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Ravindra Ranasinha / August 2012
"LLRC, Tamils and Comedy of Errors"
In this paper, Ravindra Ranasinha analyses the distorted history of Commissions that were appointed by different governments of Sri Lanka to investigate into human rights violations and the lack of credibility of the findings of such Commissions. According to him, Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) too, has its shortcomings, however certain recommendations made by it, if implemented, could bring about a certain appeasement to most of the issues faced by the Tamils and other grieving parties in the country.

THE majority is silent... the minority is helpless. And amazingly a lull reigns over the Sri Lankan sky as the LLRC recommendations go unheeded. Suddenly a notion appears from out of nowhere saying that the government is going to seek support from the Tamil Diaspora. Who will trust this notion when there has been so much cheating during past three decades? Why does the Sri Lankan government seek support from the Tamils abroad when the Tamils at home could be better suited to bring about a political solution to this ethnic rift? This 'seeking out of the Diaspora' could be just another game of Rajapakse to fool the international community and counter its War Crimes allegations.

There is hardly any interaction between the government and its subjects at present, and it has been non-existent in the previous decades also. It's a strange case of the ruler being the most powerful, most divine, most pure and most innocent, while the subjects are branded as the agitators, rebels, traitors and betrayers. This rift has created a grim mood in socio-political and cultural spheres in Sri Lanka paving the way for mistrust and lies. At every opportunity, the human rights violations were covered up in some way to keep the government’s image clean. Truth was never accorded a place in Sri Lanka, and does not to this day. Since the government cannot be seen as someone who stifles the cry for justice and peace among its people, it appoints Commissions to pacify the victims, where the agenda is drawn by the government itself. Thereby making these Commissions a joke. Is it any surprise then that these Commissions have never received any credibility? That they have time and again failed to deliver an acceptable result in upholding the values of Justice and Peace in this island...

Tamils have been continuously baited by the Sinhala government in the past three decades, a period that has seen many die, disappear and be displaced. The damage experienced by the Tamils due to the excesses of the Armed Forces is now a source of concern for the international community. Getting away from the war crimes allegations leveled against them may prove to be a lot harder than what the Sri Lankan government expected. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was set up to show how fair-minded the Rajapakse regime is. However many think it is a fool hardy attempt by the government to say that they had nothing to do with the horrendous incidents that occurred during the conflict period. It is a challenge to the government to now implement the recommendations made by the LLRC.

The minority communities and grieving parties are no longer intrested in being a part of this distortion of history as has happened often in the past. Several Commissions in the past conducted their inquiries according to the whims and fancies of their bosses and failed to deliver any acceptable result that would help in diffusing tension among ethnic communities. They unfortunately aggravated the condition further and led to the public distrusting them forever. The following list shows how Sri Lankan governments and their Commissions have failed in the history.

1) One-man Sansoni Commission of 1977- to inquire into 10 civilian deaths at the Fourth Conference on International Association of Tamil Research in 1972 and 500 civilian deaths during state aided violence of 1977. No one was prosecuted.

2) Kokkaddicholai Commission of 1991- to investigate 67 civilian deaths and disappearance of 56 civilians — all Tamils. Seventeen soldiers and one officer were charged for extra judicial killings. All acquitted and punished only for dereliction of duties.

3) Presidential Truth Commission of Ethnic Violence 2001 to investigate 3000 Tamil civilian death in the 1983 ethnic violence by government agents (as in paragraph 30 of UN 3 panel Report). No one was prosecuted.

4) Presidential Commission of Inquiry of 2006 — to investigate 16 cases. The two principle cases were the killings of 5 students in Trincomalee and 16 workers of France Action Contre la Faim in Mutur. All victims were Tamils.

This Comedy of Commissions is now joined by the LLRC which completed its mission in just 18 months during which period they only made 17 days of field visits and just 6 days to the war theatre in Vanni. What is the possibility of creating a credible report in this short period of time, considering the way they conducted their hearings?

Should we dwell on the gender balance in the LLRC itself? The most hilarious and comic enactment was seen with just one female commissioner being a part of the team that looked over the whole issue of Conflict and Post-Conflict conditions. How can a male dominated commission be sensitive to women's issues in conflict conditions? Naturaly equal rights and justice for women were completely ignored. According to records, the number of Tamil Widows amounts to 90,000. Would this lone female commissioner in the LLRC have had the opportunity to think how she would fight for women's rights when she herself had no voice in the Commission? Also did the government think that by having a female in the Commission they would help the women who have undergone violence and degradation (particularly of a sexual nature) due to the conflict? As one writer has stated: "The Commission has been criticised for demonstrating a bias to (male) seniority and for spectacularly failing to address the emotional needs of victims, or ensure their physical security. Women have been chastised and disregarded for crying while testifying, received little help in negotiating the system, have been told to write their submissions rather than speak them — on forms only in Sinhalese and English, and have in various ways been left profoundly frustrated, stigmatised and intimidated. Yet, sex discrimination runs deeper than a commission's operation. Most of the women in Sri Lanka, as in many war torn countries, clamour to be accepted as mothers, sisters and daughters of victims — but rarely as victims in their own right. This leaves violations such as sexual or structural violence, unrecognised and underreported."

Despite the Comedy of Errors, still some recommendations are available in the LLRC Report, as seen by some writers, that the government of Sri Lanka could implement immediately without much ado.

A separate event be set apart on the national Day to express solidarity and empathy with all victims of the tragic conflict and pledge our collective commitment to ensure that there should never be such blood-letting in the country again" (8.304); (b) "The learning of each others languages be made a compulsory part of the school curriculum (8.237, 8.233, 238, 239) — and the availability of bilingual officers in the public service at all times (8.241, 8.169). (c) Both Sinhala and Tamil to be incorporated in the national anthem (8.291, 292, 296).

A policy or an attitudinal change on the part of the government is implied in the following:

(a) The restoration of full civil administration in the North and East. The LLRC Report notes regretfully, numerous complaints of the security forces meddling in civil affairs, even in the clear absence of security concerns (8.85, 8.87, 8.88, 8.90, 8.91, 8.99, 8.193, 8.194.) This is a very troubling concern of the Tamil speaking people.

(b) Development policy: two of the major concerns of Tamil speaking people regarding development work are (a) the misplacement of priorities, in the sense that the Govt. is giving priority to infrastructure development through mega projects (Uthuru Wasanthaya) while the actual needs of the people such as the development of livelihoods, repair of destroyed schools, hospitals, housing, release of houses now occupied by military to former owners etc. are neglected or downplayed (8.79,80,81, 8.127); (b) the patronising attitude of the Govt. regarding development which has made the people objects of change not subjects — top — down development which takes no account of the views and desires of the people (8.83,84); (c) the failure of the Govt. (and earlier Govts.) to acknowledge and address the factual grievances of the Tamil people (8.150,151,152,153,162.)

They are naturally led to doubt the willingness of the Govt. to accept them as equal citizens of the country with the rest. " Those involving deep political issues (which involve the whole body politic)

(a) The politicisation of Govt. institutions and the public service, which replaces the rule of law with the rule of men, thereby making citizens helplessly beholden to politicians, & paralyses good governance (8.222, 209, 197, 185)

(b) Devolution of power is the critical issue which has to be dealt with as the key to the once-and-for-all solution to the ethnic problem; all political parties to enter into negotiations in good faith to arrive at a consensus for the democratic empowerment of all people, without discrimination, within the broader framework of democratic rights, with maximum devolution to the periphery, safeguarding the unitary character of the country (8.212 -221). The LLRC calls for an end to adversarial politics and for politicians to adopt a consensual mode of decision-making on national issues (8.142, 8.301)

(c) A more practical sticky issue is that of missing persons — who are they, where are they, what happened to them? The LLRC refers to this issue in 8.61 -65 mostly with reference to questions of peace of mind and of compensation. But this issue is connected with the more serious one on accountability of the security forces for the frequent disappearance of civilians (justice and peace activists, journalists etc.) even after the end of the war, resulting in a fear/anxiety complex in the population. (8.66-68).

A recommendation of fundamental importance on which the success of the whole Reconciliation enterprise will depend, is in No. 8.303. Suffice to quote its opening sentence: "The process of reconciliation requires a full acknowledgement of the tragedy of the conflict and a collective act of contrition by the political leaders and civil society, of both Sinhala and Tamil communities".

The question that needs answering is when will the Rajapakse government act on these recommendations and bring about harmony in this country? Doubts will always be raised by the public on the various government attempts to bring about a solution to the ethnic issue. Therefore whatever harping the government does to show its innocence is of zero value. While the story does not end for the Tamils, there is much to talk about the sufferings of the Muslim community that was expelled from the North and how the government has done little to restore their property. There are a huge number of rural people whose voices have never been heard by the LLRC and other authorities. The hardship and loss they suffered during the conflict has not been brought to light. Therefore, we are not sure whether proper justice and peace can be restored in this country until the scarred minds of those victims are completely healed.

(Editing: Bina Nayak)