MURDER IS MURDER, IRRESPECTIVE

OF WHO COMMITTED THE MURDER,

AND WHO IS THE VICTIM MANOURI
MUTTETUWEGAMA

Image:Chairperson of the Consultation Task Force for

Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) Manouri Muttetuwegama
courtesy GV.

17/01/2017
Interview: Deconstructing the CTF Report by Raisa
Wickrematunge/ Groundviews.
Excerpts from an interview with the Chairman of the Consultation
Task Force for Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) Manouri
Muttetuwegama on their recently released report:

Q: What do you think are the most important points that

people should focus on in the recently released
Consultation Task Force for Reconciliation Mechanisms
(CTF) report?
A: Firstly, its a matter of pride to the CTF, how honestly people
came and expressed their concerns to us. The people who made
submissions include the directly war affected, the Muslim
community, Malaiyaha Tamils or the estate Tamils who have faced
untold discrimination, the aadivasis from the veddah community.
The army came before us gravely injured soldiers. They too
have suffered. They are happy that they ended the war, but they
have humanism too, and thoughtfulness.
For people, the sittings were an assertion of citizenship a
consciousness not just of an opportunity but also of a duty, to
come forward and tell us how they saw the world and what they
felt was wrong with it.
The submissions were very varied. The challenge of constitutional
[reform], the distribution of power at the centre and the periphery
was discussed. Then there was the representation of majority and
minority communities. Disappearances are a country-wide
phenomenon. An enormous number of the submissions were
regarding disappearances.
After 3 Disappearance Commissions have taken place, including
an All Island Disappearances Commission, it was heartbreaking to
see people coming from the South, still looking for answers for
those who had disappeared during the 1971 JVP insurrection.

The families of disappeared dont say they want to be part of the

forensic investigations. They dont have the skill. But they want to
be part of the structure, so that they can contribute their lived
experiences. Across the board, you found this, even in respect of
the court structure. The public wants the court to come to them.
They dont want them to be located in Colombo or abroad.
They pointed out that many of the affected are disabled or old,
and organs like the Truth and Justice and Reconciliation
Commission (TJRC) must go to them. There were a lot of rich
contributions on the TJRC. They believe the truth must be known,
that must be the foundation of the solution [to the national
question]. This should be fed into our education system, and
colour how we see and project ourselves.
Incidents such as the burning of the Jaffna library, the attack on
the Dalada Maligawa, all massacres should be recorded in history
books as atrocious acts that should never happen again. I think
thats very powerful. This is an opportunity to get rid of
discrimination.
Q: What were some of the things people wanted in terms
of reparations?
A: It should be made compulsory that people go to the war
affected areas to see the sheer poverty and deprivation 30 years
of war have made, particularly the plight of war widows. The
peoples demands were for a home, a means of livelihood.
Another common wish was for the provision of education and jobs
for children.

I was appalled at the level of the embedded discrimination that

the Malaiyaha Tamils have suffered over 200 years. I had one to
one consultations at the Noori Estate and saw the degree of
intimidation and fear felt by the affected people. These women
had been raped as of right by thugs. Their houses destroyed, their
hen coops damaged, the tea leaf that they plucked taken. I take
personal pride, whenever I see women stand up for the common
good. They know the risks. We personally saw how women held
their communities and families together, and under what difficult
circumstances they continued to do so.
We have asked specifically that women be brought to the
forefront of the move to progress. Not just be given a hen coop
and a spinning wheel. These women belong in local councils. Their
experience, courage and enterprise is based on reality, not on
book learning.
The youth too have very real skills that can be harnessed. If you
have been a divisional commander while still in your 20s, you
have grappled with the realities of war, including strategy, getting
protection, nourishment , engaging with the community youre
living in. These youth should be given a sense of achievement in
terms of the needs of the world today.
Q: At the launch of the report, it was mentioned that there
have been misconceptions about the CTF itself, with many
of those who were approached for submissions expressing
mistrust. What is your reaction to this?
A: That is a message that was spread among them. Yet, they still
came and made submissions. That is no small achievement on
the part of the Zonal Task Force.

The public didnt come confidently. They were full of fear,

scepticism and hesitation but they did feel they had a right to be
heard, and to participate in decisions about solutions.
[There is also the lack of trust due to the operation of earlier
Commissions, which didnt address peoples needs].
In this country nothing has happened on disappearances. In the
past, there was some form of compensation on the production of
a death certificate issued after a disappearance. There was no
acknowledgment of wrong by the state, irrespective of whether
the death or disappearance was at subversive hands, such as the
JVP or the paramilitary. The law said that for the death certificate
to be issued it had to be proved that the death was at subversive
hands.
I played a very active role in the Disappearances Commission and
many of those who came before me were people who had lost
sons, husbands, at the hands of state forces. That was not taken
into consideration. Then you had this irony where in LTTE
controlled areas they wouldnt issue a certificate unless you said
the death was at state hands. So in the past, reparation and
restitution was at the cost of accountability. And this process in
2016 is the latest they have interacted with.
Nowhere did we come across downright opposition. In Kalutara,
we did have a group ask why they were not invited to the
consultations. Our Zonal Task Force Chairman explained that
these are public consultations, and everyone could make
submissions. We gave them a future date to make a submission.

Even the Sinhala Ravaya came forward and said they were for
reconciliation, as they know its the need of the country. Of
course, their ideas for how this would be achieved were different.
This mistrust might also be because there is a tendency to shelve
reports after giving some minimum acknowledgment.
Q: Are you worried that this report might also be shelved?
A: That is always a possibility. Other things might overtake us, I
take courage in the fact that they showed the initiative to appoint
us.
Q: Are you disappointed by the reaction of the state,
particularly as the President and Prime Minister were not
present at the launch of the report?
A: When you undergo an experience like this, its almost
overwhelming. Youre completely in the midst of it. Not just your
head, your professional training, but also your heart and soul. I do
understand their absence, as theyre two heads of state. There
may be many other concerns. The message we got is that the
President wasnt feeling well enough to come at 7 pm, and the
next day he didnt go to Jaffna as well. I can only be happy that he
delegated it to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike
Kumaratunga who while she isnt a current political leader, is
certainly symbolic of the values that the combined government of
Maithripala are trying to project.
Q: The Office of Missing Persons Act was passed in
Parliament before the CTF final report was completed. The

CTF published an interim report, but it seems that none of

the recommendations made with regards to the OMP were
incorporated. What is your reaction to that?
A: I think it was just the timing. Our report came out just a bit too
late. It was taken up at the sub-committee level. Some of the
more discerning MPs picked up some of the recommendations.
Any government is state-driven by nature but there is an
insistence at every level of civil society engagement in all these
structures, (which is encouraging).
Q: What do you think the absence of the President and
Prime Minister, and the lack of funds set aside for the
CTFs operations, as highlighted in the report shows about
the states commitment to the process?
A: The state is made of individuals, who may be uncertain and
lack confidence. Some of them do have vision but in the day to
day, side winds affect them. And they dont see things clearly. The
ultimate objective reconciliation- should colour their perception
of everything else. Once the people understand what the state is
after, they will be behind it. The state has the authority and the
funds. The state must have the motivation, as they are an elected
body. If youre going to inculcate another set of values, that must
be done and give people the confidence they can abide by those
values.
Q: There has also been some pushback, with some
Ministers such as Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakse
outright rejecting it. What is your reaction to that?

A: There is an inbuilt fear, particularly around accountability. The

state has said that domestic accountability structures should be
built which are credible to the affected. It needs to be understood
why the affected are asking for international involvement. No one
thinks the colour of your skin or your passport makes you superior
to a local. Its simply that Sri Lankans are so imbued by division.
Accountability is based on universal criteria. Murder is murder,
irrespective of who committed the murder, and who is the victim.
The same is true of rape. From time immemorial, this is how we
have built society.
I should say our mandate is to listen to the people and be their
voice. Our recommendations are made in light of the concerns
expressed by the people. This is not just within the structure of
transitional justice but this is all in the process of reconciliation,
which is a much longer journey.
Q: There are some who have dismissed this report as
being NGO led. What are your comments on that?
A: No society will survive without civil society activists among
them. The daham pasal teachers, womens organisations how
much have these volunteer organisations done in a civic sense?
The best principals always acknowledge huge roles played by old
boys associations and Parent Teacher Associations. NGOs are
made up of people. When you say NGO you simply mean not a
state authority.
Q: Do you think the CTF could have done more to advocate
for this report?

A: We dont have access to a large pool of funds. We all worked on

a voluntary basis, traveling with small amounts. We did this
because we attached importance to the process. There was a
small window of opportunity and we wanted to make use of it. But
we cannot do what the state must do.
The media of this country, state media included also did not do
their part in engaging and educating the people. The bulk of the
media either didnt feel it was needed, or felt it was too
incendiary to engage in.
Q: What do you think can be done in the short term?
A: We had some practical recommendations for reform of the
judiciary and the administration of justice as a whole. A lot of
things are possible under existing laws and regulations such as
disciplinary inquiries for instance. All state arms such as the
police and army are very top down, but they are also based on an
insistence of abiding by rules and discipline. So record complaints
instead of intimidating those who make them. The Womens
Commission has been in the offing for 30 years its time to get it
going, and as a meaningful structure. Then a Minorities
Commission was proposed too.
The families of the disappeared are in terrible economic straits.
We should start giving them interim relief, and enable their
children to go to school. Is it any wonder that boys turn to drugs
and other vices when they dont have access to education?

The incidents of violence in the North are high because they have
experienced war. Imagine a person injured by the roadside, whose
needs are ignored for five long years. Thats the level of
bitterness.
The process of memorialisation can be begun now. A place where
people can go to light lamps its a way of remembering the
dead, an assertion of family feeling. We all know that family is the
basis of society.
For the purpose of political mileage, some have labeled gravesites
as LTTE war cemeteries. This doesnt take away from the fact that
this is someones sons grave. If there are buildings on top of
grave sites, those should be broken down. The affected people
should be given a little plot of land where they can go. There
could be memorial parks.
Then there are international instruments which we are signatories
to but which have not yet been made part of domestic law. We
are tardy already in not doing it.
You dont climb Sri Pada in one jump. Similarly, justice consists of
several incremental steps. Each step constitutes a part of that
meaningful journey
Posted by Thavam