Solidarity Actions and Struggles for

Justice in Sri Lanka

Image courtesy BBC

by Ruki Fernando

on 12/30/2015

On 28th December 2015, the Nuwara Eliya High Court delivered a historic
judgment: two men were each sentenced to 23 years rigorous
imprisonment and ordered to pay Rs. 200,000 in compensation after being
convicted for the abduction and rape of Rita, a 17 year old Tamil girl from
Talawakele in the hill country, on 12th August 2001.
It was a happy moment for Rita and those of us who were in courts with her.
It was a victory for exceptional courage and determination of Rita and all
those who supported her long struggle. But it also showcased the
exceptional decay of Sri Lankas justice system more than 14 years to
ensure justice for abduction and rape of teenaged girl. In his introduction to
the judgement, the Judge also highlighted this delay in justice and also

referred to delays at Police stations.

Ritas challenges, struggles, courage and determination
It is rare that victims of rape, especially a teenage Tamil schoolgirl from an
estate area, will fight for justice. She will be victimised, again and again, in
the verbal comments made to her, in the way people look at her, in her
village, school, work place. The Police, the Attorney-Generals Department,
the Judiciary, the family, the media, and society in general are not
sympathetic. Even the sympathetic may not be committed to help pursue
justice. She and her family are likely to encounter threats, intimidation, and
attempts to discredit her if she decides to pursue justice instead of keeping
quiet.
But Rita perused justice with exceptional courage and determination, right
from the time she was raped. Her first step after the incident was to go and
complain to the Police and then accompany the Police to show the place of
the incident and search for the suspects. These steps were referred to by
the Judge in positive way yesterday in his reasoning given for the
judgment. The state counsels prosecuting her case had changed 15 times.
At least 9 judges had heard her case. There were more than a hundred
court hearings in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya High Courts, non-summary
proceedings, and another civil case in the District Courts. She had to go
through the trauma of repeatedly explaining what happened to her in detail
over a number of years, including in the face of harsh and probing cross
examinations, and she even fainted once. But Rita had remained consistent
in her story. The Judge also recognized this and highlighted that the defence
lawyers were not able to cast doubt
on Ritas testimony, which appeared to be corroborated by medical

evidence, observations of the Police, circumstantial evidence some

statements by accused
Rita had lost her father when she was young. Her grandfather died in 2009,
midway through her struggle for justice he had supported and encouraged
her, and had given witness in her court proceedings. She pursued justice,
despite intimidations to her and family and attempts to offer money and get
her to withdraw the case. She was compelled to stay in 21 safe houses for
security. She had to leave her friends and familiar surroundings and change
school, village. She even had to seek employment in the Free Trade Zone,
far away from the hill country she had lived all her life.
Solidarity and support for Rita
Within a few weeks of Rita being raped, I participated in a protest in Hatton
in the hill country, demanding justice for Rita. That protest was
spearheaded by Fr. Nandana Manatunga, a Catholic Priest. He has remained
an inspiration and good friend since then. He was the director of Caritas
Kandy then, but has moved on to take new positions, in various parishes
and institutions. But he had never wavered from accompanying and
supporting Rita, and was in court yesterday, as he had been with Rita and
numerous other victims, hundreds of times. He and his dedicated band of
staff and volunteers at the Human Rights Office (HRO), Kandy, had
protected Rita; finding safe houses, facilitated her education, employment,
provided legal and medical assistance and counselling, provided some
financial assistance, and even assisted in family funerals, sicknesses, and
Ritas own wedding. The Catholic Bishop of Mannar appealed to the then
President Kumaratunga to expedite the case. National and international
campaigns have been organised to exert pressure to expedite the case.

As I write this on my way back in the train from Nuwara Eliya to Colombo, I
remembered stages of Ritas struggles over the years and my meetings
with her, what she had told. I also wondered whether there would have
been justice even after 14 years, if not for Ritas unwavering courage, her
familys and others support?
Rare successes due to survivors and victims families courage &
determination
Courage and determination of survivors and their families have brought
about justice in several other cases, in a country where justice has been,
and still remains, elusive and inaccessible to many. In many of these cases,
there has been long term accompaniment and significant support from
individuals and organizations.
In May 2012, a man was sentenced for 20 years and ordered to pay
compensation of Rs. 100,000 for raping 13 year old Divya, who like Rita,
was also a Tamil girl from the estate community. Earlier this month, two
Police officers were sentenced to 7 years rigorous imprisonment each for
torturing two persons from Kandy. HRO had also managed to obtain the
release of several persons who were detained for long periods under the
PTA, after long years of support to the detainees and the families.
In a rare judgement from the highly militarized and war ravaged North, in
October 2015, four soldiers from the Army were sentenced to 25 years
imprisonment for the rape and sexual abuse of two Tamil women from
Vishvamadu, in 2010. A determined struggle by Mrs. Sandya
Ekneligoda[1]for six years in Sri Lanka and beyond, supported by strong
national and international campaigns, has led to the arrest of several
persons, including those from the military and intelligence units, who are
suspected to be responsible for the enforced disappearance of her husband,

cartoonist and journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda in January 2010.

But, in contrast, to the best of my knowledge, there has been no progress in
investigations, no arrests in the 2007 enforced disappearance of
Ramachandran Subramanium, a Tamil journalist from Jaffna, despite what
appears to be eye witness accounts of military involvement. Is it because
his elderly parents could not campaign like Sandya and they did not get the
national and international support Sandya got? Tens of thousands of
survivors and families of victims of rape and sexual abuse, torture, arbitrary
detention, extrajudicial executions, and disappearances await justice in Sri
Lanka for decades.
Reforming justice system
The few successes in struggles for justice in Sri Lanka have been largely
due to exceptional courage and determination of survivors and victims
families and the solidarity and support from few individuals and groups,
rather than effectiveness of the state and statutory institutions established
to deliver justice.
Its a major fault of our justice system that justice is not accessible and
available independently and as of right, and quickly, but rather, appears to
depend on a victims courage or ability to garner support. 14 years is way
too long for teenaged girl who was raped to wait for justice. Thus, in the
longer term, reform of the justice system will be key.
Solidarity and accompaniment how important is it?
At the same time, I believe it is also important for all of us who believe in
justice to reflect how much of our time and energy we should invest in
accompanying survivors and victims families, in their struggles for justice.

It would be particularly important to reflect on ways to sustaining

accompaniment and solidarity for long years, as the justice system itself
tries to wear us down and make us give up. Ritas case is a good example
of sustained struggle, accompaniment and solidarity despite the delays in
the system.
I have been privileged and inspired to have worked with and encountered
survivors and families of victims, who had braved extreme odds and risks to
pursue justice. Rizkhan, the son of my murdered friend Pattani Razeek;
Sandya Ekneligoda, who I mentioned above; Mayuri, whose husband was
abducted in 2013; Dr. Manoharan, whose teenaged son was executed 10
years ago; some villagers in Mullikulam whose village has been occupied by
the Navy since 2007; and several wives of those who have been unjustly
detained are amongst those who come to mind. There are more of course.
I have also come to admire the work of individuals and groups in different
parts of Sri Lanka and beyond, who have been supporting such struggles.
Together with some colleagues and friends, I have also tried hard to support
some such struggles. But despite the risks we have taken, personal
sacrifices we have made, and our best efforts, we have not been able to do
enough. It has been heart breaking to ignore or say no to some desperate
appeals and being unable to find others who could support where we could
not. I have also been frustrated at my inability to motivate and encourage
others, including colleagues and friends, to work more with survivors and
victims families and invest more in accompaniment and solidarity.
Research, campaigning, advocacy, legal action, trainings appear to be
considered more important than accompaniment and solidarity. But in my
experience, simple things standing by their side on street protests, like
accompaniment to courts and other institutions, visiting them in their
prisons and homes, providing moral support, helping with translations,

introducing them to others who could help their cause, have been key in
survivors and victims families obtaining justice, as has been the case with
Rita and several others I mentioned above. And its likely to be so in the
immediate future, till we have more independent, accessible and effective
justice system.
[1] For a more detailed account of Sandyas struggle in first three years,
seehttp://groundviews.org/2013/01/23/11073/
Posted by Thavam