Lest We Forget: Reflections one year after the sudden attack on Muttur - 1st August 2007

Lest We Forget
Hopes of peace and democracy

Exactly a year ago, at the very beginning of August, an unprovoked attack on Muttur set in train the sequence of events that led to the taking of Thoppigala a couple of weeks back. The word culmination would be inappropriate here, because the culmination is yet to come.

By that we do not mean the result of further military action, which we hope can be avoided by the LTTE returning to the negotiating table. The culmination we look forward to is the rapid development and democratization of the Eastern Province, whose people have suffered for too long.

In this regard the Peace Secretariat records its appreciation of the minimization of civilian casualties during military operations. We hope very much that the armed forces will operate with a similar sense of responsibility and caution if further attacks lead to a prolongation of the fighting. We also call upon the LTTE to abandon its determination that there will be a bloodbath in the event of elections in the East, and to enter even at this late stage into the political process.

The fact that it will soon be possible for the people of the area to choose their representatives to local government and provincial institutions is also a tribute to the swift resettlement of displaced persons. Though much remains to be done, what has been achieved in a few months is far in advance of what has been possible in similar conflict zones elsewhere. In congratulating the government on its achievement in this regard, we trust that not only will full resettlement proceed apace, but that a better quality of life will be made available to the people of the area.

We call then upon the international community to contribute actively and coherently to rehabilitation programmes, to work towards concrete goals in particular in sanitation and healthcare and education and livelihood development. We also call upon the private sector, and in particular chambers of commerce in the region, to develop programmes that will empower people instead of allowing them to remain in dependency.

The victims of the attack

Though we hope for a better future for the people of the East now, we should however remember in sorrow all those who died in the conflict. These include soldiers who were under tremendous pressure, but whose behaviour was admirable, as is apparent by the total absence of allegations of abuse that were regrettably so common in previous operations in the area, whether by our own forces or by the Indian army which also so bravely combated terrorism on our behald in the late eighties. We also should remember our fellow citizens amongst the LTTE who have died, and in particular the children forced into fighting. And, though the numbers are small in comparison with what happens elsewhere, in wars against terror, we must not forget the civilians who fell victim.

We remember in particular those citizens of Muttur who died when the LTTE launched its sudden attack a year ago. They have been forgotten in the intensity of the operations that followed, but we must not forget the enormity of the assault on the town at a time when there was no notice whatsoever that the LTTE was planning to breach the Ceasefire Agreement on such a massive scale.

We also remember the 17 Aid Workers of the Agence Contre Faim, who were inexplicably sent into Muttur in unusually large numbers on August 1st. We remember the prolonged suffering they went through, when many of them wanted to leave, but were advised to stay although all other workers had left or taken shelter elsewhere. Though the decision to keep them there was taken in good faith, we have urged both the French Ambassador and the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Paris to ensure that a full inquiry is made into the decision making process at the time, and made public, since transparency is essential in the light of such tragedy.

We also urge the government to expedite investigations and hope that the Commission of Inquiry will deal swiftly with this case. In particular we trust that the agreed Witness Protection Act be swiftly put in place. In thanking the Australian government for its assistance in ensuring open inquiry into the incident, we hope it will expedite, not only assistance regarding the Act, but also the conferencing the government has requested to settle a dispute in the interpretation of evidence.

This is the more urgent in that this dispute has led to arbitrary allegations by even the International Commission of Jurists, which allege tampering of evidence. Any evidence of such tampering should of course be brought to the attention of the government, and investigated thoroughly, but unfounded allegations will only contribute to the miasma of suspicion and the sense of injury that now seems to pervade all parties involved in this episode.

In this context we urge the Norwegian government to deal firmly with the breach of his contract in which the former Head of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission, Gen Henricsson, has engaged in publicy announcing his conviction of the guilt of the Sri Lankan armed forces. It was unfortunate that ACF invited him to a commemorative event against the express advice of the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in France, and we hope that such irresponsible behaviour will not be repeated.

It was at that event that Gen Henricsson is reported to have claimed that he has further evidence to prove his allegation, which he was unwilling to share except with an independent commission. Failing to disclose such evidence to the investigating authorities, is a serious breach of his obligations, compounded if he has shared it with others. In any case he has now no excuse since an Independent Commission is in place. In a context in which we too urge the relevant authorities to expedite the inquiry, we must recognize that recalcitrance such as Gen Henricsson has displayed contributes to delay and corrosive suspicions on all sides.

Hopes for the North

Finally, we must hope that the LTTE does not remain adamant in its determination not to return to negotiations. It is perfectly correct in noting that military action in the North will not be easy for the armed forces, and if this takes place there will be many more casualties amongst both soldiers and civilians. Saying this however as though it wished to test its theory is of no service to anyone, least of all the suffering people of the North.

If attacks continue, the armed forces will have no option but to take steps to prevent them. As operations on terror elsewhere in the world have indicated, continuing guerilla attacks cannot be permitted, given their cumulative cost to civilians as well as soldiers. In particular they cannot be permitted when, unlike anywhere else in the world, they are performed by conscripts forced into service.

It is deeply upsetting in the light of this fact that the international community has scrupulously kept silent in public about it. The impression created is that, provided their own workers were exempt from this human tax, they were prepared to condone this outrageous blatant violation of human let alone humanitarian norms. Though that may not have been the case in concept, the effect of their silence is that the suffering people of the Wanni who do not work for international organizations have had their offspring taken from them.

A concerted effort by the international community is essential to prevent this abuse and if possible to help the poor victims return to their families. We realize that this takes courage, and it is easy to find excuses – such as the need to continue to run operations smoothly in the Wanni - to keep silent. But, as the international community has now found, such silence has led to even their own workers falling prey. We therefore call upon all such organizations, and in particular the United Nations family, to courageously condemn this practice categorically.

We also urge those elements in the LTTE who are serious about peace to speak out to attempt to influence those who believe that negotiations will not fulfil their goal. Though this too will require courage, such courage on behalf of the people they purport to serve is essential if a peaceful solution is to be found to the conflict. Shortly after the attack on Muttur, the LTTE launched another unprovoked attack on the defence lines at Muhumalai. Though this was initially repulsed successfully, continuing attempts at infiltration and the threat of further attacks demand defensive measures. A return to negotiations will however lift the pressure on our suffering fellow citizens. We urge the LTTE to resume talks and, on this sad anniversary, remembering all those who have suffered as a result of the events set in train last August, all our citizens who have died unnecessarily, we call upon the international community too to strenuously and with courage try to convince the LTTE of the responsibility to negotiate.

Rajiva Wijesinha

Secretary General

Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process