Violence rocked Sri Lanka from all sides in May 2008, from military engagements in the North between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the North; to election-related and communal violence in the East; to random acts of violence against civilian targets in and near the capital in the West. Combined with run-away inflation and monsoonal flooding in parts of the South, there was hardly a constituency untouched by some adversity this month.
Living and Working in the Context of Sri Lanka
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) continues its military engagement with the LTTE in the northern part of the country, with rising casualty figures and civilian displacements. Numbers are impossible to verify, as both sides appear to routinely understate their own losses and elevate the casualties of the other. The spate of suicide bombings the country experienced in January and February diminished this month. A number of interesting political developments occurred as well during March 2008.
The start of 2008 in Sri Lanka was not auspicious. On New Years Day a Tamil parliamentarian was assassinated while at prayer at a prominent Hindu temple in Colombo. His bodyguard was also killed and other worshippers injured. The following day the Government of Sri Lanka gave the required 14-day notice announcing the formal abrogation of the six-year old Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed in 2002 with the LTTE. A week later the Minister of Nation Building was killed while traveling north of Colombo and others were injured.
December 2007 has seen the continuation of hostilities in the North and East and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) reiterating its push for a military solution prior to negotiating a settlement. The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) which is tasked with formulating a political solution has been in limbo much of the month even though their previous statements said that they would reach an agreement by the end of the year. Other reports now signal the GoSL’s intention to push for full scale war on the LTTE in 2008.
October and November 2007 has seen the further widening of the conflict to many parts of Sri Lanka outside of the North and East, the entrenchment of political views on all sides, and a continuing emphasis on engaging first and foremost in a military ‘solution’ to the deep grievances all parties have experienced. While the military toll continues to grow, the impact on civilians is also growing, with one study suggesting that as many as 5 civilians per day are killed or disappeared (exact numbers being impossible to document).
In New York at the meeting of the UN General Assembly and in Geneva at the session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Sri Lankan government spoke in favor of the global war against terrorism and against those who use human rights as a tool against states. President Mahinda Rajapaksa used the podium in New York to speak in the Sinhala language. One of the roots of the ethnic conflict, and current war in Sri Lanka, has been the issue of language.
With the eviction of the LTTE from Batticaloa and the Tigers' eventual collapse in the Thoppigala jungle area (Barron's Rock) on July 11, the expulsion of the LTTE from their strongholds in the province has been complete although it continues to be present as a guerilla force.
After five months of intense fighting, the Sri Lankan Army captured the last LTTE stronghold in the East – the Thoppigala jungle base in Batticaloa – leaving the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) without any eastern territory for the first time since the 1990s. A major victory celebration with military parades and air shows in Colombo followed. The emphasis in the entire ceremony and in the President’s speech was on military victory and defeat of the LTTE.
The lack of security has had a major impact on the civilian population in the North and East where NP is active. Some of the more serious incidents in recent weeks have included the bomb blasts that killed civilians in Colombo, and the continuous assassinations, abductions and child recruitments. Amnesty International and other reputable sources have confirmed that the LTTE is engaging in forcible recruitment of both children and adult civilians on a large scale basis.
