Sri Lankas Denial surest guarantee of

further genocide - Deirdre McConnell

Sep 07, 2016

Genocide does not happen overnight. It involves certain processes that take
time. Those concerned about the occurrence and re-occurrence of genocide
and seriously committed to its prevention, analysed ten stages[i]. These
unfold one after another, unless preventative measures possible at each
stage are not put in place. As the stages develop they presuppose that the
previous ones have happened. However, they can happen simultaneously.
The process can be described as cyclical rather than linear, depending on
the situation. The final stage is denial, the surest indicator of further
genocidal intent and massacres.
Several cases of genocide established through International Criminal Law
The term genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin in 1944 and used in the
Nuremberg Trials in relation to the Holocaust of the Jewish people in the

Second World War. The Genocide Convention of 1948 followed and the
international human rights system developed to ensure never again.
However, as it is common knowledge, less than fifty years later genocide
took place on a grand scale again, in 1992 - former Yugoslavia, in 1994 Rwanda and in 1995 - Srebrenica. The ad hoc International Criminal
Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda (ICTY and ICTR) judged
that genocide took place and convicted and sentenced some of those
responsible. It is to be noted that genocide is defined in the Genocide
Convention, as certain acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in
part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group - see article 2 of the
Convention. Article 6 of the 1998 Rome statute uses similar phraseology.
The first international conviction for genocide was the Rwandan Akeysu
case in 1996. The trial considered the scope and elements of genocide. It
defined what constitutes a protected group and it recognized individual
criminal responsibility for acts committed by sub-ordinates. The trial
concluded that the victim is the group itself and not only the individual.
The perpetrator and the victims have completely different narratives.
Perpetrators deny the atrocities they commit and do everything in their
power to prevent the classification of their crime as genocide and the
interference of other states. They have the means and power to do this,
usually with all the infrastructures and apparatus of a state, unless the
state has collapsed as in ex-Yugoslavia and the Hutu run regime in Rwanda.
For the victims it is different. They have to work tirelessly to reveal the
truth, peeling away the layers of untruth and cover-up lies. It was 21 years
after the genocide in Srebrenica, that Radovan Karadzic was finally
convicted and sentenced on 24 March 2016. Turkish governments have
persistently denied the genocide against the Armenians in 1915 it took
the courage of a Pontiff such as Pope Francis to tell the world that Turkey
committed genocide against the Armenians.
The case of Sri Lanka
It is remarkable that when it comes to Sri Lanka, the true facts are not
widely known, despite rigorous human rights reporting over many years.
Not once or twice, but many times has the word genocide been used
authoritatively to describe the situation in Sri Lanka, by different analysts,
researchers and human rights organisations.
Each decade, despite events that clearly constituted stages in the genocide
process, no preventive measures were introduced. No effective protection
was put in place. On the contrary, the Sri Lanka government in power,
whichever of the two main parties it was, (United National Party UNP or Sri
Lanka Freedom Party SLFP), succeeded in undermining any arguments
about genocide occurring, putting blame on the victims themselves, a
process which is in itself, an indicator of genocide.

Denial has consistently and proficiently been used as a calculated strategy

by perpetrators to conceal reality. In this article I will analyse the ten stages
of genocide with reference to the situation in Sri Lanka. I have already
mentioned the tenth and final stage, which is denial.
Setting the grim foundations for genocide to occur
The first three stages of genocide are Classification, Symbolisation and
Discrimination. There will inevitably be classification of differences, or ways
of distinguishing between us and them, within most countries. Cultures
have categories to distinguish between people for example, by ethnicity,
race, religion or nationality. Many societies are pluralist without problems
between different groups of people. They have institutions that promote
tolerance and understanding, social and legal mechanisms ensuring these
important values are respected and universal policies that transcend racial
or ethnic divisions. The promotion of a common language can also help
prevent problems and enhance equality and communication. Difference in
itself is not the problem, as long as common ground can be found and
equality ensured. It can even bring vibrant and enriching diversity.
Unfortunately, this has not been so in Sri Lanka.
Tamils existed as a distinct people, with their language, culture and religion
long before colonial rule. The Portuguese (1505) and the Dutch (1658) ruled
the Tamil Kingdom in the North and East, separately from the two Sinhalese
kingdoms in the South. Therefore, classification was obvious. Symbolization,
to denote or identify the targeted group, was also not needed initially in Sri
Lanka. Identification by name, language or outward features of religion,
were sufficient. I will return to symbolization, as the issues unfold later,
cyclically, since it was an aspect which contributed significantly to the pace
of eventual genocide.
Discrimination against the Tamils has been extensively documented. The
latest report, from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, was distributed on 26 August 2016 [ii]. It outlines the
severity of the current problems. The preventative measure which could
have halted the relentless trajectory towards genocide, would have been to
outlaw discrimination. But, on the contrary, discrimination was
systematically condoned and legalized, by the majority dominant group,
who continually held the reins of power. Discrimination could have been
outlawed when it appeared on the scene in the 1940s and 1950s. Denial of
citizenship to the Tamils living in the plantations in 1948; the changing of
the demography of the East by colonization to decrease Tamil voting
capacity; then the infamous Sinhala Only Act of 1956, all entrenched
discrimination at fundamental levels. Rather than using a unifying
language, to promote understanding, the majority community language,
Sinhala, was favoured and Tamils denied equality at the most basic level of

communicating with officialdom. Later, a raft of discriminatory legislation

including: in Education rights (1971); the abolition of section 29 of the
constitution which protected minority rights (1972); and the constitutional
favouring of Buddhism over the other religions practiced on the island
(1972), constituted calculated and legalized discrimination, against which
Tamils had no means of redress.
This multi-layered entrenchment of institutionalized discrimination against
Tamils was never reversed. For 30 years Tamils attempted through
democratic parliamentary means to gain equal rights, their right to live in
peace and dignity, on their own land where they have lived for over 3,000
years. Whichever of the two main Sinhala political parties (SLFP and UNP)
won the elections, they never enacted legislation promoting and
guaranteeing equal rights for all. The imbalance of power and the need for
a two third majority in parliament to repeal discriminatory legislation meant
it was impossible to effect change without the participation of enough
members of the majority community to support it. This required a paradigm
shift of respect for difference and equality of the other. But not enough of
the majority community held this other worldview. Most believed the
misinformation they were fed, leading to the awful next stage.
The fourth stage dehumanization - key to the trajectory towards genocide
Once discrimination is legally entrenched and unchallenged, there is the
possibility of hate vocabulary is rising and language denying the humanity
of the other group appearing. This paves the way for the critical fourth
stage in the horrific slide towards genocide - dehumanization. Unfortunately
this occurred in Ceylon/Sri Lanka, led by pronouncements from the
majoritarian Sinhalese leaders. In the early 19th century, Sinhala revivalist
Dharmapala referred to Tamils as aliens and exploiters[iii]; President
Jeyawardena said in 1983 that to keep the Sinhalese happy he was
prepared to starve the Tamils[iv], President Wijetunge described Tamils as
parasites on the tree of Sinhala people on whom they should be
dependent[v], Chandrika Kumaratunga said Tamils were not an original
people of the island[vi] and the last President Mahinda Rajapaksa made
many racist statements concerning the Tamils. These are only a few of the
many inflammatory racist statements made by Heads of State, denying the
equality of Tamils, and misleading ordinary Sinhala people into not only
contemptuous disrespect, but then vicious and dangerous hatred.
Dehumanisation, if not forbidden, can lead to organization of killings and
polarization the fifth and sixth stages. As was seen, in Sri Lanka, it was the
very law-makers themselves who promoted racist discrimination and
dehumanization. So of course there was never any enactment of legislation
to forbid the hate language of dehumanization.

Normally, human beings are naturally repulsed by murder. Dehumanisation

overcomes this. In the case of Sri Lanka it is important to understand that
there is an ideology underpinning the dehumanization of Tamils. A
proponent of this was Dharmapala, already mentioned. A sacred text
believed to be Buddhist, the Mahavamsa, was distorted to glorify killing in
defence of Buddhism. It has been written about by many academics in the
past. Sinhala chauvinist nationalists fundamentally believe that the island
state should be totally Buddhist Sinhalese. The text has been used since
the 1930s to state that it is permissible to kill Tamils as they are not fully
human. This reality may seem ludicrous, so not taken seriously by those
outside Sri Lanka in the international community. But it is taken deadly
seriously by the Buddhist prelates and Sangha who wield massive unofficial
and official political power regarding government and the Sinhala
population[vii].
If this pernicious misinterpretation of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is not
understood, it is impossible to follow the tragic events. Leaders who have
consistently incited violence against Tamils throughout the decades, met no
confrontation which could have halted the trajectory towards the most
extreme violence. Impunity has reigned and reigns. To prevent genocide,
such leaders should have been banned from foreign travel. But they were
met, educated and welcomed in the capitals and most prestigious
universities in the world, where the mistruths referred to earlier were
promulgated.
Hate crimes and atrocities should be immediately investigated and
perpetrators punished. But in Sri Lanka, the early pogroms of 1956, 58,
77, 81 and 83 were inflicted against the Tamils and there was no
punishment at all for those responsible. The international community was
aware of what was happening but chose to turn a blind eye.
Organised killings (the fifth stage) and polarization (the sixth stage)
resulting from dehumanisation
The fifth stage in genocide is the organization of the killings, usually by the
state, or its agents, as it has the apparatus to facilitate this either directly
or indirectly. In Sri Lanka this had been happening since the 1950s,
sponsored by those in power, who crushed the non-violent protest of Tamils
against discrimination referred to earlier. As the decades continued,
organization of the killings became more systematized. Starting with tens,
then hundreds, then thousands of victims it finally became tens of
thousands.
Documentation of the killings is extensive. Many media have published
these facts. So do human rights organizations[viii].

The sixth stage is polarization, where extremists and their hate groups
broadcast polarizing propaganda. At this point state media organs become
complicit in the polarizing. After the election in 1977, when Tamils voted in
exercise of their right to self-determination, having been denied access to
equal rights as outlined above, Tamil MPs were denied the right to even talk
about a solution for the Tamil ethnic issue. Yet it was their election
manifesto which Tamil people in the North and East had voted for,
overwhelmingly. In parliament itself, in 1981, two Sinhala MPs described
horrific torture methods to be used against Tamil MPs if they dared to talk
about their right to self-determination. These Sinhala MPs were unafraid to
give their inhumane, degrading and abhorrent views[ix]. There are many
other examples to give of how polarization was engineered to further
embed a forceful and violent dynamic of us and them which balked at
nothing in the pursuit of dominance and violent power over the Tamils.
The seventh stage - preparation. Followed by persecution (eighth stage)
In the seventh stage, the state, having polarized society, arms itself against
the targeted group, and indoctrinates the majority population of the South,
with an irrational fear of virtually all members of the targeted victim group.
It needs to be said that 100% of the Sinhalese could not be indoctrinated some remained humane and assisted Tamils for instance during the
pogroms. But their numbers were too small to effect change, to put
measures in place to address the causes of the problem and to prevent the
violence. In fact these individuals were (and are) courageous enough to
face the risk of becoming, they themselves, the target of hate crimes and
killing by Sinhala chauvinists.
Peaceful demonstrations and protests by the Tamils in the 50s 70s were
met with armed violence perpetrated by the state. This armed violence
then became a tool used to systematically persecute.
Persecution is the eighth stage. This is built on the preceding stages, which
nevertheless continue to operate. In 1981 the Jaffna Library with 95,000
volumes of books and texts relating to Tamil culture and history was burned
to the ground, by agents of the Sri Lanka state, in a calculated act of what
has been termed Memorised[x] - an attempt to kill off the Tamil peoples
collective memory by eliminating their cultural and historical heritage.
Senior government officials and leaders were involved. Two years later, in
the 1983 pogrom in which over 3,000 Tamil people were killed - torched
alive and butchered[xi], petrol used was kept ready at the Ceylon Petroleum
Corporation, under the jurisdiction of the Industries Minister. Electoral lists
were used to identify the homes of Tamil people. Their names, and in some
case their inability to read Sinhalese, were used to confirm their identity as
Tamils, leading to immediate summary execution in their homes and in the
streets. The International Commission of Jurists reported that Genocidal

intent was evident, due to the state orchestrated nature of the

violence[xii]. This was extensively documented[xiii].
In response to these heinous events, there was again failure by the
international community to set up an independent international inquiry to
investigate, identify and punish the perpetrators, as well as to investigate
the root causes of the issues. Yet it was clear there was no possibility of
domestic remedy. The international community had pity and sympathy for
the Tamils in 1983 but did nothing to encourage repeal of the entrenched
discriminatory legislation or stop the dehumanizing processes leading to
the terrifying torture and execution of thousands of Tamils. The Prevention
of Terrorism Act PTA, enforced from 1979 to this day, enables torture,
arbitrary arrests, rape, enforced disappearances and summary executions
to happen with chilling ease. It permits confessions made under torture as
admissible in court. Perpetrators of these violations against non-derogable
human rights are confident they will not be brought to book. On the
contrary, they would sometimes be rewarded with promotion. On 27 July
2016, the Anuradhapura High Court Judge (a Sinhalese) acquitted six
former Army personnel indicted over rape and murder of 26 Tamils (13
women and 9 children below the age of 12 and critically wounded several
others) on 11 February 1996 in Kumarapuram, Trincomalee. This is one
example of many cases, revealing the partiality of the Sri Lankan judiciary.
Since the end of the war a new situation has arisen. Suspected injections
given to former cadres, resulting in illness and deaths, need to be
investigated.
Response to persecution
In the late 1970s the Tamil youth had already started to rebel, as they saw
no results from decades of parliamentary protest by their elders who tried
to change things for the better. The peaceful protests of the 1950s, 60s
and 70s had been met with merciless suppression by the military and
government sponsored Sinhala thugs, costing many lives. The youth,
supported in fact by their elders, started to build armed resistance. This
was birthed by the organized state violence (especially in July 1983) against
the Tamil people. Under international law the case has been made that the
Tamils legitimate fight in exercise of their right to self-determination, was a
result of all other means whether peaceful or parliamentary or both - to
redress the discrimination and persecution, having been in vain. The young
Tamils who took the struggle to its second phase, took the fight for selfdetermination to the next level.
The government was bound by the Geneva Conventions to conduct the war
in line with the laws and customs of war; but instead, it conducted a
genocidal war against the Tamils. One indication of this is the gender-based
violence. It should be noted that the ICTR, in the Akeyesu case, (in which

former HCHR Navaneetham Pillai was one of the Judges) held that rape in
the course of an armed conflict, whether international or non-international
can be genocide[xiv]. Tamil women were raped and killed systematically.
Rape was used as a weapon of genocidal war. The assault on women was to
denigrate and humiliate them individually but also the Tamil population as a
whole. Even the way Tamil women were killed changed, in order to destroy
the evidence more completely.
The narrative of the Sri Lanka Government was that they were fighting
terrorism the terrorists being the Tamils who were fighting to carve out
a separate independent state for themselves, a phrase slavishly repeated
by the world-wide press. In fact Tamils have lived in the North and East for
more than 3,000 years, as already stated.
State violence against the Tamils was now transferred from organized thugs
orchestrated by the authorities, including politicians, and some army
personnel - to the full three armed forces (land, sea and air), intelligence
services, mercenaries and paramilitaries. These last were usually Tamils coopted to work for the state, against Tamils who were resisting oppression
and fighting for Tamil liberation. Tokenistic government appointment of
Tamils to certain internationally influential political positions, served to
deceive the international community, by promoting a false notion of a
pluralistic state.
The narrative of the liberation movement of the Tamils was that they were
fighting a genocidal state, to protect their people and nationhood, in the
contiguous territory of the North and East, which had always been theirs. So
it was about defending their right to live, work and be in their own land,
managing their own affairs. The only solution for protection was felt to be a
self-governing, independent state. This arose from lack of any serious
evidence that their rights would be respected in a unitary state, and the
failure of attempts to discuss federalism in earlier decades.
In 2008, in my article on the Tamil peoples right to self-determination in the
Cambridge Review of International Affairs, I analysed more fully than I can
here, the fact that the war conducted against the Tamils was genocidal[xv].
The mechanisms of the stages of genocide have remained in place for
decades.
After 1983 Tamils flocked to the Liberation movements (such as the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - LTTE) to join them, to protect the peoples
right to life and to freedom. Concern the international community had for
the Tamils in 1983, unfairly dissolved. Rather than examine the genocidal
intent which had been clearly documented as already shown, and bring to
book the perpetrators, the apparatus was left intact, not dismantled,
cleverly concealed by the government. The counter-terrorism discourse of

the Sri Lanka Government, deflected any demand for accountability for
their actions, despite the fact that even the counter-terrorism measures are
subject to the non-derogable rules of international human rights provisions.
The government vilified the victims who had been driven to take up arms as
their last resort of self-defence. The only other alternative for the Tamils,
which appeared to be to acquiesce to annihilation, was unthinkable. The
Tamil people have an immensely rich identity and culture to cherish and
protect.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, it had not been necessary for
the perpetrators of dehumanization to use a symbol to mark Tamils out, in
the way that Jewish people had been marked out insidiously by yellow star
badges in Nazi Germany. Culturally, Tamils can be identified by language.
Also they can be identified by religious markings such as a pottu, or holy
ash, on their forehead or by their national costume. After the emergence of
the armed struggle, the entire Tamil people and anyone who supported
their legitimate legal cause was denoted Tiger terrorist. The word Tiger,
taken from the liberation movements name, was then used to denote any
Tamil as worthy of torture and humiliation. Tiger (terrorist) equals Tamil and
vice versa. At the same time, those who supported the LTTE, were proud of
the protective Tiger symbol of the liberation movement, linking to heritage
and rejecting the politically-motivated label of terrorist given by the
successive Sinhala governments. It needs to be noted that Sinhala
chauvinism describes the Sinhalese as proud to be lions.
Final solution Extermination - the ninth stage
In the ninth stage of genocide, extermination, mass killings are carried out
by state backed groups. In Sri Lanka, the hideous final solution in 2009
involved the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, anywhere between
70,000 and 140,000. It was meticulously calculated over a period of three
years, as the Secretary of State during this final stage of the war, boasted
afterwards. The genocidal machinery of the Sri Lankan state was not
bothered in the least about the horror inflicted, insisting there were zero
civilian deaths, having deliberately targeted even hospitals and safe zones.
The final solution followed three decades of repression, persecution,
assassinations of human rights defenders, massacres, bulldozing of mass
graves etc within the war period. Continual calls for investigations, from
concerned organizations, had been met with powerless commissions of
inquiry and biased trials allowing perpetrators to go free. No corrective
measures were put in place and perpetrators were supremely confident
they would not be punished. Some were even rewarded with the role of
representing the country abroad in high-level posts.
The tenth stage as stated in the title of this article - is denial. After the
defeat of the LTTE in May 2009 Sri Lanka immediately set about defending

itself through utter denial in the United Nations Human Rights Council UNHRC, pushing forward its own resolution to congratulate itself on its
human rights record! It was passed on 27 May 2009.
Denial is the surest indicator of further genocidal massacres, persecution,
exterminations. The Tamil land in the North and East is rapidly being
Sinhalised, Buddhisied and is still militarized, even seven years after the
end of the war. Land-grabbing of Tamil civilian land persists, including for
tourism developed and run by the military. It is a continuing war against the
Tamil people and their rights[xvi].
Genocide does not happen overnight, it has its relentless mechanics and
stages, overlapping, accumulating and consistently moving forward in its
inhumane and brutally hideous vision, continually working to find new
covert and masked overt ways to suppress and wipe out its victims.
Understanding the stages of genocide is the only way to understand what
happens in Sri Lanka when it comes to the Tamil question. Fortunately we
are now living in an era when the international community is beginning to
see this missing jig-saw piece. The Channel Four perceptive broadcasting, is
one of the signs of hope that the truth cannot be suppressed. Action to halt
further genocidal actions needs to take place as soon as possible.
Perpetrators must be punished.
Wiki leaks information in 2012 revealed that Sri Lanka had been warned in
2009 that if the government pursued a military option without first
allowing high-level diplomacy a chance, Sri Lanka could expect escalating
international criticism and actions to demonstrate the international
communitys concern... such actions could include suspension of aid to Sri
Lanka, closer scrutiny of IMF lending, possible war crimes investigations,
and perhaps other actions.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR has worked
consistently to document the situation, attempting to promote and protect
Human Rights. The OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) report is a
strong indictment against Sri Lanka. It recommends an independent
international investigation through proper courts to establish the truth of
what happened. An independent international investigation and referral to
the International Criminal Court - ICC is the only way forward. The Sri
Lankan governments claim that Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the ICC
should not obstruct justice! (Is Sri Lanka not aware that Sudan is not a
signatory to the ICC either!) As the government of Sri Lanka has stated that
its war was conducted in accordance with the laws and customs of war,
surely it has a lot to gain by allowing an international investigation of its
conduct of the war.
[i] See: http://www.genocidewatch.org/genocide/tenstagesofgenocide.html

[ii] CERD/C/LKA/CO/10-17
[iii] Tambiah, Stanley J. (1992) Buddhism betrayed? Religion, politics and
violence in Sri Lanka University of Chicago Press , Chicago
[iv] J.R.Jayawardene, Sinhala Buddhist President of Sri Lanka, Daily
Telegraph, 11th July 1983
[v] D B Wijetunga President of Sri Lanka 1993-1994 said that the
``minorities are like creepers clinging to the Sinhala tree.'' (Excerpt. Indian
Express)
[vi] Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga - television interview in
South Africa, September 1998
[vii] See Tambiah (1992).
[viii] See : http://www.tchr.net.
[ix] D.M. Chandrapala, Sinhala Buddhist M.P. for Kundasale and
G.V.Punchinilame, Sinhala Buddhist M.P. for Ratnapura - in Sri Lanka's
Parliament, July 1981
[x] The word Memorised was coined in relation to Radovan Karadzics
burning of the library in Sarajevo in 1992.
[xi] Leary, Virginia (1983) Ethnic conflict and violence in Sri Lanka: report of
a mission to Sri Lanka in July-August 1981 on behalf of the International
Commission of Jurists International Commission of Jurists , Geneva (library).
[xii] Mac Dermot, Niall (1983) The Review of the International Commission
of Jurists International Commission of Jurists (Geneva), December.
[xiii] Eye-witness account - London Daily Express, 29th August 1983. Dr.
Sjef Teuns, General Secretary of Novib, leading private development aid
organisation in the Netherlands Times of London, 22 August 1983. Patricia
Hyndman, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of New South Wales and
Secretary, Lawasia Human Rights Standing Committee Report Democracy
in Peril, June 1985.
[xiv] Akayesu case: Case NO. ICTR-96-4-T, 2 September 1998
[xv]
See: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09557570701828592?
journalCode=ccam20
[xvi] See; Still Unfinished War Sri Lankas Ongoing Crimes against
Humanityhttp://www.itjpsl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Press-ReleaseEnglish.pdf
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