Human Rights Watch World Report 1999 - Sri Lanka

Human Rights Developments

Little progress was made in 1998 towards a political settlement of the government's fifteen-year conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and as abuses by all parties to the conflict continued, so did political battles over government proposals for constitutional reform. Efforts to identify, redress and prosecute war-related rights violations moved slowly. In January, the government made good its promise to release reports of inquiries into more than 16,000 "disappearances" dating back as far as 1988, but thousands more remain to be investigated. The year also saw the first severe punishment of government personnel for human rights violations in the course of the conflict (a gang rape, "disappearance" and multiple murder that resulted in the death penalty). But the vast majority of outstanding cases—many involving extrajudicial killings by security forces—remained unresolved, and new violations continued. Rancorous disputes over approaches to ending the ongoing conflict with the LTTE dominated political news in Sri Lanka. Debate focused on acceptable terms for negotiating with the LTTE and administrative arrangements for ethnic power sharing. A ruling People's Alliance (PA) proposal to devolve greater political power to regional councils, including a Tamil-administered one, was opposed by the main opposition United National Party (UNP), Sinhala nationalists and influential Buddhist clergy who favored a unitary state with strong central authority. The government made clear its position that a political consensus among "the entire Sinhala polity" was a prerequisite for negotiations with the LTTE. President Kumaratunga also declared negotiations to be conditional on the LTTE giving up its key demand for a separate state and rejected its calls for third-party mediation. In September Kumaratunge accused the UNP of conspiring to overthrow the government after the party called for unconditional talks with the LTTE and she learned that a UNP member of parliament had met with LTTE leaders. Amid these political battles, the army continued its campaign in the northern Vanni region for control of a key highway that would give it land access to the former LTTE stronghold of Jaffna. The operation, code named Jaya Sikuru or "Sure Victory," was launched in mid-May 1997 and has been the longest in the history of the conflict. Censorship of war reporting and restricted access to conflict areas made independent monitoring of abuses difficult, but reports continued of civilians killed and wounded in aerial bombardment, shelling and gunfire. After attacks in June when at least twenty were reported killed and fifty injured, hundreds of demonstrators petitioned government authorities in the Vanni to protect civilian lives. Shortages of food and essential supplies were reported in conflict areas. Hundreds of thousands remained internally displaced mid-year; hundreds sought safety in India, others died in the attempt. Hundreds of deaths and injuries of civilians were also reported during army operations in the east, which received much less international attention. As in the north, both security personnel stationed there and ex-militant paramilitary forces working alongside them were accused of extrajudicial killings, torture, and illegal and arbitrary detentions of persons suspected of LTTE links. In one of the few cases where official action was taken, on February 1 in Thambalagamam, Trincomalee district, officers from the Bharathipuram police post and local home guards reportedly arrested and killed eight young men in retaliation for an attack by the LTTE on police in the area the night before. Police arrested forty-two, thirty-nine of whom had been released on bail by mid-June. Tamil politicians and human rights organizations protested the security forces' continued use of homeguards and armed ex-militant Tamil groups to aid in security operations, as "spotters" to identify suspected LTTE members, and to detain and interrogate suspects. They have been accused of murder, abduction, extortion, assault, illegal detention, torture, and forced conscription. Large-scale arbitrary arrests of Tamils based almost solely on their ethnicity continued in many parts of the country, particularly after major attacks attributed to the LTTE. In the north and east, residents complained of beatings, torture, and public humiliation of persons detained during searches, and of arrested youths being used for forced labor. In Colombo, where thousands of mostly short-term arrests occurred, protests by Tamil politicians in April after a midnight roundup of more than 1,200 people led the government to propose improved procedures for registration of Tamil arrivals in the city and the establishment of government-run guest houses—suggestions that concerned human rights defenders, who feared their potential abuse. In July, complaints over a number of roundups conducted prior to the SAARC (South Asian Area Regional Cooperation) summit convinced President Kumaratunge to appoint a special presidential committee to deal with complaints of harassment of Tamil civilians. The LTTE was blamed for many deaths of noncombatants in 1998, in bombings, assassinations, and at least one public execution. On January 26, the Sri Lankan government banned the LTTE after blaming it for the truck bombing the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, an important Buddhist shrine. The attack damaged the entrance to the temple and killed seventeen people. In three separate incidents in February, March, and August bombings attributed to the LTTE killed nearly fifty people and wounded more than 270. A number of political assassinations in Jaffna in 1998 were also attributed to the LTTE. Army Brig. Larry Wijeratne was killed by a suicide bomber on May 14, 1998. On May 17, Sarojini Yogeswaran, mayor of Jaffna city, was killed by an unidentified gunman. On September 11, her successor, Pon Sivapalan, died from wounds sustained in the explosion of a powerful mine hidden in the Jaffna municipal council. Also killed was Jaffna's top army officer, Brig. Susantha Mendis, along with six army and police officers and several civilians. The LTTE continued to detain Tamils with dissenting viewpoints as political prisoners. In August LTTE forces in Kilinnochchi arrested four Tamil members of the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Party of Sri Lanka. Three were freed September 13 after almost a month and a half in captivity; a fourth was was released September 16 after being held for more than two weeks. Independent press coverage of the war has been difficult since 1995, when the Defense Ministry introduced regulations barring journalists from the north except during infrequent visits organized under military escort. In June, the situation deteriorated further when, for the third time under the People's Alliance (PA) government, strict censorship rules were imposed on war reporting,punishable under emergency regulations. This time the government also banned reporting on the conduct and transfer of security personnel. News services noted that background on the ethnic dynamics of the war was frequently censored. On August 4, the Sri Lankan government reimposed a state of emergency throughout the country "for the preservation of public order." The move permitted President Kumaratunga to cancel five provincial council elections, scheduled for August 28, in which critics expected the party to do poorly. The military claimed it would be difficult to provide security for candidates and polling booths. Members of the Free Media Movement (FMM) filed a case in the Supreme Court accusing the government of denying Sri Lankans the right to exercise their franchise. Human rights and media organizations also protested a rash of politically motivated attacks on journalists in 1998. Two air force officers, a squadron leader and a flight lieutenant, were arrested for their February attempt to abduct senior military correspondent Iqbal Athas from his home and threaten his family. The men were directed to appear in court on October 14. Also in February, Pradeep Dhamaratne, a correspondent for the Sinhala language Dinamina, was hospitalized for injuries suffered when he was arrested and tortured after publishing a report linking local police to the illicit liquor trade. An inquiry led to the censure of an officer implicated in the incident, but Dhamaratne continued to receive death threats, and on March 4 his house was burned down. On July 17, unidentified attackers fired anti-tank bullets at the home of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge after his paper published allegations of government corruption. On August 26, Thadshanamurthy Mathusoothanan, a columnist for Saranihar, the Tamil newspaper published by the human rights organization MIRJE (Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality) and editor of another Tamil bulletin, was abducted off a street in Colombo and held incommunicado for seventeen hours until journalist friends traced him to police custody, where he was detained under emergency regulations pending investigation. His father, who attempted to visit him in detention, was denied access; on August 28 his two younger brothers were also arrested. Official efforts to account for tens of thousands of persons "disappeared" at the hands of the security forces continued. As it promised in 1997, the Sri Lankan government made public the reports of three regional commissions of inquiry into some 16,742 reported "disappearances" dating back to 1988. In July, a new commission with islandwide jurisdiction was appointed to investigate and report on about 11,000 complaints left uninvestigated by these earlier commissions. In July, the Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka criticized the government's failure to appoint a similar commission to investigate the 600 or more reported "disappearances" in the Jaffna area after government forces took control of the former LTTE stronghold in mid-1996 or to address the many "disappearances" of Tamils in eastern Sri Lanka from 1984-1988. Prosecution of the crimes uncovered in these and other inquiries has been a halting process, although charges have been filed against a number of government personnel. In the first criminal prosecution of its type, on July 3 the Colombo High Court sentenced to death six soldiers and a reserve policeman found guilty of the September 1996 murders of Jaffna schoolgirl Krishanthy Kumarasamy and her mother, teenage brother and neighbor. Five of the accused were also convicted of the rape of Krishanty, and three were found guilty of abduction. Like many Tamil civilians "disappeared" in security force operations, Krishanthy was abducted from a military checkpoint; her family members and neighbor who attempted to find her were taken from the same checkpoint later that day. In a related matter, in July after Rajapakse Jayasinghe, a soldier convicted in the Kumarasamy case, claimed that he knew the location of a mass grave containing up to 400 bodies killed and buried by the security forces, the Sri Lankan government ordered police investigations. Three months later, there had been little progress into this or other investigations into reported mass graves. Human rights defenders, concerned about impartiality, called on the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to undertake an independent investigation with the help of international forensic experts, but although an HRC official had planned to travel to Jaffna in October to begin recording testimony from families of the "disappeared," his trip was postponed, and there were no exhumations. In several prominent human rights cases before the courts, security personnel accused of gross violations remained on active duty, including eight army officers charged in relation to the "disappearances"of at least twenty-five teenagers in Embilipitiya between August 1, 1989 and January 30, 1990. No progress was made in reopening the notorious "Bolgoda Lake" case despite government vows in 1997 to expedite it. The case implicated twenty-two Special Task Force (STF) commandos in the 1995 murders of twenty-three Tamil youths whose bodies were found floating in bodies of water near Colombo. The suspects were released on bail in 1996 and resumed their duties. In August, five senior police officers including a Deputy Inspector General were sent on compulsory leave after the report of a presidential commission established to investigate allegations of torture and extrajudicial executions at a government-run detention center at the Batalanda Housing Estate near Colombo implicated them in the torture and "disappearances" of a large number of youths in the late 1980s.

Defending Human Rights

Although human rights defenders continued to play a crucial role in exposing, combatting and preventing abuse, they faced both legal and extralegal efforts to silence criticism. Organizations with a specialized thematic focus such as children's rights, gay rights, the rights of workers or women grew in strength and number and were responsible for introducing important issues for public debate. At the same time, Sri Lankan nongovernmental organizations came under additional government regulation in 1998. Both local and international organizations that worked in conflict areas or with conflict-affected people faced restrictions on their activities, and some found themselves accused of partisan loyalties. Peace groups and groups advocating free expression also ran risks of censure. As noted previously, journalists faced particular dangers in 1998. The government took advantage of an opposition walk-out on March 4 to rush through a controversial amendment to the Voluntary Social Service Organisations (Registration and Supervision) Act which allowed the government to replace an NGO's executive committee with an interim board if there was evidence of fraud or misappropriation; the original act also allowed officials to enter and inspect NGO offices and attend meetings. The Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka declared it a violation of freedom of association and called for its repeal. International Alert, a British organization devoted to conflict resolution, was forced to close its office in Colombo following its dismissal in June of an employee who wrote an article critical of the LTTE in a local newspaper. The paper reacted to the dismissal by attacking International Alert and other "like-minded NGOs" as LTTE fronts. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar joined in the attack. In May, Peace Brigades International, an organization specializing in protective accompaniment of persons at risk of political violence, announced that it was ending nine years of work in Sri Lanka after officials from the ministries of defense and foreign affairs informed the organization that it would be required to submit all future reports to authorities before publication if its representatives wished to remain in the country. Peace Brigade's reports frequently contained information about human rights situations faced by persons under their protection. On September 8, parliament created a National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) to protect children from sexual and other forms of abuse and to treat victims. The body would implement new, tougher laws relating to child abuse, including an amendment to the penal code denying bail to persons accused of sexual offences against children.

The Role of the International Community

International policy on Sri Lanka continued to combine public calls for a political solution to the conflict, condemnation of LTTE attacks on noncombatants, and humanitarian efforts to mitigate the worst effects of the war on civilians. Sri Lanka's pervasive climate of impunity was a source of concern for both the U.N. Working Group on Disappearances and Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Bacre Waly N'daiye. In March 1998, the U.N. released the report of N'daiye's 1997 visit to Sri Lanka. The report expressed concern over the government's failure to bring to justice those responsible for the country's "almost ubiquitous" extrajudicial killings and noted a troubling disconnection between apparent awareness of human rights issues at the top level of the armed forces and abusive practices on the ground. N'daiye called for a negotiated settlement to the conflict, possibly with U.N. assistance; and advocated improvements in security force training and discipline, strengthening the Human Rights Commission, revising emergency regulations to bring them in line with international norms, and establishing mechanisms to combat ethnic discrimination. The May 1998 concluding observations of the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on Sri Lanka's initial report acknowledged the government's expressed desire and efforts to promote the economic, social and cultural rights of its citizens despite the ongoing conflict but noted that the war had resulted in large-scale internal displacement, hindered efforts to provide essential services, and diverted resources. The committee voiced concern over the lack of progress towards a political settlement, evidence of ongoing discrimination and abuse against minorities, children, and women, threats to the right to shelter, to health, and to an adequate standard of living, and inadequate protection of workers. The May 1998 visit of Olara Otunnu, U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict, brought wide international attention to the plight of children in Sri Lanka's conflict areas. In reponse to his visit the LTTE pledged not to use children under the age of eighteen in combat or to recruit children under seventeen and to accept a framework to monitor compliance. They also vowed not to restrict the movement of displaced persons or interfere with the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Otunnu urged the government to create a political atmosphere that facilitated relief measures for victims of the conflict. In October, Otunnu expressed disappointment at the LTTE's apparent breach of its promise, after the military produced twenty-six child soldiers who had allegedly surrendered from the LTTE's ranks. Also in May, the U.N. Committee against Torture considered Sri Lanka's initial report. The committee's conclusions noted the establishment of Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission with regional offices and the positive role of its Supreme Court in granting compensation to torture victims. But it also expressed grave concerns over continued torture and "disappearances," impunity and the absence, until recently, of effective impartial investigations. While Sri Lanka has acceded to the Convention Against Torture it has not signed the declaration under Article 22 that permits individuals to make complaints to the committee. In June, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched a long-awaited landmine clearing project on the Jaffna peninsula, where U.N. officials estimate ten to fifteen people a month are killed and injured by mines, unexploded mortars and artillery shells. The project got off to a slow start, apparently hindered by government bureaucracy, and in August the U.N. team threatened to cancel the project altogether if they were not allowed to bring crucial radio and communications equipment into the area, which the government apparently feared might be stolen by the LTTE. Sri Lanka has not ratified the international treaty banning landmines, which it opposed for reasons of national security. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced in July that Australia, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom had provided over U.S.$5 million for programs aimed at conflict-affected children and women. Programs to be funded include landmine awareness campaigns, education for conflict resolution, activities for community-based rehabilitation of disabled children, programs dealing with psychosocial trauma, health, nutrition, education, safe water, environment, sanitation, and special programs for single parents and unaccompanied children. In May, Sri Lanka's donor countries pledged U.S. $780 million in financial support, but the World Bank expressed concern thatthe prospects for an end to the conflict had not improved. Donors "deplored the growing tragic impact of the war" and called on politicians to set aside differences. In the meantime, aid was directed at improving living conditions in conflict areas, reconstruction and basic human needs. In Jaffna in late August, Amb. David Tatham of the United Kingdom appealed to expatriate Tamils to return to Jaffna, use their financial resources to help end the war and rebuild the country. He said negotiations towards a political settlement should resumed and that "resources of the Tamil community abroad" would supplement the efforts of the international community. Britain, Germany and the European Union are involved in aid projects in the Jaffna peninsula. Since the U.S. State Department declared the LTTE a "terrorist" organization in 1997, there appeared to be greater U.S. cooperation in training of security personnel. In August, Sri Lankan and foreign press reported that the United States was providing antiterrorist training to Sri Lankan police. Government officials confirmed that the police training was being conducted by the (Secretary of State's) Counter Terrorism (SCT) unit. Two groups of thirty-nine officers had reportedly received training at the Louisiana State Police Academy and the Federal Law Enforcement Training center in Georgia. The training is allegedly designed to improve the Sri Lankan police ability to protect civilian-run installations against bombing.