Security Watch

by Tejal Chandan

In the recent months, the conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE has worsened, putting the country into the throes of war. Even as the military consolidates its operations in the east, the security of the Sri Lankan people continues to deteriorate with a rash of human rights abuses. Hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured and thousands more have been displaced. Abductions and disappearances are on the rise and arrests and detentions are being made without formal legal charges. Human rights groups have appealed to the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers to bring a halt to human rights violations. Reports have alleged that both LTTE and the Karuna faction continue to abduct children especially in the island's restive east and use them as fighters. The Sri Lankan military has also been accused of being complicit in the forced recruitment of children by the Karuna faction.

The escalation in fighting, especially in the east, has left over 2,00,000 persons displaced. The protection of the internally displaced by the government has become even more important in the wake of abductions by armed groups using 'White Vans' without number plates. Furthermore, the plight of the displaced continues to worsen in the absence of adequate supplies. Persons in Batticaloa, who are used to three meals a day, are now forced to survive on 100 to 200 gms rice a day. The children are worst affected due to lack of milk food. More disturbingly, human rights reports have said that the Sri Lankan authorities are using threats and intimidation to force civilians, who fled recent fighting, to return home in order to portray a scene of normalcy. The Government has vehemently refuted these claims. The Civil Monitoring Committee, an organization documenting disappearances, has recorded 51 abduction cases in and around Colombo alone over the previous year. During the past 16 months a staggering number of 3000 people have been killed and on an average 5 to 8 such incidents take place daily particularly in Jaffna, Vavuniya and in the East.

The most worrying factor for Sri Lanka is the existence of multiple perpetrators. LTTE has a terrible record of human rights violations and is responsible for a large number of killings, abductions and recruitment of children. Even as recently as March 2007, both the Karuna faction and the LTTE continued to abduct children. According to UNICEF there were 45 cases of Karuna child abductions in three months (10 in December, 24 in January and 11 in February). UNICEF also documented 19 cases of LTTE child recruitment in January and nine in February. A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published in January details how Karuna cadres operate with impunity in government-controlled areas and abduct boys and young men with state complicity. While the Government has said that it would investigate the allegations of state complicity, Karuna has denied allegations of abducting or recruiting children in an interview to the BBC.
Despite who the violators are, the Sri Lankan Government, as a democratically elected authority of the country has the responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens. The Sri Lankan Government has appointed a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) consisting of eight commissioners to look into 15 serious violations beginning in August 2005 including the massacre of 17 NGO aid workers. The Commission will be supervised by an International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), nominated by Australia, Britain, Canada, the EU, Japan, the Netherlands, the United States, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has welcomed the decision but has also stressed the need for a broader international mechanism to monitor and prevent human rights violations.

Several critiques have been published on both the CoI and the IIGEP raising concern over their mandate, powers and practical output. The warrant issued by the President in November 2006 does not provide judicial powers to the CoI or the IIGEP and their mandate is only to make recommendations to the government. Adding to the cynicism the warrant does not specify that reports of the CoI be made public. The restrictions imposed on receiving information and issuing statements by IIGEP is a matter of particular concern. Civil society actors and human rights groups have highlighted the importance of making all reports and findings of CoI public, lifting the restrictions on the members of IIGEP to ensure its professionalism, independence and neutrality and a comprehensive follow up to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable. The CoI can challenge the culture of impunity in the country provided it remains impartial and independent.

According to a media release by the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, there has been a noticeable decline in the freedom of media and the accuracy and responsibility of media expression in Sri Lanka. HRW, which has been highly critical of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, has said that all sides in the civil war had interfered with and sought to restrict the exercise of free speech and freedom of the media in areas under its control. "The LTTE does not allow a free media while in other areas it has intimidated, attacked and sometimes killed journalists critical of its policies and actions" it said. The Karuna group has also interfered with the media by blocking the sale of Tamil-language dailies which are critical of the armed group, such as Virakesari, Thinakurral and Sudar Oli. Referring to the closure of a Sinhalese-language weekly Mawbima, HRW alleged that the Sri Lankan Government was abusing anti-terrorism legislation to clamp down on journalists who expose human rights abuses, official corruption or otherwise question the government's handling of the civil war with the LTTE. Tamil-language newspapers have often come under government pressure but Mawbima is the first Sinhalese language newspaper to be shut down in three decades. Recently threats have been levelled against the editor of Daily Mirror and her staff for their reportage of the human tragedy in the east. The Government has also been criticising diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka in the wake of public statements by some of them regarding the human rights situation in the country.

NGOs are operating in a climate of fear, threat and intimidation and the situation is not helped by a campaign to discount the human rights crisis. Every human rights organization that is critical of the current scenario is accused of colluding with the LTTE. Analysts have said that the government's strategy of crushing opposition may by default end up equating a democratically elected government to a terrorist group with absolute intolerance of any opposition. While the international community is involved in quiet diplomacy with the Government of Sri Lanka insisting on higher human rights standards, some politicians, Government ministers and elements of the media have embarked upon a dangerous campaign either denying the existence of violations or arguing that human rights violations are expected in times of war.

It is in this difficult situation that the European Union, senior United Nations officials and local and international human rights groups have urged the Sri Lankan government to allow the establishment of an international human rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka. While the monitoring mission cannot end all abuses, it can help reverse the deterioration in the human rights situation and deter some atrocities. The Sri Lankan Government has been called on not to equate seeking of international help and expertise to a compromise of sovereignty or an admittance of guilt. Analysts have said that the establishment of such a mission will display an honest commitment to tackle the deteriorating situation and ensure security for Sri Lankan citizens.

References
'A Commentary on the Commission of Inquiry and the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons', CPA Policy Brief No. 1, 2007, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka

'Complicit in Crime: State Collusion in Abductions and Child Recruitment by Karuna Group' Human Rights Watch Report, Vol. 19. No.1(c), January 2007

'Displaced seek refuge with Army', Daily News.lk, Monday, April 16, 2007

'Human rights concerns need to be urgently addressed', Media Release, National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, Monday, March 19, 2007

'Human Rights Council: Act to end serious abuses in Sri Lanka', Human Rights Watch, Tuesday, March 13, 2007

'Sri Lanka: Antiterrorism laws used to muzzle the press', Human Rights Watch, Thursday, April 12, 2007

'Sri Lanka: Civilians who fled fighting are forced to return', Human Rights Watch, Friday, March 16, 2007

'Sri Lanka: Karuna group and LTTE continue abducting and recruiting children', Human Rights Watch, Friday March 29, 2007

'Undemocratic government pressure on media is unacceptable', Media Release, National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, Thursday, April 19, 2007
Jayasinghe Uditha, 'Disaster looms for displaced?' Daily Mirror e-Edition, Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Joint UN North East Situation Monitoring Report- February 2007

Mihlar, Farah, 'Highlighting HR violations must not be seen as an attack against the State', Daily Mirror e-Edition, Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Mylvaganam K., 'A Humble Appeal', TamilCanadian, Saturday, April 14, 2007

Renner, Michael, 'Sri Lanka establishes commission of Inquiry into civilian killings a s violence continues', World Watch Institute, November 9, 2006,
URL: www.worldwatch.org

Ross, James, 'Why a United Nations monitoring mission will benefit Sri Lanka', Daily Mirror e-Edition, Thursday, March 22, 2007

Rutnam Easwaran, 'Govt. Warns Foreign Diplomats', Daily Mirror e-Edition, Thursday April 19, 2007

by Tejal Chandan

The latest of the LTTE air strikes on April 29, 2007 yet again highlighted the seriousness of the escalating conflict in Sri Lanka and the inability of the Sri Lankan armed forces to prevent such attacks. The embryonic air force of LTTE has within a month attacked the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) base in Katunayake, an Army Engineering Unit in Palaly, oil installations on the outskirts of Colombo and also attempted a second attack on Katunayake on April 26. It is therefore significant to assess LTTE's strategy behind the successive air strikes. Though the physical damage from these incidents is minimal, the political and economic costs are enormous. Further, despite reported Sri Lankan military successes in the East, the LTTE has continued to show its prowess to fight back. Apart from this, the killing and kidnapping of Indian fishermen adds another dimension to the spiralling conflict.

Some similarities of these attacks can be pointed out at this time. All the attacks were carried out at night on key government installations by using improvised ordnances. Flight paths were chosen over thinly held areas or over sea and the attacks were carried out with thorough insider knowledge of the working of Sri Lankan air bases. While the previous attacks were military targets, the most recent one was an economic target. Though the SLAF has carried out several air strikes on LTTE air assets, it has not been able to put them out of action. The Sri Lankan defence ministry has been examining measures to counter the air threats. One such measure is to acquire state of art MiG-29 aircraft from Russia and to discuss an overhaul of the SLAF with assistance from Ukraine. There have also been some suggestions to acquire air capability for the Sri Lankan Navy. However, the acquisition of fighter aircraft or other equipment would involve colossal sums of money. Stressing that the country cannot afford the cost of war, analysts have said that the Sri Lankan Government can either raise the defence tax which has already over burdened the people with a sky rocketing cost of living; print more money or get indebted to private lenders; or move into defence agreements with several countries.

The first attack on March 26 prompted Cathay Pacific to suspend its flights to Sri Lanka for a few weeks. In the aftermath of the latest attack, Emirates and Cathay Pacific suspended flights while Singapore Airlines decided to fly to Colombo only during the day. The repercussions for the already suffering tourism industry have become worse with foreign governments issuing alerts with travel advisories. Compounding the situation further was the decision to shut down Bandaranaike International Airport from 10:30 P.M to 4:00 A.M for three months when most of the flights to and from Colombo operate at night. With the stock market falling and the Sri Lankan rupee touching a new low against the dollar, the flow of investments to the country could be significantly affected. A possible hike in war-risk insurance rates could be devastating for exporters as it will raise freight costs and further pursuit of war and its consequences on human rights may lead to fall in international aid.

On the other hand, military advances into the LTTE bases in the North and East indicate that the air strikes are acts of desperation. Right through July 2006 the army has penetrated into the rebels' strongholds in the East. With the security forces establishing control over all highways and coastal zones in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai districts, LTTE has been confined to Thoppigala in the East. With the loss of Batticaloa, LTTE has virtually lost its major source of recruits and resources. Given the fact of a tremendous loss in manpower and a sagging morale of the remaining cadre, the air strikes may be an attempt to draw local and international opinion away from the LTTE's military reserves. While the LTTE's pursuit for arms and finance continues, actions against its support infrastructure in countries like Australia, Canada, France and the US have been successfully restricting Tamil Diaspora activity. This in turn, has made the procurement of arms and ammunitions much more difficult. The Sri Lankan Navy has also been successfully intercepting and destroying LTTE vessels believed to be carrying arms, ammunitions and aircraft parts. The SL Navy successfully repulsed a Tiger attempt in Kayts Island to create mayhem in the peninsula by penetrating into Jaffna islands. In a cordon and search operation carried out on April 29 the troops claimed to have gunned down five LTTE cadres including the Kayts LTTE leader Eeeramavaran. In the wake of these and many other losses, could it be that the air strikes are perhaps the last gambit?

While the air strikes have succeeded in instilling fear in the minds of the Sri Lankan citizens and eroding faith in the capabilities of the security forces, they have also acted as a catalyst for rising international support for the government's clamp down on terrorist activities. US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher was quoted stating that the Government has every right to neutralise Tiger air power. On the ground, the army is said to be preparing for an offensive in the North with operations to begin in June or July and one of the first targets appears to be the Madhu areas in the North. The LTTE, in the meantime, is reportedly contemplating the capture of Jaffna. Intelligence reports have indicated possible attacks on targets in the East and vital economic centres in Colombo mainly, the Colombo Port.