Will Not The Tears, Shed By The Oppressed Become Sharp Instruments To Wear The Monarch’s Wealth Away?
By Veluppillai Thangavelu –NOVEMBER 29, 2019
Veluppillai Thangavelu
Recently organizations representing the mothers and relatives of those who involuntarily (forced) disappeared, after the war, marked the thousandth day of their demonstration, rallies, road-side campaign etc. During this long period, the mothers have demanded the government to produce their sons and daughters handed over to the army at Omanthai military camp during rounding up of suspected militants as well as those who surrendered on May 18, 2009. They sought answers to the nagging questions “What happened to our loved ones, in most cases, we ourselves handed them to the armed forces” from the government, UNHRC and foreign diplomats.
Amnesty International defines Victims of enforced disappearance are people who have literally disappeared; from their loved ones and their community. They go missing when state officials (or someone acting with state consent) grab them from the street or from their homes and then deny it, or refuse to say where they are. Sometimes disappearances may be committed by armed non-state actors, like armed opposition groups. And it is always a crime under international law.
Enforced disappearance is frequently used as a strategy to spread terror among people. The feeling of insecurity and fear it generates is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared but also affects communities as a whole.
The affected persons strongly believe, perhaps naively, that their beloved ones are still alive and they are kept in clandestine military detention cells/centres/camps.
When ex-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was confronted by angry parents who wanted to know the whereabouts of their loved ones, he was truthful about the disappeared. In his answer, Ranil said that the government had made every effort to trace the missing detainees in army custody but found none.
He then said the missing persons must be presumed dead. This answer only helped to worsen the already highly charged emotive atmosphere.
Today, Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was the Defence Secretary during the war had won the presidential race on the SLPP platform with an impressive majority. This has raked up those awful and nightmarish memories about the enforced missing persons. For years since 2009 May, the relatives of the missing persons are pointing fingers at Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the person responsible for execution-style murders of LTTE leaders/cadres/civilians who surrendered to the army some with white flags. The White flag surrender was facilitated by President Mahinda and Basil Rajapaksa. Those who surrendered with white flags were advised to hold the flags high so that the soldiers can see them at a distance.
So far, despite the promise by the previous Government, no one has been held accountable for extrajudicial killings during the war. But the mothers and relatives of the missing persons hold Gotabaya Rajapaksa accountable in his capacity as the Defence Secretary. Those he is only the Defence Secretary, he was virtually the Defence Minister as well. He alone took decisions regarding the overall war strategy against the LTTE. Mahinda Rajapaksa was Defence Minister in name only.
As Defence Secretary Gotabaya directed all military operations and gave orders to the Commanders in the field bypassing the Army Commander. This was disclosed by Sarath Fonseka many times. As the person who directed the entire war machinery, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is accused of ordering torture, rape and abductions and murders of thousands of Tamils.
When Rajapaksas (Gotabaya, Mahinda and Namal) went to the North for election campaign relatives of involuntarily disappeared persons held a protest rally before the Nallur Murugan temple. They have also been protesting against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for not doing anything about the missing persons. They are displaying US and EU flags in the hope of drawing enlisting support of those countries.
During his election campaign, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has studiously avoided giving interviews to the press knowing well that many upsetting questions will be fired at him about missing persons, extra-judicial killings and LTTE surrendees who went missing after the surrender.
At the first press conference held at Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo on 16 October 2019, a grinning Gotabaya Rajapaksa dodged questions about enforced disappearances and missing surrendees. He struggled to answer tough questions thrown by journalists and forced to acknowledge the military leadership of Sarath Fonseka. He denied Paranagama Commission findings of ‘missing’ persons.
Challenged repeatedly about those LTTE cadres who went missing after surrender to the 58 Division, President Gotabaya who had previously claimed credit for the military victory denied any role in the management of the victory and its outcome and tried to pass the blame on to the Army Commanding officers in the field!
When pressed further about a large number of detainees and missing persons, Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed credit for the rehabilitation of all of them.
His manifesto launched on 25 October 2019, inter-alia, said “Even though we took steps to pardon, rehabilitate and release 13,784 Tiger members who surrendered with arms, such steps were not taken in relation to soldiers who faced different accusations related to the wartime. It further said steps were taken to “systematically rehabilitate and reintegrate” into society not only soldiers but also members of the Tamil Tigers who are facing different accusations related to the war. But the affected families say they saw their relatives taken away in buses by soldiers but never seen again.
Sri Lanka’s government ordered Tamil rebels and any civilians with remote relations to the rebel group to surrender after they were boxed inside a narrow strip of land in the final days of the war on May 18. 2009.
While Gotabaya Rajapaksa claims the government released 13,784 LTTE surrendees, his manifesto does not talk about the missing. He told reporters that no one had disappeared other than those who participated in active combat, and that included thousands of soldiers. He urged people to forget the past and move on.
Here is how the questions and answers went during the press meet according to the Daily News dated October 16, 2019 –
Q: What happened to the people who surrendered to the security forces since you were leading the military at that time? Could you please tell us what happened to the people who surrendered? Where are they?
A: You are mistaken I think, I was not leading the Army.
Q: Your brother was?
A: No! No! The Army was led by the Army commander
Q: You were the defence secretary, what will you tell the people who ask that question?
A: About 13,784 surrendered and they were rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. They were given employment in the Civil Security Force and some of them were recruited in the military as well. We had one of the most successful rehabilitation programmes. Even foreign observers commended our programmes.
Q: Does that mean that there are no missing persons?
A: Even in the military, over 4,000 officers and soldiers went missing during the war in the battlefield. Once, I went to Jaffna Fort and even we couldn’t recover the bodies of the military personnel. People are missing. Similarly, a number of soldiers are missing.
Q: Some say those who surrendered did not return? So are they lying?
A: No! Somebody can say that but that is an allegation. We had a commission on this. There were no cases like that.
Q: Even the Paranagama Commission of your time said there were such cases
A: I don’t think so.
Q: It was said that various census and statistical surveys were conducted which came out with numbers. What was the process that you had in mind to carry this forward?
A: You are talking all the time about the past. Ask about the future. If you concentrate on the future, it is better I think.
Q: But can you move on without addressing the past?
A: Yeah sure, can move on.
Questioned about the UN Human Rights Council resolutions, especially 30/1 of 2015, Gotabaya Rajapaksa repeatedly described the UNHCR resolutions as “illegal”, but said that if elected to power he would work with the UN and human rights organisations in resolving contentious issues.
Veluppillai Thangavelu
Recently organizations representing the mothers and relatives of those who involuntarily (forced) disappeared, after the war, marked the thousandth day of their demonstration, rallies, road-side campaign etc. During this long period, the mothers have demanded the government to produce their sons and daughters handed over to the army at Omanthai military camp during rounding up of suspected militants as well as those who surrendered on May 18, 2009. They sought answers to the nagging questions “What happened to our loved ones, in most cases, we ourselves handed them to the armed forces” from the government, UNHRC and foreign diplomats.
Amnesty International defines Victims of enforced disappearance are people who have literally disappeared; from their loved ones and their community. They go missing when state officials (or someone acting with state consent) grab them from the street or from their homes and then deny it, or refuse to say where they are. Sometimes disappearances may be committed by armed non-state actors, like armed opposition groups. And it is always a crime under international law.
Enforced disappearance is frequently used as a strategy to spread terror among people. The feeling of insecurity and fear it generates is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared but also affects communities as a whole.
The affected persons strongly believe, perhaps naively, that their beloved ones are still alive and they are kept in clandestine military detention cells/centres/camps.
When ex-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was confronted by angry parents who wanted to know the whereabouts of their loved ones, he was truthful about the disappeared. In his answer, Ranil said that the government had made every effort to trace the missing detainees in army custody but found none.
He then said the missing persons must be presumed dead. This answer only helped to worsen the already highly charged emotive atmosphere.
Today, Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was the Defence Secretary during the war had won the presidential race on the SLPP platform with an impressive majority. This has raked up those awful and nightmarish memories about the enforced missing persons. For years since 2009 May, the relatives of the missing persons are pointing fingers at Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the person responsible for execution-style murders of LTTE leaders/cadres/civilians who surrendered to the army some with white flags. The White flag surrender was facilitated by President Mahinda and Basil Rajapaksa. Those who surrendered with white flags were advised to hold the flags high so that the soldiers can see them at a distance.
So far, despite the promise by the previous Government, no one has been held accountable for extrajudicial killings during the war. But the mothers and relatives of the missing persons hold Gotabaya Rajapaksa accountable in his capacity as the Defence Secretary. Those he is only the Defence Secretary, he was virtually the Defence Minister as well. He alone took decisions regarding the overall war strategy against the LTTE. Mahinda Rajapaksa was Defence Minister in name only.
As Defence Secretary Gotabaya directed all military operations and gave orders to the Commanders in the field bypassing the Army Commander. This was disclosed by Sarath Fonseka many times. As the person who directed the entire war machinery, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is accused of ordering torture, rape and abductions and murders of thousands of Tamils.
When Rajapaksas (Gotabaya, Mahinda and Namal) went to the North for election campaign relatives of involuntarily disappeared persons held a protest rally before the Nallur Murugan temple. They have also been protesting against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for not doing anything about the missing persons. They are displaying US and EU flags in the hope of drawing enlisting support of those countries.
During his election campaign, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has studiously avoided giving interviews to the press knowing well that many upsetting questions will be fired at him about missing persons, extra-judicial killings and LTTE surrendees who went missing after the surrender.
At the first press conference held at Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo on 16 October 2019, a grinning Gotabaya Rajapaksa dodged questions about enforced disappearances and missing surrendees. He struggled to answer tough questions thrown by journalists and forced to acknowledge the military leadership of Sarath Fonseka. He denied Paranagama Commission findings of ‘missing’ persons.
Challenged repeatedly about those LTTE cadres who went missing after surrender to the 58 Division, President Gotabaya who had previously claimed credit for the military victory denied any role in the management of the victory and its outcome and tried to pass the blame on to the Army Commanding officers in the field!
When pressed further about a large number of detainees and missing persons, Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed credit for the rehabilitation of all of them.
His manifesto launched on 25 October 2019, inter-alia, said “Even though we took steps to pardon, rehabilitate and release 13,784 Tiger members who surrendered with arms, such steps were not taken in relation to soldiers who faced different accusations related to the wartime. It further said steps were taken to “systematically rehabilitate and reintegrate” into society not only soldiers but also members of the Tamil Tigers who are facing different accusations related to the war. But the affected families say they saw their relatives taken away in buses by soldiers but never seen again.
Sri Lanka’s government ordered Tamil rebels and any civilians with remote relations to the rebel group to surrender after they were boxed inside a narrow strip of land in the final days of the war on May 18. 2009.
While Gotabaya Rajapaksa claims the government released 13,784 LTTE surrendees, his manifesto does not talk about the missing. He told reporters that no one had disappeared other than those who participated in active combat, and that included thousands of soldiers. He urged people to forget the past and move on.
Here is how the questions and answers went during the press meet according to the Daily News dated October 16, 2019 –
Q: What happened to the people who surrendered to the security forces since you were leading the military at that time? Could you please tell us what happened to the people who surrendered? Where are they?
A: You are mistaken I think, I was not leading the Army.
Q: Your brother was?
A: No! No! The Army was led by the Army commander
Q: You were the defence secretary, what will you tell the people who ask that question?
A: About 13,784 surrendered and they were rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. They were given employment in the Civil Security Force and some of them were recruited in the military as well. We had one of the most successful rehabilitation programmes. Even foreign observers commended our programmes.
Q: Does that mean that there are no missing persons?
A: Even in the military, over 4,000 officers and soldiers went missing during the war in the battlefield. Once, I went to Jaffna Fort and even we couldn’t recover the bodies of the military personnel. People are missing. Similarly, a number of soldiers are missing.
Q: Some say those who surrendered did not return? So are they lying?
A: No! Somebody can say that but that is an allegation. We had a commission on this. There were no cases like that.
Q: Even the Paranagama Commission of your time said there were such cases
A: I don’t think so.
Q: It was said that various census and statistical surveys were conducted which came out with numbers. What was the process that you had in mind to carry this forward?
A: You are talking all the time about the past. Ask about the future. If you concentrate on the future, it is better I think.
Q: But can you move on without addressing the past?
A: Yeah sure, can move on.
Questioned about the UN Human Rights Council resolutions, especially 30/1 of 2015, Gotabaya Rajapaksa repeatedly described the UNHCR resolutions as “illegal”, but said that if elected to power he would work with the UN and human rights organisations in resolving contentious issues.
