TO THE ATTENTION OF HIS EXCELLENCY BAN KI MOON,

SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

CALLING FOR A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN UN

AND SRI LANKA TO BECOME JOINT PARTNERS IN THE
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE INITIATIVES
We the North East Coordinating Committee working towards ensuring implementation of
a rights based approach in the transitional justice initiatives have gathered today
(September 2, 2016) at the Paadhukaavalan hall in Jaffna with peoples representatives
from the eight districts of the North and East to warmly welcome his Excellency. We
extend our sincere appreciation for the measures taken to bring about peace and
reconciliation in addition to protecting and promoting minority rights and human rights in
Sri Lanka.
Change of government in January 8, 2015 and the political climate in Sri Lanka has
increased hope and trust in the Sri Lankan government by the international community
including the UN. Based on this trust that your Excellency has approved the United
Nations Peace Building Fund also known as Secretary Generals Fund to Sri Lanka. By
this means, USD 1.2 million was provided for resettlement as Immediate Response Fund.
Therefore, the aim of the first phase of resettlement is to release the residential lands in
the North (Jaffna) and East (Trincomalee) which were taken by the military declaring the
area High Security Zones and resettle the people in their own lands. This phase must be
completed within June 2015 and December 2016. UNHCR and UNICEF are overseeing
the project. 1 However, the following information points out to the fact that the
resettlement process did not take place the way the affected communities and the
international community anticipated:
In the North,
1) 2630 hectares of land within the 24 GN (Grama Niladhari or village officer) divisions in
the Valikamam North, Jaffna district has not been released for resettlement and is still
under the control of the military. More than 10,000 families are yet to be resettled. Out of
the 10,000 families 1318 families are living in 38 temporary shelters or welfare centers.

United Nations Peace Building Fund, SriLanka Overview, http://www.unpbf.org/

Myliddy harbour and the surrounding 12 km long coastal land spreading across areas
such as Palaly, Oorani, and Kankesanthurai have not been released for public use.2
2) The only hospital that treats TB patients in the Jaffna district is located in Myliddy,
Valikamam North. Since the hospital is under the control of the military patients are unable
receive treatment.
3) Military camps still exist and their presence can be seen in certain areas that have been
released for resettlement in Valikamam North. The military camp in a private land located
in the middle of the peoples settlements in Varuthalaivilan village is yet to be removed
while the owners of this land continue to live welfare centres. These temporary shelters
in resettled areas lack even the basic facilities and the people who live here, especially
the women fear for their security. Likewise, the military camp, the police station and the
military eating house located nearby Nadeswara College in Mavittapuram are in private
lands belonging to the people. The tourist hotel named Thal Sevena in Kankesanthurai
run by the military is also located in a private land.
4) Besides, the wells in private lands belonging to the people is also controlled by the military
and thousands of liters of water is drawn on a daily basis for the surrounding camps. As
a result, people are facing water shortages. The water crisis exists in resettled areas,
islands and in various parts of the Jaffna peninsula.
5) Even now there are shops run by the military in different areas in the Jaffna district
especially with the intention of attracting the Sinhala people who visit the North and to
prevent them from going to Tamil shops. It raises the question how such measures could
encourage and promote reconciliation?
6) Villages such as Mullikulam in the Mannar district and Keppapulavu in the Mullaitivu
district were declared High Security Zones and continue to be under the control of the
military. Similarly, the island of Iranaitheevu in the Kilinochchi district is entirely under the
control of the navy.
7) Navy has illegally acquired private lands (a total of 02 acres and 02 purchases) belonging
to 23 persons in the Pallimunai village in the Mannar district. Nineteen of them have land
deeds for the said land and they have filed litigations against the navy. However, the
government has failed up hold legal requirements by taking measures to survey the land
for the use of the navy.

Organization for Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Vali North, 27 June 2016,

https://www.facebook.com/notes/groundviews/letter-to-un-from-displaced-in-jaffna-valikamam-north/10157053616935641

8) In the same way, the security forces control many private and public lands in the Jaffna
district. This is a measure carried out to ensure continuous military presence in the North.
We wish to point out that such action would disrupt the affected people from getting back
to normal life.
9) When affected minority communities living in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts see
military victory monuments, symbols and museum; they tend to lose faith in the
reconciliation process.
In the East,
1) People of Sampur fully abandoned their lands when hostilities broke out in 2006. At that
point when people were displaced, the government ignoring the legal provisions in the
law, went ahead and illegally acquired 818 acres of land owned by the people and later
gave the land on long term lease to a private company. When the present good
governance government came into power in 2015, the long term lease agreement with
the private company was cancelled. Without providing any basic facilities the displaced
people were resettled in two phases in their own lands on 19.08.2015 and 25.03.2015.
However, the ownership of the land have not been transferred to the resettled people and
continues to be a property of the government. Also, facilities for resettlement were not
provided.
2) When the people of Sampur had been displaced in 2006, the navy had put up a training
camp in 176 acres of the land belonging to the people. On 25.03.2016 this camp was
removed. It was decided at the Trincomalee Development Committee meeting that 40
acres of alternative land will be provided between Sampur Sea and Villukulam to put up
the camp.
But, in addition to the approved 40 acres, a further 245 acres of land from the Sampur
coastal area and 32 acres of peoples land including the Neelakerni Sri Murukan Temple
land (totaling 277 acres of land) was taken over by the navy for the above purpose. As a
result, coastal fishing in the Sakaravattavan area in Sampur and fresh water fishing in the
Villukulam area in Sampur has been banned.
The 505 acres of land allocated for construction of a coal power plant includes 110 acres
of private land. Furthermore, the allocated land comprises 15 water tanks used by public
and 395 acres of forest land used by tribal communities for their livelihood purposes.
3) Military controls a number of lands in the Eastern province and more land is being illegally
acquired for the purpose of putting up Buddhist temples and monuments.
3

4) Besides, as a result of people being displaced for many years, their lands which had
become unrecognizable with shrubs and over grown vegetation are now being forcefully
acquired by the Department of Forest Conservation. Participants of the meetings held by
the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission informed approximately 68,750 acres of land
have been taken over by the Department of Forest Conservation.
Resettlement was tabled by the government itself as one of the key issues that needs to
be addressed in the 100-day work program. For this reason, your Excellency provided
the Immediate Response Fund and therefore, the facts mentioned above points towards
breach of agreement by the Sri Lankan governmentan agreement which was made
with the UN Secretary General.
His Excellency Secretary General,
Establishing transitional justice mechanisms in compliance with international standards is
the principal of the four prerequisites in providing the UN Peace Building Fund. For that
reason the Sri Lankan government put forward four mechanisms and went ahead and
passed the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) bill in parliament.3 However, the bill was
approved by the Cabinet before the National Consultation process could take place.
Further, the reasonable concerns and recommendations put forward by the war affected
people and the initiatives taken up by the government
seem to lack relevance. We
wish to draw attention to the contents of the Interim Report of the National Consultation
Task force on Reconciliation Mechanisms.4
As stated in the guidelines of the United Nations Approach to Transitional Justice tabled
by your Excellency in March 20105 indicates working towards a solution can only take
place after shedding light on the root causes to the conflict and all the rights violations
that led to the causes. The root causes for the conflict in Sri Lanka is ethnic repression
and gross human rights violations perpetrated to suppress minorities. This has brought
uncertainty to the Tamil people living in the North and East, thus stretching to the extent
of ethnic cleansing. The people living in the North and East have lost faith in governments
efforts and commitment to protect and promote the rights of minorities and bring about a
lasting solution to the ethnic question.
3

Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms, http://www.scrm.gov.lk/

Interim Report, Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms, August 2016,

https://groundviews.org/2016/08/11/interim-report-consultation-task-force-on-reconciliation-mechanisms/
5

Guidance Note of the Secretary General - United Nations Approach to Transitional Justice (March 2010),
https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/TJ_Guidance_Note_March_2010FINAL.pdf

It is well evident through the fact that there has not been any decrease in militarization in
the North and East and state security forces and intelligence officers freely go about doing
their day to day tasks, while the people struggle to get back to their normal lives. There
have been no changes in the structures that come with militarization and arbitrary and
illegal arrests, detention, inquiries, and torture continue. We wish to point out that the Sri
Lanka Human Rights Commission have put forward general recommendations in view of
such activities.6
The work on reintegrating ex-combatants into the community is yet to take place. On the
contrary, they are under constant surveillance and their movements are being monitored
thus making them and their families live in fear. Rehabilitation must take place with the
consent of the person involved where his/her abilities will be further developed for
reintegration. Since rehabilitation of ex-combatants in Sri Lanka is a militarized detention
with the intention of further punishing the person; integration into communities cannot
take place in an efficient manner.
Families of disappeared persons and witnesses face various forms of threats and
intimidation by the military and the intelligence unit. Women in particular are the most
affected due to such intimidation. Representatives of the non-governmental organizations
involved civic engagement activities and human rights defenders become victims of
continuous surveillance and inquiries.
Moreover, the government failed to give assurance that justice will be meted out to the
victims who faced rights infringements and violence during the war. The State is
continuing to turn a blind eye to the hardship and problems faced by the people of the
North and East in the post war context. Such issues are listed below:
1. Information must be disclosed on the victims of enforced disappearance, disappearance
of surrendees with white flag, families that handed over their loved ones to the military
and the surrendees themselves.
2. Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) must be repealed without delay. We wish to point out
the Public Statement of June 22, 2016 by the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission which
states that the PTA must be repealed and replaced with a national security law compliant
with international standards.7
6

DIRECTIVES ISSUED BY THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA ON ARREST AND DETENTION
UNDER THE PREVENTION OF TERRORISM (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT NO 48 of 1979, 18 May 2016,
http://hrcsl.lk/english/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Directives-on-Arrest-Detention-by-HRCSL-E-.pdf

3. Justice must be meted out for the victims of massacres that occurred in the Northern and
Eastern provinces. (Ex. massacre that happened in the Kumuthini boat, Kumarapuram
massacre, Mylanthanai massacre)
4. Justice must prevail for political detainees charged under PTA who are languishing in
various prisons for prolonged period of time. We draw reference to the sixth policy
recommendation of the Public Statement of June 22, 2016 by the Sri Lanka Human Rights
Commission stating that prisoners who have detained for a lengthy period of time must
be pardoned and released.8
5. Detained and rehabilitated ex-combatants must undergo proper medical treatment and
be provided with counseling and livelihood assistance and job skills.
6. Justice must be done for women who have faced gender based violence (victims of rape,
sexual assault etc.,) during and after the war.
7. Relief, compensation and livelihood facilities must be provided for women headed
households who have lost their husbands in the war.
8. Providing proper medical treatment and livelihood facilities to victims who are disabled
and sustained injuries due to the war.
9. Children who lost their parents to the war should be given special attention in terms of
their education, health and wellbeing. All their basic needs must be met.
In general, the people of the North and East are yet to fully experience the change of
political climate and have not been recognized as partners of the transitional justice
process. Acceptable space and opportunity is being denied to the affected communities
to become partners of the transitional justice initiatives carried out by the government and
activities and developments of the process is not informed clearly to the affected
communities.
In this respect, UNs role and contribution in the transitional justice process of its member
state Sri Lanka must not be limited to the extent of technical assistance alone; in order
to ensure that the process is consistent with international standards and that the rights of
the affected communities are upheld, UN must become a joint partner in Sri Lankas
transitional justice process. Just as UN had memorandum of understanding (MoU) with
8

Public Statement, Human Rights Commission of SriLanka, 22 June 2016, http://hrcsl.lk/english/wpcontent/uploads/2016/06/Public-Statement-by-HRCSL.pdf

countries such as Guatemala and Sierra Leon to become joint partners in the Transitional
Justice initiatives, UN must also consider having a MoU with Sri Lanka and become an
active joint partner.
(This appeal was read and tabled with corrections to more than 800 peoples
representatives like the victims affected by both the war and the PTA, war widows,
families of enforced and involuntary disappearances, IDPs living in welfare centres,
womens organizations and civil society organizations from the eight districts of North
and East who are present at this gathering. The appeal was drafted based on their
valuable input.)
North East Coordinating Committee (NECC)
Paadhukavalan Hall
Jaffna
September 02, 2016
Copies:
1. His Excellency Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, High Commissioner for UN Human Rights Council
2. Mr. Pablo de Greiff, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation
and guarantees of non-recurrence
3. Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission
4. National Consultation Task force on Reconciliation Mechanisms