Bindunuwewa revisited

by Justice P.H.K. Kulatilaka

Bindunuwewa had been a sleeping village in the outskirts of the salubrious Bandarawela town. The article goes down memory lane and re-live the circumstances that led to the tragic events at the Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre on October 25, 2000 in which 27 inmates died and 14 people were injured.

What prompted me to get back to Bindunuwewa even at this late stage was an article that appeared in LST Review – Vol. 15 Issue 202 titled Making Sense of Bindunuwewa - From Massacre to Acquittals by Alan Keenan, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Peace and Conflict Studies, Department of Public Science, Bryn Mawr College, United States.

In his article while making a comparative study of the High Court trial, the Supreme Court Appeal and the Commissions of Inquiry appointed by the then President inter alia he made certain specific reference to the Bindunuwewa Commission namely, ‘…the Commission’s report certainly adds much to our knowledge about the massacre and the conditions that led to it and should be available to a wide public…’.

He requests the appointing authority to publish the Commission report ‘for it presents the most accurate and critical accounting of the attack so far as that helps to determine the historical setting of what happened at Bindunuwewa.

The tragic events at the Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre on October 25, 2000 had then served to deepen the ethnic hostilities and suspicion between the two major ethnic communities in Sri Lanka and created bitter memories of inter ethnic hatred.

The appointment of the Commission by the Government of Sri Lanka did clearly manifest the commitment to uphold the principles of impartiality and ethnic equality to bring back much needed peace for the people of Sri Lanka.

Transparency

The Commission proceedings were held in public with transparency. All aggrieved and interested parties including lawyers of the Human Rights Commission, the Centre for Human Rights were permitted to participate in the proceedings.

Some representatives of foreign missions including the British High Commission watched the proceedings. Deputy Solicitor General Palitha Fernando [as he was then] and Senior State Counsel Suhada Gamlath [as he was then] represented the Attorney General as amicus.

A description of the location of the rehabilitation centre runs as follows, ‘Surrounded by the lush green vegetation lies the Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre in the hill country of Sri Lanka, 4,000 feet above sea level. It enjoys a salubrious climate’.

It occupied three acres of land. It was bounded on the south by a public road going to the villages Maduwalapathana and Sapugasulpotha, the west by the public cemetery. To the North the land became undulating and precipitous.

To the East was the Vidyadeepa Training School playground marked by a steep slope of about 24 metres merging with the land below belonging to the Rehabilitation Centre. This was the geography of the Centre as seen by the Commissioner when he visited the ill-fated crime scene.

The Commissioner’s observation was to the following effect, ‘I saw the destruction caused to it owing to an uncontrolled expression of rage by a thoughtless cascading mob. I saw the residue of buildings gutted and devastated by fire. I saw chunks of charred machinery and bunk beds.’

There had been four halls, one for religious and social events and seminars, one for vocational training and the other two where the inmates lived. They were made of zinc sheets. The Rehabilitation Centre was established in 1990 to rehabilitate JVP youth.

Albeit, by 1993 it housed LTTE suspects detained under Regulations 17 or 19 of the Emergency Regulations or Section 9 of the PTA, and surrendees detained under Regulation 20c of the Emergency Regulations.

Robert Knox

There were three villages around, namely,Watagamuwa, Kandekumbura and Sapugasulpotha. They were essentially traditional Sinhala villages of ‘the Kandyan peasant fame’. This area was sparsely populated. The total population was around 1,600. To ascertain whether these people were of criminal disposition the Commission caused the local Police to produce statistics relating to murder.

Very strangely, for the past three years up to the occurrence of the attack in October 2000 only two murders had been reported from Bindunuwewa and the villages around.

Hence what was stated by Robert Knox of Kandyan peasants in his ‘An historical relation of Ceylon’ as far back as 1666 still remained unchanged. He said, “They are not very malicious one towards another, and their anger doth not last long, seldom or never any bloodshed among them in their quarrels.”

Detainees

There were 41 inmates [detainees] undergoing rehabilitation. They were well looked after. ‘Note for record’ submitted to the Commission by the UNICEF representative Colin Glennie pertaining to a visit to the Centre on November 8, 1999 had this to say, “On the whole the centre was providing good care and rehabilitation in spite of the lack of all the resources necessary. The caring attitude of Capt. Y. K. Abeyratne was particularly commendable.’

An inmate who had suffered injuries Sinnatamby Rajendran speaking of the period of his stay at the Centre said, “I was treated well. We attended the morning assembly at 6.30 a.m. We were told how to be disciplined ourselves. Tamil, Sinhala and English were taught to us. We were provided with vocational training as well. I got a training in carpentry. I have no complaints about the food. Food was good.

During play time inmates engaged in sports. I too joined them. We were taught to be good citizens. We had good teachers and instructors. They were soft spoken. They never used the word umba in addressing us. Whatever the religion Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism we were able to practise our religion.” He really meant what he said.

Capt. Abeyratne, the officer in charge was a Grade 11 principal and a Cadet Corp Officer. His deputy Lt. P. Abeyratne was a teacher and a Cadet Corp Officer as well.

Prof. Harendra de Silva who had conducted counselling programs to educate the care givers spoke high of the care and rehabilitation afforded to the inmates. There was a relationship between the inmates and the villagers. The OIC in his evidence produced a copy of an article published in the Dinamina titled ‘Tamil youths of Bindunuwewa celebrate Vesak.’

Prof. de Silva described them as ‘Obedient and disciplined set of youngsters’. The Commissioner while inquiring into the incident paused a while to answer the question in his report, ‘What took away the lives of ‘the loved ones’ about whom OIC Capt. Abeyratne shed tears while giving evidence’.

Professor’s opinion

Prof. de Silva perturbed by the question expressed the following opinion. ‘It is highly possible that many of the young adults at the centre were suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] characterised by re-experiencing of symptoms sleep disturbance, nightmares, flashbacks as a result of their past experiences.

The people who care for or are geared to rescue traumatised people may also be influenced by them in a way that may trigger similar psychological conditions in them, unless provided with special guidelines and training’.

The sudden breakdown in the administration was that the authorities had failed to see, understand and take remedial steps to arrest the brewing discontent and frustration smarting in the minds of the inmates regarding the uncertainty about their period of rehabilitation.

Anton James

An important issue that caught the attention of the Commission was highlighted in the report as ‘Anton James Factor’. Anton James was in the ‘hard core’ LTTE cadre who had fought for the terrorist organisation for 13 years. His presence in the centre during this period was a serious breach of security. He was disabled and was 25 years of age. He had participated in a number of attacks on army camps including Kiran Camp and Arantalawa Air Force Camp.

He was involved in the murder of 18 STF personnel while in Batticaloa and had fought for the LTTE against Operation Jaya Sikuru. While in combat he broke his left arm. There had been healed gun-shot injuries on his body.

His confessional statement made to Batticaloa police at the time of his surrender was marked in evidence. This person had been handed over to the Rehabilitation Centre without strict screening on October 3, 2000 about 2 ½ months prior to the tragic incident. He was dangerous in the camp.

Evidence revealed that at the time of the attack Anton James had been giving telephone calls to some unknown person. Apparently this telephone which was in the office had been removed to the inmates’ residence.

Anton James was a LTTE spy or a ploy planted by the LTTE to create a revolt in the Centre to attract international attention and sympathy for their cause. Presence of the hard core LTTE terrorist in the Centre had a devastating influence on the inmates.

A Deputy Inspector General of Police summoned to give evidence before the Commission said that consideration should have been given to the type of youth who were admitted to these centres for rehabilitation. The ongoing terrorist war had naturally instilled in them hatred towards the Sinhalese community and the government. There was every possibility that under certain circumstances they would revolt and rise against the authorities.

Security

Both the DIG and a retired Commissioner of Prisons pointed out that there was no perimeter security at the Centre to prevent break in as well as break out situations.

The presence of a police post in the camp was not to the liking of the inmates. The DIG said that in tense situations it could lead to confrontations as did happen in the instant case.

Incidents which triggered off the mob attack on the Centre causing chaos and destruction was dealt with in detail in the report as “the Revolt in the Rehabilitation Centre”.

The ball started rolling on the 24th evening. Around 2 p.m. the Officer-in-Charge returned to the Centre after four days of leave. Everything had been going smoothly. But most unusually on this day after the evening assembly inmates Madi Alagan, Nistar, Jayakanthan and Pushparaja started questioning the OIC as to why inmates who had completed six months of rehabilitation were not permitted to go home. They demanded a positive reply.

The OIC told them that he would speak to the authorities the following morning. Thereafter inmates became restive, noisy and boisterous. His version was amply corroborated by inmate Sinnathamby Rajendran who had survived the attack on the Centre. His deputy testified that he heard some of them shouting ‘You are a Captain, you can release us’.

To be continued