{"id":98274,"date":"2020-01-27T00:58:13","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T06:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98274"},"modified":"2020-02-04T15:12:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T22:12:12","slug":"sri-lanka-who-are-the-missing-who-are-the-dead-who-were-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/27\/sri-lanka-who-are-the-missing-who-are-the-dead-who-were-killed\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka: Who are the \u201cMissing\u201d who are the \u201cDead\u201d &amp; who were killed!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"872\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unnamed-8-2-1024x872.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-98275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unnamed-8-2-1024x872.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unnamed-8-2-300x255.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unnamed-8-2-768x654.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unnamed-8-2.jpg 1130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\na world of controversy &amp; complications it is no surprise that we are still\ngrappling to find answers to who is dead \u2013 who was killed &amp; who is missing.\nThe primary inability to find answers is because all efforts are being diverted\nto negate the lies and fake news floating around. Again the international media\nneed to be asked to correct its reference to Sri Lanka\u2019s conflict &amp; term it\nas a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) between an armed non-state actor (LTTE)\n&amp; Sri Lanka\u2019s National Army and so it was not an ethnic conflict or civil\nwar. Sri Lanka was defending itself against terrorism and terrorists on behalf\nof all its citizens. <strong>How come attention\nis being put to LTTE dead than the dead as a result of LTTE killings? Never has\nthe world given attention to people killed by LTTE than demanding explanations\nfor LTTE killed over and above even Tamil civilians killed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sri\nLanka\u2019s constitution and all international standards require equality of treatment\nof a country\u2019s citizens therefore no victim can be more important than another\nvictim. Therefore, the world and international media need to be reminded that\nthe Tamils are not the only victims and any remedy cannot exclude or impede on\nthe human rights of other communities. <strong>Solutions\nhave to be given to all equally not only to one ethnic group. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since\n2009 we have been hearing a chorus of <strong>\u2018thousands\nreported missing\u2019<\/strong> who is reporting them, what are their sources and how\ngenuine\/authentic are the reports? These details are never disclosed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does\nLeelathevi Ananthanatarajah, the Secretary of the Association for the Relatives\nof the Enforced Disappearances in the North &amp; East have names and numbers\nof the disappeared? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nHindu article by Meera Srinivasan quotes the lines <em>My 34-year-old son surrendered to the Army\nat the Omanthai checkpoint, just after the war ended in May 2009. We were all\nthere. They said they would question him and release him. I am still waiting,\u201d\nshe told The Hindu <\/em>(since these lines\nare quoted immediately after the remarks by Leelathevi Ananthanatarajah, we presume\nshe is referring to her 34-year old son. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/president-gotabayas-remarks-on-missing-persons-spark-concern\/article30646429.ece\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Did she first file complaint with police? Did she inform SL\nHuman Rights Commission? Did she report this to the OISL, is her case featured\nin any UNHRC report? Is her case\nrecorded with the Paranagama Commission or even with the Office of Missing\nPersons? Has she filed habeas corpus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What authority in the Sri Lankan Govt\ncan check and revert with answers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2009, the son would have been 24years \u2013 where, when &amp; how\ndid he go missing. The article gives the answer <em>he surrendered to the Army at the Omanthai checkpoint just after the\nwar ended in May 2009. <strong>We were all there<\/strong>.\nThey said they would question him and release him. I am still waiting,\u201d<\/em> &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So according to her, in her presence her son who was a LTTE\ncombatant surrendered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>With a LTTE-friendly Govt in power\nsince 2015 and TNA playing a major part in it, how is it that Leelathevi\nAnanthanatarajah could not trace what happened to her son from Jan 2015 to\nNovember 2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where are the demands from her during\nthis period? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EU funded Sooka says 110\nmissing in 2015 referring to the missing from Wadduvakkal Bridge \u2013 this list\nare ALL LTTE combatants. So is she preparing reports on behalf of LTTE\nterrorists or Tamil Civilians?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/itjpsl.com\/assets\/press\/Statement-18-May-2015-ITJP-SL-Disappearances.pdf\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The 2015 figure of 110\nmissing LTTE combatants suddenly shoots up to 280 missing in 2018 referring to\nthe SAME missing from Wadduvakkal Bridge \u2013 how can this happen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttp:\/\/www.asianews.it\/news-en\/List-of-280-missing-people-includes-28-Tamil-children-43926.html\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-shenali-waduge\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"dtHzmHNUdK\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/sri-lanka-foreign-ministry-seek-explanation-from-eu-regarding-job-role-of-its-employee-yasmin-sooka\/\">Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry seek explanation from EU regarding job role of its employee Yasmin Sooka<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry seek explanation from EU regarding job role of its employee Yasmin Sooka&#8221; &#8212; Shenali Waduge\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shenaliwaduge.com\/sri-lanka-foreign-ministry-seek-explanation-from-eu-regarding-job-role-of-its-employee-yasmin-sooka\/embed\/#?secret=dXv0PXMmnD#?secret=dtHzmHNUdK\" data-secret=\"dtHzmHNUdK\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hindu article says\n<strong>affected families relentlessly\ndemanding truth &amp; accountability\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question is which\u201d\nfamilies? Is it families of LTTE dead, or families of \u2018civilians\u2019 who were not\ncivilians as they were part of LTTE\u2019s civilian armed brigade or real civilians\nwho were unfortunate to become victim of hostilities between LTTE &amp; SL\nArmy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, let\u2019s not\nforget that enough of reports clearly conclude that the intent of LTTE in\nkeeping civilians was to use them as human shields and hostages and LTTE\nrefused to allow civilians to escape to safety and shot and killed those that\ndid. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So can those presenting lists also be\nkind enough to give a list of all Tamil civilians LTTE shot dead while trying\nto flee! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Those giving lists please differentiate\nTamil civilians from LTTE &amp; LTTE civilian armed group.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We know that at least\n12,000 LTTE surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army and when they surrendered they\nwere not in LTTE uniform. If the Sri Lankan Army wanted to kill them they could\nhave easily done so because they were not in uniform and they surrendered to the\narmy not at the same time or in the same place. We know that close to 12,000\nLTTE surrendered because the Sri Lankan Authorities told us and not anyone else.\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also know that\nthere were close to 600 LTTE child soldiers and all of them were not only given\nPresidential amnesties but were sent to school, given vocational training,\nhelped to restart their lives. That is far more than what LTTE did by kidnapping\nthem from their parents, denying them the right to education &amp; family and\ngiving them a gun. The GoSL gave them a pen and a computer and because of that\nLTTE former child soldiers became Gokulan\u2019s the singing sensation that everyone\nhas fallen in love with. <strong>So all those\npointing fingers at the GoSL first tell us what LTTE gave to the child soldiers\nand compare that with what the GoSL gave them post-LTTE defeat. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is nothing\nreally to be said of any statement coming out of TNA the entity LTTE created to\nbe its voice in Sri Lanka\u2019s Parliament. No statement came from TNA against\nLTTE, no statement was issued to LTTE to release any civilians and no TNA so much\nas sent a bag of rice for the hungry Tamil civilians and never has TNA asked LTTE\nto stop recruiting children as child soldiers. But TNA children are all\nstudying overseas and that suits them fine. Even after taking over Northern\nProvincial Council the budget demanded by TNA was next only to Western province\nand the funding given was not spent on ordinary Tamils to uplift their lives\nand the money returned to the treasury. So TNA cannot afford to talk living in\nColombo and travelling to North only for propaganda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sri Lankan citizens\nand by that we mean the ordinary Sinhalese, Muslims, Burghers and even Tamils\nsuffered from LTTE terror throughout 3 decades. While LTTE fought from illegal\nfunding that procured arms from abroad to buy the most sophisticated arms and ammunitions,\n<strong>no Sri Lankan Taxpayer is agreeable to pay a SINGLE CENT\nto any LTTE combatant or their family who died and the pretext of placing them\nas Tamil Civilians. <\/strong>The international community must understand this\nvery clearly. If they want to pay LTTE families, they are welcome to do so but\nafter giving the money to the GoSL and naming the families as LTTE first and\nnot as CIVILIANS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We do not want any\nfuture generation to get the wrong side of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WHO DIED \u2013 WHO WAS KILLED must<\/strong> correspond with the bodies that were eventually\ncollected &amp; buried during the last phase \u2013 we can classify as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>LTTE in uniform\nkilled by SL Army &nbsp;<\/li><li>LTTE in uniform\nkilled by LTTE (ex: injured LTTE put in bus &amp; exploded)<\/li><li>LTTE not in\nuniform killed by LTTE (ex: injured LTTE in bus may have been in civil) <\/li><li>LTTE in uniform\nkilled by civilians (ex: some civilians attacked LTTE)<\/li><li>LTTE not in\nuniform (members of LTTE civilian armed force) killed by SL Army<\/li><li><strong>Civilians (not engaged in any kind of hostilities)\nhow many of them died during the last phase <\/strong>\u2013 how many were killed by LTTE (when trying to flee or refusing to\ncomply with LTTE) \/ how many died during cross fire between LTTE &amp; SL Army\n\/ how many were killed by SL Army (intentionally) \/ how many were killed by SL\nArmy (unintentionally) <\/li><li>Civilians who\nwere part of LTTE civil armed force \u2013 how many of them got killed during battle\nwith SL Army?<\/li><li>How many LTTE \/\nSL Army \/ LTTE civilian armed force \/ Civilians got injured &amp; died from\ntheir injuries during the last phase<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Is there anyone who\ncan give even close estimates to these deaths corresponding with the total dead\nbodies that were eventually buried (not the guestimates falling from the sky\nduring every Geneva session or launch of a book) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WHAT IS\nCRUCIAL TO THE DISCUSSION IS THE WHOLE WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS HAS TO BE BASED\nON KILLING CIVILIANS NOT KILLING LTTE TERRORISTS \u2013 given that anyone is\nalleging the said surrendered LTTE were killed they would first have to prove\nthat they surrendered<\/strong><strong>. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WHO ARE THE MISSING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far we have not\nfound a single SKELETON to even come close to believing the 40,000 dead figure\nthat has been the basis for demanding war crimes against Sri Lanka and it\u2019s\nbeen 10 years now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Who are the LTTE\n\u2018missing\u2019 and how many of them are \u2018missing\u2019 &#8211; How many LTTE are \u2018Missing\u2019 will\ndepend upon who is declaring them to be LTTE &amp; missing \u2013 LTTE fronts operating\noverseas \/ LTTE families. They can be declared missing only if there is NO DEAD\nBODY found during the last phase.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If there is no\ndead body to claim them missing \u2013 where could they be? They could have fled to\na foreign country. They could have changed identity and pretending to be\nsomeone else to disassociate themselves from their past. There could be many\nother reasons. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>While anyone can\nbe declared dead if they have not appeared for a specific number of years \u2013 no one\nhas any right to declare a person or persons guilty of killing the missing\nperson based on circumstantial and hearsay evidence. It must be proven beyond a\nshadow of a doubt. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In terms of\nmissing we should also be able to denote who are the missing and since when\nhave they gone missing. In this scenario the missing must also include those\nthat disappeared during 1980s\/1990s by either UNP or JVP violence, these are\nsignificant numbers and far more than that is being wildly quoted since 2009. As\nper Paranagama Commission the Missing is placed at 20,000 which includes 5000\nmissing Sri Lanka Army personnel and their names have been submitted to the Commission,\nthe UNHRC investigation as well. It is interesting that not a single UN\nofficial has made any statement on finding their whereabouts! <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LTTE &amp; the Sri Lanka engaged in battle and\nexchanged fire. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Neither side exchanged roses.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LTTE took civilians\nand refused to free them and fired at the Sri Lanka Army from among civilians.\nReturning fire in battle is a right of any military. <strong>Keeping civilians and firing from among civilians is where LTTE\nviolated rules of war. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LTTE were given 2\nchances to lay down arms &amp; surrender but refused. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>While engaging in battle, Sri Lanka Armed Forces\nrescued close to 300,000 Tamils (some LTTE were among them) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No conflict ends\nwithout deaths \u2013 there have been deaths on both sides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The ICRC is on record to say the army could have\nfinished the conflict sooner if they did not compromise their own soldiers to\nsave the Tamil civilians kept forcibly by LTTE. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both the GoSL and UN\nCountry Team estimates of less than 8000 deaths which includes LTTE dead is\nprovable against the vague and sensational figures presented without evidence. &nbsp;We can be happy there has been no deaths\nrelated to LTTE terror since 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yes, 10 years has passed since LTTE defeat. There has\nto be a closure. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let us then pool the\nentities repository of allegations of \u2018missing\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Police <\/strong>\u2013\nwhat are the complaints they have since 2009 re LTTE\/Civilian missing &amp;\ntheir findings following investigations of the complaints<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>SL Human Rights Commission<\/strong> \u2013 what are the complaints filed and their findings\nrelated to the last phase of conflict <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>OISL<\/strong> \u2013\nwhat are the complaints filed and findings and OISL would need to share the\nnames with the GoSL and intelligence agencies <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Paranagama Commission<\/strong> \u2013 what are the complaints filed <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Sooka &amp; ITJP on behalf of LTTE giving lists of\nLTTE names<\/strong> \u2013 do these correspond\nwith names given by families to the police\/SLHRC\/OISL\/Paranagama Commission <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>OMP<\/strong> \u2013 are all\nthe lists above corresponding and tallying with the details in their possession\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>GoSL\/Foreign Ministry<\/strong> requests from foreign governments to confirm if\nnames &amp; details match with those seeking asylum or refugee status.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Let us pool these\ndetails and see if there are matches and draw this chapter to a conclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It is pointless taking this into\nanother decade when no one is spending an iota of time on justice for the\nvictims killed by LTTE. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why don\u2019t Sooka and gang compile a list of all those LTTE killed and seek justice instead! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a world of controversy &amp; complications it is no surprise that we are still grappling to find answers to who is dead \u2013 who was killed &amp; who is missing. The primary inability to find answers is because all efforts are being diverted to negate the lies and fake news floating around. Again the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}