Jaffna GA denies allegations of firing at civilians

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith commends Govt for effective policies, before LLRC:

*Role of Security Forces commended

*Need for political solution stressed

By Shanika Sriyananda

The controversial issue of Security Forces firing at civilians who fled with white flags during the last stages of the final battle in May 2009, was questioned at last week’s sittings of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). Strongly denying the allegation, former Government Agent for Mullaitivu Emelda Sukumar told the LLRC that no civilian was shot at by the soldiers when they were fleeing LTTE control during the final days of the battle.

Answering a query by LLRC Chairman C.R. de Silva, whether the allegation that soldiers fired at civilians crossing the LTTE’s forward defence lines with white flags was true, she said, “It was completely false. I was the GA there from 2002 till January 2010. If such incidents had taken place I should be aware of it. But such incidents were not reported to me”, she said.

The LLRC was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to find the root causes of the conflict and also to come up with concrete proposals to prevent the recurrence of similar conflicts in future.

The eight-member committee headed by former Attorney General Chitta Ranjan de Silva is also entrusted to recommend proposals to enhance national unity and reconciliation among all communities. It was also asked to find those persons or groups responsible for the 30-year conflict which devastated the country’s future.

Sukumar, the present GA of Jaffna, said she knows that the LTTE did not allow the civilians to flee and used them as a human shield in the State-declared ‘No Fire Zones’.

She said two of her drivers who had fled the LTTE-controlled areas carrying white flags had told her their story. She had also met civilians in welfare centres in Vavuniya who had surrendered to the military, carrying white flags.

Civilian hostages

“They informed me how they were safely taken over by the soldiers and transported to safe places”, she said.

Sukumar said the civilians wanted to abandon the LTTE, but the group kept them as hostages as they wanted to survive. “The civilians were caught up in the middle and when they tried to flee, they were shot dead by the LTTE”, she said, adding that the LTTE had kept over 350,000 civilians in the Pudukudiyiruppu area in Mullaitivu as hostages.

She said the Government continued to supply food to the trapped civilians and some of it was misused by the LTTE.

She said the majority of civilians were alive due to the humanitarian operation launched by the Security Forces to save the displaced civilians from the grip of the LTTE.

Sukumar said the Security Forces were in constant contact with her which facilitated to have a continuous flow of essential items to the No Fire Zone.

The newly appointed Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said the grievances of the minority could only be resolved through a political solution and stressed the need of searching for a viable political solution without delay to resolve their problems.

He said the Catholic Church had never advocated the LTTE’s position and would never favour an armed struggle.

The country’s second Cardinal said the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka had made several attempts to bring the government and the LTTE into the peace process, but the efforts did not bear fruit due to misunderstandings between them.

He accused ‘political forces’ for their failure to be a part of the peace process.

“Building trust between communities is essential to remove suspicion among them. The oppressive feelings that built up in the minds of the Tamil community directed their focus towards the creation of a separate state of Eelam. This was a gradual development and not a spontaneous one,” he said adding that the development process should be carried out based on ethnic harmony.

Sinhala only

Cardinal Ranjith claimed that the Sinhala Only Act and some other provisions implemented by governments were the main causes that led to the 30-year conflict.

Proposing to promote trilingual education in schools from early childhood to further strengthen reconciliation efforts, Cardinal Ranjith said proficiency in all three languages should be made mandatory for university entrance. “A good knowledge of the three languages would result in better interaction among communities and make reconciliation easier,” he said.

He said that there should also be better recognition of the fact that both Sinhala and Tamil are national languages.

A major shortcoming in the public sector was the inability of public servants to communicate in Tamil, he said.

“When building national unity and reconciliation, national security too should be taken into account. It is vital to create mutual trust among different communities.

There is a need to dispel mistrust. The Catholic Church always strove to create unity among the Sinhala and Tamil communities. But it is vital that the mutual suspicion that exists between certain sectors is banished.” He said discrimination would lead to a division on ethnic lines. “We should always strive to foster national unity within a united country”.

He cautioned about attempts to change the ethnic ratio in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and said that would harm ethnic harmony.

Answering a question by Commissioner M.T.M. Bafiq, Cardinal Ranjith said measures needed to be taken to safeguard national security, but there should be freedom to a certain degree to promote confidence building and also to goodwill and harmony.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, who commended the Government for its effective policies, requested the political leadership not to play politics at the expense of the country, but to work for national harmony.

He said after ending a decades long war, the country cannot afford to undergo a similar conflict and needed to build confidence among communities in the aftermath of the war.

“Nothing could be as important as preserving peace”, he said, adding that the Church would never justify terrorism and is always for an undivided country.

Vital role

He said religions could play a vital role to promote peace and harmony in the post-conflict era. “I am willing to work with the Buddhist Clergy. The measures to foster religious unity is a good move. As proposed, we are prepared to work together with other religious leaders. Similarly, it is important that religious leaders as well as religious institutions are free of politicisation.”

However, he opposed the reintroduction of the Gaming (Special Provisions) Bill and said encouraging gambling was against all religious principles in the country.

“By introducing such a Bill, it is as though they are legalising gaming. I am greatly disappointed about this,” he said.

Shamil Perera, testifying before the LLRC, urged the Government to implement the 13th Amendment and said that it would make a significant contribution to national reconciliation.

He also proposed to abolish Emergency Regulations and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) as the LTTE is no more.

“Emergency Regulations were introduced during the height of LTTE’s offensives targeting the Jaffna peninsula in 2000. At that time, there was a need to place the country on a war footing. Now that the LTTE is defeated, there can’t be a need to continue with this”, he said.

Responding to their requests, Chairman de Silva explained briefly the circumstances that led to introducing the Emergency Regulations and PTA. He said there were other countries which introduced special laws to combat terrorism.

“Sri Lanka is not the only country that implemented special laws to combat terrorism. The UK and India and several other countries have adopted such special laws to prevent terrorism”, he said.

“Although the LTTE is no more, terrorism cannot be ignored altogether. There may be a need to set up temporary provisions to resolve this issue until the situation normalises,” LLRC Chairman C.R de Silva said.

He said that tough laws were necessary to deal with not only the LTTE, but also other armed groups.

Rev. Father G. Sigamany requested the Government to do away with High Security Zones (HSZs) in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, which were major obstacles in restoring normality.

The LLRC, which has heard over 50 persons including, prominent diplomats, military personnel, religious dignitaries and civilians who were directly affected by the conflict, is to implement several vital suggestions by them soon. An Inter-Agency Advisory Group is to form to implement these interim recommendations of the LLRC.

The LLRC, giving an opportunity for Jaffna civilians to come out with their experiences during the war, will hold its four-day sittings in Jaffna next week.