Sri Lankan Civil War

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction:

This paper seeks to identify the global dimensions, peace and reconciliation for Sri Lankan Civil War. A small Island of Sri Lanka was facing an ethnic conflict fought between two groups, they are the majority population of the Sinhalese and the minority population of the Tamil people. The majority people were starting to dominate the minority people, so the minority population of the Tamil people formed their own military group as a name of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). At the beginning on 23 July 1983, this conflict became as the Civil War between these two groups and this war was based on to create a separate independent state for Tamil people. For over, this civil war was 26 years long and it caused significant hardships to the population, environment and the economy of the country. During this civil war lot of civilians were killed and it has been caused human rights abuses, systematic impunity for serious human rights violations. The Sri Lankan government has also been caused war crimes which means Homes, Buildings, Traditional Places were destroyed by government military force, so in order to this struggle lot of civilians have been moved to different places around the world as refugees. Then finally, in May 2009 the Sri Lankan Military force was defeated the LTTE and the civil war became an end without peace. After an end of the civil war in around the world people are being protested against Sri Lankan government for Investigation about war crimes and reconciliation. United Nations has decided with the main supporting countries of the United States and India to start an investigation of Sri Lankan war crimes and to make resolutions.

History of Sri Lankan:

Sri Lanka has a long history begins at around 30000 years ago when the island was inhabited firstly. The country is located in the Indian Ocean east of the southern tip of India and this country formerly called as Ceylon until 1972. Beginning in the 5th century B.C. central part of the island was covered by the Sinhalese and northeastern coastal areas were covered by the Sri Lankan Tamil people. Between 8th and 15th centuries the Moors people the name by which the descendants of Muslim Arab traders were settled in Sri Lanka although including other groups of Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs. Beginning in the 16th century B.C. it was colonized by Portuguese & Dutch and in the 19th century 1802, Sri Lanka was colonized by British rule. British, they found that some places of hill stations in Sri Lanka were very suitable for coffee, tea and rubber cultivation. By the mid-19th century, Ceylon tea had become a staple of the British market which brings great wealth to a small number of white tea planters. At that time of British rule Tamil laborers from south India were brought to work in British tea estates, rubber plantations and these people have been called as Indian Tamils.

In 1948 Ceylon gained an independence from British rule, but this peaceful independence makes conflict competition among the majority group of Sinhalese and the minority group of Tamils. Following this independence conflict have been increased over the issues of language, education and job preference. During the time of British period some of the Tamil people had a chance of achieving an education and obtained civil service. Following this achieve the Tamil people tried to make their life better although they tried to get a university education and jobs. At the same the minority group of the Tamil people has been dominated by the majority people of Sinhalese and they gave preference to the Sinhalese in university admissions and in job wise most of Sinhalese were achieved especially in government related jobs. In 1972 Ceylon was renamed by Sri Lanka as it was known as officially announced as a democratic socialist republic country.

I. Politics of Sri Lanka:

The Politics of Sri Lanka reflect the historical and political differences between the two main ethnic groups, who were mostly concentrated in the north and east of the island. In Sri Lanka the politics take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic. Executive power is exercised by the government and legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The president has been directly elected for a six-year term by the power is head of state, head of government and chief commander of the armed forces. The election occurs under the Sri Lankan form of the contingent vote. Responsible to parliament for the exercise of duties under the constitution & laws, the president may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of parliament with the concurrence of the Supreme Court. By the way "Mahinda Rajapaksa" is the current president of Sri Lanka and he is the 5th president.  The president Rajapaksa was first elected to the parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970 and served as Prime Minister from 6 April 2004 until his victory in the 2005 Presidential election. He was sworn in for a six-year term as president on 19 November 2005 and was re-elected for a second term on 26th January 2010 with the majority support of the Sinhalese.

II. Economic Background:

The GDP growth rate in Sri Lanka averaged rate of 6.43 percentage for the year of 2003 until 2012 and in 2010 it was increased by 8.60 percentage, but in March 2009 due to civil war in Sri Lanka it was too low of 1.50 percentage. The main economic sectors of the country are tourism, tea export, apparel, textile, rice production and other agricultural products.

III. Sinhalese:

The Sinhalese are an ethnic native group of Sri Lanka and they are formally called as an Indo-Aryan. Beginning of 5th century onwards they settled in the central part of the island and according to history they were from north India. The Sinhalese identity is based on their language Sinhala and religion Buddhists. Most the Sinhalese is living in north central, central south and west in Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese are the majority population composing about three-fourth of the total population in Sri Lanka and they were ruled by various European powers for over 400 years until British granted an independence to Sri Lanka. Since on that time onwards they have been a conflict with the minority population of the Tamil people.

IV. Ethnic Conflict:

In late 1972, the republic country of Sri Lanka started the combination of communal politics by the Sinhalese and the Tamil political leaders. Basically it was based on to experimenting with different policies and to develop the economy. But in later it was control over by the majority group of Sinhalese and instability in the Sinhalese political leadership has resulted in inconclusive elections. The minority people had increasingly marginalized by policies that favor of the Sinhalese people and by restrictions on the Tamil speaking population in the name of security. At the based on independence the British handed power over to the English educated people of a few Sinhalese caste families and they had dominated the politics in Sri Lanka and it caused many conflicts between the Sinhalese and the Tamil people in Political wise. In 1972 and 1978 the new constitutions were written by both parties, so under this the cabinet government form was replaced and it was mentioned as elected president is the head of government. Following this new constitutions the majority people of the Sinhalese have turned into the political arena and the Sinhalese got more power in parliament.

Based on the political power the Sinhalese has declined the minority people’s opportunity in educational wise, religion, language, and allocating jobs for the Tamil people. Under this colonial rule accessibility of education was restricted to the Tamil people in Colombo province, because the majority of the Tamil population was living in Jaffna and a few of Tamil people were living in Colombo with the majority population of the Sinhalese. Sri Lankan Tamils have been expressed that northern and eastern provinces are traditional lands and they follows which belongs to Sri Lankan Tamils. In this continues, the Sinhalese people have been expressed that they had a golden civilization in Sri Lanka.

Based on this conflict society has changed in 1970’s and the minority population of the Tamil peoples felt that their demand & justice could not be a met within unitary state, so they demanded a separate independent state for themselves it also know as Tamil Eelam. The separate independent state which covers north and east of the island, but this negotiation between the Sinhalese and the Tamils went failure. Although the Tamil peoples' demands did not find any favor from a former Hon’ble chief justice of Sri Lanka M. C. Sansoni, in the period of 1977. Following this conflict between these two groups there has been always freedom of movement from any part of the country to another and all religion peoples have regarded the entire island as their common home. Hereafter conflicts became as an armed struggle, because the militant movement of the Sinhala community which erupted twice into armed struggle with the aim of changing the existing political regime. The armed conflict in Sri Lanka was a violent reflection of the deepening divides along political and ethnic lines. It played out as a struggle for the existence of the Sinhalese and the Tamil peoples. Based on this armed struggle the minority population of the Tamil peoples formed a own military organization as the name of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also known as the Tamil Tigers.

V. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE):

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tiger and it was a separatist militant organization that was based for the Tamil peoples. It was founded in May 1976 by "Velupillai Prabhakaran" from Tamil family and he lived in the Jaffna province in Sri Lanka. It waged a violent secessionist and a nationalist campaign to create an independent  state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil peoples.  It was involved in four unsuccessful rounds of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government over the course of the conflict.

At the height of its power, the LTTE possessed a well-developed militia and carried out many high-profile attacks including the assassinations of several high-ranking Sri Lankan and Indian politicians. The LTTE modern suicide bombing which it used against for Sri Lankan military. The LTTE was the only separatist militant organization to assassinate two world leaders, Sri Lankan president  Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. As a result of its strategy it is currently proscribed as a terrorist organization by 32 countries, but has extensive support amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Europe and North America, and amongst some Tamils in India.

Starting point of the Civil War:

Based on above ethnic conflict discussions, the Tamil peoples demanding for a separate independent state and disagreement between the Sinhalese and the Tamil peoples. These kind of issues makes more conflict and it became a civil war in Sri Lanka. This civil war starts on 23 July 1983, it continues as Eelam war I, Eelam II and Eelam III by the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009 to bringing the civil war to an end. It was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

In 1983, the outbreak of anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lankan that have been changed the course of the nation's history. This riot began as a triggered to the LTTE and they have launched a deadly attack on the military force that caused 13 soldiers were killed. Following this attack Sri Lankan military caused a huge damage to the Tamil community as estimate of 2000 people were killed, 18000 homes were destroyed and huge property was damaged. So at the very beginning stage of the civil war seems full-scale of armed conflict between two groups. Due to this inhuman attack and huge damage was caused a big impact to the Tamil community and it became as a July as a "Black July" that remembrance day for the Sri Lankan Tamil community.

During this period the LTTE adopted increasingly violent tactics and they used modern suicide bombing which against of Sri Lankan military. Over the time of the period the LTTE merged with large Tamil groups that the result of many Tamil splinter groups were ended up working with the Sri Lankan government as paramilitaries and some legitimate Tamil oriented political leaders joined with LTTE to support of an independent state. In 1985 peace talks began with the LTTE and the government, but it went to fail and the war continued. In 1986 as a part of this conflict many civilians were killed and in 1987 government troops pushed the LTTE fighters in the northern city of Jaffna that was both the government forces and the LTTE fighters engaged in a series of bloody operations. During this operation the Sri Lankan military launched an offensive operation called "Operation Liberation" to regain control of the territory in the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE, because Jaffna has more majority population of the Tamil people. This offensive operation was successful and the LTTE leader Prabhakaran escaped from the troops. In July 1987 the LTTE carried out their suicide attack to Sri Lankan army camp and it was killed 40 soldiers.

Hereafter in July 1987 neighbor country of India and Sri Lanka was signed an agreement which is based in India would provide an assistance in implementing a peace. In mid of 1988 India sent a peacekeeping force to support of Sri Lanka military and however the Indian force lost their soldiers estimate of 1200 until the withdrawing year by 1990. In late 1990’s the LTTE controlled the Jaffna peninsula from Sri Lankan military until it was recaptured by 1995. From Worldwide Tamil peoples to supports financially for the LTTE

Causes of the Civil War:

I. Eelam War II

The Violence continued and the  LTTE has used terror tactics to the Sinhalese and the Muslim farmers to get away from the North and East of the island. After the Indian peace keeping force withdrawn the LTTE established many government related functions in the areas under its control. In 1990 the LTTE held a tentative ceasefire to get more occupation and both major combatants had established their power bases that they turned on each other, but the ceasefire was broke down. The government launched an offensive to try to retake the Jaffna province from LTTE. Hereafter the LTTE and the Sri Lankan security forces both carried out massacres of civilians and both the LTTE and the security forces used civilians as shields against attacks. The Sri Lankan military engaged in heavy bombing in civilian areas, resulting in damage to homes, hospitals, temples, churches and pedestrians. Burning bodies appeared along roadsides in many parts of the country and reports of mass arrests as well as most of the arrested people were missed.

In July 1991 there was the largest battle of war between Sri Lankan troops and the LTTE which based on to control the Jaffna peninsula, however estimate of 2000 people were died on both sides.

II. Eelam War III:

Before of Eelam War III from both sides they faced six years of conflict fight. During the time of civil war there are two main political parties in Sri Lanka faced the parliamentary election in 1994. The People’s Alliance (PA) which means one of the main parties in Sri Lanka was won the parliamentary election the against of the United National Party (UNP). After the election in October 1994, the PA parties held four rounds of four rounds with the LTTE and a few demands were made by LTTE, but the talks began with each other at the same it ended suddenly. In January 1995 both sides began to prepare for war. The LTTE had built their own strengths with huge number of people while during the cease fire and on April 19th 1995 both began that talk to end up the cease fire. In 1995 the Sri Lanka military had well prepared and it killed hundreds of LTTE’s and thus began the next phase of the war know as Eelam War III.

In October 1995 the government troops entered into Jaffna province and the LTTE had forced to the evacuation of the city with most of the population, although approximately 2500 soldiers and rebels were killed in the offensive. Following this evacuation the LTTE made a suicide attack that destroyed the Central Bank in the center of Colombo province. As part of this 125 civilians were killed as the Navaly Church Bombing in the Jaffna peninsula by the Sri Lankan air force. The LTTE launched an "Operation Unceasing Waves" to capture the battle of Mullaitivu town in Sri Lanka on 18 July 1996 that caused 1,334 army troops were dead.

As violence continued in the North that the LTTE suicide & time bombs were exploded numerous times in populated city areas and public transport in the south of the country which caused hundreds of civilians killed. In October 1997 they destroyed the Sri Lankan World Trade Centre and in January 1998 one of the holiest Buddhist shrines in the world was destroyed by the LTTE truck bomb. To stop this bombing the Sri Lankan government outlawed the LTTE and with some success pressed other governments around the world to do the same significantly interfering with their fund-raising activities.

In 2nd November 1999 the LTTE returned to the offensive with the "Operation Unceasing Waves III". In 2000 the Sri Lankan military did the Elephant Pass military complex which had separated the Jaffna peninsula from the "Vanni" mainland area of the northern province in Sri Lanka for 17 years, because it based by to control access to the Jaffna Peninsula from the LTTE and it caused the estimated of the 1008 LTTE soldiers were died. Then the army launched "Operation Agni Kheela" to take back the southern Jaffna Peninsula, but it sustained losses to the Sri Lankan force. The LTTE continued to press towards in Jaffna, but the military repulsed the LTTE offensives and was able to maintain control of the city.

From last two decades Sri Lankan civilians have started to move in different places around the world as refugees. Due to this civil war they lost their home, family and they are seeking peaceful life as well as future for their next generation. By the report of UNHRC’s global statistics that indicates from 2011 there were 136,605 refugees moved to 65 countries including majority people in India and some other countries like France, Germany, Canada, United states, Switzerland, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore etc.

III. Cease fire:

In February 2002 both began for a ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE. The 2002 ceasefire agreement raised hopes both domestically and internationally that an end to Sri Lanka’s internal conflict. A crucial component of a peace would be genuine political independence for the north and east of the island. However by the end of 2003 they did a peace talks, but they were never to resume. What followed over the next five years was the slow death of the ceasefire agreement and the so-called "peace process". The international community made efforts to prop it up, but neither party showed much confidence or faith in these efforts. Indeed, key stakeholders came to be accused of taking sides in the conflict.

In 2004 and 2007 levels of violence steadily increased between the LTTE and government. In 2004 the LTTE suffered a major crack and this was eventually to surface the way for the military defeat of the LTTE in the east. At the same time the Sri Lankan government began to increase the defense expenditure and strengths with the assistance of China and Pakistan. President Rajapakse who was elected as a President of Sri Lanka in November 2005. And he appeared increasingly intent on achieving a military victory over the LTTE. The LTTE’s financial networks were also being restricted internationally. In 2006, following the example of the US and India, the EU declared the LTTE a terrorist organization and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze.

Ending point of the Civil War:

On 16 January 2008 the Government formally pulled out of the 2002 ceasefire agreement. In January 2009 the Sri Lankan armed forces achieved a decisive breakthrough in the north. The LTTE lost the key town of Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass that the strategic causeway between the Jaffna peninsula and the main body of the island. The army then laid siege to Mullaitivu, because the last remaining town controlled by the LTTE and quickly captured it too. The Sri Lankan Government declared that total military victory was imminent. By early February it was estimated that the LTTE had only around 1000 armed personnel remaining and they concentrated along a 30 square kilometer area of coastline in the northern Vanni region. There were reportedly around 250000 civilians in the area with dozens allegedly being killed every day. The Sri Lankan Government unilaterally designated as this area "safe zone" and announced upon civilians to make their way in order to avoid being caught up in the fighting. Over the following three months the Sri Lankan military gradually reclaimed the last remaining territory. The authorities largely ignored growing international condemnation of its failure to protect the civilians caught up in the fighting. The LTTE was accused of using civilians as "human shields" Both parties to the conflict were accused of committing war crimes. In the end finally came on 18 May 2009 when the last piece of territory was claimed and the LTTE’s leadership including the chief commander of the LTTE "Vellupillai Prabhakaran" were killed by the Sri Lankan force.

War Crimes:

In that event that the estimated number of 80,000-100,000 people who have died over the 25 years of this conflict. Although many people of this year alone and it could be many more will very likely be added to in future years. During on the Civil War time the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE both committed war crimes. The Sri Lankan Government largely rejected international calls for greater action to protect civilians or for a ceasefire, although the international community was failing to respond to growing criticism in Sri Lanka. Since the end of fight there have been growing calls for an independent war crimes investigation. On 18 May 2009 the EU called for an independent war crimes inquiry. The US has added its voice in support of these calls.

However a special session of the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka which took place on 26-27 May 2009 that western attempts to include such a call in the final resolution were comfortably defeated by Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Government has said that its own courts will investigate any allegations of war crimes. However the Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE frequently violated international humanitarian law during on civil war periods. Although both sides committed killing civilians throughout the many years of conflict. According to several reports that thousands and thousands of civilians were killed, including children, countless more wounded, and hundreds of thousands depressed of adequate food and medical care resulting in more deaths.

In August 2009 Crisis group began for gathering an evidence relating to the conduct of hostilities in the final months of the war. It includes eyewitness statements taken and deemed credible by Crisis Group as well as hundreds of photographs, video, satellite imagery, electronic communications and documents from a wide range of sources. These kind of evidence provides reasonable grounds to believe war crimes were committed by both sides. It also provides reasonable grounds to investigate particular individuals, including top government and military leaders. This also applies to the leadership of the LTTE, but most of them were killed in the final days of fighting and some of them are in Sri Lankan custody as well as some may have escaped to abroad. There are compelling reasons to pursue these cases and alleged crimes are the worst in the past a few decades with civilian suffer. The military strategy that government chooses to destroy the LTTE required a deep erosion of the principle of distinction between combatants and civilians.

Civil War is Over but Tensions Run High:

In order to this conflict the Sri Lankan Government has indicated some awareness need for political and constitutional reform to address the grievances that have to support for this conflict. Current President Rajapakse has pledged that now that military victory has been secured, so the government will turn its attention to establishing autonomy arrangements in the north and east. Rajapakse is now in a position of strength and so may be in a position to persuade hardliners that a genuine autonomy deal need for Tamil separatism. But the Sinhalese ultra-nationalists on whom Rajapakse relies for his political base continue to reject the very legitimacy of Tamil nationalism or, indeed, ideas of federalism. Other minorities including Sri Lanka’s Muslims will also want to be catered for under new arrangements.

United Nations Panel:

A panel of experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon to investigate violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the stages of the civil war. And it found "credible allegations" which if proven indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE.

Based on these allegations, in May 2009 the UN and the wider international community given pressure to the Sri Lankan government that the president of Sri Lanka appointed a commission on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation (LLRC) under the commissions of inquiry act 1948 to examine events from the operationalization of the ceasefire agreement in 2002 through to the end of war. It has been expected to focus on the causes of conflict, reconciliation and expected to identify mechanisms for restitution to the individuals whose lives have been affected by the conflict. The outset of the panel that in order to better understanding the process and issues. But the panel did not meet the UN’s expectations, because the Sri Lankan government does not engage with LLRC as much.

A Continuing Controversy:

In Sri Lanka the war came to an end, but the humanitarian situation remains harsh that war survivors still living in squalid camps. Somewhat a few people have found their relatives to stay with them and some children have returned to school. A little group has been able to return to their original homes. "The Government of Sri Lanka has made it hard for NGOs to provide humanitarian support and has done little to promote reconciliation and rehabilitation and bring justice for victims".

The conflict remains unaddressed solution which provides rights, justice and peace in all communities has not been discussed. Still the innocent Tamil civilians are not differentiated from the LTTE.

Reconciliation:

Based on this conflict and war crimes the United States of America highly began to pass a resolution against Sri Lanka at United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The resolution promoting on reconciliation and accountability which the Sri Lankan government to conduct an independent and credible investigation into the violence committed. It also encourages the government to cooperate with UN human rights experts and provides for discussions on the issue at further sessions of the Council. The resolution promoting on reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka was adopted at the Council’s 22nd session in Geneva with 25 member states voting in favor including India, 13 against and 8 abstaining. For supporting this resolution as well as demanding for international investigation students started their struggle as hunger strike in around the world especially most of in India. In around the world many people have been protesting against Sri Lanka.

It seems kind of watered down resolution also India has been pushed for new elements through written amendments calling for an independent and credible investigation into allegations of human rights violation and other accountability measures to be accepted by Sri Lanka, according to sources. During this intervention in the United Nations Human Rights Council India's Permanent Representative Dilip Sinha said, "We repeat our call for an independent and credible investigation into allegations of human rights violations and loss of civilian lives".

Conclusion:

Almost four years from end of civil war in Sri Lanka, but war conflicts still not to be an end. The government of Sri Lanka’s current approach to accountability does not correspond to basic international standards that emphasize truth, justice and reparations for victims. Moreover the following defeat of the LTTE and the government force that caused massive harm was done it to civilians and including the death of tens of thousands although, the government of Sri Lanka fails to make legal justice. After an end of civil war in Sri Lanka much has improved, but each of the major ethnic groups Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims have suffered massively. Conflicts have not left hundreds of thousands dead & injured, but have also under with fears and misunderstandings in each community. Progress toward reconciliation in this environment was always going to be difficult. Northern areas once ruled by the LTTE, but now following by some current issues its seems they are dominated by the military.  Indeed of many Tamil residents feel that it is more like the extraction of the spoils of war than a real effort to improve livelihoods and build trust.

Conclusion point of this conflict, the UN panel offers the resolutions and recommendations regarding the implementation of the joint commitment on accountability. Everyone hopes the panel will help for the framework for an ongoing and constructive engagement between the Sri Lankan government and peoples. These recommendations are maybe made require complementaries by the Sri Lankan government to do justice. And the US & UN’s resolutions would compose a genuine process for this conflict that would satisfy the joint commitment between ethnic groups in Sri Lanka.