Sri Lanka News: TNA invited to `help liberate Tamils`

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

An on going feature of the Rajapakse regime is the mass arrest of Tamil people in Colombo, suburbs and other areas in the South. Hundreds of innocent Tamils are languishing in Police stations and in the Boosa detention centre.

This practice of rounding up Tamils and arresting them on a mass scale first began during the times of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The mastermind behind this was then senior DIG Police HMB Kotakadeniya . In a purported attempt to cleanse Colombo and suburbs of potential tigers Kotaka initiated this notorious practice. Thousands were arrested and detained amidst inhuman conditions in Police stations and subsequently in jails..

The criteria for being treated as tiger suspects were two things. Failure to register themselves with the local cop shop and lack of proper identification documents. Many Up Country Tamils do not have these documents. So most of those arrested in Colombo were from the Plantation areas working or seeking employment in Colombo. Significant numbers of North - Eastern youths were also detained.

?Plantation Patriarch? Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman the Ceylon Workers Congress leader and cabinet minister began exerting pressure on President Kumaratunga. The Tamil United Liberation Front also followed suit. The TULF also met then Attorney - General Sarath de Silva and discussed the issue. TULF legal eagle Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam planned a campaign where the courts were to be flooded with writs of habeas corpus and fundamental rights applications.

All this plus the personality factor of Chandrika saw the Kotakadeniya modus operandi being discredited and discarded. The mass arrests were stopped. Kotakadeniya himself was transferred out of Colombo. Later he was overlooked for promotion as IGP. A disgusted Kotaka opted to retire. He then entered politics and became a senior vice - president of the Hela Urumaya.

After Mahinda came to power the ?Jathika? types got ensconced in the seats of power. Kotakadeniya became defence adviser.The return of Kotakadeniya was demonstrated through the resurrection of cordons, searches, mass arrests and detentions in Colombo and in Up - Country areas. One again there was an outcry. This time it was the International community (IC) which remonstrated ?quietly? to the Government. Former Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Menon Rao played a significant role in persuading Mahinda Rajapakse. Things improved.

Now the nefarious practice has been revived again in the name of national security. Recent events have contributed to this. The assassination attempt on the President?s sibling and Defence ministry secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse was a sharp, turning point. The draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was re - activated. It had been de - activated after the Ceasefire agreement came into force. The emergency regulations were amended and enhanced.

Elements of the PTA were incorporated into new provisions known as ? Prevention and Prohibition of Terrorism and Specified Terrorist Activities Regulations (PPTSTAR) . The new regulations made explicit reference to the PTA.When announcing the renewed war on terror Mahinda made it a point to emphasise that these were not necessitated by the fact that his own brother escaped a flagrant assassination attempt in Colombo. It is hard to say whether this was a Freudian slip or not.

The two bus explosions at Nittambuwa and near Hikkaduwa in early January saw several civilians being killed. It also brought home the frightening reality that ?bombs? could target civilians in any part of the Island. Earlier the Government thought it had a monopoly of bombarding civilians. While jet bombers were dropping bombs on civilian dwellings in the North - East parcel bombs were going off in buses in the South.

This triggered off the current wave of arrests and detentions. It must be noted that there was no clear evidence of who was responsible for the bombings. Though the state and state - sponsored media were quick to blame the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) others were not so sure. Many Countries condemning the bombings lamented the attacks on civilians but refrained from attributing blame on any party.

Given its track record the LTTE may very well have been responsible but stories circulating in Colombo also laid suspicions on a ?reformed? political party with a history of anti - people violence and also the dirty tricks dept of intelligence outfits. With tales of many Sinhala persons collaborating with the LTTE it was also possible that the parcel bombs could have been placed in the buses by Sinhala people themselves.

But to the Rajapakse regime the only suspect was the LTTE and by extension the Tamils. Security operations began with Tamils as targets.Colombo, Wattala,Kotte, Gampaha, Minuwangoda, Negombo, Boralesgamuwa, Dehiwela , Ambalangoda etc were all areas where searches and arrests were conducted. ?suspicious? Tamils too were arrested at random. At one point more than 700 Tamils were arrested. They were all taken to Police stations.

Boosa in the deep South was a notorious detention centre for Tamils arrested under the PTA in the eighties and nineties. Once again Tamils were taken to Boosa. The current official position is that 116 persons are being held in Boosa. Of these eight are women. Inquiries are over for many and 33 persons found ?innocent? were scheduled to be released by Friday Jan 26th. Another 41 regarded as ?innocent? are expected to be released before Feb 8th it is said. But Boosa figures are fluid because arrests and detentions are an on going phenomenon.

Many of those arrested were released after prolonged detention and interrogation in Police stations. Currently it is estimated that around 300 are held in Police stations in Colombo, suburbs and outstations. There is much confusion about the criteria for arrests and the procedures adopted. It is also unclear as to which category of detenues is taken to Boosa and which category is released after interrogation in police stations.

Our khakied fraternity is well - known for its honesty and incorruptible integrity. There are instances of arrested Tamils being released quickly if the right connections are made and the correct ?Santhosams? paid. I am personally aware of two employees at a hotel being arrested and then released after the concerned proprietor gave Rs two lakhs to the local guardians of law and order. The long arm of the law has an outstretched palm!.

Not all are so lucky because they have neither the connections nor resources. A final year undergrad from Peradeniya university came down to Colombo for a day and night to celebrate Thai Pongal. She had not been ?registered? with the Police when a raid occurred. She was taken in as a ?suspect? in spite of showing her national ID card and University documents. She was arrested on Jan 14th and is yet to be released.

Another disturbing incident was on Tuesday Jan 23rd. The Galle bound evening train from Colombo was stopped suddenly at Ratmalana. There had been a tip - off that a suicide bomber was traveling in it with plans of blowing it up. Nearly 2000 passengers were on the train and all were checked. Those who did not fit the ?racial profile? were let off easily. One Tamil woman was arrested. Apparently the passengers were all remaining in the train while the checking was on. If there had been a suicide bomber on the train it would have been so easy to self - explode. That?s our security!

Among the latest reports of arrests were the round - up and detention of some Tamils in Mt. Lavinia and Dehiwela on the night of Wednesday Jan 24th. Eleven were taken to Galkissa Police station and nine to Dehiwela.According to Police sources those detained in Dehiwela comprise six young Tamil women, an old Tamil woman of seventy years and two men.

Their ?offense? was not following proper registration procedures said Police sources. They were all from the North and had not registered with the Dehiwela Police. Some of those arrested were gainfully employed in Colombo. What is puzzling is that the Dehiwela Police had not given out forms to residents to fill out and register those from the North - East. Only the Wellawatte Police seem to have done this. Even many Bambalapitiya and Kollupitiya residents have not been given relevant forms.

The confusion is compounded further because of the criteria adopted in arresting people. People are treated as ?suspects? for not having proper identification documents it is said.According to an Up - Country Tamil MP a senior Supdt of Police had told him that documents such as national ID card, Birth Certificate, Certificates of proof from Grama Sevakhas and Principals of Educational Institutions or Employers were required. But many of those arrested were in possession of these documents but were detained.

The Pettah Police detained some people from the Up - Country recently. When Up - Country Peoples Front MP and deputy - minister Radhakrishnan made inquiries he was told that they were detained only to be finger - printed and that they would be released in due course. If only fingerprinting was needed why take and lock them up for days at a stretch?

The Police cells and rooms are overcrowded. Most detenues sleep in a sitting position. Many of those detained are from the plantation areas without the necessary documents. They are not ?bigshots? but those employed in menial jobs.

Keheliya Rambukwella the ebullient cabinet spokesperson on Defence affairs was interviewed by the BBC Tamil Service ?Thamilosai? on this matter. He said that people were being detained because they had not registered themselves. When asked why they were being taken to Boosa Rambukwella said that they needed a place to rehabilitate them. Why on earth do people who failed to register themselves need rehabilitation in Boosa? That was a question the interviewer failed to ask of Keheliya.

An important question is the legal basis for these arrests. Lawyers retained by a Human Rights Organization were surprised to find some cops saying the suspects were being held under a CDO. This was something new to them. A CDO apparently is a Criminal Detention Order under the newly passed PPTSTAR of enhanced emergency regulations. So the Up Country Tamil MP?s concerned about mass arrests of Plantation youths are helping to perpetuate this state of affairs by regularly voting to extend the emergency.

Another shocking revelation was that many Police Stations had been given bundles of CDO forms in advance. All CDO forms have been ?assang korala ? on a mass scale by the Defence Secretary. All that the Police officers had to do was fill out the necessary personal particulars of the detenues and hold them in captivity in the Police stations or send them to Boosa. The valid period for detention was one month. Thereafter further extensions were required but there was no problem as they were readily available in bulk.

The purpose of requiring the Defence Secretary to sign detention orders under the PTA or PPTSTAR is to ensure that Police officials are not guilty of abuses and excesses. In a delicate exercise of checks and balances civilian authority is necessary to restrain the security forces from running amok. The Defence secy or his delegated civilian deputies are expected to examine each case and approve of detention or extension of detention only where it is felt to be warranted.

This procedure is not always followed in practice. Defence Secy?s have signed orders mechanically without going into the merits in detail. But in this case the current Defence Secretary has ?devolved? authority and responsibility by providing Police Officers with signed blank detention forms in bulk beforehand. With such a bonanza the local cops are having a field day by detaining a ?suspect? for some, any or no reason at all.

Gotabhaya Rajapakse being a retired Army officer is conducting himself with a military mindset but what he seems to have forgotten is that he is now a civilian official with clear cut duties and responsibilities. An axiom of the rule of law is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty Here the suspects are deemed guilty first and have to prove their innocence

No one questions. By his actions the younger Rajapakse can be deemed of abusing his duties. He may not know why a particular person has been arrested but he bears the responsibility by virtue of his position and powers. Rajapakse should consult former Defence Secy Chandrananda de Silva who was ?rejected? by Canada when appointed as envoy to Ottawa. Gotabhaya who is a US citizen should ask himself why that happened to Chandrananda.

When the PTA was re-activated in new form the Free Media Movement (FMM) called on the Government of Sri Lanka (G to ?clarify the precise implications of its decision to reactivate the PTA.? .?We note that the latest proclamation is at pains to posit itself within the nature and scope of legitimate anti-terrorism measures as set out in the UN Security Council Resolution No. 1373 of 2001. Nevertheless, given the long history of emergency-related abuse of power in Sri Lanka, there are several points of serious concern with regard to the new regulations,? the FMM release said.

The FMM misgivings are proving to be very relevant in the present context. The GOSL must come out with a detailed explanation. The people particularly the racially profiled Tamil people must be told specifically of their obligations and rights. People must know why they are being arrested and what crime they have committed. All those genuinely concerned about the inherent rights of a human being should question the regime as to whether people need to be detained in Boosa and elsewhere under inhuman conditions for not having proper ID or failing to register.

Meanwhile Tamils continue to suffer arrests and detentions for flimsy and garbled reasons. The Rajapakse regime is becoming noted for its pronounced anti - Tamil stance under the pretext of combating terrorism. No one questions the Government?s right to adopt security measures to combat terrorism. But are these methods like arresting people for not registering or not having adequate documentations justifiable or workable?

The LTTE has excellent ID documents .They seldom get caught for things like these. Only the innocent, poor and powerless fail in these matters. Poor souls! Sadly there is no powerful political voice to protest this racial profiling and mass detentions.

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