World’s first ever success story :

Safety of civilians, was our topmost priority - Defence Secy. Gotabaya Rajapaksa

by Shanika SRIYANANDA

“Instead of criticizing and blaming the government, the world should study the unique strategy adopted to protect displaced civilians during the three and half years old battle against defunct LTTE terrorists, “ - Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary.

Being the main force behind the successful military operation which completely annihilated the LTTE in May last year, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in an interview with the Sunday Observer spelled out the measures adopted to rescue and look after over 280,000 displaced civilians and to maintain zero casualty figures throughout the combat operations against the LTTE.

Four Presidents of eight previous regimes failed to sweep the LTTE completely may be due to local and international pressure to unplug the on-going military operations half way. This resulted in the terror outfit claiming that they were ‘unbeatable’. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who too tried to bring them to a democratic path several times, was finally adamant that ‘the LTTE should be defeated militarily’.

Over 26,000 military personnel had already sacrificed their lives when President Rajapaksa resumed duties.

He drove the military and the entire nation to achieve a single goal - defeat the LTTE scourge through military means confronting mounting international pressure.

Giving the fullest political will to put an end to terrorism, President Rajapaksa wanted a change in his military might. When he assumed duties in 2005, he wanted to name the military operation as a humanitarian operation as he knew that his government was going to liberate the entire Tamil population trampled under LTTE’s dictatorial rule in the North and the East for over three decades.

As a leader who bloomed from the ordinary masses, he foresaw the impending humanitarian issues which would prop up in a conflict situation. While getting prepared to destroy the LTTE militarily he ordered to ‘get ready’ to look after Tamils who lost their ties with Southerners.

“We studied the strategies of the previous military operations before we commenced the military operations. We learnt lessons and adopted new strategies. The most important strategy in the military exercise was the steps taken to safeguard the displaced civilians. Previous military operations were named as Vadamarachchi Operation, Operation Balavegaya, Operation Riviresa; Operation Jayasikurui; Operation Rivibala. At the very first meeting to plan the future military operations, the President asked us to name the exercise as ‘Humanitarian operation’,” Rajapaksa said.

With each military advance starting from the East, the LTTE retreated forcefully herding the civilians with them.

The LTTE domination that spanned to over 15,000 sq km started to shrink with the commencement of the military cum humanitarian operation in 2006. After liberating the Eastern province from the LTTE in 2007 July, the troops liberated the entire Vanni region on May 19 2009.

“In the pre-planning stage of the battle, the President gave the task to the Security Council to come up with means to minimize civilian casualties, continue humanitarian assistance for the civilians in the on-going battle, to rescue civilians, to look after LTTE cadres who surrender and to shelter the civilians who fled the conflict. He always said this military exercise was not only to destroy LTTE terrorism and capture land but also to liberate civilians from the LTTE dictatorship. We strictly continued this concept throughout the operation,” he said.

The Defence Secretary said it was the first time in the world that a zero casualty principle was included in the military operational orders in a battle.

“From the Security Council, it was passed down to the formation Commanders and then to the field commanders. The important factor of this procedure was everyone involved in the battle, from the top commander to the soldiers who fought at the battle field, was aware of this principle”, he said.

From the first day the troops stepped into the first inch of the LTTE domination in the East, the government drew welfare plans to look after civilians. The first mass exodus of civilians over 180,000 was reported from the East. Knowing well that the LTTE would snatch away the food, medicine, fuel and other humanitarian assistance sent to the civilians, the government continued to supply the required stocks to the North and the East.

The very first step that the President took to maintain a continuous flow of humanitarian assistance for the civilians was the appointment of the Commissioner General of Essential Services (CGES), who was held responsible for the welfare of the civilians.

“From the East, we knew the LTTE would keep civilians as hostages. The President instructed the officials to transport all the essential requirements to the North and the East. The CGES had to brief the President about the situation of the humanitarian assistance to these areas at the Security Council meeting. The very first complaint about a shortage in food came after we liberated Vakarai. Taking prompt action, over 100 lorry loads of essential food items were sent. When the food stocks were sent to these areas we knew some of the stocks would go to the LTTE. They took control of distribution. But the government continued to send the stocks as we wanted to look after the civilians”, Rajapaksa said.

He said the troops had discovered the LTTE had used bags full of rice to cover the bunkers in Vakarai but the government did not stop sending humanitarian assistance until the last day of the battle.

“When the LTTE forced them to move to Puthumathalan and cornered there, the government faced difficulties in transporting the stocks as the land connection was destroyed by the LTTE. Then we used ships to reach the location and found LTTE cadres disguised as civilians were unloading the stocks. The LTTE used their boats to transport the stocks to their bases. We knew the relief items would go to their bases but the government continued with its mission - looking after the welfare of the civilians”, he said.

The Ministry of Nation Building had sent over 10,000 metric tonnes of mixed food items with the help of the WFP to Wanni from January to August, 2008 indicating the Government’s commitment to ensure the welfare of the Vanni people. The Ministry of Health supplied over 330 million Rupees worth of medical supplies to the North including Rs. 70 million to the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts in 2008. The Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services has supplied Rs 35 million in emergency supplies to IDPs in these districts areas.

Providing humanitarian assistance for the Vanni civilians went on uninterrupted despite the fact the LTTE snatched away a greater portion of the stocks.

The Defence Secretary said the evacuation of sick and wounded went on until the last minute and they rescued lives of many LTTE cadres who entered the government control.

The sick and wounded civilians and surrendered cadres were treated in several hospitals in the South Until the last minute of the battle, the troops saved the lives of the civilians as well as the cadres who surrendered.

“These processes and actions were monitored by UN agencies and the ICRC”, he said.

CCHA

The agony of civilians caught up in the conflict was exacerbated as terrorists forced them to move into fighting areas using them as a human shield. The terrorists have violated international humanitarian and human rights law by deliberately exposing civilians in a military operation. The government urged Amnesty International and other human rights groups to pressurize the LTTE to free the civilians heeding fundamental norms.

Despite all calls from the government to secure freedom of movement of the civilians, the LTTE forcefully dragged them area to area with the troops progressing.

“The government knew that people there were suffering. As a responsible government we took all the possible steps to look after them while the war was going on. One important step was the formation of the ‘Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance’. No one talks about this now,” he said.

The CCHA was headed by the then Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe. It was attended by the President’s Senior Advisor Basil Rajapaksa and the Secretaries of Defence, Foreign, Education, resettlement, Health, Disaster Management and Human Rights and Nation Building.

Government Agents from Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee and Batticaloa, Essential Services Commissioner, representatives of Co-chairs - USA, EU, Japan and Norway, the Peace Secretariat, Police and Armed Services, the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, heads of agencies from UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, WFP, ILO and UNOCHA, the US Ambassador representing the Co-Chairs to the Peace Process, the Ambassadors of Japan, the Delegation of the European Union, the ICRC, ECHO and the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies representing Sri Lanka’s partners in its humanitarian work were actively took part in regular meetings held at the Defence Ministry.

“The purpose of forming of the CCHA was to discuss the humanitarian aspects of the operation to find solutions to issues that triggered with the military operation. At the regular meetings with the participation of all those officials, prompt actions were taken to rectify the problems.

Whether it was a shortage in food or fuel or medicine we took speedy actions to give relief for the civilians. Even problems related to evacuation of sick and wounded civilians were discussed there”, Rajapaksa said.

He said that the process was not an adhoc arrangement but a well planned strategy to address humanitarian issues designed and implemented from the day one of the military operation to the last day of the three and half year military operation.

“Every body knew what was going on. The members of the CCHA brought up various issues of the people of Vanni and the government addressed them promptly. This mechanism was a very transparent process and shows the government’s commitment to protect civilians and their rights. Well before those issues propped up the government visualized them and took measures to give the civilians relief”, he said.

The Defence Secretary said the UN or the international community could not claim that no measures were taken to give humanitarian assistance during the war.

Presidential Task Force

From January 2009, the Government knew the civilians would pour in to government controlled areas as the humanitarian crisis was increasing due to LTTE terror. The President appointed a Task Force to address the impending humanitarian issues due to the mass exodus of civilian.

“Well before they fled the LTTE control, welfare centres were set up in Vavuniya to shelter the civilians. Though we had the preparedness, the government faced some practical difficulties in the later stages when over 200,000 came on a single day. But with the experience we had with handling the Eastern civilians, we gave maximum care for those IDPs who came with empty hands. The doors were opened for the foreign medical teams including French and Indian military doctors.

They established their camps in Vavuniya and treated the sick and wounded civilians”, he said adding the process was carried out in the presence of the ICRC.

According to the Defence Secretary, the registration of civilians was done in the presence of ICRC before sending them to the welfare centres.

`No Fire Zones’

He said the proposal of establishing civilian safety zones - ‘No fire Zones’ - was brought up by President Rajapaksa at the Security Council.

“We realized that the LTTE was not allowing civilians to cross to government control and they wanted to create international sympathy by holding them as hostages. Their intention was to expose the civilians to the cross fire and they dragged them. The government declared the first NFZ covering the area of Visuamadu and Puthukuddiriyappu and dropped leaflets asking the civilians to move to that area. Declaring a NFZ was a firm action to avoid any civilian casualty. But what happened was the LTTE taking advantage of new measure, fixed their heavy weapons in the NFZ and attacked the troops”, he said.

“When the troops reached the edge of the NFZ, over 20,000 people crossed and reached Kilinochchi. The LTTE then started shooting the fleeing civilians to stop them. They knew they could not hold the civilians any more.

Then they forced the civilians to go to the very thin coastal stretch in Puthumathalan to keep them as hostages further. The LTTE thought it would be easy to retain the IDPs there as the terrain was in the middle of the lagoon and the sea. The Government which wanted to maintain its unique principle - the zero casualty rate- declared Puthumathalan as the new NFZ”, he said.

As the troops were advancing, over 75,000 civilians were lined up to cross to liberated areas from Kilinochchi but the LTTE terrorists shot and beat them to prevent them fleeing. Over 10 people got killed due to indiscriminate fire.

The Government decided on the location along the Mullaitivu Western coast as the second NFZ to provide humanitarian aid and medicine for the IDPs with the help of the ICRC. The NFZ included the villages: Vellamullavaikkal, Karayamullivaikkal, Velayanmadam, Ampelavanpokkanai and Putumattalan. With no mercy, the LTTE used the newly declared 12 km safe zone also as its new battlefield. While the LTTE was attacking the troops with heavy weapons from the NFZ the UN urged the LTTE to free the civilians, used as a human shield, to enable them move into government controlled areas.

When the LTTE was using the NFZ as their battle pad, the Government expanded the NFZ to ensure civilian safety. The constant efforts by the civilians to flee the NFZ was futile. But the LTTE still held the civilians as hostages and attacked the advancing troops from the makeshift camps among the civilians.

However, the Government with the assistance of the UN and ICRC, brought over 300 civilians including 165 patients and 40 children who were forcibly kept as hostages to Omanthai.

During the closing weeks of the battle, the government continued to send consignments of food and medical items to civilians in Puthumathalan. Over 150 metric tons of food items were sent via Trincomalee to Mullaithivu.

The military campaign to liberate civilian hostages bottled up in the second NFZ - Puthumathalan, the rectangle 12 km coastal stretch amid of the Nanthikadal lagoon from the West and the ocean on the East was launched in April. Mingling with the civilians, LTTE terrorists used their maximum fire power. UAV visuals showed the highly dense locations where the LTTE had fixed their heavy weapons.

Strict orders not to use heavy weapons to maintain zero casualty had tied the hands of troops. The commanders had to renew their military strategies to rescue the entrapped civilians.

The infantry was the only option and they deployed small teams to neutralize the LTTE’s strategic points around the long tall earth bunds built to prevent troops stepping in and also to retain hostages with the terrorists.

The UAVs played a vital role in pre-planning to attack enemy targets. Frequent reconnaissance missions were carried out and troops of the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol had infiltrated into NFZ to pass vital information to make the humanitarian mission a success. The information had facilitated the troops to get accurate targets to break huge earth bunds to create a gateway for civilians to enter the government controlled one.

During April over 100,000 people fled the LTTE control and the last days of the battle another 180,000 hostages abandoned the LTTE.

Smelling they were in a loosing battle, the terrorists in their final days had attempted to halt the advancing military push and stop civilians fleeing by sending human bombs.

But the waves of suicide attempts including a deadly suicide attack at Vishuamadu and the last day suicide attack on the defence at Velayanmadam, Puthumatallan and east of Puthukkudiyirippu took a heavy death toll including civilians and soldiers.

Rajapaksa said the Government could have easily stopped declaring the second NFZ and asked the civilians to remain only in the specific zone. We could easily attack the areas outside the NFZ with heavy weapons and say we were not responsible for the destruction outside the NFZ. But the President’s order to declare the second NFZ with the LTTE herding the civilians to Puthumathalan”, he said adding that the troops sacrificed lives as they were only ordered to use small weapons and aerial air bombing was prohibited.

More military casualties

“The military got more casualties as they were restricted in using their full fire power to ensure civilian safety. These were self imposed principles”, he said.

Defence Secretary said some accused the Government of dragging the war but it got delayed due to its concern about maintaining zero casualty rates.

“We had a very slow military operation and if not the civilian safety factor we could finish the battle in no time”, Rajapaksa said.

If the accusations of the international community on deliberate killings of civilians are true how can LTTE’s prominent figures like its media spokesman Daya Master and George Master, its translator who fled the LTTE mingling with civilians on April 22 escape death?

According to final count nearly 11,000 terrorists including 3,000 hardcore LTTEers and child soldiers came with civilian exodus that crossed over to form the NFZ as civilians and later surrendered to the military.

If the allegations are true how can they live to tell the truth. By saving life of thousands of terrorists itself, the operation to annihilate the LTTE can be described as truly a humanitarian operation..

Defence Secretary explaining further the means used to make the battle a humanitarian operation said the military was not just deployed to fight but given a thorough training on humanitarian aspects to maintain the government’s cardinal principal- zero casualty rates.

“Over the years we have trained our soldiers for this mission by educating them on humanitarian law and international law in a conflict. At field level they were educated with the assistance of the ICRC. We appointed military officers as Civil Affairs Officers to have a better coordination with civilians. They looked into the humanitarian issues in the North and the East,” he said.

UAV’s

The Defence Secretary said the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), was introduced for the first time in the battle against the LTTE mainly to get accurate enemy targets to avoid civilian casualties.

The UAV images helped the fighting Divisions to pre-plan their operations to attack the correct LTTE strategic points.

In the final stages of the rescue operation, the UAVs supplied the evidence to prove how the LTTE terrorists used civilians as a human shield and the indiscriminate firing to prevent civilians crossing the liberated areas.

The aerial visuals showed the LTTE using a tank, which was positioned near a makeshift hut, firing from the NFZ to prevent troops advancing.

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka’s military exercise was the world’s first ever success story on how a military could remain humane while battling terrorists.