With Govt's Tactics, Escalation of Tamil Conflict Looks Inevitable

"International observers have accused the Sri Lankan government of trying to conceal their crimes. Inquiry committees created by the government have failed to produce any substantial results, serious investigations by journalists have been consistently put on hold, and independent researchers who have pointed out the collusion between ex-LTTE combatants and the armed forces have been accused of being LTTE sympathizers."

by M. Bubna

(January 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The New Year in Sri Lanka began with an all-out confrontation between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terrorist group that has been battling the Sri Lankan government on and off for decades. An already fragile ceasefire accord between the two warring parties was irreparably damaged on Jan. 3 when the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa withdrew from the agreement. This in turn rendered the presence of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, an independent body of international investigators observing and recording human rights violations on the island, obsolete. The fact that it was the government, not the Tamil Tigers, that officially abandoned the pursuit of a diplomatic solution to the war raises suspicion that the government wants no limits on the full-scale war that it is embarking on in northern Sri Lanka.

Hostilities by both the LTTE and Sri Lanka's armed forces had persisted during the ceasefire -- primarily clandestine intermittent operations carried out in the obscurity of inland jungles. It is not surprising that terrorists committed such violations. But it was disappointing when the Sri Lankan government began using some of the same tactics as the LTTE. The abrogation of the ceasefire agreement confirmed many observers' misgivings about the current regime.

The government, under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has pursued a hard line toward terrorism from the outset. It has placed a very high premium on a very narrow definition of security -- unlike its predecessors, the current regime never attempted to work with the LTTE towards a peaceful solution. In the process, Sri Lankan civilians have suffered the most. This is particularly the case in eastern Sri Lanka, where human rights abuses such as extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and abductions of dissenters and children have been part and parcel of the government campaign to win back control of the multi-ethnic eastern provinces from the LTTE. Today, Batticaloa, a town on the island's eastern shore, while under the complete control of the Sri Lankan Army, has the look and feel of a war zone. Long stretches of coiled barbed wire shackle the coastal city and roadblocks are manned by heavily armed forces.

What is more, the government is reportedly working directly with paramilitary groups in the east. In other words, it has been using terrorists to fight terrorism. Breakaway factions from the LTTE, these militias work inside the high security zones established by the Sri Lankan Army. One such gang, known as the Karuna group (named after its leader, Col. Karuna Amman, who is also a former senior commander of the eastern LTTE cadres) works in absolute freedom. Its members are armed with Kalashnikovs, and they maintain command posts around Batticaloa, all within plain view of government forces.

Government security forces have consistently denied involvement with the Karuna faction. Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara says, "There is no relationship between the Karuna group and the Sri Lankan forces. As far as we're concerned, they too are an LTTE terrorist group. We don't have any relationship with them. We are trying our best. We don't allow anybody, any other group, to hang around in [government]-controlled areas with weapons and with warlike equipment. We have ensured that."

His words, however, are contradicted by the reality in towns like Batticaloa, where children younger than 18-years-old, the internationally recognized legal age for fighting a war, are armed with AK-47s and man roadblocks. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu of the Center for Policy Alternatives, a think-tank in Sri Lanka, says that collaboration between the government and paramilitary groups is strategic -- Karuna's men know the terrain and are familiar with LTTE tactics, having worked with them before. But the resultant military campaign has left thousands displaced, dead or disappeared. "There is an argument that says that the government and the LTTE are very much a mirror image of each other at this point," says Saravanamutu, "They're both trapped in the pursuit of a military solution. And as a consequence, everything else is of a secondary consideration or of no consideration at all."

International observers have accused the Sri Lankan government of trying to conceal their crimes. Inquiry committees created by the government have failed to produce any substantial results, serious investigations by journalists have been consistently put on hold, and independent researchers who have pointed out the collusion between ex-LTTE combatants and the armed forces have been accused of being LTTE sympathizers. This suppression of dissent leads many to believe that the leaders of the current regime are bent on eliminating all Tamil civilians.

Corruption plagues Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan politics have traditionally been dynastic -- dominated by a few wealthy and powerful families. Still, the current government is nepotistic to the extreme, even by Sri Lankan standards. President Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected in 2005 largely on a war platform. Subsequently, three of his brothers were appointed to top positions in the government -- they serve as ports and aviation minister, defense secretary, and as a member of parliament. Several of the president's siblings are also U.S. citizens. So far however, they have been able to act outside the regular norms of international law.

Thus, the Rajapaksa family maintains almost dictatorial control over the direction of the war. Lasantha Wikramatunga, an editor at the Sri Lankan newspaper the Sunday Leader, says Sri Lanka has become a "banana republic" with little consideration for the rule of law.

"They are four brothers," says Wikramatunga, "And I would say they are today's Gang of Four running Sri Lanka. The opposition leader has referred to them as the Junta that is governing Sri Lanka today. That just about sums up the 'Brothers Incorporated.'"

Karuna was recently arrested at London's Heathrow airport for traveling on a fake passport and now awaits prosecution for war crimes. In his place, however, other similar groups have sprung up in Sri Lanka, made up of men who are willing to do the government's dirty work. Under the current government, and after the breakdown of the ceasefire agreement with the LTTE, the escalation of an already violent conflict appears inevitable.

[M. Bubna is a freelance journalist who has written for Time.com, CNN Traveler and other publications.]