Sri Lanka’s failure to provide scientific proof to the death of Tiger leader gives way to blind nationalism

(July 11 2009) Sri Lanka is failing to provide concrete proof of the death of Velupillai Prabakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and Pottu Amman, the intelligence chief of the outfit who are wanted by India to wind up the case regarding the assassination of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The sources say that Sri Lankan authorities are unable to provide scientific proof for the deaths of these Tiger leaders. Although a corpse said to be of Prabakaran's was displayed as the government declared he was killed on May 18. No corpse of Pottu Amman's was shown so far. 

The situation has triggered claims from the ardent Tamil Ealam nationalists that their elusive leader is still alive and will appear in public in right moment. The admittance of the expatriate leadership of the LTTE has also gone unhindered among these arch nationalists.

In theater-crazy Tamil Nadu, the politicians are manipulating the mystery for their gains where the Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told the State Assembly of a story of a “hero's escape on a horseback with none in the know of his whereabouts” inferred here to mean LTTE leader V Prabhakaran.

“Mr Prabhakaran had been announced as dead in the past too atleast four times in 1984, 1987, 1989 and in 2004. This is the fifth time the announcement has come. Similarly four wars of independence have been fought in Sri Lanka. The fifth war for independence for Eelam (the area of Tamils in Sri Lanka) will commence and our respected Mr Prabhakaran will lead that war,”said Tamil Nadu politician P. Nedumaran, close associate of the elusive LTTE leader who has known him for decades.

“In connection with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, a formal request for an official confirmation of the deaths of Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman, the chief of the intelligence wing of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), has been made to the government of Sri Lanka,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told parliament, when asked whether India had sought the death certificate of Prabhakaran.

Sri Lanka: Politicised Courts, Compromised Rights - International Crisis Group

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Colombo/Brussels, 30 June 2009: The Sri Lankan government must reform the country’s judicial system urgently if the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers is to lead to a lasting peace.

Sri Lanka’s Judiciary: Politicised Courts, Compromised Rights, the latest policy report from the International Crisis Group, warns that the Sri Lankan judiciary is not working in a fair and impartial way that secures justice and human rights for everyone regardless of ethnicity. This risks undermining the government’s recent military victory over the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). A durable national reconciliation process is only possible if human and constitutional rights are fully restored. 

“The judiciary has not acted as a check on presidential and legislative power but has instead contributed to the political alienation of Tamils”, says Robert Templer, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director. “Under the former chief justice, the Supreme Court’s rulings strengthened political hardliners among Sinhala nationalist parties”.

Rather than assuaging conflict, the courts have corroded the rule of law and worsened ethnic tensions. They are neither constraining militarization of Sri Lankan society nor protecting minority rights. Instead, a politicized bench has entrenched favored allies, punished foes and blocked compromises with the Tamil minority. The judiciary’s intermittent interventions on important political questions have limited settlement options for the ethnic conflict.

Today, neither the lower nor the higher courts in Sri Lanka provide any guarantee of personal security or redress against arbitrary state violence. Although torture in police custody is endemic, courts are unwilling to provide adequate remedies for illegal or abusive detention. Police, judges and government officials have acted in ways that further the goals of powerful political actors, undermine the rule of law and deepen the current political and humanitarian crisis. The possibility of transitional justice, which is necessary for society to break the cycle of violence, is still missing.

The recent appointment of a new chief justice is an opportunity for reforms to begin. A first step toward restoring judicial independence would be a return to an orderly appointment and transfer of judges. This needs to be done both in the lower and appellate judiciary. There should also be fundamental reform of Sri Lanka’s extensive and often abused emergency laws, which are used disproportionately against Tamils. Provisions in the emergency laws concerning arrest, detention and derogation from routine criminal procedures need to be removed, as well as those that criminalize free speech and the exercise of associational rights.

“Fixing institutions and reforming laws will only have a limited effect until political actors, and especially the presidency, feel the cost of infringing on judicial independence”, warns Donald Steinberg, Crisis Group Deputy President for Policy. “Without a concerted effort by the bench and bar, the political costs of interfering with the judiciary will remain minimal”.