On Commission and Omission
Editor’s note: An edited version of this article appeared in the Daily Mirror today. A section of the last sentence of the article had been omitted. The original article appears below.
The first anniversary of the end of the war approaches and we are into a celebratory heroes’ week. Whilst the regime will not fail to remind us ad infinitum of the great service it did us in defeating the fascist and ferocious LTTE and continue to accrue political capital on account of it, there is no denying the widespread relief felt over the defeat of the LTTE and the end of the war. There is no denying either, that this was achieved through military victory by the armed forces and accordingly, there will be gratitude and appreciation expressed to the armed forces and the political leadership for this and the celebration of victory, year in and year out.
It was a bloody, costly war. Soldiers and civilians alike lost their lives, their limbs and livelihoods. Not every one gave them voluntarily for the unity or unitary status of the country or out of unbridled patriotism. Many civilians had no choice and many of them who signed up to the forces may well have done so because of economic necessity. Yet their sacrifice has played its part in the post-war situation we now find ourselves in. Is the triumphal pomp and circumstance of the march past the fitting memorial to them too? Is there not a crying need to pay tribute to their sacrifice, that of the civilians in particular, through acts of remembrance that do not require displays of military hardware and re-enactments of battle in this our blessed land of all the great religions of the world? Will there be a call from on high for a minute’s silence and for the believers, at least, will religious leaders hold an inter-faith service of remembrance at Independence Square?
Perhaps, not. Perhaps the regime believes that reconciliation and healing is to be pursued through economic development and the latest commission to be announced – that on Post- Conflict Study and Reconciliation. The terms of reference of the Commission are yet to be announced –likewise the members. From what has been made public, it will also look at allegations of violations of international standards and will be comprised of eminent Sri Lankans at home and abroad.
Sadly, commissions and committees are a dime a dozen in Sri Lanka. Set up with much fanfare, they deliberate, recommend and report, only to be consigned to the dustbin of history or some locked drawer in the presidential secretariat. Take the last commission on human rights entitled the Presidential Commission to Investigate and Inquire into Allegations of Serious Abuses of Human Rights, popularly known as the COI to which was the attached the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP). The IIGEP left in frustration and despair, the COI soldiered on and reported to the President and was disbanded in 2009. Apart from what could only have been selected leaks of its findings to the kept press, victims, witnesses and the citizens of this country are yet to be informed of its recommendations and conclusions. Or take the All Party Representatives Committee, the APRC. It has reported. Apparently, end of story.
The international community bought the APRC and COI as evidence of the regime’s bona fides – in the first instance with regard to a political settlement of the ethnic conflict and in the second with regard to reversing the culture of impunity in respect of human rights violations. The settlement is yet to be mooted and the constitutional reform reported to be imminent, is about the electoral process, removing the time bar on the presidential term and a second chamber. The latter may well have some tangential connection to the APRC deliberations, but as sure as night follows day, it is unlikely to be anything beyond a token gesture to power sharing at the centre.  As for the culture of impunity, it is very much in place. What of the brutal slaying of the Trincomalee Five and the ACF atrocity? More recently, why is there no police action on the disappearance of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda or on the alleged PSD assault of a journalist of this newspaper?
Given this record, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that this commission along with the Tissanayagam pardon at this point, and the lifting of certain emergency regulations whilst other draconian ones are reinforced to remain in place, amount to yet another attempt to placate the international community, especially those pompous hypocrites from the West and even across the Palk Straits, who harp on rights and governance and other such irrelevant drivel! National sovereignty and the tenets of the “We did it our way” and “Go to hell” foreign policy aside, salvaging GSP+ and not through litigation as well as staving off Mr Moon’s Panel of Experts, have everything to do with this ostensibly human rights friendly, change of face and heart, by the regime.
Whatever the reason, these developments are to be welcomed if they are serious and sincere. Human Rights Watch has referred to the regime’s game of smoke and mirrors to describe its penchant for procrastination amounting to prevarication on this score.  Will the regime pull out of its hat, a “home –grown”- much beloved adjective of regime- speak – plucky, sturdy rabbit of a refutation of this charge?  There is some hope and one hopes it lies with the eminent Sri Lankans who will be appointed to the commission and on whose eminence and credibility, the credibility of the commission itself, in large part rests.
Is it too much to ask of them to refuse to serve unless the findings of the COI, for one, are made public and demonstrable action taken to reverse the culture of impunity in respect of, at least, the cases that came before that commission?
This may well be seen as an act of defiance. Yet on this first anniversary of the end of the war and with the post-conflict challenge of peace, reconciliation and unity still ahead of us, this may be all that the ordinary victims and witnesses of human rights abuse have – the courage of the eminent -in the absence of official acknowledgement and effective action in respect of their pain and suffering. What remains is to look beyond our shores for relief, truth and justice and risk the charge of undermining national sovereignty – a crime the Defence Secretary is on record as saying, deserves capital punishment.
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Dr Saravanamuttu should also remember the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Kokkadicholai Massacre of Civilians by the Security Forces in 1991/1992. All the newspapers covered them for almost a year costing Rs 100,000 per day at the BMICH. Several witnesses who came from Batticaloa to give evidence were later found killed.
If one goes into Lake House archives one would find them. A joke of a commission with no teeth comprising three Judges. Like all the commissions of inquiry the findings were put in cold storage or rather allowed to die. We waited and waited for the final report or even a draft but they were conveniently suppressed.
Only the public could take the report and file a case in court but which individual organisation has that much kudos to do this?
Was there any inquiry into the July 1983 riots?
Whenever I hear the word ‘commission’ I want to puke. Commissions are another way for retired judges, civil servants and academics to earn extra cash.
I still remember Prof. Priyani Soysa, one of the seven member commission led by Justice Wanasundera inquiring into NGOs falling asleep many times during the hearings.
I am veering off the point here. But there is an urgent need for NGOs to dig up these commission reports from newspapers and present them to international human rights bodies. Peristence should pay.
It is staggering how saravanamuttu manages to completely avoid mentioning that upwards of 40,000 Tamils were killed in the first 5 months of 2009.
But then this is as much a Tamil is permitted to say in sri lanka, that is, if he is not to entertain certain death at the hands of sri lankan goverment backed assassins and paramilitaries. so self-preservation vs truth-telling/speaking truth to power, that then is your choice?
i can see what your political project in sri lanka is, Sara, you are very careful with your language and understatement is very much the order of the day in your writings. for the most part your intended audience is the cosmopolitan (especially singhalese) community in colombo. you hope to gradually convince them of the murderous character of sinhala state, without in anyway bringing up the bogey of ltte/tamil separatism (which are two separate entities – though the singhalese would wish not to believe this), because as soon as the ltte/tamils are brought up – argument over, discourse dead.
but step back a moment and re-examine the limits you impose on yourself – what actually are you saying? very little, that is if you are not being down right disingeneous.
if you are incapable of asserting directly that tens of thousands of Tamil civilians (Gordon Weiss – 40,000 Tamils killed – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/up-to-40000-civilians-died-in-sri-lanka-offensive-1897865.html ) were killed through SL armed forces shelling* but instead are only able to come up with this;
“It was a bloody, costly war. Soldiers and civilians alike lost their lives, their limbs and livelihoods. Not every one gave them voluntarily for the unity or unitary status of the country or out of unbridled patriotism. Many civilians had no choice and many of them who signed up to the forces may well have done so because of economic necessity.”
then you bloodywell miss the point!
my thoughts on your moral and intellectual trajectory are not positive – beware becoming a ‘kept’ intellectual in sri lanka (that is if you are not already one) –
this comes to mind…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zUIjP4KWok
*in my reckoning, having examined some of the extant documentation regarding the population in vanni prior to the onslaught, i estimate the death toll to actually be in the region of 60,000. for all autonomic deniers of this probable fact on this ‘liberal’/progressive outpost in the lankan cyber sphere – the truth will out, eventually.
in order to provide the customary ‘balance’ necessary to not be ignored out of hand, which the SBC’s (Singhala Buddhist Chauvinists) will do anyway, i should point out that the ltte are morally culpable for the extended time they forcibly kept SOME of tamils in mullivaikal and this is a moral anguish that all Tamils must face. however at the end of the day it was the sri lankan government and its armed forces that chose to bomb and shell mercilessly, including hospitals, Tamil civilians – they therefore are the most culpable for the mass murder they orchestrated. (besides the ltte no longer exists for them to be held accountable.)
Felt moved reading this. Sounds like it is written by a Sri Lankan concerned about all Sri Lankans and not one particular race. As the writer humbly requests, if any eminent people who read this are appointed to a commission can you please make it a pre-requisite to your appointment as a member of the commission that your findings are made public and action is taken to reverse negative findings wherever possible.? You will go down in history as individuals of courage and intergrity and can hold your head high even if you lose all else. I for one am tired of endless commissions and of intellectuals who have garned doctorates and got their work published who debate (using bombastic language and in a pompous manner) on various political theories and are empty of any compassion to pain and suffering and seem to devoid of any emotions towards fellow Sri Lankans whatever their race may be. . I sincerely appreciate the practical thought process and simple language of intellectuals like Dr Saravanamuttu, whose thinking and feelings resonate with the “common” man.
Dr Saravanamuttu, whom I have known for nigh on 15 years, is not one to cow down to any powers.
He is the founder of the Centre for Policy Alternatives and it is ignoranceon the part of Mr Subramanian to cast aspersions on his integrity.
The death threats he received are serious and he condemns human rights violations be they the LTTE or the government.
As a regular contributor to Sunday Leader when Lasantha was alive his was the only voice which condemned govt. atrocities amidst severe curtailment on media freedom. He did not escape to a foreign clime amidst these threats.
It would augur well for commentators to delve into intellectuals such as Dr Saravanamuttu’s credentials before generalisng them and post-mark them into one category or another.
look Pearl that you have known sara for well on 15 years is pleasing enough however do not permit your own ignorance to allow you to cast aspersions on me. i make my comments on the basis of having followed his writings for the past 2/3 years, listened to him speak, and having delved thoroughly into his previous work. additionally i am very well acquainted with most of the recent CPA reports and their staff members – on an international professional scale, the CPA is a largely unimpressive human/civil rights think tank, but this is sri lanka, so we must be thankful for small miracles.
my basic point still stands – what is the point of writing and trying and be in the ‘game’ if you fail to acknowledge even the simplest and most significant fact of 2009 in sri lanka – i shall repeat again…
“It is staggering how saravanamuttu manages to completely avoid mentioning that upwards of 40,000 Tamils were killed in the first 5 months of 2009.”
http://www.viddler.com/explore/frontlineclub/videos/242/
pearl i had never heard of you before i watched this – and the kindest thing that can be said of your dismal peformance was that it was spectacularly unspectacular. your writings too on groundviews seem for the most part to be piffling – perhaps it is a form of catharsis for you, it is dreary and homespun for me (and maybe others).
my points above were addressed to sara, not you.
Despite his high intellectual credentials, Dr Saravanamuttu is a Tamil. Tamils are only guests in Sri Lanka, entertained and accommodated by the generosity of the only original inhabitants of the island, the Sinhalese. Therefore, Tamils, Muslims, Eurasians, Malays and all other minorities have strict limits for their speech and conduct which they must observe — or depart. If they insist on breaching these now well-known limits, we can hasten their departure.
Dear Mr Subramaniam,
You have an inalienable right not to know me or ridicule me. I am used to your kind mainly my Tamil journalistic colleagues and this desire to ridicule fellow Tamils is indelibly etched in the genes of Jaffna Tamils.
Tamils hate each other more than they hate Sinhalese adn the war in which thousands perished was largely due to discord and dissent among Tamils.
Perhaps you have heard of the tale of the prisoners from the three communities where the bunker in which the Tamils were kep needed no cover since if one tried to get out the others would drag him back.
So what’s new.
There’s such a thing as cursor on your computer which could ignore my comments or writings. You will save yourself some stress in your advancing years.
Thank you Pearl and Dilkusha for your comments. Subramaniam, you are entitled to your opinion of CPA and myself. I do not intend to list out the work that has been done by us at CPA in defence of the human rights of all Sri Lankans, particularly Tamils. It is a stark and horrendous fact that many Sri Lankans were killed and maimed by both sides in the thirty years of the war, especially in its final phase. Most of them were Tamils. Reconciliation requires that the pain and suffering of all communities be acknowledged and addressed. Likewise, with establishing truth and accountability. Your ad hominem comments clearly indicate an excess of bile seeping into comment – perhaps I am being charitable- involuntarily.
Dasa Maha Yoda, your comment reflects the ideology in the ascendant. With sentiments such as this, who knows, you could even be president or alternatively end up in navy detention!
Needless to say, the country will risk being detained indefinitely from the peace and prosperity all of its peoples seek.
Dear Dr. Saravanamuttu,
You do realize that “Dasa Maha Yoda”‘s overblown act was meant to be sarcastic?
Still, I do wonder how many “real life” characters, that Dasa Maha Yoda is trying to form a caricatural imitation of, exist in Sri Lanka? Is it perhaps possible to peg this down to a number? Are there any surveys which might find whether such attitudes and ideas are indeed prevalent and provide some concrete numbers for us to work with? Because otherwise, we are all needlessly getting worked up over an exception as opposed to the norm (and the norm seems to be that we all get worked up over the exception). It will also tell us how much work needs to be done in terms of opinion building, if we are to think of forming a truly plural society.
I think surveys on all ethnicities are needed. Would anyone whether this has already been done?
cheers,
/SD
@subramaniam
“in my reckoning, having examined some of the extant documentation regarding the population in vanni prior to the onslaught, i estimate the death toll to actually be in the region of 60,000. for all autonomic deniers of this probable fact”
Tell us more please; you may well be right but how did you arrive at this estimate? what was the data on those documents? are these documents in the public domain? what are your calculations? and what was the margin of error in your estimates?
[In the estimation business one has to be careful, you see: "I saw two dogs, one did not bark, therefore 50% of dogs don't bark", is bad practice of statistical inference. Something like "50% plus or minus 49% of dogs don't bark", would be better. We will then know that according to your estimate the proportion of non-barking dogs is somewhere between 1% and 99%.]
“SomewhatDisgusted said,
May 16, 2010 @ 4:38 pm
Dear Dr. Saravanamuttu,
You do realize that “Dasa Maha Yoda”’s overblown act was meant to be sarcastic?
Still, I do wonder how many “real life” characters, that Dasa Maha Yoda is trying to form a caricatural imitation of, exist in Sri Lanka? ”
(gv twitter) How is that a cogent question? [Edited]
If any of you are in touch with common man on the streets (the majority!), you know the answer to this! Anyone ever visited Sri Lanka interacted with Sri Lankan people know the answer to this question. Answer is hardly ANY!
Dear Observer,
You said: “Anyone ever visited Sri Lanka interacted with Sri Lankan people know the answer to this question. Answer is hardly ANY!”
You and I agree to a large degree on this. I too don’t think the majority of the population is bigoted either. This is true of both Sinhalese and Tamils.
But ask a Tamil in the diaspora, they are likely to believe the opposite.
Now – just look at the assumption I just made. I automatically assumed that a Tamil in the diaspora is much more likely to think otherwise. I have no idea what the real numbers are. They are all just treated as an amorphous blob – for convenience. This is at least part of the problem isn’t it?
The point is, without concrete facts or figures – we are stabbing in the dark – we don’t know exactly how many people perceive things in a certain way and what and how much work needs to be done to change that perception. It would therefore be very beneficial to have a survey which actually measures the attitudes and disposition of the population at large.
Can and have any such surveys been done? I would really like to know the results.
cheers,
/SD
Dear Observer,
“If any of you are in touch with common man on the streets (the majority!), you know the answer to this!”
Actually, I missed the underlying implication here
Well, everyone fancies themselves as being “in-touch” (I honestly do too). But here’s a question – what is your “in-touch”ness based on? Talking to some random 3 wheeler guy on the way to the market as I recall? Do you consider this a representative sample of the population? I think you know statistics and inference don’t really work that way.
Also, can you give me a rough figure on how many people have bigoted views about Sinhala-Tamil race relations so we know how much work needs to be done? Instead of just assuming that *no* work needs to be done (a clear fallacy – this is utter rubbish if you think so) or needlessly assuming that *an impossible* amount of work needs to be done.
We can’t follow the Ostrich algorithm and solve our problems. We need facts and figures. You’re an IT guy, you should know.
cheers,
/SD
somewhat disgusted,
There is a certain section of the Sinhala population who have bigoted views when it comes to Tamils. I guess it is the same on the Tamil side. What the Govt should be doing is to sideline the bigots on the Sinhala side and those within its ranks and work towards reconciliation with those who do not hold bigoted views.
If in future the Govt is able to do that then there is a future for this country. If not there is no hope.