Sri Lanka: Conscientious Sinhalese on oppression of ethnic minorities from the time of

independence(1948) till today(2017)

(LLRC website quoted in the following was hacked in February 2013 and alternate website is given)

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Jayantha Dhanapalas submission to Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), 25 August
2010: The lessons we have to learn go back to the past certainly from the time that we had
responsibility for our own governance on 4 February 1948. Each and every Government which held
office from 1948 till the present bear culpability for the failure to achieve good governance, national
unity and a framework of peace, stability and economic development in which all ethnic, religious and
other groups could live in security and equality.
Our inability to manage our affairs has led to the taking of arms by a desperate group of our citizens.
We need to rectify this bad governance and the first and foremost task before us is to undertake
constitutional reform in order to ensure that we have adequate devolution of power. We need to have
State reform; we need to have rule of law established; we need to ensure non discrimination amongst
our citizens; we need to have devolution of power and a tolerance of dissent and a strengthening of
democratic institutions. (Dhanapala is a Sinhalese and was formerly UN Under-Secretary General for
Disarmament)

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K.Godage(former Sri Lankan diplomat) addresses LLRC, 15 September 2010:
. We have persistently discriminated against the Tamil people from 1956. The Tamils have
undergone, and are undergoing immense hardship. We need to reach out to them. It is because we
have not reached out to them, that we had Wadukottai resolution in 1976, 20 years after 1956. Then
the 1972, Constitution, it removed Section 29 from the Soulbury Constitution. There is no reason for
any one to be insecure, as a result of giving into the reasonable demands of the Tamil people. .... Now
I must tell you of a very, very sad, bad and dangerous situation. We have in our prisons over 2000
young Tamil men. Some of them have been taken on suspicion. Just picked up and taken. In detention
without charges for years, Sir, for years .

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Prof Priyan Dias addresses LLRC, 07 October 2010:
If we do not feel guilty for the Northern military uprising we cannot go anywhere in the future as a
country.

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Bernard Gunatileke(former Sri Lankan Sinhalese diplomat) to LLRC, 11 August 2010:
The most important factor, which we have failed to attend, is meaningful devolution of political power
to the periphery from the centre. There must also be involvement of the minorities in the political
activities in the centre.

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Friday Forum to LLRC, 1 October 2010:
'' If the overall nature of governance does not instil confidence, then whatever policies and efforts are
put in place to achieve national cohesion and unity, they are bound to fail. Hence, strengthening of
democratic governance, the Rule of Law and protection of human rights on the basis of equal rights
should be essential goal posts on the path to reconciliation. .... The failure of successive governments
to make the 13th Amendment and devolution of power work even in the South has left serious doubts
as to whether devolution of power will ever be effective in the north-east. Meaningful constitutional
reform should necessarily be put in place - a strong legal rgime of human rights protection.''

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Submission by Harim Peiris to LLRC, 7 October 2010:
 We may have united the nation geographically, but remain polarized ethno-socially. It is not possible
to simultaneously argue the need to maintain Emergency Law, the need for war time levels of defence
expenditure and deployment of a network of security installations in the North not found anywhere else
in the country and still maintain that the Tamil people are not alienated from the Sri Lankan State.
(Harim Pieris was civil servant and Advisor to a former President)

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Elmore Perera(Founder, Citizens Movement for Good Governance(CIMOGG) to LLRC, 10 November
2010: Beginning with the Sinhala Only policy of 1956, which disregarded the multi-cultural and
pluralistic nature of society, the removal of the constitutional provision guaranteeing minority rights
The 1983 racial riots were a disaster. Tamils were treated as being sub-human. Many of those who
could leave the country by lawful or even unlawful means did so. Those who remained were subjected
to arbitrary, humiliating treatment.
(an eminent lawyer and past President of the Organisation of Professional Associations)

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Prof A.P.R.Aluwihare to LLRC, 3 November 2010:
It is politicization and a lack of rule of law which have contributed to many problems we have had. .
even politics has become politicized in this country . the problem is not that we dont have good laws
even now, but that guys who are rich and powerful and political wriggle their way down the laws and in
terms of the mandate of the Commission of preventing future trouble it is very important to set that
process into reverse with a political will.

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Austin Fernando, Former Secretary of Defence, 18 August 2010:
Even the attitudes of the two parties- the LTTE and the Government- were not going in parallel. Prime
Minister thought that he should be going on a step by step approach, which he stated publicly and he
would have had lot of political manipulations, political ideas and political approaches in his mind. At
the same time, Prabhakaran wanted things to happen much quicker. When I look at the
responsibilities, some of those government senior politicians were very silent. On the other hand the
Opposition politicians were sabotaging the thing(peace talks) ....

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Submission by Dr John Goonaratne, 15 September 2010:
This has been so since independence when discrimination on the basis of ethnic identity began to
grow. If the grievances of Sri Lankan Tamils are not reconciled within Sri Lanka and are done merely to
keep Chennai and New Delhi off our backs, we will only have ourselves to blame if there is a repetition
of the events of 1980s.. (Dr Goonaratne was a senior civil servant in the Foreign Ministry)

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Dr Anura Ekanayake(representing Ceylon Chamber of Commerce) to LLRC, 6 September 2010:
We need to ensure that the benefits of the end of the war must be felt equally by all sections of the
community. . Then finally we need to accelerate civil administration vis--vis military administration
in the north and the east supported by a transparent political process to establish local government.

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Kumar Rupasinghe, Chairman, Foundation for Co-existance, 20 October 2010: key findings of the
report is that whilst Tamil is an official language in the country, there are glaring discrepancies in its
implementation. The report is abundant with instances of humiliation .... let us look at the dismal state
of affairs of what young people of the plantation sector go through on a daily basis another aspect of
humiliation. . Then the injustice to the Muslims. .

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Manel Abeysekera to LLRC, 23 August 2010:
It is our neglect of Tamil sensitivity the main underlying cause was our neglect of the Tamil
language tantamount to an undermining of human rights of the Tamil people which caused the
aggravation of the conflict and the widening of the chasm between officialdom and the main minority,
the Tamils. All development measures must be people centered and not merely for infrastructure alone
or as show pieces where the cost benefit is not in favour of the people..The practical thing to do in
my opinion is firstly to draw up an action plan with priorities and the implementation time-frame ......
I wish to emphasize the following points which I consider important for reconciliation
c. not allowing an influx of Sinhalese to the North for rehabilitation related development work

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Mr. Mangala Moonasinghe to LLRC, 17 August 2010: so, who started terrorism it was we and
then gradually naturally the youth, Tamil youth, went into terrorism in the north. So terrorism did
not come on its own. We created them sir, we created them. (Moonasinghe is a former Sri Lankan
diplomat and MP)

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Asoka Goonawardana to LLRC, 25 August 2010: There has been a contradiction in approaches to
conflict and development - centralized approaches as far as development is concerned and devolved
approaches as far as conflict is concerned. This contradiction or this separation of the approaches is the
governance gap. This is important and must be addressed as one moves on to a process of
reconciliation. Reconciliation must be envisioned within an institutional framework for democratic
governance more democratic governance than what we have had so far. . Sri Lankas experience in
devolution under the 13th Amendment has suffered from inadequacies in design as well as in practice
especially from a lack of coherence and commitment in moving from centralized to devolved
governance. (Goonawardana was former Chairman of Finance Commission and Executive Governor of
Marga Institute)

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Rev. Fr. Reid Shelton Fernando to LLRC, 19 November 2010: The way the minority groups are treated
in the country is far from the nationally or internationally accepted standards and principles. The
media reports do not appear to be accurate regarding the IDPs, they are released, they are not
resettled. Some of the people from the South are employed but no people have been employed from
the war torn areas. Counselling process is denied to the victims of war - the Presidential Task Force
(PTF) has denied these facilities for healing and reconciliation. This Commission has already submitted
an interim report to the President. I tried my best to have access to that report but I failed.

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P.B.Hettige(retired civil servant) to LLRC, 30 September 2010: .... These appointments were given to
members of the family of employees in the north and kith and kin of soldiers and not to the people of
Jaffna. Now these persons who received such appointments after about 6/7 months they used to get
transfers back to their home towns and to those vacancies thus created others were appointed. ... The
Tamil people were caused an injustice. By making Sinhala the official language though much was done
to the Sinhalese the Tamil people were forgotten; they were neglected. ..... no Government did
anything for the development of the roadways in Jaffna. No industries were started .... it was to
avenge these acts that the Tamil youths voluntarily joined the LTTE. ....

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Prof Laxman Jayatilleke to LLRC, 9 November 2010: .... He said please go and tell that our schools
dont have teachers and our community is in a way badly off with regard to education facilities. ....
There are enough Tamil speaking graduates who pass out; there are places of education which can
train the teachers; and so recruiting and deploying teachers in sufficient numbers will be an important
thing together with supervision of the schools. .... So developing the universities of both the east and
the north are critical and of crucial importance.

https://www.scribd.com/document/127226195/Sri-Lanka-Justice-Weeramantry-to-Lessons-Learnt-and-
Reconciliation-Commission
Judge C.G. Weeramantry to LLRC, 29 November 2010
''There are certain essential prerequisites: i.A total commitment to democracy in all its aspects and
ii.A total commitment to the Rule of Law and to Human Rights.''
. There are many factors to which we should give our attention in this connection, for without
confidence and trust that their rights will be upheld and guaranteed without fear or favour, there
cannot be contentment and harmony, especially among minorities whose confidence in law and order
needs to be built on firm foundations.
Since this is an institutional, administrative and legislative field which has such deep
implications for the future of a united Sri Lanka living in harmony, peace and equality
under the protection of the law I trust the Commission will give it careful and considered attention.
(His submission also states how he tried with previous Heads of governments to have appropriate
constitution for equality for all citizens. Judge Weeramantry is a Sinhalese and is a world-renowned
legal scholar and a former Vice-President of the International Court of Justice)

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Submission to LLRC by Catholic Bishops Conference
"It is only a political solution that will help to eliminate the root causes of violent insurrection, ethnic
disharmony and suspicion and mistrust between communities. We believe that a search for a political
solution to the ethnic conflict must be intensified. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith
I am here to make submissions on the Culture of Human Rights. In the background of erosion of
values of all kinds and especially with the consequences of war, human rights have suffered worst
causalities. Therefore, a culture of Human Rights where every citizen respects the rights of the other
must be cultivated and where the principle of 'Equality before the Law' is respected and applied should
be followed. Bishop Kingsley Swampillai

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Submission by the Catholic Diocese of Mannar to LLRC, 8 January 2011:Previous Commissions of
Inquiry have failed to establish the truth into human rights violations and extrajudicial killings they
were inquiring and bring justice and relief to victims and their families. According to government
statistics about the population in Vanni in early October 2008 and number of people who came to
government controlled areas(May 2009) after the war, 146,679 people seem to be unaccounted for.''

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Submission before Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) by Chandra Jayaratne, 23
September 2010: ... Years of inequitable allocation of national resources and consequential
disparities in regional economic development, infrastructure development and public service delivery
have sown the seeds of discontent and disillusionment leading to conflict, insurrections of the South
and the North and even the armed struggle towards a separate administration .. .

http://ices.lk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Gamini-Keerawella-book.pdf
Is Peace a Hostage of the Military Victory? Dilemmas of Reconciliation, Ethnic Cohesion and Peace-
Building? Gamini Keerawella, June 2013: Three years after the military defeat of LTTE the country
seems standing at the cross-roads, bewildered as to the direction it should take regarding post-war
peace-building and the realisation of ethnic cohesion and inclusive development. The key issue that Sri
Lanka has yet to address is how to transform the hard-fought military victory over the LTTE into a
foundation for sustainable peace on the basis of democratic inclusion and justice. The end of a civil war
does not necessarily mean the end of an ethno-political conflict; rather it redefines the conflict in
conditions of no-war, thereby necessitating new strategies for post-civil war peace-building and
reconciliation. The transition from conflict to post-conflict society is long and a complex process which
encompasses short-term priorities and long-term goals which must be decided with a clear political
vision as to the direction of post-conflict society and the state should take.

https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dont-re-traumatise-the-war-traumatised-dons/
Dont Re-Traumatise The War-Traumatised: Dons(SriLankan university academics), 1 October 2015:
''..... ever since the end of the war in 2009 in Sri Lanka, the ideology of the ruling regime reinforced
ideas of Sinhala majoritarian supremacy and the suppression of minorities. .... the war was the result
of historical failures in state-building, .... the Sri Lankan state has an undeniable responsibility to
respond to these instances of human rights violations. ........ We, the undersigned, reiterate that how
we deal with the human rights violations during the wars could be the single most meaningful
intervention towards the all important and badly needed task of reconciliation, healing and rebuilding
our country as one which is truly democratic, inclusive and pluralistic. Without acknowledging our past
wrongdoing we will be unable to move forward as a country and society. ''

http://thediplomat.com/2017/01/sri-lankas-transition-to-nowhere/
Sri Lanka's Transition to Nowhere, Alan Keenan (Sri Lanka analyst, International Crisis Group), 30 Jan
2017: The next few months will be a crucial test of whether Sirisena and Wickremesinghe are serious
about their reform and reconciliation promises. If so, they will need to put party interests at least
partly to the side and take the political risks needed to persuade their parliamentarians and the Sinhala
public to make the changes that can finally put Sri Lanka on the path to a just and lasting peace.'

http://colombogazette.com/2017/02/28/uk-says-give-sri-lanka-time-to-fully-implement-resolution/
UK says give Sri Lanka time to fully implement resolution, 28 Feb 2017:
The British Government told the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) today to give Sri Lanka time to
fully implement the October 2015 resolution.

https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/ballot-vs-bullet/?platform=hootsuite
Speech Made by Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R. Sampanthan at the
Counter Terrorism Conference in New Delhi on the 15th of March 2017:''The choice should not be
difficult, looked at superficially. But our experience shows that the Choice is not that easy. .................
This opportunity to conclusively reject the Bullet in favour of the Ballot must not be missed''