Sinhala mobs burn Tamil property in Colombo during the Black July pogrom in 1983. File photograph
A government MP has moved to set up a parliamentary select committee on the 1983 Black July pogrom, weeks after the Sri Lankan government blocked a Tamil MP’s call for a presidential commission of inquiry into the killing of thousands of Tamils.
National People’s Power (NPP) Jaffna MP Rajeevan Jeyachandramoorthy was due to present the proposal in Parliament on Tuesday (3 November), according to reports . It calls for a committee to carry out a full study of Black July and its impact and to recommend measures for “national coexistence” and relief for those affected.
Last month, the government blocked a motion by TELO leader and Vanni MP Selvam Adaikkalanathan, seconded by ITAK MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, calling for a presidential commission. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said a select committee would allow all parties to take part, and a proposal signed by 51 government MPs to appoint one was submitted to the Deputy Speaker.
The committee would have no more than 12 members, in line with Standing Order 101, with its chair and members appointed by the Speaker. It would be able to summon people, demand documents and records, take written and oral evidence and seek help from experts.
It would submit interim reports, be able to meet when Parliament is adjourned or prorogued, and have to deliver its final report within six months of its first meeting unless Parliament grants an extension.
The proposal calls for an examination of the causes and consequences of the violence and the failure to hold anyone to account, and stresses the state’s responsibility to provide remedies and rehabilitation to those affected.
Between 24 and 30 July 1983, Sinhala mobs backed by the then United National Party (UNP) government and state forces attacked Tamils across the island. Official figures put the death toll at 371, but Tamils estimate that more than 3,000 were killed. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people were displaced, and Tamil homes, businesses and property were systematically looted and destroyed, particularly in Colombo.
Mobs were armed with electoral registers to identify Tamil homes and businesses, and the International Commission of Jurists raised strong suspicions that the violence was organised by elements within the ruling UNP.
Reports at the time also documented the involvement of the security forces. The Montreal Gazette reported on 29 July 1983 that around 130 sailors had left their barracks in Trincomalee and burned 175 houses in a Tamil neighbourhood, while The Times reported that soldiers had encouraged the looting and burning of Tamil homes and businesses. Tamil civilians were dragged from vehicles, beaten, stabbed and burned alive, and Tamil women were subjected to sexual violence.
Tamil political prisoners killed in the Welikada prison massacre. File photograph
At Welikada prison, 53 Tamil political prisoners were massacred in two attacks on 25 and 27 July, 35 in the first and 18 in the second. Many were held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act without having been convicted of any offence. Among those killed were TELO leader Selvarajah “Kuttimani” Yogachandran and writer Ganeshanathan Jeganathan.
No one has been held to account for the pogrom. In 2001, then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed a Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence covering 1981 to 1984, but it had no power to recommend prosecutions and did not summon alleged perpetrators to testify.
In July, Tamil MPs marked 43 years since Black July in Parliament, saying no justice had been delivered.
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