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TCHR's Commentary on MP Raviraj's Assassination

by Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, November 23, 2006

What is surprising, is that if we take Raviraj's assassination as an example - everyone from the President to Paramilitary leaders and Singhalese extremists - JVP have condemned this killing and have also conveyed their condolences to Raviraj's family. Even a few ministers who support the motivated killings carried out by the Sri Lankan military intelligence have paid their last respects to Raviraj. Is there any meaning in these condemnations, condolences and paying of last respects?

If these personalities had not supported the military agenda of the government and the barbaric activities of the paramilitary forces, people like Raviraj would not have been killed. On the one hand they support the extension of the Emergency Regulations in the parliament and on the other hand they support the military solution to the island’s long and bloody conflict. As a result, serious violations are taking place and those who speak against these atrocities are wiped out by the very same gang who then, in easy platitudes, condemn, send condolences and pay last respects to the victim.

In Sri Lanka – condemnation and condolences are meaningless!

“An ounce of hypocrisy is worth a pound of ambition.” -- Michael Korda

Lawyer and Jaffna district parliamentarian Mr. Nadarajah Raviraj was recently shot dead in the capital Colombo in Sri Lanka. The assassination took place near his home in Narahenpitiya – early in the morning. His bodyguard was killed in the same incident.

Raviraj, a Former Mayor of Jaffna and Tamil National Alliance – TNA, parliamentarian was killed by so called “unknown gunmen” - terminology used in killings in which the Sri Lankan government is involved.

Since Raviraj was elected to parliament in 2001, he had spoken openly and strongly against the atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan security forces. He never hesitated to speak out against the paramilitary forces which work closely with the Sri Lankan military intelligence.

A week before his killing, during the parliament session, Raviraj had an argument with Douglas Devananda, leader of a paramilitary group known as the EPDP and Minister in the present cabinet. Many in parliament, including the speaker, witnessed this.

Soon after Raviraj's killing, the leader of the TNA, R. Sampanthan, told the press that, "Raviraj's assassination is a clear attempt by the paramilitary operating with the Sri Lanka Army to stifle the Tamil parliamentarians' voice in and out of the Parliament to inform the International Community of the Sri Lanka government's genocide against the Tamils."

On 12 November 2006, former President Chadrika Kumaratunga gave a pathetic interview to the Sunday Leader newspaper in Colombo. If everything stated in that interview could have been done to a former President, a Singhalese who belongs to the same political party as the present Executive President Mahinda Rajapaksa, then piercing alarm bells should be ringing when we compare what Rajapaksa is doing to the Tamils in this island.

In the same interview former President Chandrika Kumaratunga said :

"….. My letters are not replied by Gotabhaya Rajapakse (President Rajapaksa's own brother). The letter I handed over personally to Mahinda Rajapakse is not replied. Under these circumstances what am I to think Mr. Editor? Today they have killed Raviraj in Narahenpitiya. The only thing I can think therefore is that this government consciously and wilfully wishes to weaken my security. What else am I to think?"

Chandrika Kumaratunga was a President for nearly twelve years. Being ex-commander in Chief of the Armed forces in Sri Lanka, the former executive President would not have uttered a word for nothing. She said, "… they have killed Raviraj in Narahenpitiya". We are sure that the former President must have obtained a clue about the perpetrator, otherwise she would not have said, "THEY HAVE KILLED RAVIRAJ".

In the recent past, abductions, disappearances, political killings, aerial bombings, artillery shellings are causing terrible hardship to the people in the North East and also to a certain section of the people in Colombo. Within the last two months alone, hundreds of abductions, disappearances, killings, and rapes have taken place in the North East and Colombo.

Below we give some details to show how incidents are taking place :

18 Nov - 4 students were massacred and eight injured at Thandiykulam in Vavuniya;
10 Nov - Member of Parliament shot dead by unknown gunmen in Colombo;
05 Nov - 12 Children injured. 6 Babies ages between 3-6 months in Kathiraveli, Batticaloa;
05 Nov - 41 displaced Tamils were killed in a shell attack in Kathiraveli, Batticaloa;
03 Nov - 2 killed in a shell fired at their home in Mankerny, Batticaloa;
02 Nov - Killinochchi hospital was bombed, 6 killed and hospital damaged;
01 Nov - 4 youths abducted in Jaffna;
30 Oct - 15 students of Batticalo Central college were abducted;
30 Oct - 51 Fishermen arrested by the Sri Lanka army at the Grunagar beach in Jaffna;
30 Oct - 3 Civilians shot dead in Jaffna;
29 Oct - 6 Civilians were killed in a bomb blast in Valvetithurai in Jaffna;
26 Oct - 2 youths shot dead at 3rd Mile post, Chelvanayagapuram, Trincomalee;
22 Oct - 10 killed in Jaffna in various places;
21 Oct - 3 Abducted Tamil civilians, shot dead in Colombo;
20 Oct - 2 young fisherman shot dead in Pesalai, Mannar;
17 Oct - 4 killed in Jaffna;
15 Oct - 6 reported missing in Jaffna;
7 & 8 Oct - 20 Tamil civilians abducted in Amparai district;
3 Oct- 8 Tamils youths arrested in a train in Colombo;
3 Oct - 12 Tamil youths arrested in a suburb of Colombo

In addition – people in the Vaharai area in the East and Jaffna in the North are starving without food, shelter, medicine and other items to meet basic needs. According to the latest information, some have starved to death in Vaharai and Jaffna. The unofficially declared economic embargo to the North East and closure of several routes including the A9 to Jaffna are causing severe hardships to the people of those areas.

The parliamentarians who raise these issues in public and in the parliament are threatened and killed by the government. Within the last two years – many lawyers, parliamentarians, educationalists, professionals and others have been killed by so called unknown gunmen. So far, not a single perpetrator has been either arrested or brought to justice.

If these politicians were genuinely following their conscience, they should resign from the government which is for a military action and which uses the paramilitary forces to do their dirty work.

Now in the case of Raviraj's killing, except for the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, all others have condemned Raviraj's killing, sent their condolences and some have paid their last respects.

The same thing happened when Kumar Ponnambalam, Joseph Pararajasingham, Sivaram and many others were assassinated. When Kumar Ponnambalam was killed, many believed and some media in Colombo pointed a finger at the then Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatta and his gang. But Ratwatta's wife paid her last respects and then also President Kumaratunga sent her condolences to Mr Ponnambalam's family.

If, all this is not utter hypocrisy, what other conclusions can one draw? Does this mean that ‘they’ are planning for their next killing by visiting and studying the environment and the feeling of the victimised people?

The international community is very slow in its decisions and actions. We have been informing the international community for many years that there are child soldiers within the Sri Lankan security forces. But the international community and some biased so-called international human rights organisations turn their deaf ears to our complaint and keep on accusing only the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - LTTE. Now after so many years of reporting, this accusation has been accepted to a certain extent but some more facts and issues are still to be addressed. However at least and at last it is agreed that the Sri Lankan security forces are helping a paramilitary force to recruit child soldiers. We hope this statement will not be diluted due to the Sri Lankan government pressure.

The statement made on 13 November in Colombo by Allan Rock, the advisor to the UN Special representative on children and armed conflict, should be an eye-opener to the international community - the bureaucrats of the United Nations, European Union, European Commission, European Parliament and Commonwealth.

The Sri Lankan Defence Spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella is a comedian of the war. He keeps people laughing, like Sadam Hussain's Information Minister and spokesperson Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf. During the Iraq war, even after the coalition forces captured the whole of Iraq, Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf said from his hide-out to the media that there is heavy fight going on around Baghdad Airport. Mr Rambuwella has a similar attitude and could be entered into the Guinness book of records for telling the maximum number of lies. Here again the comedian Rambukwella denies the truth and is ignoring the message of Allan Rock - without precedent and undiplomatically, he finds fault with the messenger. This is the usual game of the Sri Lankan government.

Once again, we urge and appeal to the international community to persuade the Sri Lankan government to immediately address the below given matters, which directly affect the Cease-fire Agreement – CFA :

(1) Send enough food and other items for basic needs to the North East, especially in Vaharai and Jaffna

(2) Lift the unofficial declaration of the Economic embargo to the North East

(3) Stop using the paramilitary forces to carry out the deliberate killings, assassinations, abductions and rapes in the North East.

(4) Stop aerial bombing and firing artillery shells in the North East

(5) Open all the main roads for public use including the A9

(6) Allow fishing in the sea.

(7) Have an International Human rights monitoring body as proposed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, European Union and many other genuine human rights organisations. The Sri Lankan government's local investigation with a few selected international observers will be eyewash for the international community. The so-called international observers are people who are already in support of the Sri Lankan military agenda.

The lists submitted by certain International institutions are ignored and the Sri Lankan government is selecting their own international observers who support their military agenda.

We wonder why the International Community should agree to a new type of human rights mechanism only on Sri Lanka. The International community should make a note that having international observers for local elections is a totally different matter to, investigating serious human rights violations especially committed by the Sri Lankan security forces.

The International community should take note that the Tamils have seen enough of Commissions appointed by various Sri Lanka governments since independence. Each of those Commissions was simply an eye wash for the international Community and none resulted in bringing perpetrators of human rights violations to book.

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