Darusman Report:

Humanity extended by Security Forces ignored

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

Giving water to an elderly person

An old womqn being carried by a security forces personnel

Soldiers assisting the Tamil civilians who fled from the clutches of the LTTE

Soldiers providing water to the last batch of civilians arriving through Vadduvakkal bridge Pix: Rukmal Gamage

It was with heavy heart, that I went through the pages of the report released by the Advisory panel to the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon on the final days of the humanitarian operation conducted by the Sri Lankan Security Forces against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which was among the most ruthless terror outfit in the world.

Going through the report I felt , for whatever reasons, the panel headed by Maruzuki Darusman attempted to make the Security Forces, who had liberated more than quarter million Tamil population from the ‘hell’ they were living at the final stages of the humanitarian operation under the iron grip of the LTTE, the villains of the whole episode.

The panel has presented their report in a narration and point form, very silently building up an argument that the humanitarian operation conducted by the Sri Lankan Security Forces to rescue the Tamil population was conducted totally against internationally accepted norms and conventions to which Sri Lanka is a signatory.

For me, that was the essence of the whole report exceeding 200 pages along with annexes, that was presented by the advisory pannel to the UN Secretary General and also to the entire world exceeding its mandate as very correctly pointed out by the Sri Lankan Government and experts on international affairs.

Arguments

Apparently, they have built their arguments based on the facts either forwarded to them by individuals and organisations representing the Tamil Diaspora and also by the UN and other INGOs including the ICRC representatives who were there in the LTTE controlled areas and within the Government declared No Fire Zones at the final stages of the war.

I felt the report is biased, because the panel has presented it with images which could rouse the sentiments of anyone, who has very little knowledge about the ground realities in the Northern battle front at the final stages of the humanitarian operation, against the Security Forces.

If not for my frequent visits to the battle front, throughout the entire humanitarian operation from Mavil Aru to Vellamullivaikkal, I would have also been a blind follower of the Darusman Report as it is effective enough to paint a picture of the Sri Lankan Security Forces as a set of inhumane butchers executing innocent civilians in the name of liberating them.

So, as a journalist who was there in the operational area when the Security Forces were rescuing the civilian population, I was in an advantageous position to visualise the correct situation there and see the humane way the Security Forces treated civilians who had been rescued by them from the clutches of the LTTE.

Therefore, it is disheartening to observe that the panel of experts have not come across any image of the Sri Lankan Security Forces who had relentlessly fought against the LTTE to liberate not only the area but also the civilian population from the clutches of the LTTE.

Instead, the report was harping on the fact that the ‘no fire zones’ frequently came under heavy artillery fire of the Security Forces.

So, the panel of experts, have to clarify whether the Security Forces had committed an unforgivable sin by liberating the civilian population from the immense suffering for decades at the hands of the LTTE.

If the panel of experts are aware, how much trouble the Security Forces had taken in the planning process of the Puthumattalan human rescue operation from the second No Fire Zone declared by the Government, they will be ashamed of their own report!

It is learnt that the Government and the Security Forces are going to respond to the report in a comprehensive manner to enlighten the entire international community about the true picture of what the Security Forces had to come up with in the last stages of the humanitarian operation.

It will definitely add light on the panel of experts about the exact situation that prevailed in the combat zone in the final stages of the humanitarian operation as the Security Forces had to operate extremely difficult situation.

The Security Forces committed themselves not to harm a single civilian when rescuing civilians from ‘hell on the earth’ and briefed even the lowest ranking infantrymen who were supposed to reinforce the troops engage in the operation on April 19, 2009 midnight, not to harm a single civilian when conducting their operation.

If the Security Forces commanders just gave them orders to break the walls of the No Fire Zone and get rid of the LTTE, they could have easily accomplished their task, but there would have been heavy civilian casualties and deaths.

Treating sick children

Bringing sick civilians in stretches

If they did so, they would not have lost the lives of 18 elite commandos and get 60 odd commandos wounded in the operation.

Army officers who actively engaged in the operation refused to have a fire plan even in the case of an emergency situation, when conducting the biggest ever hostage rescue mission in the world.

“I did not want such plans as we were confident that we could achieve our target without a fire plan and we achieved that,” the officer added.

The Security Forces went beyond their limitations when extending their hand to the pathetic crowd who were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Security Forces to rescue them from the LTTE.

They made available the route meant for casualty evacuation for civilians to arrive into the Government controlled areas.

Bottle of water

“When I gave my bottle of water to one mother she just wet the lips of her child as there were many more children waiting for a drop of water. So we gave everything we had in our possession to quench their thirst,” an Army officer involved in the Puthumattalan human rescue mission while sharing his experience with me said.

“Sometimes our soldiers have seen Tiger cadres leaving their guns and joining civilians but they never became aggressive towards them as they were aware that an overwhelming majority of civilians willingly or unwillingly supported the LTTE when they were living under their control,” the officer added.

The Security Forces were aggressive with the enemy but not at all with civilians. They have quite clearly displayed their human qualities right throughout the humanitarian operation and did not act like barbarians ignoring civilian casualties.

If the panel of experts emphasise the fact that the Security Forces have committed crimes against humanity, why should the Security Forces welcome all those civilians with open arms when LTTE cadres were directing fire at them when they were fleeing from LTTE areas to reach government controlled areas.

According to Section 112 of the report ; As the situation in the second NFZ worsened, large numbers of civilians tried to escape LTTE-controlled areas, but the LTTE sought to prevent this with increasing brutality. Some LTTE cadres would let fleeing civilians through, but others opened fire on them with AK47s, killing men, women and children, alike. The IDPs, who attempted escape, desperately tried to run away and to reach SLA lines, carrying their children or luggage or dropping them in their panic.

Some were killed on the spot; others flailed in the shallow water or incurred terrible injuries by stepping on landmines. Small children and others drowned in the lagoon.

While it is not known precisely how many people died this way, the number was significant and rose as the armed conflict progressed.

The expert pannel fail to mention that it was the Security Forces who welcomed those civilians to the cleared areas, risking their lives to rescue those civilians.

Section 51 of the report said: As LTTE recruitment increased, parents actively resisted, and families took increasingly desperate measures to protect their children from recruitment. They hid their children in secret locations or forced them into early arranged marriages.

Meanwhile Section 52 says that LTTE cadres would beat relatives or parents, sometimes severely, if they tried to resist recruitment. All these approaches, many of them aimed at defending the LTTE and its leadership, portrayed callousness to the desperate plight of civilians and willingness to sacrifice their lives.

Section 53 of the report states :Beginning in February, the LTTE commenced a policy of shooting civilians who attempted to escape, and, to this end, cadre took up positions where they could spot civilians who might try to break out.

Dealing with the same subject Section 98 and 99 also mention that, “In spite of the futility of their military situation, the LTTE not only refused to surrender, but also continued to prevent civilians from leaving the area, ensuring their continued presence as a human buffer.

It forced civilians to help build military installations and fortifications or undertake other forced labour.

It also intensified its practice of forced recruitment, including of children, to swell their dwindling ranks.

99 Nonetheless, as the situation in the second NFZ worsened, growing numbers of civilians sought to escape LTTE-controlled areas.

Civilians waded long distances through the lagoons or across mine-ridden territory, often in the dead of night. Inevitably people stepped on landmines and lost their limbs or were fatally injured.

Whilst explaining the brutalities of the LTTE, the panel of expert fail to mention that they were the reason for the Security Forces to conduct such a mind boggling humanitarian operation to rescue civilians from the LTTE.

In the absence of well reputed international INGOs in aid of the exodus of civilians it was the Security Forces who fed more than 130,000 civilians flooded from the No Fire Zone in Puthumattalan for more than three days. The Sri Lanka Army had a mechanism to provide fresh meals for such a large number of people at once till they registered each and every civilian before they were sent to welfare centres in Vavuniya.

It is true that civilians had to be thoroughly screened before they reached the cleared areas. Sometimes they had to pose naked in underground bunkers in the screening process. The panel of experts points a finger at the Security Forces violating the privacy of civilians, but does not explain under which circumstances the Security Forces had to follow that process.

It was after the suicide explosion at civilian registering centre at Udayarkaddu in Visuvamadu in the February 2009, that the Security Forces had to search each and every civilian arrived in the cleared areas.

Not only did it assure the safety of the Security Forces screening civilians, but also the thousands of civilians who could escape from the LTTE grip.

Operate

In another instance, while blaming the Security Forces for not allowing the UN and ICRC personnel to operate within the combat zone, the panel of experts point out how their offices and store facilities came under shell attacks. However, they failed to explained how the LTTE exploited their resources and facilities to accomplish their terror operations against the Security Forces.

Right throughout the report what they were trying to implicate that it was the Security Forces who had committed crimes against humanity and mere trying to frame the Security Forces under the violation of international humanitarian law and other conventions ratified by Sri Lanka, blindly ignoring the factors which led to that situation.

So it is up to the Government and the Security Forces to explain the issues comprehensively and explain the consequences the country would have experienced if measures were not taken to eliminate the LTTE from Sri Lankan soil.