Shenali D Waduge

 Human Rights Watch came out with a 140 page report titled ‘We will teach you a lesson’: Sexual violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces” in 2013. HRW’s “untold number of rapes of Tamil men and women in custody” and described as ‘widespread’ and ‘systematic’ were 75 cases committed between 2006-2012 (6 years). Over 295,000 Tamils were rescued by the military in 2009 none of them have accused the military of rape. However, the Allied troops had raped nearly 1million German women before and continue for 4 YEARS AFTER World War 2. Sri Lankan Army records can prove that throughout North and East of Sri Lanka 4 years before the war and 4 years after (2005 to 2013) there have been only 15 cases of rape against the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the military has taken action against them. 15 cases of rape in 8 years cannot be described as widespread!

 Where is the accountability for 1million raped German women by US, UK & France during the War and 4 years after the war ended?

 Professor Miriam Gebhardt’s book When the Soldiers Came covers interviews with victims, children raped and research of birth records in Allied-occupied West Germany & West Berlin.

• 190,000 of the rapes are by American soldiers.
• Americans are tight-lipped using the excuse that ‘it will make the war crimes committed by the Germans less bad’.
• In Sri Lanka’s case not a fig seems to want to put LTTE on trial for 30 years of war crimes!
• Widespread rape is
• 250,000 or more women raped in 3 months in Rwanda in 1994
• 60,000 women raped in Sierra Leone between 1991-2002
• More than 40,000 raped in Liberia 1989-2003
• More than 60,000 women raped in former Yugoslavia (1992-1995)
• 200,000 raped in the Congo
• Worlds worst mass rape in history was by Allied troops during World War 2 when Germans between age of 8 to 80 were raped.
• More recent is the US Department of Defense report of 19000 sexual assaults annually in the US military. There are 237,878 rape victims annually across US.
• The film The Invisible War’ estimates that at least 500,000 US women military personnel have been sexually assaulted since women joined the military in the 1940s.

  Questioning the veracity of the HRW cases

  The witnesses HRW cites and their cases need to be verified. First step is to establish that the 1st case of the 31 year old Tamil woman was actually picked up from her home by CID officers. Therefore, CID log books need to be referred. ICRC records also need to be referred as ICRC is given access to anyone CID questions! Hope HRW also realizes that if her arrest is related to terrorism it is the TID (Terrorist Investigation Dept) that arrests her and not CID (Criminal Investigation Dept).

  The case of the 23year old male in August 2012 taken to a room where 4 men had stripped, beaten, burnt him with cigarettes, suffocated with petrol-infused polythene and raped him thrice. But since he has not been blindfolded HRW should have produced a pencil sketch of the men who raped him!

  The next is of a man who surrendered to the security forces in May 2009 and had metal rods inserted  – if so he has to be one of the 11770 LTTE cadres who surrendered. Why did this case not make headlines in the UNHRC reports or why was it not showcased by Channel 4?

  The HRW report of 2013 has to be taken together with the recent report by the Toronto Sun on Namibians being coached on the stories to make up to get through Canadian immigration. Over in the UK there are supposed to be trauma coaching centres making a lucrative business of charging sterling pounds 5000-6000 to physically injure people with cigarette butts and then getting a British qualified doctor to endorse the injuries as ‘recent’ (naturally since the injury was paid for and done in the UK) and automatic blame to be put on the Sri Lankan military. These are all linked to LTTE’s other income generator human smuggling and the issue of economic refugees who would pay to be smuggled to Western shores and claim asylum on the grounds of torture & discrimination.

  That conflicts and trouble remain a business for entities earning a living by working to end conflicts means that conflicts must remain for their jobs to be kept! Sadly what it entails is that truth always gets hidden, distorted or denied in a very pathetic scenario where UN/NGOs and other salaried agencies thrive on covering conflicts and keeping the wounds alive just for their sustenance. This is why no conflict is solved and solved conflicts enable bigger opportunities for other salaries.

• Between 2008 & April 2014 of the 112 rapes, 110 were after May 2009 and included a rape of a 13year old in Delft in 2012 / a 4 year old in Manditivu by 2 persons and all 112 rapes were committed by Tamils upon Tamils.
• 28 of these civil rapes have been by grandfathers & fathers and even teachers
• The Army records of rape by their soldiers between 2005 to 2013 (8 years) in North Sri Lanka records 12 cases of rape and action has been taken in 2 ways – holding an army court of inquiry and filing charges against them in a court of law and following guilt declared in both courts 6 soldiers have been discharged, some have been suspended on half pay and 1 has been found not guilty.

• In the East of Sri Lanka there had been only 3 cases of rape by army personnel during the same period of review and 2 have been discharged from the army showing that once found guilty the army had taken action.

This shows that throughout 8 years (4 years before the war and 4 years after the war – 2005 to 2013) there has been only 15 cases of rape by Sri Lankan military.

Is it not curious that these salaried international organizations funded by foreign governments only concentrating on the areas of strategic interest. Why are they only covering rape in the North and only trying to pin point blame on the security forces which ties well with a chorus that is demanding the removal of the military from the North. While over 100 cases of rape are by Tamils on Tamils and only 12 cases of rape is by soldiers throughout 8 years it is rather baffling why such a powerful campaign is on to get the army out of the North!

The present Justice Minister is on record for saying that a domestic inquiry will be conducted that is ‘acceptable’ to the international community. Who is the international community and what is acceptable to them? In other words is the present government committing itself to conducting an inquiry that will endorse what the international community wants? This is a blow to democracy and the sovereignty of Sri Lanka whereby we are likely to be committing another mistake by accusing our armed forces and the leaders that took a bold decision to end terrorism simply because elements of the international community worked hand in glove with the LTTE terrorist lobby overseas and if these facts are not taken to consideration we are walking into a bigger problem.

Some points that must always be remembered by GOSL in formulating its arguments

• No amount of international pressures, coordinated campaigns using former UN, paid journalists and any others collaborating for gains can change the need to provide evidence to allegations made. The claims of 40,000 to even 125,000 cannot even be substantiated with names of even 100 dead!
• GOSL must also note that the submissions by Tamils to the UNHRC investigators were of children forcibly taken by LTTE over the years and who are still missing – therefore it is imperative that Sri Lanka refuses to accept the missing as being killed in action during the final stages of the conflict.
• Propaganda, international slander campaigns and dramatics via sponsored films/documentaries cannot put people behind bars or be guilty of war crimes or any other charges. Come out with hard evidence and not witness accounts whose names are kept secret for 20 years (such a system can easily be biased and manipulated and should not be accepted without conditions)
• GOSL must stand by our armed forces against all forms of methods to denigrate the nation’s military like other countries defend their Armed Forces. It is crucial that the GOSL remember at all times that Sri Lanka fought an outfit declared internationally as a terrorist organizations and banned by 32 nations! We do not need to apologize for defeating terrorists if there is a War on Terrorism!
• Former Government Agent Mrs. Sukumar will confirm that most of the sexual violence cases are by fathers/uncles.

  No Government can forget that for 30 years WE suffered. The LTTE came into OUR lives and destroyed our peace. Our freedoms were denied by LTTE and we were not living in any combat terrain. It was LTTE that took civilians into the terrain of combat and under laws of armed conflict the rules apply and statistics of the GOSL collaborated with others prove that less than 10,000 civilians died during the last stages of the conflict and when close to 300,000 has been saved these collateral deaths cannot be faulted and the armed forces found guilty of. The drone deaths in Afghanistan and other countries have not had a single resolution against US & NATO nor have the use of banned chemicals (DU, white phosphorous or agent orange). It is rather silly of the present government to want to work according to instructions of foreign parties who are angry that a lucrative business of terror ended in May 2009 and the present government wants to use the domestic mechanism to politically nullify their opposition. Such petty tactics will not do any good for the country.

  Shenali D Waduge