This week the government had ordered the ICRC, INGO’s and NGO’s to scale down their operations because now that the war had ended the government writ ran all over Sri Lanka. The government had reassessed their operations following cessation of hostilities.
The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) entered Sri Lanka at the height of the JVP insurrection in 1989 and attended to the welfare of the injured and the victims due to the uprising. The rebellion was crushed in 1990. By then as the fighting with the Tamil rebels had escalated they were invited to stay. Subsequently, with Tiger controlled areas expanding the government administration had no access to their terrritory and the ICRC, INGO and NGO’s became ‘Facilitators’.
Apart from looking after the welfare of the people some pre-conflict tasks of the ICRC were manning exit & entry points, handling dead bodies, transport of patients etc. In addition to these all aid and funds were directly handled by them. As a result it had become the practice for these ‘handouts’ to be offered directly to the Tigers and not to projects for which they were meant for. Therefore, there had been queries with regard to their activities.
For instance, during the conflict, the 55 Division of the army made a startling revelation of a possible flow of ‘Compact Rations’ to the LTTE. Because a high protein “BP-100? packet of biscuits had been in the possession of LTTE cadre killeld in combat. These were sent by the World Food Program for malnourished children in the conflict areas.
There were also questions about how building materials, cement etc., brought in by these ‘Facilitators’ had gone into the hands of the Tigers for construction of underground residential bunkers for LTTE leaders.
During the final stages of the war, the army encountered earth-bunds which were more than 3 kilometers long created as obstacles to delay army movements as well as to stop civilians reaching government controlled areas. The question was how did the LTTE receive all the heavy earth-moving machinery and equipment for construction of these bunds.
A shocking discovery was a huge cylindrical metal structure similar to a ‘Mini-submarine’ with 3 compartments, an engine room, a living room and a section for communications. Obviously, this was meant as a get away mode for LTTE leaders during the final stages of the war, as it could be manoeuvred under water. The question was who brought in the technology, equipment, expertise etc., to build a ‘home-made submarine’.
There were also allegations of vehicles of ICRC, INGO’s and NGO’s being used by the LTTE leadership for travelling as well as for transport of explosives, arms etc., to avoid securiy check ups. It had been claimed that the bomb meant for the Defence Secretary which exploded at Kollupitiya had been brought in a CARE vehicle from Kilinochchi.
Towards the end of the conflict there were discrepancies between the casualty figures supplied by the ICRC and the government. The figures supplied by the former were considered inflated similar to the figures supplied by the ‘Five doctors’, who subsequently declared that they did so because of pressure from the Tigers.
While the government was involved in a ‘Hostage rescue mission’, the ICRC reported of an ‘unimaginable human catastrophe’ and made statements causing panic and the international community was guided by their observations.
Though it is acknowledged that these ‘Facilitators’ contributed to the relief efforts and welfare there had been instances where their activities had been questionable. At a meeting held for these groups by the President in May, they admitted mistakes during their earlier efforts. But the point is that they failed to recognise the fact that the conflict was between a sovereign state and a group of terrorists.
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia