Citizen groups protest the violence against Muslims in the ongoing civil strife in Sri Lanka. And yet, the international peace monitors and media have largely ignored this aspect of the violence in Sri Lanka - not that other aspects of violence are being resolved either.

An often forgotten factor about the situation in Sri Lanka is the position and role of the Muslim community, the second largest minority community in the island and a critical part of the population of the conflict-affected areas of the north and east. While the Muslim population is 8% of the national population of 20 million they account for more than 33% in the East and 18% in a merged North and East.

Over the years as the conflict has escalated, tensions between the different civilian populations of the area have deteriorated as a result of the armed actors’ conflicting interests. The Muslim community has been caught in-between different manifestations of the conflict at different moments in history at the hands of the state and Tamil militant movements. Massacres of 110 Muslim men at prayer in mosques in Kattankudy and 130 men, women and children in Eravur in August 1990 by the LTTE and the LTTE’s forcible expulsion of the entire Muslim community of the five districts of the Northern Province, numbering 75,000 in October 1990 heightened the victimization and alienation of the Muslim population of the North and East. The killings, abductions and intimidation of Muslim civilians, the seizure of their land and property and economic restrictions including ‘taxation’ by the Tamil militant movements over the years of conflict and in the last 4 years of the peace process have intensified the Muslim community’s insecurity. In addition, violence since the signing of the Cease Fire Agreement in February 2002, including communal riots and the killings of Muslims has demonstrated the problem of law and order in the north and east. The exclusion of Muslim representatives from the formal peace negotiations by both the government and the LTTE has contributed to the sense of marginalization and alienation of Muslims from mainstream politics.

As the conflict has escalated in the past year, and the situation of civilians in the north and east has deteriorated, the collapse of ‘normalcy’ has led to heightened mistrust and suspicion between Muslims and Tamils and Sinhalese. All the armed actors engaged in the conflict derive benefits from this environment of distrust. The spirit of co-existence and mutual dependency which marked relations between the Tamil and Muslim Communities in the past has suffered as a result.

With the escalation of the conflict since July 2006, threats to the Muslim community have increased. Muslims from Mannar and Jaffna who had returned to their old homes following the Cease Fire of 2002 began to move back into displacement in areas around Puttalam and Kalpitiya as early as first week of July 2006, following acts of intimidation by the LTTE. The majority of forcibly expelled Muslims continue to live in displacement as the challenges to return increase.

In Mutur, the commencement of ground fighting between the LTTE and the government to control the town and its surrounding areas saw the Muslims and the Tamils seeking refuge in schools and places of worship, with both sides showing little regard for civilian protection, international humanitarian standards or the laws governing armed conflict. Four schools and a hospital were damaged as a result of artillery bombardment killing a number of individuals. As the situation in Mutur became intolerable, the civilian population fled, the Muslims primarily moving to Kantale, a  predominantly Sinhala town about 60 kilometers away. The Mutur Muslim community was able to get security assurances of safe passage from the LTTE. The Tamils fled south to the Batticaloa District.

However, during the flight, LTTE cadres forced a large group of Muslims to take a detour via Kirandamunai, where the LTTE, pulled some young men out of the group, bound them and beat them. Shelling which started during this time hit the group which then scattered. It remains unclear as to how many were killed or abducted in this incident.

By August 8, there were over 40,000 Muslim IDPs seeking shelter in tents and in Muslim schools in Kantale. The humanitarian response was slow, and government registration of IDPs did not take place. For over three weeks, this population of IDPs continued to live in sub-human conditions.

On September 7, the government announced that the IDPs would return to Mutur. Despite a range of questions regarding security and infrastructure and given the onset of the monsoon making living conditions in Kantalai intolerable, Muslims were given no viable option but to return to Mutur. This raises grave doubts as to the voluntary nature of this process of resettlement. In one case of Camp 98 there is clear testimony to the use of the Police forcibly evict IDPs from the premises of Al Hiqma school on September 8.

In Mutur, on September 18, Moulvi Kareem the head of the Sura Sabha (Religious Council) made a strong denunciation of the fact that the community had been resettled without adequate provisions being made. According to him, the Divisional Secretariat is not functioning properly; schools are functioning in name only, and students have no books or uniforms; and the restoration of electricity and water supplies has not been completed. Most significantly, the Muslim community has not received any compensation for deaths or destruction of property as promised. A newly created IDP Registration Project located within the President’s Office has begun the registration process only on September 14. There are competing pressures and constraints on the Tamils of Mutur who had fled to Batticaloa to return to Sampur. Humanitarian agencies have not had full access to these IDPs.

On September 18, 10 Muslim labourers, all men, who had been engaged in the clearing of a sluice gate at Iraddal kulam in the southern part of the Amparai District in the Eastern Province, were found hacked to death. One man survived the attack. Due to strong suspicions among the people of Potuvil and Ulla-- from where some of the murder victims came-- that the Special Task Forces of the Police were involved in the killings, there was a public demonstration calling for the removal of the Officer in Charge. On September 20 the Muslims of Ulla who were demonstrating against the killings were shot at by the police, resulting in fourteen persons being severely injured.

These recent incidents of human rights abuses are part of the history of Muslims who have been victimized during the conflict and peace process and marginalized during peace talks. What has taken place in Mutur in the past three months is a reflection of the way in which the Muslim community is caught between the state and the LTTE. On the one hand, they have been subject to killing, ethnic cleansing and intimidation by the LTTE. On the other hand, they experience the limited interest of the state in the welfare and protection of the Muslim population, and also have on occasion been the victims of state violence. In short, Mutur highlights the political and the security dilemma of the Muslims of the North and East.  

We feel that it is important to address the issue of human rights violations of the Muslim community of Sri Lanka, in the context of the conflict, in a two-fold manner. that of civilian protection as a common problem for all communities; and also as a distinct Muslim issue – that of a principal stakeholder largely marginalized in the peace process.

At this present juncture basic humanitarian norms and human rights are being violated by both warring parties. Given the current political realities, where the violence seems set to continue for some time; we, the undersigned, appeal to The Human Rights Council to support an international fact-finding mission to investigate the violations of human rights and of the Geneva Convention, to assess the humanitarian response to the crisis, and to recommend how humanitarian standards and human rights can be monitored and improved.

We also urge you to recognize this incident as brought about by the unique conditions that Muslims face in this conflict and to support Muslim participation in the peace process. Muslims must be represented as a separate delegation at all levels of negotiations to end the violence, and to reach a political settlement.

Dated September 21 2006

SIGNATORIES

Al-Kafaala Foundation

Al-Muslimath

Association of War Affected Women

Caring Hand

Centre for Policy Alternatives

Citizen’s Committee for Forcibly Evicted Northern Muslims - Puttalam

Human Care Foundation

INFORM

International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo

International Movement Against All Forms of Racism and Discrimination (IMADR)

Islamic Women’s Association for Research and Empowerment (IWARE)

Law and Society Trust

Muslim Action Front

Muslim Council of Sri Lanka

Muslim Information Centre

Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum

Sri Lanka Islamic Student Movement

Sri Lanka Jamathe Islmaiya

Women and Media Collective