Saving Sri Lanka

Hospitals May 15, 2009

Reliable reports of the Vavuniya, Mannar and Trincomalee hospitals (where civilians being evacuated from the conflict zones are currently being treated and kept) indicate the enormity of the human tragedy being played out in the North.

Husbands without wives. Wives without husbands. Mothers without children. Children without parents. Entire families destroyed by war.  A heavily pregnant young woman arrives at a camp and waits anxiously for her husband and two-year old son who were following behind. Days of anguish later, a friend recognizes their rotting bodies on the side of the road – knocked off their bicycle by a shell – and breaks the news. A mother fleeing with her two young children is forced to make an agonizing decision when her older child is hit by shrapnel – she leaves him to die alone on the road in order to save her younger daughter.

The mental suffering induced by these experiences is too severe to be imaginable. To lie in a hospital ward, knowing that the last few minutes of your beloved were painful, frightening and horrific. To feel the guilt that you left them behind in the face of cold, persistent bombs and shells.  To think that you must, if you ever can, begin a new life without them.

But for most of the people caught in the war, a “new life” may in fact be very difficult to build.  What visitors to these hospitals have also reported is that a vast majority of the patients are themselves injured in ways beyond repair. Old and young alike lie helpless in their beds, missing legs and arms. Even infants have not been spared. In their current state of local and international invisibility, it is uncertain whether they will be granted the relief afforded by the rehabilitation programs and prosthetic limbs so readily available in the West. For now, at least, the most likely future thus remains one of inescapable immobility.

Their war injuries speak of a grim existence ahead. Addressing the physical consequences of disability will be a challenging task to the nation’s already overburdened health system. Addressing the mental consequences of war, however, will be almost impossible under the practically nonexistent structure of psychological healthcare that manages to survive today. Those lastingly injured by the fighting will thus be hard-pressed to find reliable and sufficient support as they struggle with their disability.

Of course, these physical injuries will also have severe ramifications for other crucial areas of their lives. The most significant of these is what being disabled means to their profession. The majority of Northern families are highly reliant on farming, with skills being passed down from generation to generation. Even if these people can return to their land, the obstacles presented by the loss of arms and legs will mean that they will not be able to resume the livelihood that they are most skilled at.  Worse, a disruption of even one generation – and in this care, there are up to three generations of family wounded – could signify the irreparable loss of carefully cultivated skills.

If historical patterns of government strategies are taken into account, it would portend an even worse scenario for those who lie injured in the hospital beds of the North. The land of this area is valued for its fertility, with pre-conflict productivity comparing favorably with the rest of Sri Lanka’s agricultural regions. If its original owners are unable to farm, it is not unreasonable to predict that the government will expand its resettlement schemes to make prime use of the land.

An unofficial objective of past resettlement schemes has been to change local demographics to benefit the majority ethnic group. Regardless of whether it is Tamils or Sinhalese who occupy their land, however, such resettlement will be a severe blow to those who own it. Land is a marker of identity for Tamil people.  Passed down from generation to generation, land plays a significant role in family heritage and social status. In fact, land is such an integral aspect of personal identity, that Tamil people speak of “belonging to the land” rather than of the land belonging to them.

The loss of family land would thus be a devastating addition to the injuries and trauma they are already suffering from.  The casualties of surviving the war will run deep, stripping them of their independence, their livelihood, and ultimately their very identity. It is difficult to tell if they foresee what lies ahead; it can only be hoped that this will not come to pass.

It could be warned that ignoring the needs of the people could lead to future rebellions or resuscitations of the LTTE, as we will be making the mistakes of the past anew. This may very well be true. But for now, let us lay theoretical predictions aside. Though we are barred from any human communication with the people of the North, and barraged with propaganda that hopes to erase their existence, we must strive to acknowledge their anguish. Though we may struggle to forget, we cannot deny that the death, destruction and terror of the innocent people in the North is a reality – a reality that will persist so long as we continue to be silent.

Arrested, Released, and Abducted Again! May 15, 2009

The first week of March, human rights defender Stephen Suntharaj, a 39-year old father of three was taken by armed, uniformed men. Possibly because a colleague witnessed the event, the authorities were forced to treat it as a legitimate arrest rather than an abduction (see White Vans of Terror). The officials had no charges to bring him up on, so they turned the house inside out in vain, hoping to find something incriminating. Stephen was held for two months, during which his worried family counted the days till his release. On the appointed day, their excitement was crushed when they found out that his discharge was not going to happen that day, or the next, or the next, ostensibly due to bureaucratic foot-shuffling; excuses were made about incomplete paperwork or that it wasn’t his turn in line that day.

On May 7th, Stephen was finally released by order of a local Supreme Court. His wife and children, ecstatic to have him back, accompanied him to the police station to retrieve his passport and ID. As they left the station, not three hours after his release, Stephen was abducted again by men in a white van, in front of his screaming family. The day of his court-ordered release.

The good news is that Stephen was heard from several days later; some people, noting that abducted people are general never seen again, feel that if he was to be killed, he would have been shortly after his abduction. So hopefully that is not his kidnappers’ intent. At any rate, Stephen is still separated from his family, undergoing questioning and possibly torture. His wife is appealing the international community for help. With a word, the government and Ministry of Defense could have Stephen released. To think of the suffering they have put him and his family through is heart-breaking.

Little Girl Abducted and Killed May 7, 2009

Read this terrible story from the town of Batticaloa; 8-year-old D. Dilushika was kidnapped last Wednesday on her way home from school. Her body was found on Saturday in a well. Nothing in the article overtly states that the killing was politically motivated, although the girl’s father went missing several years ago. Still, it is not uncommon in Sri Lanka for groups to kidnap people and demand ransom. In a peaceful Sri Lanka, in which the police and government are not diverted by war, preventing and investigating these type of crimes would be the primary function and priority of the police, as opposed to a nuisance, afterthought, and distraction. In that way, no matter who is directly responsible, this girl can be thought of as an indirect casualty of war. Our condolences go out to her family.

First Independent Photos of Refugee Camps May 7, 2009

The first independentally-filmed pictures from the refugee camps where Tamil escapees from the war-zone have been assigned are out. Shortages of food and water, dead bodies, sexual abuse…it’s just as bad as we thought. It doesn’t look like the luxurious vacation spot the government would have had us believe, does it?

Humanitarian Concern = Aiding and Abetting Terrorism? May 7, 2009

As you walk through the streets of Colombo, a bright red poster may catch your eye. The ominous faces of three notorious criminals glare at you relentlessly from their roosts on the city’s cement walls. They have been caught in the most treacherous crime of all – supporting the LTTE.

The culprits?

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Norwegian Minister of Development Erik Solheim.

Giddy with its unprecedented victories, yet fearful of the threat that this may all slip away from them yet, the government is pushing urgently to crush the LTTE. Though the final eradication of this enemy comes at the cost of thousands of innocent lives, the government is not deterred. That these lives are Tamil lives probably does not add much to their level of concern. The barbed wire detention camps being raised for the Tamils of the North (echoing, in their permanency, the Palestinian refugee camps) demonstrate that to government eyes, all of its Tamil citizens are either terrorists or potential terrorists. It is thus easy to understand why it would not matter if a few thousand here and there disappear in the ultimate battle for Sinhala supremacy.

The government does, however, have real concern for the implications of any ceasefire arranged to save these lives. Past ceasefires have been used by the LTTE, sometimes secretly, sometimes more openly, to regroup, rearm, and strengthen their defences. Given that the government has invested all its resources – literally all (it is now seeking a $1.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund) – it just cannot afford to fight any further. Furthermore, the political regime which holds the presidency and dominates national politics is highly dependent on winning the war to maintain its supremacy. While its power and popularity are unparalleled, it has built up its position solely on the war. It has managed thus far to distract the public eye from its failings – the unaffordable cost of living, the corruption and the deterioration of democracy, among others – by trumpeting its military victories, both real and imagined. To lose the war would thus be the ultimate form of political suicide.

By capitalizing on war, however, the government has backed itself into a corner. Its persuasive propaganda, though a useful tool to gain support for its extreme forays into warfare, has now created a population which will not be satisfied with anything but the comprehensive victory which it has been promised. Although the entire international community has turned its eye towards the plight of the Northern civilians, although the government is perilously close to being charged with genocide, the vociferous demands of the people cannot be quelled.

The characterization of Miliband, Clinton, and Solheim as defenders of terrorism is a grave step indeed. This charge arises from their calls for a temporary ceasefire so that thousands of innocent men, women, and children may leave the life-threateningly dangerous environment they are currently imprisoned in. For many watching the war, this is a measure that seems long overdue. However, to the government and its enthusiasts, a ceasefire becomes a lifeline to the failing LTTE, and is thus considered an act of “aiding and abetting terrorism”.

But the government has come to a crossroads on which there is no turning back. It can listen to the people whose inflexible nationalistic mindset it has bred and continue with this bloody, pitiless course of war. Or, it can lend its ear to wisdom and make choices that reflect the values of international law and human compassion. It must find a way to escape the ideological cage it has constructed so that its Tamil citizens can be guarded from inhumane suffering and death. And it must gather the courage to choose justice over political survival, especially when so many lives hang in the balance.  If not, this government will be no different from the ethnocratic regimes of the past – but its mistakes will be on such a massively heartrending scale that they may never ever be forgotten.

Tigers Ask for Help, Government Keeps Fighting May 4, 2009

The New York Times printed a short article which says pretty much everything there is to say, and I’m including the link here. Suffice it to say that the government has reached a point where the Tigers are strategically beaten but the government continues to attack. This is a problem because at this point, they are doing much more harm to the civilians trapped in the “No Fire Zone” (don’t be fooled by the name, the civilians are not safe there, and many cannot escape) than they are to the Tigers. If the Tigers unconditionally surrender, the government says it will stop the seige, but even that outcome is not perfect. If there is one thing the government has shown throughout this entire ordeal, it’s a callous and stubborn unwillingness to learn anything from this war. If they completely beat the Tigers, there is no cause to assume that they will treat Tamils any better than they have been. The whole reason we’re in this situation in the first place is because the government marginalized Tamil citizens.  If they don’t work hard to troubleshoot the problems that got them into this mess (and again, why would they feel the need to, if their path to victory is paved with force instead of negotiation?) then the problems in Sri Lanka are far from over, both on the side of the Tamils from the government, and of the Sri Lankan people from what’s left of the terrorist sympathizers (no small number) who will continue attacks due to simmering resentment. Read the New York Times piece here.

Scarred Minds (and bodies) May 3, 2009

When you hear that nasty things like torture are being done to civilians, sometimes it’s easy to abstract that to a level where you’re not quite thinking about what exactly that entails. The word “torture” is thrown around so freely and often these days that we’ve become used to hearing it. These are a couple a passages from the 1998 book Scarred Minds: The Psychological Impact of War on Sri Lankan Tamils by Daya Somasundaram. The first describes in detail the atrocities done by one militant group to a member of another (before the Tigers emerged as the premiere Tamil militant group, many such groups existed, eventually fighting with one another until the Tigers emerged victorious and subsumed all the rest). The victim in the second story appears to be merely a civilian whose “crime” was going to work at a hospital.

Mr. K was a 22-years-old healthy helper in a local military group. After his group had been proscribed, he had been arrested by the dominant group….He had been tortured for two weeks and detained for three months. He had been beaten all over the body with hands, legs, knees, poles, iron rods and stepped on till he lost consciousness. He had been hung by his two thumbs and also upside down by his ankles and beaten on his soles. At various times his face and other parts were swollen, with bleeding from the ear and haematemesis. Two needles had been driven through his fourth finger. He had been given one meal and three tumblers of water per day for all their needs, which left him in a continuous state of hunger and thirst. He had been asked to sign a confession but had resisted. Others who had signed had been executed….

R. is married with two young children….He was arrested when he was travelling to take up duties at a hospital. He was brought to Jaffna and kept in custody. He was forced to sign a form declaring himself as a traitor to the Tamils after being assaulted. Photos were taken of him with a number hanged on his neck. He stated that he was hit on bony prominences using a sharp stick; randomly struck all over the body by being punched and kicked by a group of torturers; kept naked; tied to an iron gate and often kicked in the genital area; asked to drink dirty water mixed with urine; tied to a coconut tree and whipped till he was bleeding and flesh hung from his body; salt water was poured on these wounds; they ripped off the hanging flesh as he screamed. They untied him and asked him to roll in the sand. His wounds became infected with pus…They tied his wrists with a rope and he was pulled by a pulley, hanging and screaming, a 100 lb log was placed on his legs and rolled up to the groin; his penis was placed on hot iron and twisted and he was beaten on the chest with sticks which resulted in multiple fractures of the ribs.

The book, while mainly focusing on the long-lasting mental harm done to survivors by such atrocities, is very informative about the physical harm done as well. Unfortunately these stories in no way represent the most loathsome treatment of Sri Lankan civilians; others are much worse. I have had to put the book down many times after becoming overwhelmed by sadness and revulsion, but Scarred Minds is highly recommended to those who want to acquaint themselves with a detailed history and reality of the physical and psychological anguish of modern Sri Lanka.

Australian “Dateline” Report April 28, 2009

On March 15th, the Australian version of Dateline ran a report called “Hunting the Tigers.” Aside from offering a vivid visual depiction of what’s happening in Sri Lanka, the segment was notable for other reasons. Some interesting pieces of information that came up during the report:

• The government has barred independent journalists from the front lines of the conflict. This is the reason why the only first-hand reports out of Sri Lanka are biased and the reason why we decided to create this blog.
• The Dateline reporter Amos Roberts, in a phone conversation with General Palitha Fernando of the Sri Lankan army, asked if he could visit the city of Trincomalee, where the wounded civilians from the “No Fire Zone” in the North were being treated. Gen. Fernando said that was no problem. But when Roberts asked if he count interview the casualties, the General refused. When asked why not, Gen. Fernando became uncomfortably defensive, asserting himself by vaguely citing security, and ending the conversation.
• Roberts and several other reporters were taken by officials to one of the refugee camps of displaced Tamils. It had a school, medical supplies, grocery store, but was surrounded by razor wire. The inhabitants are not allowed to leave the camp or receive visitors. Roberts was informed by an aid organization that this was the nicest of the displaced persons camps; others have less facilities and are more comparable to concentration camps. This particular camp was set up to hold 120,000 people for up to three years, and was specifically chosen by the government to show the reporters and some of the refugees even appeared to have been given pre-prepared lines to deliver about how great the camp was.
• Some of the Tamil civilians who were able to escape the war zone reported that they were shot at and used as human shields by the Tigers. One person had his leg cut off to keep him from running.
• All Tamils in Colombo who come from the north must register with the local police and carry papers with them. If a person is stopped and doesn’t have his papers, he can be arrested and detained for up to several days.
• On his way to interview Defense Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Roberts finds out that N. Vidyatharan, the newspaper editor he filmed the day before, has been arrested. When Roberts begins to ask about Vidyatharan (before he’s even asked the question), Rajapaksa comes unglued, shouting, gesticulating wildly, and accusing the editor of being a terrorist who was in charge of air attacks on colombo. Arresting him, says Rajapaksa, “was the right thing to do.”

Watch the report here.

The government’s (and its supporters’) gratuitous overreactions and counter-accusations are both embarrassing and incriminating. They seem blithely unaware of how they look: like a bumbling literary caricature of a totalitarian regime. As just one example, check out this editorial letter from Lanka Daily News featuring a typical pro-government reaction to the Dateline piece. The writer accuses the Australian reporter of criminal activity, supporting the Tigers, and being biased against the Sri Lankan people and government. The implication of responses like these is that censure of government actions equals support of terrorism, as if it’s impossible that objective groups might find both parties at fault. The fact that the author sees the criticism of the government, rather than the human suffering, as the most salient point of the Dateline feature is both telling and sickening, and speaks volumes about the extent which partisan absurdity has played in the continual anguish of all Sri Lankan citizens of all cultures and ethnicities.

The Specter of Popular Democracy: How Majoritarianism is Facilitating Genocide in Sri Lanka April 21, 2009

Sri Lanka’s democracy has manifested itself as an oppressive majoritarianism based on the popular belief that it is inherently a Sinhalese Buddhist country, and therefore institutionalized discrimination against other ethnic groups is justified. Lieutenant-General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka’s Army Commander and one of the most powerful men in the country, expressed such a sentiment quite clearly in September 2008. According to him, Sri Lanka “belongs to the Sinhalese” and non-Sinhalese “must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things.”

Such discrimination has been a consistent feature of Sri Lankan society since it gained independence from Great Britain in 1948 and became a democracy. Especially during last three decades there have been unceasing human rights abuses against Tamils on a daily basis. These include arbitrary arrests and detainment, often accompanied by torture in police stations; racial profiling and frequent harassment at military checkpoints; inferior public educational provisions for Tamils as compared to Sinhalese; suppression of language rights; and white van abductions of Tamils four or five times a day.

Since the beginning of 2009, however, this discrimination has been taken to an entirely new, unprecedented, and nightmarish level in the North of the country: genocide. Such government initiatives as “IDP Centres” that bear a remarkable resemblance to concentration camps, the systematic rape of Tamil women, an embargo on food and medical supplies (and subsequent epidemics of preventable and treatable diseases), mandatory civilian registration, and repeated bombings of hospitals and government-created ‘safe zones’ strongly suggest that Sri Lanka’s government intends to destroy the entire Tamil population, not just the LTTE. If this is not their intent, it will be the inevitable  result of their actions, which is little better.

Even if the Sri Lankan government succeeds in making the country ethnically homogeneous, it will still, inevitably, be a pluralistic society, as all societies are: there will always be people of different ages, viewpoints and countenances, to say the least. Within a majoritarian system, after one minority is destroyed, the majority will inevitably turn against another group. Lasantha Wickramatunga, a recently assassinated Sri Lankan journalist, quoted a poem by Martin Niemöller in his self-written obituary that forewarns of such a phenomenon:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Wickramatunga and Niemöller’s warning should be heeded: if we fail to stand up for the persecuted minority today, we may very well be the persecuted minority tomorrow. An overhaul of Sri Lanka’s political system, complete with extensive, genuine devolution and full-proof safeguards on minority rights is needed now to save society as a whole.