the North and East, the
surveillance of intelligence officers was observed, where they photographed the family
members who were giving evidence before the Commission. Later these family
members were questioned by the intelligence unit directly and via phone
conversations. Therefore, we have lost faith in this domestic mechanism.
Preconditions for National Consultation
The new government is involved in carrying out discussions on transitional justice
mechanisms. The militarisation needs to be eliminated in order for the affected people
of the North and East, including the families of the disappeared to participate freely in
these national consultations. When the initial national consultation on Transitional
Justice was organized on October 29, 2015 at the Janaki Hotel under the direction of
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera, the Intelligence officers in the
Trincomalee district began carrying out inquiries on the people who were planning to
attend the meeting. They also inquired the people who attended the discussions
organized by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances
(UNWEIGD) who are currently in Sri Lanka.
Therefore, we appeal that the militarisation in the North and East must be done away
with in order that justice and democracy may prevail in Sri Lanka.
Signatories:
Families of the disappeared in the districts of Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee
Womens organisations
Civil society organisations
Village grassroots level organisations
November 14, 2015

YMCA Hall
Batticaloa
Posted by Thavam