March and April has so far seen the most intense field activity of NP field teams in Sri Lanka since field sites were set up in November 2003. The two main focal points of field activities have been the election observing, in which most of the NP Sri Lanka staff was involved with PAFFREL, our main partner in the country, and others as well as responding to the growing crisis in the East following the split within the LTTE.

Election Observing

The calling of the general elections afforded the first opportunity for the teams to work with, PAFFREL, the principal election observing group in Sri Lanka. PAFFREL normally is supported by overseas monitors during the week leading up to the day of elections. However, since NP was already present in the country when elections were declared, PAFFREL took advantage of NP support to observe, for the first time, the filing of nomination papers, which marks the start of the campaign proper. Close of nominations can also herald the start of election violence when competing parties hold large processions in support of their candidates. NP staff were present in 11 Districts and were able to report to PAFFREL that violence, this time, had been minimal. There was only one report of violence in areas that NP covered.

Following this period most teams returned to their own field site areas to continue with pre-election monitoring. This usually involved visiting political party and polling officials and the security forces to inform them of the presence of monitors. We were fortunate in also having the too brief assistance of Linda Sartor, a former team member, who joined another team member in pre-election work in the North West and Central areas of the country.

In the North East, where NP has three of its four offices, NP was also working with others to ensure that there was minimum disruption to residents in LTTE areas in the casting of their votes. Polling stations were not sited in LTTE areas, but in no man’s land in between frontline LTTE and army positions. In the last general election in December 2001, large numbers of LTTE residents were prevented from visiting these polling stations by prolonged security checks by Government forces prior to voting. Observers this time sought to ensure that such events would not be repeated. Such preparatory work involved liaison through PAFFREL with the Government and the LTTE.

The intense pre-election week saw the arrival of about 90 further observers to work with PAFFREL. Amongst these were at least eight NP supporters from various parts of the world including one each from NP Japan and from NP Germany and three members of the Seattle Affinity Group. (Two of the Seattle Group, Dave Berrian and Shannon Turner-Covell extended their stay after the elections to visit NP teams and collect information for US affinity groups.) After briefings in Colombo, the teams dispersed to their sites with additional observers from overseas to NP field site areas and to the same North West and Central areas that had been covered during the pre-election period. In the couple of days before election day final preparations were made in co-ordination with PAFFREL district support staff, the European Union observers and other overseas observers.

Election day itself began for most teams before 6am as polling stations were open between 7am and 4pm. The work was hectic and exhausting since many individual teams covered more than 30 polling stations during the opening hours. Visits involved observing the general situation both inside and outside the stations and interviewing polling staff, the security forces, political agents and voters themselves. For the first time the Elections Commissioner had given approval for observers to enter polling stations, where they were generally warmly welcomed. In many areas observation work continued late into the night, accompanying ballot boxes to counting stations and, in at least one case, observing the counting of votes.

Despite the gloomiest of forecasts, the election was the most violence-free that Sri Lanka had had for some time. The existence of monitors in polling stations – generally PAFRREL had volunteers staffing the stations throughout the polling period – and very stringent Government security probably contributed to the generally smooth conduct of the poll. The principal election irregularity reported from several parts of the island was voter impersonation. However the Elections Commissioner did not see fit to call for a re-poll in any area, although initial reports indicated that this might have to take place.

The election saw the defeat of the incumbent Government of the United National Front and the President’s coalition of the The United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) forming a new Government. However neither of the two main coalitions gained a majority. Although a Prime Minister and most of the Cabinet has been appointed, it is as yet unclear how the Government is going to command a majority in Parliament when it reconvenes on 22nd April. The possibility of a stable Government does not yet look certain with splits between the two main constituents of the UPFA over the allocation of ministerial posts.

The East

NP’s teams in the east were particularly over-stretched during this period, trying to cover not only with election observing issues, but also the fallout from the split within the LTTE. In March Colonel Karuna, the LTTE Eastern military leader, one of the three or four most senior people within the LTTE, announced that he and his supporters could no longer work under the main LTTE controlled from the North. His reasons cited generally concerned alleged discrimination against Eastern interests within the LTTE. Although internal disagreements within the LTTE were generally known, it was never expected that these would result in an open split. The effect of the split was to detach the Batticaloa and Ampara Districts of the Eastern Province from Northern influence. This led to considerable confusion and anxiety amongst Tamils who were asked to switch allegiances overnight.

The Valaichchenai team, sited in the middle of the Batticaloa District, witnessed one of the first acts of open defiance against the Northern leadership when a march of demonstrators in support of Colonel Karuna ended, by chance, outside the NP Valaichchenai office. Effigies of the LTTE leader, Prabakharan, and his supporters were burnt. Similar demonstrations elsewhere followed. The first indications of threats to civilians stemming from the dispute arose when Jaffna staff and students at the Eastern University were asked to leave. This was followed on successive days by the attempted assassinations of a senior Eastern member of the university staff and the principal Government officer in the area. Both, considered to be Karuna supporters, were seriously wounded. On the following day the principal Tamil National Alliance candidate for Batticaloa, also a supporter of the Karuna faction, was assassinated just after finishing his morning prayers at home. Many believed these attacks to be the work of the Northern LTTE leadership.

Reprisals against Jaffna Tamils started to increase. Shops were ordered to be closed. At least one Jaffna Tamil owned shop was set on fire and another, within a couple of hundred metres from the Valaichchenai office, was looted in broad daylight. Private homes of Jaffna Tamils were also attacked. Many Jaffna Tamils started to leave the District; others kept to their homes. All Jaffna staff were asked to leave the principal hospital of the District causing severe problems for patients. NP’s role in this period was initially to visit known Jaffna contacts, still in the District, on a regular basis to offer re-assurance and whatever protection might be possible. The Batticaloa community found it difficult to re-act to the situation for fear of being identified with one faction or the other. Therefore NP staff started visiting the wide range of civil society contacts that had been built up in the last few months to stimulate discussion and planning for a non violent and non partisan response. As a result of these meetings preparations are being made for an inter-religious call to bring the violence to an end and a regular public vigil in support of nonviolence.

Also during the pre-election period fears were growing over the effect on civilians of a possible armed confrontation between both factions of the LTTE on the Vergual River which marks the border between the Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts. Cadres of both factions faced each other on the northern and southern banks of the river in an uneasy standoff. NP’s Mutur and Valaichchennai offices are sited at the northern and southern ends of the anticipated area of conflict. FTMs on preliminary visits discovered that most regular external visits by other agencies had ceased when the confrontation began. Therefore Batticaloa civilian and humanitarian society, worried about how intervention might be interpreted by opposing sides, was engaged by NP staff in dialogue and preparations for a response. As a result FTMs have been involved for most of this month, entering the area from both the north and the south to demonstrate the continuing concern of the outside world to civilians in the area. NP personnel have been the most frequent international presence in the area during the month. Many of the visits involved accompanying local clergy wishing to visit parishioners and NGOs visiting stranded staff. NP staff also attended frequent meetings of the international NGO community in Batticaloa and Trincomalee to prepare for an outbreak of fighting. Eventually NP started to make plans to make daily visits to the affected area preparing for the possibility of establishing a temporary presnce to protect civilians. The Northern LTTE group had given verbal permission to the Mutur team to do this.

Unfortunately such preparations were pre-empted by an attack across the Verugal River launched on 9th April. Both the Mutur teams spent the entire day dealing with the civilian catastrophe that resulted. NP were the only international NGO in the area of fighting for most of the time, relaying information to the rest of the NGO community in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Colombo. The team most directly involved was the Valaichchenai team, strengthened by extra FTMs drafted from Jaffna and Matara. They worked throughout the day facilitating a network between clergy, Government officials and the army to ensure shelter, food and water for civilians walking 20 kilometres to the Government controlled area, which starts just to the North of the Valaichchenai office. By the end of the day international humanitarian agencies had moved in to provide further shelter, food and sanitation.

From 10th April until present the Valaichchenai team have been pre-occupied with the fallout of the Karuna faction’s rapid collapse following the Northern advance. Initially it appeared that the Karuna faction informed all cadres below 18 to return home. This resulted in disorientated children roaming the roads in search of their families and families searching for their children. The volume of suddenly disbanded young LTTE cadres threw the entire community into shock. The Valaichchennai office has therefore been facilitating the collection of information from families of missing cadres by informal networks of individuals and community groups as well as supporting visits to nearby villages to collect further information. The purpose of assembling the information is threefold – to enable the re-unification of disbanded cadres with their families, protection of returned children to prevent re-recruitment and other interference and to prepare for long-term after care of these traumatized children.

Visitors

The team was also happy to welcome Mel Duncan, David Hartsough, who spent a week working with the Valaichchenai team, Christine Schweitzer and John Stewart as well as Jerry Smith a photographer from St Paul. At present we also are hosting Jørgen Johansen and his evaluation team. All of these visitors have given a significant boost to the team’s spirit. We have also had the good fortune to have Atif Hameed from Pakistan and Rita Cruz from Portugal, who will be joining the team as new FTMs, with us for much of this time as election observers and support for the Sri Lanka team’s work during the month.

Thanks

13th April 2004

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