Administering justice

Friday, 24 August 2012 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

THE tension between the Muslim and Tamil communities in Mannar which ignited last month has faded into memory, but a report by a citizen’s commission into the incident makes for interesting reading and shows the perception of discrimination and negligence by the local administration that led to the clashes.

The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE went on a fact-finding visit to Mannar earlier this month. In their subsequent report they point out that there were many reasons for the clashes and how ethnic tensions have been fanned by an irresponsible administration that failed to act swiftly to solve the people’s grievances.

In their recommendations, the commission calls on authorities to inquire into the status of the civilians who have been charged. Many seem to have been innocent bystanders and their families continue to be badly affected by their arrest or absence.

The report also points out there is an urgent need to investigate what factual basis if any exists to support Muslims’ perceptions of discrimination at the institutional level in Mannar and other places to which they are returning. The local administration needs to be sensitive to and prioritise finding solutions for the many such disputes over land and livelihoods that are emerging in areas to which northern Muslims are returning.

There is an urgent need for more sustained civil society engagement with the returning Muslim community and the Tamil communities in the north that are compelled to make adjustments due to Muslim return. The above case illustrates the urgency in Mannar. But this is sure to be the case in other areas to which Muslims are returning as well.

There is a need for greater information collection and reporting of the situation of northern Muslim return. This information must be shared with concerned actors and stakeholders both in the north and outside. There is an urgent necessity to establish a mechanism comprising of civil society representatives, community elders, professionals and religious leaders who are able to intervene with relevant administrative officials to act to prevent potential conflicts and tensions and also offer recommendations to resolve civil disputes and other tensions amicably and without delay.

Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem has also admitted these challenges in resolving land and livelihood disputes in newly-resettled areas. In fact it was reported that the Justice Ministry plans to amend the law so that prescriptive rights are not applicable for the time the conflict lasted.

Similarly, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has recommended that a Land Commission be established to iron out resettlement grievances. Such measures, while laudable, could take many more months or years to accomplish. Time is of the essence when the roof over a person’s head or a meal on the table is on the line. Newly-resettled people as well as those that were already in those areas need swift, fair and empathic solutions to their problems.

Regional civil administrations need to be the providers of these solutions. If they do not, the result will be the perception of discrimination that will result in clashes as what was witnessed in Mannar. After nearly three decades of war, Sri Lanka simply cannot return to its bloody past.