In a recent media interview, Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith stated that so far, the Government investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks on 21 April 2019, had been unsatisfactory and unacceptable. He said: “The official channels of justice have not been fair to us all along. There has never been a serious, committed investigation into the Easter attacks, its’ causes, players, and authors and any other forces.”
He warned that a related application would also be filed in the future in the courts against the current President (Ranil Wickremesinghe) once he leaves office as he currently enjoys immunity. He pointed out that the President would not hold that position for all time but that the Catholic Church would continue and those who came after him (Cardinal Ranjith) would also take up the cause.
The investigations by governments under three successive Presidents (incumbent Opposition Parliamentarian Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Wickremesinghe) even though they were armed with the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act as amended (PTA), have not disclosed the truth of who was behind the attacks. The best that has been done so far has been by the Supreme Court. This followed Fundamental Rights cases filed by the Catholic Church and other citizens as no proper investigations were initiated by the Government to provide legal redress. Having perused the investigation reports, it found Sirisena and four senior security officials (then Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, then-Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, then-State Intelligence Service Director and incumbent Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police [SDIG] Nilantha Jayawardena and then-Chief of National Intelligence and retired DIG Sisira Mendis) guilty of negligence in having failed to act on intelligence information that they had received.
They all were subjected to fines (Sirisena – Rs. 100 million, Fernando – Rs. 50 million, Jayasundara – Rs. 75 million, Jayawardena – Rs. 75 million, and Mendis – Rs. 10 million), running into millions of rupees (Rs. 310 million) which the officials in particular would be hard pressed to pay. But, the Court did not identify who was the mastermind behind the bombings. So, the search for the truth must continue.
In the absence of truth, there is no closure and suspicions only grow deeper. In his most recent statements, Cardinal Ranjith has got more and more outspoken. The Cardinal said during the Easter midnight mass in Colombo: “Now, the Easter attacks. How many years? Four years. Still no justice. Still, no one knows what happened. All kinds of things are being said by people. It is important that we struggle for justice, for truth. That is Christianity.” In addition to demonstrating the unwavering resolve of the Church to obtain justice, this was a clear example of how the PTA that that was in place since 1979 (No. 48 of 1979) failed to prevent the Easter bombings despite its draconian provisions that have led to a very large number of abuses. It is tragic that the present Government seems to have lost sight of this lesson and is now proposing a worse alternative in the form of the draft Anti-Terrorism Act.
Truth Commission
The Government’s announcement that it will be setting up a Truth Commission to look into what happened in the three-decade-long civil war and bring about national reconciliation, will not deal with the Easter bombings. Instead, the Truth Commission will be looking at “the conflict that took place on or after 24 July 1983, and prior to 18 May 2009”. Though not elaborated upon, this is the period of the separatist insurgency by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and other armed separatist groups who waged a guerrilla war. The mandate of the Commission will be, among others, the promotion of national unity, peace, the rule of law, coexistence, equality with tolerance and respect for diversity, and reconciliation among the people of Sri Lanka, by establishing a truthful, accurate, impartial, and complete record of the alleged damage and/or harm caused to persons or property in the conflict.“
The period of investigation being limited to 24 July 1983, to 18 May 2009, is an indication that the Truth Commission’s mandate will be a limited one. It will only look at that time period in which the LTTE was the dominant Tamil militant organisation. However, massive human rights violations continued to take place after the war’s end. Busloads of LTTE personnel and their families disappeared days after the war. Over 300,000 civilians were incarcerated in barbed wire camps for over six months in which many of them went missing, some who bribed themselves out and others who were taken away by the security forces. The ethnic conflict preceded the start date and continues after the end date, making the mandate of the Truth Commission an inadequate one.
The specificity of the dates also raises a question as to whether only the ethnic war will be looked at by the Truth Commission or whether the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurrection, which took place during that time frame (between 1987 and 1989) will also be investigated. A very large number of people lost their lives in that conflict which was separate from that of the ethnic conflict. The doubt arises because the formulation of the terms of reference of the Truth Commission has not been a public process and very much a secret one, quite unlike what happened in South Africa, which is the country that the Government is seeking assistance from. In the coming days, the Government may indicate what its intentions are, now that it seems to have decided to go ahead with the process.
The President’s pledge
It is clear that the Easter bombings and its fallout will not be a part of the mandate of the proposed Truth Commission. The mandate of the Truth Commission will only extend up to 18 May 2009, the last day of the war. The exclusion of the Easter bombings from the mandate of the Truth Commission may be justified on the basis that it took place a decade after the war had ended. It was also only a single event, unlike the war which continued over a very long period. But, the need for a Truth Commission to investigate the Easter bombings cannot be ignored as the truth of what happened continues to be veiled and hidden. The puzzle then, and which remains to this day, was the motivation for the attacks and who was behind them.
Cardinal Ranjith’s determination to ensure that the truth will be found may have its origins in the belief that the Christian worshipers were made scapegoats for a deviant political agenda. The dead have no voice to demand justice, so it is the duty of the living to seek the truth. This is one of the reasons for the importance given worldwide to Truth Commissions to investigate controversial events of the past. Instead of working together for accountability and justice, Government leaders have so far shown little or no interest in ensuring the accountability of those who were responsible for the Easter attacks taking place. Unfortunately, it is no different in relation to the present economic crisis. There seems to be no action to explore the making of the crisis and the failure of the Government to address the issue of accountability for those who wrecked the economy and continue to be in seats of power.
In his Easter message, President Wickremesinghe appeared to be aware and sensitive to Cardinal Ranjith’s sentiments which he sought to assuage when he said, “I am very much aware of the extreme pain caused by the Easter Sunday attacks being still fresh in your minds, and I share that pain. I wish to reassure you that the legal proceedings related to this tragic incident are being processed independently and impartially, without any influence. The necessary groundwork towards this end has been laid, to ensure justice for all the victims. I pledge my unwavering commitment to ensuring the security of our country, by preventing any recurrence of such heinous acts.” In addition to restating his commitment, the President can strengthen his credibility by also going back to the past to ensure that those who committed crimes, whether criminal or financial, are soon removed from positions of high office that they do not merit.
(The writer is the Executive Director of the National Peace Council)