The conspiracy of the “Missing”

By Rear Admiral (Dr.) Sarath Weerasekera VSV RWP USP

The office on Missing Persons (OMP) Act was passed in Parliament without a vote, in a most undemocratic and an unprecedented manner never heard of in the history of the Parliament. 

It is customary and also the correct procedure that the bell should be rung and all Members should be seated in their allocated seats before the vote is taken. Whilst the JO was demanding more time for speeches and also asking for sufficient time to at least to go through the amendments, this most controversial bill was passed in the above unacceptable manner. 

No sooner the bill was passed, US Ambassador Atul Keshap, US Under-Secretary Nisha Bishwal and the Global Tamil Forum had sent messages congratulating the Government. The Tamil separatist diaspora, the TNA and the West who are still dead against Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) for crushing the LTTE disregarding their request/demand, have got the Government to fulfil yet another election pledge.

Organised campaign

The OMP, on the surface, looks very innocent and justifiable, for it probes into the missing persons, arranges legal documents and compensation to the next of kin, etc. But underneath, there lies a diabolical conspiracy to punish the heroic men who defeated the LTTE. The pro-Government politicians including the JVP hypocrites continue to cheat the public on this issue whilst their journalist cohorts are on an organised campaign to “justify” the Act by other means. The latest move in that campaign was the article which appeared in the Daily FT on 11 August written by Darisha Bastians (DB).

DB at the beginning tries to draw a parallel with the Paada Yathra of MR 25 years ago, in which MR demanded the UNP regime to investigate Enforced Disappearances during JVP insurgency. The JVP fought with gal katas and handmade bombs and during that insurrection it was the Sinhalese youth who were killed/disappeared. The UNP Government even went to the extent of killing the family members of the suspected youth to crush the insurgency with impunity. All the Sinhalese youth were looked at suspiciously and taken away at the slightest doubt. 

The United Nations Human Right Commissioner General never came here running and the other HR organisations such as Amnesty International were never heard of at that time. The likes of “great” politicians/state officials turned humanitarian activists such as John Kerry, Nisha Biswal, Atul Keshap, Miliband, Kouchner, Cameron, etc. never came here and demanded investigations or accountability or passed resolutions in that regard at the UNGA. 

MR took to the street in that scenario and that situation cannot be compared with the war fought against the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world equipped with the latest military-ware including surface to air missiles. The LTTE which fought for a separate state in the north had a strong transnational financial network backed by the separatist Tamil diaspora of great political influence in the West. MR had to fight not only with the LTTE but also with the so-called international community which fully supported the LTTE.

In 1987, during the Wadamarachchi operation, under General Kobbekaduwa, the forces were just about to apprehend Prabhakaran when the Indians violated our air space and forced the Government to halt the operation. The then political leaders didn’t have the guts to face it and cowardly succumbed to the pressure mainly to be in power. In 2009, when our troops were about to launch the final assault at Nandikadal where Prabhakaran was hiding, Foreign Ministers Kouchner (France) and Miliband (UK) came running and tried to force MR to stop the war. MR had the spine to refuse and was brave enough to take the decision to continue and end terrorism for the sake of his citizens in the country, thereby antagonising all who supported the LTTE, particularly the West. The price he paid for that is history. 

The fact that the entire West was behind the presidential election in 2015 to oust MR was very clear when John Kerry, the State Secretary of USA, said “we are part of this victory” after the results were promulgated. The UN Zeid Hussein report, UN resolutions, the so-called four-pillar Transitional Justice including the OMP, etc. are nothing but steps of revenge initiated by them to punish MR, GR and the forces who crushed the LTTE against their wish.

Open-ended timeline

Now let me briefly touch upon the points mentioned by DB in her article to whitewash the OMP. Firstly DB says that Sirisena-Ranil proposal for a permanent office to trace the missing has an “open-ended timeline” and it does not restrict its mandate to the duration of the separatist conflict. But both these politicians were in politics for more than 40 years and none of them had earlier even proposed a similar office to trace the missing. Hence one can easily understand that the “open-ended timeline” of the OMP is a lollypop given to the gullible Sinhalese to swallow to prevent them from protesting against it and their main concern is of course about the missing/killed LTTE cadres. Section 12 (b) i, of the OMP clearly says that the OMP grants priority to the “missing people” cases that have occurred most recently which means that they would first attend and finish their requirement in the north before looking at others.

Section 27 of the OMP Act defines “missing person” and the first category is those claimed to be missing in connection with the conflict which took place in the north and east or its aftermath (here no mention of terrorists or terrorism). Hence even all the brutal terrorists (dead, missing or alive) who mercilessly killed even pregnant mothers, infants, novice Buddhist monks, etc. too fall into this category. Since it doesn’t mention anything about terrorists, this Act enables to grant compensation to the NOK of the “missing” LTTE cadres and the NOK of those terrorists who live abroad but documented here as “missing”.

MR’s presidency

DB says that nine years of MR’s presidency has marked by brutality against opponents but has not mentioned even a single name of those opponents whom MR has brutalised. One of those opponents, of course cannot be Lasantha Wickrematunge because Ranil W has very clearly said in the Parliament that Sarath Fonseka was responsible for that murder. 

MR, after winning the war and rescuing the innocent Tamils from the clutches of Tigers, brought immense development in the north to an extent in which the growth rate in Jaffna was 22% compared to 7% in the rest of the country. He did that giving priority to Jaffna over poor Sinhalese districts such as Ampara and Moneragala. Hence the slogans such as “brutality against opponents” and MR’s “Sinhala nationalist credentials,” etc. are the words generally used by the separatist Tamil diaspora and the TNA to justify their complaints against MR.

DB also says that MR’s comment of betrayal of the armed forces by the OMP was an oddly premature claim as OMP doesn’t identify the perpetrators as yet. MR’s concern is not unfounded. The members to the OMP are recommended by the Constitutional Council which is dominated by Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sampanthan who command seven votes out of nine in the CC. Sampanthan is the head of the one-time political arm of the LTTE and he is still a signatory to the Vadukkodai Resolution where they fight for Tamil Eelam. RW has never even given an iota of contribution towards the fight against terrorists but ridiculed the ongoing operations and completely kept away from supporting our forces during the war. So the members recommended by this duo to the OMP obviously would be pro-LTTE and anti-SL armed forces who defeated the LTTE. 

This team can enter into agreements even with foreign organisations and obtain “technical assistance”. That means even a hard-core Global Tamil Forum member or any foreign pro-LTTE separatist can join the OMP team as consultants. (GTF was banned by MR as per UN Charter 1373 for directly supporting the LTTE and this Government no sooner it came to power lifted the ban) What does DB think this newly-formed OMP staff and those consultants would do in the first place? Receive complaints from Tamil mothers and go behind and fix the LTTE who forcibly snatched away their children (age 10-12 years) to be used as cannon fodder? Or, would they go all out to fix the military and political leadership which destroyed their “boys” using all the extraordinary powers given to them?

That’s the concern of MR who was the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces whose men sacrificed their entire lives to save the nation from terrorism. DB must read the Act between the lines before jumping the gun by stating that MR’s comment amounts to tacit admission that armed forces he commanded for nine years were responsible for the atrocities.

Excesses may have happened and it is a natural phenomenon in any war, but the culprits should be tried and punished as per the prevailing law of the country based on solid proof. Certainly not on deliberately concocted false reports/evidence submitted by the stooges of separatist Tamil diaspora and TNA and terrorists themselves.

Zero civilian casualty

MR never prioritised the wellbeing and reputation of military above the grief of Tamil families as claimed by DB who has never been to a warfront during fierce battles but relies on hearsay. In fact MR did the opposite. His “zero civilian casualty” concept was responsible for approx. 25% of the casualty rate amongst the soldiers. During the last days Prabhakaran got himself surrounded by about 300 innocent Tamils, dug trenches around, buried AP mines to deter soldiers from crossing over. MR and GR could have easily given orders to use heavy artillery to destroy Prabhakaran along with the civilians. But to save the innocent Tamils our valiant soldiers walked over the minefield knowing that they would lose their limbs/lives. A large number of men who walked that day are now in Ranaviru hospital without legs and some were killed instantaneously. There are enough and more similar examples where the troops risked their lives to save the lives of innocent Tamils. 

DB should know that the LTTE Sea Tiger leader Soosai’s wife and children apprehended out at sea in the middle of night by the Navy during the last days of the war are now living happily amongst the Sinhalese. It is worthwhile for DB, who looks at the military as criminals, to interview Soosai’s wife, whose husband was responsible for making hundreds of Naval wives widows, and ask her as to how she was treated by the sailors when she was arrested at sea whilst escaping to India after the demise of Soosai.

Confidential testimony

As per the OMP Act it cannot be compelled to produce “confidential testimony” even before a court of law which means that, that part of the OMP’s work would be an exception to the RTI Act. DB justifies same stating that the Monetary Law Act too contains a similar confidentiality provision that will be an RTI exception. Confidentiality in submitting financial matters by individuals cannot be compared to false testimonies made to deliberately fix a person on a charge sometimes punishable by death. The provision of this Act also enables them to receive statements through video conference facilities, etc. and admit not withstanding anything contained to the contrary in the Evidence Ordinance, and accept any statement which might be inadmissible in civil/criminal proceedings. Isn’t that “operating outside the law enforcement and justice system” which DB tries to deny?

DB winds up stating that the pro-Rajapaksa JO is bound to oppose the OMP tooth and nail, seeing the establishment of the OMP as a first step towards a credible investigation into allegations of war crimes. That is correct, not only the pro-R JO but every citizen who has an iota of gratitude and patriotism must reject the OMP in toto, seeing it as a gross betrayal of the heroic soldiers (29,000 killed/missing; 14,000 fatally wounded, others survived) who saved the Motherland.

The section 13 of OMP says if a “missing” person is found to be “alive” that information can be revealed only subject to the consent of the person found alive. Terrorists with track records of cruel massacres do not want to reveal their whereabouts for obvious reasons. Isn’t this enough proof that one of the objectives of the OMP is to protect the LTTE terrorists?

The OMP office can make reports and frame charges against whom they target on false evidence/testimonies as mentioned above. These reports could be sent to Geneva as reports made after full investigation by an “office approved by the Parliament” in Sri Lanka. Mangala Samaraweera has already accepted Sri Lanka to be subjected to the Universal Law as proposed by UNHRC CG Zeid Hussein. The end result would be that those who are falsely charged of human right violations as above could be arrested, detained and tried even in any other country.

Betrayal of the forces

We have in our country proper institutions and resources to investigate into the “missing”. Those who are guilty of deliberate disappearances should be punished. But it should be properly heard with legally accepted evidence in fairness to the accused. If we allow them to be punished based on anonymous evidence/testimonies, emails, etc., it amounts to betrayal of the forces.

A traitor is a person who betrays his/her Motherland. The armed forces saved the Motherland from LTTE terrorism. If someone “proposes” or “justifies” a “Separate Office” run by pro-LTTE staff with powers above the law of the country to punish the armed forces which defeated the LTTE on the pretext of “tracing the missing,” then it amounts to betrayal of the armed forces and in this case the Motherland as well. Traitors are tried in courts for treason and treason if proved beyond any reasonable doubt, is an offence punishable by death.

(The writer is President of the National War Heroes Front.)

FT Politics Columnist’s Note: 

The article titled ‘The Politics of the Missing’ and preceding articles about the need for Sri Lanka to pursue truth and justice as part of its post-conflict healing process speak for themselves. There the matter shall be allowed to rest.