The Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam

¶ 01 This article goes on to state the number of hospitals that were attacked. I quote:

¶ 02 "A medical worker told Human Rights Watch that when the Putumattalan hospital came under heavy shelling around midnight on April 20, he immediately sought cover in a bunker. He described what he saw after he left the shelter early in the morning:"

¶ 03 This is what he saw.

¶ 04 "The roof of the building was destroyed and tiles had fallen into the room. There were eight dead bodies in Ward 5, and five dead bodies in the admission ward, ...”

¶ 05 So, there is clear evidence that hospitals were bombed during the last stages of the war. There is clear evidence! I have more articles with witnesses' evidence, which I can table. These have been recorded and published, stating that there was a big Red Cross flag put on the hospital premises so that the Army could see that that was a hospital.

¶ 06 A civilian who later went into the army-controlled area confirmed that from one kilometre away he could see the Red Cross flag, indicating it was a hospital. But it was bombed. However, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was not even responsible for the attack, was going on Al Jazeera and defending that previous Government or the person who is accused of it. That is the problem in this country: the State would always defend itself.

¶ 07 And the Hon. Vijitha Herath, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his Government are no different. At least, the people of the North and the East never voted for the Rajapaksas because they knew they would never get justice under their Government, which is why they voted for you. The entire Northern Province voted for you. Is this how you repay their faith, the faith they had in the Government? Is this how you repay them? Shame on this Government! The Hon. Minister went to Geneva and only spoke about the mechanisms already in place and about a domestic mechanism. The Tamil people have rejected any domestic mechanism because 16 years later, there has not been a single case you have solved.

¶ 08 One day ago you tabled the Batalanda Commission Report. I wish the Hon. Speaker was in this House while I speak so that I could see whether he would be as compassionate when I speak about the Tamil people who were killed and the atrocities against the Tamil people as he was when the Batalanda Commission Report was presented. We saw him being so compassionate, very good. We are also compassionate about that. For the Batalanda Commission Report to be tabled is good. You investigate that and take action, but the problem is, on all these reports that are generally tabled, we never see any action being taken. The Paranagama Commission was tabled; the Udalagama Commission was tabled, but what action, not this Government but the previous Governments, took? This Government also had enough time. The incumbent President has been in office for six months now. If his position was to investigate and take action on these reports, he would have started it by now. Nothing! So, again, what we are going to see is that the Tamil people would be denied justice in this country. If the former President is defending his nemesis on foreign media, what faith could we have in this particular Government? And the Hon. Minister has given nothing in his speech today for us to have even an ounce of faith that this Government would do justice to the Tamil people.

¶ 09 Now, let me move on to another matter, to torture, because the Batalanda Commission is also about torture. Sir, let me bring to your attention a report that JDS has published, which talks about 219 torture sites that existed in this country during the war! Now, we are speaking about the Batalanda Commission. I am all for justice being served on the accused or the perpetrators, but there had been 219 civilian torture sites in Sri Lanka! When are we going to investigate all the atrocities that happened in those torture sites? Those are very recent ones. The Batalanda incidents were in 1989. These were in 2008, 2009 and even in 2010 and 2011. So, when are you going to investigate those? Then, there was an article published in "The Hindu" titled "Sri Lankan Tamil men accuse government of torture, rape"; that was published in 2017. A number of witnesses have come forward and given their statements about how they were tortured, how they were beaten up with plastic poles filled with sand, how they were burnt with cigarettes and about the gun site camp in Trincomalee and the Joseph camp in Vavuniya. You know that the Udalagama Commission very clearly stated about the ACF case, the Trinco Five case and abduction of 11 Tamil youth; they stated how the State is responsible. But what action have you all taken? So, when it comes to the Tamil people, about all these Commission reports, you do not want to talk, but only about the Batalanda Commission Report. It has been tabled and I do not see any action being taken against those responsible.

¶ 10 I have no faith that even those identified as 68 suspects in the Batalanda Commission Report will be punished. Why? Because as far as I know, the current leaders of the JVP were only 18, 19, or 20 years old at that time. Just as you tabled the Batalanda Commission Report, now lists of killings carried out by the JVP in 1988-1989 are coming out. As investigations begin into those as well, many in the JVP are not keen on tabling that report. Therefore, nothing will happen beyond tabling. It will only be tabled. That is all that will happen to the Batalanda Commission Report too. Do not think I said it just for effect.

¶ 11 Why was the Batalanda Commission Report tabled? Because if it was not tabled, Kumar Gunaratnam’s Frontline Socialist Party would split the JVP into ten pieces. Out of fear of that, the report was tabled. Beyond that, nothing will happen in relation to this report. I saw that the Hon. Speaker was moved when it was presented yesterday. We too are moved by such matters. It would be good if everyone is moved by all such cases.

¶ 12 Sir, there is a lot more to be said about how people were tortured in this country, but let me now move on to another important topic, which is rape. As you know, very recently a doctor was raped in Anuradhapura. We condemn that; we are opposed to violence against women. We condemn that and the accused should be punished. Now, let us talk about the Tamil women who were raped and killed; let us talk about them as well.

¶ 13 Thousands of Tamil women in this country were subjected to sexual violence and killed. There is no dispute that the woman subjected to sexual assault in Anuradhapura deserves justice. But in this country thousands of Tamil women have been subjected to sexual harassment or sexual violence by security forces. Why do the people of this country and the Government not raise their voices and take action against those who committed these acts? This Government that claims there is no racism is the worst Government!

¶ 14 Past Governments openly identified themselves as racist and operated accordingly. But this Government says, “No racism, no racism,” yet is fully engaged in racism. How? It refuses to provide a lasting political solution to the Tamil people. In the matter of accountability, nothing was said in the Hon. Minister’s speech on behalf of the Tamil people. He only stated his own position.

¶ 15 We also vehemently condemn the recent incident in Anuradhapura. But thousands of Tamil women were raped, sexually assaulted and murdered. One example is the killing of Isaipriya. There is evidence that Isaipriya was captured by the military while alive. Thereafter, with her hands tied behind her back, first scantily clothed and then completely unclothed, videos emerged. If so, was Isaipriya not a woman? Does her death not deserve justice in this country?

¶ 16 Let me read from an article I have here with me about Isaipriya, which states, "Isaipriya is sitting in a swamp. She is only partly clothed. She looks dazed and confused. There is no clue as to how on earth she got there and why she is all alone. Some speculate that she had been trying to escape the bloody final showdown. She is helped to her feet and looks completely uninjured. This is an important observation, because she was not to remain so for long. The soldiers think she is the Tamil rebel leader’s daughter. She is not, she says. They find a length of white cloth to wrap around her. It is the same cloth that shrouds her in a photograph Channel 4 News later obtained from a Sri Lankan soldier. In his photograph, dated later that same day, 18th May, Isaipriya is dead. Her hands are tied behind her back. There is also now a long and jagged cut across her face. That grim footage comprises part of the notorious ‘executions video’ which shows the shooting dead..... You do not need much of an imagination to figure out what has happened.” It is very clear that Isaipriya was well and alive. Later, her hands were bound behind her back and she was found dead. It very clearly shows that she was not playing scrabble. Clearly, the people who had her in captivity did not play scrabble with her; they had played something else with her.

¶ 17 Why is the Government not ready to even acknowledge these accusations? These are all accusations. If you have the courage, investigate them. When the Good Governance Government co-sponsored Resolutions, there was at least some discussion about a hybrid mechanism, where the victim community could have some trust in the process. But there is nothing from this Government. There is a lot more to be highlighted. Isaipriya's case is one great example I gave you because you could start from there. Also, in August, 2013, a woman from Pooneryn was raped and reportedly left to die by two men wearing khaki pants and green shirts. After treatment at the Kilinochchi Hospital, military personnel escorted her to the local camp and provided her with dry rations. In 2010, a 22-year old woman from Vishwamadu was gang raped by four military personnel. I point out these things because the Hon. Minister in charge of Public Security said that an army deserter was accused of the rape in Anuradhapura. There have been so many accusations against army deserters with the sprees of violence they have been engaged in like shootings and killings. That is what the Minister said. Today, 16 years later, if an army deserter is accused of raping a doctor in broad daylight or raping a doctor in a hospital, imagine the extent of gross violations they would have committed during the last stages of the war when there was no media coverage, no international observers and outsiders! Imagine! So, our community is only asking you to investigate those incidents. If you are not guilty, investigate those. Why are you shying away from an inquiry? The reason why you are shying away from an inquiry is because the State always protects the State. That is your first interest. So, Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, the NPP Government has also failed to address this concern. You all are betraying the Tamil people, the trust that the people of the North and the East, except for the people of Batticaloa, placed in you. The people of Batticaloa did not trust you and they will never trust you. So, that is what I have to say regarding accountability.

¶ 18 Then, on tourism as well, Hon. Minister, there are a few things I need to point out.

¶ 19 We expected that under this Government there would be no fraud and corruption when you said there is no 8000 or 180. The Hon. Deputy Minister is also in this House. Hon. Deputy Minister, you too know that under the previous Government there was a major move to conduct mineral explorations off Pigeon Island on the Nilaveli coast. I have with me the Board meeting decisions regarding that. Now, people in that district tell me, “Before becoming an MP you were very concerned about this. Now you are not even looking at it.” From Nilaveli to Kumpurupiddi, along the coastal belt, the Government lands within a 300-metre strip are sought to be long-leased to a private company called James Global with 66% approval. This was discussed at the Trincomalee District Development Committee meeting on 27 June 2024. Hon. Minister of Tourism, these lands in Kuchchaveli belong to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. Hon. Minister, permits have been issued to explore minerals across Sri Lanka. Those are exploration permits only. No mining permits have yet been issued in Sri Lanka. But after you came to power, within the last week there has been heavy pressure to issue the first mining permit to James Global (Pvt) Ltd. Not only in Trincomalee District; they are also looking to grant lands in front of Shangri-La, Hambantota. Hon. Minister, I have those maps. These are lands needed for the tourism industry.