Amnesty International in a grim report from hell
 

H. L. D. MAHINDAPALA

NORTH EAST: The latest Amnesty International (AI) report on Sri Lanka is titled: "Sri Lanka, A climate of fear in the East." (AI Index ASA 37/001/2006, February, 3 2006).

But the themes, the roles of various national and international actors, the politics, the stated and the implied issues pertaining to LTTE violence and the plight of the Tamil victims of Tamil violence documented in the AI report go beyond the geographical limits of the eastern province.

It can be read as a case study that opens windows to the crimes of the 21st century.

The culture of fear in the east is the microcosm that encapsulates the grim realities of living in the 21st century. The evils that dominate the east are representative of the evils of violence that plague every flashpoint on the globe.

Though AI has not drawn the parallels between the suffering of the Tamil victims under the violent LTTE regime in the Vanni and its violent counterparts in other global pockets the details listed are sufficient to draw the necessary conclusions.

It lists practically every conceivable crime against humanity: ethnic cleansing, mass murders, torture chambers, abduction of adults, forcible conscription of children, intimidation, elimination of political rivals, displacement of civilians from their localities, deliberate killings of civilians, war crimes, crimes against humanity, breaching of humanitarian laws, obstruction of justice, mono-ethnic extremism (Muslims refused the right to trade in LTTE-controlled areas), extortion and illegal taxes, political violence fusing with criminal violence to settle personal grudges are the main features highlighted by AI.

Implied in this catalogue are the denial of rule of law, suppression of fundamental rights, suppression of the democratic right to vote, flagrant suppression of pluralism, war-mongering, censorship of the media extending to internet surfing and videos in the guise protecting the morals of the Tamil community and, of course, naked totalitarianism.

Human rights abuse

Two separate points stressed by the AI report highlight the sources of violence and the plight of the victims.

Point 1: "The current spate of politically motivated killings is among the most serious and widespread human rights abuses in the east.

The majority of these unlawful killings are reportedly committed by the LTTE, although the Karuna group is also apparently responsible for a large number.

Some killings also appear to be committed by other Tamil armed groups. The security forces have reportedly carried out a number of killings."

Point 2: "While all communities are affected, the majority of the violence are against Tamils."

Read together this means that the LTTE, engaged in a power struggle with its rivals, is the main source of evil and its victims are mainly the Tamils.

It goes on to document incident after incident of the perils, pains and the agonies of the Tamils caught in the crossfire and the evils of violence unleashed by the LTTE. Of course, most of it is known to the Tamil people who face the horrors of violence daily.

After all, they live in the climate of fear perpetuated by the Tamil Tigers and its counterparts. In other words, the Tamil politics of the north have created a living hell for the Tamils, whether they are in Kathankudi or Killinochchi.

Tragedy of Tamils

One of the primary messages that surfaces from the mass of details in the AI report is that if you are a Tamil there can be no respite for you in this climate of fear.

If one of the "paramilitaries" doesn't take you then Prabakaran surely will come after you and get you. More importantly, the AI report focuses on the tragedy of Tamils facing nothing but despair. The conclusion of the report is that there is no help for the Tamils from any source.

The evidence produced in the report lead to the despondent and dismal conclusion that even the instrumentalities established to combat or control the evils confronting the Tamils, whether they are in the east or north, have been an utter failure. It is a grim report written straight from hell.

Both regions are teeming with INGOs and NGOs, human rights organisations, churchmen, government agencies (e.g. Police), UN agencies, peace monitors, do-gooders from the nebulous civil society etc., and yet the Tamil victims of political violence have complained repeatedly to AI that they are helpless.

Their helplessness is compounded by the ineffectiveness of those who have come to help. In the face of increasing violence all these actors and agencies are wringing their hands either passing buck to the others or saying that they too are helpless.

Pretenders

Result: violence, sourced mainly to the LTTE, reigns supreme in the east with the do-gooders pretending to be doing something but achieving nothing because they find excuses for turning a blind eye. At the end of the day there is no one to rescue the victims of violence.

Among the great pretenders are the INGOs, NGOs and the usual bunch of do-gooders who run around in the latest gas-guzzling four-wheelers as opposed to the three-wheelers put-putting around as they ferry the helpless from one disaster to another.

The establishment of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) by the LTTE in July 2004 demonstrates graphically the role of the NGOs in this tragic crisis faced by helpless people.

In this day and age, where political NGOs mushroom in every nook and corner in the Third World, there is no reason why the LTTE too should not get into the act.

The establishment of NESOHR has leveled Prabakaran to the same plane as Jehan Perera, Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu and Godfrey Gunatilleke.

NESOHR belongs to same pack of NGOs that abandons and leaves the victims of Prabakaran's violence without any substantial or meaningful help.

President Mahinda Rajapakse's cautiously non-violent response to the provocative violence launched by the LTTE has dramatically changed the image of the State.

AI too now pin-points the source of violence directly to the Tamil leadership in the north and east. But playing the same old fiddle to rake in some dollars, are yet to adjust their wonky theories and logic to fit into the new realities.

Incomparable irony

There is also an incomparable irony in the establishment of a human rights organization by the LTTE. Dr. N. Malathy, Secretary NESOHR is on record claiming NESOHR to be a "national NGO on human rights".

Forget for a moment its claim to a "national" domain. Does it at least represent the genuine human rights concerns of the Tamils in the north and the east?

How representative is NESOHR of morality, legitimacy, or any vestiges of credibility when the gross violator of human rights (as named by AI) pulls the strings from behind?

Going by the documentation of AI it can be concluded, with a great decree of accuracy, that Goebbels had a better chance of reporting on Nazi human rights under Hitler than NESOHR recording human rights under Prabhakaran.

Myth of NESOHR

One single incident recorded by AI debunks the myth of NESOHR as a human rights' NGO. AI states: "In Batticoloa district, Amnesty International delegates met with five women whose husbands or sons had been reportedly abducted by the LTTE.

All these women had enquired with local LTTE officials, as well as reported the abduction to the ICRC, SLMM, National Human Rights Commission and Sri Lankan police.

However, none had received any clarification of their family member's whereabouts from the LTTE, nor had there been any meaningful investigation by the police.

The women told Amnesty International that in July 2005 they had made a collective representation to Father Karunaratnam, Chair of the NESOHR, who expressed surprise at the reported abductions and promised to investigate them.

However, the women have not received any further information from the NESOHR. Amnesty International raised these cases with LTTE officials, who promised to investigate.

The women have not subsequently received any further information from the LTTE."

In defence

Oddly enough, AI trots out the following statement in defence of NESHOR: "In 2004 the LTTE established the NESOHR to monitor the human rights situation in the north and east. However this body has limited autonomy, and capacity and security constraints restrict its access to the east."

If AI was familiar with the limited capacity and the security constraints of the authors of reports written by the University Teachers' for Human Rights (Jaffna) (UTHR) - its editor, Prof. Rajan Hoole is under death threat - they would not have fallen for the lame excuse fed to them presumably by NESOHR.

As chairman of NESOHR it is Father Karunaratnam's dual role that should be put under the microscope.

He wears two hats: one given by the Church and the other by the LTTE. Leaving aside the Biblical imperatives that demand an unequivocal adherence to either God or Mammon, as head of NESOHR it is his bounden duty to choose between good and evil, between his people and his master, Prabhakaran.

Unlike government agencies and peace monitors who complain about the difficulties of pursuing these complaints in the LTTE-controlled areas Father Karunaratnam, as a priest tending his flock and as an appointee of the LTTE, should have easy access to investigate the complaints on his own.

But his silence is louder than the Church bells to the five Tamil women who were seeking his "divine" assistance in rescuing their husbands and sons from the LTTE.

Common malaise

Besides, even a cursory glance of the records of NESOHR investigating violations by Security Forces and other counter parts of the LTTE reveals that Father Karunaratnam is by no means hindered by "limited autonomy, and capacity and security constraints".

Its records prove that NESHOR operates freely with full capacity in inquiring into allegations against non-LTTE actors.

AI has only to google any search engine of a Tamil website to find out the efficiency of NESHOR in investigating complaints that advances LTTE politics of violence.

NESHOR reports confirm conclusively that it is inhibited only when it comes to investigating complaints against the LTTE. This is a common malaise among NGOs.

The roles of Father Karunaratnam, Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu and Jehan Perera (to pick just a triple from Prabakaran's pack) question the moral or political authority on which they claim to speak on behalf of human rights and/or the victims of Tamil violence.

Over the years they have unfailingly exercised fully their right to raise issues of human rights violated by the Security Forces.

Though this right can be conceded to them their sullied record of criminal bias in covering up the violations of the LTTE, or not pursuing Tamil violence with a clear cut aim of putting an end to it, takes away their moral authority to question even "Kudu" Naufer - the underworld drug dealer convicted for his role as Godfather in the killing of Judge Ambepitiya.

War criminal

NESOHR, Centre for Policy Alternative, National Peace Council, MARGA etc., argue in devious ways more to protect Prabhakaran's interests than the rights of his victims.

Nor can they provide a viable political solution because their blinkers are focused only on appeasing Prabhakaran and not the general will and aspirations of all communities.

AI has failed to recognize that NESOHR, in particular, is an instrument of Prabhakaran, created by Prabakaran, for Prabhakaran.

However, despite this excusable flaw, the AI report stands out an outstanding documentation of the culture of fear that rules the helpless communities in the east.

Of course, this, and more, has been documented by UTHR (Jaffna) in its numerous reports. AI report adds weight to the courageous work undertaken by the UTHR.

But the power and the significance of the latest AI report is that for the first time it has pointed the finger at Velupillai Prabakaran as a war criminal who had breached the basic international humanitarian law.

In delineating the helpless plight of the Tamils AI quotes chapter and verse of the relevant sections of international law that could indict and convict Prabhakaran as a war criminal.

AI report has laid the foundations for human rights activists to skip Geneva and go straight to one of the ad hoc courts in Hague that tries war criminals.

But since Geneva is round the corner and since the road to Hague is a long haul, every participant should take a copy of the AI report to remind that priority should be given to the human rights issues contained in it if peace, in any shape or form, is to dawn on the helpless victims of the brutal regime in the Vanni.

To be continued

Abduction of Tamil adults by the LTTE as documented by AI
 

SIVASUBRAMANIAM NESARASA

Sivasubramaniam Nesarasa, aged 27, was allegedly abducted by the LTTE on November 12, 2000, from Kaluwankerny, Batticaloa district where he had gone to collect wood.

His mother, Kathiramalai Kanmani, was informed of the abduction by a witness, who told her that four LTTE cadres had taken her son away.

Following Sivasubramaniam's abduction, his mother repeatedly met with LTTE officials to ask about her son's whereabouts, but the officials either denied that he had been taken or told her that they did not know about her son's case.

Eventually, she was told by an LTTE official that her son had been charged by the LTTE with beating someone.

In April 2004 she was told that her son had been taken to an LTTE controlled area in the north. Sivasubramaniam's mother believes that he was abducted because he had refused to join the LTTE.

Sivasubramaniam's family reported his abduction to the police, ICRC, NHRC and NESHOR.

ALEX CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL

Alex Christopher Michael, aged 32, was reportedly abducted on January 23, 2002 by two members of the LTTE political wing.

The day after his arrest, Alex's wife met with the LTTE political wing officials who admitted to taking him and who reportedly told her that they had handed him over to the LTTE intelligence wing.

Following this Alex's wife made repeated attempts to meet LTTE officials about the case, but was consistently told that they would make inquiries and let her know.

In September 2004, a man who had been abducted by the LTTE, but later released, told Alex's wife that her husband was in the Vanni.

Alex's wife believes that her husband, who comes from Colombo, is being held as punishment for refusing to help the LTTE in its operations in Colombo. The family have reported Alex's abduction to the ICRC, SLMM and NESHOR.

GANESHAN PULAINTHIRAN

Ganeshan Pulainthiran was reportedly abducted by the LTTE on May 4, 2004, after he was summoned to attend an inquiry at LTTE office in Illuppadichchenai, Batticaloa district. His wife was told that he would be released after this inquiry, but he was not.

Since his abduction, Ganeshan's wife has continually visited local LTTE offices to ask about his whereabouts, but has not been given any information.

The family have reported Ganeshan's abduction to the Non-Violent Peace Force, ICRC and NESHOR.

GANESHAN VASANTHA REUBAN

Ganeshan Vasantha Reuban, aged 26, was allegedly abducted on the evening of September 9, 2003 from Morakotanchenai, Batticaloa district. He was reportedly taken away on a motorbike by a member of the LTTE intelligence wing.

Following his abduction, Ganeshan's mother, Veerapaththiran Vasantha, was told by the LTTE that he had been taken to Pangudaveli.

When she went there to enquire about him LTTE officials told her that they were holding her son but that they would release him soon. However, Ganeshan has still not been released.

His mother has been told by LTTE officials that there is "a problem", but that he will be released following an inquiry.

The family have reported Ganeshan's abduction to the police, ICRC, SLMM and NESHOR.

KANAPATHIPILLAI DEVADAS

Kanapathipillai Devadas, aged 28, was reportedly taken from his home in Batticaloa district on the night of July 19, 2002 by four LTTE cadres.

He had previously been an LTTE cadre for six years before surrendering to the security forces. Following his surrender he had worked for the security forces.

Following his arrest, Kanapathipillai's wife met with local officials from the LTTE political wing who told her that her husband was in Karadiyanaru.

However, when she went there to enquire she was told by a member of the LTTE intelligence wing that he was not being held there.

Despite persistent enquiries by the family there has been no further information from the LTTE on Kanapathipillai's whereabouts.

Kanapathipillai Devadas' wife reported his abduction to the police, ICRC, SLMM and NESHOR.